Monday, July 16, 2012

Android Phone Fans

Android Phone Fans

[Discussion] Is Sprint LTE live now in your area? And what speeds are you seeing?

Posted: 15 Jul 2012 11:29 AM PDT

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I posted yesterday that in some of Sprint’s 4G LTE initial launch regions, users were already able to enjoy the faster network speed. Now that the network should be officially active, what are the speeds that you’re seeing? Reports had come in yesterday of 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up (though some mentioned in comments of as much as 30 Mbps down).

Uniquely Android: Plug In Launcher

Posted: 15 Jul 2012 10:22 AM PDT

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During my short tenure as a weekend blogger at Phandroid, I’ve looked to start series featuring various apps, striving to ensure that these posts weren’t your regular “apps of the week” stuff. I started with the “Apps I uninstalled this week“, and then moved on to the “Rookie Review” which unfortunately didn’t catch on.

Now, I want to celebrate those apps that really make Android special, that take advantage of the unique capabilities of the platform and provide an experience that you wouldn’t find in most other phones. Some of these apps may be eyesores from a design perspective, and might have a really small feature set. But what they do really makes Android special. And Unique.

In the first post, I’m going to write about Plug In Launcher. A nifty little app that has both a free and a $1 Pro version, the app allows you to set up actions to be performed when either the USB, headset or power cord are connected, and (in the pro version only) also for bluetooth and WiFi connections.

I use it for launching UberMusic whenever I plug-in my headset, and for launching the Alarm app when I put it on charge. Other use cases that I can think of include launching Maps when you’re connected to your bluetooth headset, or launching a file manager when connected to another device.

Most of these actions are small stuff, typically replacing what would have taken a click or two if they didn’t exist. But once you start using them you get so used to it that you begin to wonder why these capabilities don’t exist in a phone straight out-of-the-box.

Microsoft’s IFTTT-clone for Android, on{X}, is actually pretty cool

Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:08 AM PDT

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I can’t remember when or where I first read about on{X}, but for some strange reason I never spent any time with it. I finally got a chance to try it out over the weekend, thanks to a stupid bug that has me confined to my room.

So, what exactly is on{X}? The best I can describe it is as an IFTTT-clone for Android. There are two components to it, one being the app and the other a website. Once you’ve logged in with Facebook, you have the option to create a host of rules that allow certain actions to take place on your phone upon certain triggers. The on{X} team has provided a set of recipes for you to customize, such as

Text my wife “my phone’s battery is dying” when my phone’s battery goes below 15%

or

Set ringer mode to normal the first time I unlock my phone after 8:00 AM

You can customize these recipes as need be, such as replacing “my wife” with the name by which the contact is stored, or changing the value of the battery which triggers the action. And there are a wide range of triggers, from weather, to location, to movement, to time.

Where on{X} gets more fun (for me at least) is creating custom rules using Javascript. The API is pretty straightforward, and you can see the code of all the recipes they’ve shared. One rule that I created was to launch Any.DO if I unlock my phone after a gap of six hours, as long as it’s after 8 AM (which typically means I’ve just woken up). The code I’ve used is this:

// Initializing variables

var ringerMode = “normal”;
var time = “8:00 AM”;

// End of variables initializing

console.log(‘Started Script:’ + device.currentSource);
// Triggers the function when the screen unlocks
device.screen.on(“unlock”, function()
{
//var lastDateScreenUnlocked = device.localStorage.getItem(‘lastDateScreenUnlocked’);
var today = new Date().toDateString();
var dailyTime = new Date(today + ‘ ‘ + time);
var now = new Date();
// check if the time permits to set the ringer mode
if (now > dailyTime)
{
var lastScreenUnlocked = device.localStorage.getItem(‘lastScreenUnlocked’);
var lastScreenLong;
if(!lastScreenUnlocked)
{
lastScreenLong = 0;
}
else
{
lastScreenLong = Date.parse(lastScreenUnlocked.toString());
}
var nowLong = Date.parse(now.toString());
var difference = now – lastScreenLong;
if (difference >= 21600000)
{
device.applications.launch(“Any.DO”, {}, function (error)
{
if (error !== null) {
console.error(‘failed to launch app  Any.do’, please verify the application name;’ + error);
}
});
}
}

// grab the shared storage
var storage = device.localStorage;

// set value and get the above two callbacks called
storage.setItem(‘lastScreenUnlocked’, now);
});

console.log(‘Completed Script:’ + device.currentSource);

It’s not something that would attract regular users, but those with knowledge of Javascript might be interested. As soon as you add a rule on the website, it’s pushed to your phone immediately as long as you have an internet connection. One point I must mention is that I saw someone mention in the reviews of the app that it requires an internet connection to perform the actions. That is not true. Unless an action itself requires an internet connection (such as checking the weather) it works perfectly offline.

There are a few bugs, though. One of the rules I’ve added have not been pushed to my phone for quite a while. Also, the app itself offers no manner to add even certain pre-defined recipes, which would have been nice. However, considering it’s in beta it’s definitely on the right track. There is a small but active community presence, so if the team behind it executes well enough, on{X} could garner a significant following. I’m definitely keeping this app for the Any.DO script I made, and the possibility to make more if I need them.

PS: I haven’t been able to test out whether the app is a battery drain, as happens so often with similar other applications. I’ll update the post once I come to a conclusion on that.

AT&T shared data plans ready to roll out?

Posted: 14 Jul 2012 07:52 PM PDT

It’s no breaking news that AT&T is preparing to launch its shared data plans, a topic we have coincidentally been discussing today. We haven’t heard any other details since earlier this year, leaving Verizon as the pioneer of shared data plans. It seems Big Red might be very close to having some company in this club, though.

A Techno Buffalo fan has graced us with a screenshot of a text message displaying his data usage. Lo and behold, it included a new category displaying “Group Data.” Of course, the image displays zero MB used; these plans are not yet available to customers. This definitely means that something is in the works, though. AT&T shared data plans could be coming very soon.

It should be interesting to see how Ma Bell’s prices will match up against Verizon. We would not expect the deal of the year, though, as Verizon and AT&T prices tend to stay pretty “competitive” or similar. But who knows! AT&T might just throw us a curve ball.

[Techno Buffalo]
Posted by at 7:47 AM

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