Definitely some welcome improvement considering there are now more than 10,000 applications on the Android market.
This is my first post using the new WP ToGo application now available at the Android market. The simple app allows for posting to Wordpress blogs from an Android powered phone.
The simple writing interface allows three options for text formating – bold, italics, and hyperlinking. One can also upload photos from the phones image repository. While the app won’t replace the elegance of the wordpress publishing interface anytime soon… meaning likely never… it’s a great way to publish to one’s blog ‘on the go’.
One item that is still a question mark in my head is if the system has a way to resize photos being uploaded to the blog. That is an item I’ll be testing with this post.
G1 Roadmap Reveals a Virtual Keyboard
The T-Mobile G1 will be getting a on screen keyboard like the Apple iPhone. Coming in the first quarter of 2009, the virtual keyboard will allow for textual entry without opening the flip-out keyboard. While many users like a ‘real’ keyboard, the introduction of a virtual keyboard will make a nice optional way of entering data when needed.
The coming feature is outlined on the Android Project roadmap found here. This will make the G1 even more competitive against the iPhone as it will have two keyboard options whereas the iPhone only has the software based keyboard.
According to the roadmap, the input method engine which supports soft keyboards will also support ‘a dictionary of suggestions, and a suggestion algorithm’.
Android Market offers up video player for Google's G1
How to get a video on the phone. Plug the phone in via USB and browse the phones memory. Create a ‘videos’ folder and drop your *.mp4 files into the directory you just created. Now, open the video player and your video files should show by default. Simply click the file you want to play and enjoy the show. The player will not work while plugged in via USB so make sure you disconnect the phone first before attempting to view the videos.
Note too, the video player actually takes advantage of the phones accelerometer. Tilt the phone 90 degrees for a larger view. From my tests, I liked the first generation video application. I really liked the fact this it took advantage of the accelerometer. I hope that more file formats can be supported in the future.
Namco's Pac-man on the G1
Numerous applications appeared on the Android market in the past few hours. These include Namco’s Pac-Man and T-Mobiles Hotspot Locator. G1 users for a time will be able to download all applications in the market for free. In the future, Google plans to implement features that allow for commercial applications that will cost money.
The ever popular Pac-Man was featured during the late September press conference introducing T-Mobiles G1 with Google. The game can be controlled via the touch screen, trackball or even using the accelerometer by tilting the screen as needed.
Applications are being added to the market on a daily basis, so be sure to check regularly for exciting new apps that will further empower you and the functionality of your phone.
On the official Android Developer Blog it has been announced that Android is now open source! While Google has been saying all along that Android would be open, today became the official day that the code was released to the world.This should prove to be a huge impetus for other companies to jump on the Android bandwagon, since they can build upon an already established code base with a large developer community and be free of licensing fees and closed source code.
Kudos to Google for keeping their promise and congrats to the Android community. May you rock the mobile phone world with your apps, ideas and innovation!
Google unveiled its challenge to the iPhone, the G1, which runs the company’s new proprietary Android software. Maggie Rodriguez talks with Daniel Sieberg about its features and flaws.
Sergey Brin and Steve Horowitz discuss the availability of the SDK, that it will be open source in the future, and demo applications on the Android platform.
Part 3 of 3 in an overview series on the Android platform. In this segment, Mike gives an overview of a few of the APIs available on the platform.
Part 2 of 3 in an overview series on the Android platform. In this segment, Mike explains the application and process lifecycle as a user navigates through different applications.
