Tag Archives: google

The apps on my Nexus One

People have asked me which apps I use on my Nexus One quite a few times already so I thought I’d do a blog post on it.

Adobe AIR & Flash Player 10.1
I don’t think this needs too much explanation ;-) Having Flash Player 10.1 in the browser really is a blessing. When breaking news happens I can just open up the browser, browse to my favorite news site, and watch the news videos. When I’d like to play a game, I can just browse to Miniclip, Kongregate or any other casual gaming site and play the game in the browser. If I like the game I can later get the game as a standalone app built on top of the AIR runtime. With AIR on my Nexus One I can use the skills that I already know to build my own apps with ActionScript 3 and use the tools that I’m used to. Love it! If you have an Android device that runs on Eclair or Froyo you can get AIR on your device today! If you have Froyo on your device you can just get Flash Player 10.1 Beta in the Android Market!

Astro File Manager
I love that I have complete control over my file system. Astro helps you manage your files on your SD card, can make backups on the device, shows you which files and folders use the most storage space, and much much more.

Beautiful Widgets
One thing I really like about HTC’s Sense UI is the home screen weather/clock widget. The Nexus One doesn’t have the Sense UI but with Beautiful Widgets I can still have that weather/clock widget. As a frequent traveller I also like that it automatically updates the time and weather to wherever I am based on my GPS coordinates. With just one click on the home widget it shows me a 5-day forecast. It also comes with a bunch of other widgets. Those allow you to quickly change a setting with one click on the widget. I have the “silent”, “plane”, “wifi” and “bluetooth” widget on my second homescreen so I can quickly switch those on or off.

Chroma Circuit
Chroma Circuit is one of the first Flash-based games that was compiled as an AIR for Android application. It is very addictive ;-) Since it is a Flash-based app you can also play this in your browser today. On the Nexus One it takes full advantage of the new multi-touch API available in AIR 2.0 and Flash Player 10.1. (This application is currently only available in private pre-release.)

Photoshop.com Mobile
Want to change the exposure, saturation or contrast on a photo? Maybe add a quick effect or a border around it? Photoshop.com Mobile does exactly that. You simply pick an image from you camera roll, edit it and share it with your friends on Photoshop.com, Twitter or Facebook.

doubleTwist
doubleTwist just released a media player application a few days ago. It looks absolutely gorgeous and is very easy to use. I like it so much that I think it should be the default media player app on every Android device. As an added bonus, it integrates seamlessly with the doubleTwist desktop making syncing my media library as easy as it was on my iPhone.

NewsRob
As a regular reader of my blog you know that I am a news junkie. Google Reader is one of the first sites I open up in the morning. When I am on the road I use NewsRob. It syncs all my unread articles from Google Reader and allows me to read them on my phone even when I’m not connected.

Dropbox
I absolutely love Dropbox! I have all my Flash/Flex projects files on it as well as all my presentations, AS3 libs I regularly use, documents, … I use it a lot! The mobile app allows me to quickly send a link to a file to a colleague and allows me to review my slides on the go.

Evernote
Another app I use a lot. I use Evernote for various things. For instance when I park my car at the airport, I take a quick picture of where I actually parked it and store that in Evernote. When I use Twitter on my Nexus One and see a link to a site I want to check out, I just click the “share” button and add that tweet to Evernote. By the way… I really love how different apps are connected on Android. That share menu is available in a lot of apps and it just lists all the applications that can accept stuff to share. So with that same menu I can send that tweet via email, to Facebook, in an SMS message, … Love it!

Finance
I keep a close eye on the stock market. I use Google Finance in the browser on the desktop and in this app on my Nexus One. The app also comes with home screen widgets and I have a couple of those installed. These home screen widgets are really one of the major advantages of the Android platform. They update automatically and so you always have the latest info on your home screen.

Foursquare
Besides being a news junkie, I think I am also a social networking junkie… I joined FourSquare a few months ago but never really got in to it. I’m giving it another shot now. I love the tips people can leave about a certain venue/location.

Gridshock
Gridshock was also originally a browser based game built with Flash. I’m running it on the Nexus One as a standalone application on the AIR runtime. Very addictive! ;-) (This application is currently only available in private pre-release.)

Hello Proximus
This app is pretty simple but very useful. The app monitors my data usage. It tells me how many MB I have left in my overpriced data plan. It shows you exactly how much you have left on your national and roaming plan.

Let’s Golf
I used to play this game on my iPhone and wanted to see how well it performed on my Nexus One. It rocks! I bought it in Gameloft’s online shop which circumvents the need to get access to the Android Market. (Officially you still can’t get access to the Market in Belgium! Google needs to fix this ASAP!)

Qrossfire
Another AIR based game that originally started out as a browser based Flash game… I currently play this one the most. (This application is currently only available in private pre-release.)

RunKeeper
A few months ago I started running again. There are a lot of apps on the Android Market that keep track of your exercises but I like the UI on this one. Writing this reminds me that I should get back in to gear. It’s been a few weeks since I was last out running…

Tripit
I said this many times before but will repeat it again: If you are a frequent traveller, you have to use Tripit! I don’t think I could do this job without it. I really like the UI on their Android version much better than their iPhone version. It’s easier to read and just feels nicer.

Vignette
Vignette is one of those special effect camera type apps. It has 55 different LOMO, toy camera, tilt-shift and Polaroid style effects and 17 different frames.

WordPress
This also doesn’t need much explaining. I love how their Android version even allows me to get notifications of new comments.

These are just a couple of apps I use regularly. Besides these I also use the stock email and calendar app which now (in Froyo) works with our Exchange setup. I also use tethering quite a bit. Being able to share your 3G connection as a wifi access point is just amazing and it works very well. I also use the Twitter for Android and Facebook for Android app a lot and I really love how this data is also linked with your contacts. The navigation feature in Froyo is also a big plus although it is not available in Belgium (Please fix this Google!). I used it in London a few weeks ago and was really impressed. I have a Tom Tom with US maps on it for when I travel to the US but that’s going up for sale now.

So far there hasn’t been a single day that I missed my iPhone or any of the apps I used on it… Oh… wait… I’m lying. I miss the iPass app! As a frequent traveller I have access to iPass, a roaming service for wifi hotspots. I have it on my laptop but also used to have it on my iPhone. And I could also use an Android version of Concur, the system we use for expenses.

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Android week: Winner of the Google Nexus One

Wow… 707 comments on my “Win A Google Nexus One” post… Thank you all for your birthday wishes and your thoughts on Flash and AIR coming to Android devices.

Using the SQL statement below, I picked a winner from all entries.

SELECT * FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_post_ID = 2558 ORDER BY RAND() limit 1

The lucky winner is Patrick Welfringer.

Thanks again for al your entries. It’s amazing to see the excitement for Flash Player 10.1 and AIR coming to Android and other mobile devices.

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Android week: The Web and TV marriage: Google TV

A few years ago I used to work for Belgium’s biggest commercial broadcaster. In my last year there (now 7 years ago) I investigated interactive TV. I was pretty disappointed to see what was available at that time. Almost 5 years ago my local cable operator (Telenet) launched interactive digital TV in Belgium and I was still disappointed. While their set-top box is connected to the web, it only uses it to “call home” when you order VOD content. Ooh… and you can read your email on it…

A few weeks ago, Telenet updated their set-top box UI… And I was still disappointed. Telenet is in a unique position. They are already in my house with an Internet connected STB that is connected to my big screen TV. This is where I want to see my web content. When I search for my favorite TV show, I want to see when it plays on my favorite TV channels but I also want it to show me related web content from YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, … When I browse their VOD content, I want to read other people’s reviews from IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Twitter, … That is what I want from my digital tv… And Google just launched it at Google I/O. Google TV is exactly what I want to see on my TV… It’s 2010 for God’s sake! Unfortunately I live in Belgium and I probably will not see Google TV any time soon…

Here’s a demo of Google TV recorded by the Adobe TV team. Oh… And before I forget: Google TV runs Flash Player 10.1 and AIR!

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Android week: Watch the Google I/O keynote online

The Google I/O keynote is only a little over 3 hours away. I am super excited about Google I/O this year. I wish I was there… But if you’re like me and you couldn’t make it out to San Francisco you can still be a part of it.

Both today’s and tomorrow’s keynote will be streamed live on Google I/O’s YouTube channel. I can’t think of a better way of celebrating my birthday than to sit back with a nice glass of wine and watch the keynote live. I know… I am a bit of a geek :D. You can count on me doing the same thing tomorrow ;-). Trust me… You don’t want to miss this event… We have some very exciting announcements coming up and I’m sure Google also has a thing or two up their sleeves!

The keynote starts at 9:00 am PDT. That’s 12:00pm in New York, 5:00pm in London, 6:00pm in Belgium, 1:00am in Tokyo.

Oh… And just in case you missed it: I’m giving away a Google Nexus One!

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Android week: Win a Google Nexus One!

So today is my birthday… ehr… I mean… Today is the start of Google I/O! To celebrate both occasions, I am giving away a Google Nexus One to one of my readers.

I’m sure you all know that Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2 are coming to mobile devices. In order to win the Google Nexus One I want you to tell me which site(s)/app(s)/game(s) (built with Flash) you are most looking forward to using on your mobile device. What have you been missing on your current mobile device? Which application do you want to build with AIR for Android? Just leave a comment below and I will pick a random winner from all entries on Friday May 21st at 12pm GMT.

Easy, huh?

Just a few simple rules:

  • The Google Nexus One phone is unlocked and ready to be used anywhere in the world.
  • I will ship the device anywhere in the world using Fedex.
  • This contest is open to anyone anywhere unless prohibited by law in your country.
  • The winner will be picked randomly.
  • Entries can be submitted until Friday May 21st 11:59am GMT.
  • If you win, you will be notified by email. That means you have to enter a valid email address when you post a comment! If the email bounces, I will pick a new winner.
  • In order to fight spam, the comments on this blog are moderated. Don’t panic if your comment does not appear immediately.

Looking forward to your comments!

UPDATE: This contest is now over. The winner is Patrick Welfringer. Thank you all for your comments!

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Flash Player 10.1 preview release for Android at Google I/O

Even though I already have FP10.1 installed on my Nexus One (one of the many perks of working at Adobe ;-)), I’m very happy to see that we will be releasing a public preview of Flash Player 10.1 for Android on my birthday… eh I mean… at Google I/O on May 19th/20th.

Ever since I switched to the Nexus One as my main phone I’ve been using Flash Player on the Android browser just about every day. I already told you a while ago that I am a news junkie and that I like to keep up with the news wherever I go. When something happens in the world, I usually visit a number of different news sites to see what they have to say. A lot of news outlets use Flash to deliver their videos. With Flash Player 10.1 installed on my device I can just open up a browser window, type in the URL that I am used to browsing to on my desktop machine and then just click on the video which starts playing instantly. No need to (purchase) download and install an app. The same content that I am used to seeing on my desktop machine is just right there.

I can’t wait to see and read your experiences with Flash Player on your mobile device. Google’s Android may be first but RIM, Palm (soon to be HP), Microsoft, Nokia and others will follow soon.

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Google and Adobe bringing improved Flash Player support in Chrome

There’s been lot of buzz in the blogs about this over the last 24 hours. Now, the news is official: Google and Adobe are bringing improved Flash Player support in Chrome.

Paul Betlem: Today, Google is releasing the initial integration of Flash Player with Chrome in their developer channel (behind a command line flag). Moving forward, Google will be including Flash Player in Chrome so users will always have the most current release and a safer and more seamless experience. The robust integration between Chrome and Flash Player will serve as a showcase for more consistent, seamless, and efficient Web browsing experiences. We feel that this significant effort by both Google and Adobe will directly improve the speed of innovation and move the Web forward, benefiting the entire community of developers and end-users.

Adobe is also working with Google, Mozilla and the broader community on a new plugin integration API that will be OS- and browser-neutral and thus maximize consistency across platforms. The new API will also provide performance benefits as the browser will be able to directly share more information about its current state and also provide a more secure browsing experience.

For more information, check out the Chromium Blog and Paul Betlem’s blog post on the Flash Player team blog.

To enable the internal Flash Player on OS X, download and install the Chrome developer channel version. Then open up Terminal and type: “open -a Google\ Chrome –args –enable-internal-flash”

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Android catching up fast!

Google is selling 60.000 Android devices every day. According to MobileCrunch, that works out to about 5.4 million handsets per quarter, or 21.9 million per year. And the rate is growing rapidly, according to Eric Schmidt who kicked off the Mobile World Live Keynote initiative yesterday.

Android is also not just about handsets anymore. I’ve seen a bunch of tablets running Android as well. The Android OS is free and open source and most of all… you’re in complete control of what you install on it and how you use the web on the device. Very soon you’ll be able to grab Flash Player 10.1 and AIR from the Android Market and install it on your Android device to not only get a full web experience in the device’s browser but also get the power of AIR for standalone applications.

Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt talked about why this is important in his Mobile World Live Keynote while Eric Tseng (Senior Product Manager for Android) demoed Flash Player 10.1 on a Nexus One. He actually summed it up very nicely by saying: “The line is blurring between mobile phones and desktop computing… One of our main goals when we embarked on smartphones at Google was to really mirror the desktop web browsing experience – but for many of you and you know who you are – there’s been a critical component missing – Flash!“. But you don’t have to take my word for it… You can watch it here yourself!

I was telling a few colleagues earlier that I wish I could take a few weeks off and just build Flash/AIR apps for Android. Because now I can use the skills that I already know to create apps for these devices… Android really is the first mobile OS that can really compete with Apple’s mobile OS and the fact that it is going to have Flash Player and AIR very soon is just the cherry on top! Flash on!

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Day 2 with the Nexus One

I promised to keep you up to date with how I get on with Google’s Nexus One. Today is actually already day three without using Apple’s phone and I’m still enjoying it. The only thing that I am really starting to miss is a decent mail client. This could potentially become a real problem.

The Nexus One has a decent mail client but it doesn’t support the certificates that our Exchange server uses. That means I have to rely on third party solutions and the only option available in the free Android Market is the Touchdown client. It works fine but the UI is just… well… let’s be kind and say that it doesn’t look that good. The mail client that I want to use (Moxier Mail) is not available as a free download and because there still is no official way to get paid apps in the Android Market in Belgium, I can’t buy it. I really dislike the UI on Touchdown… So much so that I find it horrible to use.

I really really hope I can solve this soon because I really need a decent Exchange client…

Other than that I am really happy with the Nexus One’s performance and its features. And having Flash in the Nexus One’s browser already changed the way I used the mobile web. Yesterday I heard about another act of violence/vandalism in Brussels and so I wanted to look up more info on the web. The article on the local news site I visited also had a video… Flash Video. I just hit the play button and watched the entire clip in the Nexus One. If I was still using Apple’s phone, I would have needed to take out my laptop to see the clip…

After watching that clip, I was curious to see how other Flash Video enabled sites would work. I opened up CNN.com, picked one of the news clips, hit play… and it immediately started playing. I also tried the BBC’s iPlayer and some other local news sites. They just worked… without the need for the publisher to republish their content in a different format. I just opened the browser, opened the exact same sites that I visit/use on my laptop and clicked “Play”. Now that’s a magical web experience!

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Wall Street Journal on Apple, Flash and more

The Wall Street Journal just published an interesting article entitled “The Microsofting of Apple?” with their thoughts on Apple, Flash, Google and more. If you’re not subscribed to the WSJ, you can find the article on Ben Forta’s blog.

It’s refreshing to see the “old media’s” take on this… They surely make some interesting points.

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