I've just come back from a chat with Paul Foster of Microsoft. We were discussing Windows Phone 7 - its promises and its problems. I remain convinced that Windows Phone 7 (WP7) will be a hit. There are so many delightful touches in the operating system that I won't be surprised if it is ripped off before it is fully launched. I was given an excellent overview of the software and proposed functionality. I also played with a demo handset. Even at this early stage the software is smooth a…
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Sauntering down Oxford Street, Mauricio Reyes spotted Nokia's secret Android plans. Nokia phones "running" Android Is this just a hapless Photoshop mistake - or a sign of things to come?!?!?!?! (more…) …
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It turns out that my washing machine is incompatible with my BlueTooth headset. What was once my favourite little gizmo - resplendent with blinking lights - is now little more than scrap metal. Arse. Dead BT3030 The Jabra BT3030 was, without a doubt, the best BlueTooth headset I ever had. There were regular firmware updates for it. Sound and call quality were excellent. It could pair with two devices simultaneously - and automagically pause the music on one if you received a call on the…
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For those who don't follow the hive-mind on Twitter, there has been a run in with Scientology trying to stifle free speech. Or, as I think, not. Here are the brief facts of the case. A local councillor (John Dixon) has a Twitter account "CllrJohnDixon" Last year, he tweeted: "I didn't know the Scientologists had a church on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried past in case the stupid rubs off." Someone in Scientology didn't like this and raised an official complaint. The Public …
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I attended the Mobile Monday meeting "200,000 Apps - Where's Mine" last night. One thing that became clear is that apps don't do a very good job of promoting themselves. One crippling problems with most app stores is that there's no (easy) way to share an app with a friend. Here's some basic code for an Android app which will post the URL of your app to Twitter. Stick it in a button or menu item for easy sharing. String twitterUri = "http://m.twitter.com/?status="; String marketUri =…
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I'm not the biggest fan of Microsoft. Both my original Xboxes now run Linux, I've converted my laptop and computers to Ubuntu, and I generally laugh in the face of Microsoft's increasingly desperate attempts to stay relevant. So it was with great mirth that I went along to a BizSpark event a few weeks ago. Microsoft were going to be showing off their latest "innovation" - Windows Phone 7. I went along expecting to hate it and, instead, found myself curiously drawn to it. Take a look at the …
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USSD - it's a funny acronym. Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. You type a code into your phone's dialler. - the phone queries the network and displays some information for you. There are five types of USSD Command Activate - turn on the functionality: *USSD# Deactivate - turn off the functionality: #USSD# Register - set a particular condition: **USSD# Erase - delete any settings set by Register: ##USSD# Interrogate - check what it is doing: *#USSD# Universal USSD Codes I can't find…
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Another quick Android tutorial. I couldn't find an easy or correct method of launching a browser when you click on a homescreen widget. Well, here it is... public class clickWidget extends AppWidgetProvider { @Override public void onUpdate( Context context, AppWidgetManager appWidgetManager, int[] appWidgetIds ) { RemoteViews remoteViews = new RemoteViews( context.getPackageName(), R.layout.widget ); remoteViews.setImageViewResource(R.id.ImageView01, drawableResourse); ComponentName…
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In this Mobile Badvertising series, I regularly pick on the Guardian. I don't have anything against them - they're my favourite mobile news resource. It's such a shame that the advertising they have on the site is atrocious. Samsung Galaxy S The Galaxy S is Samsung's latest Android handset. There are so many Android phones out there that you need a really great advertising campaign (or a really great product) to stand out from the competition. Let's take a look at the Samsung campaign. Sm…
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This is a really geeky app! You know USSD? They're the codes you can type in to your phone to send messages back and forth to the networks. You've probably seen something like *#147# to display the last caller. My second app presents a series of buttons which call the USSD commands - so you don't have to remember if it's the HLR or VLR which is queried by *#103#. Useful, I know.... You can download the app by scanning in this QR code. Android App - Vodafone UK USSD Commands The majority …
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I've been playing around with Android. It's a great platform for development. I really appreciated the speed to release of the Android Market - it's instant. Having worked with iPhone and Ovi stores where approval can take days or even weeks, it's great to have the freedom to publish immediately. The first app I've created is "Advanced Test Card". You can download it by scanning in this QR code. Scan to download Advanced Test Card for Android At the moment, it just has 5 modes. Red,…
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Looking for some Twitter API help. Bit of a geeky post, this... Pagination is the act of splitting data into logical pages. Suppose I had a list of item, numbered 0 - 99. If I want 20 items per page, it's trivial to see that pagination looks like: p1 = 0-19 p2 = 20-40 p3 = 41-61 p4 = 62-82 p5 = 83-99 If I wanted to start at, say, page 55 - pagination would look like: p1 = 55-75 p2 = 76-96 p3 = 97-99 Easy, right? So why am I telling you this? Twitter Timeline Imagine that those items …
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