DISCUSSION - A List of Recommended Android Apps

Here's a list of Android Apps, which I'll always keep on my Android devices. Of course, you may have your own favorites. But, these may be helpful to give you a good starting:

• ES Explorer (EStrongs Inc.) - provides you a bundle of extra functions compared to the built-in Explorer
• Color Note (Notes) - though many people love Evernote, but for me, after comparing the two, I prefer Color Note, can save and send to others
• Skitch (Evernote Corp.) - a very elegant tool to do free hand drawings, with auto smoothing, very efficient apps
• Whiteboard (HenryHuang) - with a simple interface, yet I love it's simplicity
• Handrite (NC Corp.) - a very fast free handwriting notepad, can edit 
• StopWatch & Timer (sportstracklive.com) - so far no ads. Count up and down. I used to like UltraChron Stopwatch, however it's recent update with ads really disappointed me
• Skype (Skype) - it's choice because of no choice!!
• Offline dictionaries (NGHS.FR) - if you have a chance to search for Android dictionary apps, you'll experience much frustration of the lacking of an offline good dictionary apps. Really good ones like Cobuild are paid apps. Free dictionary apps are most likely with ads and support only online dictionary. Offline dictionary is really very rare. This one worth try
• Merriam Webster (Merriam-Webster Inc.) - another offline dict, but sometimes you might feel the definitions and explanation a bit change
• Winamp (Nullsoft Inc.) - work much like its Windows version, very well-designed apps for music playing
• Music Volume EQ (K&K Design) - often a problem of Android tablet is the built-in speaker sound too soft. This EQ can help boost certain frequencies and make your bulilt-in speaker usable. This is especially helpful when you use Skype on Android tablet
• Maps (Google Inc.) - Google map, I think no need to explain
• QuickPic (AlenSW.COM) - many Android users are frustrated with the built-in Gallery, which is very inefficient in handling photos on your device. QuickPic, as the name indicates, it is QUICK, it's really FAST in browsing and viewing pictures!! I also love its options like excluding some folders when browsing, so you can skip some not-interested pictures
• Zoner Antivirus (Zoner, Inc.) - install and you can almost forget even the presence of an antivirus. It's so light-weight and transparent in functioning
• Aldiko Book Reader (Aldiko Limited) - unlike Apple's IOS, Android simply lacking a good ePub reader, but this one, after I've tried half a dozen of ePub readers, this is my choice, really satisfied
• MX Player (MX Technologies) - there're many good media players, video players; but this one gives me a very clean feel, though sometimes its buttons are not working as they suppose to be
• GO Launcher (GO Launcher Dev Team) - it replaces the default Android launcher. However, on Android 4, I like to default more than GO

DISCUSSION - PCCW wifi coverage in Hong Kong

PCCW's wifi is one of the cheapest option of wifi connection all over Hong Kong, with 9,000 hotspots. The current cheapest plan costs only HK$48 per month, unlimited use for one registered device. No contract is needed, one month at a time.

However, when use, you will want to check if the coverage includes the places you usually will go:
http://maps.pccwwifi.com/DMap.html?locale=en_HK

When reading the coverage map, remember the signal is basically 2D!! That means, if you go up a building of 50/F, do not expect you can get any signal at all!!

For better coverage, many will use the 3G telephone network. The CONS is that it's more expensive and with slower bandwidth.

TIPS - IRQ not less or equal blue screen

This Windows blue screen message sometimes appears after plug in new hardware to a PC system. To troubleshoot this problem, you may follow these steps:

• Unplug the new piece of hardware, is the message no more?
• Do not assume your new hardware is bad. It may be your power supply unit (PSU) is not stable, or not giving enough power to the added hardware power consumption. Get another better PSU and try
• Sometimes, bad memory (RAM) could be a problem, especially when you didn't add any new hardware recently. And, your system suddenly start to show such a blue screen. Do a memory test. Many will recommend you to use http://www.memtest.org/. Another simple way is, if your BIOS setup has memory test function, it could save you some time.

For a laptop, it may not be so easy to change the power supply unit. Then, try to disable some built-in functions like fingerprint, light sensor, 1394 port, modem, etc. of your laptop through the BIOS setup. 

SOLVED! - "Windows cannot read the product key from the unattended answer file"

When I was installing the just downloaded "Windows 8 Consumer Preview" ISO file, mount it to my VMware Player, this is the error message I got. Setup will not continue, but loop back, restart.

To solve this problem, follow this steps:

• Power off your VM
• Go to Virtual Machine Settings
• On the Floppy item under Hardware tab, uncheck the option "Connect at power on". Also, I have set the floppy to "Use Physical Drive". Save your settings.
• Power on your VM

Yes, the latest version of VMware Player supports even Windows 8. So, why risking your PC to test Windows 8.

After reading a brief introduction of Windows 8 on Microsoft website, I'm still very confused of what Windows 8 is like... So, I decided to download and test run Windows 8 on a new VM. The first thing notice, Windows 8 has a tight link with Live and your SkyDrive. The user interface, very different... more like Android Tablet style... very much touch screen style.

The Windows key now plays a very important role - returns to Home page (above).

I love the full screen mode, for the Internet Explorer; also the Reader, which now displays 2 pages of PDF at the same time - what a wonderful feature!

However, this is just a Preview release. So, many of the features are not accessible - music, video, Maps app (I'm outside US), Finance, even the games are all not available... how disappointing!

DISCUSSION - Android Market Becomes "Play"

Just a few days ago, I was helping my friend to install some Apps on his Android smartphone. And, strange ... the "Market" icon has gone, replaced by the "Play Store" (it took me some time to figure out what's happening). Such a change in name is really unusual, and I believe that this reveals a major change in the direction of Google on the Android market; or, I'd say a clear trend has developed, toward the entertainment market - so "Play Store", rather than "Market"... surely is another a business decision of Google.

*This chart is based on figures from wikipedia. Sorry for not quite in scale, yet still good enough for your reference.

No matter what, Android has become a popular platform - for mobiles and tablets, even some laptops on shelf run Android! In Hong Kong, if you have a chance to go to popular shopping areas, places like Sham Shui Po, you will be surprised to see how mobile phones being dominant (over 80-90%) by Android! I can hardly find any Windows OS phone, maybe occasionally find one or two models. Android devices and accessories are everywhere in Hong Kong. Indeed many of my friends are using Android without any idea how much their phone can do, they simply use it as a mobile phone ... until when I show them ... they simply can't believe their eyes!!

I think the most dramatic transition is within these 3 months, from not many is using a tablet around, to now almost all my friends around, yes, it's almost everyone of them is with an Android tablet or phone.

With the ever growing Apps on the Market, the usability and value of Android device keeps growing. However, how many Apps can a device install? Maybe a browser, email, apps for viewing documents, excels, pdf, epub, video player, music player, photo gallery, and a few tools you use, etc. and that's it. Still, the number of Apps an average person will use is quite limited. But, for entertainment, on the "data" side - music, video, books; of course, together with games - the potential is much greater!! Just think about the success of Angry Bird - well, in Hong Kong, you can see Angry Bird everywhere, not just simply as a game, but Angry Birds of all kinds - decoration, key-chain, bags, toys, clothes, even cakes!!

We see the logic behind the change of name - Google "Play"!!

HOW TO - Turn Windows XP to Windows 7 Theme

Just completed another little project of turning a Windows XP Home laptop to Windows 7 look. This Dell Inspiron 700m is too slow to install a Windows 7 OS, with just a Intel Pentium M 1.6GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and a 40GB HDD. The CPU benchmark according to http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php is 406, more or less the same as a Thinkpad T30. Yet, I'm surprised of its good condition and wide screen configuration.

This is the final look, what do you think? It doesn't look old at all!!

After the theme change, I'm so happy that it didn't take much of the system resources. After system loaded, it still got about 300MB RAM for use.

Here're the steps to do such a theme change:

• Download the needed theme files theme files - http://www.deviantart.com/download/133568262/SevenVG_RTM_Theme_for_XP_by_Vishal_Gupta.zip
• Extract the files to a folder, read the readme text files under each subfolder
• Go to the Theme folder and run the Theme.exe
• Go to each of the rest of the folder, follow the text documents; or click on the executable files under each folder; exception is the shellstyle.dll, which you need to copy manually to the specified location
• Restart your computer

Using Styler - 
The key part of the whole style change is on the Styler, which should appear at the bottom right corner as a yellowish snake icon. Right click on the Styler icon, choose Show. Under Style, double click on the Themes folder, select SevenVGRB. Select other tabs and make other settings as you like.

Show Desktop Rectangular button - The Show Desktop button at the bottom right corner of Windows 7 is a handy shortcut. To add this function to XP, download this little tool to your computer and create a shortcut to it in program startup:
http://www.deviantart.com/download/133022210/Show_Desktop_by_CeIIular.rar

Other Themes -

Other themes are available, this link provides more information:

http://www.askvg.com/sevenvg-rtm-download-windows-7-rtm-theme-for-windows-xp/ 

There're ways to do more tricks... however, strike a balance, everything you download and install will eat up certain resources from your computer, which is already lacking resources...

Final Words -
Of course, it just have the look; function-wise, can't compare with Windows 7. If you really want to try something new, another direction will be go Linux. There's a version of Ubuntu, called Lubuntu, which should run pretty smooth on such a low performance old machine. The look, also pretty cool. Check this out - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/GetLubuntu

HOW TO - Sync Data Files in Multiple Locations

Corporates often have needs to share data between multiple locations, these could be documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF files, even database; and up-to-date information stored in file folders will be sychronized to branches, outlets or shops. Similar, individuals will also like to synchronize files in their computers at work, at home or their notebook/laplop.

An automatic way of doing such sync would be great...
If this is your need, Windows Live Mesh is surely an option worth your investigation. What you need is a hotmail account and install Windows Live Essential (Mesh) on all computers you need to synchronize data.

To start with, go to www.live.com,  open your hotmail account. If you already have an account, logon to your live.com or hotmail.com, mouse over on the Windows Live logo at the top bottom corner, you will find downloads. Download and install your copy of Windows Live Mesh.

With Windows Live Mesh, you can even synchronize file folders to your friends' computers. A list of devices (computers) and sync folders will be maintained under your account. You can also synchronize folders to SkyDrive. Besides, files and folders, your Microsoft Office styles, templates, custom dictionaries and email signatures can also be synchronized between your computers.

However, currently there are some limitations of Mesh:

• Sync space limit of 5GB
• Network folders or shares cannot be shared / sync
• Only Windows Vista / 7 or higher are supported, not available in Windows XP
• Sync and share to a maximum of 9 people
• Permission rights limited to full rights, which means once shared to others, all others can add, modify and remove files
• Mesh does not sync SkyDrive, but only the 5GB separate storage space
• Support for mobile devices is missing

Although there're some limitations on Windows Live Mesh in use, it's a very practical and simple way to quickly sync files on multiple computers over the Internet securely.

HOW TO - Sync Hotmail Calendar to Android

To synchronize Hotmail mails and calendar to your Android device#, do these:

You should have a calendar app on your Android device. If you're happy with your current calendar, go directly to (1); otherwise, you may also go to Android Market to download and install a calendar app like "aCalendar".

1. On your Android device, go to Android Market, download Hotmail app (by Microsoft + SEVEN)* and install it
2. Open Hotmail app, setup your Hotmail account
3. Press and hold on your account, select Settings. In Calendar item, check "Sync Calendar". Return back to Account Settings
4. Press Sync New Calendar

Other Hotmail data like contacts and email folders can also be synchronized in a similar way. By default, only your Hotmail Inbox will be synchronized. Also, there's a limit of maximum 30 days to keep your Inbox mail data.

#Hotmail sync also supports other phones like Windows Phone, iPhone, some Nokia phones and BlackBerry phones. - http://explore.live.com/hotmail-mobile?T1=t1
*There are other apps with similar names. However, this is the only official app for Hotmail sync.

DISCUSSION - Microsoft's Live.com or Googles?

After using Googles for so long, I'm always a happy user of Googles. However, recently I've been heavily testing the features available in Microsoft's live.com (SkyDrive). My conclusion, Microsoft's live.com is my choice in Calendar, Web Apps (Office Applications) and Group sharing!!

Pros:

• Better compatibility of your Microsoft Office - currently, Web Apps of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote are available
• Better learning curve as the Web Apps user interface resembles their desktop full version
• Easy integration of web calendars to your Outlook
• Easy integration of web mails to your Outlook or Windows Live mail client
• OneNote App available for your smartphone, easy synchronization
• Easy document sharing with security rights set, concurrent edit with good response time
• 25GB SkyDrive storage
• Professional look and very user friendly

Cons:

• Occasionally, users may experience server bottlenecks and slowness in response time
• Googles offer far more features than Microsoft's SkyDrive
• Googles is consistently faster, with proven reliability
• Mobile or tablet device support is lacking, only OneNote is supported. Android Apps for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Email, Calendar are severly lacking
• For sharing, users need a hotmail or live account, which is a hindrance for use because many are happy with their Googles account

In the mean time, I'll keep my Googles account and it's hard for me to believe that Microsoft will provide the same set of features for free as Googles. However, for documents and calendar sharing, Microsoft SkyDrive is definitely my choice!!

DISCUSSION - Lubuntu, "Light" Edition of Ubuntu

Although the published minimum requirement of Ubuntu is pretty low, tests show that it's not practical to run Ubuntu linux on hardware which is too old, or just meet the minimum requirement. A better option would be "Lubuntu".

I've tested installing Ubuntu 11.10 on a laptop with Pentium 4, 1.6GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and 40GB HDD. Installation successful, however, the resulting performance is so bad that it's not practical for actual use.

Then, I noticed another edition of Ubuntu - Lubuntu, the light edition of Ubuntu. It takes much less resources, so even on a slower laptop like the above, it's still good enough. Installation is pretty fast. Hardware side, drivers were all successfully installed without any problem, not much difference from Ubuntu. Software side, basic web browsing, email, media player, word processor, terminal are all available inside the install ISO. Indeed, the desktop look is not bad, even better than Ubuntu (my personal opinion)!!

However, users of Lubuntu need to aware that besides the system installation, 3rd party application installation will not be as straight forward as Ubuntu. The Software Center is missing. In many cases, you will need to open a terminal, type commands to install software. Language pack support may cause you some difficulties. No office application is available by default, so more complicated word processing, spreadsheet, presentation features are not readily available, unless you install them afterwards.

Of course, Lubuntu is not as feature-rich and user friendly as Ubuntu, though it's a very good option for computers with slow CPU and lacking RAM. A computer with Pentium 4, 2GHz or lower, or 512MB RAM or lower, Lubuntu should be your choice.

Those who have interest to try it, here's the official download site:
http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases