Friday, May 11, 2012

Random Tips for Nexus

Add a ringing tone for calls:

We had already talked about adding a ringtone for sms notifications and we'll see how to make ring tones. As always, Android, it is very easy. Just connect the phone via USB and create the directory tree media / audio / ringtones to the root of the phone (if not already). Placed just want the mp3 file in that folder. It remains only to change the ringtone: go to Settings> Sound> Ringtone and select the phone ringing freshly added. Note that to disable USB storage memory to be able to select custom ringtones.


Add picture in the SMS application:

In applying SMS / MMS default Android, sent messages appear in the son as sent by me with the opportunity to display your avatar or your photo. First let's see how the SMS / MMS application chooses which image display. It uses the parameter My Android phone number visible in Settings> About phone> state. Then it searches your contacts have a contact that phone number and use his photo. 

We must begin by creating a contact: put your full name, your phone number, your email addresses ... and a photo. You can do this since Gmail saw that it synchronizes itself. Another advantage to create a contact for yourself is that you can share it by email, SMS, Bluetooth or NFC to easily give your details to anyone else. 

Point annoying to many, in my phone number, there is marked Unknown, or there is a back issue, making it difficult to find your contact so your photo. This parameter is actually in the SIM card. It is not at all helpful to make or receive calls, there are only for cosmetic reasons. If there is not your number, we must add it. But the ROM by default does not change this setting. If you have a custom ROM (Cyanogen or otherwise), you can edit it directly.

Add a ringing tone for alarms:

We had already talked about adding a ringtone and sms notifications and a ringer for calls , we'll see how to make ringtones for the alarm (the alarm). Just connect the phone via USB and create the directory tree media / audio / alarms to the root of the phone (if not already). Placed just want the mp3 file in that folder. It will appear in the list of ringing alarm clock via its title. It remains only to change the ringtone for your alarm to go to Application Panel> Clock> Alarm tone and select the newly added to the alarm of your choice. Those who have put the clock widget on their desktop can directly access it via alarms. 

Long press:

If instead of pressing a key, or a word or an icon on the screen, keep pressing your finger for a couple of seconds, most of the time you open a menu with options specific to that item. For example: 
If you hold the start button, a menu with the eight most recent applications. This allows you, for example, quickly go for example from an email you are writing your web browser.

Within the implementation of the browser, if you hold down the backspace key - the one labeled with an arrow U-turned to the left - will open a screen with your favorite bookmarks, most visited pages and browsing history.
If you do a long press on the bottom of the screen, a menu of options, including shortcuts. You can create a shortcut to a bookmarked Web page, a person on your list of contacts, or a navigation destination. Android display the shortcut label with the logo of the website, the face of the person or the icon choice for destinations.

Too many icons on the screen? No problem. With a long press on the screen displays a menu that includes a choice of folders. You can create a folder icon, to name that folder and drag all the applications you want.
Long press a link on a Web page displays a menu that allow to open the link in a new window. To change the window, press the Menu key - which is a grid of four squares - and a touch of Windows in the options screen.

Customize your home screen:

First, the customization of wallpaper for your Android phone. From the menu, simply select Wallpaper. Follow the prompts to select images from photos taken by your phone, the downloaded images, or the default wallpaper. Some devices are proposing to add an image map in motion. But this is only the beginning of a whole series of possibilities. Programmers have created dozens of widgets that can be integrated on your home screen. 

TouchWiz homescreen supports up to seven, and switch between them can quickly become a problem. However, pinching the home, it opens a screen that shows pictures of all the screens available, as happens on phones of HTC. By clicking, you can open it on the screen. Keeping a hold, however, it becomes a scroll bar that allows quick switching from one screen to another. 

Other tricks for Samsung Galaxy Nexus regarding the homescreen is the adjustment of the brightness of the screen, for which the touch and move your finger left or right on the notification bar at the top, or the addition of wallpaper and widget for which a long press on an empty part of the screen.

Contacts:

This trick for Samsung Galaxy Nexus will allow you to send calls or messages so much quicker. Once you have before you the name of the contact you want to call, instead of selecting it and then send the transaction, you can simply scroll left and start the call. If you scroll to the right, however, you can send a message. With regard to the right side, which lists all the letters of the alphabet, just click to jump directly to the corresponding contact.



Got a few of these tips from a forum. Which ones didn't you know before?

Monday, May 7, 2012

Accessories for the Nexus

I was looking at a forum where there were 45 pages of comments about Samsung Galaxy Nexus accessories. Some of the accessories mentioned were

  • Covers for the phone - most of which can be easily found for less than $20 on Ebay and the like
  • 2000mAh batteries - there was much discussion about whether these batteries really presented value for money given that they only provide one or two hours more usage. 
  • Desk dock - sit your phone down on one of these and it will charge and sync to your computer. 
Which accessories did you buy and which ones did you regret?

V rather than the spacebar

Just wondering whether other Galaxy Nexus users out there found themselves pressing v rather than the spacebar? Is it because the spacebar is not visible enough? It seems like Samsung recognised this problem and a lot of common mistyped words where the v was pressed rather than the spacebar is corrected by the autocorrect. Did other people find workarounds such as installing different keyboards to overcome this problem? Or is it just me?

Memory Verse Android App

For those that are Christians who would like to learn memory verses using their android phone, there is an app called Remember Me Bible Verse which is pretty clever. It takes all the ideas of learning memory verses and puts them all together. Features include: 


● Listen to verses as they are read to you
● Study flashcards
● Play word puzzles
● Obfuscate a passage and fill in the gaps
● First letter and placeholder methods
● Line by line practice
● Take randomly generated quizzes
● Intelligent review system
● Enter quotes on web browser
● Retrieve scriptures from online Bibles
● More than 100 verses preloaded 
● Export collections to SD card
● Set daily reminders
● Flashcard widget for your home screen
● Share your words of wisdom
● Small collection of children's verses
● Numerous Bible translations



You can download it from the Google Play store here

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Quick Comparison - S2 v S3 v Nexus v HTC One X

With the announcement of the new Samsung Galaxy S3 coming out, one of the most commonly tweeted images about it is this comparison between the S3 with S2, our Galaxy Nexus and the HTC One X. It is not a complete comparison but it's a good start.

Where are the Bookmarks on the Nexus?

I am not sure why it seems that the built in Nexus Web Browser doesn't have a very intuitive way of getting to the bookmarks. When you press the location bar options button, the only option is to save the current webpage to the bookmarks. TO which I think, why would I do that when I can't seem to get to the bookmarks? Anyway, it seems that there are two ways to get to the bookmarks

  1. Click on the multiple windows icon in the location bar, and then click on the bookmark icon.
  2. Press and hold down the back key which will show up the History as well as the Bookmarks on the left and saved pages on the right. 

Another way is to create a widget on one of your home screens which shows all your bookmarks and allows you to scroll through all of them. 


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Vodafone Australia Widget to Keep Track of Spending

For those like myself who are constantly logging in to check balances and usage statistics on everything, Vodafone has an app that will save you a lot of time. The widget actually, not an app, sits on your front page and tells you how much of your
  • Included call credits have been used
  • Data used 
  • Time left till the next billing cycle
Just thought I would let you know in case someone out there finds this just as useful. That is all.


How to use the NFC?



One of the distinct features of the Nexus that made me choose it over the Galaxy S2 was the availability of the NFC feature which allows you to interact with things like access cards and in the future perhaps use Google Wallet with the phone to make payments.

However, once I got the phone, I had no idea how to test the NFC feature. I downloaded a program called NFC Taginfo and tried to scan my wallet. When I opened the application, it asked me to scan a tag. I put my wallet to the phone and heard the phone respond. It scanned my company's access card and showed a series of "sectors" which I presume are secured areas. One area showed a different pattern which I guess would be the area that I have access to. Anyway, I can say that the NFC works and at the moment I can't seem to find any other application for it other than just for kicks :)

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Galaxy S2 Users Catching up to Nexus

Today Vodafone Australia released the Android update for the Samsung Galaxy S2 which enables users to upgrade to the Ice Cream Sandwich. This means that S2 users will be able to use the same operating system version as Galaxy Nexus users such as yourself. Get ready to hear from a lot of excited friends as they enjoy their Ice Cream Sandwich.

So this is what they have to look forward to that we enjoy already on the Galaxy Nexus:

  • Speed and performance enhancements
  • Folders of your favourite apps right on your homescreen
  • Improved keyboard input and error correction
  • Face Unlock – unlock your phone with a smile
  • Data Usage Meter
  • Improved voice detection including voice typing
  • Enhanced multitasking interface
  • Resizable homescreen widgets

Map as a Live Wallpaper?

I was looking through the live wallpapers for the Galaxy Nexus and came across one of the wallpapers that left me wondering for a few days about whether it is useful or not. The live wallpaper shows your current location on Google Maps as a background for your phone. When you scroll through your various screens, the map moves in the direction of your scroll.

It also made me wonder whether this feature is using up unnecessary battery as the GPS needs to be activated in order to find where you are (obviously). What do you think and have you tried this wallpaper? I'm still working out whether the battery is getting drained by it.