Instagram for Android

My little Android buddy is excited. 

Pink hibiscus

So Android finally has its version of Instagram. The ever popular iPhone app made its way on Google Play early this morning. I find it to be impressive for a first release. I ran into a few force closes here and there but nothing too serious that would have an effect on user experience.

If you haven't heard about Instagram, it's a wildly popular app that originated on Apple's App Store. This app enables the user to apply various filters to photos while connecting users through various social networks. The networks included are Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Foursquare.

Although Instagram is a well made first release, I find it to be nothing more than an iPhone port. Instagram's user interface does not match the slickness found in Android's UI. It just feels out of place. Perhaps the developers should've made it with an Ice Cream Sandwich theme in mind.

Sunset in Hawaii

One of the bugs I discovered was quite annoying. Whenever you take a photo, the photo automatically shows up under your gallery. For example, when trying to take the "right" angle, if you don't get it on the first try, subsequent photos will be saved. I found myself deleting 19 useless photos from my album.

Another thing I found quite annoying was the fact that Instagram crops your photos. If you choose a photo from your gallery, you need to crop it. Thus degrading image quality. If your photos are anything but squares, you will need to crop the photo.

Aside from these minor problems, Instagram provides a great user experience. The social integration alone makes this app stand above other camera apps. Though, if you want more control over ISO, zoom, saturation, tint, etc., I wouldn't toss out your Vignette or Camera ZoomFX apps just yet.

Word Feud Fun

My sis told me to hurry up and make a move...

I told her to stop Russian me. 

Haha I'm lame. =X

Google Music Beta Impressions

I've been playing with it for awhile. I'm actually quite impressed with this whole saving your music on the cloud. The UI is silky smooth and very sleek. The newest update addresses several bugs and adds deleting songs the SD card. I've uploaded a very small portion of my library to try it out and it's just like having my PMP. I find the "offline caching" to be quite useful especially if you don't have a wireless connection.

The only thing I don't like about Google Music Beta is the album art. My album art is totally messed up. On my PMP, I deleted all traces of the album art because well...I don't like it. Now that I uploaded my music, the album art shows up. I have songs with and without album art now lol....Not really a complaint but rather a surprise.

Also, I have a tiered data plan of only 200mb/month. Streaming music via 3g would cost a bunch but I have settings configured to only stream via wifi. It's a quite useful setting especially if you don't have unlimited data.

Right now, I'm not sure if this will replace my PMP. I know the hard drive on that thing is going to go soon so I figured saving my music to the cloud just in case would be prudent. Overall, for a Beta release, it's quite good. For those hardcore music lovers out there, this release wouldn't replace PowerAMP. Though, if Google tweaks it a bit more, I think it'll be something great. 

EDIT: It seems that since Google doesn't have any licensing from companies, you can only upload your songs. You can't redownload them. No biggie. I'm sure Google will find a solution to this. 

I got my Google Music Beta invite!

I am quite excited to try it out. Actually I've had this invite for a couple days and I finally had some time to try it out. So far, I'm enjoying it. If anyone is wondering, this is Google's Cloud Drive and iCloud competitor. If you have the Android app, you can store your music to the cloud and stream it wirelessly.

If anyone has any questions about Music Beta, let me know =)

I'll be posting my initial impression in a bit. 

Plants Vs. Zombies finally hits the Amazon App Store! Get it NOW for FREE! Only 24 hours!!

Recently, Amazon has been throwing out exclusives on their App Store such as TuneIn Radio Pro and Chuzzle. Tonight is the night we've been waiting for....PLANTS VS ZOMBIES has just been released! It's free for just 24 hours. After that, it'll be $2.99. It's not bad for the price especially since it offers hours and hours of gameplay.

The download is 74mb so it's recommended to have a wifi connection. Luckily it has the Apps2SD function enabled so you can move it to your SD card. After install, it'll only take up 700kb of your memory.

I'm tweaking out right now. I suggest you join me and kill some zombies in the process. Download it now before you have to pay!

Here's the link

A few awesome pictures

Imagine trying to unlock that on a regular basis just for a call. 

I thought this was cool. An Apple user who also loves Android

This made me lulz. Click it for the higher resolution version

Last week of school then Summer starts

Then I'll finally be able to make updates. There's some kickass apps I've been playing with these past couple weeks. I'm excited to write about them. Sit tight everyone. I'll be back!

Anyone watched or attended Google I/O? Fantastic new products and updates. Android's future looks bright!

Well this isn't good

I haven't been updating because the semester is getting pretty tough. I've been having at least one exam and project per week. I believe it'll be like this for another couple weeks. Please bear with me. I'll start writing again.

Until then, here's a nice wallpaper. I thought it was awesome.

Click for high resolution

Plan

So here's the plan: I will still write about apps I've been using but at the same time, I will also post about the free app from the Amazon app store. Amazon's "one free paid app per day" program is really something and I thought I'd spread the word.

Check out the daily paid app here

Here's a wallpaper I've been using on my phone for the longest time. Thought I'd share it =)

ZENONIA 2 Free!! on Amazon App store for 24 hours!!

Anyone who loves RPGs should definitely get this app. Amazon is currently offering the paid version for free!! That's a $5 app for free! I've played the free version and I must say, it's quite addicting. There's 4 classes: Paladin, Shooter, Magician, and Warrior. The superb graphics match the storyline well. I find the monsters to be a bit Pokemonish which is a nice touch.  I think the best thing about the game is the PVP support.  This is definitely a game you'd want to play while riding the bus or waiting for your girlfriend to finish work.

Download the game here via Amazon AppStore

Download the game here via Amazon AppStore

X Construct Full Version from Amazon 24 hours only

Well as you may know, Amazon is currently offering a free app each day. Thought I'd make a mention of it on my blog.

Today's app is X Construct. You can read a little overview I wrote about the game several months back here.  This game is quite addicting because the physics are quite awesome. I also have to say some levels are a bit challenging too.

Here's the link to Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SPETQ4?ie=UTF8&ref=mas_faad

I must say, these apps from Amazon are quite appealing. So far I've got $14 worth of paid apps. Check it out.

Edit: If you need help installing the Amazon app store, shoot me a message and I'll try help you. 

Nintendo DS Emulator Coming to Android This Year (Maybe)!!

Believe it or not, a Nintendo DS emulator is currently in the works for our Android powered devices. Tiger King recently released his emulator app on the Android Market. It's only a demo and it doesn't work on all phones. Also it runs very slow even with my phone overclocked. As I understand, even the high end phones have difficulty running it. I wasn't able to get past the title screen. Though I was able to watch the intros for the games.There is no sound either.

Nevertheless, this shows the possibility of our phones one day being able to run Nintendo DS games. According to Tiger King, it'll be a while before it's fully optimized. Until then, all we can do is drool over the demo.

BTW: This app will only be on the Android Market for a limited time. 

Here are a few screenshots (lol Professor Layton fan here):

Tiger Lab (nds demo emulator) for Android on AppBrain

Gotta catch 'em all! App: Pokemon Game

Edit: PokeMon Game Ultimate Edition was recently released.
It features:
-Online Battles and Social Interactions
-New attacks when Pokemon level
-New pokemon added in each update

PokeMon Game Ultimate Edition for Android on AppBrain

Take some time and reminisce. Remember those days when you used to battle it out against friends via linkcable? What about those days when you tried to catch Moltres but ran out of Pokeballs? Anyone remember Mew and MissingNo? lol..

If you grew up during the 90's like me, you'd certainly know about Pokemon. Pokemon is short for "pocket monsters" which originated in Japan. Pokemon is a monster catching/battle game based on the manga and anime. During the 90's, Nintendo released the blockbuster hit games, Pokemon versions Blue and Red on the Gameboy handheld. Throughout the years, Nintendo and Gamefreak released many more versions of the game which followed the anime series. To this day, Pokemon still remains hugely popular.

For any Pokemon fan with an Android phone, I suggest giving this app a try. The app is called Pokemon Game created by XDA member, Jeno Manickam D. This game is a text-based RPG that follows Pokemon Red and Blue version quite closely. In other words, you won't see Gameboy animations but you will be able to fight gym leaders and heal your Pokemon when it gets hurt. It's almost like a Pokemon "lite" tribute. 

Some of the features found in this game are: 

-8 cities (Gym leaders and Elite Four included)

-58 Pokemon to catch

-PC box to store unused Pokemon

-Pokecenter and Pokemart

-Save and Load options

-Ability to catch and tame Pokemon

Oh look Pikachu..I chose Charmander as my starter hehe

First Gym Leader battler against Brock

Overall, I find this game to be quite entertaining.  It is almost reminiscent of the original Pokemon games found on the original Gameboy. This game is considered a Beta version so there may be a few bugs found throughout. Also, names of the Pokemon have been altered to avoid copyright issues. It can be a bit difficult when battling at higher levels. The game itself can be a bit repetitive because of grinding to the next level but then again, all Pokemon games require some grinding ;-P 

Check this app out. It's free on the Android Market. If you're a huge Pokemon fan, I'm sure you'll enjoy this game. 

PokeMon Game for Android on AppBrain

You can also follow the development of this exciting app on xda-developers. From what I understand, the developer is working on another version that will include online battles and many more features. 

Architects and Engineers rejoice! X Construction will put your skills to the test

Recently, Google made news when the Android Market hit the 200,000 mark. I've been following Android for quite sometime now and I've seen quite a few interesting apps. One of the newer apps is a game that was just recently released. This game takes London Bridges to a whole different level. Although quite simple, it is entertaining with a hint of difficulty. I'm sure this game will encourage Android lovers to get their build on.

X Construction Lite by CrossConstruct is a game where you build a bridge over a valley to help the train get to the other side. Yes it sounds painfully simple but there's a catch. One needs to take into consideration the weight of the train since it can cause structural stress. You are also given a limited amount of girders to build with. Finding the right foundation for building the bridge can be quite difficult (well for me at least since I'm not an architect lol).

Choo choo!!

Red girders mean structural stress

Overall, I find this game to be quite addicting. The graphics look quite appealing and the sound effects are a nice addition. People scream for their lives if the bridge breaks from a poorly constructed foundation. The physics in this game is interesting. I find it quite amusing how the bridge's parts "pop" and rip through the air. There is an "Undo" button so if you used one too many girders, you can click undo to re-tweak your bridge. Some levels can be very challenging and it really gets your mind working. One level in particular racked my brains out when I trying to find a solution.

6 challenging levels

This game is in Beta so it is quite short (6 levels to be precise). If I were to guess, since this game is in Beta and this is a "Lite" version, full release Lite and Paid versions will eventually hit the market. The dev definitely has an addictive game that can potentially be quite popular (it already has >250,000 downloads in such a short amount of time). Anyway until then, check out this Beta release on the Android Market. It doesn't hurt to try especially since it's FREE!!

X Construction Lite for Android on AppBrain

Game and Watch: Parachute for Android (No longer on Market)

If you were a gamer during the 1980's, you'd probably know about Nintendo's Game and Watch handhelds. It was one of the marvelous handhelds created by the late Gunpei Yokoi (created the original Game Boy). One of the cool things about this handheld is the fact it is a game with the function of a watch (hence Game and Watch). Many of these games were later ported to various Nintendo consoles but the beauty of it lies within the original handheld. You can definitely see the resemblance found in the Nintendo DS.

Original G&W on the left, DS on the right 

Interestingly, a developer (sorry I can't remember the name of the dev from the top of my head) created one of the many Game and Watch games for Android. The game is called Parachute. You're a person in a rowboat trying to catch parachuters from a helicopter. If you miss, they'll fall into the water only to be eaten by a shark. The object of the game is to save as many parachuters as possible.

Overall, it's a short sweet game. It has two modes along with a watch mode. The game can be a bit cumbersome as it gets quite difficult (my highest score was 22). The sound is reminiscent of the 8-bit gaming era. The skin definitely brings some nostalgia since it is designed after the original Nintendo Wide Screen series.

Sadly this game was taken off the Android market possibly to prevent a lawsuit from Nintendo. I have the .apk if anyone is interested. Thought I'd share some of the nostalgia with anyone who is interested. Just leave a comment. =)

Screen Filter: An adjustable nightshade for your phone

Do you find your phone's screen to be too bright at night?

Do you happen to use a brightness control app yet find it inadequate? 

Do you find your phone's battery dying quickly due to it's display?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, I found an app that will adjust the brightness of your phone while helping you save some battery life in the process. (Wow I sound like a crummy salesman haha ><) I'm willing to bet many Android users surf the net or play games while in the dark. The brightness of the screen is quite irritating and overpowering to some. One solution is to use a brightness adjustment app. Using such an app has a drawback. Many brightness adjustment apps on the Android Market only adjust the brightness down to 10%. Yes, 10% sounds low but even at low brightness, the screen is still blinding in the dark. Staring at such brightness may damage your eyes in the long run.

Normal

Now without further ado, here is the solution to prevent your phone from burning holes in your eyes. This app is known as Screen Filter by Haxor Industry. This helpful app applies a nightshade to your phone thus dramatically reducing screen brightness. Unlike other apps, the developer claims Screen Filter uses a logarithmic scale to adjust brightness which allows for fine-grain control.  This creates a tint rather than just adjusting the brightness of the screen which does not hinder legibility.

46.7% Setting (dark)

41.6% setting (darker)

If you click the app in the notification bar, it'll toggle settings

Some of the features found in this app are:
-Tasker/Locale plug-ins (this allows the ability to automate your phone using Tasker or Locale)
-Toggle on/off ability (If you put a shortcut icon on your desktop, you can use the icon to toggle on/off)
-Confirms very low brightness settings (Nifty feature so you don't accidentally make your screen too dark)

One of my favorite features found in this app is the ability to turn off the soft-key backlight. The softkeys are your hardware buttons which glow in low light due to the ambient sensor. Sometimes even these softkeys can be quite bright so it's nice to have an option to turn it off. It works great on my phone (HTC Aria) but the developer mentioned it doesn't work on all phones.

Filter adjustment and ability to disable softkey backlight

Overall this is a very nice app. I've been using it for about a month. I've noticed my battery life lasts a little longer since using this app. I'm not sure if it's a placebo effect but I'm guessing since the screen isn't pumping out as much juice, some battery life is spared. There are a few bugs but it's to be expected from a work in progress. I noticed on a few occasions where the app would revert back to normal settings. It's not a big deal as you can re-enable it. The developer is quite prompt with updates so many bugs have been ironed out.

Check out this great app. It's FREE on the Android Market. Perhaps you'll save some battery life and help prevent damage to your eyes in the process.

Screen Filter for Android on AppBrain

Happy Holidays. Thought I'd share with everyone a nice notification ringtone (sms)

This is the Iphone killer ringtone. I've searched high and low. I finally found a decent quality one but decided it wasn't up to par. The one I found was 64kbps. So I upped the bit rate a little. It sounds a little different. I don't know if you could hear a difference?

I find this ringtone to be very useful for sms (text) notifications. It's also quite amusing to see an iphone fanboy's reaction once they hear it. I have several friends who love iphones so when I receive texts, I let make it known my Droid is owning this little fruit. Surprise your friends by using this awesome ringtone =)

Anyway enough with my blabber. Here's the linky: Iphone Killer





Here's the original author's version by Obiwan (Lol I found the original after the fact >< ..the other ones were crap.) Credit goes to him. 

Changed a few things on my phone.

I haven't been updating because of final exams. Now that I'm done, I thought I'd show what I did to my HTC Aria

I changed my font along with the notification bar icons.
Notification bar icons now have color.

Changed my boot screen to this. 

Little do people know, you can actually flash custom icons, fonts, boot animations, and themes on HTC Sense. People didn't think it was possible. Anyway I'm showing that it could be done. You don't need a custom rom to have customization, you can use stock Sense if you want. Btw you need root access to change things.

I used these to create my theme mods. Just follow the directions and you'll be fine. ALWAYS do a Nandroid backup. 

Ultimate Online Theme Kitchen 

Fachadick's Flashable Font Packs

I shall be making new Android App reviews in the coming days now that I'm free. Stay tuned =)

Minigore for Android (apk included)

Here's the Minigore.apk I promised to post. Now you can enjoy the popular iphone game on your Android phone. Just download it and install it from your sd card or sideload it. Check it out!

http://www.4shared.com/file/igIzW2RL/minigore120.html

From what I understand, it was a sanctioned leak by the Minigore developers. Multitouch works great but this seems more like a beta so it's not optimized for all screens. It does not fit my HTC Aria's screen well. Other than that, it's a pretty fun game. Reminds me of Super Smash TV for the SNES. I love how there are different power ups. The soundtrack is awesome and the graphics look great as well.

Edit: One of the permissions asks to look at your Contact information..I'm sure the developers will address that once this game reaches full release.  

You can check out a vid in my previous post. Enjoy =) It's quite addicting !!

Happy Thanksgiving

via Android and Me

Lol it's a turkey android xD

Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving =)