Tech Update: Android apps & 3D TV

The only annoying thing about seeing Toy Story 3 today (which if you haven't guessed from my Tweets, is IMHO totally awesome; how Pixar can make such great hits that appeal to all audience ages time and time again amazes me), was seeing the Sony 3D TV advert.

Why was it annoying? Well seeing it on a non-3D TV as a regular TV advert in all its blurry "gory", I was very easily able to totally ignore it. Now though, having seen it in its 3D digital clarity it makes me want to have a new 3D TV :-( What is genuinely staggering is the improvement in 3D capability/quality, as much as a fad that I thought 3D TV was, having seen it (albeit in the cinema) I can see this becoming de rigeur within the next 2 years.

I think the major manufacturers (Sony, Panasonic,Samsung) though have missed a trick by flooding the market with non-3D TVs prior to 3D launch, I for one cannot afford nor physically place a brand new TV having only got one about 6 months ago. Their loss, well at least for now...

...Maybe I'll spend any money I have on the dual-screen laptop coming from Toshiba...

Android Apps
There's a tonne of useful/entertaining/fun apps out there. One distinct advantage of the Android Market over the Apple App store is that you can download a paid-for Android App and trial it for 24 hours. You need to provide payment details up-front but if within 24 hours you decide the app isn't for you, you can get it refunded.

The only thing I don't like about the Android Market is that hunting for that app you really want is a total pain. From the market app, you cannot filter on free apps for example but I have noticed that there does seem to be a search syntax that could be employed (to find apps from a certain publisher for example) that I haven't investigated yet.

A way around this is using websites such as androidzoom and AndroLib that provide a search/filter facility. I believe with FroYo (Android 2.2) there will be some Market enhancements that incorporate this kind of capability directly into the handsets.

Anyways. I am, however, a *total* cheapskate when it comes to this sort of thing and have only ever downloaded free apps. Here is a list of the current ones I am using that may be of use to you, I'm assuming only Android users have made it this far :-)

First up - Barcode Scanner. Essential to access many other services such as quick access to download other apps, shopping comparison etc.

Next most essential I would say is Lookout which is pretty awesome. Virus protection, back-up (contacts, call logs & photos) plus a phone finder feature.

Although Android does well with Twitter/Facebook integration, the respective Twitter and Facebook apps do provide a bit more functionality.

Again, the native Android browser is very good but Dolphin Browser HD is much superior with tab browsing & add-ins for things like Speed-Dial, Translate and saving bookmarks to the SD card.

Call Meter NG is key if you want to check you are still within your call/data plan.

Other really useful utilities:
PrinterShare - allows you to print from your phone to registered printers. The free version will allow up to 20 prints (after which you can buy more). The $4.95 version allows free printing to WiFi printers, yet to try this out...

ZumoDrive. Cloud computing storage. Allows you to sync PC files up to 2Gb that can then be accessed through your phone, including streaming of your music.

There are a lot of File Manager apps, but EStrongs File Explorer is my favourite, especially as it makes it a doddle to access files shared on your (WiFi) LAN.

Similarly there are a number of "torch" functions but LED Desire Light is my favourite as it actually uses the camera flashlight (as opposed to just displaying a bright, blank white screen) with varying degress of brightness PLUS you can send morse code messages too! As the name suggests, it is really just for the HTC Desire.

For eCommerce, there's:
Kindle - Amazon's e-book reader
Amazon MP3 - DRM free music downloads
Shopper - scan barcodes and find how much you can save shopping elsewhere. Note, you'll get funny looks using this app, I was confronted by a store manager the other day who thought I was taking (illegal) product photos in store. When I calmly told them I was scanning the barcode to do an internet price comparison, their jaw dropped and they walked off in disbelief :D

eBay via Pkt Auctions eBay

And for the Waitrose shoppers, Ocado has an app which on top of standard Ocado functionality lets you scan barcodes too.

For travelling:
SatNav - the built in Google Navigator is simply superb and I don't think can be topped. Caution though if using abroad because of the (roaming) data usage will not be likely covered in your talk plan.

Check the traffic conditions before you set out with TrafficSync or check when your next (and nearest) train will be using Train Times UK. In the trilogy of Planes, Trains & Automobiles - for flight times, FlightStats Liteis decent enough, the paid for version I believe integrates with TripIt.

If you're London bound Tube Map lets you plan a route and probably more essentially, get the status of the lines!

More fun than travel as such is of course FourSquareand the excellent Google Sky for browsing the heavens.

Recreationally, I won't bother as to each their own here I think. If you are into eBooks though, free ones can be obtained and read via Aldiko

I've yet to find a *really* good RSS app,so if anyone knows of an (free!) ones, please add a comment.

Tech Update: Office 2010 beta + Wii iPlayer

Office 10 public beta

Just downloaded & installed MS Office 2010 (public) beta and using it now for this quick blog update. Big file to download (700Mb), installation required me to close Firefox (might be just my computer) but seems OK so far but still plenty to explore…

Quite a few professional reviews out there already based on the tech preview, but if you like tinkering around with this stuff, the link is above to download it.

Wii iPlayer

A while back Nintendo made the Internet Channel free (it cost 500 points previously) allowing you to surf the internet using your Wii (and therefore your TV in the lounge). This is pretty cool in itself but better was being able to access the BBC iPlayer.

However, the last Wii system update updated the Flash player and made the whole thing incompatible with the iPlayer. Anyways, yesterday the BBC made the fix available in the form of a dedicated iPlayer channel on the Wii main page.

You need to "purchase" this (it's free) from the Shopping Channel to get it. It's the same for the Internet Channel by the way in case you don't already have it (purchase it for free from the shopping channel).

Hopefully iPlayer navigation will be improved over time (for finding specific programmes by name or category for example) but it works and I've been able to catch up on some TV shows (Top Gear!). Picture quality is pretty reasonable and the fact that I don't need to hook up the laptop or anything like that is a blessed relief. Clearly the limitation is the fact that the Wii uses 802.11b/g so high quality streaming is going to be unlikely and playback is badly affected by downloads that maybe going on elsewhere on your network.

Anyways, that's enough for now. Next up I want to play around with the new Excel 2010…

Umbilical Cord Blood - what & how

An under 3 minute video that gives some insight about umbilical cord blood and what a valuable resource it is.

Sincere thanks to Andy at http://scirocco2morocco.blogspot.com/ from where

12 minutes of fame...

Didn't quite make the Andy Warhol 15 minutes mark but certainly the past few days have seen quite a bit of media attention.

Firstly, I'd like to thank and acknowledge Catherine Osborn who has been absolutely brilliant in getting the bone marrow donor search story out there - the BBC, local paper and even the Mauritian Broadcasting Company amongst others have been contacted or have been in contact. Any and everything helps with trying to find that elusive match but even if I am not lucky hopefully the publicity has spurred more people to join their register which will prove life saving for someone else.

Catherine has been the main consistent driver throughout all of this but many many other people have been getting the word out too through their friend, family & work networks too and I am extraordinarily grateful for this too - thank-you as well!

So, last Thursday I had the Maidenhead Advertiser come round in the morning for some pictures for the paper (will be in the actual paper this Thursday I believe) and also to do an interview for the web. I look fab (not!) but the interview went well, allowed me to get some things off of my chest and was actually a bit emotional for me at the end with some quite incisive questions. Anyway, judge for yourself:

• Maidenhead Advertiser interview

Yesterday, blimey feels longer than that, I did a live interview for BBC Radio Berkshire. For a while I was on the BBC Berkshire website front-page but no more however the web piece that was done can still be found as well as a "listen again" of the interview:

• BBC Berkshire web article
• Andrew Peach interview
  Starts at the 4 mins 50 seconds mark and goes through to 9 mins 53 secs for me and 12 mins 34 secs for the whole piece which includes the representative from The Anthony Nolan Trust
  

Neuropathy & Neutropenia

There are some classic and/or well known side-effects of chemotherapy such as nausea (for which there are several excellent medications to help control this e.g. I'm taking Cyclizine & Ondansetron) and hair-loss (alopecia). So far my hair hasn't started coming out yet although I've had it shaved pretty close to make it less of a thing if/when it does (both for me and Sarah & the boys).

Two things I'm experiencing that are possibly not so well known are Neuropathy and Neutropenia.

• Neuropathy - specifically Peripheral Neuropathy. Basically as a result of the chemo, there is a constant numbness/dull "pins and needles" in my thumb and fingertips.
  It's really more of an annoyance than anything else but I do need to watch that it doesn't extend further into the hand. From a practical perspective, obviously I'm still able to type but using my phone is getting a little harder because the buttons are obviously smaller, especially on the slide out keyboard.

• Neutropenia. This one is harder as basically it means my immune defences are really low. I have to be careful what I eat (I'll blog something about that some point soon as it is very important and could be useful to others) and avoid crowded places (like hospitals I guess!) as catching and dying from infection is a genuine risk.
  This of course limits the number of people I can see currently, going out, having a curry or McDonalds(!)
  My last blood count puts me severely neutropenic but the medication I'm on is looking to stave of viral, bacterial and fungal infection and coupled with taking regular temperature checks to make sure all seems normal.

Tech Alert - OK the "gadget-boy" in me cannot control itself anymore. I really like my phone, it's an HTC S710, Windows Mobile device. I've been a huge fan of Windows Mobile right from the days when it was known as Windows CE (unfortunately shortened to WinCE).

Back in what must have been around very late 90's, I was very lucky to win a HP Jornada 540 in a competition and very quickly got introduced to a device that carried my photos, music, Outlook, e-books and notepad in a very compact and actually quite reliable form. It's interesting to see how other companies are only now at last catching up with what Microsoft was able to commercialise way back then. It would be remiss of me though not to mention the Apple Newton at this point which more than likely got the Redmond brigade on the right road.

The phone was from BT - I didn't like their customisation of Windows Mobile so burned in an upgrade that has proved ultra reliable and stable but more importantly allows me to keep in touch through SMS & mobile internet when at the hospital.