[sclug] [bristol] OT: Two weeks with the HTC Hero and Android OS

[Alex Butcher]

On Fri, 12 Feb 2010, Keith Edmunds wrote:

> A [sic] Online Radio - Internet radio:
> http://uk.androlib.com/android.application.com-leadapps-android-radio-jjBx.aspx

I couldn't find this on the Market. I did find DroidLive, however, which
finds the only Internet radio station I ever listen to. I'd still like
something that can stream BBC Radio 4 live, though. Beebplayer should be
able to do it, but it seems to be relying upon the BBC's (deprecated) Real
streams, rather than either their iPlayer or WMA streams.

> K9 mail - still under (very active) development, but already better than
> the out-of-the-box MUA. http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/downloads/list

Will keep an eye on that one.

> Dolphin - web browser, way better than the supplied one.
> http://uk.androlib.com/android.application.com-mgeek-android-dolphinbrowser-browser-xwCt.aspx

Is it any faster to start up/load/render?

> Calculator - way better than, etc. Does octal/binary/hex/decimal,
> logical, scientific, conversions and - as they say in all the best
> adverts - more!: http://brain-overspill.blogspot.com/

Seconded.

> aTrackDog - checks all installed apps against the market and notifies you
> of any updates. I guestimate that about 3-4% of the apps I have installed
> are updated each day.
> http://uk.androlib.com/android.application.com-a0soft-gphone-atrackdog-zmn.aspx

Nice one.

> Finally, two apps that I paid for, both car SatNav apps. The well-known
> one is CoPilot
> (http://uk.androlib.com/android.application.com-alk-copilot-marketplace-eu-major-jwin.aspx),
> which I used for a while, but I DON'T recommend it. Yes it works, but I
> found it a little quirky and it has too many subscreens to find what is
> needed quickly. But it's a very personal thing and it may be great for
> others. ?23.47. I moved on to Sygic (http://www.sygic.com/), which I
> think is much better, albeit more expensive at EUR 49.99 (both prices
> quoted are for UK and Ireland, but other regions are also available).
> Sygic is very similar to TomTom in its layout, and works very well. No
> live traffic info yet, but I'm assured it's on its way.

I'd found Copilot, but not Sygic. How do Sygic's map upgrades work?

I've got a TomTom, so I'm not prepared to lash out lots for a turn-by-turn
GPS app, as Google Maps will probably suffice when I'm on foot!

> Keith

Best Regards,
Alex