Posts Tagged ‘android’
Open APOD v1.0 Release
I published my first Android application, “Open APOD”, on the Google Play Store. I have developed this application to learn Android programming. You can get all the sources on my github or download it from Google Play. The application is Open Source and free of all charges. Get it, comment it, rate it …
Astronomy Picture Of the Day on your Android
I spent the last week or so learning Android programming. I find it important, in the learning of a new programming tool, to write something with clear specifications. This forces you to work on the best solution instead of using easy to code work-arounds.
The specifications are:
- The application should allow the user to read the Astrophotography Picture Of the Day published by NASA at http://apod.nasa.gov/apod on it’s Android device
- The application needs to be compatible with Android 1.5 (SDK #3)
- The user should be able to access the APOD for any date since june 16th 1995
- The user should be able to directly access the APOD of the current day
- The user should be able to navigate to the previous and next APODs
- The user should be able to navigate to the previous and next APODs with fling gestures
- The user should be able to view the picture in full size by clicking the preview picture
- The user should be redirected to the APOD website when clicking on the full size picture
These were the initial requirements … I will add some more stuff in the upcoming days:
- Change the full size picture activity from a WebView to an ImageView. This will allow the implementation of the OnClickListener callback and the re-use of the image bitmap in memory.
- Caching of the APODs on the SD card. This will save bandwidth, an important issue when using mobile networks.
- Adding a splash screen while loading the first APOD. Since loading the images can take a while on mobile networks, a splash screen with a spinner would look more professional.
The actual version of the project is published on my Github at the following address:
https://github.com/pchretien/APOD Feel free to fork, copying is not stealing!
Android Mini PC
Last month I read an article on ArsTechnica about a small Android PC at 74$ and decided to give it a try. I received it yesterday and I am very impressed by the device. The small computer ships with a transformer, a mini-2-standard USB adapter, an HDMI cable and a mini-2-standard USB cable. You can connect the computer into any TV or monitor with an HDMI input port. I plugged mine into an old TV I had in my junk and connected a wireless keyboard and mouse into it.
The device is built on top of a 1.5GHz ARM processor with 1Gb of flash storage and a built-in 802.11 wireless adapter. You can extend the storage with a microSD memory card. It comes pre-installed with Android 4.0 and a couple of standard Android applications like Youtube, GMail and, of course, a web browser.
Once connected to my home WiFi network I started playing around with the device. All the user interfaces are the same as a standard Android 4.0 phone or tablet. The web browser is the default Android browser. I configured my GMail, Facebook, Twitter and Hotmail accounts with no problems. For some reason I have not been able to connect to my YouTube account. I’ll give it an other try later.
I then went to the Google Play store to download more apps. It seems that the store recognize the Android Mini PC s a tablet PC so not all phone applications are available for download. I started by downloading the TED and Netflix applications so I can convert my old TV into a modern “intelligent” TV. Both applications worked like a charm. Since “intelligent” TVs are usually sold an extra 700$, at 74$ the device was already paying for itself.
In conclusion, if you want to add web capabilities to your actual TV, the Android Mini PC combined to a wireless keyboard and mouse is a good candidate! You want one? You can now find it under 70$ on AliExpress by searching for “Android Mini PC” with the Free Shipping option selected.
CryptoTools and Android
Since Android phones are now available in Canada, I have been able to run some real-life tests of CryptoTools on Android. I tested CryptoTools on Android platforms versions 0.9RC1 and 1.5. The tests have been fully successfull on both platforms. Following is a simple program showing how to use CryptoTools in an Android application.
http://github.com/pchretien/cryptoandroid
Philippe Chrétien
