Been using an app called Locate these past few days. Simply put, it’s a localized search service that runs on any Android device. The app is developed by Smart Communications but as it is in the Android Marketplace, you don’t need to be a SMART subscriber to use it. As long as you’re on Android v1.5 and up (which is 99% most likely the case) you can use it.
Simply put, it’s great marketing for Google Chrome. But on a completely different level it is also showing you what HTML5 can do. In case you’ve been under a rock for the past few months, HTML5 is the really the “new way” of doing things on your browser without the need to code in Flash. So the lesson here is quite simple. The next time your client tells you that he wants his site in flash, (1) give him a firm no because (a) flash is so 90’s, (b) a lot of people use flash blockers on their browsers, (c) it takes too long to load, (d) flash is not SEO-friendly (e) and finally flash won’t run on an iPad. You can then (2) suggest the site be coded in HTML5 instead because it’s the “cool new way” things are done without requiring a plugin.
As long as you have a browser that supports HTML5, you can run this. But of course, it’s still all about the branding!
Get Chrome now. And play Angry Birds while you’re at work. Oh and if you’re head of IT, please don’t block this site, k?
And this is why I am against the broadband cap.
Kudos to Audible (@audible_com) for rolling out a standalone app for the Android platform. I’ve been a subscriber to Audible for the past 2 years and the experience on the iPod and iPod touch has left me complacent — after installing the public beta version. I used to think that “just listening” was a great experience, but the current build has an easy to use bookmarking feature, the ability to download new books from your library, and a bit of eye candy with the visualizer mode.
Previously with the iPhone, downloading audiobooks required a desktop sync with iTunes. On Android, you can do in-app downloads. With the visualizer mode, you’re basically listening to audio with a screensaver background. This mode activates touch sensitive features allowing to you drag across the screen to rewind and fast forward.
Right now the app suffers from Fragmentation issues as there are so many version of Android installed on many other phone brands so the experiences vary, unlike that of the iPhone. If you’re an Audible subscriber and have an Android-based phone (my copy is running on a Sony Ericsson X10), join the Google Group.
A couple of years ago I downloaded The Ur-Quan masters, a rerelease of a game I used to play heavily in my grade school years on the PC. It had a checklist that fulfilled a sci-fi geek’s wish: lots of ships, lots of aliens, a commentary on man’s struggle against insurmountable odds, explosions, and yes — even more aliens. Star Control II was also unique as it was the first (and maybe only) game that had audio software that simulated a Sound Blaster PC sound card. In other words, even if you were on PC Speaker, you were enjoying 16-bit audio, albeit dumbed down in quality. But still.
Star Control II was nominated as one of the greatest games of all time by both Gamespot and IGN and as i said above, was re-released as an open source community project in 2002. It ran on Linux, Macintosh, XBOX, PSP, and the PC. Wait a minute — if it ran on Linux, there probably would have been a version in development for other iterations of Linux. So I searched for a Maemo version.
Eureka.
Star Control II on a Nokia N900. Grab it before Fwiffo does!