How To Shutdown 3G Connectivity On the Android Phone

The T Mobile G1 is a great phone. Among others, it can seamlessly connect to the web and sync data. The problem with this, however, is that 3G connection is always on and when you have a prepaid data plan or load, it gets eaten up quickly. This is why I could not use my G1 full time until I discovered this wonderful app on the Android Market: APNdroid. What it does is simply to turn on or turn off 3G connectivity. With 3G off, you can still make and receive calls and create and receive text messages. Basic uses for the phone, right?

A Regular Keyboard for an Android Phone In the Works?

There have been a lot of recent rom updates for the rooted T Mobile G1 Android phone. My phone uses the CyanogenMod and the latest version is 4.2.5. One value of a rooted phone is that applications are stored in the sd card and this saves on the built-in internal memory. A rooted phone simply enhances functionality. One development I am eagerly looking forward to is the possibility of wirelessly hooking up a bluetooth keyboard to the Android phone. Mine is the Stowaway Ultraslim bluetooth keyboard. I had just recently bought a document creating application and a regular sized keyboard will make creating documents easier.

I chanced upon KeyPro, an application that promises wireless keyboard functionality. However, its still on beta mode and the number of testers is limited. Lets wait and see. That is the only application I am waiting and hoping for right now.

Digital technology has developed in leaps and bounds in recent years. With the overlapping and superimposition of photo, video and sound formats, you never know these days if what you see and hear is the real thing. See the following JimmyKimmelLive post on youtube. It was produced using an iPhone app called Auto-Tune. It is as if President Obama is really singing.

A Handy Pocket Cam

There's a Sony Handycam around the house bought sometime in 2002. It hasn't been used much except on certain memorable occasions. It was heavy to lug around. These days, shooting video has become much, much more convenient. The so-called "pocket cams", as the name name implies, really fit in your pocket. I believe Pure Digital started it all when the company came out with the Flip, a small, user-friendly device. The Flip has since been followed by a slew of other competing pocket cams and these get better over time. These days, pocket cams have moved up to HD quality. The best thing is that pocket cams are very affordable so its very easy to make videos anytime and anywhere.

The following were shot with Creative Vado HD. It was like simply using a camera phone, only better.

The Google-Cyanogen Rift

"Rooting" was never something I was going to take a chance on. I'm not a techie. At most, I knew that Android is not an operating system but a kernel of Linux. My Android phone was OK as it was until I noticed I was running low on internal memory. And the phone was really starting to lag. Thats when I started looking around and discovered an easy way to modify (mod) my phone's rom. What caught my interest was that you could save apps to the sd card. That way, you save your phone's internal memory which would otherwise be eaten up by the apps you install. So I took the plunge and rooted my phone using Cyanogen's flasher and updater. Very satisfying. I recovered a lot of internal memory. Better, I was able to update to ver 1.6 (Donut) from ver 1.5 (Cupcake) ahead of the official release.

It turns out there have been 30,000 persons who have been installing Cyanogen's mod and Google finally took notice and sent Cyanogen a notice to cease and desist. The CD refers to original google apps which are part of the Google Experience such as Gmaps, .android Market, Gtalk etc.. To know what the whole brouhaha is about, just search "google+cyanogen".

Lets see how this plays out, eventually. As for me, if what I've got on my phone stays, I'm ok until someone creates an app that will allow me to create and edit documents on my android phone. Thats when I'll start to figure things out.

About This Blog's Title

I'm fond of new gadgets. If an item is useful and novel, and if its within my reach to spend on, I'll likely get it. If something is really cheap, I'll probably get two, one for myself and the other to give away or sell. The gadgets I own, we'll run thru them later.

As for the "Otherwise" that can be anything that is interesting to me and, hopefully, for you.