Droid related stuff (problems/solutions tips, tricks, apps)

[WrenchHead]

Blurry christmas candids makes baby jesus photographer cry.

[daoist]

Blurry christmas candids makes baby jesus photographer cry.

Well if you have anything super memorable to photograph you can always set your clock back

[daoist]

I've been dicking around with development. Also i dug around the VM image and found out that the .apk files are stored in /system/app/ so now I have the development apps on my Droid like the gestures builder and the package explorer and all that fun stuff.

[daoist]

Hey I found a com.motorola.hiddenmenu package. Imma see what's in it.

[Gretyl]

Imma see what's in it.

C# had the best package naming of all time!

[Lars]

looks like it's a timestamp bug.

There's a rounding-error bug in the camera driver's autofocus routine (which uses a timestamp) that causes autofocus to behave poorly on a 24.5-day cycle. That is, it'll work for 24.5 days, then have poor performance for 24.5 days, then work again.

The 17th is the start of a new "works correctly" cycle, so the devices will be fine for a while. A permanent fix is in the works.

Wait, what? How does a timestamp factor into camera focus in any conceivable way?

[Gretyl]

Code: Select all

if (Date.today % 24.5 != 0) freakTheFuckOut();

[WrenchHead]

Google dude says the AF routine relies on a timestamp for some reason.

I wish I was a business analyst for this design team so I could explain the importance of having manual control of ISO, Shutter speed, Aperture, and focus. Four methods which I find no mention of in the API

In theory we could have a kickass camera. I'm also thinking about the ability to digitally cut the visible light data and turn it into an infrared camera for creative purposes. Obviously the hardware allows this if you're able to talk to it and control these things. I found a tutorial on setting up the SDK in Eclipse. I am going to take the plunge and kludge my way through a Hello World program sometime soon. With this crap ass economy, maybe I can supplement my income with motion sensing fart apps or whatever.

[daoist]

looks like it's a timestamp bug.

There's a rounding-error bug in the camera driver's autofocus routine (which uses a timestamp) that causes autofocus to behave poorly on a 24.5-day cycle. That is, it'll work for 24.5 days, then have poor performance for 24.5 days, then work again.

The 17th is the start of a new "works correctly" cycle, so the devices will be fine for a while. A permanent fix is in the works.

Wait, what? How does a timestamp factor into camera focus in any conceivable way?

It's in a hardware driver that's probably proprietary so we may never know. My guess is it uses a random number generated from a time-generated seed in some manner.

[daoist]

Google dude says the AF routine relies on a timestamp for some reason.

I wish I was a business analyst for this design team so I could explain the importance of having manual control of ISO, Shutter speed, Aperture, and focus. Four methods which I find no mention of in the API

In theory we could have a kickass camera. I'm also thinking about the ability to digitally cut the visible light data and turn it into an infrared camera for creative purposes. Obviously the hardware allows this if you're able to talk to it and control these things. I found a tutorial on setting up the SDK in Eclipse. I am going to take the plunge and kludge my way through a Hello World program sometime soon. With this crap ass economy, maybe I can supplement my income with motion sensing fart apps or whatever.

after you do the hello world, do the notepad tutorials. it walks you through it all nicely.

[WrenchHead]

Is the android developer site extremely slow for the rest of you? For two days now I've been trying to get the SDK and the ADT plugin for Eclipse, but no dice...

[daoist]

Yeah recently it's been slow.

[WrenchHead]

SDK and Eclipse aquired... Now to figure out wtf I'm doing. I haven't attempted anything this complex since moving from diapers to the big boy potty.

[WrenchHead]

I got all artfag with my phone camera this morning in brookside park



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/411 ... 9e28_b.jpg

[MarcusAurelius]

thanks to the historically misspelled "driod" from this thread, whenever i see "droid" written in print i read it as "driod."

[WrenchHead]

Like Brian and brain.

[daoist]

fedex tried to deliver my dock yesterday. I signed the "leave it here" dealy so I'll have it to play with tonight

[WrenchHead]

I had to drive to fedex and get mine that night. It was that important.

The thing I like about the dock is the phone just slides right onto the charging post, compared to it snagging into the car charger or the one they give you from the factory.

I still need to dremel my car mount so I can get my driving camera set up.

[daoist]

Same here. I think the difficult part will be getting the windshield suction mount out of the way.

[WrenchHead]

Emulator fail:



I stumbled through my first text entry + button application only to have the emulator get all Chinese on me....

For some reason the emulator keeps pulling up the chinese, but I figured out how to get the text to display in the popup when you click the button:



My first application is a resounding success. Now I need to actually brush up on some legitimate java skills and make myself familiar with android and the davlik stuff.

[daoist]

Yeah the first time you fire up the emu it's in chinese for some reason. If you go into the location dealie you can put it back to engrish.

[WrenchHead]

My mistake.. it was Japanese assistance. Yeah, I went into the settings in the emulator and turned that off. Awesome.. We'll see if I can figure this out further.

Are you developing any applications, yourself?

[daoist]

I'm working on a shopping list (easy) and then a weight management dealie (harder)

[caddymac]

Girlfriend just picked a Moto Droid up. She's currently struggling with the making and receiving of calls with it. The store gave her 15 days to return it. If she doesn't stop swearing soon, I'd say there's a pretty good chance that the return policy will be taken advantage of.

[daoist]

how is she struggling?

[daoist]

btw wrench, buy one of these:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2

To turn your extra microusb cable into a car charger.

That goes for everyone else with a droid and the multimedia dock.

[Lars]

btw wrench, buy one of these:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2

To turn your extra microusb cable into a car charger.

That goes for everyone else with a droid and the multimedia dock.

I bought 3 of these and 3 of the 120V version in my last binge at monoprice. I have been very happy with both.

[daoist]

yeah I bought a few too last time. They're so useful.

[WrenchHead]

I already bought three USB->Micro USB cords on ebay for a buck a pop as well as two OEM Motorola wall and car jacks. I'm covered that way.

Motherfucker, some guy wrote the first app that I was going to work on:

http://www.kianryan.co.uk/2009/03/the-m ... r-android/

I mean I'm happy, but he beat me to it. The iPhone version of that app costs 5.00. This is free. I might still take it on as a project anyway because I need practice.

[WrenchHead]

anyone else having trouble using the droid... as a phone?

I'll go to make a call and then the screen will go back to the home desktop after I poke the send button.

Then about two minutes later the droid will exit whatever app I'm then in and FINALLY make the call.

it's as if the stupid phone puts 8th level priority on the actual phone software or it doesn't get loaded at boot or something.

[daoist]

Not happening to me.

[WrenchHead]

I'm sure it's due to installing some sort of half defective application. Do you have any apps that let you see (and kill) every individual service that's running?

[daoist]

home->settings->applications->running services should do ya.

[WrenchHead]

It doesn't show them all. I got some sort of task manager that kills background shit off (and allows things to automatically restart as needed) and it's kicking ass.

It's called TaskPanel. You can set it to autokill shit like Verizon Visual Voicemail.

[daoist]

If something's registered a bad intent filter, stopping the process won't help you, since android will fire it back up as soon as you fire off a dialer intent.

[Halt! Hammerzeit.]

Ok so what are all the apps you guys are using?

I have Facebook, Twidroid, Aldiko e-book reader, Google Places Directory/Finance/etc, and a bunch of widgets that lets me turn on/off with one touch wifi/bluetooth/et al on the home screen.

[Halt! Hammerzeit.]

It doesn't show them all. I got some sort of task manager that kills background shit off (and allows things to automatically restart as needed) and it's kicking ass.

It's called TaskPanel. You can set it to autokill shit like Verizon Visual Voicemail.

This app is excellent. Beats going to the terminal and ps/grep/kill!

[WrenchHead]

I've put on and removed a LOT of apps so far. Stuff that remains:

-Apps Organizer (not using.. i have stuff in folders on the desktop instead)
-Barrage Lite (a tank artillary game for old times' sake)
-Battery Widget (like this a lot to see % of battery and turn off/on wifi, gps, etc..)
-Bubble (level)
-cgSpeedo (digital speedometer for the car)
-Comeks (photo editor)
-ConnectBot (ssh terminal)
-craigsphone (craigslist app)
-craigslistnotifica (craigslist search notifier)
-eBuddy (runs all IM programs like YIM, AIM, Facebook chat, Myspace chat, ICQ, MSN)
-fxCamera (fake Lomo, Polaroid photos)
-Google Sky Map (may teach me about astromomy)
-Google Voice (visual/audible voice mail)
-Hangman (lame but kills time)
-Hearts (kills time)
-Labrynth (let other people play this)
-Listen (decent app that fishes for podcasts and other stuff to listen to based on your interests)
-Metal Detector (works, but useless?)
-Movie Finder
-My Tracks (GPS path making like Jeffy in Family Circus)
-Note Everything (notepad, voice recorder, etc..)
-OI File Manager (explorer for files on phone and SD card)
-Pandora
-Photo Burst (not sure what it does)
-PicSay (only loaded it to show people multitouch on the droid)
-PicUp (sends photos to flickr, facebook, twitter)
-Pkt Auctions eBay (ebay app)
-Places Directory
-TaskPanel (makes my phone run better now)
-Ringdroid (crops mp3 songs into ringtones)
-Speed Test (test bandwidth speed)
-Talk (google talk)
-The Massive Development Chart (film developing info)
-The Weather Channel
-TTS Service (text to speed plugin)
-Twidroid Pro (only thing I've paid for)
-Ultimate Stopwatch
-UltraSound (makes high pitched sounds to annoy people)
-WikiMobile (wikipedia app)

I deleted about 50 other apps that I thought were possibly fucking with the OS.

[daoist]

andftp - ftp/sftp client
androidvnc - vnc client
apps installer - installs .apk files downloaded locally
barcode scanner - simple scanner app, also does QR codes
bluetooth file transfer - I have never gotten this to work, but I think the problem is on my desktop
bubble - level
connectbot - the best ssh client i've ever seen for a mobile device, ever
dev tools - copied from dev emulator
dockrunner - manually put your phone into bedside dock mode
droidrecord - record notes
gestures builder - copied from dev emulator
google voice - awesome
hello, android - yes I installed my hello world, I'm proud of it.
listen - might actually use it. dunno, like my ipod shuffle.
my verizon - just a link to their website. eh
oi shopping list - it's ok, but mine will be better
picsay - I may even pay for the full version. I CAN MAKE LOLCATS ON MY PHONE
picup - upload pics to multiple sites at once
qik- broadcast video live (go to BGR and find the article for a link to email the devs to get the Droid version!)
shazam - identify songs by sound
shopsavvy - read barcodes and comparison shop automatically
spare parts - copied from dev emulator
sysinfo - some extra dev info. dunno how useful
twidroid pro - great twitter client. worth the money
ultrachron lite - stopwatch for the gym
where - gimmicky "find stuff near me" thing. Might uninstall; google maps does this.
power control - a 1x4 widget that can toggle all the radios, sync, and brightness.

[WrenchHead]

what's funny is that I got the phone hoping my outdoors, running around life would get way more productive.. It turns out that I just spend all my time sitting at home pissing around with my phone now instead of going out to eat or to the movies.

[Gretyl]

that's mobile tech for you... the more compelling it is, the less you move!

[WrenchHead]

And the more you feel obligated to fiddle with it regardless of what you're doing. I'd never texted while peeing until last week.

[Halt! Hammerzeit.]

I like Google Places Directory in new areas/cities. Especially the compass for each restaurant/gas station/etc.

[WrenchHead]

Places had more Ames info than the Where app, so I dumped Where.

[daoist]

Still looking for a free RDP client.

[Halt! Hammerzeit.]

I got all artfag with my phone camera this morning in brookside park



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/411 ... 9e28_b.jpg

Did you post-process these? The contrast & saturation on my phone is nowhere near that.

[WrenchHead]

I'm using the fxCamera app which does those automatically.

[Halt! Hammerzeit.]

Yes, I understand that, but mine come out nowhere near as contrasty & saturated. I'm using the G1 though.

[WrenchHead]

The photos were coming out dark because the sky was messing with the metering on the camera. I'm not that impressed with my Droid's camera. fxCamera is the only thing I used though.

[Lars]

Still looking for a free RDP client.

I've never been able to find one for BB either.

[caddymac]

Still looking for a free RDP client.

I've never been able to find one for BB either.

I'd like one for both the BB and Droid, please!

I did some searching at work yesterday, apparently there is Tmobiles??? for the BB.

[daoist]

I just got a $35 credit on my account today. Wrench, you get that too?

[WrenchHead]

No. Did you pay first? I still haven't paid them.

[daoist]

Nope. Just got a txt and an email that I was getting a $35 credit.

[WrenchHead]

Did they mention why? I bought my phone at best buy in Ames. I've been to the Verizon store twice to buy the dock and the other time to apply for my 18% discount through work. Maybe they decided I'm too needy.

[WrenchHead]

I drilled out the car dock yesterday. All you need is a 1/4" drill bit. It took me 30 seconds. The camera has major jello effect. When my car is idling (shaking/vibrating) things get very 1966 San Francisco:



Raw video footage right outta the phone:

[Gretyl]

Man, now I'm jonesing for an 80's soundtrack on top of footage of WH killing a hooker in front of his car.

[MarcusAurelius]

what's with the audio? sounds like you're driving a convertible.

[WrenchHead]

I was driving a roadster that has no top.

[MarcusAurelius]

in the rain?

[WrenchHead]

It was just really foggy.

[larfnarf]

Ohh.. I guess I need to log into strangetalk more then once every few months.

I like my droid.. though my biggest peeve so far has been the batter cover.. which I have fixed by getting a skin for the whole thing.

has anybody found a set up that they like to load videos to their droid? I found that Vidora... which makes video converters for the iphone/ipod touch.. also now has a flavor for the droid.. but I haven't tried it yet.

http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/motorola-droid/

[Guerrilla X]

Is there a case or a cover for the phone that I can use with the car mount? Apparently the car mount needs the phone to be naked for it to mount - which sounds like a bummer.

[daoist]

I bet invisible shield will work. I plan on picking it up for mine.

[Gretyl]

Invisible shield is a scam, to use Santa's parlance.