Photoshake!

Not bad of an app. Lots of options to edit the frames (I mean a lot!), picture effects and captions. Only down side is it's a bit buggy at the moment.
Hope the dev irons out the bugs soon.
Edit: Ok I checked back about a year later, it seems the devs had managed to get to all the bugs of forceclosing : )


It's a free app, with a paid version coming soon for 3 more features. Can't wait :)
Here's the link to the pc browser Android Market.
Photoshake Free
Photoshake Pro! (with more features.)

[Android] The "Holiday" Phone

Have you seen all the official commercials for the Google Nexus line of Phones?

I've always liked the simplicity of the videos. Still liking the Nexus One's best, the music + graphics were just awesome.

Read on to view all the Official Videos and the stuff of what's really behind the multi-coloured X logo of the Google Nexus Phones!

Now, have you always wondered what that 4 coloured X logo on the Nexus phones are?

Well as some of you may know, googlers had been calling the Nexus One - Holiday Phones.

So what does the "Holiday" actually mean? They're given out during the Holidays? Well I've always thought of that possibility. 

Boy was I wrong  :D

Take a look at this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holliday_junction

Does that Molecular Structure picture look familiar? Now, cycle your memory, or better yet, boot up/reboot your Nexus One/S. What do you see? :D

Awesome stuff ain't it? 

I love Google.

[Android] Nexus One Case-Mate

Just got this case last Friday in my mail. The cuttings are awesome. Love the design too. It's temporary out of stock now though. I should have bought the other Nexus One Tough Case when it was on sale. It's all out of stock too now.

[Android] Google Locking Down On Openness?

Recently, people are complaining about the Honeycomb Source Code not released. According to Andy Rubin, the reason of not releasing the source code is to prevent devs from putting it on phones, which could possibly lead to really bad user experience. Well if you ask me, this is a really good reason.

I have been using Android (the Nexus One) for over a year now. I love the phone, the OS. But to be honest, sometimes I just feel that there seems to be some rough edges in the whole user experience. I believe this is mainly caused by rogue apps, unoptimized codes in apps, apps that might not work well with the latest version of Android OS, and possibly lots of other reasons in the OS itself. From my point of view, this is a good move from Andy Rubin, not releasing something that they think would not be a smooth and optimized experience for users that might flash Honeycomb from community devs. I do hope that one day, Android would reach the stage that the Hardware and Software integration would be near perfect as seen on Iphones. (don't hate me, but this is true in my books)


In a related news, there's a “non-fragmentation clause” to be adhered by Android phone manufacturers. This really means a lot to the Android World! Fantastic! I'm not really a fan of custom manufacturer UIs like Sense, Blur, etc. One, they slow the whole darn phone down, second, it just adds to the fragmentation!! I mean I love some parts of Sense, but overall its just not worth it if this "skin" overlay UI hogs your phone's memory. The problem with Android is there's no real GPU acceleration, up till Honeycomb. I'm not sure even with Honeycomb, these manufacturers are able to integrate it properly with the UIs. 


So yeah, Google isn't really giving up on Openness in my opinion, they're just trying to make things better by having a bit more "quality control" on what should be the standards.

[Android] Groubal Petition for Motorola Unlocked Bootloaders

I believe many of you know that in the world of Android Phones, unlocking the bootloader is an essential step to Rooting the device.


Well companies like HTC has made it easy for most of their phones to be unlocked. (until recently, HTC seems to be making this harder - the Incredible S)
But there are some companies that make it a point to encrypt the bootloader so that it would be impossible to unlock it for various reasons.


Recently there was a petition going on to try and address this issue,


Quote from Groubal: -
"to request that Motorola provide an unlocked/unencrypted bootloader option for its end users. This option should be applicable to all currently supported Motorola phones and upcoming phones."


From my personal view, I'm not sure if this would actually change their decision, but I believe it is worth a try, as it would really mean something in the development of Android Phones.


Check out the - Groubal Petition


Its currently sitting at 4411 signatures, and I believe it would grow much more.
Do your part if you think that this is important!

[Android] Android piloting heavy machinery

Not much to shout about, but it's just adorable lol.

[Life Posts] Have you nominated your EPF nominations?

A lot of us put this matter aside, until it is too late.
Well I have just done my EPF nomination.
And I would like to share with you the location of this (sometimes elusive) location of the KWSP office in Puchong. (Sorry this is for Malaysians only)


KWSP Puchong - Longitude and Latitude marker: 3.038845, 101.615902
*copy and paste this in Google Maps, and look at the green arrow for the correct location.

KWSP
Taman Perindustrian Puchong, 47100 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia

Now, you need a photocopy of your Identification Card to go with the nomination form.
The IC should be copied front and back on the same page.
There is a shop (shop name: Mr Print) that provides Photocopy services just a few blocks away.


Mr Print - Longitude and Latitude marker: 3.036362, 101.616226


Hope this info would be of help to people trying to find the KWSP building in Puchong!

[Android] The Honeycomb Boot Animation

Really neat.
Are you guys excited about the new Xoom Tron-like tablet?

[Android] Tank Hero - A Smashing Tank Busting Game!

So I recently downloaded this neat game called Tank Hero. Don't be fooled by the amateurish name, this game is the bomb!


You get to choose the Campaign Mode or the Survivial Mode.

The Campaign Mode just throws your into level progression with single type of ammo.

While the Survival Mode, gets interesting. You get to purchase Different types of Ammo, like the Spread Cannon, which fires 3 shells at once which spreads out as it moves away.

There are 2 types of Camera display - Follow and Fixed, and 4 types of Control, my personal favorite is the Swipe and Tap.

I really enjoyed this game, the 3D graphics and sound effects are awesome. I must say though, it gets pretty tough in the survival mode as you go deeper into the levels.

If you haven't tried it, go have a whirl! Its in the Market and its free! :) 

Tank Hero Android Market Link

[Android] How To Take A Snapshot Of Your Android Phone's Screen (Root Needed)

Update: It seems there is a solution for the un-rooted phones. It is a paid app though. If you're interested, its USD4.99 No Root Screenshot It
On a side note, most phones today have built-in screenshot capabilities as more and more manufacturers hear the feedback from users, you just have to find out by looking on forums or do a google search.


Update 2: I did a search on Android Market and these 2 mentioned apps below are sadly not there anymore. Well here's a search list of "screenshot" on Android Market, hope it helps!
Screenshot Apps on Android Market




Before I begin, know that these two Apps requite Root Access to your Android Phones.
(I'll touch on the topic of Root in a later Post, if you have not root your phone, you'll have to use another method which needs your PC to take snapshots)


ShootMe and Screenshot (by GIKSoft)

ShootMe and Screenshot are two Apps that you can use in different situations, depending on your needs.

ShootMe requires you to interact with the App in order to take a snapshot, with the exception of Continuous Mode (Video Mode).

While Screenshot does not need your interaction when you set a timed delay for a snapshot.

ShootMe

The Main Screen of ShootMe.

(When you launch the App, it will ask for Root Access Permission, just tap Allow/Yes. It will only ask this once.)

Notice the Microphone Icon, when tapped, this will disable the Shout to capture function if it was enabled beforehand.

Main Screen of ShootMe.

Tap on Hide to hide this interface and start using ShootMe. Remember to launch the App again to Quit it, or you would have a snap-happy ShootMe in your pocket later :D

(or long press Home to bring up recently used Apps)

The Preference Menu.

Note: Remember to untick the Shutter Sound if you do not want ShootMe to play a sound when you take a snapshot.

From the Preference Menu, you can select the modes of snapshot method.

There are currently 4 methods of snapshot.

The recently added Continuous method allows you to shoot a video continuously with the maximum frame rate of 10 FPS.

**This function is unique to this App as of now.

Here you can set the Codec used to capture the Continuous mode.

Two formats of snapshot is supported.

Screenshot by GIKSoft

Main menu of Screenshot.

There is no Preference Menu, all the options are here.

There are 2 modes of taking a snapshot, Timed Delay and Shaking the phone.

Note: If you ticked the Shake option, you need to tap Home on your Android Phone to use this function. Tapping Back on your Android will only Close this App. Just remember to launch this App again to untick the Shake option. (or long press Home to bring up recently used Apps)

Tapping on the Delay before shot, you can select how many Seconds delay the App will take a snapshot after you tap on Take Screenshot button. The max delay time is 40 seconds.

**Comes in handy when you're in a crowded room or in public places where you don't want people to think you're nuts when you start shaking your phone, or shout into it like a madman every now and then ;)

Three formats of snapshot available in Screenshot.

Get these 2 Apps in the Android Market, they're free!
Just scan the QR codes below with a barcode/QR scanner (they're available in the Market too)

*I've removed the QR codes as these apps are not available anymore on Android Market.*

All things Android, and Occasionally Things in Life

So.. yeah, tis my first post in this blog. Why the Metal Tinkerer?
Well my current obsession is Android, and owning an Android means you know you just have to explore the possibilities of the phone, the OS, the various Apps, UI/Widgets of the Android world!


I reckon I would share my knowledge (however shallow it might be) of Android, the OS, the ROMs and the Phones!


Check this place out often in the future for updates of latest and hottest Android stuff!  =)