Category: android

Flickr: Three Months Free

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If, like me, you enjoy a bit of Flickr every now and again (here’s mine, now show me yours), you’ll be delighted with the news that Pro members will get three months free.

Normally a Pro subscription to Flickr will run you $25 for a year, but until January 4th, you can get your start for free. Existing pro-users won’t get left out in the cold either; their next payment date will be pushed back three months automatically. How nice.

This excellent deal is widely believed to be an effort to mop up the Instagram users who have defected from their natural hipster home because of the much publicised (and much over-exaggerated) new T&C’s. Those new terms don’t bother me, but I’ll happily take the extra three months free, thank you very much.

The Flickr app for Android is rather similar to the Instagram one, which makes this a good deal for those who are a little disgruntled with the latter. However, for me, the photo filters and options available on either of those apps are dwarfed by Vignette, which I have been enjoying for a few years now and which gets better and better. Give it a go by clicking here (QR code) – although you’ll still need a photo sharing program (like Flickr, maybe?), you’ll have better photos to share.

Slice Rotary Keyboard

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This looks interesting.

Time to retrain our brains people. Just as touch-typing has become something of a sport, with lightning fast texting and constant keyboard contact, a new app is looking to change the paradigm. The Slice Keyboard app is a new on-screen rotary board that redefines typing by creating new finger movements.
The idea is the typer will always have certain fingers on the touchscreen of their device. Depending on which circle the users’ fingers are on, a rotary wheel appears with certain characters that allow the user to quickly access via simple taps.

The question is, can we handle a change in such a fundamental and important means of interaction with our devices?

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I already use Swype, which makes my typing lightning fast. Even that, using a standard Qwerty keyboard, took some getting used to. But I’ll give this a go and report back. Better still, of course, would have been to actually use Slice to write this post. But ain’t nobody got time for that.

Learn a language

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As many of you will know, I have family ties to the Isle of Man, that gorgeous little lump of rock ‘twixt England and Ireland. And, on the Isle of Man, they speak Manx Gaelic. Or rather, they did. It’s been dying out now for a long while and the Manx Heritage Foundation have decided to do something about it.

Their latest step in this direction is a free smartphone app to assist people with learning Manx:

The ‘Learn Manx’ app is based on the successful adult language course ran by the Manx Heritage Foundation in the Island and is a fantastic resource for all those who are interested in getting to grips with Manx Gaelic.  ‘Learn Manx’ consists of ten units, each consisting of a variety of activities, whilst two additional revision lessons feature the TT Races as learning tools. The app will eventually cover 30 units in total, providing a fantastic introduction to the language to those unfamiliar with it, as well as a great revision course for those who already know some Manx.

The app development has been supported by a telecommunications company on the island.
Their spokesperson:

It was a pleasure and a privilege to be able to support the Manx Heritage Foundation in a merger between 21st Century technology and our Manx Gaelic language with origins dating back to the 4th Century.
Whether you use the Manx Language App for fun or serious learning it keeps our language very much alive.

And that’s the idea, right?

I’m going to give it a go and see how I get on. There are more gutteral sounds than in Afrikaans, so it might sound like I’m struggling with a nasty cough at first, but pretty soon, I’ll be able to fluently order a pint of Okell’s Ale or fluently find my way to the nearest pub to fluently order a pint of Okell’s Ale.

What could possibly go wrong?

Now all I need is an app to learn isiXhosa as well. Anyone?

Learn Manx (or Ynsee Gaelg) is available FREE from the Google Play store or from iTunes if you’re more Apple than Android.

Android link:

 

Model T

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The decision has been made. I am leaving the yellow brand and heading red. In fact, as of this morning, I’ve already gone red. And not just with anger at the yellow brand.

Anger because the yellow brand made it extremely difficult to port my number, repeatedly suggesting that it was a huge hassle and that I’d probably be better off sticking with them. But I didn’t want to do that, so I’m leaving my number with them as well. Apart from anything else, it should cut down on the nuisance calls. The incoming ones anyway – I’ll still be making just as many as before.

I’ve had nothing but excellent service from Vodacom with my tablet, so I’ve decided to trust them with my cellphone contract as well. And things got off to an wonderful start with Nicole from their Canal Walk store giving me faultless service and an in-stock handset this morning. Kaboom!

My last 3 phones have all been Sony Ericssons and generally I’ve been hugely happy with them. Sony has now dropped Ericsson, but by all accounts they’re still making great phones, suggesting that Ericsson was probably just along for the ride anyway. After much research and many sleepless nights (the latter more to do with my kids than any cellphone-related troubles) I finally decided on this baby:

Behold: The Sony Xperia T

Isn’t she gorgeous?

Her vital statistics make awesome reading, with a 13MP camera, HD video thanks to the Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine and a rather nippy dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait CPU.

I’ll obviously do a full review on here once I’ve played a bit and seen how things go. But apparently, it’s the phone that James Bond uses in Skyfall, so it must be good. And have lasers or something.

Oh, and I’ll also be keeping an eye on how much difficulty (or joy) changing one’s cell number after 6 years can cause. I’m intrigued to see whether it’s a liberating or encumbering experience.

Right, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play.

Angry Birds Star Wars

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Issues with internet today, so not much from me here except to say that you should go and download the latest chapter in the Angry Birds saga.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Angry Birds Space, but my first impressions of the new Star Wars game are very favourable.

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This isn’t just some Angry Birds gameplay chucked over a Star Wars background; there’s detail, storylines, special character birds and special powers. For example, above, once the Luke Skywalker bird has taken out that Stormtrooper pig shooting the laser, the Obi-Wan birds will “use the force” to destroy the Imperial fortress.

It’s free and Android users can download it directly using this QR code:

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Have fun!

UPDATE: Oh my. Han Solo bird with rebounding laser pistol is fantastic. And you can call in a “Scorched Earth” Airstrike from the Millennium Falcon. I am loving this.