Camera Zoom FX 2.0.0

AndroidSlide CameraZoomFX v2.0.0 Review

The image quality from a 3.2 megapixel camera phone is always going to be a big suspect. The G1 is no exception, particularly since is lacks any sort of flash. While the camera is perfectly suitable for day to day photos, you may not want to use it to capture your child’s first birthday. The camera on the G1 is further crippled by mediocre software which doesn’t allow simple functionality such as a digital zoom.

CameraZoomFX steps in to provide the functionality you’ve been missing in the base camera software and more. Not only does this app, which is available on the Market for £1.29, provide a 6x digital zoom, it offers a wealth of image filters you’d normally have to look to Photoshop to provide.

CameraZoomFX offers the following features:

40 photo fx! (pencil, fisheye, filmreel, etc.)
circular zoom wheel (6x zoom)
upscale zoomed images
tap screen to snap shot
timer + sound effect
auto focus on / off
burst mode up to 16 shots
photo booth = quad camera!
stable shot including stability meter
sound activate
props, borders and famous ‘buddies’ in your pictures
customizable grid overlays
whitebalance
nightshot
geotag
customize every hardware button
send, share
1-click upload facebook, twitter, myspace
built for Donut
silent mode
antibanding (for TV / computer monitors)
auto save option

The app opens to a menu broken down into six general filter groups, Normal Camera, Art FX, Color FX, Distort FX, Frame FX and Mirror FX. Each provides a set of a dozen or so filters which are applied to your image.

You select the filter you wish to use and the camera interface is launched. You have a slider you can use to adjust the digital zoom and you touch anyplace on the screen (or use the camera button or trackball) to take your picture. As soon as the image is captured, the phone processes the photo, which can be almost instant or take over ten seconds depending on the filter you use. You will be shown the modified image to save, discard, share or upload.

Missing from this application is the ability to edit your already save photos. This functionality would greatly improve this application as it would allow you to take a number of photos without the processing delay and apply the effects at a later time.

Some of the available effects are quite original and nice, such as the dated Polaroid, while others such as dissolve seem heavy handed. The application also is missing a settings menu.

The image quality largely seems to be what you’d expect from a camera phone and aside from a few of the effects, doesn’t seem to suffer from the processing. Like apps such as PicSay, its usefulness is based on how you use your camera, but if you are frequently taking pictures and wish you could modify them, there isn’t a better option than CameraZoomFX.

The following are sample images taken with CameraZoomFX.

Normal

ArtFX

ColorFX

DistortFX

FrameFX

MirrorFX

Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0

Announcing Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 7:00 AM

(cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)

Since 2005, millions of people have relied on Google Maps for mobile to get directions on the go. However, there's always been one problem: Once you're behind the wheel, a list of driving directions just isn't that easy to use. It doesn't tell you when your turn is coming up. And if you miss a turn? Forget it, you're on your own.

Today we're excited to announce the next step for Google Maps for mobile: Google Maps Navigation (Beta) for Android 2.0 devices.

This new feature comes with everything you'd expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection.

Here are seven features that are possible because Google Maps Navigation is connected to the Internet:

The most recent map and business data
When you use Google Maps Navigation, your phone automatically gets the most up-to-date maps and business listings from Google Maps — you never need to buy map upgrades or update your device. And this data is continuously improving, thanks to users who report maps issues and businesses who activate their listings with Google Local Business Center.

Search in plain English
Google Maps Navigation brings the speed, power and simplicity of Google search to your car. If you don't know the address you're looking for, don't worry. Simply enter the name of a business, a landmark or just about anything into the search box, and Google will find it for you. Then press "Navigate", and you're on your way.

Search by voice
Typing on a phone can be difficult, especially in the car, so with Google Maps Navigation, you can say your destination instead. Hold down the search button to activate voice search, then tell your phone what you want to do (like "Navigate to Pike Place in Seattle"), and navigation will start automatically.

Traffic view
Google Maps Navigation gets live traffic data over the Internet. A traffic indicator light in the corner of the screen glows green, yellow or red, depending on the current traffic conditions along your route. If there's a jam ahead of you, you'll know. To get more details, tap the light to zoom out to an aerial view showing traffic speeds and incidents ahead. And if the traffic doesn't look good, you can choose an alternate route.

Search along route
For those times when you're already on the road and need to find a business, Google Maps Navigation searches along your route to give you results that won't take you far from your path. You can search for a specific business by name or by type, or you can turn on popular layers, such as gas stations, restaurants or parking.

Satellite view
Google Maps Navigation uses the same satellite imagery as Google Maps on the desktop to help you get to your destination. Turn on the satellite layer for a high-resolution, 3D view of your upcoming route. Besides looking cool, satellite view can help you make sense of complicated maneuvers.

Street View
If you want to know what your next turn looks like, double-tap the map to zoom into Street View, which shows the turn as you'll see it, with your route overlaid. And since locating an address can sometimes be tricky, we'll show you a picture of your destination as you approach the end of your route, so you'll know exactly what to look for.

Since there's nothing quite like seeing the product in action, we made this video to demonstrate a real-life example:

The first phone to have Google Maps Navigation and Android 2.0 is the Droid from Verizon. Google Maps Navigation is initially available in the United States. And like other Google Maps features, Navigation is free.

Click here to learn more and browse a gallery of product screenshots. Take Google Maps Navigation for a spin, and bring Internet-connected GPS navigation with you in your car.

Asurion Mobile AddressBook App for Android

Date Posted: October 26th, 2009

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Asurion Mobile AddressBook I think is the best App for G1 MyTouch or any Android OS device when it comes to Address Book and Social Networks. I was lucky enough to have first look at the Address Book about week ago and since then I can’t stop playing with it.You can download this awesome application at Get Address Book

So what is Asurion Mobile AddressBook?

In short, it’s an Address Book which is tied to social networks like Flickr, Youtube, Twitter and other popular social networks, yes Facebook as well. So you might ask your self why do I need that? Now imagine having address book that shows persons phone, address, bla bla bla and then on top of that it shows last tweets, last status updated on facebook or simply latest video they uploaded. Now that is something I haven’t seen on Market place.

Downside of the Asurion Mobile AddressBook is that you have to actually install the Address Book and also other apps like twitter app flickr etc (called MixIns) so you end up with few more buttons on your menu, but developers are working on getting all in one app soon!

So to visualize bit about Asurion Mobile AddressBook here are some screenshots:

You can clearly see above that not only you can call Lisa but also check her FB updates , Twitter and more.

This is your favorites contact list, yeah it looks definetly different and better don’t you think?

Notification tab I think it’s really cool as well because you get updates from all social networks about your friends that are in address book.

Overall I think Asurion Mobile AddressBook is going to be downloaded by thousends and will love it as I did for past week.

Bluetooth in Android

Android Bluetooth UI application from Aurora

Finally, I can use a friendly UI application in Android and it allows to use Bluetooth OPUSH/FTP profiles. I was working on porting obexd and merged some patches from Aurora forum to Donut tree. Here is a discussion in 0xlab-devel mailing list about OBEX integration in 0xdroid.

How is this Bluetooth UI application and what I can do? let's check some screen shots! Some examples between my nokia N73 phone and Android Dev phone.

Connect to other Bluetooth devices from G1 / Magic

* scan nearby devices from Remote tab
* pair with it
* connect to it



Pull file from other Bluetooth device from G1
* explore file manager from Remote tab
* download an image file
* open it from Local tab



Push file from G1 to other Bluetooth device
* open Local tab
* choose a file
* send it out



Receive a vcard from other Bluetooth device to G1
* bluetooth authorize dialog
* accept a *.vcf file?
* press OK, it would store to Contact
* open Contact




Receive a mp3 file from other Bluetooth device to G1
* bluetooth authorize dialog
* accept a *.mp3 file?
* press OK, it would store to sdcard
* open Music