Logcats, and Tethers, and Bootloaders! Oh, my! (or: A Simple Guide to Android Terminology)

     Okay, so: You're in the market for a new cell phone, and have been hearing good things about the Android platform. So, like any savvy modern consumer, you Google around a bit, check out some reviews and discussions, and then it hits you...

Well, I thought I knew what a 'radio' was...

     

     ...You have no idea what these people are talking about. Custom ROMs? Logcats? Roots? Huh-wha?   

Well, fear not, Internet citizen, Anakette's Guide is here to help with...

A Simple Guide to Android Terminology

• 3G - The 3rd Generation of cellular wireless standards, as defined in the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specification by the International Telecommunication Union. 

• 4G - The 4th Generation of cellular wireless standards, as defined in the ITU's International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced) specification. Note that current technologies using the name "4G" (LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+) do not meet the requirements laid out in the original 4G specification.

• ADB (Android Debug Bridge) - A versatile command line tool used to communicate over USB with an Android device. Also, used as a verb, the act of using said tool.

• AOSP (Android Open Source Project) - The project, led by Google, is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android. The term AOSP is also used to denote a ROM that is built straight from the source code released by the project, without alterations; aka, a "vanilla" build.

• APK - An Android Package file. The standard file type used to package an application for installation on an Android device. Similar in use to the .exe file type used to install programs on Windows.

• APN (Access Point Name) - A network identifier used by a mobile device when connecting to a GSM carrier.

• AMOLED (Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) - A type of screen in which organic compounds form the electroluminescent material and pixels are addressed through an active matrix scheme. AMOLED displays offer advantages over conventional LCD displays in regards to contrast ratio, perceived luminance and viewing angle, but suffer from poor visibility in direct sunlight. Newer versions (Super AMOLED, Super AMOLED Plus) attempt to correct this deficiency, in addition to adding other new features (brighter, thinner, reduced power consumption).

• bootloader - Code that is executed before the Android operating system starts to run, including instructions for booting said operating system. Android bootloaders generally have their own debugging environment, but are often locked to consumers by the device manufacturer, in order to prevent the consumer from modifying the stock version of the operating system, or replacing it entirely with a customized version (called a ROM). 

• CDMA (CDMA2000) - A family of mobile technology standards employed by Verizon and Sprint among others for their 3G services. Modes are 1x (slower) and EV-DO (faster).

• Donut - Code name for Android 1.6. Each new version of Android is developed under a code name based on a dessert item, in alphabetical order.

• dual-core CPU - a computer processor with two independent processing cores on a single integrated circuit die, allowing faster devices that run more smoothly for the end user.

• Eclair - Code name for Android 2.0/2.1.

• Froyo -  Code name for Android 2.2

• Gmail - Google's web-based email service. Android users must sign up for a Gmail account if they do not already have one in order to access many of their device's features.

• Google Maps - Google's web-based mapping service. On Android, in addition to providing standard map features, the Maps app offers free GPS-based turn-by-turn navigation, as well as serving as a portal to several other Google services, including Latitude and Places.

• Google Music Beta - Google's new cloud-based music storage and streaming service, currently in testing and available by invite only. As long as there is a solid internet connection to your device, songs stored in Google's cloud using this service will show up in the official Music app on Android (version 3 and above), right alongside the songs you have stored on your SD card, and will behave as if they were also stored on your device. Also included is the ability to "pin" songs or albums for offline listening.

• Google Picasa - Google's web-based photo storage and sharing service. Photos stored online in Picasa Web Albums show up and are fully viewable in the Android Gallery alongside photos actually stored on the device, provided a stable internet connection is present.

• Google Voice - see video below

      

• Google Wallet - Google's upcoming mobile payment system, designed to replace traditional credit/debit cards, in which an Android user pays for items at a store by tapping their phone against a pad. 

• GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) - a set of standards developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation (or "2G") digital cellular networks. This is the most common cellular connection type worldwide, used by approximately 80% of the global market.

• Honeycomb - Code name for Android 3.0/3.1/3.2, a tablet-specific version of Android.

• HSPA+ (Evolved High-Speed Packet Access) - A wireless standard used currently by T-Mobile and AT&T for their "4G" services. Generally considered inferior to the LTE standard. 

• Ice Cream Sandwich - Code name for the upcoming version of Android, intended to unify the tablet and phone versions into one single unified OS.

• Kal-El - The codename for NVIDIA's upcoming quad-core Tegra 3 chipset.

• Koush - Koushik Dutta, developer of ClockworkMod Recovery.

• LTE (3GPP Long Term Evolution) - A set of enhancements to UMTS, often marketed as a "4G" service, and the nearest to true 4G of any currently available service.

• lockscreen - The screen a user generally sees each time they wake their Android device. Several types of password protection can be set for this screen, thereby locking the device from unwanted users.

• Logcat - a log file of operating system events that can be useful in diagnosing problems with an Android device.

• long-press - Hold your finger pressed to your device's screen for a few seconds, providing various functions according to the context. Often functions similarly to the Windows "right-click."

• Micro USB B - A version of the USB (universal serial bus) standard, and the most common port on Android devices for charging and connecting to a PC.

• Motoblur - Motorola's customized Android interface, used on many of their devices. A large number of Android users do not care for any of the customization made to the stock Android operating system by device manufacturers, noting that these tweaks for the most part are of little benefit to the end user, and more often than not are actually detrimental to the overall user experience. 

• Nexus One - Sometimes abbreviated N1, the Nexus One was Google's 3rd Android Dev Phone (ADP), and the first to be available to the general public. 

• Nexus S - Google's 4th and current Android Dev Phone, and the first Android device to include a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip. The Nexus S was also the first available device featuring Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

• NFC (Near Field Communication) - A wireless communications technology that allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in close proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. NFC chips will be used as part of Google's upcoming Google Wallet system.

• PenTile - (from penta-, meaning "five" and tile) A proprietary screen technology, invented by Candice H. Brown Elliott and acquired by Samsung in March 2008, in which each traditional pixel is separated into five parts in the form of a quincunx, comprised of two red subpixels, two green subpixels, and one central blue subpixel. PenTile RGBW adds to this a white subpixel, allowing a brighter display using less power. PenTile RGBG uses green pixels interleaved with alternating red and blue pixels, allowing a color display using one third fewer subpixels but with the same perceived display resolution. Examples of Android devices using this tech include the Google Nexus One (RGBG) and the Motorola Atrix 4G (RGBW).

• radio - The firmware for your Android device's network communications chip. Updating this can sometimes result in improved signal reception.

• recovery - A partition on an Android device’s internal memory and can be booted into, providing restore/recovery options. Custom recoveries such as the wonderful ClockworkMod Recovery can be installed on unlocked Android devices, providing many features in addition to those of the standard Android recoveries that come pre-installed on devices.

• ROM - A customized version of the Android OS for a specific device, made by members of the community. Several ROMs with different unique features are available for most Android devices. These ROMs can easily be switched using a custom recovery on a rooted Android device.

• root (verb) - The act of gaining root access on an Android device.

• root (noun) - A potential state for an Android device, in which the user has both read and write access to normally protected operating system files and folders. Getting an Android device into this state, accomplished through various means depending on the specific device, gives the user the ability to install a custom recovery and custom ROMs, and allows for the use of certain apps that could not function correctly without having root access.

• Sense - HTC's customized Android interface, used on many of their devices.

• sideloading - installing apps directly from an APK, obtained somewhere other than the Android Market.

• Snapdragon - A family of mobile chipsets manufactured by Qualcomm, used in many high-end Android devices, particularly those manufactured by HTC.

• stock - The default state of a device when originally purchased new.

• Tegra 2 - A mobile chipset manufactured by NVIDIA, used in several high-end Android handsets and tablets.

• tethering - Sharing your Android device's mobile internet connection with one or more additional computers. Most cell service carriers require subscribers to pay an additional monthly fee to access this feature, but motivated Android users have found ways to tether without paying the additional costs.

• Touchwiz - Samsung's customized Android interface, used on many of their devices. Touchwiz is noted for its visual similarities to Apple's iPhone UI.

• UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)- A third generation mobile cellular technology developed by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) for networks based on the GSM standard.

• widget - An app that can be placed directly on the home screen, and can be viewed/accessed from there without the need to open a separate app.

• WiMAX - The technology Sprint uses for its "4G" service, generally considered inferior to competing "4G" technologies HSPA+ and LTE.

Guest Blog: My Experience Testing Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Notebook

by Brad Golden

It was an interesting afternoon in February when it arrived. I didn’t know what it was or who it was from as I proceeded to open my package from UPS. Inside the first box was a slightly smaller box with an interesting design on the top that reminded me of the board game Mouse Trap. As I lifted it out I saw the Google Chrome logo on the stickers in the bottom of the box and instantly knew what I was holding: my very own Cr-48 Chrome OS notebook. I had been accepted into the pilot program where I would beta test Chrome OS and help Google develop their own laptop OS.

I opened the second box and gathered the various pieces Google had sent me: laptop; battery; power cord; a card that read, “If you cracked this open, you’d find Intel inside”; another card larger than the previous containing legal jargon (Google comically told me to make it into a paper airplane for my niece or nephew); and a page telling me about my new machine. I plugged the battery into my Cr-48 and opened it up. To my surprise, it instantly began to boot, and in ten seconds, I was at the log in screen. I was shocked at how fast it booted, and I loved the idea that I now owned a machine running my favorite web browser as an operating system. I loved the idea so much that I sold my four-year-old laptop running Windows 7 less than two months later.

Chromebooks have a slew of awesome features that I’ve come to cherish and love over other major brands such as Windows or Mac. As I’ve previously mentioned, the machine boots in ten seconds and you can be browsing the web in less than twenty! You have the option to log in with a Google account using the same user name and password as you’d use to log into your Gmail, or you can log in as a guest which brings you to a Chrome Incognito Window. Once in, you are using a Chrome web browser and browsing the web fast and worry-free. Open a bad webpage (like one known for malware) and Google will warn you before you even get there. You have no desktop like a traditional PC, but instead you can make your homepage a webpage or a New Tab where you can load Applications, most visited sites, and recently closed sites. The device is used differently than a traditional Personal Computer in that it handles everything it can in the cloud, instead of on your device. If you need to write a document, you would write and save it in the cloud instead of on your machine, and in case you require that doc for use elsewhere, you have many options for downloading that doc into various popular doc file types.

The keyboard has seen a radical redesign by Google, dropping age old standards such as Function keys and the CAPS LOCK key and replacing them with Google’s own function keys and a search key, respectively. The function keys are: esc, back, forward, refresh, fullscreen, switch windows, screen brightness lower & higher, mute, volume down & up, and the power button. The search key, which can be changed back into a Caps Lock key if the user so desires, will open a new tab when pressed (in case of accidentally opening a new tab, no fret, just press it again and your accidental tab will go away and you’ll be right back where you left off if you were typing in any boxes).

The trackpad on the CR-48 is a large clickable surface. By pressing in on the back half of the pad you ‘click’ and by pressing with two fingers you ‘right click’ (you can also alt+click to right click). This may confuse typical Windows users at first who are used to tapping the trackpad to click (which can be turned on if the user so desires after the initial setup), and who will probably attempt to do so after seeing the absence of actual left and right mouse buttons. However, the trackpad allows for the use of gestures, such as two finger scrolling where upon placing two fingers on either side of the pad you can scroll a web page up and down, and pinch zoom for use with things such as Maps. Overall, I’ve found the trackpad to be excellent in design and it only improves in performance as times goes on.

The entire Cr-48 notebook is made out of a nice, grippy, soft-touch plastic that feels amazing to the touch and makes you confident you won’t drop your machine when carrying it with one hand. As for the hardware inside: Intel CPU is the single core Atom N455, 2GB sick of Hynix RAM, 16GB SanDisk Solid State Drive, Verizon 3G chip is the Novatel Gobi2000 PCI Express Mini Card, AzureWave Atheros 9280 802.11 a/b/g/n wifi card, and there is also an Atheros AR5BBU12 with V2.1 EDR Bluetooth which has yet to see use in the Cr48. (Hardware specs found at: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/chrome-os-laptop-cr-48-netbook,11786.html ) I’ve also heard there is a GPS chip in the machine as well, however it is also off like the Bluetooth because Chrome OS has yet to utilize it’s functionality. There is also a file system and media player for accessing media stored directly on your device.

If you're wondering about security, look no further than ChromeOS because you can’t get much more secure than this. The BIOS does a verified boot and wipes anything bad after each boot, not to mention you won’t need to worry about viruses or anti-virus software because this machine is entirely different than a Windows machine. Not that you can’t still be victim to bad things such as if you install a bad extension or application, but if you don’t read comments or check ratings before installing apps/extensions then I’d say you deserve what you get.

As for the Chromebooks that hit the market on June 15th, you have four choices: A $499 3G+wifi Samsung, a $429 wifi-only Samsung, a $349 Acer, or renting any of these devices through your school or business. Before you assume the Chromebooks are overpriced, lets look at then hardware you get with that nice pricetag. The Samsung has a 12.1” 16:10 (1280x800) 300 nit display, weighs 3.26 lbs, and runs for about eight and a half hours of regular usage (things like streaming video and playing facebook games will eat power faster than regular Internet browsing). It has a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N570 Dual Core processor, built-in dual-band Wi-Fi & World-mode 3G, and 2GB of DDR3 SDRAM. The webcam is 1 Mega Pixel and includes a noise-cancelling microphone that supports 4-channel HD audio, and the various ports on the device include: two USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 memory card slot, a mini-VGA, and dual mic/headphone jack.

The Acer is a little less powerful than the Samsung, but it is a little more affordable for those strapped on cash. It has an 11.6” 16:9 (1366x768) CineCrystal LED-backlit LCD HD Widescreen display, weighs 2.95 lbs, and sees six hours of continuous usage before you’ll need to plug your Chromebook into a wall. It also uses a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom Dual-core processor, has a built-in Wi-Fi card but no cellular chip for 3G, and also has 2GB of RAM. The webcam in the Acer is a 1.3 Mega Pixel webcam and it also includes a noise-cancelling microphone that supports HD audio. The ports on it include two USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 memory card slot, an HDMI port, and dual mic/headphone jack. Both machines have a 16GB SSD (Solid State Drive like you would find in a flash drive) so don’t listen to the hype that Chromebooks don’t have local storage. All in all, I feel the price of the Chromebooks are fair and affordable for the hardware you get with the machine, and unlike Windows machines you don’t have to purchase a copy of the OS since ChromeOS is open source and free.
 
Various Chromebook Hardware spec links:
http://www.winmatrix.com/forums/index.php?/topic/31598-google-chromebooks-hardware-specifications/ http://www.chromeosforums.net/forum/samsung-chromebook/742-how-much-does-samsung-chromebook-cost-344-a.html
http://www.axleration.com/acer-chromebook-vs-samsung-chromebook/
http://reviewunit.com/acer-chromebook-chrome-notebook-specs-price-pics/ http://www.pcworld.com/article/227773/battle_of_the_chromebooks_acer_vs_samsung.html

       People regularly ask me if I like Chrome OS and I tell them I love it! However, this is still beta testing and doesn’t mean I’m free of small annoyances or bugs. The file system wasn’t always available and the media player used to not work in earlier OS builds, but the Chrome team has finally gotten a lot of the basics to work and they work wonderfully. Some people may tell you that this machine is useless without an Internet connection, and though they may have a valid point in the matter, Chromebooks can still be very useful while offline. There are many Applications that have offline support and Google Docs will also have offline support by the end of summer. Besides, with so many Wi-Fi hotspots everywhere you should rarely find yourself without Internet, especially while on the go. ChromeOS, albeit still a work in progress, is fast, reliable, and updates automatically so you’ll never have to worry about your OS being out of date.

       Is a Chromebook the right choice of machine for you? Think about what you use a personal computer for most. The average user would probably reply with “Browsing the Internet,” and that is exactly what these Chromebooks do best. Sure, you can’t play all of your favorite video games (yet), but that's besides the point - Chromebooks are built for users who live on the web. The Internet will only become faster over time and living in the cloud is slowly becoming the computing choice of the future.

       Visit the Chromebook Central for anything and everything related to Chromebooks! It is comprised of the Pilot Program users as well as any and all new Chromebook users and they have many topics to cover a wide range of questions about Chromebooks and similar topics.

Questions or comments about Chrome OS? Leave 'em below!

World IPv6 Day is happening now! Check your IPv6 connectivity!

World IPv6 Day, a 24-hour test of IPv6, began on Wednesday, June 8, at midnight UTC (Tuesday, June 7, at 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific).

     From the Internet Society at http://www.worldipv6day.org/ : 

"On 8 June, 2011, Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Akamai and Limelight Networks will be amongst some of the major organisations that will offer their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour “test flight”. The goal of the Test Flight Day is to motivate organizations across the industry – Internet service providers, hardware makers, operating system vendors and web companies – to prepare their services for IPv6 to ensure a successful transition as IPv4 addresses run out.
Please join us for this test drive and help accelerate the momentum of IPv6 deployment."

You can test your own IPv6 connectivity at http://test-ipv6.com/

Android Photography Showcase - HTC Droid Incredible

Hello everybody, and welcome to the second installment of Android Photography Showcase! In each post of this series, we'll showcase a small collection of photographs taken on a particular Android device. Up this time - the HTC Droid Incredible.

HTC Droid Incredible
Android 2.2 w/ HTC Sense


Camera: 
8MP Auto-Focus w/ LED Flash
Location: 
Grand Rapids, MI

Today's photos come courtesy of Dmitri at Foto-Graphic.

Android Photography Showcase - Nexus One

Hello everybody, and welcome to the first installment of Android Photography Showcase! In each post of this series, we'll showcase a small collection of photographs taken on a particular Android device, starting this time with the Google Nexus One.

Google Nexus One
Android 2.3.4


Camera: 
5MP Auto-Focus w/ LED Flash
Location: 
Allendale, MI

   All images from this post are free to use under the 
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

Learning a second language with a little help from Youtube and Google Translate

     Much can, and has, been said about the benefits of learning a second language. However, actually doing so has traditionally been quite an arduous undertaking. Fortunately, modern technology brings with it the tools to make the process much less daunting.

     It turns out that one has but to learn a relatively small number of words to make practical use of a given language. Alex Lightman (author of Brave New Unwired World [the first book on 4G] and Reconciliation: 78 Reasons to End the U.S. Embargo of Cuba), in a talk at BIL2009, had this to say: "If you learn a thousand words of a language, you can typically understand a newspaper and most TV shows." Certainly an attainable goal, and with it, a world of new opportunities.

 
     ...So then, let's dive in!


WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• A web browser directed to http://www.youtube.com/
• An Android phone or tablet
• The Google Translate app for Android (available here)

 
     Okay, we have everything we need - now to choose a language. For the purposes of this guide, it will have to be a language that supports voice input in the Google Translate app.

Currently, this includes:

• Afrikaans
• Chinese
• Czech
• Dutch
• English
• French
• German
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Latin
• Malay
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
• Turkish

     I've always found Japanese culture fascinating, so for me, it was an easy choice. Now that we've chosen our language, let the learning begin!

     First, open another tab in your browser and head on over to http://www.youtube.com/. From here, we'll do a search for instructional videos on the language of your choice. An example search term might be "Learn to speak Japanese".

     From those results, the video entitled "Learn to speak Japanese: No.1" sounds like it might be useful.

 
     Indeed, a very helpful video, but really not much different from the way people have traditionally learned to speak a new language (other than the fact that the information is now much more easily accessible). So, here's the twist...


     Grab your Android device and load up the Google Translate app. In the first drop down box, choose the language you want to learn (in this case, Japanese). In the second box, choose your native language.

     Now, go to the video you've selected on Youtube and watch until the first word is taught (in the example above, hajimemashite, a polite greeting used when meeting someone for the first time). At this point, pause the video and return to the Google Translate app on your Android device.


     Click the microphone icon next to the text input box. Now, attempt to say the word you just learned from the video.


     If said correctly, you should be greeted with a screen showing the English translation. Be sure this translation matches that given in the video. Also note that Google Translate gives the spelling of the word using Japanese characters. This can be very helpful in cases where, as in the example video above, the words are only shown spelled phonetically in English.


     Regardless of whether or not you got the word correct on your first attempt, it's a good idea to repeat this process several times for each word. Do this until you can pronounce the word well enough to get the proper translation result every time. This repetition will also aide in memorization. When you feel comfortable with the first word, move on to the next and repeat.


     Obviously, learning basic word translations is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mastering a new language. But, hey - it's a start - and thanks to Google, getting started just got a whole lot easier!




Leave a comment below with your tips for learning a second language.




Photo Credits: Language by Troutfactory