Sams Teach Yourself Android Application Development in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself -- Hours)

ISBN : Sams Teach Yourself Android Application Development in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself -- Hours)

Author By: Shane Conder

This Price :
Description : Full Color!   In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, learn how to build powerful applications for the world’s first complete, open, and free mobile platform: Android. Using this book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll build a fully-featured Android application from the ground up and master the skills you need to design, develop, test, and publish powerful applications. Each lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a rock-solid foundation for real-world success!   Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Android development tasks. Quizzes and Exercises at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge. By the Way notes present interesting information related to the discussion. Did You Know? tips offer advice or show you easier ways to perform tasks. Watch Out! cautions alert you to possible problems and give you advice on how to avoid them.   Learn how to… Develop Android applications quickly and successfully with Java Master Google’s Android SDK and development tools Leverage the Eclipse programming environment to develop Android projects Understand the Android application lifecycle Build effective, user-friendly user interfaces Retrieve, store, and work with application data Develop powerful network applications Add popular social features and location-based services to your applications Take advantage of Android device hardware like the camera Internationalize, test, and publish your Android applications

Best Android Apps: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders

ISBN : 9781449388218Best Android Apps: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders

Author By: Mike Hendrickson

This Price : £10.85
Description : With so many Android apps available, it's been difficult to find the best of the bunch -- until now. Best Android Apps leads you beyond the titles in Android Market's 'Top Paid' and 'Top Free' bins to showcase apps that will truly delight, empower, and entertain you.

Android 2 Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)

ISBN : Professional Android 2 Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)

Author By: Reto Meier

This Price :
Description : Build unique mobile applications with the latest Android SDKWritten by an Android authority, this up-to-date resource shows you how to leverage the features of Android 2 to enhance existing products or create innovative new ones. Serving as a hands-on guide to building mobile apps using Android, the book walks you through a series of sample projects that introduces you to Android's new features and techniques. Using the explanations and examples included in these pages, you'll acquire the foundation needed to write compelling mobile applications that use Android, along with the flexibility to quickly adapt to future enhancements.Professional Android 2 Application Development:Reviews Android as a development platform and¿best practices for mobile developmentProvides an in-depth look at the Android application componentsDetails creating layouts and Views to produce compelling resolution independent user interfacesExamines Intents and Content Providers for sharing dataIntroduces techniques for creating map-based applications and using location-based services such as GPSLooks at how to create and use background Services, Notifications, and AlarmsDemonstrates how to create interactive homescreen componentsExplores the Bluetooth, telephony, and networking APIsExamines using hardware, including the camera and sensors such as the compass and accelerometersWrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.wrox.com Programmer ForumsJoin our Programmer to Programmer forums to ask and answer programming questions about this book, join discussions on the hottest topics in the industry, and connect with fellow programmers from around the world.Code DownloadsTake advantage of free code samples from this book, as well as code samples from hundreds of other books, all ready to use.Read MoreFind articles, ebooks, sample chapters and tables of contents for hundreds of books, and more reference resources on programming topics that matter to you.Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Android 2 Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)

ISBN : 9780470565520Professional Android 2 Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)

Author By: Reto Meier

This Price : £16.89
Description : Update to the bestseller now features the latest release of the Android platform Android is a powerful, flexible, open source platform for mobile devices and its popularity is growing at an unprecedented pace.

HTC Desire HD

Product Description

Manufacturer's Description

Fun on the web, the way you want it

The HTC Desire HD has a super-fast 1Ghz processor making browsing a cinch

HTC Desire HD has a super-fast 1Ghz processor to take you anywhere online in seconds, plus a clever zoom that automatically reflows text and images to fit your screen. Because the internet should work around you. Not vice versa.

The HTC Desire HD has an impressive 4.3-inch touch screen

See everything on the big screen

Gone are the days of squinting at tiny screens and missing all-important details. Now, with the HTC Desire HD, you can experience a truly great browsing experience on its large 4.3” screen. With added features like pin-sharp text display, vivid photos and vibrant video, the HTC Desire HD is designed to enhance your favourite websites, YouTube clips and Facebook photos.

Your memories now in HD

 

The HTC Desire HD features a high definirion video camera

Some moments you never want to forget. So capture them with HTC Desire HD’s high definition video camera. Then relive and share every detail in HD on your TV, long after the memories have faded.

Never get lost again

HTC Desire HD features downloadable maps that are stored on your phone

Ever get frustrated when maps take too long to download and you miss that vital turn, or when your phone rings and you lose your place? Well here's an idea, downloadable maps that are stored on your phone and load up as soon as you need them. And as you may get a phone call when you're looking at your map, when someone calls you the map screen never goes away.

From the big screen to the bigger screen

When HTC Desire HD’s big screen isn’t quite big enough, share photos and videos on a bigger screen. Stream them wirelessly, straight to your DLNA TV with DLNA connection.

A phone you can’t lose (well not easily anyways)

If your phone is on silent and you can't find it just pop online and make it ring from HTCSense.com

If your phone is on silent and you don’t know where it is, we’ll help you find it. Just pop online and make it ring from HTCSense.com. If your phone goes missing, hop online and you can lock it, back up all your contacts and texts and even place a message on the home screen asking for its return.

The full web with Flash Player® 10.1

Some phones can’t play all the video content that's on the web. Well, the HTC Desire HD can. With Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 it plays videos and animations so you can see the web as it was meant to be.

News from your favourite sites, all in one place

The HTC Desire HD syncs with Google Reader, so you can keep up with news from all of your favourite sites and blogs in one place. So whether you're in the office, at home, or away from both, keeping up with what's happening is easy. When you're browsing on your phone, the HTC Desire HD shows you an RSS icon on sites you can add to your reader. All you need to do is tap it to add.

More windows more browsing

You don’t browse one page at a time on your computer so why do it on your phone? Open more websites in more windows and browse more freely.

Product Description

Introducing what is tipped to be one of this year’s hottest phones the HTC Desire HD mobile Phone. The HTC Desire HD is a new Android Smartphone overflowing with high tech gadgetry and is here to start from where the original HTC Desire left off. Underneath the beautiful 4.3 inch touchscreen lives the same 1GHZ snapdragon processor that was seen in the old Desire. This works flawlessly to give you some of the fastest processing speeds out there. This is perfect for running the HD’s new and improved HTC ‘Sense’ interface mixed with the upgraded Android operating system (froyo 2.2). Now usability is so good that utilising features, using apps and navigating through the phone feels so natural and instinctive. An 8.0-megapixel camera and HD 720p video record means you can capture everything in glorious HD. You can even connect it wirelessly to your HD TV at home to premiere your favourite video creations. Or for when you want something more you can now stream at least 70% of video content off of the net thanks to the HTC Desire HD’s Flash support. The Desire HD exudes the typical strength and reliability that you get from a HTC phone and brings you an improved user experience with fantastic multimedia features all in one neat package. Key Features Get the latest and greatest Android experience with Android 2.2 (froyo) to get all the best features from the Android store Utilise new security improvements and online services with the new and improved HTC Sense software Watch the magic unfold infront of your eyes on the super LCD 4.3 inch touchscreen Turn yourself into a budding photographer with the 8.0 megapixel camera and range of built in effects Witness videos and multimedia in stunning HD or record your own and wirelessly stream them on to your HD TV at home Achieve stunning sound quality with Dolby mobile and SRS surround sound

See all Product Description

Review is from: Samsung I9000 Galaxy S Sim Free Mobile Phone (Wireless Phone)

By Craig Lam (Aberdeen, Scotland)

The first thing anyone notices about the Galaxy S is the screen. There are other smartphones out with the same size of screen (the HTC HD2, I believe) but the "super AMOLED" display really pops with brightness and colour. Normally I dismiss claims of "20% extra brightness, 80% sunlight reduction, 20% extra battery" as marketing guff, however, in the case of this technology, it appears to be at least somewhat true. The screen makes even mundane usage of the device something of a joy.

The phone is sold with Samsung's own interface on top, and in many ways it reminds me of the Sense UI on the HTC devices, though it does lack some of the widgets that came with my wife's HTC Hero, such as as the homescreen weather/time widget and the email widget. Similar applications were easily found on the Android Market. The touch whiz interface is clearly somewhat less polished and pretty than Sense, but it essentially does the same things.

And this phone is fast. The capacitive screen requires the lightest of touches to set the processor in motion and switching between apps, screens, pictures, albums is almost instantaneous. The machine is built on a 1ghz processor like the Nexus 1 and Desire, but it beats both in benchmarks and includes a dedicated graphics engine. I haven't had much opportunity to try many games, though the few I've tried (including Asphalt, a 3d heavy game) have run extremely well. It's just a shame that there aren't more big developers working in the Android Market at the moment.

Swype is a brilliant addition to text input on the device. You may have heard of it, or something similar - it allows you to trace a "path" including the letters you want in a word, rather than pecking them out individually. This sounds somewhat silly until you try it. The software has an uncanny knack of choosing the correct word out of the letters you trace and it makes typing out long words fast and easy. It isn't so good for the fiddly bits of messaging - punctuation, capitalisation - but you can combine it with hunt and peck for finer editing.

Now the bad.
The design of the phone is inoffensive, yes, and also generic. It's what you'd draw if you wanted to represent a distillation of 2010 smartphones. It's basically an oblong screen with filleted edges. It has one clicky physical home button flanked by capacitive menu and back buttons. I found that I missed the physical trackball of the Hero, if only to flip between screens or fidget with. The case is a shiny, slippery plastic, and the back is composed of tiny, faintly iridescent polkadots. Not very nice to look at or hold, especially since this is a large, thin slab. Don't ever rest it on your knees, it'll just slide off. I expect that I'll get a case with a bit more grip for it when a wider selection becomes available.

The battery life isn't great either, though I am able to get at least a regular day of use out of it. It has never given up on me when I've needed it, but it does get worrying low late in the day. Bear in mind that it's my new toy and, as with any new gadget, I play with it all the time: installing new apps, changing backgrounds, taking pictures, messing with the GPS, etc. So when I calm down a bit I expect the battery will go proportionally further.

Overall, this is a very polished device. It's packed with cutting edge hardware that works in efficient tandem with a quickly maturing Android. I dislike its physical design and it's a shame that Samsung didn't plump for higher quality materials and a more daring style to match the hardware. However, we don't (at least, I don't) buy phones for what they look like when they're switched off, lying on a table. No, we spend most of the time looking at the screen, and the Galaxy's display more than makes up for its ugly chassis.

Review is from: Samsung I9000 Galaxy S Sim Free Mobile Phone (Wireless Phone)

By Mr. S. Heptinstall "Millenwagon" (England)

For a good while now the iPhone has been (in many peoples eyes) the smart-phone to have, for its simplicity, speed, huge range of apps and solid design people have been splashing out ridiculous money to own an iPhone (myself included). After a while we learned that it is pretty restricted and that jail breaking is frowned upon (rather than encouraged like palms Dev mode and androids 3rd party apps) and the whole product is stupidly over priced for what you get.

This is where Samsung have seen a whole in the market and created a magnificent smart-phone, the Samsung Galaxy S i9000.
OK, it isn't 'cheap' by any means, and it isn't quite as well built as some may have hoped but it is far cheaper than the iPhone 4 and it has many features that are far more impressive. You can pick one up for around £300 in excellent condition and for what you get it isn't really that over priced.

The first thing you notice is the super AMOLED screen, I can't express just how bright and crisp it actually is. I read many reviews before buying my i9000 and they all boasted on how amazing the screen is, I was skeptical I must admit. Then i turned it on and I was blown away. The colours are so beautifully vibrant, everything is crystal clear, and the wallpapers that come with the phone look absolutely stunning. Even with the Brightness turned right down it is still super bright and is even very visible in bright sun lit areas. It is also very scratch resistant and seems to stay pretty clean without having to wipe it all day, possibly an oleophobic coating of some sort.

The HD camera takes a lovely photo and the 720p video recording is much much better than I anticipated, however the lack of flash is well... how can I say it... Stupid! I am utterly confused as to why Samsung have left this feature out, It would be near a perfect phone if they had just added a flash but for some bizarre reason they decided to leave it out. OK digital cameras are pretty cheap for a half decent one and the camera is just an extra feature to the phone but it would have still been the icing on the cake if they had put on the flash.

The phone in general looks very nice too, it is clearly influenced in design by the iPhone but in my opinion it looks even nicer and feels much comfier in my hand.

It has plenty of memory, 8GB or 16GB with an expandable slot inside the phone which will take up to an extra 32GB of memory which should be enough for anybody.

The phone is nicely customizable as are most phones. You can easily change the wallpaper, which spreads out over 7 homepages that can be filled with widgets of your choice and shortcuts to your applications, but be warned if you have plenty of widgets they may slow things down a tad and really drain your battery because they keep refreshing. There is a way past this however, simply change the settings for each widget so they refresh manually/never. This will save hours of battery life. Many people are complaining that the battery life is poor however I disagree. I just simply turned the screen brightness to half and turned off background data and auto-sync and it has gone from lasting one day of good usage to 3 days before it needs a full charge. Also download a free task killer from the android market and this will close all applications that have been left open which will also save plenty of battery life and keep your phone running at maximum speed.

The phone overall is an excellent smart-phone. I was stuck between the Galaxy S and the HTC desire (2 very similar top of the range phones with very minor differences) and after testing the 2 phones the 4inch HD super AMOLED screen, the HD camera and the appearance of the phone itself won me over, and I am very happy with my decision. I'm giving the phone 5 out of 5 because i think it truly deserves it. The lack of flash is still crazy and it should have been added but I can't deduct a star just for that one reason. The android store is still a little limited (70,000+ apps is still plenty to choose from, but the selection isn't as impressive as apples) but that is something that will grow over time.

101 Google Android Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

ISBN : 101 Google Android Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

Author By: Jeff Walters

This Price :
Description : The Android OS is everywhere; computers, eReaders, cars, and of course phones. If you don't have a device with Android, there's a good chance you will very soon. This book is not a manual; it is intended as a quick guide to features and apps you may have overlooked. It is intended to be used with phone users, but if you have Android on something else, it will still have valuable tips and tricks. Tricks and Tips Include: *How to use your phone as a Wi-Fi router

*What apps you should get
*How to save battery life
*How to send free text and make free calls
*How to set your phone to automatically forward certain phone numbers
*How to speed up your phone
*How to sync outlook with your phone
*How to play old Nintendo games on your phone And much more! Note: this book is based off the Android 2.0 update; while the tips should work on any additional updates, they might not work on older versions.

Android Architecture

The following diagram shows the major components of the Android operating system. Each section is described in more detail below.

Thank you : www.developer.android.com

ISBN : 9781405382823The Rough Guide to Android Phones (Rough Guides Reference)

Author By: Andrew Clare

This Price : £5.02
Description : A guide for Android phone users. It shows you all the tips and tricks that ensure your phone performs to its full potential. It reveals the secrets of this mobile operating system; covering models produced by Motorola, HTC, Samsung and more. It also includes a complete lowdown on the hottest 100 Android apps.