Koree Monteloyola

I was invited by my former college professor (sir Rico Teodoro) to be a guest speaker to an Android Technology seminar for a small group of students at Adamson University (Metro Manila, Philippines). It was held this afternoon.

One of the fun parts was when I switched to this slide :)

Yup, I put my design there so everyone (in the seminar) can see its full "projected" glory. I know, I know it was a shameless plug. hehe

These are just some of the things that I discussed during the seminar:

- General information about Android (History, Features, Security,Design)

- Setting the general environment configuration for Android development (System Requirements, Android SDK, Android Virtual Device, Eclipse, ADT)

- Discussing HelloWorld app, installing and testing in an AVD or emulator

- Exporting an Android project

- Creating a keystore

- Creating the HelloWorld.apk file

- Using adb to see the devices

- Installing the HelloWorld.apk file to the emulator and Samsung Galaxy Tab.

We ran out of time to discuss other Android projects, and I ended the seminar with a statement made by Richard Stallman about supporting Android to protect our privacy.

I hope I was able to deliver what they needed to start coding.

Thanks to sir Rico for giving me the chance to share what I know. God Bless.

"This is why you should support Android (not Google, but Android), even if you prefer the iPhone. This is why you should support Linux, even if you use Windows. This is why you should support Apache, even if you run IIS. There's going to be a point where being Free/open is no longer a fun perk, but a necessity."

- quoted from Richard Stallman Was Right All Along

I agree and like to think that there is freedom in free software, and money in proprietary software and/or developing for someone else. So where does this put a PHP web developer, like me?

Honestly, even if I really love the idea that I can spend most of my waking days building free software and experiment with solar power, in reality I have bills to pay. So I have to balance this out and if I'm lucky I can build my own platform, with that being said, I need to learn a new programming language this year.

Just for fun, I modified the Android logo with the Philippine flag. If you find this cute, like I do, scroll down and you can download the horizontal and vertical versions.

The archives contain different layouts and a 1024x768 wallpaper for each type.

Download Android logo with Philippine flag - horizontal

(set as wallpaper for your phone.)

Download Android logo with Philippine flag - vertical

(set as wallpaper for your phone.)

NASA is on fire! In just about two weeks this month, NASA has launched its first two Android applications in the Android Market, namely, “NASA Spinoff” and “NASA 360”.

“NASA Spinoff” is NASA's first Android app and was released on January 18, 2011. The application allows you to explore NASA technologies developed in your own backyard. It contains a feed of NASA’s latest technology news, a searchable database of NASA-derived innovations, a map of spinoff locations, a historical timeline and a database of NASA’s available licensing opportunities to inspire the spinoffs of the future.

This may sound exciting, since it’s “NASA” and it has started to recognize Android, but feedbacks from people who downloaded the app tell otherwise. Although it gives users news about how NASA innovations are spreading around the world in everyday use and it has a superb timeline of NASA inventions, “NASA Spinoff” is like a school project because of its poorly designed interface and crashes on some Android phones.Space and Android geeks should not be discouraged though, because NASA’s second Android application – “NASA 360” – has received better reception from its users.

NASA 360 is an award-winning television program enjoyed by millions. Catch every episode, along with transcripts, interactive maps with more information on each filming location, cast and crew bios, and even a quiz to test your knowledge about the show via your Android phone. This application was released a week after Nasa Spinoff. Comments for this app tell how easy to use and well-structured the NASA 360 is.

For those who would like to download any of these applications just search it on the Android Market through your phone to download and install it for free.

NASA has launched several popular applications for other platforms, mostly for the iPhone, iPod and iPad. Android users are hoping that NASA would also recreate these applications to be downloaded and installed on Android phones for free.

The USB tethering feature of Android Froyo allows you to share your phone's mobile network with a laptop or desktop computer, which is similar to the concept of using a usb modem (stick) or dongle.

The 3 major telcos in the Philippines today thar offer mobile broadband services are Globe, Smart and Sun cellular. In the image below, I have Globe Tattoo and Smart Bro USB modems, as you can see I don't have a Sun Cellular USB modem, however, what I do have is a Sun cellular prepaid sim card and an Android Froyo powered HTC Desire. I will use USB tethering to complement what I lack.

Below are the details on how to use this feature:

The essentials:

1. Configure the correct Access Point Name (APN) for your mobile phone. If you have no idea how to do this, contact your telco's customer service. (for prepaid Globe subscribers in the Philippines check my previous post about APN config)
2. Android version 2.2 (codename: Froyo) should be installed on your phone
3. HTC Micro USB data cable
4. Install HTC Sync on your computer.

HTC Sync

HTC Sync serves as a device content manager for your phone using a computer and also installs the required device drivers. By default, the file for this software is already on your phone's SD card, if ever you accidentally deleted this file on your phone, you can go to this link (HTC Sync for all HTC Android Phones) to download the file.

After dowloading and installing HTC Sync, connect your phone to the computer via the micro USB data cable then proceed to HTC Sync device setup. Make sure that 'HTC Sync' is selected in your 'Connect to PC' screen.

You don't really need to sync all of the contents of your phone to the PC at this time, we just have to make sure that HTC Sync can detect your phone and has a saved profile for it.

Just to make sure that everything is working, disconnect your phone from the PC, restart your computer, reconnect your phone to the PC (make sure that 'HTC Sync' is selected in your 'Connect to PC' screen); check if HTC Sync can already detect your phone automatically.

This is a one time setup, you don't need to open this software everytime you want to use USB tethering.

USB Tethering

1. Turn on 'Mobile Network'. There are 2 ways to do this:
   • Do a long press on the power button, on the "Phone options" screen, tap on "Mobile Network" to turn it on (or off).

     

   • Go to "Settings" > "Wireless & Networks" > Tap on the checkbox to turn it on
2. Connect your phone to the PC using the micro USB data cable
3. This time in the "Connect to PC" screen, select USB tethering

   

4. On the taskbar, click on the network connection icon, you would see that a new active network is added on the list. You might get a different name for the new connection. Select the new network and start browsing. Yippee!

   

Here's the the "Local Area Connection Properties" for the new network connection:

I guess this answers a friend's question, 'no? :)