iPhone alarm zzz…

Anyone late for work on Monday, the first working day of 2011? I hope not, and for those who are, why? Did your iPhone alarm fail to go off? Apparently, users in some parts of the world are having problems with their iPhone alarm app, some reported that it goes off 1 hour late, some 1 hour early. This 1 hour difference in the alarm bug mostly has something to do with the DST (daylight saving time) function which is only used mostly in countries with four seasons. Basically, i don’t really expect users here in Malaysia to have any problems (unless you somehow like DST). What’s your experience with the iPhone alarm? Leave a note below 😛

[source]

 

MarketEnabler : Free your Android Market

Most of us Android users in Malaysia must be very happy people, because everytime we open the Android Market to download an app, all the apps we see are FREE, unlike some other popular smartphone App Store. But the sad sad reality is, Google has disabled paid app (and some other free apps)  in Android Market for Malaysian users. Reasons behind this are unknown. Some guess it might due to Malaysian’s non-participation is some handset alliance, or issues with electronic payment and fraud, policies by the telco or the government, etc and so on and so forth. Because Google had made all paid apps and certain free apps unavailable for download, certain users here who wish to download the latest apps such as Google Maps 5 could not do so.

It’s kinda bad having this feeling that you’re being left out and excluded from the rest of the world, isn’t it? Don’t worry, it’s not the end. The best thing about Android is that there’s always a way around some limitation. All you need to do is to open your Android Market, search and install “Market Enabler”. To make things easier, you can use your barcode scanner (if you have one) below:

So, how do you use this app and what does it do? It’s pretty simple to use and in no time at all, you’ll get all the paid apps and free apps in your Market like everyone else. First, open the app and press on the ‘Settings List’ tab. Press and hold on ‘T-Mobile’, then select ‘fake this provider now’. And you’re all set. Don’t worry, it’s not permanent. The settings will return to default after you restart your phone. Anyway, this action also only affects your Android Market app and not other functions of the phone. You won’t lose calls or SMS.

So, open your Android Market now. Immediately you’ll notice that it is different. I have snapshots of the before and after to show you. Previously when you first open the Market, all you see is a empty list (on the left). After marketenabler, you will see a list of featured or recommended apps to download (or buy).

Feeling excited yet? So the first thing to try would definitely be Google Maps 5 (for now). It’s new and it’s got that cool 3D function plus faster maps, etc. Click on the search icon and type in Google Maps. It should appear on the top of the list (on the right) which was previously missing (on the left). Download and rock it.

What else can you do with your new found freedom? Get the best of all the free Google apps, of course. If previously you can’t find them, now you can. See the snapshot below. Previously you could only access 17 Google apps, but now you can get all of them, 32 apps.

Some of my personal recommendations would be:

• Gmail: Update you Gmail app
• Youtube: Update your Youtube app
• Chrome to Phone : send links from Google Chrome to your Android phone
• Reader: If you use Google Reader, you can try this app out instead of using the browser
• Listen : download your favourite podcast and listen to them with this app
• Pinyin IME : If your phone does not have Chinese input, use this app
• Streetview: Install this and you can see the buildings and surroundings in Google Maps as if you were standing right there at that street. Only views of certain countries available.
• Earth: Explore around the world with this app, it’s more information than Maps.

So there you have it. How to free your Android Market. Hope you have fun.

Finally, if you like what i write, do subscribe. Thanks. Comments welcomed below.

 

 

 

Word Lens

Few days ago iPhone and iPad users got this cool new app called Word Lens. Word Lens is an app which uses the device’s camera to capture the text and translate it directly on the screen.

From the iTunes site snapshot, you can see the pricing. The core app is free, but if you want to use the live translation, you have to purchase the language packs. One translation package cost USD4.99 and that’s for either English to Spanish OR Spanish to English only, not both. For both, it’s USD4.99 x 2. Stunning. But once you’ve got the languages installed on the phone, you do not need an internet connection which makes it ideal for traveling. [source]

Check out the video below.This video from the developer has over 2 million views now since the video was posted on Dec 16th.

The idea and implementation of this app is really fascinating. But this app is still in its early stages and requires further development. One of the biggest limitations for us here now in Malaysia (or even Asia) is that this app currently only has English<>Spanish translations. Imagine how cool it would be to translate some Chinese menu on the spot or travel across the border to neighbouring Thailand and actually understand what the signs there mean. I’m assuming that Spanish is the mother tongue of the developers which make it the first and only language translation available now so it’s not sure how long before other languages come along.

In the meanwhile, if you really need an app that does translation with the phone camera, don’t forget that Google Goggles does translation, although the process is not as cool looking as Word Lens.

You snap the text you want with the Goggles app, which then scans the text and sends it to Google Translate. Google Translate requires internet connection though but since it’s in the cloud, more languages are supported. Best of all, it’s free for both iOS and Android. [source]

 

 

Google Maps 5.0 with 3D

The latest version of Google Maps is out and this is version 5.0. What’s new in 5.0?

Google maps is now able to show the world to you in 3D. According to Google, they now use vector graphics to dynamically draw the map. So what you’ll see on your map is a 3D outline of the buildings. I have downloaded and tried it, and the 3D maps works, only in certain parts of the world. It does not work in Malaysia. Sigh.., Google Navigation does not work either, among other things.

Map view in New York, then KLCC in Malaysia below. As you can see, 3D buildings work in NYC, but not in KL. I kid you not, these are taken from the same phone (if you note the status bar).

While you’re here, have a look at the promo video which Google made about the latest 5.0 maps.

[source]

 

Update: 23-DEc-2010

Can’t find Google Maps in your Android market? Read this post.