Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

UHF Android Tablet

I've seen the phones, but this is the first tablet with UHF that I recall.
Via @K0NR

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Friday, January 5, 2018

How to Charge Your Smart Phone

Interesting advice...

- Don't charge to 100%
- Try to keep the charge between 65-75%
- Partial charges do no harm

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

SDR and Android

USB antenna?

Monday, April 13, 2015

Runbo H1

Thanks to Bill for the pointer to the Runbo Facebook page and the heads up about the H1:
"Faster, Safer and Smarter Hardware and OS With Quad Core 1.5GHZ CPU 64-bit architectures, H1 ran faster than ever before. It is secured with hardware encryption and Security Enhanced Android 5.0 Lollipop, providing a smoother and more secure computing experience.

IP67 engineered, H1 is resistant to water, shock, dust. It endures one meter drop to plank wood or even concrete in some case. Optional industry-grade 4.3” Capacitance touch screen is readable outdoor in sunlight, supporting glove/wet hand operation."

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Runbo Q5-S Android Phone/Radios

I saw in an e-mail from Grapevine Amateur Radio that they are selling the Runbo Q5-S (in UHF or VHF):
"Brand new. The Runbo Q5 S is the successor of the Runbo X5+. It comes with a Quad Core processor at 1.5 GHz and a better graphic processor. It has overall better performance than the X5+. As all Runbo products, it has been built with high quality materials allowing him to be the next starting line of Runbo models. 
The Runbo Q5 S has a resolution of 1280×720 and support multi-touch capacity. It features a powerful Gorilla Glass which is extremely resistant again scratches and impacts. Enjoy you photos and videos as you would on other popular smartphones with the great 4.5 Inch screen.

Runbo Q5 S is equipped with an RF connector so you can connect the delivered antenna to use it as a Walkie Talkie device; the actual version covers Very High Frequencies (VHF, 136-174 MHz)."




Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Cyanogen: Windows Android Phone

"But, these people say, Microsoft and Cyanogen are close to finalizing a wide-ranging partnership to incorporate several of Microsoft’s mobile services, including Bing, the voice-powered Cortana digital assistant, the OneDrive cloud-storage system, Skype and Outlook, into Cyanogen’s devices."

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Runbo X5: Notes

Anger comments on the Runbo X5 Android phone with UHF:
"Have good and BAD news...Phone works, but there is a software problem with the Walkie Talkie mode.
1: If you go and set it as per page 7 of the manual;
• Select Australia say channel 25 Frequency 477.0250
• You can PPT (transmit (TX) no problems)
• However you cannot receive?????????????
2: If you select one of the 6 programmable options and manually set the Frequency for e.g.
• TX 477.0250 and RX 477.0250 ( Channel 25 frequency)
• It all works as one would expect….
• You can transmit and receive from others using hand and fixed Walkie Talkie‘s and it works well.
You also have to pre-program the 2 emergency channels – otherwise it is useless if you need for urgent / medical reasons.
So if you only ever use a limited set up to 4 channels and you pre-program the phone; then you’re OK… But if someone wants you to go to another channel, then you have to manually delete and re program…
If there is a FIX for this I would love to know what it is...."

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

FireChat

One of the commonly discussed benefits of ham radio is that it works without the support of someone else's infrastructure. FireChat promises "off-the-grid" communications using your Android or iOS mobile phone. In a tweet, they say:
"It works using Bluetooth and P2P Wifi (iOS) / WiFi Direct (Android). On Android, it uses Open Garden's mesh tech software."
The range is listed as about 30 feet, so don't throw out all your ham equipment for a SHTF situation. I'm surprised it isn't better with WiFi - even marginally. The most common complaint about the current version is the lack of filters/the ability to setup private chat areas. And you can't chat between iOS and Android devices.

Also, FireChat has been mentioned by Rush Limbaugh, so it must be good.


It's a neat idea, but with such limited range I don't think it offers much for me.


Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The Practical Meter

A Kickstarter project to help you monitor the capabilities of your charging device (wall outlet, solar panel, car charger, laptop, etc.) for your phone or other USB device.


WIREDInsider Kickstarter: Not all USB ports are created equal. This little device can tell you which one to use: ow.ly/mxCCD Mon, Jul 01 14:03:27 from HootSuite

Friday, June 21, 2013

New Mini Toy

My Android Nook Color experiment was not a failure (1) (2), but it never really turned into my "go to" device. I've really enjoyed my iPhone, so I decided to try the iPad Mini. So far, I love it. I've used it at home, work, and church. Mail, Calendar, Chrome, Gmail, Notes, Seven Little Words (game), YouVersion Bible, Kindle, Twitter, QST, and Dropbox are just a few of the apps I use on it. While a little awkward, it will fit in the front pocket of my slacks. Yet, it is big enough that I can type (in landscape mode) fairly well. I think the real test will be to see how much blogging I do from it.


On a side note, our neighbors got a new Mini for their daughter. Here my daughter is taking it for a test drive.




Tuesday, December 4, 2012

iEye

iPads purchases reduces sales of Macs. According to Business Insider, Apple's next move will be to replace the iPhone with a Head Mounted Display. So, we should see an interesting battle between the Google Goggles and the iEye.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Runbo X5: Android Mobile with UHF

Thanks to an anonymous comment on this post about the Android HT, I present the Runbo X5. The Runbo X5 is a ruggedized Android mobile phone with a built-in UHF (400 - 470 MHz) radio. Clearly, this goes well beyond the basic Android HT we were considering given the mobile phone, IP67 rating, etc. and the price goes up accordingly, but now we have an example of one Android HT implementation.


My Russian is as poor as my Chinese, but I think this post may be correct - the antenna is for the UHF radio, not the mobile phone functionality.

Here is some translated commentary from a review of the previous model, but I think we get the gist of the UHF "intercom" capability:
"Intercom function is a feature of the Runbo X3, no cell phone, no cell phone card case, within a distance of 3 to 5 km, free flowing intercom, the signal is clear, open distance greater than 10 km . The intercom function is all free, ALICE can freely travel are between the timely sharing the joy of the journey."

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Android HT

K0NR ponders about the reality of seeing an Android based HT given the availability of open source software and inexpensive hardware - like in the SDR HTs flooding in from China.

I think this would be a good side project for the folks at Flex Radio. I don't know what the business case would be, but I'd love to see what they could build.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Microsoft is Pivoting

Is Microsoft going to buy the market? From TNL.net:
"Let’s remem­ber here that Microsoft has over $50 bil­lion in cash. What if it com­mit­ted one fifth of that to the new plat­form ($10 bil­lion) and decided that its attack on the mar­ket would be on build quality and pric­ing. Doing so could push the tablet in the $100–200 range and the PC into the $400–500 range, mak­ing it sub­stan­tially more com­pet­i­tive (mes­sag­ing: you can get a tablet from Apple or you can get a PC AND a tablet from Microsoft)."
Via



Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Samsung Galaxy S III

A review of the Samsung Galaxy S III... it is huge, but has some innovative features including:
"Smart Stay. The phone’s front-facing camera looks for your eyes. When you look away, the screen dims to save power; it brightens back up when you return your gaze."
"Buddy Shot. The Galaxy’s face recognition software knows whose face is in the scene. The first time you take a photo of someone, you can type in the subject’s name — your mom, for example. Thereafter, whenever you take her photo, one tap sends it to her without your having to fuss with entering an address."
"Direct Call. If a texting conversation is getting too complicated, just lift the phone to your ear. It calls your texting partner, no taps needed."
"Tap to top. Swat the top edge of the phone to jump to the top of a list."
"Instant muting. Mute audio and video playback by covering the screen with your hand, as though to say, “Shhhh!” Mute incoming rings and notifications by turning the phone face down on the table — in a meeting, for example."
"Palm swipe capture. Save an image of the screen by wiping the edge of your hand across it, as though you’re the scanner of a photocopying machine."
And my favorite:
"There’s another crazy-great idea in TecTiles: small, embedded-circuit stickers ($15 for five). When your phone gets near a sticker, it activates some task that you’ve selected from a list of dozens in the free TecTiles app: make a call, send a text, adjust a phone setting and so on. "
I'd put one in my usual pew at church to automatically silence my phone.

Monday, April 9, 2012

HRO Android App

I installed it, but I'm not sure I will find it useful. When I shop, I want to see my options from various sources.
HamRadioOutlet HRO is very proud to be the first in the industry to announce our FREE mobile Android App in the Google Play store now bit.ly/HmBX19Tue, Apr 03 20:46:40 from web