Will the phone fit on Android OS to Alex Exler or a painless transition from Windows Mobile to Android. Part 1
Foreword: In February of this year, Alex Exler published in his blog a rather interesting material about the transition from Windows Mobile to iPhone. In it, he described the most frequently used functions of the smartphone and their implementation in the iPhone. So I wanted to try on his review for quite young (compared to iPhone and even more so with winmobile) Android Os. I’ll just say that I will conduct a review using my HTC Magic for Vodaphone, that is, the so-called. Google model. Then I will tell why this is important. I will use the firmware for the review Cyanogen, which, in principle, is not much different from the native firmware that came with my phone. That’s all the programs I’m talking about do not require a specific flashing of the phone. If someone missed, then I posted my first review of this phone.
In order to preserve the copyright of A.Exler, I will denote its text as Italian .
Under the cat is a very long post:
The condition was formulated as follows. My WinMobile communicator is used for the following tasks:
Some applications -weather forecast , SMS, calculator, camera, Google Maps, world time and so on - are already present on the iPhone, and it all looks noticeably prettier and more convenient than in Windows Mobile.
1. The first task, as it turned out, is the most difficult. For Google Phone is primarily focused on online services, or rather, in many respects on Google services, synchronization with which is one of the main "chips" of the phone. But consider all the same options for the implementation of synchronization calendar, notes, tasks, which writes a respected Alex.
The solution to the problem "in the forehead" exists, but not cheap:
There are already at least two programs that perform full synchronization:
MyLink for Android - synchronizes mail, calendar, notes, tasks. Cost - 29 USD
CompanionLink performs the same function, but costs 39.95 USD A trial version for 14 days is available.
Now options for other, more budgetary, but more complex and less complex solutions.
but. Mail (although Alex did not set such a task, but IMHO without it in any way). The easiest option is if you have gmail mail. I don’t know much about technology, but my mail to the phone comes even earlier for a couple of seconds than I see it in the web interface. The gmail client interface is very convenient, intuitive, and you get used to it right away.
+ in which program you would not be, you see the badge - a notification about the arrival of new messages - @ in the notification bar or a detailed description if you open it:
If suddenly you do not have mail on gmail, this is a good reason to start it, gmail can receive mail via POP3 from any mail server. Also available is a mail application that can work with other mail servers (IMAP, POP3). Now about the phone and firmware versions: the “non-Google” (those who don’t have Google on their backs), Magic and HTC Hero have a built-in application for working with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, which allows you to synchronize mail with the desktop outlook. It is also included in many "third-party" firmware, in particular in Cyanogen Rom:
.
I don’t have to say anything about the experience of use.
b. Contacts: I acted in the easiest and most convenient way: when I still had a Windows Mobile phone, I added another server to Sync to Active Sync - since it has been described here since my contacts have been synchronized with my Google account. And when I first logged in my Google account settings on Google Phone, after 3 minutes all my contacts were already in the new address book.
For permanent synchronization of contacts from Outlook with Google, there are such free programs:
GO Contact Sync ; (contacts only)
KiGoo (synchronizes calendar and contacts)
V.Calendar. The easiest thing here is to have a program written by Google Calendar Sync itself.
If, however, you have at your disposal not only Outlook and Exchange Server, then in the Android Market there are applications for you such as Exchange By TouchDown (soap, contacts, calendar); ContactsCalendarSync Exchange (contacts, calendar) and others.
Tasks: The fact is that in the basic functionality of Android Os there are no native applications for Notes and Tasks. However, dozens and hundreds of programs are available in the Android Market for this. Here are the ones that I use:
Tasks: I use the free Astrid program, which IMHO is currently one of the most convenient task managers:
Among the very convenient features is synzronization (manual or automatic) with the online service www.rememberthemilk.com , which exists for many platforms, for which scripts are available (though still in beta) for synchronizing with outluk. What I like is my wife can make a list of purchases from home that I have to do on the way home. Convenient, isn't it?
In addition, Google recently announced its Google tasks that are already available to all gmail users. Most likely, they will appear in the next version of the Android-Donut firmware, which is expected very soon.
D. Notes: I use the Note Everything program (and about version 3 EUR) - which has very rich functionality:
As you can see, you can also type text notes, draw, record voice notes, photos, checklists and more. There is no synchronization with Outlook.
Fuh, with an out-of-the-blue look, it seems, finished
UPD: HTC Sync Upgrade is available for HTC Hero, which syncs contacts and calendar with both Outlook and Windows Address Book
2. Calls to selected subscribers using icons with their images located on the desktop.
Here everything is just simple - there are already about a dozen programs that perform this function.
For example, AnyCut (Free) and its more advanced version BetterCut (USD 2.0) allows you to create icons on the desktop for anything and anyone, and you can make a separate icon for the call to the subscriber and for writing SMS to him:
@ Betterandroid
In addition, there are many quite handy widgets on the desktop for calling contacts. For example, Contact Sidebar (€ 1.49) is pretty cute. And in the firmware from Hero, a similar widget is built-in.
3. Download and read RSS feeds (and other feeds updates) news sites offline.
For this purpose, I use the excellent free program NewsRob .
The work is available offline, the user himself specifies what exactly to synchronize (headers, the entire feed with a picture, a web page). You can specify the update period, allow the update only when there is a Wifi connection, and a lot of options. + full two-way synchronization with your account in Google Reader
4. Work with Yandex. Traffic jams.
For a long time it was available only in the browser mode, which, as for me, makes little sense, especially considering the presence of GPS on board. But not so long ago, our compatriot Robert released the excellent, again free, Rmaps program which allows you to download various kartoonovy (Yandex, Google, Mapnik, OsmaRender, Cycle Map, Cloudmade) on the phone. On Yandex maps, you can display a layer with traffic jams.
All maps show your current location, which is taken from the GPS, and if it is unavailable or turned off from the Location (data from base stations)
Also, importantly, it is possible (after certain dances with a tambourine and the SAS.Planet program) to cache the necessary piece of the map (City, country, etc.) to minimize the volume of traffic consumed.
5. Reading books. Again, ready with a dozen readers for different book formats. But due to the fact that in the post-Soviet space, books are mostly read in the fb2 format — one choice. This is a free application FbReader written (ported?) Geometer. Supports fb2 and fb2.zip format, books are simply put in the books folder on the memory card. There are 2 reading modes - day and night:
+ quite convenient navigation through the library: by authors, genres and the last open. Supports book graphics, bookmarks, table of contents, book search and search in the book ...
6. Watching movies. At the moment, not a lot of different formats are being played: Supported Codec: H.264 / AVC, H.263 / MPEG4 Part-2
WMV / 8 (9 is not playable), AAC / mp4a / AMR / mp3 / wave / wma8 audio, Supported File Container: .mp4, .3gp.
And here the only question is what kind of utility to convert DVD or AVI videos, WMV and so on to MP4. There are a great many such converters. I personally use Clone DVD Mobile to convert DVD to MP4.
There is a chance that they will soon port to other formats. You can view the regular player, it is available from the Gallery application:
There are many third-party programs, one of the most popular TuneWiki allows you to listen to music, search for lyrics and watch video clips from YouTube
Fuh ... hard this thing. I will try tomorrow to finish Part 2 on the remaining 6 items.
Regards, Arseny. "Interesting Kiev"
PS Selection of programs carried out not without the help of activists from the AndroidFan forum
PS I congratulate all citizens of Ukraine and Ukrainians in my heart on the Independence Day of Ukraine!
In order to preserve the copyright of A.Exler, I will denote its text as Italian .
Under the cat is a very long post:
The condition was formulated as follows. My WinMobile communicator is used for the following tasks:
- Synchronization with contacts, schedules, tasks and notes Outlook.
- Calls to selected subscribers using icons with their images located on the desktop.
- Download and read RSS feeds (and other feeds updates) news sites offline.
- Work with Yandex. Traffic jams.
- Reading of books.
- Watching films.
- Work with Google Maps.
- Advanced filtering of phone calls.
- Weather forecast.
- World time.
- Writing and sending SMS.
- Work with additional applications - calculator, camera and so on.
Some applications -
1. The first task, as it turned out, is the most difficult. For Google Phone is primarily focused on online services, or rather, in many respects on Google services, synchronization with which is one of the main "chips" of the phone. But consider all the same options for the implementation of synchronization calendar, notes, tasks, which writes a respected Alex.
The solution to the problem "in the forehead" exists, but not cheap:
There are already at least two programs that perform full synchronization:
MyLink for Android - synchronizes mail, calendar, notes, tasks. Cost - 29 USD
CompanionLink performs the same function, but costs 39.95 USD A trial version for 14 days is available.
Now options for other, more budgetary, but more complex and less complex solutions.
but. Mail (although Alex did not set such a task, but IMHO without it in any way). The easiest option is if you have gmail mail. I don’t know much about technology, but my mail to the phone comes even earlier for a couple of seconds than I see it in the web interface. The gmail client interface is very convenient, intuitive, and you get used to it right away.
+ in which program you would not be, you see the badge - a notification about the arrival of new messages - @ in the notification bar or a detailed description if you open it:
If suddenly you do not have mail on gmail, this is a good reason to start it, gmail can receive mail via POP3 from any mail server. Also available is a mail application that can work with other mail servers (IMAP, POP3). Now about the phone and firmware versions: the “non-Google” (those who don’t have Google on their backs), Magic and HTC Hero have a built-in application for working with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, which allows you to synchronize mail with the desktop outlook. It is also included in many "third-party" firmware, in particular in Cyanogen Rom:
.I don’t have to say anything about the experience of use.
b. Contacts: I acted in the easiest and most convenient way: when I still had a Windows Mobile phone, I added another server to Sync to Active Sync - since it has been described here since my contacts have been synchronized with my Google account. And when I first logged in my Google account settings on Google Phone, after 3 minutes all my contacts were already in the new address book.
For permanent synchronization of contacts from Outlook with Google, there are such free programs:
GO Contact Sync ; (contacts only)
KiGoo (synchronizes calendar and contacts)
V.Calendar. The easiest thing here is to have a program written by Google Calendar Sync itself.
If, however, you have at your disposal not only Outlook and Exchange Server, then in the Android Market there are applications for you such as Exchange By TouchDown (soap, contacts, calendar); ContactsCalendarSync Exchange (contacts, calendar) and others.
Tasks: The fact is that in the basic functionality of Android Os there are no native applications for Notes and Tasks. However, dozens and hundreds of programs are available in the Android Market for this. Here are the ones that I use:
Tasks: I use the free Astrid program, which IMHO is currently one of the most convenient task managers:
Among the very convenient features is synzronization (manual or automatic) with the online service www.rememberthemilk.com , which exists for many platforms, for which scripts are available (though still in beta) for synchronizing with outluk. What I like is my wife can make a list of purchases from home that I have to do on the way home. Convenient, isn't it?
In addition, Google recently announced its Google tasks that are already available to all gmail users. Most likely, they will appear in the next version of the Android-Donut firmware, which is expected very soon.
D. Notes: I use the Note Everything program (and about version 3 EUR) - which has very rich functionality:
As you can see, you can also type text notes, draw, record voice notes, photos, checklists and more. There is no synchronization with Outlook.
Fuh, with an out-of-the-blue look, it seems, finished
UPD: HTC Sync Upgrade is available for HTC Hero, which syncs contacts and calendar with both Outlook and Windows Address Book
2. Calls to selected subscribers using icons with their images located on the desktop.
Here everything is just simple - there are already about a dozen programs that perform this function.
For example, AnyCut (Free) and its more advanced version BetterCut (USD 2.0) allows you to create icons on the desktop for anything and anyone, and you can make a separate icon for the call to the subscriber and for writing SMS to him:
@ BetterandroidIn addition, there are many quite handy widgets on the desktop for calling contacts. For example, Contact Sidebar (€ 1.49) is pretty cute. And in the firmware from Hero, a similar widget is built-in.
3. Download and read RSS feeds (and other feeds updates) news sites offline.
For this purpose, I use the excellent free program NewsRob .
The work is available offline, the user himself specifies what exactly to synchronize (headers, the entire feed with a picture, a web page). You can specify the update period, allow the update only when there is a Wifi connection, and a lot of options. + full two-way synchronization with your account in Google Reader
4. Work with Yandex. Traffic jams.
For a long time it was available only in the browser mode, which, as for me, makes little sense, especially considering the presence of GPS on board. But not so long ago, our compatriot Robert released the excellent, again free, Rmaps program which allows you to download various kartoonovy (Yandex, Google, Mapnik, OsmaRender, Cycle Map, Cloudmade) on the phone. On Yandex maps, you can display a layer with traffic jams.
All maps show your current location, which is taken from the GPS, and if it is unavailable or turned off from the Location (data from base stations)
Also, importantly, it is possible (after certain dances with a tambourine and the SAS.Planet program) to cache the necessary piece of the map (City, country, etc.) to minimize the volume of traffic consumed.
5. Reading books. Again, ready with a dozen readers for different book formats. But due to the fact that in the post-Soviet space, books are mostly read in the fb2 format — one choice. This is a free application FbReader written (ported?) Geometer. Supports fb2 and fb2.zip format, books are simply put in the books folder on the memory card. There are 2 reading modes - day and night:
+ quite convenient navigation through the library: by authors, genres and the last open. Supports book graphics, bookmarks, table of contents, book search and search in the book ...
6. Watching movies. At the moment, not a lot of different formats are being played: Supported Codec: H.264 / AVC, H.263 / MPEG4 Part-2
WMV / 8 (9 is not playable), AAC / mp4a / AMR / mp3 / wave / wma8 audio, Supported File Container: .mp4, .3gp.
And here the only question is what kind of utility to convert DVD or AVI videos, WMV and so on to MP4. There are a great many such converters. I personally use Clone DVD Mobile to convert DVD to MP4.
There is a chance that they will soon port to other formats. You can view the regular player, it is available from the Gallery application:
There are many third-party programs, one of the most popular TuneWiki allows you to listen to music, search for lyrics and watch video clips from YouTube
Fuh ... hard this thing. I will try tomorrow to finish Part 2 on the remaining 6 items.
Regards, Arseny. "Interesting Kiev"
PS Selection of programs carried out not without the help of activists from the AndroidFan forum
PS I congratulate all citizens of Ukraine and Ukrainians in my heart on the Independence Day of Ukraine!
')
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/67799/
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