I am Ashley Elsdon

someone who's doing some things

Category: Mobile Applications

I’m a big fan of mobile applications. It started with the Palm OS and Windows Mobile, and has continued with iOS and Android. Who knows where mobile apps will go to next, it’s a journey, and an interesting one at that. If you’re looking for more on mobile apps then also check out the menu sections for pages on specific apps and things I’ve done with them.

And the Android dies …

Posted by on in Mobile Applications, Tech

I’ve been trying to retrieve Android .APK application files from my old Android phone to try and install them into the Android 2.3 OS version living on my 3G. I should have guessed that today would be the day that this old (well about 1 year old) Android phone would choose to fail. That makes perfect sense.

So I’ve ordered a new Android phone for two reasons. Firstly so I can try out some of the stuff I’ve been meaning to using Android, and secondly to get some of these files into the hacked 3G to see what happens and if they’ll even run.

Another lovely find

Posted by on in Mobile Applications, Tech

It’s only a small thing. A serial to MIDI adapter made by miniMusic for connecting Palm devices to MIDI. I’d almost forgotten I had this, then it turned up yesterday. How wonderful

Everything is a platform

Posted by on in Mobile Applications, Tech

I seem to have been having this conversation with loads of people over the week or so. These days it appears that you can’t do anything without it being a platform. Whether it’s music related or IT related no one just wants a system anymore, it has to be a platform!

I do understand the reasoning behind it and the business logic, but it also seems somewhat trend based, which makes me wonder what will come after the platform? What new thing will replace or subsume it.

I don’t have the answer. If I did I’d be a rich guy. That’s for sure!

Spotify and the arrival of the SPAPP

Posted by on in Listening, Mobile Applications, Tech

Last Sunday I went along to music hack day and a lot of the hacks used spotify’s new app platform. More of what I think about platforms another time.

I was a spotify user a while back but just ended up not using it anymore over a year ago. So I decided to fire up the service again to see if I was missing out on anything.

Perhaps I just didn’t give it a good enough chance but it did feel like I had no use for it. Maybe I’m not the target audience or maybe I need to upgrade to get the most out of it. Whatever it is I’m not finding it useful so far.

I like the idea of it and I thought some of the SPAPPs were kind of cool, but perhaps it needs a bit of time to mature.

Codify becomes Codea

Posted by on in Mobile Applications, Tech

This is an interesting app and has started up my interest in on-board apps for programming again. Of course iOS apps that are programming apps can’t write actual apps themselves just run their code inside the app. Even so, they are fun to play with and Codea which was called Codify seems particularly interesting.

So I’m going to give it a go again, and see if I can make anything good with it. If I do, I’ll publish the results.

Trouble with Android Processing

Posted by on in Mobile ApplicationsLeave a comment

Over the weekend I’ve been trying to get my installation of Processing for Android up to date to start getting a few things built. Sounds simple enough right? Wrong! It has been taking me ages to get this stuff to work. I’ve no idea why either.

I was hoping to actually get things working on Saturday so I could spend some time trying out some ideas on Sunday.  No chance though.

Tinkering with App Inventor (again)

Posted by on in Mobile ApplicationsLeave a comment

Spent a bit more time with Android app inventor recently. It is such a simple and straightforward way of constructing stuff for Android devices. But it also serves as a great reminder that if you don’t flex your programming skills (however meager they may be) once in a while you will find them almost non-existent when you try to use them again.

Hmm, point taken!