I am Ashley Elsdon

someone who's doing some things

Tag: Android

Google’s mobile operating system and the stuff I do or try to do with it. A lot of the time it’ll be either music or automation related.

Serious consideration of Android

Posted by on in Tech

Yep, I am seriously considering Android for my next phone, which I will be able to update to in just over 2 weeks. As someone who is totally into music making on handheld devices you might wonder why I’m even interested in Android as it has no use whatsoever for music. Ok, that’s a little over the top. There are a few music making apps for Android, but not many to be fair.

So why move? Well, simply put it is that Android is more open and accessible. In data terms there is nothing to choose between the two operating systems really. If I want email, RSS, twitter etc then they can both do most of this stuff just fine. So one of the things I’m considering is moving to an Android phone and getting an iPod touch to use for music making.

The next couple of weeks will tell me if I can make the jump successfully.

Finding something interesting to do with LiveView

Posted by on in Tech

Ok, I’ve been tinkering with the LiveView and to be honest, whilst it is interesting and it does demonstrate that the whole smartwatch thing has moved on since the Fossil Palm OS watch, I don’t have a real use for it in it’s current form.

I guess the main problem with it is that it doesn’t work with my iPhone, but also because the screen isn’t really designed to show very much information and isn’t too useful. My guess is that the next version will be better. From what I’ve seen so far the screen is much nicer and the device is a lot thinner too.

Having said that I’ve already decided to get a Pebble smartwatch and I think that will have moved the technology forward, and also, the Pebble will work with iOS, which is a big plus for me.

LiveView controlling music

Posted by on in Tech

So, I got it to do something slightly useful now. It can play music, although it has seemed a little random so far and control isn’t brilliant. It’s a step in the right direction though.

LiveView watch case

Posted by on in Tech

So I finally got the case thing going for the liveview. It isn’t too bad either. Certainly compared to the old Fossil Palm watches anyway, which were more like having a small brick on your wrist.

Anyway, this watch is much better as the watch part is just a clip on back for the device so you can take it out and use it however you want. Good idea really.

Yep, I decided to fun the Pebble

Posted by on in Tech

I mentioned this the other day. A great idea and a massive response via kickstarter. I’ve joined in too now, so I look forward to September and getting a Pebble in the post.

Pebble looking amazing

Posted by on in Tech

Amazing to see that Pebble has been funded to over $3m from an initial request of just $100,000. I have to admit that it is an amazing idea and if it is as expected then it will be a major step forward for smart watches.

What’s especially interesting is the possibility of an SDK that could be used to make the Pebble do more, and possible control music software on an iPhone.

I guess it’s just a question of time to find out what people end up making with it.

Binary Clock in LiveView

Posted by on in Tech
Binary Clock
LiveView BinaryClock

A little bit of progress with this project. I got the binary clock app running on the device. I really need to be able to get this working with RSS feeds and more soon.

Why do mobile phones have app platforms and landline phones don’t?

Posted by on in Stuff, Tech, Thinking

It really isn’t easy to find a home phone these days. Whilst we have loads of mobile phone shops, hardly anyone stocks a simple land line phone anymore. Why is that?

And, more to the point, why is it that land line phones haven’t evolved in the same way that mobiles have? I managed to find two Android powered home phones, but both had bad reviews that really put me off. But seriously, two smart-home phones? Is that all? Is there really no market for something more advanced in the home? I find it very strange indeed.

Moving forward with LiveView

Posted by on in Tech

I posted about LiveView a week or so ago, and it’s taken me a little while to get back to this again. Although I’m only tinkering with it, I think it could have some interesting possibilities.

I quite like the ‘find my phone’ function on it, which just makes the phone vibrate and play a tone and the screen lights up saying ‘Here I am’, which is fun.

Having looked around Google Play for apps for it there seem to be quite a few and doing some interesting stuff, but by far the most appealing is an app or applet that seems to suggest it can be linked to tasker. Now that could be very useful.

Arduino trouble

Posted by on in Tech

These are some potentiometers I bought for use with my new Arduino Mega ADK. I got the code into the Arduino IDE and then hit trouble. It appears that with version 1.0 of the Arduino IDE a bunch of headers (or something) have been moved and as a result my code won’t work.

It’s a real pain as I was looking forward to getting this stuff working and talking to Android, but it looks like that might take a while longer now. What a shame.