IThinkIKnowIt.com

What is it

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. It is was devloped by Google to compete in the Mobile market along site Apple and Windows Mobile

As with many software applications for Mobile devices,  Android provides a Software Development Kit (SDK) which provides the tools and APIs to develop applications to run on the Android platform.

The development language of choice for Android development is Java

Some Main Features

• Application framework enabling reuse and replacement of components
• Dalvik virtual machine optimized for mobile devices
• Integrated browser based on the open source WebKit engine
• Optimized graphics powered by a custom 2D graphics library; 3D graphics based on the OpenGL ES 1.0 specification (hardware acceleration optional)
• SQLite for structured data storage
• Media support for common audio, video, and still image formats (MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG, GIF)
• GSM Telephony (hardware dependent)
• Bluetooth, EDGE, 3G, and WiFi (hardware dependent)
• Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent)
• Rich development environment including a device emulator, tools for debugging, memory and performance profiling, and a plugin for the Eclipse IDE

Andoird Architecture

Below is a diagram showing some of the main components that make up the Android operating system

Application Framework

Developers have full access to the same framework APIs used by the core applications which give Android I have found a unique openness in software development. The application architecture is designed to simplify the reuse of components; any application can publish its capabilities and any other application may then make use of those capabilities.  This same mechanism allows components to be replaced by the user.

Underlying all applications is a set of services and systems, including:

• A rich and extensible set of Views that can be used to build an application, including lists, grids, text boxes, buttons, and even an embeddable web browser
• Content Providers that enable applications to access data from other applications (such as Contacts), or to share their own data
• A Resource Manager, providing access to non-code resources such as localized strings, graphics, and layout files
• A Notification Manager that enables all applications to display custom alerts in the status bar
• An Activity Manager that manages the lifecycle of applications and provides a common navigation backstack

For more details and a walkthrough of an application, see the Android Notepad Tutorial.

Some Helpful Links

• Most of the information on this page came from the Android Development site…a rich set of tools to set you on your way I strongly advise visiting it - Click Here
• A great forum with some helpful tips and downloads can be found here, it also links very well to other sites – Click here
• One more is a blog by someone called Jeffrey Sharkey (rumour has it now works for Google), he developed one of the top applications on the Android platform, and has some interesting tutorials and tips -Click Here

After many (and I mean many) hours breathing over a keyboard staring at an excel spreadsheet or VBA code, I have decided to share some of the love.

I will start with some useful sites that even the basic user of Excel would be able to understand….

• Ozgrid provides some very useful bits on VBA and comes with many examples and downloads  – Ozgrid
• Microsoft has a reasonable help guide, haven’t found any miraculous tips though,  choose your product here
• Not sure who or what this guy does, but found some very quick and easy macros here (use a page search to help)
• Any info on userforms for excel could be found here (basic tutorial), I will add info to this site in more detail about user forms  – Click Me

As mentioned I will add excel development material to this blog site (once I have a wee bit more time )

Having just seen Alonso fly up to 3rd in the Malaysian Grand Prix I had to know more…

KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) allows the F1 teams to store kinetic energy which is produced from the breaking system on the cars, under FIA regulations they are allowed to store 60KW which is more or less equivalent to 80HP for an extra 6.67 seconds, they are allowed to use this on each Lap.

The energy can be stored in a Flywheel (which many of the teams use) or in Super capacitors. Many of the teams are yet to fully implement this system and as a result have to use extra ballast on the car (as the system weighs about 35kg). Therefore no team will be at a loss for implementing KERS.

It is meant to help in the entertainment of the sport by giving the drivers the extra power they need to do a passing move.

Here is a Williams Engineer telling you more…

Microsoft Vs Google can be tiresome, the company I work for has Microsoft Exchange servers and I got myself a G1, do you think they built in an application to sync with Exchange servers….oh no!

They left it for 3rd party developes, blatantly waiting to see who produces the best product and then buying them out

Anyway enough ranting….My solution….

There are a few good clients out there, the main one currently (and is free) is MoxierMail, this does have some limitations, especially around secure Mail servers.

The one I am currently using and works really well is Touchdown by Nitrodesk

Touchdown

The only thing in the full version is around $30, but with the demo you can just recieve, you can’t send out, which is all I ever needed it for.

Coming soon though is the much anticipated Aardvark for Android, due later this year.

Okay, if you are looking for a battle then England Vs Australia is always going to be one.

There we (England) are near the end of a game when some reasonably averaged sized ozzie -- he now supports a mullet (enough said!) wants to get involved in a bit of a battle…How do the English reply….Josh Lewsy shows you how