Allusis

Swype Beta for Android

tony — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:53:26 +0000

Swype is a new keyboarding technique designed for touch screen smartphones and tablets. Instead of typing letter by letter, T9 or whatever else, you merely touch the screen and play connect-the-letters to spell whatever word you’d like.

A lot of buzz about Swype was floating around a few months ago and I found out that it was available for Android. It worked for a few months and then I got a message telling me to update to the new version. I ignored it until my Swype keyboard was dead. Anyways, the installation was still not as easy as installing an app from the market so I took a few screen grabs during the installation. Follow the steps below, theres nothing more to it.

1. Go to settings on your phone.

2. Go to Language and Keyboard.

3. Make sure you uncheck “Swype” (if it’s installed) and also make sure “Android keyboard” is checked.

4. Go back to your Settings (just repeat step 1) and select “Applications”

5. Select “Manage Applications”

6. Scroll down, and select “Swype” (if it was installed previously) if it’s not there skip step 7.

7. Select the “Uninstall” button.

8. Browse to This page (or scan the QR code above) and sign up for the Swype Beta.

9. You should recieve a link after signing up (sign up page shown above) to download Swype. Select that link and save it to your SD card.

10. Once it finishes select the file that download and select “Package Installer” if it doesn’t automatically do so.

11. You may need to enable Swype. If so, repeat step 2 and do the exact opposite of step 3.

12. Create a text message or something requiring a keyboard and long press the input box. Select “Input method” and then “Swype.”

Your keyboard should look just like the one in the photo.

If you’ve had Swype before you will immediately notice some improvements. I personally enjoy the ease of using one letter at a time as opposed to the way it used to be. The updates to the graphics are also quite delicious. If you’re new, do the tutorial and enjoy!

Please give this post a thumbs up if it worked for you.

The big Buzz from Google

tony — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:24:22 +0000

Google launched Buzz today which is a lovely social site like addition to your gmail, as well as the mobile Google Maps application.

I uploaded a few screen grabs to show some of the cool features from Google Maps from my Motorola Droid. I’m pretty sure this is only the beginning of this project, and I’m impressed so far.
You can check out my profile, and follow me here: http://www.google.com/profiles/montemorano

1. Launch Google Maps and enable Buzz in Layers.

2. After it loads you will begin to see little white chats where people have posted from Buzz

3. Write a buzz, use location based listings or choose your current location, maybe add a picture and post away!

4. Now you’re holding down your block, but what about the local coffee shop? Do it…

5. Don’t forget to check out what the others are saying.

Don’t type it, Swype it

tony — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:07:59 +0000

Swype is a new keyboarding technique designed for touch screen smartphones and tablets. Instead of typing letter by letter, T9 (fyl) or whatever else, you merely touch the screen and play connect-the-letters to spell whatever word you’d like.

UPDATE: As of March 5th 2010 Swype officially went beta for Android.

Please follow this link to learn how to make your current (broken) copy of Swype work again, or to get it working for the first time.

Swype In Action

Top Android Widgets

tony — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:08:45 +0000

Widgets are those little things on your home screen that make your life easier, The power control is a must have (which comes preloaded) as well as a few others, but what else could you want or need? Well, here’s my list.

To make your life easier you can go right to the installation page by just scanning the QRCodes located to the right of the application description using Barcode Scanner. If you don’t have the Barcode Scanner application go get it now! Click on the screen grabs to enlarge them and enjoy!

Lock Me : This widget is an icon for a door. When the door is opened you will be prompted with the default lock screen for android. When the door is closed you you can set the pattern lock. This is great for people that want privacy, but not always.

SMS Unread Count : Displays the unread count for your SMS messages right on the icon. Note: the icon is actually a widget, it does not modify the messaging application.

Twidgit Lite : Shows the latest tweets from the people you follow on Twitter.

Weather Widget : Has a few different sizes, displays temperature and condition icons based on set or current location.

Check back for more

Top Android Apps

tony — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:27:04 +0000

I love my Motorola Droid and I experiment with apps constantly so I had to make a list of my favorite applications like every other cool person on the interweb. The following applications are what I consider to be the bare necessities, they can all be found on the “Market” on your Droid or whatever the equivalent is based on your service provider.

Updated: March 5, 2010

Advanced Task Killer : Shows available memory, and options for closing those 50 selected random apps that don’t need to be running constantly.

AIM : A very clean AIM client from AOL Mobile. It also supports Lifestream.

Apps Organizer : Add filters and organizer your applications in folder-like widgets instead of filling up your desktop.

Barcode Scanner : Allows you to scan QRCodes (like the ones to the right) and bring up applications in the Market, as well as search for information on regular old barcodes. Great app to have if you plan on installing any of the apps that I have listed here on this page BTW…

Gesture Search : Stop scrolling through hundreds of contacts and applications. Use Gesture Search by writing letters to narrow down the contact and applications results that you’re searching for.

Google Sky Map : See where the constellations and planets are located in real time by pointing your camera in the appropriate direction. It is a lot more amazing than it sounds, and it also has a very cool guided “locate” tool for searching for different things in the sky.

Google Talk : Googles famous Talk service integrates seamlessly with Android and it will make you hate text messaging.

Google Voice : Shows SMS, voicemail activity and anything else that you might find in your Google Voice inbox. Options for sync with contacts.

Google Googles : Take a picture of what you’re looking for instead of typing it. Or just point the camera around to see local businesses. This product is still in beta, and it doesn’t work for everything but it has come in handy a few times.

Layar : A location based search tool that allows you to filter for things in your camera view like local tweets, yellow page listings, restaurants, and much more.

Pandora : Never again will your ears bleed from some pre programmed playlist of underground jungle music. You have your Pandora playlists in your freakin’ pocket, and you know how to use them.

Photoshop Mobile : Allows you to crop, change colors, and make quick modifications to images on your phone. I find it especially useful for non-smartphone users who don’t receive my MMS messages unless I chop the image size down.

Places Directory : Displays information based on your location. This is great for finding things quickly like gas, medical, bars, etc.

Qik : Stream and share videos instantly online from your phone. Super cool!

Ringdroid : Sick of dealing with stupid virus ridden applications for editing and converting your own ringtones, alarms, and notification sounds? Do it on your phone instead of messing around with all of that stuff. Trim it, test it, and save it. The end.

ShopSavvy : Allows you to use your phone’s camera to scan barcodes to find the best prices for pretty much anything that you can find. Shows prices for online and local businesses based on your location.

SNESoid Lite : Keep it real with Super Nintendo games that you love instead of something that you probably won’t like. This program has a bunch of settings opening your phone up for all of your favorite SNES titles. Load the roms onto your memory card, and go to town.

TV Guide : I’ve never been satisfied with the guide on Cable and Satellite television. This app has channel info for all systems and is much quicker than what you’re probably using on your TV. Get your one up!

Twidroid : the industry-standard twitter client for android and among the most used twitter applications across all platforms. it’s available as a free and commercial pro version that supports all twitter features as well as functionality that is customized to the capabilities of android devices.