DesireUser

The Panasonic Lumix TZ40 - Spread The Word!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 09:03:00 +0000

Courtesy of spreaditfast.com.

Thanks, Rob.

And The Replacement Is....

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:05:00 +0000

(If you can't see the video, please click here.)

Follow my news, reviews and analysis of my new phone over at my main blog, robnunnphoto.com.

Thanks, Rob.

Two Years In Review Video: The HTC Desire Android Smartphone

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:19:00 +0000

So the question is, what should I go for next? Android, Iphone, Samsung, Apple?

What do you think?

Thanks, Rob.

HTC Desire App Video Review Catch-Up Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:34:00 +0000

Hi all, here's a list of new videos of apps you'll be interested in that I've shot showing off the HTC Desire:

HTC Desire Android Phone to Vignette to Flickr Photography Demo.

Springpad App on The HTC Desire Android Phone.

Squarespace App for Google Android Phones (HTC Desire).

Liveprofile App for Android Phone Review (HTC Desire).

Google Plus App for Android Phones Review (Htc Desire).

Amazon Kindle App For Android Phones (HTC Desire).

Flickr App for Google Android Smart-Phones (HTC Desire).

Thanks, Rob.

Blogger Android App Is Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:01:00 +0000

Finally the official blogspot blogger app is available on the Android Marketplace, for free, and I'm using it to write this post.
The app seems a little bare bones at the moment, you can only write text and add images, and I can't see a way to format text, but it does seem stable and easy to use.
So, if you've got a blogger blog, get on over to the market place and download the official app, we've waited long enough!
Cheers, Rob.

Looking to get a HTC desire for yourself? visit our friends at Phones 4U today, Phones 4U have a great range of phones and all thier staff have years of experience so are sure to help find the correct phone for you

HTC Desire Out Of Memory Solution

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:25:00 +0000

Apologies for not posting for awhile, I've just been getting on with using my phone, enjoying the HTC Desire Android experience.

There was however a fly in the ointment - the continuing out of memory error problems. Every other day my HTC Desire would inform me that it was running short of internal memory, and I should manage my applications.

This drove me crazy. I couldn't understand why my phone kept using up its memory when I wasn't adding any more apps or data.

The answer, I think, turns out to be Facebook bloating out my contacts file, I guess with status updates from all my friends. The contacts file was just getting bigger and bigger, pushing out other apps that I didn't really want to get rid of.

To solve the problem I went to the accounts section in the options on my phone, and turned off synching with Facebook. I then went to the manage application settings and cleared the data from my Contacts file. ONLY DO THIS IF YOU SAVE ALL YOUR CONTACTS VIA GOOGLEMAIL, THIS STEP WILL DELETE ALL YOUR CONTACTS DATA PERMANENTLY. Then when I fired up the people app again, my phone downloaded my contacts details from gmail, without adding all the Facebook bloat.

Since I've done this my phone has been running great. I've had no more memory problems and my HTC Desire is running fine.

Have a go at this solution if you're running into Android memory issues, but be very careful that you don't lose any of your contact details.

Cheers, Rob.

Stumbleupon Android App Video Review

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:23:00 +0000

The internet sometimes appears to be full of spam, link-sites, aggregaters and websites that have little original content and are just here to earn money from ads. (Present company excepted of course!)

It's getting harder and harder to find great new content. You can use Digg and Twitter, but Stumbleupon has to be one of the best ways to spend a little spare time surfing the web like we used to.

Stumbleupon is a community of people passionate about finding great web content and sharing it with others. To use the Stumbleupon app, just set up an account, tell it what you like, then hit the Stumble Button. You'll be off on a gander through the best of the 'net in no time, and that spare ten minutes will quickly turn into an hour.

My only complaint about Stumble Upon is that sometime the content can be a bit old, but that isn't always a bad thing.

The Android Stumbleupon Vid can be downloaded for fee from the Android Marketplace.

Thanks, Rob.

What Do You Think?

Are you a Digg, Facebook, Twitter or Stumbleupon user? What's the best way to find new content on the web? Please share your comments below!

White HTC Desire Seen In The Wild...

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:24:00 +0000

I'm not sure if this is "new" news, but I was walking pass a Carphone Warehouse phone shop the other day I saw this poster advertising the HTC Desire Android Smart-Phone in white.

If you get the HTC Desire on contract, looks like you can get it for £25 a month, and the phone comes free.

I'm not sure how much it matters to have a different colour, but the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned...

Cheers, Rob.

In The UK T-Mobile And Orange Let You Share Their Coverage... Sort Of

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:01:00 +0000

I don't know about everyone else, but the T-Mobile Network Coverage near where we live can sometimes be a bit sketchy. The good news is that T-Mobile and Orange have teamed up in the UK to share their networks.

The bad news is that for Android users there's a few "quirks":

(Text from T-Mobiles Website)

Android phones are automatically set up not to allow 'Data roaming', so when you're using the Orange network:

You won't be able to send or receive picture messages or browse the internet.
You might get a message that says, 'You have lost data connectivity'.
If you receive a picture message or activate an internet page, you might get a warning message, 'Generic network failure' or 'Unknown error'.
You might see the 'roaming' icon (a triangle) whenever you're using an Orange signal.
You might see a message 'Allow data roaming? You may incur significant charges!' each time your phone picks up an Orange signal.
When you pick up an Orange signal your phone will ask you: 'Allow data roaming?'
What to do: Enable 'Data roaming' on your phone, but remember to disable it if you leave the UK to avoid charges
What to do: As soon as a fix is available to resolve this quirk we'll update our Help & Support site, so please check that in the future.

I'll give it a go and see what happens. My main issue with T-Mobile is that lack of 3G coverage, but at least this link-up with Orange is a start.

If you're a UK T-Mobile Customer, you can sign up here.

Cheers, Rob.

(Thanks to Matthew Clarke for the heads-up on this one.)

What Do You Think?

What's the network coverage like from your Phone provider? Does a slow internet connection drive you crazy? Or perhaps you want to rave about your network? Please share your comments below!

Retro Camera App On Android Video Review (HTC Desire Smartphone)

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:03:00 +0000

(If you can't see the video, please click here.)

When it comes to camera apps on Android, the paid version of Vignette is a hard act to follow, but lets take a look at the "Retro Camera" App, by Urbian.

I've got to say that this is a slick looking camera app - very apple-like and a pleasure to use. At its core are five different camera types that will give you very different looks to your photos.

First up is the Barble, an East-German Viewfinder Camera that'll give you photos with low saturation, medium contrast and a square frame. Then there's the Little Orange Box, a Russian plastic-lensed toy camera for a scratchy, cross-processed look.

No Android camera app would be complete without a Polaroid, so next we got the Xolaroid 2000, then the Pinhole for full-bleed shots onto 35mm film.

Rounding up "Retro Camera's" range on offer is the Fudge Can, another low-contrast, scratchy camera that, like all the others, produces moody, lomo type photographs.

Most of the cameras have a black and white option, you can specify a different button to fire the shutter, and the application can geotag your images if you so wish.

Using the app is a little tricky - your viewfinder is a small square in the centre of your screen, and you have to wait a few seconds for you photo's to be "processed", but the app does have enough options to keep you shooting and playing around.

However, I won't be using this version of Retro Camera simply because it doesn't work with the full native resolution of my phone, the HTC Desire. You can set it to "Hi-Res", but even then you're getting cut-down images. If my phone can shoot 5 megapixel photographs, why can't this app?

You also can't import photos you've already taken and work on them using the programs algorithms, another short-coming that could be easily fixed.

So, until they update "Retro Camera" so that it works with the full quality of the camera in my phone, I'll be sticking with the paid version of Vignette, which works at full resolution, and allows you to import photographs rather than just take them.

If you're into just taking smaller photos, this app is ok and fun to use, otherwise stick with the native camera app and use Vignette for editing.

Thanks, Rob.

What Do You Think?

What's your favourite camera app? Please put your comments below!

Please Help DesireUser!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 16:12:00 +0000

Hi Everybody, just a short post today to ask for a little help.

If you enjoying reading DesireUser, and want to put a little something back, I've added a couple of donation and subscription links to the blog.

Just head on over to the blog, and scroll down until you see the orange "donate" and "subscribe" buttons with the credit card icons underneath.

If you press either button they'll take you to paypal, where you could make a one-off donation of any amount, or if you press the subscribe button you can subscribe $5 a month.

Thanks in advance, Rob.

"A Good Reader" RSS Android App Review On My HTC Desire Smart Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 18:32:00 +0000

(If you can't see the video, please click here.)

Don't get me wrong, I really like the mobile version of Google Reader. I use it on my HTC Desire via an internet short-cut on my home screen, but it only works when you've got a data connection, and has the annoying habit of asking for your password every now and again.

With "A Good Reader" by Urbian we get a nice little Android Application that kind of addresses those issues, but it's not perfect...

"A Nice Reader" will store your feeds locally, but it is quite slow at updating. It has a built in mini-browser, is OK to use, and does do the job, but I can't really say that it's better than Google's own Reader, and it's definitely not quicker.

However, it is a free download from the Android Marketplace, so why not just give it a try for yourself?

Thanks, Rob.

What Do You Think?

Which RSS Reader do you use? Are any better than Googles mobile version of Reader? What would you recommend? Please add your comments!

Google Android 2.2 Fro-Yo Update Video On The HTC Desire (UK T-Mobile)

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 17:36:00 +0000

(If you can't see the video, please click here.)

Well, it has been a long wait for the Google Android 2.2 Update if you've got a HTC Desire on T-Mobile in the UK, but it's finally here, so is it worth the hype? The answer has to be yes, with a big BUT!

Android 2.2, or Fro-Yo as it is more commonly called, is a major system update. As you see in the video, it adds several great new features:

1)The ability to install apps onto the SD memory card of the phone rather than the internal memory - no more "memory short" warnings!

2) Apps can now update themselves automatically.

3) Improved speed and performance.

4) Chrome to phone, and other cross-platforms features. You can send bookmarks straight from your desktop browser to the phone, and expect similar things, like maps and directions, soon.

5) Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot. You can now use your Android 2.2 enabled device to tether to something else, like a lap-top, ipod touch, etc - and share the phones internet connection. Perfect for long journeys in the car!

6) A few new apps, that will probably depend on your phone-service provider.

BUT, as you can see in the Video, there is a bug in the Browser. Whenever I look at the BBC News site, the Android Browser crashes. What a pain! I may have to try Opera, or another one of the third party browser offerings if this bug isn't fixed soon. Under 2.1 my phone never crashed once!

I'm not saying don't update - just be aware that if your browser keeps crashing, switch on the "mobile sites" option in the settings, or try a different browser. Come on Google, send us 2.2.1!

Cheers, Rob.

What Have Your Experiences Been?

Have you updated to 2.2? Are you getting crashes, or is it my phone / provider combination? Do you a different browser to the stock, pre-installed one, and are they any good? Please add your comments and thoughts below!

Skype Comes To Android At Last With Free App

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:47:00 +0000

(If you can't see the video, please click here.)

At last! It's finally here! We've got Skype on our Google Android Smart-Phones! If you're reading this on your phone, click here to visit Skype and download the free app! or just search the Google Marketplace for Skype...
(You need at least Android 2.1.)

WARNING: WHEN USING SKYPE, UNLESS YOU'RE ON WI-FI, YOU WILL BE USING UP YOUR DATA ALLOWANCE. EVEN UNLIMITED PLANS HAVE "FAIR USAGE" CAPS THAT ARE SURPRISINGLY LOW. MAKE SURE YOU MONITOR YOUR DATA USAGE OR YOU WILL BE HIT WITH A BIG BILL.

Ok, ok, that's enough of a warning.. For everybody who doesn't know what Skype is, you're in for a treat. Skype is a free telephone / messaging / video call service that normally runs on your PC, and gives you free communication between people with Skype over the internet, and cheaper calls to international, mobile, and land-line numbers.

We use Skype to video-chat to our daughter in Spain (we're in the UK). My wife spends hours on Skype, watching and talking to our new Grandchild - and it's all free. Absolutely brilliant.

You can pay Skype, and get a number so normal phones can call you, and / or you can call land-lines, mobiles and international numbers very cheaply. The quality is great, but as you can imagine, telephone companies aren't that happy about this - but it doesn't matter because now we've got Skype on our Google Android Smart-Phones, and I've got it on my HTC Desire.

The Skype Android Application only offers phone calls and text chatting - but that'll do for now. Just sign in, it'll import your contacts, and you're good to go. This means that, say you're on a business trip to a foreign country. Just walk into McDonalds, buy a coffee, join their Free Wi-Fi network, fire up the Skype App, then phone your Wife. And talk for hours. For free! As I said at the beginning, be careful when using Skype with your normal data package over the 3G network - it'll chew up your allowance and you could be left with a big bill (especially if you're abroad).

Skype will transform the way we use our Android Phones - I'm so excited that this has finally happened, and I can't wait to use it as much as possible!

Cheers, Rob.

Your Views!

Are you a Skype user, or maybe you're thinking of downloading it? What do you think of the app? How do you think Skype will change the mobile phone industry? Please add your comments!

Using My HTC Desire Android Smartphone On Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:25:00 +0000

(If you're reading this in RSS / email and can't see the video, click here.)

This is the link to the blog / website I wrote about our Isle of Wight Holiday, using my HTC Desire to write the Posts and take the photographs.

A whole week without a proper PC! This was going to be a real test for my HTC Desire Google Android smart-phone, and I have to say that (with one slight modification and plenty of charging) it came through with flying colours.

First up, that modification. You may have heard me mention that the photos from my Desire had become misty, soft and unfocussed. This is because the clear piece of plastic on the back cover that is in front of the real camera lens had become opaque. I couldn't clean it, so in a fit of temper I pressed on it and the offending item simply popped off!

Now my photographs were even better than before. Of course there's a higher likely-hood of crap getting into the phone through this hole, but I always keep my mobile phone in a pouch when I'm not using it, so hopefully that'll protect it.

Taking photographs with my HTC Desire, editing them on the phone, then uploading them to Flickr the same or the very next day, was very good. I used the phone's built in camera app, then I imported the full-res versions into the paid version of Vignette. After converting to Black and White and saving, I used the Desire's Galley app to share them via Flickr.

The only fly in the ointment of these photos is the visible banding in the sky, as you can see here:

This banding is in areas of similar tone, and I think where I converted to b&w there just wasn't enough information to do a gradual transition. The colour versions don't show the banding as strongly.

As I said in the Video, I wrote a blog while we were on holiday, on my phone:

Our Isle Of Wight Holiday

I tried to use Blogaway, but that wasn't working, so I stuck with the HTC Desire's built in Internet Browser, and edited the posts straight on blogspots website. Note though that I could only use the "Edit HTML" box to write text, and not the "Compose" box. I added the photo's when we got home, as at that time the phone's browser wouldn't let me access the drop-down menus on Flickr to grab each photo's URL. With Froyo now installed, the drop-down menus do appear, so I could write the whole posts using my cell-phone.

The Google Maps App, and the GPS Sat Nav Navigation, were great, as long as there was a decent cell-phone signal. Unfortunately on the Isle of Wighht there are plenty of dead-spots, so we had to rely on our trusty Garmin Nuvi 200 (which has al the maps stored in its memory) as our main navigation device.

Google reader, accessed via a shortcut, was a great way to pass the evenings and catch up with my favourite websites, and of course Peep kept me up to date with everything going on in Twitter.

So, my HTC Desire Phone did very well on this holiday trip, mostly negating the need for a lap-top or netbook. Now if I only had a more powerful battery so that I didn;t have to charge it so often...

Thanks, Rob.

Froyo, The Android 2.2 Update Arrives At Last!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 21:32:00 +0000

Well, I checked the settings on my HTC Desire, and at last it said that the Android 2.2 update, Froyo, was ready to download!

It all seems to have worked ok, apart from my custom keyboard, the imod version that allows voice input, has stopped working. This isn't a problem as the updated Froyo keyboard includes voice input as standard.

What I've done so far is to transfer a few apps to my SD card, which has freed up plenty of phone memory. I've played around with the mobile hotspot option, and had a quick go with the new browser.

Everything seems a little smoother and quicker, so i will have to see how it goes over the next couple of weeks and come back with a video.

Thanks, Rob.

Ps T-mobile why did it take so long?

Vignette Photography App (Full Version) On The Android HTC Desire Smart Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:53:00 +0000

The best Android Photography App that I've used. Working with full-resolution images from my HTC Desire, there are dozens of cool effects and frames to play around with, and I've found that the best results can be had if you use your Phones built-in Camera App, then import the images to Vignette.

Play around with the demo version, then make sure you pay the few bucks for the full version, it's well worth it.

Thanks, Rob.

Ebay App On Android (HTC Desire Mobile Phone)

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:42:00 +0000

With the small screens on Smart-Phones, browsing your favourite sites can be a frustrating experience. The web-browser on the HTC Desire is excellent, and renders the desktop versions of almost all sites perfectly, but you've still got to scroll around and pinch and zoom to see all the content.

Large, popular websites will have a mobile version, but this is often optimised for lower-powered and lower-resolution devices, so you end up losing a lot of the functionality of the website. An answer to this is a downloadable app that is tailored to the small screens of Android phones, giving you all the popular features of the particular website.

This eBay app is a great example. You can search the listings, bid, watch, check "My eBay", and even search by talking to your phone...

The ebay Android application is available free from the Android Marketplace, does what it's meant to, and works very well. Recommended!

Thanks, Rob.

Taskpanel Memory Manager Android App On The HTC Desire Smart Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:43:00 +0000

It's not like the HTC Desire is slow, but sometimes it doesn't feel as snappy as it should. That's probably because the phone has run a little low on RAM memory - and this is where the Taskpanel Memory Manager App (free from the Android Marketplace) comes into play.

The Android OS is meant to handle memory without any user input, but as you install more and more apps, these apps will turn themselves on every now and again in the background, and your phone will slow down. When you turn Taskpanel On, you'll be able to kill all the apps you don't use - like stocks, footprints, etc, and make your HTC snappy again.

Cheers, Rob.

Dropbox Android App on HTC Desire Smart Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:15:00 +0000

This is very cool indeed - with the Dropbox Android App on your Phone, and the software installed on your desktop PC, you have, in effect, a shared folder, that makes transferring and using shared files a breeze.

The above video isn't the best way of showing what Drop Box can do, but it is a free app (with a 2gb limit on storage), so head on over to the Android Marketplace, install it onto your phone, then on your desktop or laptop, go to dropbox.com, install the desktop software, and give it a go.

Cheers, Rob.

Compass, Bubble and Flashlight Android Apps On The HTC Desire

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:13:00 +0000

Of these three free apps (you'll find them in the Android Marketplace), it's probably the Flashlight that I use the most.... but I'm sure the other two will come in handy at some point too!

Cheers, Rob.

Another Test Video From My HTC Desire Android Smart-Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:39:00 +0000

Sorry If you're getting sick of these, but hopefully they give potential Desire Users an idea of the capabilities of the phone.

(Plus I enjoy sharing them!)

Cheers, Rob.

Froyo Update Is Coming!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:45:00 +0000

As you are aware by now, I'm no Google insider, so most of the posts and videos you'll see on this site aren't exactly new.

However, I thought it would be useful to list some of the features coming in the Android 2.2 Froyo update, which should be coming later this month to the HTC Desire.

Speed. Expect your android phone to be at least twice as fast...Tethering. The Desire should be able to turn itself into a wireless hotspot, but I'd look out for extra data charges from the mobile phone operators.

A faster browser. You'll also be able to install apps to the SD memory card in your phone, which will be a brilliant update, and end the low memory misery of the current OS when you install too many apps.

Read more at betanews.com. http://www.betanews.com/article/Google-unveils-10-huge-improvements-in-FroYo-Android-22/1274374860

Cheers, Rob.

FX Camera App On The Google Android HTC Desire Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:31:00 +0000

Take a look at the FX Camera Group on Flickr.

This is a great little app to take funky looking photos on your Android phone. Toy and Polaroid are my favourite starting points, but there's dozens of settings to play around with to create your own individual look.

The only problem with any of these third party camera apps is the loss of size and resolution - the photos you take will only really be good enough for sharing on the web, you'll need to carefully re-sample them to print them out at decent sizes.

Don't let that put you off though - FX Camera takes great photos, I like "toy" "high contrast mono" and "soft vignette", so download it from the Android Marketplace and start shooting!

Cheers, Rob.

Google Reader Mobile On The HTC Desire Android Mobile Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Nunn) — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:15:00 +0000

I wasn't really into using RSS and Google Reader on my desktop PC. Sure, I'd set it up and had my favourite feeds populating a custom folder, but it just didn't feel right looking at posts, I felt more at home actually visiting the websites themselves. This all changed when I got my HTC Desire and used Google Reader for mobile - I'm a RSS convert!

Here's a post on how to set up Google Reader on your desktop.

Now, with Google Reader on my Android Phone, I'm a bit of an RSS junkie. If I'm on my lunch break at work, standing in a queue at the bank, or waiting for my Wife as she shops, I'll fire up Google Reader for mobile and start reading the posts from my favourite blogs and websites - it's a great way to consume content.

Remember, Google Reader isn't in the Android Marketplace. All you have to do is set up Reader on your desktop, then navigate to reader using the Internet Browser on your phone, and you'll get the mobile experience. Brilliant!

Cheers, Rob.