For Windows XP, please refer to this post.

Click on the images to enlarge.

When you plug in your Nexus One via USB cable to a Windows 7 PC, it will usually be recognized as a USB drive instead of an Android phone.

You can however, set it to recognize it as Nexus One phone to use the tools that come with Android SDK, namely the Dalvik Debug Monitor (DDMS) and the Android Debug Bridge (ADB).

First off, run your Eclipse IDE to update your Android SDK or AVD Manager.

Look out for the USB Driver package – revision 3 or later.

Install it and then back at the Windows Device Manager screen, select the Nexus One which has an exclamation warning icon. Right click on it and select Update Driver Software….

Choose the Browse my computer for driver software option.

Browse to your Android SDK home directory and then the usb_driver folder.

Proceed to install the driver.

It is successful when you see the Android Composite ADB interface installed.

Android Phone will now appear as one of the devices in your computer.

You are now able to use the ddms.bat (to get the screen capture of the phone) and adb.bat that come with the Android SDK in the tools folder.

Do note that once you installed the ADB driver, your computer might not be able to recognize it as USB driver anymore.

Installing the ADB driver is useful if your Nexus One is NOT ROOTED, yet you need to get the screen capture.

If you have a ROOT-ed Nexus One, then there is a better way to get screen capture, which is using the ShootMe app and keep your phone-PC connection as USB drive. There is another way to get ADB working, post will be coming up after this.
Stay tuned!

By definition:

A Mobile Network Code (MNC) is used in combination with a Mobile Country Code (MCC) (also known as a “MCC / MNC tuple”) to uniquely identify a mobile phone operator/carrier using the GSM, CDMA, iDEN, TETRA and UMTS public land mobile networks and some satellite mobile networks.

In short, it is the ID for the mobile network you are connected to.

Following is part of the list, for USA and Malaysia.

United States of America

Malaysia

Source : Wikipedia

Look for the gogoinflight wifi network and connect to it.

Once the aircraft reaches 10,000 feet and the crew gives the okay to turn on portable electronic devices, simply connect to the “gogoinflight” signal, sign up and log in.

You didn’t expect premium services like this to be free don’t you?

Pricing might change, but if you’re totally dependent on the internet for your life, it could probably be worth it while surfing above the clouds?

Even works for most VPN software? I would love to try it, maybe next time.

WARNING : DO NOT USE YOUR CELLPHONE WHILE PILOTING AN AIRPLANE!

That doesn’t stop human from striking up a conversation anytime soon though.

Google launches Voice Action for Android, which is actually command based instruction above the Google Voice search.

Just like Voice search, you speak to the phone with a few set of keywords in front and it will determine if you are asking it to perform some actions or the usual search.

Speak any of these commands to perform a Voice Action on your phone:

* send text to [contact] [message]
* listen to [artist/song/album]
* call [business]
* call [contact]
* send email to [contact] [message]
* go to [website]
* note to self [note]
* navigate to [location/business name]
* directions to [location/business name]
* map of [location]

Watch the video below, which originated from Google Mobile YouTube Channel.

Marvin Lee’s test on Voice Action

Launch your Voice Search app and speak to it with any of the action keywords above.

It will take some time to have the audio processed.

I tried to Set alarm (well I thought that was quite cool to set my alarm with voice)…

Until I find out it couldn’t really recognize my pronunciation.

I tried again, and got a free gift!

Clicking on any of the suggested results actually redirects to a search result.

Then when I finally got it right, only did I found out that the ‘Set alarm’ voice action is not ready yet.

Google, can you please hold on to your half-baked products and only announce it when you’re fully ready? It’s not like this came from Google Labs.

On the other hand, I will start to speak more and learn to pronounce my England correctly.

Kindle for Android is a FREE ebook reader app from Amazon.com.
You can search for it in Android Market with keyword Kindle or Amazon Mobile.

Download it from the Android Market for free. It is currently limited to certain countries, and if are not in those countries but your Android phone is ‘root‘ed, you are able to use it.

If you cannot find the Kindle for Android in Android Market, download the Market Enabler from Android Market, and then fake your phone’s provider to T-Mobile.

Download Kindle for Android.

Register with Amazon through the Kindle app or at http://amazon.com.

To browse for new books, select Kindle Store from the menu option. It will direct you to the Amazon website with the internet browser.

Do your search, there are many best sellers and free ebooks (Kindle edition).

I looked for a Free version for testing purposes, and selected Buy Now.
Do note that, it’s actually quite cheap for any books sold in Amazon, especially for Kindle version.
If you’re an avid book reader, I’m sure you’ll say the price is attractive too?

Yeah, Kindle editions are not available in Malaysia.

Select the ‘Manage Your Kindle on the PC Site’ link to update your Country.
There’s no issue with me ‘virtually’ being elsewhere.

Then select the device you are going to use with the Kindle app.

The ebook will automatically be listed in your Kindle for Android home screen.

So select ‘Go to Kindle for Android’.

There it is!

The control instructions will appear on the first screen.

Sweep screen left or right to flip pages to the left or right.

The physical Kindle device is selling for $159 or $189 in Amazon.

With Kindle app for Android, if you’re comfortable with reading on your Android device (nowadays Android devices do come with big screens), you can save some money and to purchase at least a few more books.

For me, this might just be good way to ensure my reading habit do not wear off, and probably getting a physical ebook reader in the future!

Whatcha say?

The Nexus One online store has since closed but rumour mills that has mentioned that the Nexus One will be sold in store still remained as, rumour.

The Nexus One is now in the league of Android Developer phones, sold to Android Developers who has an account with the Android platform to distribute their apps.

The Nexus One, priced at $529.00 USD, is now sold beside the Android Dev Phone 2 (which is also the G2 or the HTC Magic).

(Don’t be surprised if you can’t find it, you need to be registered as a developer with USD 25.00 Android Developer Registration Fee via Google Checkout.)

I’m not sure how many Nexus One would be sold as the Android Dev Phone, as Android developers who are REALLY excited with Android might have already gotten the Nexus One in one way or another.

Still, it’s good to know that the stocks are left for developers.
Note that the Nexus One is unlocked (carrier independent) and will recognize SIM cards from any mobile service provider using the GSM standard.

This Android Dev Phone is available only for purchase in the approved markets (Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States) and limited to 10 phones per transaction..

HTC Desire Review – Part 1
HTC Desire Review – The Phone – Part 2
HTC Desire Review – The Features – Part 3
HTC Desire Review – Nexus One Comparison – Part 4

I believe the Part 4 comparison will help in your decision making. Personally, which manufacturer would you get if you’re looking for an Android phone? HTC is the only one consistently coming up with Android phone and each model got better than the earlier one.

Admittedly, I would still prefer the Nexus One, but getting a pricey smartphone, one should consider the after purchase factor, which is the support and warranty options.

Maxis current deal on HTC Desire is still the best in my own opinion. At the promotional price of RM 1,499 you get a Nexus One substitute with a 2 year warranty by local HTC Distributor SiS.

Do note that you will need to sign up for a 12 months contract to get the promotional price. That would be adding RM 696 (assuming RM 58/month) to the RM 1,499, and sums it up to RM 2195 (excluding your phone call plan).
This package will cost you roughly RM 183 per month for a year.
What do you think?

Acknowledgement
This review is not a sponsored post by Maxis, but the HTC Desire phone is given by Maxis for this review. They have specifically spelt out that it does not matter that the review is positive or negative, and there are no rules at all. All that is required is a fair review of the phone.

Features	HTC Desire	Nexus One
Form	Visually longer screen although both having 3.7 inches screen Only slightly thicker by 0.4mm Has a slight chin bottom of the phone Rubberized case	Slimmer and based on the rounded shape, it feels slimmer than 0.4mm Special coating on the cover, smoother feel
Weight	135g	130g, Based on the specifications, Nexus One is only 5g lighter, but there is a noticeable difference while holding it
Speed	As both of these devices are having very similar hardware specifications, the benchmark is actually very close to each other with minimal significant difference. This is a tie.
Hardware	As compared to the Nexus One, HTC Desire’s sensor are either too sensitive or not sensitive. The ambient light sensor is not sensitive and the Orientation sensor detects the roll and switch to landscape mode ever too often. It takes difficulty to switch it back to vertical mode.	Has noise cancellation, light sensor, and G sensor works extremely well Touch screen or multi-touch is not perfectly accurate, same as HTC Desire
Software	Runs Eclair, Android SDK 2.1 Runs HTC Proprietary UI, HTC Sense I would rate HTC Sense higher so here’s Desire win	Runs Eclair, Android 2.1 and latest update is Froyo Android 2.2. With the Nexus One you can always expect early updates from the Android team
Navigation buttons	Optical trackpad on the phone is for navigating the links or items acting like a cursor. You need to swipe it like on a Blackberry optical trackpad.	Trackball is my favourite feature on the Nexus One. Check out my videos: See how many people supported enabling the trackball lights: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=6018
Virtual Keyboard	HTC Sense made it so much easy to use the virtual keyboard and in your speed typing	Stock Android keyboard is just, plain
Accessories	Unfortunately, the phone package doesn’t come with a case, although it’s common. No other official accessories comes with the phone besides the battery charger and the headset	Android Case, and optionally you can purchase the car dock or desktop dock online. You can even purchase battery for backup
Warranty and Support	Local Distributor Warranty – this I believe is the major advantage of this phone	Google online support Due to the phone not sold in stores, you can only get help from Google via the website : http://www.google.com/phone/support
Total	4	6

Based on my personal opinion, the Nexus One would have two points up against the HTC Desire. However, do keep in mind that certain features has higher importance (weight) against other features. Put that into your own calculation based on your preference and I believe you should be able to make a reasonable choice between the two.
What do you think? Do you agree with the above comparison?

Acknowledgement
This review is not a sponsored post by Maxis, but the HTC Desire phone is given by Maxis for this review. They have specifically spelt out that it does not matter that the review is positive or negative, and there are no rules at all. All that is required is a fair review of the phone.
HTC Desire Review – Part 1
HTC Desire Review – The Phone – Part 2
HTC Desire Review – The Features – Part 3

Following are more sample photos taken with the camera.

Sample video recorded using HTC Desire :

Music player
I always somehow feel that the Music player has elements ported from iPod.

It’s good, but not great. You have a few options of browsing the songs in your phone, play all or shuffle play.
If you use the earphone, unplugging it will automatically pause the song you’re playing.

Radio player
The FM Radio is something very much appreciated, as it is only among the few latest Android phones that come with a built-in FM Radio.

Like all other FM radio devices, it will require the earphone to be plugged-in to work as the antenna.

I found out there’s this option for Japan, supposedly switches the range of frequency to Japan. I doubt it’ll work outside of Japan though.

Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is a great deal in smartphone, allowing connectivity to Internet without being charged for mobile data consumption.
The Desire will automatically use Wi-Fi only when it has a connection, even while you are using mobile network.

The Wi-Fi in Android has improved much, and doesn’t require much explanation. You basically know how to use it.

Bluetooth
Bluetooth in HTC Desire allow file transfer and if you have a compatible A2DP for wireless stereo set, you can listen to streaming music wirelessly!

GPS
HTC Desire comes with geolocation feature and by default it uses your network point to estimate your location, be it your internet router or your mobile network station location. Using this option, it doesn’t accurately identify your location.

To have a perfect identification of where you are, turn on the GPS satellite usage. This will drain your battery and heat your phone with prolonged use, so use with caution.

Only use when you need exact location, so when you use location based app like FourSquare, turning on GPS with satellite will be most beneficial.

Phone
The phone is easy to use, without the need of much review, but it’s good to know that the phone feature now has come a long way since early introduction of Android.

I would say that the earlier phone feature was quite a disappointment as when you needed to key in number as options for Automated menu, the phone might have gone to sleep mode.

Now it utilizes the G-sensors smartly, so when placed on your ear for a period of time, it will sleep but after moving it, it will wake up and you will be able to bring up the menu or even go elsewhere.

MMS
MMS sending on Android is not easy and it was really a pain to send MMS.
Read how to setup MMS settings with Maxis from my previous post. I’m not sure how it’ll work for other telcos, but I would suggest it would be somewhat similar.

To send a MMS, on the message composer screen, select Menu and select Attach.

Android market/apps
Some earlier Android users, especially HTC Hero or Magic users complained that there isn’t much apps on Android phones. That was because earlier phones do not come with Android Market!

With Android Market, you can now spend the whole day or even months testing each of them out. You will not be able to install all of them though, as it’s limited by the space on the phone, but you CAN install, and uninstall those that you do not like.

Paid apps are only available in certain countries and for the rest of the world, the Android Market caters free Android apps.

You can manage the installed apps from the Manage applications menu, or with Android Market, selecting the app that is already installed on your phone allow you to Update it or Uninstall it as well.
One recommended app to manage running app is the Advanced Task Killer Free by ReChild.

So with Android Market in the HTC Desire now, it is full of applications and some are great stuff that you don’t even know about it!

Acknowledgement
This review is not a sponsored post by Maxis, but the HTC Desire phone is given by Maxis for this review. They have specifically spelt out that it does not matter that the review is positive or negative, and there are no rules at all. All that is required is a fair review of the phone.

The HTC Desire Review Series:
HTC Desire Review – Part 1
HTC Desire Review – Part 2
HTC Desire Review – Nexus One Comparison – Part 4

This might apply to other Android phones as well, but it’s solely for your Maxis SIM card.

You might see the following items from Menu > Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names >

It might have preloaded with some profile settings beforehand, but MMS sending might not work out-of-the-box.

Following is my account on how to make the MMS sending work. If you have a better alternative, I would really appreciate if you could share it under the comments section.

First of all, you could get the MMS settings from Maxis Portal.

You can create or edit the existing Maxis 3G MMS APN settings.

Do note that it has to be a new APN or different than the Maxis 3G Internet APN settings. I did tried putting the settings to Maxis 3G Internet APN hoping it would work on both Internet and MMS, but it just didn’t worked.

By default, you are not able to select the MMS APN, as shown on the second image.

What you need to do is change the APN type from mms to default.
This will then allow you to switch APN.

When you need to send MMS, switch the default APN from Maxis 3G Internet to Maxis 3G MMS , and when you’re done sending, switch it back to Maxis 3G Internet.

Sounds tricky? I think so too.