Android Developers Blog

Android Developers Blog Market Housekeeping Alert November 12, 2010 at 5:54 AM We've had quite a bit of discussion in this space recently about how to make sure that your app is visible in Android Market to any device that can run it, and only to those devices. In particular, check out two recent pieces by Reto Meier, Future-Proofing Your App and The Five Steps to Future Hardware Happiness. As Reto points out, Market used to infer some <uses-feature> settings for older apps that were uploaded before certain device features arrived. This hasn't been the case for applications uploaded since June of this year; developers have had to be careful about <uses-feature> and its android:required attribute. From what we see, it looks like most of you have got this sorted out and things are working smoothly. However, there are still apps that haven't been re-uploaded since June. In preparation for introducing some new Market features (that we think you'll like), we're about to launch a re-scan of all those legacy apps, looking at their Android Manifests and updating Market's database. This means that if you have an app that you haven't updated since June, and it lacks up-to-date <uses-feature> settings, it may stop being visible on certain devices. We think the set of apps that will have this problem will be small, if only since most successful apps are updated regularly. If you want to be sure, check Reto's advice here under "Android Market Rule #2". We've said it before but it bears repeating: There are a lot of different sizes and shapes and flavors of Android devices in the product pipeline, and you want your app available on every one that can possibly run it. So this is an area that is going to be requiring attention from developers on a continuing basis. Android Market Action November 11, 2010 at 7:00 AM Almost instantly after I joined Google, it became obvious to me that the number-one area where Android developers wanted to see action and progress was in Android Market; your concerns in this area vastly outweighed whatever issues might be bothering you about the handsets and the framework and the programming tools. In recent months there has been a steady, quiet, incremental flow of improvements and upgrades. They add up. This is by way of a glance back at developments since the arrival of Froyo last summer. First, we introduced error reporting to Market, so developers can see if their apps are locking up or crashing; and if so, exactly where. Second, we upgraded the Market publisher site to include user comments, so you can read what people are saying about you, or at least what they're saying in a language you understand. Third, we added the licensing server, which, when used properly, tilts the economics of Android apps toward you, the developer, and against the pirates. Fourth, we cranked up the number of countries people can buy and sell apps in: as of now, you can sell them in 29 countries and buy them in 32. Fifth, we rolled in a "recent changes" feature, a place for developers to put their release notes. Android Market has a zero-friction process for app update, and the really great apps have followed the "release early, release often" philosophy. As a developer, I like having a place to write down what's behind an app release, and as a person who downloads lots of apps, I like to know what the goodies are in each new update. Sixth, Market now has a "draft upload" feature; this removes a lot of the tension and strain from the app-update process. Get your screenshots and feature graphics and text and APK all squared away with as much editing as you need to, then update them all with one click. You'll notice that I didn't say "Sixth and last", because this is a team on a roll and I expect lots more goodness from them; if you care about the larger Android ecosystem, or are already a developer, or are thinking of becoming one, stay tuned to this channel. Media Files MMap.png (PNG Image) This email was sent to scrolllock9@gmail.com. Delivered by Feed My Inbox 230 Franklin Road Suite 814 Franklin, TN 37064 Create Account Unsubscribe Here

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Thoughts on Technology

Thoughts on Technology HOWTO: Manually Set GDM Background and GTK Theme November 11, 2010 at 4:01 AM My search for a new display manager ended me back at GDM after several long hours of searching. I was a bit tired of GDM's bland default brown background and the Clearlooks GTK theme so I deiced to change these. After much searching around I only found links describing how to change these options through GUI tools. I did not want to install an application to accomplish these two simple configuration changes - luckily I didn't have to and neither do you. To change these keys we will not be editing configuration files in a text editor, instead we will simply use the gconftool-2 to set the values we want. To set the GDM background run the following command in terminal: sudo -u gdm gconftool-2 -t str -s /desktop/gnome/background/picture_filename /path/to/pic For example, if the background I want is one of my shared backgrounds called "background.png" I would set it as such: sudo -u gdm gconftool-2 -t str -s /desktop/gnome/background/picture_filename /usr/share/backgrounds/background.png The GTK theme your GDM uses is set in a similar manner: sudo -u gdm gconftool-2 -t str -s /desktop/gnome/interface/gtk_theme ThemeName You can see what GTK themes are install on your system by looking in your /usr/share/themes directory. For example to set your GDM to use the Crux GTK theme you would run the following: sudo -u gdm gconftool-2 -t str -s /desktop/gnome/interface/gtk_theme Crux Enjoy your new GDM background and GTK theme! ~Jeff Hoogland

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5 great Android Apps for photo editing

The best mobile handset manufactures in the world like Motorola, Samsung have adopted Android as OS because of its flexibility and numerous apps in the Android Market. All the SmartPhones now come with great cameras with high MP and other great features. Photo editing on the mobile device can be fun especially if you are doing it on a touchscreen. Following are few Android apps which you may consider for your photo editing and retouching on your Android device.

1.PicSay PicSay


PicSay is a great photo editor and it allows you to correct color, crop images, add text in word balloons or as titles, and also apply few basic special effects to pictures. The app has got simple interface which makes photo editing easy and fun. The PicSay Pro is also available in the Android Market for €2.99 and comes with special tools like removing the red-eye and apply sophisticated effects such as cross-processing and color splashes.

2.FxCamera

FxCamera FxCamera lets users apply a bunch of fun, cool effects to photographs likeToyCam, Polandroid, Fisheye, SymmetriCam and Warhol. All these effects are easy to apply as it needs just few taps on the screen.

3.Photoshop.com

Photoshop.com Mobile The world famous software for editing photos namely photoshop is now available on the Android as an app. Photoshop.com Mobile lets users crop and rotate images, adjust color and apply effects however the app misses features like photo filters and a wide range of visual effects.

4.Vignette

Vignette app features 46 effects, 15 frames, a self-timer and zoom and crop features along with Lomo and toy camera filters. If you love photo retouching then this is probably one of the best tool.

5.Camera Zoom FX

Camera Zoom FX This cool app has 40 photo effects, zoom functions, photo bursts, timers, stable shot, white balance, grids and sound activation. The app has social media features like Twitter and Facebook integration and has cool Geo tagging features where in you can mark the exact place where you have taken the pic. Android Application Development

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Forgot Windows Vista Password - How to Reset or Recover It?

No matter you use a Mac or PC, no matter your operating system is Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP, computer security can be a common topic for you. For PC protection, a Windows password is often regarded as the first line of safeguard. But there is a little problem as Windows password can be easily forgotten. Forgetting Windows password could also be dangerous if your only have one windows account or others.
In that case, you can use a password reset disk to reset or recover the forgotten Windows password. Here we introduce a simple tutorial for you when forgot Windows Vista password - Burn a password reset CD/DVD with Windows Login Recovery. This method can be applied to all situations, no matter you can log on PC or locked out of computer.
Windows Login Recovery enables you to create a password reset CD/DVD. When you forgot Windows Vista password, you can use the created CD/DVD to reset the forgotten password in just 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Burn a password reset CD/DVD.
1. Run the program and insert a blank CD/DVD to computer.
2. Select to Reset Local account password, and click Next.
3. Select CD/DVD and click Burn to start burning the CD/DVD.
4. Click OK when the CD/DVD is burned and take it out of computer.

Step 2: Set your locked computer to boot from CD/DVD.
1. Insert the burned CD/DVD in the locked computer that you forgot Windows Vista password.
2. Press F2, Delete or F10 to enter your BIOS Setup when the computer is booting.
3. Choose Boot on the taskbar, select Boot Device Priority and press Enter.
4. Make the computer to boot from CD ROM firstly according to the prompts on the right.
5. Press F10 to save settings and your computer will restart automatically.

Step 3: Reset forgotten Windows Vista password.
After restarting, you can reset Windows administrator password and standard user password under DOS.
1. Choose the installation path of Windows, and enter the NO. of the path.
2. All Windows account user names will be displayed for you. Enter the NO. of a specified User Name to remove its account password.
3. Enter y to confirm and continue your operation.
4. Enter y to remove another Windows account password or enter n to finish your operation when the selected windows account password is removed.
5. Take the burned CD/DVD out of computer and press any key to restart your computer when you enter n to finish your operation.
The password has been successfully reset and now you can log on your computer without password.
Notices for Windows Vista password reset
1. When you forgot Windows Vista password and locked out of PC, with Windows Login Recovery, you can create a password reset CD/DVD in any accessible computer with any OS, like Windows 7/Vista/XP and Windows Server 2008/2003/2000.
2. The computer used to install the program should have a CD/DVD burner; both internal and external CD/DVD burners are OK.
3. After Windows Vista password reset, no computer data will be lost.
4. This method can not only help you when you forgot Windows Vista password, but also help you regain access to computer when you forgot Windows passwords on Windows 7, Windows XP and so on.

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