Windows XP

Smartphones, Tablets & e-books

If you have an e-book reader then here’s a must-have freeware utility that will allow you to import and convert e-books of almost any format into one that your reader supports. It’s called Calibre and the headline features include library management, e-book conversion, syncing to e-book, downloading, it has a built-in viewer and it can operate as a content server, so you can access your book collection from anywhere that has an Internet connection. So, without more ado here’s the list of e-readers that it supports and its worth noting that it can be easily updated to accommodate new readers as and when they appear: Amazon Kindle, Android phones and pads, Apple iPhone/iPad, Airis dBook, Barnes & Noble Nook, BeBook/BeBook Mini, Binatone Readme, Cybook Gen 3/Opus, Entourage Edge, Ectaco Jetbook, Foxit eSlick, Hanvon N515, Irex Illiad/DR1000, Iriver Story, eClicto, Kobo Reader, Longshine Shine, SpringDesign Alex, Sony PRS, Teclast K3, to name just a few.

06/01/12

Kwicker Kindling

Did you know that you can use the Amazon Kindle for reading Word and text documents and displaying pdfs and images? It’s true, but getting stuff from your PC to your Kindle can be a bit of a faff, at least it used to be. Amazon have just made it a whole lot easier with a small free Windows application called Send To Kindle for PC. Once installed it appears on the Windows Explorer and Print context menus, so all you have to do to send a file to your Kindle is right click on it, or multiple items, and select, you guessed it, Send To Kindle. The file then wings its way direct to your Kindle via your wi-fi network, or using the Amazon Wispernet (on 3G enabled devices) . Files that you can send to the Kindle, and display on the screen include Word (.doc & docx), .txt, .rtf, .jpeg, .gif, .png, .bmp & .pdf. A Mac version is in the pipeline.

23/01/12

Key Code

QR Codes are all over the place, and for those who haven’t come across them yet, the idea is you scan the code with your smart phone and a free app translates it as information or a web link. You probably knew that already but what you may not know is that you can generate your own QR codes, free, on websites like CreateQRCode. So what I hear you ask? Well Lifehacker reports on a clever wheeze, dreamt up by a blogger called Celtwolf. The idea is you create a QR code with your mobile phone number or email address, print it out and encase it in one of those snap-together keyrings. If it’s lost the code makes it easy for whoever finds it to return them to you. There are plenty of similar uses for this technology, like luggage tags and stickers for your property. Okay, so you’ve spotted the one obvious fly in the ointment, which is that this assumes that whoever finds your property has the means to read QR codes. Fair point, but nowadays, with smart phones becoming increasingly common, the finder may not have one but they almost certainly know someone who has.

10/10/11

Tablet Basics

The world and his wife have jumped onto the tablet PC bandwagon and there's plenty of opportunity to get it wrong. Within days of the iPad launch Chinese clones and copies were appearing in the Far East by the time the Samsung Galaxy reached the shops the market was awash with cheap 7 and 10-inch Android tablets. Most of them are pretty awful and the majority of the sub-£200 models have ‘resistive’ touch screens that are generally not as precise and responsive as the ‘capacitive’ screens on the iPad, Galaxy and better Android tablets. Many of them use older or unlicensed versions of Android, which may not allow access the official Google Android Market app store; some features and apps do not work properly and the really cheap tablets tend to be underpowered or have insufficient memory.

Unfortunately there is almost nothing you can do to improve a poorly designed tablet so at this stage it’s best to avoid the cheap no-name models but don’t let that put you off if you are in the market for an Android device.

Android is loosely based on the Linux operating system and it is very different to Windows, but once you get to know it, it’s really easy to use. Early Android was a tad flaky but version 2.1 onwards is very civilised. However, it can be frustrating, especially for those accustomed to the relative flexibility of the Windows and Mac filing systems. Important configuration settings are protected, essentially to stop owners tinkering, so expert users resort to ‘rooting’ their tablets and smart phones, to remove or bypass the controls that limit access to Androids higher functions.

There’s no need to go to such extremes but newcomers can find it difficult to navigate their way around their new tablet or smart phone’s filing system. It’s often due to the fairly basic file manager programs included with some Android devices. One the best ways to get to grips with Android is to switch to one of the alternatives, like the popular Astro File Manager. It’s a free ad supported app, downloadable from the Android Market (the ad-free Pro version costs around £1.90). The tabbed display provides quick and easy access to files, it has a very effective Search facility and there are features for attaching files to emails, editing, sorting and viewing of all of the files stored on a device or memory card.

0211

Wake Up Call

This one is for Android smart phone owners only, and in particular those, who like me, occasionally doze off on train journeys, usually on Fridays... It’s called Transit Navigation and it’s a new feature in the latest version of the Google Maps app. The idea is very simple, you tell it where you are going and just before you reach your station the phone buzzes. Transit Navigation figures out your location from the phone’s GPS receiver, or the data connection, and it can also be set to give you stop by stop announcements. Currently it works in over 400 cities worldwide and covers a fair chunk of the UK rail network. It’s available now free from the Android Market – you know which buttons to press..

11/07/11

iPlayer App Mixed Blessing

This is one of those good news, bad news items, so lets begin with the very welcome announcement from the BBC, via Engadget, that it will be launching an official iPlayer app for both iPad and Android, probably in the next day or so. The facility to watch BBC programs, old and new on your phone or tablet is long overdue and there’s even a hint the iPad app may work for overseas users, though we wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a subscription sting in the tail. And now for the bad news, it has been suggested that the Android app only works on the recently released Froyo Android 2.2, and tablets and phones will also need Flash Player 1.0. This will be a huge disappointment for all those early adopters who have first generation and mostly non-upgradeable tablets and phones running Android 2.1 or earlier, and we’re guessing they still make up the bulk of Android users.