Both programs make use of an open source software from ZXing (“Zebra Crossing”).  Other Android developers can use intents to bring the functionality of Barcode Scanner into their own program.  One example of this would be Torrent Droid, which was the winner of our first Android Bounty.

Sharing Information with a QR Code.

In addition to normal UPCs, ZXing has added support for the following codes.

• UPC-A and UPC-E
• EAN-8 and EAN-13
• Code 39
• Code 128
• QR Code
• Data Matrix (‘alpha’ quality)
• ITF

A QR Code (“Quick Response”) is a 2D barcode that can store much more information than a standard UPC.  Inside a QR Code you can find text, hyperlinks, contact information, geo location, and more.  They are capable of storing up to 250 characters.  QR Codes have become common in Japan, but have yet to take off in the United States.

One of the cool uses of QR Codes can be found via the share option in Barcode Scanner for Android.  By pressing menu then share, users are able to easily send contact infomation, bookmarks, and text from their clipboard to other G1 phones.  Users can create their own QR codes from one of the free online generators.

Scanning a QR Code From the Web

After you create your own QR code, there are many creative uses.  They can be placed on the back of business cards so that your contact information can be scanned to someone’s phone in seconds.  Advertisers can place them in print media to send customers to their product website.  Bands could place them on the back of a CD case allowing you to hear an audio preview or purchase concert tickets.  Secret messages can be hidden inside for people to find.

I’m already planning to place a QR code on my next order of business cards.  We might even use them in some future promotions too.  What other innovative uses can you come up with?

Apple Newton

We’re past all that of course. There wasn’t any doubt since the Newton that we’d get where we are today, but there still is this concept of the hardware and the software coming together as a package that should go to the same place the Newton went. The operating system and phone should be considered independent and hopefully, someday not long from now, will be.

There is a perfect analogy to this in the PC world: Linux (and Android is Linux). Linux goes on everything. When that gaming “rig” from ’99 stops being able to run current games, put Linux on it and use it for MythTV, or just Hulu, or checking your email and never getting a virus. Imagine the same system applied to cell phones. Don’t need your old phone? Put Android on it and make an imeem machine for your bedside! Or an alarm clock and imeem machine. Or an alarm clock with imeem and StreamFurious for listening to the news in the morning. You can forget about that recycling program at your local Circuit City Best Buy. Your phone is going to still be useful until something replaces alarm clocks and music. And why shouldn’t it be? You paid for it. It’s yours.

The Palm Treo. Great phone, and a very good OS for the time, but as soon as mine stopped being able to make phone calls, it stopped carrying its weight. Suddenly 6 ounces was a lot for a planner and to-do list. Now we’re getting to the point where the phone is almost beside the point. There is, after all, a machine called the iPod Touch, which, even though I don’t condone it, some people do own. This is an iPhone without the phone part. Yet somehow it remains useful. I know if I couldn’t make phone calls with my G1, I would probably still carry it around. I could still avoid getting lost, play music, and make lightsaber noises just like those iPod Touch users (whoever they may be). All the more reason for operating systems to be portable. It’s not a phone anymore!

And let’s not forget the fact that you may want to put Android on cutting edge hardware too. Take the Blackberry – pipe dream – example. Blackberry has great hardware. It fits your hand. The keys are big and tactile, and it’s got that great thumb wheel. Pop Android on there and you’ve got it all, the phone you want and the OS you love with all the software you bought over the course of years of ownership.

The Android on Blackberry scenario probably won’t happen anytime soon (prove me wrong kids!) but there is still a message here. We Android fans do not yet have great hardware. We have good hardware (G1), and we have the clunky , the fake , and the goodbye weekends!

This is not to say that the market is failing us. In fact, it’s working pretty well in every corner of the globe. It’s that we’re so antsy to have it all. Not only that, but wouldn’t it be terrible if a great OS never had a great home? There would be more than one gadget historian shaking his head in shame.

I say let the next Android come from RIM.

We were lucky enough to sit down with JF for a few minutes and get his thoughts on Android and the future of his releases.  If you are interested in learning more about “rooting” your phone, read to the end of the article where I include the appropriate links.  Root access is suggested for advanced users only.  You can break your phone if you do not know what you are doing.

Task Manager for Root Users

Android and Me: What are your thoughts on Android as a mobile platform?

JesusFreke: I really like that it is open source. I would say that was the #1 reason that I bought the phone. It’s unfortunate that we can’t currently build from source an equivalent build to the officially released ones, but it sounds like it will get to that point eventually. I really hope they make it so that we can at least run the Google apps on our own custom builds. I think a *lot* more people would be running a custom build if we could.

AAM: What inspired you to release your own builds for Google Android? Do you have a history of hacking phones or releases for other platforms?

JF: It was mostly a case of being in the right place at the right time, with the right knowledge. I had pre-ordered my G1 so I was one of the first people to get one. At first, we didn’t know about the infamous “root bug” of course, so once I had got my phone, I was bummed that I didn’t have root access. I spent some time looking around in the source, trying to find some way to get root. One of the areas that I had investigated heavily was the recovery image, so I had become familiar with it. A week or two later, the root bug was found and everyone was happy that they could get root on their phone. Then the dreaded RC30 came out which fixed the root bug. Since I was already familiar with the recovery image and how the updates worked, I was ready to dissect the RC30 update and create a new one with root access re-enabled. Shortly after my first “root-enabled” RC30 update, I released another version with a few more modifications and features.. and I just kept going from there.

I don’t have any experience with other mobile platforms. The G1/Android is my first “smart” phone, and the first phone/mobile community that I’ve been an active member of.

AAM: How would you rate Google’s relations with open source developers in respect to Android?

JF: I think it’s awesome that you can connect to #Android on freenode and talk to some of the very same developers that work on Android. Not to mention all the Android related google groups. There are certainly still some rough spots to be sanded out with their support for open source (can’t use google apps on builds from source), but I definitely feel that they are headed in the right direction in this area.

Superuser Whitelist

AAM: Can you share with us what you do when you are not are not writing code?

JF: I have some unusual hobbies. I enjoy unicycling, slacklining, playing the didgeridoo and playing various types of percussion – my current focus is on the Indian tabla. I also enjoy reading, mostly fantasy and science fiction books, and listening to various forms of world music (among other things).

AAM: Over 100k users have visited the forums where your Android releases were first posted. Do you have any idea how many people have downloaded and are running your work?

JF: Based on the downloads on the various mirrors that I release my firmware on, my best guesstimate is around 5k people.

AAM: I have seen quite a few users send you donations in appreciation for your work. Has this altered the amount of time you spend on your releases?

JF: Yeah, I’ve received a fair amount of donations, and I’m very appreciative to those who choose to donate. It does not affect the amount of time I spend though. This is a “fun” hobby project for me. I do it because I enjoy doing it, and the amount of time I put into it reflects that. For me, that usually means periods of very intense activity, followed by breaks of low activity as I recover.

AAM: Multi-touch is one of the features that got a lot of people interested in rooting their phones. Will you continue to add new functionality to the G1 when possible?

JF: Yes, I will continue to add functionality where it’s possible. Currently we are limited to what types of functionality we can add, because we can’t rebuild some of the components from source. Or rather, we can’t build them in a way that is compatible with the official releases. The multi-touch stuff was mostly done by lukehutch. He, ryebrye and zinx found a way to implement the underlying multi-touch support with changes just in the kernel, which is one of the components that we *can* rebuild from source. They also made changes in the Browser application to use the new multi-touch support.

Terminal Emulator on Android

AAM: Do you have any future plans for your releases you can share with us? Will we be seeing an auto-updater in the next major release?

JF: I don’t plan to include an auto-updater in my build, but there is one that is being developed that users will be able to install from the market. In general, I don’t include Android applications in my builds, at least not ones that can be installed seperately, because I think it’s better to give the user the choice to install it or not. Additionally, when I include an application in the firmware, it makes it harder to upgrade or uninstall it. Finally, space in /system is at a premium, so it’s better to have applications like that installed normally, so they are stored in /data on the phone, rather than /system.

The 2 exceptions are the Superuser application, because it provides a more secure way to get root access on the phone, and the Terminal Emulator application, which I consider an “essential” application.

I would definitely like to add the ability to restore backups directly from recovery mode, instead of having to use fastboot to do the restore. Other than that, I only have a few minor changes currently planned, but nothing too major.

If you would like to follow the progress of JesusFreke and his releases please check out his blog.  If you are interested in rooting and flashing your phone, head over to the XDA-developers forum.  Please share your experiences and questions with rooting in the comments.

Only two days have passed since I began using My Tracks and I found the answer to all my questions.  My Tracks may appear simple at first, but the possibilities are endless when you discover the full potential waiting to be tapped.  Read along as I detail the interface and share with you my experiences.

Default view with menu options

Walkthrough

When you first launch My Tracks, you will be greeted with a world map as your phone acquires a GPS fix.  In my short time with the program, this normally takes 0-3 minutes.  One press of the menu brings up the available options and with a tap of the thumb you can begin recording information.  As you begin to move, an orange arrow will show your direction while a red tail shows the path.  The display seems to keep the entire path visible on the screen while you are recording, but you have the option to move around the map by dragging it.

Tap on the screen and you are given two useful options.  You can see detailed real time stats or view an elevation map.  You can also toggle the satellite map to view geographical features which is valuable for outdoor activities.  At any time during your recording you can insert waypoints or your current statistics.  These are attached to your track and viewable by others after you have uploaded your map.

Real time stats

When you are finished with your trip, press stop recording to enter the track details.  This is where you give your track a name and enter any additional comments.  After saving the track, there are multiple options including send to a friend, upload to Google, or write to SD card.  By uploading your track to Google you can also upload the statistics directly to Google Docs.  This will generate a spreadsheet that you can continue to update over time.  If you are recording any physical activity for training, you can analyze the results and make adjustments.

Another new feature launched with My Tracks is the ability to edit Google Docs directly from your Android device.  Currently this only includes spreadsheets, but the other document forms are in development.  From your phone, you can sort by row or column and edit each field.  The interface is a bit limited for now, but expect expanded usability in the future.

Google Docs in Android

Possible Uses

Currently this application is marketed toward outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, or running but there is no limit to the ways this program will be utilized.  It is great for outdoor activities because of the ability to record, share, and analyze right from the phone.  No longer will you need to wait to get home, hook up a cable to your pc, or worry about installing software.

Send map to Google

I get excited when I start to explore the other potential uses for My Tracks.  I live in a city where two major industries are tourism and outdoor sports.  Corpus Christi has repeatedly been named “Birdiest City” in the nation and you could easily create a bird watching tour including waypoints of each location and details about the birds you could expect to find.  Or imagine a course of the area beaches with a description of each one.  A downtown hotel could create a map with directions to popular tourist destinations such as the USS Lexington or the Texas State Aquarium.  Local businesses could create a map with all the popular seafood restaurants in the area.

Another way I used My Tracks was to record my driving routes for work.  Google maps includes estimated drive times but they are often very conservative.  By recording my own drive times and logging them, I am able to better determine my actual ETA when I travel out of town.  I can also generate real time statistics of my driving without having to type in any information.

Real time elevation view

Conclusion

Google My Tracks is the easiest GPS tracking software I have ever used.  The interface is easy to learn and you can begin using the program as soon as you install it.  When you add the ability to share everything with friends or the web directly from your phone, I believe you have the best GPS tracking platform around.  Best of all, the application is free and this is only the first release.  Google has a history of updating their apps and adding new functionality.  I look forward to an improved interface for Google Docs.  I encourage you to download the app and give it a test drive.

I have included one of my test maps to demonstrate the waypoints and statistical information you can attach to any map.

View Larger Map

Here is a video introduction to My Tracks for Android.  You can read Google’s official blog entry on the release or check out our hands on walkthrough.

Managing posts

Logging in to the admin panel was a breeze.  I was instantly able to view the full dashboard and interact with all the widgets.  Even with the small screen size, most basic functions are possible to perform on the phone.  I was able to administer comments, edit post, and publish new content.  However, you are not able to upload photos with the new built in image loader since it utilizes Flash.  The new post page also has problems with the screen size as it loads different widgets on top of each other.

Currently there is no official WordPress client for Android.  I did find one for the iPhone so I can only hope that one will be developed for Android.  A quick search on the Android Market netted two results: PostBot and wpToGo.  Both of these apps use the XML-RPC protocol so you will need to make sure you enable this feature on your blog.  It can be found in Settings > Writing > XML-RPC.

Quick post entry

Both clients offer similar features including the ability to upload photos which is a plus.  PostBot even allows you to manage several blogs at the same time by allowing you to switch between different profiles.  I played around with each client and they worked, but I don’t think I will be using either to update this site.  They are great for simple posting, but lack many of the features found in the full web client.  Also if you are using a theme with a custom post page, you will not be able to access certain options.

Overall I was satisfied with the current options available to me via Android.  Using the core browser, I can peform most of the admin functions with a few finger taps.  Posting articles with multiple images and thumbnails does pose problems, but this could be corrected with a new mobile UI.  I look forward to see what the community comes up with and I will be following the two clients for further development.

PostBot entry screen

If you would like to share your WordPress on Android experiences please leave a comment or contact us.  I consider myself a rookie with both platforms, but hey I was able to post this.