Philippine Android Apps

Thought I'd do a little research to find out what kind of local Android apps we have from the Philippines. Here are some:

News

Philippine Daily Inquirer
GMA News Online
Philippine News by Danigo
Philippine News by Levitan Software (company based in Aklan)
Kabayan News by Harold Mondonedo

Mobile/SMS

Chikka
Globe Muzta
Vo-Fone

Entertainment

Movies for Smart
Games for Smart
Music for Smart
Flames by Jerome Locson
Life Stories by Marc Tan
FML Widget by Marc Tan
Manila: Open City Movie

Sports

PBA Official
Cebu Running Events by Max Limpag

Travel

Philippines Travel Options
General Douglas MacArthur
NDrive Indonesia & Philippines
MRT-LRT Station Guide
Manila Manual
Taxi Mate (Manila)
Manila City App
Manila Street Map
The Last Jeep to Baclaran
Cebu City App
Travel Guide - PH - Cebu City
Davao Manual
Baguio City App

Stories


Magical Shirt
Ang Mahiwagang Kamisetang Lite
D Source Boxing

Info

Click the City
Philippines Quick Facts
Flashcards - Tagalog
Conversational Tagalog
Moon Phase Widget by Marc Tan
125+Venture Capitalists by Marc Tan
Order ni Mrs. (recipes)
FilAssist

Real Estate

It's My Pad

Business/Discounts


Enjoy PH
Tapa Boy
SM Malls Map and Directory
Jobstreet
FullPage for Ebay PH

Others

Philippines ADW Theme
Mercedes Benz PH
APKoptic by Marc Tan
Handy Poll by Marc Tan
Clickr by Marc Tan
Piclyf
Shake2Random by Jerome Locson

Language/Translation


Learn Filipino Free Wordpower
Tagalog Slang
English to Filipino Flash Cards
My Words Learn Filipino
Tagalog Verbs
Tagalog FilipinoTranslator
Tagalog Basics
Flashcards - Tagalog
Learn Tagalog
123s sa Tagalog
Lingopal Tagalog (Filipino)
Filipino English Jibbigo
Tagalog Daily 10
Tagalog Vocabulary Quiz
Plugin Filipino Tagalog
Tagalog Tutor
(and there's a lot more in this category)

I just found these by doing a search for "Philippines" on the Android Market. Please let me know if you know of any Philippine-made Android apps.

Paid Android Apps Now in the Philippines

Google announced last Thursday that Android users in the Philippines can now buy paid Apps on the Android Market - that means we can buy more games, social apps and work (productivity) type of apps. There are over 200,000 free and paid apps today on the Android market. Price of apps though are in US dollars, but you can buy it through Google Checkout which supports both Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Hoping to see more locally made Android apps!

Transferring Photos from Your Android Phone

For some strange reason I've been having difficulty transferring photos from my Nexus One via Bluetooth lately. I used to transfer it through Bluetooth without any problem before, but I have been experiencing problems pairing my Bluetooth devices to it. And it has been a cause of delay for making some blog posts (eyeroll).

Anyway, so sending the photos via email was a huge pain. I don't know why I only tried this now, but the easiest way to transfer your photos from your Android phone is by sending it to your Picasa account!

It's easy!

1. Just go to your photo gallery.
2. Select photos you want to share.
3. Share via Picasa! And viola the photos would be transferred to your account and saved in the "Dropbox" album.

Geez... why did I only do this now? Oh well, you learn something everyday :)

Unboxing the iPed, the Android Tablet from Divisoria

So Jay took the risk and got himself the iPed last weekend in Divisoria. It cost PhP4,300 including the keyboard with case. 

Included in the box were the following: Android 7" tablet, charger, USB connection. 

Here's how it looks with the keyboard (includes case and stylus*):

Here are specs based on the available info (no info on processor etc.): 

Memory: 256 MB

Model number: Generic

Firmware version: 1.6

Kernel version: 2.6.29-00236-g4f8dbbb-dirty

Build number: WMT2.0

The applications included are as follows: chat tool, e-mail, file explore, my photo, my video, Youtube, magic album, my music, camera.

Settings that can be personalized: wireless controls (wifi/3G), sound and display, apps, SD cards and devices (you can add a micro-SD for added storage space), date and time, locale and text (it was actually defaulted in Chinese!), about device, touchpanel calibration. 

What we've so far used it for:

1. Browsing

2. Watching Youtube videos

3. Typing/checking docs/spreadsheet

4. Listening to music

5. Watching videos (through a file)

6.  Easy games -- Angry Birds doesn't work on it

What we need to check on:

1. Battery life

2. Upgrade firmware

3. If it would work on Globe Tattoo/Smart Bro. Saleslady said it wouldn't work if you use the Sun Cellular dongle. 

The saleslady wasn't really helpful when another customer asked questions about what apps would work on the tablet. She just kept saying "Go to the Android site". It was her standard answer for questions she didn't understand.

If you intend to purchase an Android tablet, be forthright with your purpose for getting one. Jay got it because he wanted to have a handy gadget to browse the internet anywhere around our home. If your objective is to use it like a laptop then it would probably be better for you to a purchase a high-end tablet. 

You'll get what you pay for :)

*Do not use the stylus. It scratches the surface easily. 

More pics!

7 Months on Android

It's been seven months since I got my Nexus One. It took me about two weeks to fully transfer all the conveniences I had in my Nokia E71 to the Nexus One. The issues I encountered were the following: (1) exporting contacts, (2) setting up wifi, and (3) setting up 3g. It was hard to figure out since I couldn't find any localized info about it, but I eventually figured it out and posted about it here at You Got Tech. It was my friend Markku who reset the security settings of my router to get my home wifi working on the phone.

After 7 months I can say that I can't live without my Nexus One and here's why:

1. Rooster Alarm - my phone wakes me up twice a day. One before 5 in the morning and the second one at around 8. The alarm feature also allows me to set different alarm modes. Now I just use one phone to wake me up and I tell you it won't let up until you are awake!

2. Email Heaven - I actually check my mail before I get out of bed. This helps me adjust my day depending on any new priority that comes in via email.

3. Social Networking - And before I go to the bathroom I usually say, "Good morning" on Plurk and check for messages from Twitter and Facebook. I usually also try to "Check-in" via Foursquare whenever I'm out (Foursquare though doesn't work well with 3G connections).

4. Apps - I enjoy the camera apps the most especially that of "Camera360" and "Camera FX".  The flashlight app was also very useful when Typhoon Basyang hit. Also have a piano app and lots of games from Lab Pixies (addicting grrrrr!). I'm still waiting though for a Plants vs. Zombies Android app.

5. Google Maps and Latitude - with more and more info being tagged locally by mappers I can proudly say I haven't gotten lost for sometime now. Also discovered that it's easier to check-in on Foursquare if you do a sync first on Google Latitude.

6. Google - when it doubt you can easily search for stuff on Google. Also love the search function for the contacts list since my list is all messed up.

I haven't been lugging around my laptop because of my phone. My Android experience though would probably level-up with better 3G/HSDPA service. What about you, how is your Android experience going?

So What is Android?

Android is really not a phone, it's a software that is used for mobile phones and includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. Google has provided the Android SDK so developers can build applications using APIs. The application is supposed to make it easier for us to browse the internet using our mobile phones.

Here's a few photos I took of a phone running on Android. I wonder when it's going to come to our country though.