Since I first connected my Google TV and brought Android into my living room, I’ve cried out for one app: Phone to Google TV. Chrome to Phone has become a must-have app because it allows me to send links from my desktop to my HTC EVO 4G, and I wanted the same option to send links from my phone to Google TV. There have been plenty of times in which I’ve come across a website and wanted to bring it up on my Google TV, but I could never find an app that would save me from re-typing the address.

It turns out that there was a solution right under my nose the whole time. I recently noticed that there was a Google TV Remote option in the list of apps in the Android Share function. I’m speaking, of course, of Android’s feature that can push information, including links, from one app or service to another. So if I get a link to a blog post with a video embedded, I can use that function to send it to Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, or any other app set-up to handle it.

After a quick test, I suddenly realized that I actually have my Phone to Google TV option after all. With the Google TV Remote or the Logitech Harmony apps installed, I can push links from my phone to my Logitech Revue box. People have been able to do this with YouTube videos from the beginning, but this option works with more websites. Link shorteners don’t seem to be recognized, so you may have to click links you see on Twitter (bit.ly, deck.ly, etc.) to open in the browser and then pass it along. Here’s an example.

Sprint is so confident that users will love the ability to turn their phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, it’s willing to tack on what’s practically an entirely new data plan – $29.99 in addition to the $39 users already must pay to get unlimited data on the EVO.

Is the Hotspot worth the price? That’s up to the individual and largely depends on your network. While I was pleased to get reliable speeds of 1.4 Mbps, it’s important to remind everyone that data speeds in their local market can vary on 3G, and only a few people in Sprint’s base have access to a 4G network.

With that said, let’s take a look at how to set-up the Hotspot. More impressions in the video below.

1)      Launch the “Sprint Hotspot” application

2)      Click the button at the top next to “Sprint Mobile Hotspot”

3)      Rename the router to something easy you will remember

4)      Change the password. By default, it’s set to “1234567890,” something that’s too easy to guess.

5)      Connect to the Hotspot. Go on your laptop, tablet, phone, etc. and load the Wi-Fi settings. Browse to your network name (in the above example “EVO Drew”) and enter in the password. You are now connected.

For additional security options, click the “Manage Users” tab. This allows you to monitor and control who is able to log-on. Select the “Allowed users only” tab to turn on device-by-device approval. If you notice someone piggy-backing on your connection, select their PC/phone and select “Block.”

You can also limit the amount of connections able to access the hotspot, 2 to 8 max, in order to maintain faster speeds.

This tutorial is kept open only for archival purposes and is not supported any longer. I recommend you wait for the official Swype client to be released in the Android Market in a few months.

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Swype is an Android app that enters text simply by moving a finger over letters. The Android keyboard alternative then predicts what word you meant to type, correcting errors and speeding up the data-entry process.

Previously, the beta version of Swype was available only for WVGA devices like the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One. Now, there’s a tweaked version of the app available for HVGA devices like the G1, myTouch, Hero, and more. Below is a simple video tutorial explaining how easy it is to install the device on your phone.

First, you will need to download this file from the XDA Developers Forum. (If you run into problems, ask questions there because they are better equipped to answer them).

Also, here’s a set of videos providing tips on how to Swype and improve accuracy. Thanks for the tip, Neil Lund.

SnapIt is a $1.99 app that can take photos of paragraphs in books, newspapers, and magazines, then convert the image to editable text. Give the limitations of Android cameras, SnapIt can scan only certain passages at a time, but it can prove fairly accurate and useful under the right conditions. Once an image is scanned, users have the option to crop and focus on a certain section, convert the words to text, and then send the text as an SMS message or email. It can even lead to translation online.

Below is a video showing an example of SnapIt in-use and a step-by-step collection of screenshots to show the process.

When SnapIt is launched, the image may be out of focus. Select the “+” icon and the image will autofocus.

Once the camera focuses and a photo is taken, press the “a” icon to convert to text or select the portrait icon to crop and focus on a certain portion of the image, as seen here:

The red square can be relocated to highlight only the desired text.

Your image is now text! Press the stamp icon to share it or press the “Hello” icon to launch a link to translation.

A winner of the Android Developers Challenge 2, WaveSecure answers all of those questions. WaveSecure is an app and web service that allows Android users to maintain a link to their phone in the event that it is lost or stolen. By logging on to the WaveSecure website, users can lock the phone to prevent use, track it’s location within a general area, backup SMS/contacts/call logs/media, wipe phone data, and restore data if the phone is found. Here’s a video showcasing how easy it set-up and use WaveSecure.

If WaveSecure doesn’t meet your needs, consider trying the very similar Mobile Defense. We selected Mobile Defense as one of the Top 50 Android Apps.

UPDATE: Google sent Cyanogen a cease-and-desist letter that required him to change the way that he distributes updates to his ROM. For the time being, you cannot use this information as the CM updater will not be updated. Anyone wishing to update CyanogenMod will have to follow the directions available in this thread.

Here is a tutorial – both written and video – for how to update the ROM.

Before we go any further, you will need to root your phone for this to work. For the 1,000th time, THIS IS RISKY, CAN DESTORY YOUR PHONE, AND CAN VOID YOUR WARRANTY. Androinica.com accepts absolutely no responsibility if problems arise from rooting your phone; you root at your own risk. If you need instructions on how to root, AndroidAndMe has an excellent explanation.

1. Download CM updater from Android Market

Notice the two icons below “Select a ROM”? Stable releases are generally strong and have limited bugs while Experimental ones tend to be testing out new features/approaches. Novice users are better off sticking with stable releases. However, if you’re feeling adventurous, go to Menu > Configuration and check “Experimental Builds” to search for updates. While you’re there, also change “Update Checking Frequency” to every day rather than every boot.

2. Decide if you wish to update

Click on select download button and choose the most recent update. Then press the “Changelog of selected update” button. This will tell you what’s new in that version and will help you decide which version to get. For instance, if you know 4.0.1 had camera button issues, you’d opt to download 4.0.3. or higher because those versions have addressed the issue according to the changelog.

3. Download and apply ROM

• Select the update version that most interests you and once it has downloaded, select “Apply Now.” The phone will then turn off and reboot into Recovery mode. Note: If you want to perform a backup, select Apply Later and install the update in recovery mode afterwards.
• In recovery mode, select “[Alt+S] apply sdcard:update.zip” (to get into recovery mode, turn off your phone and reboot by pressing Home and Power buttons at the same time)
• Once the update completes (usually takes a few minutes), select “Reboot now” and you’re good to go.

Note: If you have installed a theme to change the appearance, you may need to reinstall it after updating to a new ROM.

Be sure to read our introductory article for more tips!

Before we go any further, you will need to root your phone for this to work. For the 1,000th time, THIS IS RISKY, CAN DESTORY YOUR PHONE, AND CAN VOID YOUR WARRANTY. Androinica.com accepts absolutely no responsibility if problems arise from rooting your phone; you root at your own risk. If you need instructions on how to root, AndroidAndMe has an excellent explanation.

NOTE: After this video was recorded and this article was written, a new method for updating themes on Cyanogen Mod’s was made available. I will address that in another article and update this one as well.

Each theme that you download will have its own visual tweaks and requirements for installation/use. ALWAYS read the instructions/warning notes that accompany themes. ALWAYS. Be aware that installing themes can potentially slow down the performance of your ROM or lead to force close errors. If you notice that your phone performs slower after installing a theme, switch to another theme or return to the ROM’s default.

Where do you get themes? The Dream Themes and Wallpapers category at the XDA Developer’s Community is a good place to start. Some of the terminology may be over your head becase XDA isn’t really geared towards layman, but the people do a relatively decent job of warning you about things you need to know when applying each theme. Read our Understanding Root Terms post to get a basic understanding and then search XDA whenever you need further help. You can also check CyanogenMod.com if have CM.

Rules to Installing a theme

1. Read the instructions. All of it. Always.

2. Only install themes compatible with your ROM. Developers will always plainly state which mod a theme was designed to be applied. In the video below, I opted to load Ted’s Hero Theme on my Cyanogen 4.0 mod.  Here is the tutorial – both written and video – showing how I applied Ted’s theme.

1. Rename theme to “update.zip”

Themes usually come in .zip format showing its title. Download a theme you like and rename the file to “update.zip” (right click file > click “Rename”)

Tip: If you want to store multiple themes, keep them with original file names in a folder marked “Android Themes.” When you want to load a theme, you can copy it to the SD card first and then rename the copied file to “update.zip”

2. Copy update.zip to the ROOT of your SD Card

Don’t put the file in any folders. Put it directly on the drive letter home as seen here:

3. Relaunch the phone in Recovery Mode

• Long press the Power/End Call button
• When the phone shuts off, press and hold the Home and Power buttons at the same time.
• Keep holding until the phone vibrates and the boot image (T-Mobile G1 or Android logo) appears
• Release and wait for the recovery screen

4. Perform a Nandroid backup (optional)

When applying themes or ROM’s, it’s a good idea to perform a backup just in case anything goes wrong. I try to do one every other time I change something. If things go bad, I can restore my phone to a recent state. Backup is built into the Cyanogen Mod, so follow these steps

• Scroll to and select “[Alt+B] Nandroid v X.X”
• Put your phone down and wait until the screen says “Backup complete!”

5. Apply theme to your phone

• Scroll to and select “[Alt+A] apply update.zip”
• Press the Home button to confirm
• Wait until the screen says “Install from sdcard complete”

6. Reboot your phone

• Scroll to and select “[Home + Back] Reboot Now”
• Wait until your phone reboots with the new screen. It should take 5-10 minutes, so don’t worry if the phone takes a little while to get update.

Be sure to read our introductory article for more tips!

These videos are obviously developer-centric, so they probably won’t matter much to the average user. However, it will matter to developers who missed the event or certain sessions. Here are some of the Android-related session videos. For more videos, a complete list of sessions, and download links to presentation PDF’s and videos, visit the Sessions at Google I/O page.

Coding for Life — Battery Life, That Is

“The three most important considerations for mobile applications are, in order: battery life, battery life, and battery life. After all, if the battery is dead, no one can use your application.”

This session focused on coding for improved battery life. The speech is delivered by Jeffrey Sharkey, a Google engineer and Android Developer Challenge alum.

Writing Real-Time Games for Android

“Writing games is awesome, and Android is awesome, so writing games on Android must be awesome. This theory required testing. So I made a game. Many lessons learned.”

This session focused on several topics related to developing games for Android. It even includes a preview of Replica Island, a Sonic the Hedgehog-style game Chris Pruett is developing (12:32 mark). The speech is delivered by Pruett, an Android development advocate based in Japan.

Looking Beyond the Screen: Text-to-speech and Eyes-Free Interaction on Android

“This talk will present a brief high-level overview of the TTS library and the stroke dialer input method, then dive into the details of how you can use these technologies in your own Android applications.”

This talk focuses on the benefits of developing “eyes-free” apps. The talk is delivered by TV Raman, the blind Google employee who co-developed the Eyes-Free dialing app.

Turbo-charge your UI: How to Make your Android UI Fast and Efficient

“How many of you have had performance issues in your Android UI’s? Raise your hands, don’t be shy….The rest of you, you don’t write applications? Or your code is perfect?”

This video focuses on ways to develop a good-looking UI that is more efficient and faster. The talk is delivered by Romain Guy, a Google software engineer whose work deals mainly with phone UI’s.

Created by productivity guru David Allen, Getting Things Done (GTD) is about managing “actions” — clearly-defined, physical steps that can be taken to reach an accomplishment. We’ve briefly touched on how valuable GTD can be for someone trying to manage their goals and projects, and now we’re happy to feature ActionComplete, an Android app centered on action management.

ActionComplete is an app that systemizes tasks, goals, and assignments. Organizing actions is easily-managed thanks to user-friendly project tabs and filters. While a simple to-do list app may functional for some, ActionComplete is geared more towards GTD practitioners and users with a more complex set of actions. The math teacher who also coaches a sports team or the IT consultant who builds apps and runs a computer repair service in her part-time will find good use for it.

Key ActionComplete features include:

• Location awareness that automatically applies filters near defined areas. A “Personal” filter can appear near your house or a “Chem Project” filter near the science lab at your college campus.
• Multilayered sorting support. Tasks can be listed based on project title or filter, and then filtered again according to tags or urgency.
• Store long-term projects or ideas in a “Pending” tab. This is ideal to store away goals or projects that you’d like to revisit or consider in the future.

GTD is David Allen’s take on productivity, and ActionComplete is a useful take on Allen’s approach. The app is customizable and very easy-to-use, two features crucial to any productivity system. Below is a video showcasing an example of how I would use ActionComplete to run my GTD system.

App: ActionComplete
Price: Free
Website: http://www.actioncomplete.com

Overall, after taking a look at the video demo, it seems that Kidd GBC is not perfect but certainly playable. As of now, one important item that is lacking is support for sound.

Check out the video below, and if interested, Kidd GBC can be found in the Android Market for $2.00. Of course, if you are familiar with emulators, you will know that the games are not going to be included, those will have to be downloaded from online sources (hint: click here) and then copied over to the SD card on your G1.

[android and me]