Posts Tagged ‘Market’

Labyrinth for Android

Friday, September 10th, 2010

I really like playing Labyrinth on Android (it is also available on iPhone). However I’ve found though that my son, who is almost three, loves playing ‘ball in the hole’ as he calls it even more than I do. The levels were a bit difficult for him to navigate so I’ve started using the ‘my levels’ feature to make some levels that are easier for him to play. Usually, these don’t have many holes on them but just weaving walls to get around.

Labyrinth Screenshot

Labyrinth Screenshot

I’ve build several of these levels and gradually added a few holes which are easily avoidable and then some trickier levels later on that I help him with. I’m hoping I can share these as a pack for other users to use.

I’m pleased to see that the they are launching Labyrinth 2 (on the iPhone initially) with some fun extras like cannons and magnets. Looking forward to that coming to the Android phone too.

Labyrinth 2

New levels on Labyrinth 2

Here is the QR code for Labyrinth on Android:

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Posted in Android, Applications, Market, Parents | No Comments »

Ocado shopping application for Android

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

I started using Ocado recently and was pleased to see they have an Android application (as well as one for the iPhone). The interface is very clean and simple to use but has some great features.


Ocado on the Go for Android

My favourite feature is that you can scan wrappers before you throw them in the bin. The barcode scanner matches the product in their online catalogue and you can then add the product to your shopping list for the next order. This process generally works seamlessly and makes it very easy to build up your shopping list. You can also do text based search and, for more recent devices, voice based search for products.

Customer services are also great if you have any issues. I had a voucher code that didn’t work the first time around and they added the free item to my next order with no complaints. If you haven’t used Ocado before then make sure you use this voucher (do a search for ‘Ocado voucher’ if it has expired).

I’ve seen some issues where if you do a search or scan a barcode while it is downloading a new catalogue it can hang. Hopefully they will sort this out on future revisions. Currently though it is still very good and worth a try if you are OK to pay a bit more for your shopping. I’ve used Tesco.com before whose own brand products are certainly cheaper. However, they don’t yet have such an elegant solution for Android although based on this link they seem to be taking Android and QR codes seriously.

Ocado on the Go barcode
Download Ocado on the Go from Android Market

[I have no affiliation with Ocado]

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Posted in Android, Applications | No Comments »

Little Fluffy Toys – Cycle Hire App

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Absolutely love the London cycle hire app from Little Fluffy Toys Ltd.

http://www.littlefluffytoys.com/?p=157

Used it this morning both to find a bike and to find where to drop it off near the office. As the bike hire scheme in London becomes more popular I see applications like this becoming essential. Use of the built in compass is also great.

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Posted in Android, Applications, GPS | No Comments »

Apple’s App Store ‘dictatorship’

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

Great article here about how Apple has approached applications that are competitive or ‘too silly’. If this proves to be the thin end of the wedge then this approach could prove too dictatorial for even the biggest iPhone fanboy. The fact that even Microsoft’s ‘Mr. Mobile’ – Jason Langridge is pointing to this as a step too far is a worrying sign. At least Microsoft treats its app developers ‘fairly’ by producing a similar product, including it for free and then using its weight to market the hell out of it – thus crushing the competition slowly..

This is an area where Google hopes that Android’s ‘openness’ will shine. The idea being that the Google marketplace will be a democracy rather than the App Store’s dictatorship. It could be argued that this will lead to a lower quality threshold but hopefully the voting system on the market place will help wade through some of the rubbish. I would forsee that users could also access applications via other sites and will not be restricted to just the Google market site.

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Posted in Market, SDK, Uncategorized, Windows Mobile, iPhone | No Comments »

It’s not all doom and gloom for Android

Saturday, September 13th, 2008

Great article over at VentureBeat.com that is a more upbeat commentary than we’ve seen of late on the future of Google Android. I agree with a lot of the article although I also agree with some of the comments on the article that the work estimate table (below) is a little bit too vague.

The article describes how operators are moving away from walled gardens to try to provide users with more choice. It also mentions the T-Mobile App Store equivalent, although interestingly T-Mo have said that they won’t be supporting Android with their first iteration of their App ‘program’. This presumably won’t be too big an issue as Google plans to have its own Android Market.

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Posted in Market, T-Mobile | No Comments »