Screen Filter

This software review will be on this app called screen filter. It is a simple app to lower the brightness of your screen and this provides benefits such as a longer battery life, as well as less strain on your eyes. Its free and can be downloaded from the Android Market.

You can even add a widget to your home screen. Just give it a simple tap and the application will be activated immediately.

And this is what happens just after a tap. The application is initialized and the screen is immediately darkened.

To change some settings, pull down the Android notification bar and tap on the section which is highlighted as shown above.

And here are some of the settings which can be tweaked.

A word of warning though, if you set your brightness too low, your display might be too dark for you to see anything. Luckily, this app has a fail-safe feature. After lowering the brightness, a pop-up message will appear to confirm if you want to save the settings. If you can't see anything, the brightness will auto-revert in 10 seconds. Or, you could also just restart the device and everything will be back to what it once were.

HTC Flyer Black Housing

There are sellers on eBay selling the Sprint version of the HTC Flyer aka EVO View 4g. Here's an image from the seller's shop.

And here's the link.Black HTC Flyer Housing

This looks much sleeker than the current version sold in Singapore. Wonder if has ripped apart a Flyer and tried fixing this on instead.

Why I bought the HTC Flyer

There used to be a time when netbooks were the latest craze, now it is the era of the tablets. With the sheer number of tablets being pushed out by manufacturers such as Apple, HTC, Samsung as well as many others, what made me pick the HTC Flyer amidst all the other competition?

One of my main considerations was screen size. Yes you may argue that larger screens provide a greater movie-watching/gaming/typing experience but there are also certain drawbacks. The larger your screen, the greater the strain on the battery. Also, displays on tablets generally have the around same resolution and this the larger the screen, the lower the pixel density which can be calculated using Pythagoras theorem (which I find is actually one of the better applications of mathematics in real life). And naturally, while a larger screen has its benefits, it also has its Achilles' heel which in this case, is the increase in weight and portability.

Then the factor of processors comes into play. Most tablets these days sport a dual core 1 GHz processor while the Flyer is equipped with a single 1.5 GHz core. It might seem as an obvious choice to pick the dual core tablets but as I read online on forums, more might not necessarily mean better as the Android Honeycomb OS is not optimized to use both cores. Anyway, if the tablet does not lag with everyday use, it does not matter whether it has 4 cores or 1.

There are 2 major OS in the tablet market right now, Android and iOS. Comparing just the number of applications, it is a hands-down victory to apple. However, I need more than just applications. Being the fickle-minded human, I need changes every now and then. Swiping by the grids of icons gets boring fast, and what I need is versatility and eye-candy.

Lastly, one of the main reasons I got an Android tablet is because I love the Adobe Flash support. Oh, and because I'm a HTC fanboy as well.

HTC Flyer Case & Stylus

With the HTC Flyer being released not too long ago, it can be quite an uphill task to find compatible cases to protect your new found love againsts horrible scratches. While window shopping recently, I found a case that is compatible with the HTC Flyer.

The above-mentioned case is manufactured by Case-mate and while it is not meant for the Flyer, it certainly fits it well. Below are some of the pictures.

 The Flyer is able to charge while inside the case.

 The 3.5mm headphone jack, power button as well as indicator light are fully functional from inside the case.

 Here is my stylus which i slightly modified by adding a lanyard and a piece of rubber which is actually from a earphone.

And this is how i secure my stylus to the case in order to prevent it from being misplaced. It can be removed easily anytime.

The case can be brought from the Case-mate website at around US$30 while I bought mine for S$30. Here's the link.

LINK: Express Case

Meanwhile, I have another 2 cases coming soon. One of them is the usual PU variety while the other is supposedly made of leather and bought from Amazon.

Evernote

Evernote is an application that has recently been released for Windows Phone 7.

One of the main features of Evernote is that it is cross-platform compatible. This means that it works on different devices running on different operating systems. Today, I shall try this feature out personally and document it out here.

The 2 devices which I will be using today are the HTC Flyer and HTC HD7. These 2 devices run on android and Windows Phone 7 OS respectively.

First, of course, you have to download the app from either Windows Marketplace or Android Market. Next you have to create your account. This step is essential in order to access your notes from various locations.

Next, as a sample, I drew a simple apple (pardon the lack of artistic ability, this hands are not born to draw).
After finishing with the drawing, i saved the image.

 After doing so, remember to tap sync so that the note gets uploaded to the Evernote server and can be viewed from other devices.

I start the Evernote App on my HD7.

Tap on the Sync button, so that it downloads my notes from the server.

And voila! The apple which i (attempted to) drew.

Furthermore, Evernote is also available on other platforms such as Blackberry OS, iOS and Windows. This is only a small review of this piece of software. Many functions are yet to be explored.

My Opening Speech

This is my very first entry. While I have always wanted to start a blog, it never happened. Reason being due to pure laziness. However, now there is just a little more reason for me to do so, and here i am.

This blog will serve as a means for me to post my reviews on software, gadgets, accessories and other techie stuff.

Thus, whats a tech blog without my gadgets introducing themselves?

Hi I'm HD7. Currently, i'm the main phone. I was bought instead of the other phone due to the novelty of my operating system, Windows Phone 7. I stand out because of my simplicity amidst the clutter of other phones.
I think its time to get a new screen protector for myself. What do you think I should get? Glossy or Matt type?

Let me introduce myself next. I'm Blackberry 9780. Despite my name, I'm am not all that i sound to be! Whoever said that Blackberries have to stay in their boring original black color? Prior to this dazzling white, I used to be a cheery yellow till my owner decided that it was time to change colors (yet again!).

Hey there! I'm Snap! I was adopted because my previous owner no longer needed me and thus gave me away. However, I have found a new purpose in life, which is to function as a wifi router.

And I'm the iPod Touch! Usually I'm being neglected unless my owner decides he needs to play some games or surf the internet.

I believe that I might not be that well known here in Singapore as I was imported from overseas so let me briefly tell you about myself. I'm known by others as Zune HD. My zune interface coupled with an oled screen provides my owner with  the prettiest music interface ever!

Move your puny screens aside people. HTC Flyer is here. I'm the newest and baddest of the bunch with my 7 Inch screen. Currently the number one in my owner's attention list.

And there you have it, an introduction of my family of gadgets.