The Android Story: Timeline of our small, green robot

While reading my daily news in CodeProject(one of my favorite sites :D) I've come across this giant timeline telling the story of Android. Click on the image to view it



Infographic by Android Developers at [x]cubelabs

Meet my Android: Samsung Galaxy 5 (I5500)

Yeah! this is my Android smartphone. The Samsung i5500 (more known in the Philippines as Samsung Galaxy 5). It is powered by Eclair (Android 2.1, upgradable to 2.2) with 2MP camera, GPS, Accelerometer, 240X320 pixels 2.8 inch display. Because its Android, you'll get most of it with all the apps in the market, all the tweaks and hacks available to it (I recommend reading this blog if you want to upgrade your Samsung i5500 to Android v2.2).

Make everyone drool by adding high powered apps and games that makes your Samsung i5500 into a Nintendo DS (this happened when I add Inotia 3 on my phone). Be an IT Expert by adding different networking tools, web development applications, code viewers, and different home brewed apps you made. Show your business partners your presentation works, business flowcharts, and financial statistics, using your personal "Android" assistant (PAA instead of PDA). That's how powerful your Samsung i5500 will be (not to mention google's apps like YouTube, Music Player, etc). Whats more? its one of the cheapest in the market! There's more to discover when it comes to Android. You('ll) know what I mean.

I made my phone go super soldier by upgrading it to Android 2.2 with a lot of unlocked features like App2SD and Bluetooth/USB/Wifi Thetering. Rooted it to add more power using Universal Androot. Added with root only apps (careful installing root only apps, not all are as helpful as you think). WARNING: Doing these things require more responsibility to the user.

Part 3 of this post is the cons of this phone. First impression, short battery life. Yeah most phone does die out. Constantly freezes when you use a hard core app (particularly HD games, try restarting your phone if it does). Samsung's Kies, their PC-Android smartphone sync software, is very buggy and you need 1gb of RAM just to run that software (Thank God I love Android, or else... :D).

You want Android at a very affordable price with a good customer service? Why not try Samsung i5500 (Galaxy 5) out.

Fruit Ninja: Enter the clan

Feel like being in the "Ninja World" of Naruto? Is your hands as fast as the "Yellow Flash". Are you craving for fruits? Here's your chance to be a  part of the Fruit Ninja Clan!

One of the best games I played on my Android phone is Fruit Ninja. An excellent action game wherein players slash fruits to score up. As what Sensei (The old man you always see on the game) says: Ninjas Hate Fruits. Its very addictive and challenging. It features worldwide leaderboards via OpenFeint, making you want to be on top of all Ninjas scattered across the world. It has 3 game plays: Classic for slashing fruits and evading bombs, Zen mode for time trialed action, and the new Arcade mode which features power ups. You can also unlock a number of swords and backgrounds that you will use in the game. This game is satisfyingly fun! You'll never take your eyes off of it.

Are you up for the action? Download the game on Android here. You can also view their website.

Angry Birds: Why I love them

Angry Birds

Everyone knows them. Everyone loves them. Everyone is a big fan of them. They have them on their smart phones, browsers, stuffed toys, wallpapers, bags, t-shirts, they are everywhere you can imagine! Angry Birds is like a virus spreading everywhere. This enjoyable physics game is so much fun. It has been a big hit since it was made. The game play is so addicting. I can't even take my eyes off it. The objectives is simple, destroy all pigs with those birds. You, as a player, are armed with a slingshot to throw those birds to were the greedy pigs are hiding. You can directly destroy them, or hit structures that will fall to them (That certainly hurts in real life too :D).

When I was a game development trainee back then. I always play Crush The Castle 2 on Y8.com. I became addicted to it, the game was fun, I can throw various weapons to castles (my favorite is the poison potion thingy that melts everything in its wake). After I finished the game, I was looking for similar games, so I searched google on "Throwing Games, Physics, etc." and found Angry Birds. First impression was the characters are cute (notice their eyebrows??? :D). So I watched a video in you tube about it. I said "SHIT THEY'RE THROWING THE BIRDS!!!". God I was shocked. It was very funny, I enjoyed watching the game (I even forgot my work). The time I bought my Android handset, I immediately downloaded Angry Birds, played it, until 3 in the morning (Wahahhahahha :D I still have my job back then).

Hours of crushing objects, green colored pigs, and the birds faces (Notice that when the bird lands on anything). Each Angry Bird has its unique special moves which adds more fun to the game. Destroying structures with your wits is very fun. Whats more? You could have more fun with their free updates. I always wonder why the pigs are GREEN. You could download the game on Android here.

Game Dev Story: Addicting and Fun

Lately on my Android life, I found a game that interests me (somehow, hehehe) on the Android Market with the title Game Dev Story. At first, I thought this game is somewhat technical (particularly in making games, which is also my interest), so I downloaded its "Lite" version to test it out. Graphics are somewhat like the games you see on GameBoy with a button telling me to play this game (actually it is labeled as "new game", hehehe). I was then brought to a world identical to ours but me as a president of "Sunny Studios". I found my Secretary welcomes me and tells me to hire new employees. Your ultimate goal, as the president of your company, is to be on top of the video game industry.

Now lets get back to the real life. Your Secretary in the game tells you hints while your still familiarizing the game. You have about 2 employees (that are doing nothing at the very beginning). You can add your employees by hiring. You can do many things to your employees like training them (training boosts their stats, making them more productive in making games), level them up (same as training but their salaries increased, ouch), change their careers (change their job description when they are at maximum level, which is Lvl 5, and rotate their jobs until you get an option making him/her a Hardware Engineer), give them items that boosts their stats, and fire them (ouch).

You make your company productive by doing jobs outside (contracts) and making games (new game). Contracts gives you small but fast cash (you need to finish the job of course). Making games, like real life, is expensive. You need to purchase licenses to develop for a console (BTW, there are many consoles in the game), choosing a genre and a type of game also has a price, even the development process (direction of the game).

To much of the expenses, lets go through the return of your investments. Actually, the money you make by making a game depends on your game. So you need to make sure you have the right combinations of genre and type (there are many in the internet you can find), employees with good stats, good timing (which is usually december), and the right console. Not all consoles in the game gives you a lot of money (The game consoles in Game Dev Story are real life consoles, with different names and design of course. Choose the ones that look like a Game Boy and a Play Station). To ensure you have many sales, you must advertise your game to make many fans. The more fans you have, the more sales you get.

I wasn't able to continue my quest as a president of "Sunny Studios" because I just downloaded the lite version. Even so, It was addicting and fun! I love the game. Even my girlfriend is enjoying this game. The technicality of making a game was simplified by a game making it more fun and enjoyable. As a game developer, I learned a lot from this game.

I want you to try it out. You can download the game in the Android Market:

• Game Dev Story
• Game Dev Story Lite

The game is also available on iPhone.

Cherry Mobile Cosmo: Cheapest Android Phone

Yesterday, I blogged about a list of Android handsets below Php 10,000 (around USD 235). Today I will be blogging about the cheapest in the list, Cherry Mobile Cosmo.

Cherry Mobile Cosmo
Php 6,800

For as low as Php 6,800 (around USD 159), you can now have a Android 2.2 (Froyo) running device packed with 2mp camera with internal memory of 512 mb (minus the Android thingys) and expandable memory up to 16 gb. Cool Isn't it? Cherry Mobile has been making Android devices (Nova and Superion to name a few) and ever since I've been expecting them to bring the cheapest on the market (though Huawei Ideos was the first handset I saw with the cheapest price first :D). This makes me think twice when I bought my Samsung Galaxy 5 on Php 8,000 (around USD 187) with Android 2.1 (Eclair). Cherry Mobile has been offering cool but cheap mobile phones around 2 years or so ago (Not to mention the calculator like mobile phone :D). I'm not quite sure if this phone is already available in your nearest cell shops (I'm sure in mine. hehe :D) because some say its not available in theirs.

Here is a full list of specifications provided by Cherry Mobile.:

• Android 2.2 (Froyo)
• Qualcomm MSM 7227 600Mhz
• 3.2" HVGA Capacitive Touchscreen
• ROM: 512MB / RAM: 256MB
• Dual Band GSM / GPRS / EDGE
• WCDMA / HSDPA
• 2MP Camera
• Portable Wifi Hotspot
• WIFI / Bluetooth / 3G / GPS
• FM Radio
• Standard Micro USB 2.0
• 3.5mm Stereo Audio Jack
• Expandable Memory up to 16GB

Cheap Android Phones in the Philippines

Want to buy an Android phone, but are low in cash? Well there is good news, you can now get Android handsets for Php 10,000 or below. There are many devices to choose from. Below are a list of affordable Android smartphones (Click on the links to see each's specs):


Samsung Galaxy Fit S5670 – Php10,000

LG Optimus One P500 – Php9,800

Sony Ericsson X10 Mini – Php9,000

Samsung Galaxy Mini S5570 - Php8,500

Sony Ericsson X8 – Php8,000

Cherry Mobile Nova – Php8,000

Samsung Galaxy 5 i5503 – Php8,000

Huawei Ideos U8150 – Php7,000


Cherry Mobile Cosmo – Php6,800


I suggest to wait for sales and discounts in malls (or your favorite cell shop) to get these phones in even more lower prices. I even saw about Php 6000 (it was even an Acer with specs similar to my Samsung Galaxy 5, I just forgot the name :D). Its just a matter of time that Android will be affordable to everyone (Think of all you can do to it :D, what about rooting??? hehe). So what are you waiting for? Go grab your smartphone of your dreams.