Tag: Android

Adobe Inserting Ads in Android

Adobe appears to be taking a page from the Microsoft playbook. Recently I went open a photo on my Android phone and was prompted to choose a default app. In the list was an option I hadn’t seen before, “Photoshop Express (Install).” Where did this come from? It turns out the choice came from Adobe Acrobat Reader. I was using Acrobat Reader with PDFs from work. A recent update to the apps must have slid this “feature” onto the phone. Opening the Share menu from an image also showed “Adobe Scan (Install)”.

In 2019, if you remember, Microsoft did the very same thing sparking a lot of backlash. Let’s hope Adobe gets the message and removes this quickly.

I have Acrobat Reader version 20.3.0.12688 installed for reference.

Have fun.
-Tony

Einstein Update

As an active Apple Newton user, I love it when fellow users continue finding ways to improve the platform. This week Matthias Melcher deserves a huge “Great Job” from everyone. Matthias is the current maintainer of Einstein, the Newton Message Pad emulator. This week he released an updated version of the Android version of the emulator that included many improvements that increased the speed considerably.

After using the new release on both my Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 7 I have to agree with the claims. The emulator is feels like it is running at about 90% the speed of my Newton 2000u. the Screen reaction seems to be a little slower than the real thing but given time can only improve. I could see an Android tablet with Einstein replacing my beloved green machine one day.

There are still some things to fix in Einstein. Sound doesn’t work, there is no way to set data in or out, and the app menu needs to fix for 4.0+ devices. Regardless, I think we are closer to realizing Paul Guyot’s original idea for Einstein.

If you would like to run Einstein on your Android device, please check out My previous post here.

Einstien Update Announcement: [NTLK] New version of Einstein for Android
Einstein Project Page: http://code.google.com/p/einstein/

Written on Message Pad 2000u

Newton Networking On-The-Go

A public service announcement from a fellow Newton nerd

Friends,
Do you surf the web on a mobile phone?
Do you find that experience too rich and interactive?
Do you wish for a simpler Internet experience while on the go?
What if I told you there was a way? A way to surf the Internet anywhere there is a cellular signal?
And do it from a Newton?

Introducing: WiFi Tether 3.1 Beta 11. Now with WiFi Tether you can turn your mobile phone into a mobile wifi hotspot and allow any wireless device to connect on the go.

How much would you be willing to pay for a product like this? $20? $50? $100? Now for an unlimited time you can have Wifi Tether 3.1 Beta 11 for the low price of $0.00. To prove how easy this product it I’m going to demonstrate on an Apple Newton 2000 MessagePad. Just watch:
Continue reading “Newton Networking On-The-Go”

1997 OS Meets 2011 Hardware

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wish there was a way to use my Newton on my phone or tablet?” Well now you can. For all of those Newton Users who have an Android device, you can now run the Einstein emulator.

Let me give you a little backstory. Back in 2005 Paul Guyot, a well-known and respected Newton programmer, released the first public version of his Newton emulator called Einstein. The original concept was to come up with a solution to make the Newton operating system hardware independent and possibly license the OS from Apple (1). That was going to open the way for new hardware and therefore keep the Newton platform alive. Unfortunately the project never got past the emulator step, but Paul continued to working and was able to build Einstein to run on OS X, Windows, and a few Linux tablets like the Nokia 770/800. In 2007 Einstein was released as open source software so other programmers could join in and help bring Newton OS to new devices. Once such programmer was Matthias Melcher (2).

Since 2007 Matthias has continued to work on Einstein to improve its speed, reliability, and functionality. 2011 has been particularly exciting because Matthias ported Einstein over to the iOS platform giving users the potential to run Newton OS on their iPhones and iPads. Unfortunately Apple rejected Einstein from being released in the App store and the iOS port is no longer being developed (3).

Now Matthias is working on an Android port of Einstein (4). An early build is available for download, but a lot of work still needs to be done to optimize the speed and reliability. Running the emulator on a Droid 1 is slow, but good enough to show off to friends. I personally can’t wait to see what happens to Einstein in the near future as devices get faster. What are you waiting for? Go dump the ROM off your Newton and get to emulating.

Have fun,
Tony

http://code.google.com/p/einstein/
(1) http://marc.info/?l=newtontalk&m=109452984605975&w=2
(2) http://marc.info/?l=newtontalk&m=118396241728586&w=2
(3) http://marc.info/?l=newtontalk&m=129745881308428&w=2
(4) http://matthiasm.com/einstein.html

Mobile Ready

I am happy to report that Look It’s Another Blog is now compatible with mobile browsers. This is thanks to the WordPress Mobile Pack plugin, which provides a simplified theme along with some PHP scripting. WPMP has a list of browser user agents known to be used on mobile devices. If one of those browsers connects to this website then the mobile version will load. If you would like to view the full version of the site then not a problem. There is a link at the bottom of the page to switch back and forth. The website will remember your preference in the future.

For all of you out there who are surfing the web with an Apple Newton and the Netwscape browser, WPMP will choose the mobile version of the site for you. Currently I can not get Net Hopper to connect to Look It’s Another Blog. It doesn’t appear to like the fact Go Daddy is the host. Courier will load the full site. In testing it does not send a user agent to websites. Therefore, websites do not know what type of browser is connecting.

And in case you were curious, here are the user agents for Newtscape and Net Hopper.
Newt’s Cape/2.1e-2(NIE)
NetHopper/3.2 (Newton)

Android App Works

Bear with me people. The last time I ever tried to manage a website I was manually coding the HTML with notepad. At the same time I had to learn CSS so I could get the webpages to earn validation. No, this wasn’t 1998, but more like 2007. I have to say that I am not very savvy when it comes to websites and CMS.

However, being able to create posts from my Droid is pretty cool.