Showing posts with label phone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phone. Show all posts
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Chrome to Phone replacement for FoxtoPhone users Sendroid
Chrome to Phone replacement for FoxtoPhone users Sendroid
I was very annoyed this week to discover that Google has depreciated their useful little "Chrome to Phone" extension. This was a simple tool to send links from your desktop browser to your Android phone with one click. I personally prefer Firefox over Chrome, but there was no problem thanks to the useful FoxtoPhone add-on for Firefox that sent links from Firefox to your phone through the Chrome-to-Phone app.
DEPRECIATED
So I was annoyed to see a huge "[DEPRECIATED]" notice in the title of the "Chrome to Phone" Android app. It now runs this message in both the Android apps Play Store page and the corresponding Chrome extensions page.
NOTICE: Chrome to Phone is no longer supported
Chrome to Phone was launched in 2010 to help bridge your desktop and phone experience by making it easy to send Web links to your phone. Over the years, Google’s core products have evolved to be more integrated across different form factors. As of today, Chrome to Phone is deprecated. The app will continue to work until Mar 31st 2016 after which it will no longer work.
Based on the comments section for the Chrome extension, Im not the only annoyed person out there. Google is really becoming the new Apple. I abandoned Apple precisely for its tight-fisted walled-garden approach. Anyway, their recommendation for replacement (Chrome tab sync) are utterly useless for me, a Firefox user (though lets be honest, anything that steals even more marketshare is music to their ears). Firefox also has a tab-sync feature; the trouble is I prefer Firefox on desktop and Chrome on Android. Until now, the Chrome-to-Phone/FoxtoPhone combo meant they both played nice.
Sendroid
But hope is not all lost. In my search for a replacement, I came across a little Firefox Add-on called Sendroid that does basically the same thing, with a partner light-weight Android app. Ive been trying it out, and heres a review of what I think:
PRO:
- Image auto-download. This is a cool feature Chrome2Phone was missing. Right-clicking images in Firefox now allows me to send that image, not just the link, to my Android (well, the link gets sent, but then automatically downloaded on my phone).
- Android share menu. I would always receive links via Chrome2Phone on Android, but not necessary want to launch them (I mean obviously I was on that page seconds before on desktop). If I sent a link to my phone, its usually because I intended to send it, either to Keep or to a KakaoTalk chat-room. Sendroid automatically gives me that ability without having to swipe away the notification and open the app (as I had to do with Chrome2Phone)
- No log-in. Obviously FoxtoPhone needed access to my Google account to send via the Chrome2Phone protocol. Sendroid just uses a unique registration code your phone generates when first installing. Just copy the code to the Firefox extension once, and youre set.
- Multiple receivers. This is a biggie. I usually used Fox2Phone to send links to my Android, which Id then send to a friend on Kakao. Sendroid cuts out the middle-man: if he/she also has the light Sendroid app, I can send it right to them directly.
CON:
- No history. Chrome2Phone would save a list of all the links/text it had received. Good for links I sent, swiped away, then wanted to consult later. Sendroid has no such history.
No link launching. This is a bit annoying. Sometimes when I send a link, I do want to launch it in the Android browser. There seems no option for this: you share the link to an installed app. Thats it. And neither mobile Chrome nor the stock browser are in the Android share menu.
EDIT: I was mistaken. When the notification shade is filled with lots of other items, the Sendroid notification contracts to a smaller size, like do many other notifications, which allows only for a single tap, which opens the Share menu. However if your notification shade is basically empty, it will expand to allow either sharing, copying the link, or launching the link. Here are the two states of the notification you receive:
For now until that March 31st deadline, Ill continue to use Fox2Phone alongside Sendroid. Who knows, maybe the FoxtoPhone developer will come-up with a workaround. I do find it a bit weird that Sendoid has so few users (12 reviews on Google Play, 100~500 installs, 37 users on Chrome, 62 users on Firefox as of today) but I will chalk it up to "Chrome to Phone" having been an official Google-branded product. I wouldnt have even thought of trying Sendroid either, until now anyway.
I do wonder how much longer the Blogger service will up and running. Every time I log-in to this blog, I hold my breath in fear of a giant "DEPRECIATED" across the screen. Google, I want to love you, I want to use your services, but you make it hard to love you. Dont send me into the arms of Wordpress
? Sendroid Firefox Add-on
? Sendroid extension at Chrome Web Store
? Sendroid Android app on Google Play
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Build A Life Size Phone Controlled BB8 Droid Full DIY Tutorial
Build A Life Size Phone Controlled BB8 Droid Full DIY Tutorial
This video show hoe to build a real working Starwars BB8 droid by only using household materials and Arduino! (No 3D Printers! No CNCs! No Mills!)
Full-Tutorial (w/Downloads):
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Life-Size-Phone-Controlled-BB8-Droid/
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Free phone with data service for tourists to Korea in 2016
Free phone with data service for tourists to Korea in 2016
Heres a pretty sweet deal if youre planning on visiting Korea as a tourist this year. Pick up a shiny new Galaxy Note 5 in the airport when you arrive and use it for free for five days with five gigs! Thats a lot of Fs!
 |
| KTO "Enjoy Mobile Korea" sign-up page |
SK Telecom said Wednesday it has teamed up with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Samsung Electronics to provide free telecom services to foreign tourists visiting the country.
...
The telecom company will select foreign tourists who apply for unlimited voice calls, text messages and up to 5 gigabytes of data available for five days. The tourists will also be able to borrow the latest Samsung Electronics smartphones free of charge.
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SK Telecom received the first round of applications between March 15 and 20 and chose from 250 out of 2,500 applicants planning to visit Korea.
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The telecom company said it will select about 250 foreign tourists every week, expecting to benefit more than 12,000 through the promotion. Interested applicants can access a dedicated website at emk.visitkorea.or.kr. Once chosen, they can pick up a smartphone at the SK Telecom roaming center on the first floor of Incheon International Airport.
[SKT provides free telecom service for foreign tourists]
Heres some important details on the promotion from the KTO site:
"Enjoy Mobile Korea For Free"
- Event Period: March 15 – December 31, 2016
- How to apply: Apply online at the Enjoy Mobile Korea promotion website (emk.visitkorea.or.kr) and only selected winners will be granted the free smartphone rental
- Services provided: Free rental of Galaxy Note 5, date (1GB per day), free local voice calls, SMS messages (for 5 days including day of pick up; international calls excluded), mobile app (VisitKorea) providing Korea tourism information pre-installed.
- International incoming calls and SMS can be received.
- Smartphone rental & return location: SK Telecom Roaming Center at Incheon International Airport, Level 1 (Between Gates 10 and 11)
- Operating hours for T Roaming Center: 06:00–22:00
[Grab the chance to “Enjoy Mobile Korea!”]
- 1330 Korea Travel Hotline: +82-2-1330 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)
By the way, before you get too excited, there are a couple of interesting tidbits buried in the FAQs:
Q. Can I make an international call (or SMS) with the rental phone?
A. No outgoing international calls or SMS/MMS messages are allowed.
However, incoming international calls or messages can be received.
...
Q. How much will I be charged for the deposits?
A. If you return the smartphone within the period, the credit card authorization will be cancelled. 900,000 won (net price of Samsung Galaxy Note 5) will be charged as a hold on your international credit card, which must be activated for handling international transactions.
[Enjoy Mobile Korea FAQs]
So the "free" phone will, at least temporarily, set you back a cool $900. Im guessing that the kind of tourists who would be most eager for this promotion are the young K-pop loving S.E. Asian crowd, and I wonder if that early-20s demographic is going to have plastic like that on them. Im not alone. But what do I know?
Anyway, your old buddy Sam is just passing the info along. Get er done.
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