Useful Free Android Applications – Hindi Keyboards

Sometimes there is requirement for typing in Hindi like sending SMS or posting on facebook.  Existing built-in keyboard in Android does not support Hindi language. But there are few keyboards in Android market which are very good for typing in Hindi.

Sparsh Indian Keyboard -

Market download link - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.sparsh.inputmethod

This is very good keyboard for Hindi as I am using this myself. I don’t know why this is not much popular because this allows to type in Hindi very fast. When we click on any Hindi alphabet a pop up menu shows up to select from all available options for that alphabet. They have support for other Indian languages like Tamil and Kannada.

PaniniKeypad Hindi IME

Market Download Link - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.paninikeypad.hindi

This is also very good keyboard for Hindi typing. This was my default Hindi keyboard before I came to know about Sparsh. This keyboard is available for a lot of Indian languages like Tamil, Marathi and Malayalam.

There are few other Hindi keyboards available but I have experience of above two only.

Hindi for GO Keyboard
Market Download Link - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.jb.gokeyboard.langpack.hi

Devanagari for AnySoftKeyBoard
Market Download Link -  https://market.android.com/details?id=com.anysoftkeyboard.languagepack.devanagari

MultiLing Keyboard with combination of Plugin Hindi
Market Download Link - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.klye.ime.latin
Market Download Link - https://market.android.com/details?id=klye.plugin.hi 

You can try these. Please let me know via comments if there is any other Hindi Keyboard which I have missed.

Happy typing in Hindi….

 

Useful Free Android Applications – Random

It was around six months back when I purchased my first Android phone LG Optimus One after in love with Nokia for 4.5 years.  This was a pretty happy transition due to availability of lot of useful applications available for Android in comparison of Symbian, the underlying operating system of Nokia phones. There is a huge difference in applications available on Android Market and Nokia Ovi Store in terms of both Quantity and Quality.

Based upon 6 months of experience with Android I would like to list some useful applications along with their download link and small description. All applications mentioned are free. Here I go with first 5.

1. Gmail -
   https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.gm
   This is install by default on all Android phones and as name implies this is wonderful applications for accessing Gmail for both individual and Google Apps account.
2. Adobe Reader -
   https://market.android.com/details?id=com.adobe.reader
   For reading PDF files
3. App 2 SD -
   https://market.android.com/details?id=com.a0soft.gphone.app2sd
   After download and installation of any application App 2 SD automatically alerts in the application can be moved to SD Card to save internal memory.
4. SMS Popup -
   https://market.android.com/details?id=net.everythingandroid.smspopup
   After receiving a SMS this applications shows a pop up window on mobile screen with complete content. There is no need to go to Messaging application for reading the SMS.
5. Google Docs -
   https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.docs
   For accessing Google Docs files on mobile

I will list more applications in future posts.

 

ASP.NET Dynamic Data – Good but …

Recently a new assignment came to me in which we have to develop one web application very fast. It was a Survey application and we have to capture the hard copy survey forms into database for analysis purpose. Most of our developers know only ASP.NET web forms and for data access we use stored procedures most of the time. I have looked for Rapid Application Development (RAD) options in ASP.NET  and first thing that came to mind was Dynamic Data. I have never worked on it but I knew that it is the de-facto framework for RAD in ASP.NET world for simple CRUD applications. As it was new for me I have decided to give two days for exploring it whether it can be used or not in our survey application.

In starting I created a simple table, generated dbml files using LINQ to SQL and it was magic everywhere. I was able to do CRUD work in no time in a nice user interface. Later when I have added more tables some issues came but I have solved them by searching on Google and reading blogs. I was able to create partial classes so that foreign keys can return proper value not just the first character field in the table and to change the metadata so that my displayed field names were different from the column name. I have decided that it will work.

But I faced problem when I have tried to customize the UI. For example –

• how to add a radio button with yes/no, male/female options ?
• how to bind a dropdown to static values instead of database ?
• depending upon the answer of previous question how to show/hide next question ?

These were some issues in starting which I was not able to solve, may be due to my less knowledge of Dynamic Data. Although I have found some good blogs (like – Stephen Naughton (C# Bits) who has in depth knowledge of dynamic data) but I realized  that I have to learn a lot of thing and have to invest a lot of time if I want a lot of customization in UI. So finally I have dropped that idea of using Dynamic Data  and looked for other options. ASP.NET MVC was a option but there were two main reasons against this – my team have no experience of it and it’s a better option not faster. So finally now we have decided to develop this using ASP.NET web forms again but with LINQ to SQL so that we don’t have to write stored procedures and we have fully typed objects to save our time. Apart from that we will move one step forward to our ultimate goal (ASP.NET MVC) as first time we will be working on a not so great but still a ORM – LINQ to SQL.

I will try to keep you updated..

 

Nokia 5230 – Useful Applications

Its been around 3 months now since I purchased my Nokia 5230. I have downloaded a lot of applications on my phone and found the following as useful. These application will run on any Nokia touch screen phones like 5800, 5235, 5233, 5530, C6, N97, X6 etc.

• Opera Mini 5 Beta – what a wonderful browser on a mobile, if you are still using Opera 4 switch to it ASAP. This is must application.
• Fring – to chat with my Gmail, Yahoo, MSN contacts
• Nimbuzz – its same like Fring but I like its interface better, its personal preference between fring/nimbuzz
• Skyfire – alternative web browser (specially for viewing flash)
• Wordmobi – to post on wordpress directly from mobile (I came to know that official app from wordpress for Nokia is coming soon..)
• Qik – For recoding and sharing live videos
• Skype – to call with skype contacts
• Google Maps – although Ovi maps application is already there but Google maps are also required time to time
• Converter Touch – a very nice and beautiful application for conversion of weight, area, distance and many other types
• NewsHunt -  a lot of Indian newspapers of various languages can be read in the application
• Wikipedia – wikipedia reader widget for Symbian mobiles
• Snaptu – this is I think the most useful application. Actually it is a combination of various applications like – facebook, twitter, techcrunch, lifehacker, rss reader, cricinfo etc
• Shazam – to identify any running song, interesting application

 

My New Nokia 5230 Touchscreen

I have purchased Nokia 5230 Touchscreen mobile two days back and I would like to say that it is a superb device. I have never used a touchscreen mobile before, and I am feeling the power of touch.  The Symbian series 60 5th edition operating system is also very nice and for extra applications there is Ovi store. Thanks to Nokia, the Ovi Maps with free navigation is one of my reason to purchase this phone. My earlier mobile was E51 so I am quite used to symbian phones.  So far I have installed following applications on my 5230 -

• Opera Mini 5 Beta – what a wonderful browser on a mobile, if you are still using Opera 4 switch to it ASAP. This is must application.

• Fring - to chat with my Gmail, Yahoo, MSN contacts

• Skyfire - alternative web browser (specially for viewing flash)

• Wordmobi - to post on wordpress directly from mobile (I came to know that official app from wordpress for Nokia is coming soon..)

Besides that I am looking for some another apps on Ovi Store and have downloaded some small apps like SMS Preview, Nokia Photo Browser, Weather Touch, Memory Touch etc. If you know about any other good application for 5230 (or 5800/5530/5533/N97/N97 mini as all are compatible) please let me know.

 

From WordPress.org to WordPress.com

Yesterday I have transferred my blog from wordpress.org to wordpress.com or in other words self-hosted to hosted. Main reason was obviously to reduce cost. I am not able to write regularly so I made up my mind to cancel my hosting plan and  transfer my blog on wordpress.com.  But I have purchased the premium feature to keep the blog on my domain @9.95 USD per annum.
I have lost two things now on my blog – Google Ads & Plugins.

 

What’s new in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4

If anyone want to know about the new features and improvements in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4, there will be no better person to follow then Scott Guthrie, Corporate VP in the Microsoft Developer Division. He is posting a series of blog posts titled VS 2010 and .NET 4 Series . Till date he has written 11 posts and more will be coming. Following is the link to be followed -

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2009/08/25/vs-2010-and-net-4-series.aspx

Enjoy Visual Studio 2010 and .Net 4.

 

Ubuntu Change Shiretoko to Firefox 3.5

The official supported firefox 3.5 on ubuntu is by default branded to Shiretoko which creates problem on many websites. I have searched a lot for the solution and finally found it on Ubuntu forum which is very easy and works great. There are some commands which need to be pasted in terminal. Click on the following link for the solution -

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1225754

Note : The solution has to be applied again when there is an update in firefox.

 

Experience with Java ME

I have tried my best to kept my promise of regular bloging but could not as usual. It is becoming very difficult to fetch some time for doing so. I have wrote my last post when I have got new assignment for developing a Java ME application and now I am happy to write that it has been completed. It was a nice experience of getting hands dirty in Java ME, bluetooth api (JSR82), RFCOMM protocal, btspp etc. Now after 4 months of experience it feels very good that we are able to develop a Java ME application in house. And this feel even more happier when I know that we are a team of working only in .NET platform so far.

 

Java ME – New Assignment

Last six months were very busy so I could not be regular to write for my blog. During this time Supply Chain Management application was converted to ASP.NET web-based online application from Windows Forms desktop offline application. Now in next step this application has to be developed for handheld devices and we have zerod upon low-cost Java enabled mobile phone as our handheld. The handheld will interact with a bluetooth printer for printing receipts. So after working in pure .Net technologies for last 4 years this time I will work on Java ME. I have started to work last week on this and so far I am very happy. I have to do a lot of R&D for this purpose and I hope it will be a nice journey for coming months.I will try to keep updating…..