Recently in Android 2.x Tips & Tricks ~ Verizon Droid Category

Color and shadows, direct sun and shade are very similar for Verizon's Motorola Droid (original), Droid 2 and Droid X. The Droid X sometimes appears more vibrant, but my testing is in not scientific with slight variations in cloud cover.

The Droid 1 and 2 are 5 MP while the Droid X is 8 MP.

Like the Droid X, the zoom control shares the mechanical volume toggle and the shutter release is a mechanical button. The Droid 2 gives you the option of virtual on screen tap shutter release.

The physical buttons on the Droid 2 are also smaller with a top bump on each (unlike the Droid 1 or X), giving more tactile control over the physical button.

You want a stiff button (that won't activate with a brush) with good feel.

Adding a virtual button and refining the physical button ends all debate about shutter buttons.

The Droid 1 also had a physical and virtual shutter button, but the virtual button was lower on the touch interface and more awkward.

The Droid 2 camera takes on the camera interface from the Droid X, a great improvement from the original Droid camera interface (which was recently tweaked during the Froyo 2.2 upgrade).

Like the Droid X, the Droid 2 has a wide screen mode that crops down the full size image for an 11 x 17 image that would display on a widescreen TV without the black bars.

The widescreen image is really a cropped version of the full sized image. So perhaps it's just better to shoot the full size image and crop it yourself to give you the option of both, unless you would like a direct preview to wide screen.

The Droid 2 has the same Panoramic feature as the Droid X with faster processing time for stitching than the Droid X. I would assume that this has to do with the Droid 2 running Android 2.2 and smaller file sizes vs the Droid X running 2.1 Motorola says the X should receive the update to 2.2 by late Summer 2010.

More Motorola Droid Panorama on greenmesh:
Droid X Panorama mode is the phone journalist's wide angle

Droid X 180 takes on creative life at sea

Is Photojournalism Dead? We Almost Hate To Ask npr.org/blogs

Is photojournalism dead? Photojournalists are certainly alive, but can they be expected to survive an economy of fast, cell phone news? In conclusion, there is no conclusion. But we're interested in your thoughts. Leave comments!

I find it interesting that a profession dedicated to the evolution of life has such a difficult time redefining itself. I love adapting my cell phone to telling stories in real-time.

It is possible to tell a story in a 30 second video and only take 45 minutes or less to post it.

Personally, it is a far greater personal satisfaction to make or break the moment with one raw tool, than participate in a long, drawn out process filled with legacy costs of people and time.

The money model is changing, not the story telling.

The Most Rev. Joseph P. McFadden was installed this afternoon as the 10th bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, a 15-county area that includes York and Adams counties.

The media was told that still cameras were ok for this event, but video was not allowed inside. It's amazing what you can do with a device that doesn't look like a video camera.

Droid X to the rescue.

The Motorola smartphone also took it's first good drop. My Body Glove case popped open while tangled in camera straps, a raincoat and lens belt.

Smack ! Face first on a granite floor. I am having no issues as a result.

Now that your original Motorola Droid has been upgraded to Android 2.2 you can taste ambedded Adobe Flash Player 10.1 animations and video before its released in the Android Market as an app specifically for your device.

Android menu key>Settings>Applications Check Unknown source (Allow installation of non-Market applications). You can go back and lock things back down after downloading.

Got to this site: http://www.mediafire.com/?gz2omonfodz (you must do this from your phone browser)

Download Adobe Flash Player 10.1

Enjoy Flash in your original Droid 1 browser.

Since this isn't an official release via the Android Market, it might explain why it's a bit laggy. You also have to remember that the original Motorola Droid is running on half the horsepower of newer hardware like the Droid 2, Droid X or HTC Incredible.

If you aren't happy with this experiment simply go to Settings>Applications and remove Adobe Flash Player 10.1 to revert to your old browsing experience.

I love how you can do these things with Android given the tools provided by the handset manufacturer and wireless carrier without hacking the phone to death.

You can use copy & paste in non-active text fields in Gmail, the native browser as well as supporting third-party browsers (Dolphin). This feature is available on updated Motorola Droid 1, Droid 2 and works on the Droid X browser, but not in Gmail (pending 2.2 update).

To access this feature, go to any non-active field in Gmail.

Swipe your finger over the text and it will highlight in pink. The selection will automatically copy to the clipboard after you release the swipe.

For the browsers this function is usually avalable from Menu>More

Note: You can swipe any text on the screen and it will copy to the clipboard

Active text fields in Android universally use the copy & paste function by a long press on the field and a pop-up menu.

On the Droid X you can copy and retrieve several selections at one time via a clipboard.

The physical keyboard of the Motorola Droid 2 is a positive evolution of what I liked about using the original Motorola Droid.

Over the six months I made the original Droid my personal phone, I found myself using the virtual keyboard about as much as the physical. If you grew to like the physical keyboard on the original Droid, you are going to like where it's evolved.

With certain apps that toggle between short bursts of text, like instant messaging, it's nice to have larger real estate available on the screen and not toggle between keyboard and screen.

The device with the keyboard extended also creates a ergonomically comfortable device for extended messaging streams in different positions like lying in bed. Forefingers hooked behind, thumbs tapping.

The new keyboard on the Droid 2 has raised key surfaces so you no longer need to roll your thumbnails into a flat key.

Other notable improvements to the physical keyboard include:

Larger keys (the directional pad has been replaced with three arrows)
An ALT lock button ( no more ALT,1, ALT,2, ALT 3....
A return key
Voice command key

The black metal case has taken on a subtle midnight blue and the screen casing is pearled black.

I was sent an OMG there is an Android virus email yesterday.

Security experts warned on Tuesday about what is believed to be the first Trojan targeting Android-based mobile devices that racks up charges by sending text messages to premium-rate numbers.

The Trojan-SMS malware, dubbed "Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a," is being distributed via an unknown malicious Web site, said Denis Maslennikov, senior malware researcher at Kaspersky Lab. (cnet)

How Google attempts to stop this.

By default, you can only download from the Android Market. On most Android phones, the user has ability to override this lockout and download from any source (as with BlackBerry). AT&T has omitted the ability to download outside of the Android Market on some handsets.

This trojan was combined with a media player downloaded from a Russian website.

In the Android Market, the user has the ability to research the app creator and see real-time user input in the form of comments before downloading.

There is also a 48 hour window that the cost of the app will be refunded upon uninstalling .

In the end, Google exercises the right to pull the app from the Android Market and remotely pull an app that creates a crisis from handsets.

The Android application permissions model requires the person holding the handset to approve how the app will access services and data. In this case probably phone number or sending an SMS.

So if you opt to download an app outside the Android Market, go to a Russian website, download an unknown media player and accept that the app wants to sent text messages and use your phone number, it is possible to get a Trojan on Android.

Now I am going to run up and down stairs with pointed sticks two inches from my eyeballs and see if I get poked.

How you use your Android mobile device and how you manage it's power consumption will determine battery life.

The battery would last forever with one app running, but a phone that multi-tasks many apps and pushes notifications is far more useful. Add several email accounts and social networking apps all running at the same time, updating, and you have high power demand.

The Motorola Droid has a built in power management, "Smart Mode" which by default turns off data transfer during off peak hours. You can customize this to suit your usage.

This function also drops screen brightness when battery capacity drops below 30%

Power management is available for the original Droid by using apps from the Android Market.

Another way the Droid X helps you get a handle on battery life is with power control widgets.

The widget at top comes preloaded on the phone and can be loaded via widgets. It controls WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, data and screen brightness. The screen brightness toggles between auto, full bright and very dark.

The idea here is that you may not need all of these functions at a particular time, each consuming power, running at the same time.

In the middle are separate widgets for WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS that are also included on the phone and can be installed separately.

Using the power widgets can also be used to allow calls and nothing else.

Another useful widget is Airplane mode. This shuts off all data functions and calls. I like using airplane mode when I'm shooting video, as a random audible Facebook notification or phone call can wreck a sound clip.

Although data plans on Verizon are unlimited at this time, there is also a total data usage widget available if the My Verizon app is installed.

Linda Smith, an associate professor of biology at Stockton College, uses organic practices to grow 25 types of vegetables on one acre of land near Red Lion.

Smith, 55, said she's been interested in gardening and natural foods since she was about 20 years old, and envisioned starting a vegetable farm. She received a doctorate in evolution and ecology in 1998 and later realized she could apply her education at her family's farm.

Update: A recent operating system update to the Motorola Droid X added "Concert" mode to the three mic "Scenes" selection. It appears to control sound level input at very high volumes, which previously was subjected to distortion.

Video camera recording on the Droid X selects between HD at 720p down to picture message size files.

The phone will also convert larger HD files to smaller video sizes and edit videos, adding titles. You can also pull still photos from video. I will talk about editing video on the Droid X in my next post.

Requesting the Droid X share an HD video over MMS (attached to a text message) will automatically direct you into the resizing mode

I shoot everything in HD on the Droid X because a video can always be cut down on the fly. You can't make a 170 pixil wide video HD. If you want to send a video message (MMS) or don't want to wait for a large file to post to YouTube you can always cut it down in the camera before sending.

The best feature of the Droid X video camera incorporates three microphones on front and back. The user can select (see photo) between four modes.

Narrative is for when you are speaking to the camera
Subject is for when your subject speaks to the camera
Outside enables noise cancellation
Everyday combines front and back

The Droid X is a fixed focus (sharp between 2 ft and infinity) video camera with no zoom, which is typical for smartphone video cameras. I found it did a fine job with sometimes me creeping into the under 2 ft soft zone.

The first video is an out of pocket grab using the subject mic. I am holding the Droid X over the head of a huge TV camera with my arm extended. Note TV mic that appears in the bottom of the frame.

The mechanical shutter button starts and stops the video making it easy to use over your head and with one hand.

This video is a combination of stills I used for print with quick grabs of Droid X video. It's a nice test of auditorium lighting. The sound was booming from a band on stage which appeared to overwhelm the mic at times. Mic was set to Everyday and I didn't have a chance to test other modes.

The mic system has worked very well in everyday sound situations.