Posts by Eric

OurGroceries Brings Shopping Lists into the 21st Century

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

I’m generally well-organized and have something of a penchant for planning ahead – with one glaring exception: grocery shopping.  I don’t know why, but I still tend to rely on scraps of paper with hastily scrawled lists.  Even when I’m preparing to entertain and have a complete and thorough list, I neglect to check things off as I buy them and invariably forget to purchase some critical component of that evening’s meal…

Enter OurGroceries.  It’s a site that allows you to create and update a variety of shopping lists in the cloud.  Once you’ve loaded the app onto your BlackBerry or Android phone, any entries you make either online or on your phone are synced in all locations.  As a single guy, I find this app really useful, since I tend to remember I need to replenish my pasta supply at inopportune moments – now I can just quickly update my list using my phone.

I imagine it’s a huge boon to those of you who do the shopping for the whole family.  For example, the next time your spouse/significant other/roommate/child greedily devours the last of the chocolate ice cream while you’re on your way to the market, he or she can at least update the shopping list on OurGroceries.  Since syncing is instantaneous, you’ll know you need more once you get to the store.

As you shop, tick off what you’ve loaded into the cart using your phone, ensuring you get everything you need.  No more arriving home and realizing you’re going to have a hard time making brownies since you forgot to buy the eggs on your list.

Multiple lists are also supported, so you can maintain separate lists for the supermarket, the discount warehouse and the drugstore.

I’m using the Android version of the app and it’s great – easy to set up and the syncing is seamless and immediate.  Both the app and the online site are models of simplicity.  OurGroceries has already helped ensure that I’ll never run out of peanut butter again…

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Barcode Scanner Makes Adding Apps Easier

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

A very handy little app available for the Hero is Barcode Scanner.  It uses your phone’s camera to read barcodes – just pull up the app, aim your camera at the barcode and it’ll beep when it’s read and provide you with search options.

At first glance, it seems a little hokey – what am I going to use it for, doing a Web search on a package of frozen peas?  And you could do that, if you want to find out more about your frozen peas.  But it does make it easier to do a search online.  For example, scan a book barcode to read a synopsis or add it to your Amazon wish list; or if you’re comparison shopping, you can quickly look up prices at other retailers online.

But the handier and to my view more useful application of Barcode Scanner is the ability to install apps to your Android phone without having to search.  Many of the various online sites that write about new Android apps include a barcode that will link to the app being discussed. It’s a fast and easy way to get straight to the app you’re looking for without having to do a search in the Marketplace from your phone.

Here’s what an online barcode looks like – obviously not very useful if you don’t have the scanner.  But I’ll do my best to include the barcodes in future posts about Android apps.  So get this and start scanning!

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Posted in Utilities | 1 Comment »

Keep All Your Rewards and Membership Cards in Your Android Phone

Monday, July 26th, 2010

I can never seem to keep track of all the various rewards and membership cards required so I can get ten cents off frozen peas or 2-for-1 jars of peanut butter at whatever supermarket I happen to be in.  But it just got a whole lot easier with the Key Ring Reward Cards app for Android.

Install the app and then scan the barcodes from all your different cards and store it in your phone. If you set up an account online, it’ll even back up your cards and barcodes. The cashier can then scan the barcode directly from your phone – and if there’s any problem scanning, the membership number is displayed in an easy-to-read size for quick manual entry.  I find this is especially handy when traveling – last time I was in Southern California, I had to sign up for a rewards cards at a market I’m unlikely to visit more than once a year. I have no idea where the card is now, but it would’ve been really easy to store it in my phone instead.

An aside: if you’re concerned in general about retailers monitoring your buying habits, just use a fake name and address when you sign up for your rewards card.  For example, my liquor store discount card thinks I’m Barney Gumble…

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Amazon on Your Android Phone

Monday, July 19th, 2010

A handy app for those of you who shop on Amazon. It’s pretty straightforward, providing an experience similar to what you’re used to online, though with a substantially simplified interface designed for the smaller screen of your Android phone. The home page has a great big search box to find what you’re looking for; and once you’re signed in with your existing account, all your payment and delivery information is there per usual. Makes ordering a breeze.

A nifty addition: you can search for products using barcodes or photographs. The photograph function feels a tad gimmicky, though it does work. Take a photo of something using your phone and the image is submitted to Amazon; in a few minutes, you’ll get an email back with whatever match to the photo is found.

The barcode reader works like a charm – simply scan the barcode on a product and if Amazon sells it, it’ll pop-up nearly immediately, ready to be ordered.  Happy shopping!

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Maximizing Battery Life for the HTC Hero

Friday, July 9th, 2010

The smarter the phone, the shorter the battery life.  It’s a sometimes frustrating axiom of modern technology – and it’s especially true for nerds power-users like me, who tend to push their gadgets to the limits.

But the HTC Hero has a some things going for it in this regard that may help.  First of all, it charges via a mini USB cord, rather than a unique device-specific adapter.  Charging can be done either through an electrical outlet with the adapter and cable that come with the phone – or by plugging the phone into a USB port on your computer.  I just keep my phone plugged into my computer while I’m at the office.  This is especially handy if I go out after work – my phone is fully charged and ready for action.

If you’re a gadget-head like I am, you’ve probably got some extra USB/mini-USB cables lying around.  If not, you can pick one up for a couple of bucks at your local electronics shop or online.

Of course, the other way to manage battery life is to only turn on the services you need.  If you’re not using Wifi, turn it off; if you only use Bluetooth in your car, turn it off when you get to work; turn off GPS when you’re not using maps.  And this is all made very easy to do with the Android Power Control widget.  Add the Power Control widget from the widget gallery (Press Home button -> Menu button -> Tap Add to Home -> Tap Widget) to one of your home screens and you’ll have quick access to control power functions that can suck up juice even when you’re not actively using them.

From left to right:

Wifi – Off/On
Bluetooth – Off/On
GPS – Off/On
Sync – Off/On
Screen Brightness – Cycles through Low, Medium and High with each tap.  I have my screen set to Auto Brightness control, so I generally don’t make other changes.  Keep in mind that using the Brightness control in the Power Control widget will deactivate Auto Brightness; to re-enable, you’ll need to go to Settings/Sound & Display/Brightness.

So, in spite of moderate-to-heavy use throughout the day and evening, these tips mean my Hero is always ready to go.

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Posted in Productivity | 2 Comments »

New York Times for Android

Monday, June 21st, 2010

The New York Times app for the Android phone is a great way to keep up on all the news that’s fit to print.  The interface is straightforward.  The app opens on the Latest News tab (or on the last article or section you’ve viewed), with other sections selectable by pulling down the menu “curtain” -  including a Latest Video section that makes great use of the Hero’s media capability.  And once you’re reading an article in a section, you can swipe left or right to move to the previous or next article in that section.

When you open a section, the app will update the latest articles and download them to your phone.  This is a great feature, since it means I can read articles even when I don’t have a data connection (for example, if I’m on BART or the Muni Metro).  One of my quibbles though is that there is no way to save an article to the phone for future reading – when articles are refreshed, you’ll lose any you haven’t read.  A “save” feature would be really useful, especially for some of the Times’ longer articles.

One of the best features for me is that the font size of the articles is adjustable – meaning I can read the news while on a crowded bus without having to dig out my reading glasses. You can also share articles a bunch of different ways – via email or SMS, on Twitter or Facebook.  All in all, a well-designed app that I use every day.

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