Samsung Galaxy S, 32GB microSDHC, Android Development

Samsung has decided to make a Google Android-based phone it’s high-end mobile device/phone. It’s a victory for Android fans and adds another really powerful mobile phone into the mix of those looking to get into smartphones.

It offers a 1GHz processor, 3D graphics (mapping, etc.), Assisted GPS, a 5MP camera capable of HD video recording, Bluetooth 3.0, and 8GB or 16GB versions with support for a 32GB memory card (see below). It’s focused on a 4-inch 800×480 Super AMOLED touchscreen display. It’ll be available sometime later this year.
Link: Samsung Unpacked

Speaking of Android, AdMob, a mobile advertising network, took a survey concerning development on various mobile platforms. While the survey was limited in number (just over 100 responses), it was interesting since these are actual developers. Some notes of interest:
- 31% of developers are developing for more than one mobile platform
- More than 70% of iPhone developers who responded said they would develop for Android over the next six months, while around half of the Android developers were planning on developing for the iPhone.
- Nearly half are new to mobile platforms.
Link: Metrics.Admob.com

It’s interesting since over the last few years, we’ve seen an explosion in development for platforms that are not Windows Mobile or Palm-based. Whether it’s going to carry over into genealogy software development, I don’t know. If you look at the iPhone-related genealogy applications, the highest-profile apps are from existing third party developers for Apple’s Mac OS X who already have genealogy applications available for the desktop/laptop. Even Ancestry.com’s Tree to Go is from a company already involved with genealogy software (Family Tree Maker, among other things). Still, the iPhone opened up the door and we have developers new to the genealogy scene, and the same can be said of the Android platform. Even if we don’t see a lot of new genealogy-specific software, we’ll still see plenty of software that any genealogist can use – navigation, photo storage and management, etc.

Finally, If you have $199 to spare, a phone or other mobile devices that supports microSDHC (possibly including the above Samsung Galaxy S), and a need to carry around a lot of photos, video, music, and data, your ship has arrived. SanDisk announced a 32GB microSDHC card today. Right now it’s available in the United States (and probably Canada) as well as Europe. By the end of next month, it should be available worldwide. Link: SanDisk

Griffin Clarifi for iPhone 3G – Update

In my review of the Griffin Clarifi, I mentioned that the screen protector I currently use made the Clarifi a tight fight. I neglected to mention that Griffin includes a screen protector that works with the Clarifi, and a couple of people emailed me to ask if my Clarifi came with a screen protector. Mine did come with one and I apologize for leaving that out of my review. I have not installed it yet, but will do so, and post an update. It should be thinner and better form fitting than the current protector I use, and shouldn’t bubble up. Griffin not only included a new screen protector, but they included a cleaning cloth as well.

I would prefer to keep my old one, but the one that’s included should work just fine.

Griffin Clarifi for iPhone Review – Photos, OCR

Anybody who owns an iPhone knows the built-in 2MP camera is not that good, especially for anything close-up or text-related.

Griffin Technology has figured out a way around that – they have produced a case for the iPhone 3G, the Griffin Clarifi, that is both a protective polycarbonate case as well as a macro lens for the iPhone. They (and Evernote) use the example of a business card, but I’m thinking more in line with references or little text snippets you come across in libraries, etc., that you want to save during your genealogy research, but don’t want to spend the time copying down. Without the Clarifi, they claim you need to have the iPhone about 18 inches away in order to focus, and I agree with this, because you start losing focus any closer. At that distance however, even with good lighting, you start to lose a lot of detail. With the Clarifi, you can get down to 4 inches and still have sharp detail.

I’ve broken up the review into four parts, but be warned, Parts 1, 2, and 3 are image heavy.

* Griffin Clarifi for iPhone Review – Part 1 – A look at the case and lens itself

* Griffin Clarifi for iPhone Review – Part 2 – A look at capturing text & photos from a book

* Griffin Clarifi for iPhone Review – Part 3 – Text recognition with Evernote

* Griffin Clarifi for iPhone Review – Part 4 – Summary

* Update – I forgot to mention that the Clarifi comes with a screen protector specifically designed for it, along with a cleaning cloth.

Genealogy Software Databases on Flash Drives

Over at the DearMyrtle blog, there are two different posts mentioning taking your genealogy databases from your genealogy software and carrying and accessing them on USB flash drives. The topic came up as people were talkiong about using PAF or GEDCOM files, and apparently some genealogy software makers make their software available for free at Family History Centers.

The first – Legacy:

I access my genealogy from my Flash drive at the Family History Center. They have Legacy 6 installed on all 6 computers. Millennia Corp gives FREE licensing to FHCs. You might want to mention to your audience that if the FHC they visit doesn’t have it installed, they can request that the FHC install it. The FHC just has to contact Millennia and request the License Key for the Deluxe version.

The second, RootsMagic and Personal Historian:

I didn’t know if you knew this (after reading the most recent entry in your blog), but RootsMagic also offers a free unlimited license to all FHCs to install both RootsMagic and Personal Historian on their center computers. They just need to visit:

http://www.rootsmagic.com/fhc

to request their free copies for their centers.

Apparently these four applications are available at many Family History Centers (and/or can be installed with special license keys available to FHCs):
* Legacy Family Tree
* PAF Personal Ancestral File
* Personal Historian
* RootsMagic

Review of DocuPen RC800

GottaBeMobile.com has a review of the DocuPen RC800 Scanner. Rob Bushway wrote the review, and discusses his workflow with the DocuPen. For those of you not familiar with it, the DocuPen is a handheld color scanner that is incredibly small. You have to see it to understand just how portable this thing really is. The manufacturers claim you can store it in a shirt pocket, but Rob points out it’s just a little too tall for that. He goes into using it with OneNote and a Tablet PC.

Quote: “Being able to scan, import, store, search these documents is a huge productivity boost. Never underestimate the power of having all of your documents with you in one place. Being able to scan these documents while on site, and then using my tablet pc to work with the document, take notes on it and then have that available to me later is a mobile professionals dream.”

Sounds like something that any genealogist could find handy. For more information and purchasing information, you can view the DocuPen’s homepage at planon.com. No word on compatability with non-Windows sytems.

via jkOnTheRun

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