Creating an Android application without a line of code

Believe it or not, not all geeks do Java Programming. When it comes to language, many are happy enough to speak some Klingon already. 

But this doesn't  help much to create your own application for Android...

Google understood this by launching the beta program of its AppInventor: A very simple set of applications to allow people with ideas but not Java programming skills to bring their contribution to the Android software base.

During the beta phase, you need to fill a request form on their web site in order to have access to the online tools. 

Once done, some time later, you will receive an email explaining how to start. Going to http://appinventor.googlelabs.com will then also open the App Inventor application in your browser.

I just received the email today and gave the tool a quick look.

The AppInventor's main page is the designer, where you select and arrange the objects that you plan to use in your application. You just drag and drop the objects you want from the left column in to the Android screen in the center. A few basic properties (default text, color, ...) can be defined for each object.

Once the screen contains some object to interact with, you need to launch the Block Editor, which is done by clicking a button on the top of the Designer interface. This will download a file called AppInventorForAndroidCodeblocks.jnlp that you should be able to execute if your have the pre-required Java Runtime Engine installed.

There you will see "your blocks" made from the objects selected earlier in the Designer. There are block for each action possible on the object. For instance, if you wan to make something happening when the Button1 is clicked, bring the block "when Button1.Click do" onto the screen. You hen can pick other blocks to define what will actually happen like set the text of the TextBox1 (set TextBox1.Text to) to text "Thanks for clicking!" and change the Background Color of the Screen (set Screen1.BackgroundColor to) to Green.

From there, you just need to press the Connection icon to send and run the application to your phone.
Here is how it appears on my Samsung Spica GT-I5700:

It's just as simple as that. So unless you were planning a high end 3D racing game, this should give you a great way to make your débuts as an "embedded system developer".

This video will give you a quick overview of the interface. :





See also: http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/learn/tutorials/quizme/quizme.html
                more help and sample apps
Update: this concept has evolved and made its way outside the Google Lab
http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/
http://scratch.mit.edu/
http://studio.code.org/hoc/1

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Synology NAS just got even better ... DSM 3.0

One of my best purchase in 2010, the Synology DS109 (and family) is getting even better with the release of Disk Station Manager 3.0.

The huge quantity of features added over time during the DSM evolution resulted in a revamped and multi-tasking user interface to make the server configuration even more intuitive than before.

Difficult to tell which AJAX web interface from QNAP V or Synology is the best, but it's clear that the fierce competition between the two leading brands is an excellent thing for us!

Read more at www.synology.com.

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A point regarding the Foscam recovery files

I published my post, Bring your paperweight back to life, in December 2009 with recovery files received from Foscam at that time.

This worked fine for all users of FI8908W (and FI8904W) until some hardware revision that occurred in Foscam's produced during 2010. The initial files didn't work any more for these newer cameras.

I have updated my post with files (+ mirror) that Foscam confirmed to be compatible with all the generations of FI8908W and FI8904W.
I therefore removed the old files from the post to avoid any confusion.

If you went to that page before, please note that the instructions have been updated as the system file is now must be uploaded to 0x7f0e0000 instead of 0x7f0d0000.


I've received a new set of instructions and recovery files for FI8918W (and latest hardware revision of FI8908W)

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Foscam FI8918W out soon

This September month should see some new things out from Foscam. The most obvious is the FI8918W, a natural evolution of the good old FI8908W.

hands-on review here

The picture and description from foscam.com don't give much clue about the changes but, thanks to the information from foscam.us on their pre-order page, it looks like Foscam has been listening to users suggestions:

The enhanced features of the FI8918W over the FI8908W include:

The IR lights can be turned off manually from the software
Great idea, so many users requested this !


Audio quality is improved, there will be no noise when speaking into the camera
You will also find many complains about this in my blog.


WPA2 Encryption Supported
Nothing new really, let's just hope it now work with the router in non-broadcast mode!


Added an audio input jack which can be used with an external microphone
The dual audio function is not a workable feature on the FI8908W because of the poor sound quality. So with the ability to connect an external microphone and an external speaker, this is maybe going to change.

By the way, the green I/O connector (RS485) is gone to make space for these connectors. So, no more interfacing with alarm systems or automation modules.

Relocated the network light to the back of the camera. Add a power indicator lamp
Seems like a good idea but I predict that the next most popular question will soon be "how to turn off the power indicator?". Well as both LEDs will be located at the back, beside the RJ45 connector, this shouldn't be a big issue anyway.

The price tag is believed to remain in the same area as for its predecessor.
It's still a CMOS sensor, so there shouldn't be a dramatic improvement of the picture quality and the colour rendering, but the only way to find out will be to buy one ;-)




Another long awaited new camera (by me at least), the FI8906W (higher range, much higher budget) is announced for November according to the latest information from Foscam, but it's been delayed for a year already so we'll see...

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