There is a Google Code page requesting an enhancement to fix this situation. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3146.  It [...]]]> Our corporate network now will not allow just a pattern to unlock a phone.  I sort of understand why.  You can see the smudge on the phone of where you slid your finger.

There is a Google Code page requesting an enhancement to fix this situation. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3146.  It only has 25 comments and 45 stars (some have over 3,000).  If you feel this is important, please visit and give the issue a star.  Oh, and if you have a better idea on how to implement, do that too.

My thought for implementation was:

With the advent of collaborative applications such as Dropbox, Logmein, etc. it is important to maintain security on the phone. Our MS Exchange server now requires a PIN or Passphrase to connect to the Corporate email (Moto Droid 1).

I like number 20 and 22. Maybe a combination of the two would work. Right now if you have your phone in a dock, the pattern does get displayed landscape (undocked is default portrait with the power button on top). If the orientation was randomized AND you had a PIN that you could slide to, then I think security would be truly taken care of. Each of these could be “options” in the security screen. A check for random phone orientation and then another that could combine the pin and pattern features. The security folks can force an administrative install that they could determine what level of security they would allow for access into the system.

FYI, both Ironkey and Westrn Digital have randomized numberpads and virtual keyboards.

It is the Android Notifier.  This little gem will allow you to receive [...]]]> So, here’s the skinny.  I have been trying to speed up my phone (Motorola Droid 1) a bit as the launcher (home screen) would periodically blank out.  And low and behold I ran across a really cool application hosted on Google Code.

It is the Android Notifier.  This little gem will allow you to receive notifications from you phone when one of the following events happens. Your phone:

• rings
• receives an SMS
• receives a MMS
• battery is low
• registers a voice mail.

Pretty cool.  To install you will need to install the APK for Android Notifier on your phone (non-market apps needs to be enabled). AND you will have to install the appropriate version of Android Notifier Desktop for your operating system.  OS’s supported include:

• Windows XP or better support
• Linux support
• MacOS X support
• 32 and 64 bit support

I won’t even go into installation (not hard, but you should get it from the developer at Google Code).  Right now my setup is using the WIFI connection. Once USB is implemented, that’s the way I’ll probably go.

So it has been a while since I posted last. For those out there that may be reading this, I’m doing it from my Motorola Droid using WordPress’s Android application. It’s pretty impressive what this little phone can do.

It used to be just an iPhone thing to say “there’s an app for [...]]]>

So it has been a while since I posted last. For those out there that may be reading this, I’m doing it from my Motorola Droid using WordPress’s Android application. It’s pretty impressive what this little phone can do.

It used to be just an iPhone thing to say “there’s an app for that.” Not any more. The nice thing about AndroidOS is that it is Java over a Linux kernal, so if you are a good programmer, you can really had a custom phone.

I have toyed with some applications and rooted my phone so that I can more fully utilize the Linux kernal. Unless you really need to, I wouldn’t recommend it for the lay person. I now have some minor annoyances with how some things display.

The only gripes I have with my Droid is that its navbar (taskbar at the top) is stock white which is annoying if you are using Google Navigation at night. There are some theme/skin customization applications out there, but I have yet to find one that is both free and easy to use. And that the slideout keyboard is difficult to use efficiently due to its low-profile nature. It is really tough to find your keys, especially if you are used to something like a Palm Treo or Samsung Saga, which have very pronounced keys. Too bad i have yet to be able to get my laser keyboard to work with it. Oh well…

Well, enough for now. Stay tuned!