G1 Android software update

Last week (Sunday 31 May, 2009) Google made an update to the Android operating system. I was chatting to a friend of mine after having some afternoon birthday cake and tea. I accepted the update and continued chatting. Acknowledging that I was doing so.

After the update was done, the date changed to April 15, 2009 at 10:01a, I showed it to my friend who laughed. Seconds later, it changed to the correct time. I looked back at the phone and I was quite impressed with my findings:

1. The first things I saw was a new icon that said "camcorder" with the picture of a camcorder [here is a video I did http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSaPxN63_sI]. I had to immediately mention that to my friend, to which he quipped "cool." Not sure if he was annoyed that I was being distracted or if he was really impressed :-). I think the former. I was eager to try this out, but had to wait.
2. Next, I noticed that the browser icon was now a world map. Nice I thought.

Not to be rude, I left it alone and continued my conversation. Over the next few days, I really checked out the phone and here are my deep findings:

1. onscreen keyboard: Yes, finally they've added one. It is a bit small and does take some getting used to. During my first few days, I actually refused to use it, but more and more I'm using it and learning it. One thing I could not figure out was how to make the darn thing disappear after I'm done (click the Back arrow next to the power button). Also activating it is a learned experience (you have to tap into the area where you want to write something). By default, the keyboard activates with capital letters; once you press the first letter though, it changes to small letters. You have a "DEL" key and a "?123" key as well. I can't find a "\" though on that keyboard, can anyone? I am also assuming that in Europe there are "£" and "€" signs. The keyboard also auto completes for you so that is a good deal. Oh, sometimes, it places a "Done" on the keyboard and pressing that makes it disappear or completes the action you were performing. All in all a worthwhile addition.
2. threaded e-mails: Perhaps the best fix yet. The previous issue was that when you receive an e-mail you could not reply to it as the reply would go to the first person in your contact list. For me that was Google 411. This really sucked as sometimes I forgot and wondered why my friend never replied to my text. All that is history and the new threaded feature rocks. Thank you so much google.
3. contacts: They've re-worked the interface so it is easier to read/use and has cooler icons. There is now a "+" to add a contact's information and a "-" to remove it. You can also "Revert" if you want to discard all you've just done. You can now add a postal address as well as Organizations. If that was there before, I never realized it. When you press "MENU" from the main Contacts screen, you now get "Search," "Display group," "Edit sync group" and "Import contacts." Again, if these were there before, I never saw them.
4. call log: Not much done here, just that the icons are slightly different and after you've called a number that is not in your contacts, you get an option to add it to contacts as well as send SMS message, plus the usual Call again option. It also gives you stats on the call (time, date and duration of call). Oh, the names and numbers are arranged a little better than before.
5. dialer: Not much change, except that when you dial a number, the tab in the middle now changes to "Dialpad." After a few seconds, it changes to a lock that says "Double-tap to unlock." Which is good as it helps so that you don't accidentally press a key. I am still waiting for the feature where once I put the phone away from my face, the dial pad activates, but I guess that is next.
6. favorites: not to be left out, they've actually built some auto functionality into here by adding a "Frequently called" section below any favorites you denoted.
7. camera: Nice improvement. The new software is 1,000% better than the old. It is actually much better in low lighting now and it looks like they've added some handshake code, which was well needed. Also, now when you click the shutter, it processes what you did and focusses even more for you it seems. Once the picture is taken (by using the new onscreen camera icon or the buttons on the side), it shows in an icon on the upper left if you are holding the phone horizontal and upper right if vertical. The position does not change based on how you are holding the phone. The only odd thing is that the picture is auto saved and once you click on the thumbnail, you get the options to go to the Gallery (formerly called Pictures), "Set as," "Share" and "Delete." Plus an arrow to move to the previous picture and of course you can see the picture and there is a zoom bar (new icons for this release). it does take a little while to load up this new menu though. I have 1,191 pictures on my card so that may have something to do with it :-).
8. gallery (formerly pictures): nothing new here except the zoom bar now has a "-" and a "+" on it. But this is a new thing for the phone itself.
9. camcorder: I've saved the newest for last. it is O.K. it is a learned experience. Once you click the camcorder icon, you are taken to a screen which activates the video camera showing a thumbnail of the previous video in the upper left hand corner if he phone is horizontal and upper right if vertical. There is a icon on the right upper corner that is used to start the camera. A counter counts the time and the icon changes to a red dot in gray circle. Pressing the circle stops the record action. Playback is achieved by clicking on the newly created thumbnail of the movie and then choosing Play. Once play is complete, you can choose "Gallery," "Share" or "Delete" or record another movie from the menu choices. Share options are Gmail, Messaging or YouTube. For the latter, you have to enter your username and password, sign in and then give the video a title, decide if you want it public (default) or not, enter a description, add your tags, view the shortened terms of use with a link to the long version and click "Upload" or "Cancel." Voila you are done! You are then taken back to the video on your phone. When complete you get a YouTube: Upload Complete notification. You can see my video here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSaPxN63_sI

There are perhaps more stuff that were updated, but these are the major ones I've seen/used. A good update, thank you, but can you please add a notepad for me?

Destination?

Looks like it will be San Diego, CA (SAN). It was kind of on the list, but not on the written list.

Not sure where I'm off to in a few hours.

Not sure where I'm off to just yet. The choices are:

1. Tromso, Norway (TOS) - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=tromso,+norway&sll=37.649034,-95.712891&sspn=31.012903,79.101563&ie=UTF8&ll=74.496413,18.984375&spn=52.62392,316.40625&z=2&iwloc=A
2. Bristol, England (BRS)
3. London, England (LHR)

I will know more tomorrow. One thing is certain I have a 5:00a wake up :-(

London May 1, 2009: In London

Linked up with friends, had a shower and enjoying the beautiful weather.

One of the fun things about London is people watching :)

Just saw a lady trying to force her way onto the Picadilly Line. The doors are closing and she is forcing her way in. Eventually the doors re-opened for her.

Will have to expedite a passport this week as I'm off to Jamaica on Friday a.m. I will then have to re-do Global Pass :(. I may wait until the next week.

It is a beautiful day out today. It is sunny and not raining. The flight over was good and I was able to get some sleep.

The stupid lift does not say which direction it is going. Heading into Central London now on the Picadilly Line.

Got lectured about my passport being full. Which is why I wanted to use IRIS.

IRIS is busted, so have to join the regular queue :(.

Just arrived in London-Heathrow where it is 9:42a on 2 May 2009. A beautiful day at 55 degrees.

Dubrovnik, Croatia April 2009: Ice islands from 37,000'

Ice island just below Greenland.

Dubrovnik, Croatia April 2009: In Heathrow

Heading back to Houston from London in about 10 minutes. It was an early wake up this morning at 5:00a.

Dubrovnik, Croatia April 2009: Pictures from Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, Croatia April 2009: Landed in Dubrovnik, Croatia (DBV)

Just arrived in Dubrovnik, Croatia, it is 2:45p.

Dubrovnik, Croatia April 2009: Landed safely taxiing to the gate in Vienna

We are now taxiing to the gate.

Dubrovnik, Croatia April 2009: Landed in Vienna, Austria (VIE)

Well, we landed at 11:55a without incident!

Dubrovnik, Croatia April 2009: Emergency Landing AF1438

AF1438 24APR09 Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Roissy France (CDG) to Vienna, Austria (VIE) 9:35a 11:35a 320 F-GFKD

Flight Time: 1:30
Seat Map

We are preparing for an emergency landing. Not sure what is the cause of it...11:38a on our way to Vienna on Air France.

I was a little taken aback at first and wondered if it was all real. After 15 years of constant flying, this is my first emergency landing preparation. I've had an aborted takeoff on a Boeing 757-200, two aborted landings (a Boeing 727-200 and a Lockheed L-1011) and three diversions (Boeing 747-400, Boeing 737-500 and a MD-80), but never the big one. "Was this it?" I thought.

The lead female flight attendant read the emergency procedures in French from a card while the other two male flight attendants ensured that we were buckled in and that the aisles were clear. There were no English translations, but I muddled through what she said and also watched what the others were doing.

The lead flight attendant read the details of the position we had to adapt when she gave the "brace" command once we landed. I think this piece of information brought it home that this really was happening and it was serious. I looked around as the passengers did as instructed in a practice run.

We were then told to get out our coats from the overheads and don them so we all did. I assume that this was just in case we had to use the slides as it was cold out. Everyone complied quite orderly indeed. No one panicked at all.

Although, there was one passenger who had the overhead open and his case on his seat and was fumbling around. The lead flight attendant tried unsuccessfully to get him to sit. Eventually, once he got all the stuff he wanted he closed the bin and sat down.

I made sure that our onward tickets were in my pocket as well as that I had my Flip video and mobile handy to record whatever happened as much as I could.

We all then waited. You could hear a pin drop in the cabin. I had put my computer bag up in the bin from by my feet, but had re-retrieved it, thinking I could just take it with me when we exited the plane via the slides. Which by now the flight attendant had advised were ready for us. Silly I know, but my mind was racing and for a moment I was not thinking clearly.

We were not told what was the nature of the emergency, just that we had to prepare for one. At least, if we were it was in French and I did not comprehend. I know some French, but I'm not that good at it.

I looked around the cabin and noticed that there was no obvious sign of smoke in the cabin, the oxygen masks were not deployed either. I looked out the window and the wing seemed fine as did the engine hanging off of it. My mind raced as to what could be so serious as to declare an emergency landing. I relaxed a bit knowing that the pilots knew what they were doing.

Then I thought back to our departure in Paris. The airplane had arrived late at the gate from its previous journey. I did notice a mechanic checking out the nose gear and at the time had wondered what was going on. Could it be that the landing gear indicator light came on? Which meant that the gear would not lock when activated? Who knows.

I could not help but think that I'd lived the life I pretty much wanted and if it ended in a few minutes, I'd have no regrets. I also could not help thinking that the plane would be destroyed; this aircraft was rare as it is an A320 without winglets. Yes, I get silly at times :-). I also thought what a cool headline our demise would make. Morbid, yes, but...whatever.

Well, we started our descent and it was all normal, the flaps were deployed, we descended properly and orderly, we touched down fine and we decelerated properly and came in for a very smooth landing. Thankfully, the brace command was never given.

Roaring applause erupted from the cabin as we looked around at each other wondering why we were not piled up an in an aircraft wreckage off the runway somewhere. The awe and relief was pretty evident.

Outside the window, were fire trucks waiting to move into action if necessary.
We slowed down and exited the runway and headed for a hard stand. The fire trucks, etc. followed us as we did. There was a bit of talk in the cabin and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Others were still clapping. I actually took my phone out of airplane mode and sent a blog post. Always the thinker, I guess.

The flight attendant came on the PA and said we were fine, no need for any emergency procedures. It was then business as usual as she welcomed us to Vienna where the local time was 12:01p.

She also asked if anyone needed medical attention. I thought about it for a moment, then declined. Myself and my other three colleagues then headed for the rear stairs. I thanked the two crew members standing by the door and bade them adieu. As I deplaned, I did notice one lady going into an ambulance. She was a bit flushed.


We then boarded a waiting bus and made our way to the terminal.

"That was close," I thought.

Dubrovnik, Croatia April 2009: Flying past the Alps on AF1438

AF1438 24APR09 Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Roissy France (CDG) to Vienna, Austria (VIE) 9:35a 11:35a 320 F-GFKD

Flight Time: 1:30
Seat Map

There is lots of excitement as we pass the Swiss Alps. Cameras are out, but the seat belt signs put a damper on it all. It is really beautiful to see.

I've flown by it a few times, but no matter how many time you do that it is still spectacular. We just had breakfast of a choice of three French pastries plus tea, cafe and water. I guess it is too early for alcohol :).

The folks around me are really excited about seeing the Alps as am I. Here is a video of the Alps as we passed it at 35,000'.