Amazon Instant Video on Chromecast

One of the problems I had with Amazon Instant Video on Android was casting to video to a Google Chromecast Device. 

You need to download the Instant Video app which now working officially on Tablets finally ! You can download it from the Amazon App Store.

If you don't have the Amazon App store not to worry , just follow these instructions to install it:

• On your device, check the option that allows downloads from “Unknown sources.” It’s usually found under Settings > Security.
• Go to this URL: http://www.amazon.com/getappstore
• Download and Install the Amazon Appstore.
• Open the Amazon Appstore, search for the Prime Instant Video app and install it.

Once the Instant Video app is running and you are logged into your Amazon account you can then cast your screen to the Google Chromecast to watch the videos on the big screen.

The casting of your tablet screen is dependent on your Android version, usually it is Android 4.4.2 and higher. Hope this helps !

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Amazon Instant Video Content Protection Error

I recently subscribed to Amazon Prime Instant Video and discovered issue with playback on my PC. 
When I tried to play a video a Contents Permission Error 6036 came up :

This meant one of my cables , the DVI cable between graphics and the monitor was not HDCP compliant. I found this quite annoying having to unplug the monitor anytime I wanted to watch a video on the TV which was attached via HDMI. 

The solution I found was to change the settings within Amazon Instant Video settings from Silverlight to Adobe Flash Player :

This also took care of my problems with slow buffering caused by Silverlight. 

Hope this helps and any questions please leave a comment!

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Rooting Acer Liquid E2 and Increasing 1GB Internal Memory

Hello this is a little post with links to information about rooting your Acer Liquid E2 and possibly increasing the internal memory limit.

Firstly though BACKUP everything. Seriously do it!

For Liquid E2 running Android 4.2.2 and above you can use Kingo Android Root . See this thread  for full information about it and how to use it. I used this method on my phone and it worked just fine.

For Liquid E2 running Android 4.2.1 and below there are a number of different methods - see this thread for instructions.

As you may have noticed the Liquid E2 has a 1gb internal memory limit which is quite low and easily filled up. You can use a cache cleaner and move as many apps to sd as possible but it still fills up . 
There are a couple of other methods that could be used and I am going to try out to gain some more space on my phone. 

Firstly is this method here which is a fairly technical method. The advantage is it uses space from the second internal memory of the phone and not off the sd card. 
The disadvantage is you basically will have to start from scratch setting up the phone again.

The second method is using Link2SD where you create a partition on your sd card and download the Link2SD app which symbolically links the apps from sdcard back to internal memory . Instructions to this are here . 

I mentioned at start and I'll mention again make sure you have everything backed up off the phone!

Hope this helps.

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Ok Google Voice Search on Android Jellybean

I thought I would quickly write up how I got the OK Google Voice search to do the voice detection from the homescreen on Android Jellybean ( v 4.2.2) . 

Firstly is to make sure the Google Search app is fully up to date and the Ok Google Detection is enabled in the app. You need to set the language to English US as well.

For those on older non KitKat phones and tablets the way I made OK Google hotword detection was to download the Nova Launcher. 

In the Nova Settings you can enable hotword detection . This should work from the main homescreen but not from within other apps that you may be in.

There is also the Open Mic +  app but I haven't tried this method out as yet as I am still playing with the Nova Launcher .

I hope this helps out and if you need any help do leave a comment below.

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Mobile Phone History

Hello all today I thought I would do a list of all the mobile phones I have had (far too many!). I always very much enjoyed getting new phones as they were a relatively inexpensive way of playing with new tech and gadgets. As such I was an early adopter of new phones and frequently bought phones that others wouldn't get - such as all the Siemens phones whilst everyone had Nokia 3310 phones! As the list below shows I bought some good phones and well some that were less than brilliant.

Motorola M3788

This was bought for uni and was pretty basic. If you wanted to text someone you had to remember the number as there was no selecting from phonebook

Nokia 5110

 Again another phone for uni , simple but easy to use with snake of course !

Siemens S25

This was where I diverted off standard phones and in my opinion onto much better Siemens phone. The S25 is probably still my favourite phone for features such as midi playback, infrared, wap , easy to use and seriously rugged - I dropped it more times than I can remember! 

Siemens M35i 

This was supposed to be a more rugged waterproof version although I never tried submerging it !

Siemens M50

 To be honest I just liked the way it looked it was quite a bit different to the others

Siemens C55 

 I got this C55 because it was a very small phone and battery lasted for ages

Motorola v2288

The only think I remember about this one was it was free and had a radio - I think once the credit was used up I just used it as a portable radio!

Motorola E365 

This was my first cameraphone. It took pictures and you could sort of tell what they were !

Sony Ericsson P900 

The p900 was another of my favourite phones - it was the first touchscreen phone I had. Whilst ubiquitous now in 2003/4 a touchscreen was almost unheard of. The phone spent more time in the hands of others drawing pictures on it! The phone even could store music and video on it. The front keypad was also removable to make a full touchscreen phone. If I could charge it I'd prob still use it!

Nec E808

This was the first 3G phone launched on the three network.As you can see it was quite a different design to standard phones and designed to be more media oriented. Again you could use as an mp3 and movie player.

Sharp GX30

The Sharp gx30 had the first 1 megapixel phone camera (if you stood still long enough to get a non blurry picture!). It also had the cool second outer display.

Motorola V500

The Motorola wasn't a particularly fancy phone it was just a good phone to use and my favourite of the flip phones.

Motorola A835

This was one of my less than great buys it was only the third 3G phone released so I had to buy it. But it was freaking huge. Damn thing was tall and very chunky - you could use it as a weapon. It had an mp3 player but it took an eternity to copy anything across. Another early adopter purchase!

Motorola E1000 

A somewhat better 3G phone the E1000 was. It had better camera and media handling abilities. It also had the little nib style mouse in the middle of the keypad which was quite cool. Alas too much dust ended up under the screen which was a shame.

Nokia N70

Now we are getting to more modern standards of phone with better quality camera, memory cards able to hold more, improved internet browsing and music management. Another one of my favourite phones with good battery life.

Nokia E51

This Nokia was a more business oriented phone although that said it worked pretty well in the media department. It also was very nicely sized and lightweight. And like all the Nokias excellent battery life.

LG U990 Viewty

 Another early adopter phone purchase by myself. In principle the phone seemed good an iPhone beater as it was touted. Unfortunately it didn't live up to the hype. The screen responded when it wanted to, buttons broke, the camera was good as long as everything was still. It looked good and when turned it on its side to take a photo it even had the appearance of a camera. It just wasn't usable as a day to day phone in the end.

Nokia 6220 Classic

After a less than brilliant touchscreen experience I went back to more classic option. The Nokia 6220 was one of my fav phones again. It was easy to use, did all the things the newer touchscreens did, very solid build and a battery with a ridiculous life - I left it on for over a week without charging once! It had a decent camera and removable battery. I still use the phone when I go to festivals because it won't run out !

ZTE Blade

This was a bargain phone as it was a direct release from one the OEM phone makers. It had a very good quality screen for the price and was pretty thin phone. The camera wasn't so great on it and the lack of internal memory was a killer at times. But it did spawn a wide variety of ROMs for it which meant you could upgrade the OS as newer versions of android came out.

Sony Live With Walkman 

To be honest this was a cheaper phone although the specs maybe suggested it should have been better. It was a good a being a music player but I found it a pain to use with problems developing and subsequent updates making it slower. It wasnt one of my favourite phones and rather annoyed me by the end.

Acer Liquid E2

This is the current phone I am using. So far I am pretty pleased with it, it has a good large 4.5inch screen, plenty of power behind it, comes with a pretty vanilla android and so far Acer have been regularly pushing updates to it.Importantly to me it had removable storage and battery - I wouldn't buy a phone without either. Battery life is suprisingly good as well compared to my previous phones. The only issue is the 1gb internal mem - you can move apps to sd but some don't move.

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Muse at Emirates Video Playlist

In honour of Muse releasing the Live At Rome Olympic Stadium DVD / Blu-Ray and CD (and not one of the Emirates Stadium grrrr) I created a little video playlist featuring all the songs from the Saturday 25th May show. This way you can experience the gig without the annoying people, lovely body odours or braving the London Underground home.

 Of course you should buy the Muse Olympic Stadium DVD because it will be amazing and to capture the madness of the latest tour in high quality will be worth it. Who doesn't want to see Charles strut his stuff in high definition! Or experience the eyebrow singeing flames from your sofa! Go on do it now!

Charles Says Buy The DVD or prepare for the Robot Uprising

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Useful Android Apps

This a post about some useful android apps that I use on my phone. 
My phone is a not particularly powerful , has that much storage space or even has a large screen so the apps I mention below are chosen with that in consideration. 
So if you have an older android phone that is what these apps are geared towards. 
Given the ridiculous length of contracts in the UK I imagine many are in the same situation as me with an older phone so I hope these help !

Kii Keyboard

An excellent multi-language keyboard combining features such as swyping , split layouts, multiple keyboard layouts and next word prediction with support for multiple themes.

It supports Android 2.1 and above so very much backward compatible.

Kik Messenger

Kik is a messenger service that operates over your data or wifi connection. It is a simple , quick easy to use messenger app. It featured typing, sent and read notifications. It integrates with your media apps so you can share photos and other media. 

Kik does not integrate with your phone book so it is more private than other apps.

It supports Android 2.2 and up.

Opera Mini Browser

Opera mini is part of the Opera range of browsers for Android platform. Opera Mini is the lightweight version of the browser but definitely not lacking in useful features.

Like the desktop version it has the speed dial start page where you can save your favourite sites.The layout is also clear with large buttons and tabbed browsing for ease of use.

The browser also compresses the data to speed up loading times and web pages can be saved offline for later reading.

Power Toggles

Power Toggles is an app that allows you to add toggles to the top notification bar. 

You can add toggles for WiFi  sound, screen brightness , Bluetooth and GPS to name a few.There over 40 toggles to choose from.

The toggles can also be added to the screen as widgets if you prefer for even easier control. The app allows for creation of custom application shortcuts as well.

Twicca

Twicca is a lightweight twitter client app. It has all the standard twitter functions you expect such as posting, re-tweeting, searching, trends. It can also set colour labeling for specific users. 

Images are automatically previewed within client itself. It features automatic URL shortening and ability to share media in tweets.

The app has its own widget as well . There are notifications for mentions and direct messages built in.

Shuttle Music Player

Shuttle Music app is a lightweight but fully featured music player.

Its has an optimised and simple beautiful layout based around the Google Holo theme.

Amongst its many features include playlist creation, gapless playback of songs, album artwork automatic downloading, lockscreen controls , gesture support , last.fm connectivity and a selection of different widgets for desktop screen.

Hopefully some of these will be of use in the never ending battle with Android!

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River Thames in London At Night

One of the wonderful things about London is the way the city lights up at night. 
No where is this more true than along the River Thames with its multitude of iconic bridges and tourist landmarks such as the London Eye and St Pauls Cathedral. 

I personally very much enjoy walking around the River Thames at night. In the middle of the urban hustle and busy nature of London it is actually quite relaxing. Standing across the London Eye as it lights up the night sky and river is quite breathtaking.

I heartily recommend anyone visiting should go for a walk along the Thames in the evening. It is most rewarding and worthwhile !

The Hungerford / Golden Jubilee Bridge which leads into
Charing Cross Train Station from the South Bank

The London Eye

The London Eye as viewed from the Victoria Embankment

Westminster Bridge which connects Palace of Westminster
with County Hall and The London Eye

The National Theatre on the South Bank 

St Pauls Cathedral and The City Of London

The City of London and Blackfriars Bridge

Christmas Market on the South Bank 

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New Autumn TV Shows

As Autumn approaches new and old tv shows are returning back to our screens. 
This blog entry is about my thoughts on a couple of new shows that I am liking so far. Hopefully you will like them as well !

Marvels Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D

As the name suggests this show follows a group of individuals being put together as a team by Agent Coulson (he lives! or does he...) to investigate the cases S.H.I.E.L.D hasn't classified as yet. 

The show follows on from the events of The Avengers when the public are now aware of the superheroes that are amongst them. I don't want to give to much plot of the pilot away as there are a few mysteries to start with. 

The biggest one being how Coulson is alive after The Avengers movie. 

There is also an anonymous group known as the Rising Tide who are trying to expose the work of S.H.I.E.L.D to the public.

And there are groups trying to profit and use the alien technology left after the Battle of New York.

I enjoyed this pilot very much. It had the quick witted dialogue , humour and compelling mystery that you would expect from Joss Whedon. It would have benefited from maybe having a longer run time to better introduce the characters but overall I'll be watching on !

The Blacklist

The plot of this may be slightly similar to Silence of The Lambs . Raymond Reddington (James Spader) one of the F.B.I most wanted criminals one day walks into the F.B.I headquarters and gives himself up.

He has knowledge of a kidnapping plot against a US Generals daughter but will only work with one person. This person is Elizabeth Keen a newly qualified F.B.I profiler who Reddington knows an awful lot about. 

Most of the episode you are left wondering how much of the this kidnapping plot Reddington might have actually set up himself as the show progresses.

This is but one of the mysteries set up to play through the series and what Reddington's end game is actually is. 

At the end of the episode Reddington agrees to help the F.B.I track down a series of high level criminals that only he knows about , known as The Blacklist on condition that he only works Elizabeth Keen.

James Spader is suitably charming , enigmatic  engaging and slightly menacing in the role. He manages to keep the role subtle and not turn into a caricature of the evil bad guy - which easily could have happened with the wrong actor.

There is definitely enough mystery between the characters to keep me hooked on it and hopefully a lot more twists to come!

S.H.I.E.L.D / The Blacklist

Purchase The Blacklist Poster from the NBC Store below :

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Star Trek Into Darkness at the Imax London

In honour of the DVD/Bluray release of Star Trek Into Darkness I am uploading a few pictures I took from the Imax premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness 3D that I went to earlier this year.

This was the first 3D film I had actually been to see in the Imax. The 3d definitely works better in the Imax than at a conventional cinema just due to the size and quality of the Imax screen.

If you have never seen a film in the Imax then all I can say is GO AND DO IT !
The difference in quality and the sound system is just immense compared to standard cinema.
The screen in the London Imax is the largest in the country at 20m high and 26m across! The sound is provided by a 12000 watt surround sound system.

Star Trek Into Darkness 3D

Star Trek Into Darkness 3D

Star Trek Into Darkness 3D

Star Trek Into Darkness 3D

Star Trek Into Darkness 3D

Star Trek Into Darkness 3D

BFI Imax Waterloo

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