The Saga of GB's Telephone

[Gaybutton]

Now that I'm getting a pretty good handle on this phone and how to use its features, I've found several apps that I really like. These are my recommendations and I'd be very interested to know yours too:

1. Vlingo - voice commands, dictation, and even a setting so that it will read aloud incoming SMS and Email messages, if you wish.

2. Gesture Search - you draw freehand a letter or letters on the screen and it finds anything you have on the phone starting with those letter combinations - ranging from stored telephone numbers to apps to internet bookmarks - whatever you've got.

3. Astrotek Dictionary - a very good English-Thai dictionary. You can switch from English to Thai inputs. With English inputs, you can hit the microphone icon and simply speak the word. The Thai translations will come up and you can simply show your Thai friend the word.

4. Barcode Scanner - Perfect for using QR codes to input information into your phone. I've even had a few (very few) successes with it reading Thai barcodes and giving me a list of places where the item is sold and the price.

5. Dropbox - With a free account, you can store up to 2 gigs of files on their web site, accessible through both your telephone and your computer. The program synchronizes the two. Whatever you place in folders you create stays on their web site. If you need it, or need to restore it to your phone or computer, it's right there. I use the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program quite often. I not only can store it on Dropbox, but I can actually use it and edit it right on the mobile phone. The updates go right to Dropbox when you save them. If you need more than 2 gigs, that's when they start charging for their space.

6. Google Skymap - I haven't had a chance to try all the features yet. You get GPS based maps of the stars, plants, constellations, galaxies - whatever's out there. If you're looking for something specific, it finds it for you. If you see a star or planet and want to know which one it is, it tells you. Some very good demonstration videos are on YouTube.

7. Online banking - If you have a Thai bank account and have online banking for that account, most now have their own icons that will take you to your account - modified to be used and viewed with your mobile phone.

8. Foursquare - This app finds local venues that have been uploaded and stored. That's one use. Another use is if you have a friend with a smartphone and he also has this app, you can share your locations with each other. A GPS based map will come up showing where each of you are. That can come in mighty handy if you've got a Thai boy coming over and you want to know where he is at any given time. He would have to also have the app and be sharing his location. If he is, when he says he'll be there in "just a minute" now you'll know how long that "just a minute" is probably going to be.

9. GPS Essentials - If your phone has a GPS, this app is a "must have." It does literally everything, including storing waypoints you may have placed on Google Maps. It's too complex to summarize here. There are some "how to use" videos on YouTube.

10. Ringtone Maker - You can upload MP3 files to your phone and convert them to ringtones. The ringtones are 15 seconds long. You can edit the starting and ending points with a very good editor. When you save the ringtone, you get a choice as to saving it as a phone ringtone, an incoming notification, or an alarm. If you save it as a ringtone, you can save it as the phone's new default ringtone or assign that tone to a specific contact or as many of your contacts in your phone book as you wish. I use a couple individual ringtones for specific people and I use one so that I know if the call is coming in from a young Thai gentleman . . .

11. Tango - A video phone app, or simply voice. If whoever you wish to speak to also has it, the call is free, even internationally. A list of people on your contacts list who also have it will come up.

12. Real Calc - a far more sophisticated, fully scientific, calculator - much more than the default calculator that came with your phone.

13. Gay Romeo - When you log off of Gay Romeo, you will see several options for using Gay Romeo with your mobile phone. It's much better than accessing Gay Romeo via the internet on a mobile phone.

14. Wongnai - An impressive listing of local restaurants, starting with the ones closest to your current location. You can toggle between English and Thai. Information includes distance from your current location, photos, the type of food served, contact phone numbers, user reviews, and much more depending on what the restaurant itself uploaded. It will also bring up it's location on a Google map. The app could stand some improvement. For example, the location comes up on a map, but there is nothing to integrate it with your GPS. It doesn't include all restaurants - just the ones that participate on their web site ( http://www.wongnai.com ). However, a great many small hole-in-the-wall restaurants know about Wongnai and there's loads of them. The app is actually easier to use than their web site. On their web site, if there is a way to toggle to English, I haven't found it. However, along with finding places I would be interested in trying, I can see how this app can be of great help if you are looking for a restaurant your Thai friend is likely to enjoy. As I said, this app definitely needs some improving, but for me it's a "keeper." Give it a try and see for yourself.

Those are mine. What do you use and recommend?

[Gaybutton]

Here's one for my "I Don't Get It" list: Google Earth. I tried to install the Google Earth app on my phone only to see the following message pop up - "This item cannot be installed in your device's country."

Meanwhile, there is no problem installing and running Google Earth on my computer. So, what's the problem about installing it on a mobile phone in Thailand? Why is it ok with Thailand to have it on your PC, but not on your phone? Also, if someone installs it on a mobile phone in another country, then comes to Thailand, it works just fine. I know that because I've seen for myself on a friend's mobile phone.

I'd love to know who, in Thailand, makes these decisions and why they make them. You can have Google Maps on your mobile phone, but not Google Earth. I'd love to know the logic, if any, behind that.