My HTC Hero, on a T-Mobile contract, comes with “Unlimited Internet*”. But that asterisk at the end then points to a line which states “Subject to fair usage policy”. However, that line doesn’t actually link to anything. Thankfully a quick Google finds the result.
Basically, my “Unlimited Internet” is 3GB. Now I’m not going to go off on a rant about this, especially as the ASA have deemed that as little as 250MB can be regarded as “unlimited”. Indeed, most network providers are supplying 512MB of 1GB limits, so my 3GB is quite good.
But, how to monitor your internet usage on Android?
First of all install the app 3G Watchdog – this will track your 3G data usage. You’ll now need to know 2 important pieces of information – your usage cap and what time of the run that cap runs from. In the case of a T-Mobile Android account, this is the aforementioned 3GB and from the 1st of the month (rather than the date on which you started your account).
On my home desktop PC, I’m running Windows Media Player 11 under Windows XP. Last night, when attempting to sync some music with my phone, I realised that a couple of recent albums were missing from WMP. However, they were in the My Music folder, along with everything else. Clearing down the library and getting WMP to rebuild it didn’t work.
However, after a bit of searching I found that rebuilding the media library is the usual solution. Here’s what you do…
Close Windows Media Player
Ensure that service “Window Media Player Network Sharing Service” isn’t runnong
Find the directory %USERPROFILE%Local SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftMedia Player and rename or delete it.
At this point, WMP usually then works. But not in my case. Instead I found a lesser known solution – basically, the system flags have been set for these files. Unfortunately, Windows file dialogue doesn’t tell you this so you have to resort to the Command Window.
Navigate (in a command window) to your music folder and then run…
dir /ads /s
This will list any folders that have the system flag set. In my case my missing albums were listed. To reset the system flag run the following… attrib -s *.* /d /s
Some errors will occur – these are related to the system files that are in each album folder. However, this command doesn’t affect them due to them being hidden.
When I then re-added my music folder to WMP the missing music appeared!
The following coupon codes are available for ZoomBits…
10% off your order – mb10de
15% off Bluetooth Headsets – bluetooth15de
15% of all batteries – battery15de
You can’t combine codes, and they can’t be used with telephone orders. I’m not aware of an expiry date. Oh, and they won’t work via affiliate links – this includes cashback sites.
Be aware that Quidco offer a flat 15% cash back from this site, so if you’re signed up with them, it’s the better offer.
In the past I’ve bought new phones and then purchased the ubiquitous case and various other accessories, only to end up not using them. Therefore, for my HTC Hero, I’ve been more careful.
Here’s what I’ve found.
Case
Black Gel CaseYou can get some lovely leather, opening cases for the Hero but I had something similar for my N95 and the inconvenience of having to keep opening and closing a flag that needs securing each time was, well, not worth it. And you look stupid when taking a call.
Having got a cheap, rubber “skin” case for my daughters Tocco Lite, I thought I’d get something similar. I bought a colour-coded (well, transparent but with a blackish hue) “gel” case from eBay for the grand total of £2.90 (including postage). And it’s.. ok. It’s not like the more rubbery case of my daughters (with that it covers the buttons and you press them through the case, hence why it needs to be quite flexible) but it a harder material. It protects well but collects dust and crumbs quite easily.
Click the thumbnail to the right to see it a little clearer.
Screen Protectors
Again, I bought some screen protectors for my daughters phone. I got 10 and they were cheap from eBay. What I found was that your finger doesn’t glide over them as well as they did over the screen. Over time it gets better (probably as the grease from your finger penetrates the plastic).
However, it did mean that I made the decision to get some better quality ones for my Hero. HTC make “official” screen protectors, named the “SP P260”. Play.com sell them for £4.99 for 2. The price is high but it fitted well and felt good under the finger in use (in fact it’s difficult to tell that I’ve got one fitted). A definite recommendation.
Memory Card
The HTC Hero takes SD/SDHC Micro cards. It actually comes with a Sandisk 2GB card which, I believe, is class 2 (the slowest type of card). Now, what speed card you need seems to be a bit of an unknown quantity – some people on forums it makes a speed difference, others say different. Certainly, it seems likely that when Android can run applications from the SD card, then this will make a difference.
Looking at prices, 8GB is the best current price-point – you pay quite a premium to buy 16GB.
Initially I purchased a card from 7dayshop, who have been reliable in the past. Unfortunately, after 1.5 weeks they still hadn’t despatched my order. I contacted them and they said..
your order has been processed and will be dispatched shortly. Unfortunatly we are very busy at this time. Apologies for any inconvenience
Busy? What’s higher on their “to do list” than processing customer orders? Poor.
After waiting another half a week I contacted them and asked them to cancel my order. They did but I’m still awaiting my refund.
Although the USB connector on the HTC Hero looks to be specific to the device it is, in fact, a standard micro USB connection. Therefore any USB cable can be used for charging, and a search on eBay will show many USB chargers that plug into a car cigarette lighter – all you need to do is provide the requisite cable.
And, to be honest, you may already have one – my TomTom uses the same USB connector so I can charger my Hero with the car charger for that.
Docking Cradle
A docking cradle can be an ideal way to neatly charge and syncronise your phone. There appears to be 2 types available – an “official” HTC version (which is a flat black panel on which the phone sits vertically – very stylish but expensive) and a small, cheap one (eBay is a good place to look).
The latter appears to be in 2 different (but subtle designs) – one seems to rely on the USB connector to keep the phone vertical, whereas another has clear plastic “mounts” to hold it into place – the latter appears to me to be the best but is harder to get hold of.
I decided against any. The battery in the Hero is, let’s be honest, rubbish and so it needs a charge each night – I just use the mains charger to do this. During the day, at work, it sits next to me at my desk. It doesn’t need charging and, for security reasons, I can’t connect it to my PC to synchronise (not that I use the software).
I have an awful lot of development work on my lap right now. And that’s the non-work related stuff!
First up, my Java book has turned up, so I intend to start learning that. Once learnt, I’ll then be ordering another book this time for how to create Android Apps using my previously learnt Java skills.
I also still have my Visual Basic book to get through as well (do you think I could do both at the same time or would that get confusing?).
I’ve recently launched an initial website for a new product named navPOInt – a SatNav POI editor for Audi/VW owners. A video is being produced of it in action, which I will then be embedding on the site. Once the software development for this is complete (which I’m not doing, I should add) I’ll then need to build a complete site, complete with instructions, forums and the usual gubbins.
I also have planned changes to make to this site and the Copy+ site.
I’m also still working on my WordPress plugins. My caching function (as used by a number of my plugins) is being completely re-written, I have some ideas for new plugins and I’m in the process of updating a number of the existing ones.
First up, though, is an update to Simple Social Bookmarks to add Google Buzz, which I’m underwhelmed with. Even the ability to share links on Buzz is being done via a “back door” method as Google hasn’t provided the facility to do it.
And somewhere in all of that I need to squeeze in some blogs about recommended Android Apps, a review of the most popular Android Twitter Apps and a post of recommended HTC Hero accessories.
