Send SMS from Desktop in Android

The PC Suite software that comes for Nokia, Sony Ericsson etc phones, they all have the option to let you send SMS from your desktop, but unfortunately, there haven’t been any such proper app to let you SMS from desktop for Android phones.

DesktopSMS is an application for Android that allows you sending text messages (SMS) from your computer through your Android phone.

Basically, this app is composed of applications. One is the client for the computer and a server app for your Android phone. You can easily access all your phone contacts on your computer and send SMS quickly and easily as it’s always easier to type with a computer keyboard.

Since this is a Java application, you can use it on any platform i.e Windows, Mac and Linux.

Related: Another application you can use for sending SMS through computer is Droid Explorer.

Download DesktopSMS

The server file should have been available in the market, but due to some reasons, it is not.

You can download the files for DesktopSMS from here: Download DesktopSMS

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HTC Sense UI Theme for Motorola Droid

The UI modifications done by HTC for their Android phones is by far the best one available till now.

Motorola Droid users who have been drooling over the powerful HTC Sense UI and wished to have it on their phones can now have it on their Droid.

This is not really the exact port of the Sense UI, but basically a theme that will skin your interface and as well as your widgets to match with that of the HTC Hero’s Sense UI.

Get HTC Sense UI Theme on Motorola Droid

Note: This method to get Sense UI on your Droid only works on ROOTED phones. tested with Android 2.0 and 2.01.

1. Download and install MetaMorph from the Android Market. It’s a free app!

2. Download HTC Sense UI like theme.

3. Copy the downloaded files to ‘AndroidThemes’ folder on your SD card.

4. Launch MetaMorph and select the HTC Sense UI theme.

5. Apply all the .APK files and enjoy the theme!

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Motorola Droid Worldwide Launch in February 2010

Motorola Droid, the phone to grab 25% of Android US Internet traffic, is currently only available to Verizon for $199. And all those around the world waiting for the phone are still left out.

But not for too long now. Today, through an internal (reliable) source at Motorola, I came to know that Motorola would be launching the unlocked version of Droid worldwide in the next couple of months.

Motorola would launch the Motorola Droid (unlocked) in February and as well as announce the Droid 2 aka Sholes. No news if it will have the final release of Android 2.0 because the current Verizon Droid runs on the pre-release Android 2.0.

Droid runs on the powerful ARM-based 550MHz processor and boasts of a 3.7-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen with 480×854 pixel resolution display. It also includes a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, 4x digital zoom, LED flash, video recording at 24 FPS, image stabilization and night shot support, 1GB internal memory etc.

Now the question is, will the Droid stand against all the other Android phones releasing by February which boasts the 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Google Nexus One, HTC Bravo, XPERIA X10 etc are all in the Android phone war!

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How to Sync Only My Contacts in HTC Hero

Syncing your contacts between the HTC Hero and Google Contacts is a piece of work in Android.

I never realized how useful it was until now when I have started using Google Contacts as my only contacts manager. It’s now way easier for me to sync my contacts in whatever cell phones I try and use.

Users who have their phone contacts in Google Contacts separated in a group called as My Contacts have some syncing issues with the HTC Hero and HTC Droid Eris. When you try to sync, instead of just syncing with My Contacts group, it also downloads all your Gmail contacts and all the other your account has.

Instead of a few hundred, I had more than two thousand contacts in my phone – which was quite annoying. After a couple of hours of messing up with the OS settings and Google Contacts, I was finally able to find a solution to this problem.

How to Sync Only My Contacts in HTC Hero

To sync only My Contacts group from your Google Contacts, follow the simple steps below:

• Open the People app in your HTC Hero.
• Go to the Groups section.
• Now press the Menu button and select Sync Contacts from the menu.
• Uncheck “Sync all contacts” and press the save button.

You should now only have your My Contacts group’s contacts in your phone.

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Nexus One Bootscreen for HTC Hero

There are still around two weeks before the Google Nexus One makes its way to the public. It has been announced for 5th January 2010 and will be available for $199.

The original bootscreen of Nexus One has been extracted from it’s ROM and is now available to be used on the HTC Hero.

This bootscreen can be installed on the HTC Hero using the following method. You see a preview of the bootscreen here.

How to Install Nexus One Bootscreen on HTC Hero

• Download the bootscreen file from the links below.
• Extract the files in a folder on your SD card.
• Now use a file manager such as Root Manager or SUFBS to copy all the files (except the one called “by-shenshang”) to /system/media/bootscreen/.

Download Nexus One Bootscreen

You can download the Nexus One bootscreen in two versions, with sound and without sound.

• Download Nexus One Bootscreen (with sound)
• Download Nexus One Bootscreen (without sound)

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ShootMe: Android Screenshot App

TAking screenshots using an app is always easier than connecting the phone to a computer and then capturing a screenshot.

In the past, I have posted about the Screenshot app for Android which allowed you to capture screenshots, but it hs been reported that the app is out-dated and doesn’t work on new Android phones.

ShootMe is a free Android app that allows you to take screenshots of your phone. Just fire up ShootMe and give a good sustained shake or shout to take a screenshot.

It is a screen grabber for Android phones, basically only for rooted devices for now. It has been tested on HTC Hero, Dream, Magic and Samsung Galaxy.

I use this app to take screesnhots of apps that I review. Or it’s useful in taking quick screenshots when you want to upload it online.

Download ShootMe

There is no direct APK link to download from, but you can grab it for free from the Android Market.

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HTC Widgets in Android Market

HTC has launched four of its widgets in the Android Market and you can download them for free.

These free widgets are available for the HTC Hero and HTC Eris and might run on all Android phones with Sense UI.

HTC Widgets in Android Market

Today in History: In this widget, learn about significant events and famous people who were born or who died on this day in history. Tap a link to view the corresponding article on Wikipedia.

Tip Calculator: You can adjust the tip percentage and the number of people in the group before calculating.

Dice: Tap the dice first, and then simply shake (do not throw!) your phone to “throw” the dice. This widget is only for HTC Hero & Droid Eris

Battery: Tap the widget to see more battery information.

These widgets don’t work on my HTC Hero for some reason, Let me know if they work fine you all.

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