Getting Started in Android Game Development

Good --> site <-- I found if you are interested in getting your feet wet with games programming on the android platform. 

It also includes a an online book detailing the development of Light Racer 3D which I found extremely useful.

Gaming on the Galaxy i7500

The best free games I've found so far are

• Bonsai Blast (The graphics are awesome).  I congratulate the author on a very well written game and to make it free for all is just great.
• Blockx 3D (As the name says it, a Tetris with a 3D twist)
• Hanoi (plenty of variations, but I can never get bored with this one)
• Jewels (A classic game that will be around for long)
• Divide and Conquer (I always liked this game)
  

Eagerly awaiting Eclair on my Samsung Galaxy i7500

Having flashed the stock Samsung 1.5 rom with GalaxHero, I'm now eagerly awaiting Rom 2.x aka Eclair.   Samsung is rumored not to upgrade past 1.5 but I'm hoping these are only rumors.   I'm thinking if it's sibling the Samsung Spica i5700 will have Eclair then what will stop i7500 getting it to.   

Having researched this subject on other forums, it seems the galaxy drivers are not open source yet, however once the Spica i5700 is out it should be a matter of time before someone grabs the drivers libraries and bundles it with a cooked Eclair rom.

Android utility AnyCut

I really recommend this utility.  I only found out about this utility yesterday when I searched for a way to dial favorite numbers.  With this utility I managed to add my wife's contact shortcut on the home screen along with her picture.  Very neat.

Android Scripting Environment

Found out today that about Android Scripting on the device itself. I gave it a go.  Unfortunately the lastest install file ase_r14.apk would not work my Samsung Galaxy i7500.  Later found out from others that the previous version ase_r13.apk works fine.  If anyone was successful installing r14, pls let me know.  

I think it would be fun scripting on the go wouldn't you :)

Connecting to android via ssh over Wifi

Here is what I did and assuming your phone is rooted and you are using Galaxo or GalaxHero Rom.

[Disclaimer: Doing changes as root might be risky.  I'm not responsible should something go wrong.]

1. Need the root password changed (Skip to item 7 if already done)
2. Downloaded ConnectBot from the Market.
3. Go to Galaxo+ app and choose Remount Filesystems: RW.
4. Start ConnectBot and type su at the prompt.  There will be a popup window to allow or not.  Choose allow
5. At the prompt type passwd to change the password and then prompted to reconfirm.
   
6. Type exit to exit the app.
7. Start up SSH Server from Galaxo Configuration app
8. Start WiFi on android
9. Use VNC app on your PC (download if you don't have it) and type your android ip address. On my android I have it set to a fixed Ip address and use the same default port  22.   Alternatively you can use ssh from command line if you use linux e.g   # ssh root@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx   (replace x's with ip address). Note: When you do it first time you may be asked to add the new ssh generated key to your system.
   
10. When the command shell window opens up enter root password.  That's it.

Remember: As a root you could do a lot of damage if you are not sure what you are doing. So be warned.

My opinion on the Samsung Galaxy i7500

OK, here is my opinion so far ...  [Note: I will not discuss detailed technical specs as you can Google them yourself.]

• Screen : I absolutely loved the screen, just stunning and the colors so vivid. Alas but ONLY indoors.  Outdoors I found it to be dim and needed to change brightness to the max. So not recommended for some of us who spend most of their time out.  Solid screen and I believe it is scratch proof. 
• Form: I personally like it's form and chose it over the HTC Hero for that reason. I don't like HTC Hero's chin.  Well designed and feels solid in your hand.  I prefer the Galaxy's D Pad over HTC Hero's track ball.   A warning though,  you might not appreciate D Pad when you are playing games. 
• Performance:  Can be somewhat laggy when you have multiple apps running or lurking in the background.   This is the case with most smart phones.  Android operating system is very capable and will release memory as needed.  I found my memory (RAM) drops to as low as 15Mb and still performs well.   
• Samsung Software:  Rubbish!!!!  Doesn't recognize the phone and if you google enough you will find out a lot of people are fuming about it.  Samsung is admitting they do not software support the Samsung Galaxy i7500.
  
• Stock Rom:  As I said earlier this phone was bought with software re-badged to Optus.  I don't like phones displaying carrier intro splash screens especially when the phone was bought outright and I use with another network.  In Summary I used odin to update the rom from II3 to II5 and in the process losing the CSC file (intentionally!!). The CSC file is the signature file to the Carrier which is used by Samsung update software to update the rom. Later I updated to GalaxHero1.0 then 1.1.   These modified roms are much lighter with memory foot print than the stock Galaxy rom. They are also rooted meaning you have more control with certain applications.  So far the newer Rom 1.6 is not supported on the Galaxy and only on the HTC Hero using modified roms.  Pls note this could be because of Samsung's internal architecture having 8GB rom when other Android devices don't. 
  

Any regrets yet.  No not really,  my only gripe is that Samsung bundles software that doesn't support the device. I can live with that because you can use Google apps to sync your emails, contacts and calendar over Wifi or 3G.  However I believe I invalidated my warranty as I had to flash the phone with another Rom. Again I can live with that :)

My first Adroid phone

I've decided I wanted one before it was released as the first Google G1 android phone. I was already on contract and didn't want to commit to a new plan. Now after a few android releases the Google G1 then HTC Magic I started reading about the HTC Hero and Samsung's Galaxy i7500. Both the Hero and i7500 were not officially available in Australia and one would need to import them in.

Two weeks ago the Galaxy i7500 started selling in Australia with or without a plan. I bought one from Telechoice for $559. Unfortunately was sold as a re-badged Optus phone (Software re-badged only).  I knew it was re-badged but also knew I can flash it with a another rom to remove any carrier specific files on the device.

In my next post I will post about my experience with my new Samsung Galaxy.  This blog has just been created and it's already very late (past 1:00 am :)  Gotta go to sleep..