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Software -
New Releases & Updates
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Written by vicott
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Sunday, 28 February 2010 21:54 |
It's not a gigantic upgrade, but it's a long overdue version upgrade for ClearTemp! ClearTemp (for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices) is now in version 1.3, with more bug fixes & enhancements as usual. 
The cleaning of dead shortcuts is now fixed in this new version along with detection of cache folder in opera Mobile 10 (tested on beta 3). Higher risk items are now grouped into a new screen so as not to confuse basic users. In the new advanced screen, you can even detect all the thumb.db and desktop.ini temp files on the Storage Cards and start clearing them. This is one feature which I find really useful myself.
This new version is a highly recommended update for all ClearTemp users. Do check it out and let me know if you spot any bugs or if you have more cool suggestions for the application! 
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Software -
Future Development
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Written by vicott
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Sunday, 21 February 2010 18:20 |
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As mobile-sg.com will be taken down in early April, I regret to say that all existing & old versions of CurrencyConv will no longer have the currency rate update function working by then. As such, I will need to work on a new version of the software along with new update script on this server. But the software update may or may not come before April. CurrencyConv will not be having the update function working until a new version becomes available.
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Articles -
Tips & Tricks
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Written by vicott
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Sunday, 21 February 2010 14:00 |
Just thought of sharing some nice tools for managing MP3 files on Windows PC.  - Plus! MP3 Audio Convertor - for converting MP3 files to WMA files (unfortunately, this software has been discontinued)
- dBpoweramp - supports conversion between many types of media file formats (registration needed for converting from other formats to MP3)
- Xilisoft Audio Converter - another nice tool for converting between many types of media file formats (costs US$23.95)
- Mp3tag - batch renaming of files, modifying of ID3 tags, modifying cover images, etc
- MP3Cutter - extract a section of a MP3 file and save as MP3/WAV. very useful for grabbing a section of a song (e.g. the chorus) for use as ringtone!
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Articles -
Tips & Tricks
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Written by vicott
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Thursday, 18 February 2010 23:45 |
There have been several mobile clients appearing recently for the purpose of checking bus arrival timings in Singapore. However, I haven't seen any comprehensive application among them. So, I thought of sharing some valuable tips (according to what I know) for building such an application. Well, I will also try to find time to work on such an application for Windows Mobile, and possibly also for Android.- Firstly, there are 2 important websites to take note of where all the data comes from: PublicTransport@SG and iris NextBus
- The list of bus stops (with the bus stop codes) which support bus arrival timing forecast for SMRT buses can be taken from here.
- The list of supported bus stops for SBS buses is alot more extensive though. I haven't found a simple way to "download" the whole list. Anyway, the bus stop code can be queried from mobile iris.
- The list of bus interchanges (with the bus interchange codes) which support bus departure timing forecast can be taken from this page. Grab the list from the dropdown menu under "Getting Around". However, I suspect this is not the full list of bus interchanges. It could be that this is the list that is supported by SMRT buses and that there are more bus interchanges supported by SBS buses.
- In order to check SMRT bus arrival timing at a bus stop, make a HTTP GET request to PublicTransport@SG. The parameters are in the format like "submit=submit&bus_stop=28091&bus_service=187".
- In order to check SBS bus arrival timing, make a HTTP GET request to mobile iris. The parameters are in the format like "stop=28091&svc=154".
- In order to check SBS bus departure timing at a bus interchange, make a HTTP GET request to mobile iris. The parameters are in the format like "intcode=2200&svc=154&dispsvc=154".
- Note that for mobile iris, bus service numbers must have exactly 3 digits and an optional alphabet, i.e. use "074", "074M", "174", "174M", "002", etc. For PublicTransport@SG, you do not need to pad the bus service number with zeros.
- You can also do a partial query by entering only the bus stop or only the bus stop code in mobile iris if you are unsure of one of the fields.
- Another thing to note is that mobile iris seems to "block" user agents like browsers on Windows Mobile. There are 2 ways to overcome. One way is to use an alternate user agent for your client, e.g. spoof it as Opera Mini.
- The other way is to grab the session ID by quering the root URL and grabbing the session ID from the forwarded page, e.g. http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/mobileiris/(ts2k1e55xaah50iwodsvjy35)/index.aspx. Use the session ID as part of the URL for querying bus timing, e.g. http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/mobileiris/(ts2k1e55xaah50iwodsvjy35)/mobresult_dep.aspx?intcode=2200&svc=154&dispsvc=154
Hope this guide helps fellow mobile developers to work on your own applications to check bus schedules in Singapore.
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News -
Site Announcements
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Written by vicott
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 02:36 |
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Yes, I have decided to discontinue the webhosting plan for mobile-sg.com, and that will take effect from 6th April 2010. Thereafter, I will still keep the domain but will redirect mobile-sg.com to mobisapienz.com. In this 2 months, I will move some of the useful articles/reviews/tips from the old site to this website. Other types of content will not moved over. Besides, most of the content are outdated and many of the pages have been down for several months (changes over at webhost a few months ago meant JSP was no longer supported). Anyway, webhosting cost for mobile-sg.com is almost twice of how much it costs for this "new" site. Not much of a point to keep the old content at such a cost.
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Software -
Known Issues
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Written by vicott
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Tuesday, 09 February 2010 00:12 |
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Development on ClearTemp v1.3 has just resumed a few days ago and I'm into beta 3 now. In the latest beta test version, support for Opera Mobile 10 has been added. There's also a bug fix for devices which do not have Opera Mobile installed. If you wish to participate in the beta test, do let me know via the contact form, and please mention the device and OS that you are using.
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Software -
Future Development
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Written by vicott
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Sunday, 07 February 2010 11:45 |
You may have noticed that development has halted for a very long time for several of my Windows Mobile applications. I am taking this opportunity to put the development status of several of those apps to an end. However, if the need arises, bug fix versions may be released. I will also find time to change the version numbers of those apps to v1.0 and hopefully find prettier icons.
These are the apps that will not be developed further:- DictMgr
- PlaylistMgr
- UI Tweaker
- UPX4PPC, UPX4PC and UPX4SP (these will only be updated when there is newer version of UPX)
- vSnap
- RViewer
- KeySwop
- LiteToggle
As you can see, that's almost all of my apps. My main focus has always been on ClearTemp and that will continue. CurrencyConv may be re-coded and rebranded with a new name with version number 1.0, and that will take quite a bit of time to materialise. I may also continue development on WinXplore. On top of that, I may work on new Windows Mobile apps or maybe even Android apps. Let's see how how my time permits.
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Weblog -
Thoughts
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Written by vicott
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Saturday, 05 December 2009 05:22 |
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I'll be quite out of action for a few days or maybe even up to a week. Meanwhile, I may be less likely to be accessing my computer. Thus, I will be less likely in this site or Mobinauts or Facebook or Twitter or Live Messenger. I may also probably not be reading my e-mails much during the week. Main mode of connection will be by phone. So, please bear with me for missing in action soon. Avoid e-mailing me or posting here during this period if you need a quick reply. Please be patient with my late replies. I thank you all for supporting this site.
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Software -
Future Development
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Written by vicott
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Sunday, 29 November 2009 18:28 |
The title of this post is just a teaser. The new version of ClearTemp (for Windows Mobile Classic/Professional) has not been released yet. However, I'm targetting to release it before Christmas. Meanwhile, I'm ready to accept closed beta testers to try out the first beta version. If you are interested to help, do contact me and indicate the device and OS which you are using.
Features which you will be seeing in ClearTemp v1.3:- Advanced items are moved to a new screen.
- Fixed the bug for clearing dead shortcuts.
- Bringing back to "X" button in the main screen since some users seem to like it this way.
- Able to search & clean "desktop.ini" and "thumbs.db" files in the Storage Cards.
- Added links to website, contact form, etc.
Do note that this is not final. If you have any suggestions on what to add/improve in the software, do drop your comments here. Meanwhile, I'm also trying to see what else I can add from my long task list.
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Software -
Known Issues
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Written by vicott
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Tuesday, 24 November 2009 23:45 |
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Anybody using the latest alpha version of Fennec? It seems that the cache folder detection of Fennec 1.0 Alpha 3 is broken in ClearTemp. Unfortunately, I can't seem to setup Fennec to use disk cache on my device. So, I'm not quite sure how to "detect" the cache folder location. Would definitely appreciate some help over here if you are an experienced Fennec user.
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Software -
Known Issues
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Written by vicott
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Sunday, 15 November 2009 21:39 |
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I've just discovered a bug in ClearTemp that has affected many versions that have been released. Apparently, the "Startup Programs" and "Dead Shortcuts" are not working as they should. Dead shortcuts in the startup folder were added to the list of dead shortcuts in the start menu folder, and this is the incorrect behaviour. This bug will be fixed in the next version of ClearTemp.
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Software -
Future Development
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Written by vicott
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Saturday, 14 November 2009 23:21 |
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I've actually started coding a tweak tool for Windows Mobile early this year, but haven't got around to the finishing touches. Now, I'm actually thinking of reviving the project, and also thinking of what tweaks to add. Do you have a tweak which you think would greatly benefit new/basic Windows Mobile users (especially on Windows Mobile Professional)? Or is there a "must-have" tweak which you always use for your device? These are the 2 target users I'm aiming the app at. The app has to be simple, so I do not wish to populate with too many tweaks. Let's bounce off some ideas here! Suggestions are greatly appreciated!
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Gadgets -
Mobile Platforms
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Written by vicott
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Friday, 13 November 2009 00:43 |
Marketplace for mobile devices seem to be the "in" thing nowadays. Almost every mobile platform has their own app markets. From the user point of view, it is just so convenient to download the latest version of apps. Unfortunately, convenience comes at a cost. And even more unfortunately, developers have to bear the cost.
One can argue that app markets brings greater awareness to apps. This can be a good thing for shareware. Prices of shareware can be brought down since the sales volumes are likely to be greatly increased with the help of app markets. BUT what about freeware developers?
In my opinion, app markets can potentially be a nightmare to freeware developers for a number of reasons. And these reasons repel a freeware developer like me from releasing our apps to the app market.
Here are some reasons why app markets are unattractive to freeware developers:- Developers have to pay a annual fee to release apps to the app markets. This means developers have to PAY in order to release FREEWARE? not very attractive, isn't it?
- Enthusiast developer like me do not spend heaps of time testing my apps. I don't have that luxury of time. Submission of apps to the app market do demand quite a bit of effort & time on app testing.
- Releasing freeware through app market implies our revenue from alternative sources like donation, etc, are greatly reduced. I emphasise on the word greatly since website traffic is greatly reduced as a result.
Do you have a solution for freeware developers like me? Converting my apps to commercial apps isn't exactly a solution, as that would mean I will have to spend much more time to "re-release" the apps. Besides, loyal users may not like the idea. Furthermore, some apps are so simple that I don't think I myself would spend money on them.
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News -
Site Announcements
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Written by vicott
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Sunday, 01 November 2009 00:55 |
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I mentioned quite a while back that the software/themes downloads do not seem to work well in Internet Explorer. After some investigation & hacking into the JDownloads component, I've managed to fix it. However, the download details page (the page which allows comments) does not seem to load properly in IE. What is worse is that website layout in several parts of this website seem to be broken in IE (no issues on Firefox, Flock, Chrome, Safari & Opera). Sigh....IE never fails to be a pain in the ass.
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Software -
New Releases & Updates
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Written by vicott
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Saturday, 31 October 2009 21:48 |
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Update for ClearTemp has been released! The new version fixes cache folder detection of the newer version(s) of Opera Mobile and Google Maps. If you use these apps, do update to the latest version of ClearTemp.
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