HTC Magic Passes the FCC (Now With Pictures!)

The HTC Magic has passed the FCC, which means that 1. It's coming to the U.S., 2. Cupcake is going to be on at least ONE phone here and 3. Fellow Ohioan Rob Jackson and I are both up way too late reading feeds.

Previously reported by Engadget, the FCC post now includes pictures and some mysterious components.

With the cost of Android phones going down as the number of potential models goes up, and the keyboardless Magic coming in Steve Jobs' favorite color, does Android have its killer hardware? Five percent of the U.S. smartphone market is a lot for an OS that comes on the somewhat uncool G1. Magic can only do good things.

Now, HTC, about this no headphone jack thing... third time's a charm?

AnyCut Part 2

Part two of the AnyCut tutorial is up on AndroidGuys. Please leave feedback here or there and I'll get to it ASAP.

Watching DVDs on Your G1

In spite of a slow start at its release, the G1 now has several usable video players. There are three: Meridian Video Player, PlaysVideo, and Video Player. I recommend Meridian because I found it to be the most responsive and I like the screen gestures and the one-touch pause. Marketplace users rated it a 2.5 out of 5, but the turnoff could easily have been the very unpolished interface and the very grammatically incorrect tutorial that comes up when you start the player the first time. Both of which won't matter once you start the movie. The comments were generally not informative, although some did say the player doesn't save your place when you're interrupted by a phone call or shut down the device. This is a must-have feature, but it will also be very simple for the developer to fix in a future release. (I also found that none of the others save your place either.)

The first step is to download Handbrake. This is a snappy, simple, free video converter that also has a quick preloaded format for the G1. You'll also need DVD43 if the DVD is encrypted (and you own the disc).

Install Handbrake and DVD43. Put your, completely legal, DVD into your drive. Open Handbrake and click... yes, that's right, "iPhone & iPod Touch" in the presets bar. You've now stepped into a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex footprint left by the iPhone. Thanks, iPhone. You've clearly marked the way.

Next, click "Source" in the upper right hand corner. Choose your DVD drive. Pick the title that looks "right." For a feature-length film, you should pick the longest one, the one that's about two hours long. In the case of a set of TV shows, you should pick the medium length titles one by one.

Then click "Browse" next to the Destination textbox (about halfway down) to choose a destination file. This should start out on your hard drive and then you'll move it to a directory called "Video" at the top level of your SD card.

I recommend changing the format to MP4 because the encoding is faster and I ran into a mysterious 30 minute limit using M4V. The codec, by the way, is called H.264, but you don't need to select it. It's default on the next tab. It is a very modern algorithm with good compression and high quality. The video won't come out looking like something on youtube.

Type "320" into the height box and hit "Start." This will create a video that will fit nicely to the edges of the G1 screen. When the encoding is done, move the file to the Video directory on the phone.

Pop open your video player and enjoy!


Note: I am not responsible for the copious amount of time that you may spend ripping DVDs. Unless you have a very fast computer, it will take about the same amount of time to rip it as watch it. You don't have to babysit the process, of course, but it's still prohibitive to casual use — highly recommended for waiting rooms and airports.


Update: Meridian now saves your place.

AnyCut Recipes, the Reckoning

My AnyCut tutorial has been picked up by AndroidGuys.com, so I will not waste precious eye-seconds here repeating myself.

Please check back for updates. This is a three parter, starting with the ringtone codes that I snuck away from Mr. Google in the night.

The Simpson's totally stole my idea about making fun of Apple. This is the new "cool" thing to do, so I'm getting out. Apple is now great.

-AB

Of nerds, android, and the iPhone

This is Patrick. Patrick has an iPhone. Patrick buys anything that starts with "I" and has an apple with a bite out of it. If you started eating an apple, put it on an ice cream cone, he would give you like five bucks for it.

I hate the iPhone, and it's not because Patrick is really annoying with it in meetings and pretty much everywhere else it comes up, which he is. It's because Apple is going to become our digital overlords and we'll never see it coming. At least Microsoft was obvious about it.

We need a standard. It's what pays for the trampoline room at Bill's mansion. But as soon as Apple becomes standard (Patrick points out that there are ten million iPhones) we will all be marching lockstep to those stupid little see-through speakers!

Linux is sweet. (Yes, hang up now, non-nerds.) It standardizes itself to a more ethereal standard: simplicity and reason. Any good company should at least try to be simple and reasonable. I swear you will make more money! Ha ha, no.

Now, what about Google? Isn't it a huge corporation that controls our destinies? Yes, it is. Google will probably sneak up on us worse than Apple since its motto, "Don't be evil," suggests "eventually we're going to be as evil as we possibly can be." So let's enjoy it while it lasts! The G1 is a great phone. And if Android becomes our master, I will stand and *sniff* salute.

Next time... Patrick is sad, and some tips on using AnyCut!