Backing up apps

Thanks to the kind folks on Android Tablet Zone, I have downloaded APKoptic. This is a great little utility which finds apk files on the tablet and will back them up to the SD Card. Just select the apps you want to back up and choose save to SD Card. I now have all my apps backed up, just in case!

I hadn't tried out the ear bud headphones which came with the tablet yet. I had been using my regular headphones. Well my daughter's headphones broke today and she asked if she could "borrow" my ear buds. She is now using them with her iPod and she says they sound great. So it looks like Coby delivered a decent set of ear buds with this tablet.

My first reset

So my tablet was in sleep mode, in the case, with a fully charged battery. I went to awake it by pushing the power button, and nothing happened. I wondered if the tablet was really just turned off, so I held the power button in, waiting for the boot screen; no boot screen - nothing at all on my screen. Thoughts of horror flashed through my head: is it broken, I've only had this tablet a month, how do I recover apps I downloaded?

I got out the Coby User's manual and found how to do a soft reset, by pushing in the small button on the rear of the tablet. The manual said to use a paperclip, but I was able to depress the button with my finger. The tablet's home screen immediately came up; great news! So the tablet was sleeping like I thought; it just wasn't responding to the power button. So why did this happen? I wasn't loading any new apps. Years ago when my Palm would hang up, it was usually when I was loading new programs. Hopefully this won't happen often with my Coby tablet.

This minor event still brings up some important questions. How do I back up my data and apk's in case I need to do a hard reset on the tablet. Most of my data was moved to my tablet from my PC, so it is backed up. My WikiMind app is configured to save files to my SD Card. NoteEverything can export my text notes to the SD Card but it is a manual process, which I should start doing on a weekly basis. I need to find out if Docs to Go can be set up to save new files to the SD Card by default. If not, I will have to manually copy them over to the SD Card.

The other question is how to back up apk files. Because my tablet is not rooted, I can't use the Android Marketplace, so I have been downloading apps from other sites, such as Amazon Android market. I would like to copy these apk's to my SD Card for safe keeping. Now I have to search my tablet to find out where the apk's live. I have only purchased one app so far - Docs To Go; I have the license key for that, so I should be able to figure out how to restore that app. When I find out the process, I will post it here.

Oranizing my destop

So I decided to add the apps I use a lot, to my tablet's desktop.
I did a long press on the home screen and a dialog box appeared, giving me the option to add a shortcut to the screen. The problem is that when I chose this option, it did not list all my apps, only some of them. So I opened my launcher tab instead and performed a long press on one of my apps. It was immediately copied to the home screen. Success! I copied the rest of the apps this way to my home screen.

Back on my home screen, I removed the icons that I didn't want. I followed the steps on page 19 of the owner's manual. I did a long press (press and hold) on each icon and dragged each one over to the trash can that appears on the launcher tab. I then moved my new apps around to where I wanted them on the screen by using the same long press on the icons. Now I have my home screen just the way I want it!

By the way, if you haven't done it already, copy a pdf of your tablet's owner's manual to your tablet, so you will always have it with you for reference.

Importing Palm memos and my current list of apps

So today I imported memo files from my Palm desktop on my PC into NoteEverything. Memo files are text files on my Palm device, which can be organized into different categories.

The process worked and was fairly straightforward. I followed these instructions on the SoftXperience website. I experienced a couple of gotchas: it is best to do this with the tablet held in portrait orientation. That way you can see the full pop up menus. (I had the tablet in landscape orientation and couldn't find the "Import from Palm Memos" option. At first I didn't notice the little scroll bar and the options below the screen. If I had held my tablet in portrait mode, this would not have been a issue.) NoteEverything defaults to the /nand directory. To get to my SD Card, I have to select Parent Directory to get to the root / directory. Once I was there I found my SD Card and the file I needed to select for the import.
I now have all my memo files on my tablet so I don't need to do any conversions.

My current list of apps on my tablet:

• Docs to Go (full version)
• Swype
• Graffiti for Android
• NoteEverything
• Wiki Mind
• ES File Manager
• Dolphin browser
  

Graffiti on Android

I am a long time Palm OS user and was pretty decent writing in Palm Graffiti. I downloaded Graffiti on Android onto my tablet yesterday and installed it. When the tablet is held in portrait mode, the Graffiti writing area is about twice the size as on my Palm device, so there is plenty of room to draw large letters, which improves accuracy. I wrote words with both my finger tip and the stylus; both do a good job. This version of Graffiti gives you immediate feedback - as you draw a letter, the shape you drew is displayed on the screen. This feature helps you to draw the letter shapes correctly and tells you what the tablet thinks you entered, as opposed to what you think you entered. As you print a word, a list of suggested words pops up. This appears to be a typical Android feature, but I found it to be annoying when entering text. Maybe I will get used to it over time. Drawing a line from the input area upwards into the display area brings up a Graffiti help screen for when you need to enter special characters (I have forgotten the Graffiti strokes for most of them). This version also recognizes some of the alternate Graffiti strokes for letters, such as drawing a 3 (in text area) instead of tracing the full letter B, and drawing a 6 in the text area instead of tracing a G. I believe this version uses Graffiti 1 as opposed to Graffiti 2. (Don't ask me the difference, because I have always written in Graffiti 1)!

Currently my speed at entering text is fastest with Graffiti and then about equal speed using Swype or the built in Android keyboard. I think as I practice, I will get faster with Swype, but I'm not sure if I will get as fast as using Graffiti.

I have been using Amazon Apps market to download most apps, since my tablet is not rooted and I do not have access to the full Android Market. The version of Graffiti I am using is free, but it has advertisements and I understand the tablet must be on line to use it. There is a 'pro' version which removes the ads and the on line requirement; it only costs $3. If I decide to stick with Graffiti, I will purchase the upgrade.

Apps and files

I'm still trying to wrap my head around where files are stored on my tablet.
One insight I learned today is that some applications store data files in their own special database. NoteEverything stores its data in a separate database. This app allows the user to export files as text files to the SD card and also allows importing text files into the NoteEverything database. More info can be found here.
Other apps such as Docs to Go store documents as individual files.

Wiki On A Stick (WOAS) on the tablet

I keep a lot of notes on my PC in WOAS. This is a single html file that works as a self contained wiki. It uses Java Script to make the file work as a wiki. I downloaded WOAS to my tablet and was able to open it with Dolphin Browser. WOAS works in that I can follow links from page to page. I am not able to edit or add new pages on the tablet; the save button does not work in editing mode. So I can use WOAS on my tablet but I cannot make changes to it.
So my search for a wiki on my tablet continues.

Upgraded Docs to Go to full version

I upgrade Docs to Go to the full version. I upgraded using my tablet. I was connected with Amazon Android apps, which I have used previously. The license key downloaded and I had the full version working. Due to a DataViz promotion, I was able to purchase the full version for $15. I transferred the pdf of the Docs to Go users manual to my tablet, so I can refer to it for help. The full version of Docs to Go has a pdf viewer built in, so I can get rid of my separate pdf viewer app. I will report further on Docs to Go after I use it for awhile and learn the menu structure.

Some useful links

Android Tablets.net forum has lots of useful information on the Coby here.

A new forum specifically for the Coby Kyros 7015 opened in May and can be found here.

This link gives recommendations for maximizing the life of your lithium ion battery. Basically keep the battery from overheating, allow partial battery discharge but avoid full discharges.

Android Freeware is an alternate to the Android Market, as well as Amazon Android Appstore.

Sound recording and external keyboard

I tried to record some audio from the television last night. I used NoteEverything and made a 'sound note'. It worked but I didn't have the tablet close enough to the tv. Recording my voice speaking directly at the side of the tablet worked well. This may be useful for recording quick verbal notes to myself.

I've been using Swype with a stylus and I seem to be doing reasonably well. I am at about the same speed swyping as I am using the android keyboard with my finger. The stylus is a necessity for me using Swype. I have a couple of spare stylus from my Palm, which are the same length as the included stylus, but they are slightly larger in diameter and weigh more. I stick my Palm stylus in the loop on the tablet case and it stays put around the house.

I hooked up an external USB keyboard to the USB adapter cable today. The USB adapter cable is the short cable (I wondered what that was for!). The USB keyboard worked immediately. There are no settings or messages which need to be acknowledged. The number and symbols work fine. The arrow keys work to move the cursor. The following keys did not work on my external USB keyboard: ` ~ Caps Lock, Control, ALT. The numeric keypad did not work. Because the Control key doesn't work, I was not able move the cursor word by word, using CTR arrow. One strange thing is that when I press the End key, my tablet went into sleep mode!
Now that I know the external USB keyboard works, I may look into one of the roll up keyboards that I have seen on the net. It is definitely useful for entering large amounts of text.