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[APP][2.1+] New Speed Dial App - Sign

We just released our first app, a speed dial widget, Sign. We would love to get everyone's feedback and comments. Here's a brief description.
Sign is a unique, gesture based speed dialer for Android which lets you call or text your friends by simply drawing a gesture (signing) directly from your home screen.
Unlike other speed dial options such as direct dial icons or quick dial widgets, you don’t have to worry about accidentally calling somebody just because you inadvertently bump your phone’s screen. Sign is still extremely fast, easy to use, and best of all, you decide how to activate a text or phone call. Simply assign a gesture to any contact. To make a call or text, all you have to do is activate the widget and Sign right from your home screen. Simple and secure, it’s easy to use without even looking at your phone to find contacts or phone numbers.
We developed an enhanced recognition engine to provide a more accurate, consistent, and reliable system to recognize the gestures you assign to your contacts. Sign lets you assign single OR multi-stroke “Signs” to the people you call or text most often.
The free version, Sign Lite, has a limit of 3 Signs
and the full version, Sign ($1.99) has unlimited Signs
I can't post the QR Codes due to new user restrictions, but search Sign in the market.
Give it a try and let us know how you like it. If you have any issues with it at all, please send us an e-mail, we'll respond quickly to fix any problems. Also, we have quite a few ideas for future updates, but suggestions are always welcome.
Based on previous suggestions, we are working to allow user control over whether the default action is call or text.

Ok, I am now approved to submit images and links.
http://www.simplyapplied.com
I've put the screenshots in the following post.
Thanks for checking it out.

Ok, finally figured out how to get approval to post images/links.
I took the following screenshots using a free app called ShootMe (Johan Cloetens), which worked great. These do a better job of indicating how you Sign from the homescreen than the ones in the market.
I apologize in advance for the size of the first two, I have resized them about 10 different times but I can't get them to shrink.
The contact list with assigned gestures
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
A single stroke Sign on the homescreen (half cut off)
A multi-stroke Sign on the homescreen
Multiple gestures within one Sign (although this would defeat the purpose of a "speed" dial, it is possible to have up to 8 strokes in any Sign)
Call confirmation
The settings screen
Contact Assignment Screen

A quick note - We've had mostly positive reviews so far and only one significant bug identified - Sign currently only syncs with Google contacts, so if you use EAS/3rd party contact lists, these currently do not show up in the list of contacts you can assign a gesture to. This is a known issue that the programmer is working to implement a fix. If you have this issue and want us to keep you updated, send us an e-mail at [email protected] and we will let you know as soon as that problem has been resolved.
Also, if you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know. We are currently working on an update to implement a few suggestions we've already received. The primary change will be to allow the user to set either call OR text as the default action. Hopefully that will reduce how often you have to select one or the other.
Thanks to everyone who has tried it out.
SA

Great app
Nice idea which is implemented well

a dream - gesture for hardware back button
hy
is it possible to use it for the hardware back button ?
it will be great, because i can say go back with simple gesture and my hardware button will not use. This is a great usebillity.
i know it is only for the contacts but for the future ......
somethink like tasker -> : http://tasker.dinglisch.net/

meo said:
hy
is it possible to use it for the hardware back button ?
it will be great, because i can say go back with simple gesture and my hardware button will not use. This is a great usebillity.
i know it is only for the contacts but for the future ......
somethink like tasker -> : http://tasker.dinglisch.net/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meo:
Thanks for the comment and I'm glad to hear you like the usability. Sign is currently for contacts only; however, we have discussed implementing some additional gesture controls for other actions on the phone and we are investigating how to do that effectively.
One issue with implementing additional functionality into Sign is that as a speed dial application, it is important for it to remain lightweight, responsive, and fast, otherwise people will choose other speed dial options. My initial thought is that if we do include the type of functionality you mention, it would be within its own separate application and not within the Sign speed dial application.
We do have other ideas for gesture-related applications that are currently in the design stages. You can check our webpage for regular updates on what we are working on. However, our primary focus now is to make sure everyone who has Sign is satisfied.
Thanks again for the suggestion!

Sounds great, I'll try it out in a bit. Before I do, I'd like to sugggest using the standard Android theme (or a Sense UI ROM/device if you really must) for screenshots. The one you're using on your device looks awful and it messes with the standard Android UI elements too.

I like it so far.
My only request would be to add a "Text Message" button to the call/cancel dialog, rather than using the buttons at the bottom.
It's more natural for me to launch Sign and make the gesture for my fiancee immediately, but I keep forgetting to select "Text Message" first.

bhaiwaah said:
Nice idea which is implemented well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, glad you like it!

saltorio said:
I like it so far.
My only request would be to add a "Text Message" button to the call/cancel dialog, rather than using the buttons at the bottom.
It's more natural for me to launch Sign and make the gesture for my fiancee immediately, but I keep forgetting to select "Text Message" first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Salt, the programmer is already in the process of adding a feature which will allow the user to select the default action when they open Sign. Right now, the default is set to call; however, you will be able to set the default to text which should resolve the issue.
Thanks for giving it a try, and we appreciate the comments!

.
great idea i like it cant wait to switch to andoid

jul644 said:
great idea i like it cant wait to switch to andoid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I got a Droid back in December and it was my first smartphone. I had an older blackberry, but I didn't really use it for anything other than calls and the occasional email.
However, I'm pretty addicted to messing around with my phone and playing around with various apps and I had some ideas for apps I thought would be cool to have. That, and the fact that I kept accidentally "direct dialing" my pregnant wife at 2 in the morning is where I came up with the idea for Sign.
Hopefully you enjoy Android as much as I have, because I literally started Simply Applied to develop apps solely because of the Droid and the Android OS.
Since then, my wife has gotten an iPhone and I am amazed at how boring it is for me personally. It feels limited and closed compared to Android. I literally played with it for 15 minutes and I've barely picked it back up since then. The iPhone is definitely an incredible device, but not for people who like to play, tinker, and customize their phone.
Android allows that flexibility and customization, which is why when I design the apps, I'm looking at ways to use it to create really a different user experience. I'm sure the iphone has gesture-based dialers, but there's no way to have a speed dial widget which lets you draw the Sign directly on the homescreen. It just can't be done on the iPhone.
We have some other unique ideas that we are currently working on that even stretch Android's current capabilities, but luckily I have a creative programmer who is extremely patient with my ideas and does his best to implement them. I really think he did a great job with Sign and has made an app that works very effectively and is entirely unique and different from other speed dial applications.
And I'll stop boring everybody at this point...I can get carried away.
When you try it, definitely let us know what you think and feel free to offer suggestions.

Looks pretty nifty. What's the battery drain like?

Very very neat.
Out of interest how many people worked on this project? And how long did it take you?
All the best.

seboj said:
Looks pretty nifty. What's the battery drain like?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Battery drain is essentially 0. Although it is a widget, its inactive unless activated by the user. If the user doesn't initiate an action within 15 seconds, it closes. Also, it closes immediately upon launch of the sms text application or the phone dialer.
We're extremely conscious of how poorly designed apps can impact the phone and we take active steps to ensure our apps are well designed to avoid those issues. This is what our programmer wrote for our blog a couple months ago.
Depending on what they’re doing, widgets can be resource hogs. A home widget is essentially a small and limited user interface to either an existing app or background service. They’re primarily used to display data, not for input, which can be a challenge for apps like our notes widget which is in development. Since widgets are typically displaying data from a background source, they have to be updated at regular intervals…for example with a stock ticker app, it would be every second, using lots of resources. With our notes app, it only updates when a note is added/modified so it is relatively lightweight. Our upcoming gesture dialer/text widget Sign is also very lightweight because it is essentially dormant until activated by the user.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

TT1986 said:
Very very neat.
Out of interest how many people worked on this project? And how long did it take you?
All the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, we tried to optimize the feeling that you were interacting with the phone/device and not simply opening a separate program/app to do something the phone couldn't do. We really wanted it to be interactive in the homescreen, so from that perspective, I think its pretty unique.
There are three people in the company, although we currently have only one programmer. We all have other full-time jobs, so Sign took approximately 3-4 months from start to release. In actuality, the app could have been completed in about a couple weeks, but we decided to develop a custom gesture recognition system. After testing out Gesture Search and the gesture API, we realized that it wasn't reliable enough to be used as a dialer. So we designed a custom recognition system which incorporates elements of the gesture API, but improves on the consistency and accuracy to reduce the chance of misdials.
Two of us are primarily involved in the app ideas, design, and development while the third person is responsible for a variety of other tasks important to our overall longterm marketing/pr strategy, among other things. However we all have ideas for apps which we will eventually develop. Although we aren't doing this full-time (yet), we're treating it like its full-time because we truly believe that there is some incredible potential in the Android platform and we want to be a part of that.
Sign is our first app and the first app for the programmer as well. We actually started with another app first, but with Google's Gesture Search being released, we felt this app took priority. Needless to say it has been a learning process for all of us, but hopefully we can take some of the lessons learned from this project and be more efficient on future projects.
We have a lot of exciting ideas for future projects, and several other projects underway. Our website is currently under construction, but you can visit http://www.simplyapplied.com to see updates on Sign as well as our other projects.
Thanks for your interest in Simply Applied. We definitely want to establish ourselves as a well known and respected developer that has very high quality apps. We also want to be known for being extremely responsive to issues our customers are having with any of our products. For our company to be successful, we can't go through the same process we are going through with Sign, which is a grass roots effort to generate interest in our app, for every one of our apps. We need to develop trust from a large base of users that knows that they when they download an app from Simply Applied, they are getting a well thought out app which is well programmed and works as advertised. They also need to know that if there is an issue with the app, we'll fix it. Then our future apps will sell themselves and we can focus on developing and programming and making better apps. Not that I don't enjoy talking about this topic, obviously.
Simply Applied applies to our apps...but not so much my posts - brevity isn't a strong suit.

By the way, an issue was discovered overnight. For anyone whose premium version of Sign has stopped working overnight or today, please download the update in the market. The issue has been identified and corrected. Thank you very much to those people who informed us of the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Looks pretty good. I'm gonna try it

Ult:
Let us know what you think. We're still working on the fix for the non-Google contacts, but as soon as that done, we are evaluating what features to include in the following update. So we welcome your suggestions.
Thanks for giving it a shot.

[app requests]

I've seen a few App Requests posted as threads here, and I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread dedicated to act as a catchall for App Requests. I gather that we have Dev Dudes from major tech corps roaming around these halls, so why not have a list of apps we want as consumers easily available to them!
I'll kick things off with these requests:
-A good, integrated guitar/bass tuner with metronome and practice timer(s)
-Adobe Camera RAW interface
-Adobe Bridge for tablets
-VLC Player for tablets
-DJ mixing software that can use headphone output and HDMI [audio] separately for cue/mix output
Feel free to point us to apps that fill requests as they are developed or if they have existed before the request

Way to develop/compile your own android programs.... (or at least just do the developping/autocomplete, etc would be AWESOME!) and well. an app that could launch a ubuntu distro

sackofnoise said:
Way to develop/compile your own android programs.... (or at least just do the developping/autocomplete, etc would be AWESOME!) and well. an app that could launch a ubuntu distro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check this out: http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/

I'd like an app that you can instantly take a snapshot of the screen or take a camera snapshot and start to annotate on it right away, e.g you were browsing and came across something of interest and you want to add your own comments and underline or mark a specific area.
I know this can be done using repligo or ezpdf however it will involve a few steps to achieve using the Asus's in built snapshot feature and then converting the document to pdf in order to annotate but I want something instant without having to convert the file first, similar to htc flyers note taking app.

Can't you do this with Evernote? I just downloaded this last night but it seems really slick.
HasC said:
I'd like an app that you can instantly take a snapshot of the screen or take a camera snapshot and start to annotate on it right away, e.g you were browsing and came across something of interest and you want to add your own comments and underline or mark a specific area.
I know this can be done using repligo or ezpdf however it will involve a few steps to achieve using the Asus's in built snapshot feature and then converting the document to pdf in order to annotate but I want something instant without having to convert the file first, similar to htc flyers note taking app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I want a great football (soccer that is!) game! Fifa 12 or something! or Sometihng like Sensible Soccer, I tried tiny football but its not that great.

npompei said:
Can't you do this with Evernote? I just downloaded this last night but it seems really slick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, you cannot annotate using evernote although it is fantastic for taking notes, i use it at work at meetings. I want to be able to take a snapshot of the meeting agenda which is usually printed and then start to add notes against agenda items.

I'm just going to make a list of the things I think will make this brilliant - I'm a very small time developer, and don't have the skills to do these, unfortunately:
Something similar to Microsoft Onenote - Drawing/notes/annotations all in one
"Phone Sync" where you pick up your tablet, and it also becomes your phone for SMS, MMS, Calls, and you can share clipboards between the two - This would be brilliant!
Decent Twitter and Facebook widgets
Modified Launcher with resizable widgets, folders - ideally, LauncherPro optimised for Honeycomb.

I'd like to see the Monkey Island games and some of the old Cinemaware titles such as Defender Of The Crown on Android.

TonyHarrison said:
I'd like to see the Monkey Island games and some of the old Cinemaware titles such as Defender Of The Crown on Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can play the monkey island games nicely using ScummVM.
http://www.scummvm.org/

I designed an Android app for tablet which I think would be pretty easy to make, UI, name, logo and all, but... I'm not a programmer. Also I believe this will be an app which would be handy for a lot of people.
Since I designed, thought of and branded the app I really don't just want to give the idea away to anyone, but if any app developer is interested feel free to contact me and I could explain the concept to them.
PS: I don't want a share of the profits or to get paid for it or anything like that, all I would want is to find a developer who could do justice to not only the concept but also to the design since there are so many well functioning but terrible looking android apps.

Excellent posts!
Thanks for the interest and the activity on the thread!
I'm watching a thread where a couple Asus dev dudes have actually weighed in on an issue users are having, so I'm gonna see if I can't point them to this one so we'll have some ears that can make a difference. Hopefully some [all?] of the ideas here will filter thru and become reality!
Kudos to everyone!

I'd like an app that can sync via bluetooth (not via the web/cloud), incoming sms messages/caller id/missed call info, from an android phone directly to the transformer with notifications.
I know there are lots which do it via the web, but this isn't an option for me (pre-pay sim not contract).
EDIT:
Another idea for an app, don't know if possible to implement or not. When browsing google search results it would be nice to have an app that lets you see how many kilobytes or megabytes a website requires you to download, before you accessed the page. So that mobile users can see how much data is required and can manage their free allowance better, or not be charged a fortune.

A media player app that can
1. have gesture controls like moboplayer
2. have good codec support like moboplayer
3. can stream from server
4. and can hide the honeycomb taskbar!!!!

Settlers of Catan map generator
Would be cool to see a Settlers of Catan map generator with support for Seafarers, Cities and Knights, Harbours and a roll counter.

did it ever occur to anyone that now that there is a keyboard and mouse capabilities that someone should port an fps to the transformer?

I would love an app/widget that monitored the battery of both the Transformer and the keyboard dock. It's almost impossible to tell how much juice is left in the keyboard. If someone knows of an app/widget or a built-in way to do that, please let me know.
Edit: I would also love to see a folder app that integrates data from the Market, so if I download a game, it automatically adds it to the Games folder, etc.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Eye-Fi for Android
I'd like to see a version of the EyeFi manager/control center for Android

still hunting for the torrent app to work with private torrents

alternate keyboard
since the dock is still in short supply it would be nice to have the ability to use my android phone as a keyboard/trackpad for my transformer through bluetooth or something. the entire screen could be a landscape keyboard that you could swipe down to access trackpad.

[Q] Your favourite Mango feature.

I presume most of us have Mango now officially or unofficially so as the title states, what is your favourite feature?
Unrelated note; if anyone wants an invite to Google+ PM me

There are lots of little things I'm really enjoying, but I'll at least narrow the list down to two:
a) The ability to only require a lockscreen password after a set time interval. Surprisingly useful!
b) Improved ListBox behaviour. Makes AlphaJax ad many other apps a joy to use instead of a jerky mess!
Sent from my HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

err.. the ability to search contact by company name ahahahah...
and office skydrive ...

Even though the mult-tasking isn't actually working yet, I am enjoying having a way to switch between different tasks/apps quickly, instead of hitting the back button a bunch of times. It will be really nice once the actual multi-tasking portion is working.

1. The timed interval for password from the locked screen,
2. Unified inbox.
3. Pretty good bar code reader in Bing. Wish it would bring up a few more/better shopping results.

The new Bing utilities are great.
Multitasking & all the API's released to developers in general. Will allow for many things I've wanted.
Updated email & calendar - linked inboxes, threaded emails, birthday/holiday/facebook calendars all important to me.
New voice commands & dictation
Ability to add groups, and group features (group email ect)
Save settings in Camera
Full skydrive sync
Those are the big ones, but the whole thing seems amazing so far.

tiny17 said:
Even though the mult-tasking isn't actually working yet, I am enjoying having a way to switch between different tasks/apps quickly, instead of hitting the back button a bunch of times. It will be really nice once the actual multi-tasking portion is working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What else are they going to do with it?
I was under the impression this was how its going to be? I hope your right but I'm curious as what's going to be added?
Id like to see an x on each window to close or swipe up or down to close...
Sent from my Windows Phone Mango Focus using Board Express

Ie9 is my favorite upgrade. I like that the OS performance is better in most areas. I like the new Bing features and more informative tiles.
I like the new phone layouts for placing and taking calls.
Like that I can switch and app, but no 3rd party aps take advantage from it yet as they all have to resume... and looking for a way to close apps in the task manager....
There are more but I'm tired of typing
Sent from my Windows Phone Mango Focus using Board Express

hi
large buttons!

1. Xbox live screen
2. merged inboxes

1. new xbox live
2. custom friggin ringtones! ( still trying to figure out how to get the custom alert sounds working)
3.IE is way better!
EDIT: for some reason, the podcast downloading from the phone doesnt work. says i need to check my data connection.

So is IE9 faster for everyone? Because it is straight up balls for me >.<

Not only is it faster but it also loads the pages correctly (Finally) my favourite feature has to be threads, it is so damn useful

1.Multitasking (Adding X button will be Perfect)
2.Groups
3.Chatting in Facebook and Hotmail
4.Save Camera Options
5.Linked emails
6.Software speed
7.New way to shutdown the device by sliding the lock screen down after pressing shutdown button.
8.New Layout
9.Grouping app Alphabetically
10.Battery Saver
On the other hand, Some languages still not supported
Search result doesn't find anything
Noway to backup SMS
Still some errors as it is a beta version.

Audio Confirmations
Audio Confirmations! Especially when the locksreen is on and the voice asks you, "would you like to read, reply, or ignore the text".
This is a feature you have to enable in "Speech Settings". It is very useful. You can set it to always on, Bluetooth and Headsets, Bluetooth Only, or wired headset. Give it a try....

IMO the most impressives are :
1. The Unified Message system...
Now all messages (and i mean all SMS-MMS-Facebook-Win Live) are in one place and have the same way of working.
If you try to text a contact the system tells you if he is online (FB or Messanger) and offers to send the message via them.
2. Contacts and Groups. Make a group (family or friends) and put some ppl in the group.
Then pin the group to start page. Fisrt it will give you a fast dialing option for them, and the most impressive
is that any message or FB event/notification or fotos that comes from one of those ppl on the group
will be there live with nice rotating animation.
You must try this ...its Fantastic

I like the new Zune player with Smart DJ.

Social Notifications and Groupings...
This is my favorite. If I have a family group it lists the updates from Facebook or Live which is nice to see. No longer is it necessary to go through a useless FB list in search of specific components about people I want to know about (impossibly difficult to do with any lengthy FB contact list.)
General Social notifications - if someone makes a comment on your picture in FB or in Live I like how the ME tile becomes useful by flipping over and giving you the notification. This is extremely useful to stay on top of the things you care about.
Pictures
I like the dynamic change of the tile - it's a nice eye candy feature
Turning a online gallary picture into a wallpaper is easy without copying to the phone
The people hub is pretty nice to see all your top contacted friend's picture quickly and easily
IE9 - much improved - EXTREMELY better
Local Scout - cool as hell
MOST USED TOOL - Voice to Text for SMS - absolutely killer feature with almost a 90% accuracy rating on short phrases.

Too many to list..
Here are my favorites in no particular order -
1. Shortcut to "Now Playing" on the volume drop down for music
2. unified messaging via Threads
3. Bing Vision
4. Updated zune player w/ "Related" artists and smart DJ, clearly marked downloadable songs for zune pass
5. Faster application and game installs
6. Improved Xbox live interface

[APPS]Must Have Apps for Galaxy S4 !!

Hi guys..
This kinda thread not new for XDA, and i bring here one as well.. This list is all the must-have apps for this awesome device.. Will keep the OP updated regularly..
1.Sygic: GPS Navigation - High quality maps stored on your Android (no internet connection needed!) together with a robust set of navigation features help you drive with confidence.
2.Power Toggles - This is simply the best toggle app around. Able to toggle lots of main features.
3.Picsay Pro - This is a brilliant photo editor
4.Desktop Visualizer - Makes shortcuts or widgets using a custom image and can be used to make custom icons.
5.AirDroid - For moving files between your PC and phone using WIFI
6.MXPlayer - MXPlayer is one of the best apps for viewing movies.
7.Home Switcher - Switches between any Home Launchers you have on your device.
8.PicSpeed Wallpapers - Over 170,000 HD wallpapers of all different genres, for our device.
[9.URL="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dropbox.android"]Dropbox[/URL] - Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere.
10.Aldiko Book Reader - Read and download thousands of eBooks right on your Android phone or tablet. Download one of the best Android eBook Readers now!
11.ES File Explorer- ES File Explorer is a free, featured all-in-one file manager & application manager & task killer & cloud storage client & ftp client & samba client which explores the pictures, music, video, document & other files on your phone and your computer.
12.TeamViewer for Remote Control - Remotely control your computer with TeamViewer Free while you are on the road! Mobile and flexible: remotely access computers from your android device!
13.Whatsapp Messenger - WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messenger available for Android. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages.
14.Pocket - When you find something on the web that you want to view later, put it in Pocket. It automatically syncs to your phone, tablet or computer so you can view it any time, even without an internet connection.
15.Appy Geek - Appy Geek brings you all the leading tech news sources from the industry in a cleverly laid-out user interface, including TechRadar, Gizmodo, T3 Magazine, The Next Web and more... Staying at the cutting edge of innovation has never been so easy!
16.Tapatalk Forum App - The only and the best fully functional forum app in the Market, endorsed by over 35,000 of forums worldwide.
17.SmartTools - Measure length, angle, distance, height, direction and sound with your phone. Smart Tools is a complete package of 5 app sets. It includes 5 Pro sets for a total of 15 tools. In a word, All-in-One.
18.CPU Spy - This is a simple app to display the time the CPU spends in each frequency state. This can be a useful tool in diagnosing battery problems or tweaking your over-clock settings.
19.DroidWall - Allows you to restrict which apps can access the network. This is the perfect solution if you don't have an unlimited data plan, or just wants to see your battery lasting longer. For advanced users, it also allows you to manually define custom iptables rules.
20.GO SMS Pro - GO SMS PRO brings you cool UI, fast and convenient SMS/MMS experience. GO SMS Pro is the most popular messaging app; Very powerful, Cool, Funny, Safe, Fully customizable; Well support SMS/MMS + GO Chat(free message) + Walkie Talkie(free voice).
21.K-9 Mail - K-9 Mail is an open-source e-mail client with search, IMAP push email, multi-folder sync, flagging, filing, signatures, bcc-self, PGP, mail on SD & more!
22.Android Lost Free - Lost your android? We will help you find it. See http://www.androidlost.com. Remotely control your Android phone from the internet or by SMS.
23.Poweramp - Poweramp is a powerful music player for Android.
24.Google Googles - Search by taking a picture: point your mobile phone camera at a painting, a famous landmark, a barcode or QR code, a product, a storefront, or a popular image. If Goggles finds it in its database, it will provide you with useful information. Goggles also works as a barcode / QR code scanner.
25.Buzz Launcher Beta - Buzz Launcher is a new concept launcher which enables you to apply others’ Homescreens to your own smartphone. Download Homescreens best suited for your taste and preferences via Homepack Buzz Service. Homescreens will be applied instantly.
26.Chrome - No need for any introduction here
27.Screen Filter : Overcome the brightness limits of stock !! One of my fav..
28.SwiftKey Keyboard : The BEST keyboard out there !! Worth the money
29.PHOTO WARP - Want to tease your friend or sibling? Wanna have some fun? This is simple free app which will make everyone giggle and you'll love it on your handset.
30.Light Flow Lite - Take control of your notifications. LEDs, vibration, repeating sounds and more.
31.Sidebar Pro - A brilliant new way of multitasking on Android. It's fast, functional, fluid, and customizable to your liking. Populate the sidebar with your favorite apps, and simply swipe in from the edge of the screen to gain instant access to the apps you use most. You can also get the free version but feel free to use this one to support the dev..
32.Eye in Sky Weather - Eye In Sky Weather is for those who like their weather clean, simple and beautiful. The app includes 12 of the best weather icon sets available, with the ability to add your own icon sets.
33.XDA App ICS Blue Colours/Themed - Our favourite forum app but with a complete red or blue colour theme thanks to our own Whiskey103.
34.Solid Explorer - Solid Explorer is a file manager which with two independent panels is the most attractive, eye catching and intuitive file manager for the Android.
35.QuickPic - An alternate photo gallery app, incase you don't like the default.
36.Unified Remote - Easily the most feature-filled Android-PC remote. Turns your Android device into a WiFi or Bluetooth universal remote control for your Windows PC. Control your favorite programs, mouse, and keyboard.
37.AireTalk - Aire is a new communication app loaded with features that lets you talk to your friends and family in more ways than ever! Use Aire to make calls to any Aire user with voice or video for free!
38.SketchBook Mobile - Autodesk SketchBook® Mobile is a professional-grade paint and drawing application offering a full set of sketching tools and a streamlined and intuitive user interface.
39.AfterFocus - Bring DSLR-like Photography to Your Smartphone
40.VLC for Android Beta - VLC media player is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player that plays most multimedia files as well as discs, devices, and network streaming protocols. This is a BETA version of the port of VLC media player to the Android™ platform. It is intended for power users and hackers. This version is not perfectly stable and is slower than the final version.
41.Plume for Twitter - Plume is a beautiful and completely customizable Twitter app that will revolutionize the way you use Twitter! Brought to you by the authors of the popular Beautiful Widgets, Plume is one of the best Twitter clients for Android! (Plume was formerly known as Touiteur)
42. MD5Checker - This application allows the user to compare the MD5 checksum between two files or alternatively between a file and a value entered manually. When loading a .md5, it will read its content and put it in the field instead of calculating the hash.
43. Headset Button Controller - Headset Button Controller is very configurable, allowing you to play music, change tracks, adjust volume, answer phone calls, start Voice Command and many other things, just by clicking the button on your headset. Worth the money.
44. Google Keep : Best note/reminder app out there..
45. Amazon Mobile for Android - The Amazon Mobile app allows customers to browse and shop by department, search, compare prices, find deals, read reviews and make a purchase right from their mobile device.
46. Jorte Calendar - For personal use or for business, Jorte will assist you to manage your daily schedule thoroughly.
47. Wave Control : Control Your Music With a Wave of Your Hand!
Uses the proximity sensor on your phone to allow control of your music playback by waving your hand over your phone. No need to turn on your screen or even touch your phone at all!
48. External Keyboard Helper :A non visible soft keyboard (Input Method) intended to be used with hardware Bluetooth and USB keyboards. It automatically brings up the Input Method dialog when Bluetooth keyboard connects or disconnects (on some devices this can also be made to work with USB keyboards).
It supports a lot of different keylayouts for non-US external keyboards and also provides a lot of configuration options.
This app does NOT require a rooted device and there is a DEMO version available if you want to try it out before buying
49. Puzzle Alarm Clock : We know you have a problem with getting up in the morning, and we want to change it! Puzzle Alarm Clock will check if you're awake enough before you're allowed to turn alarms off.
50. Speedy Uploader for Facebook - Uploads pics in an instant, after compressing them. Great stuff.
51. Screen Off and Lock : One tap to turn off screen with animation and sounds..
52. Auto 3G Battery Saver - This is a simply tool that allows the user to save battery enabling the mobile connection only when it's needed!
When the user unlocks the phone, data will be enabled.
When user locks the phone, data will be disabled.
53. gReader - gReader is an unofficial Google Reader client for Android. Read all your RSS/Feed news in one place with Google Reader, where keeping up with your favorite websites is as easy as checking your email.
54. ArkMC DLNA UPnP Media Centre : The most advanced UPnP/DLNA app available to play movies, videos, music or photos on your HD TV. Stream wireless any video, with a single tap. Use us and you immediately will find out why this is a high-end solution! Have fun with your friends and family and enjoy your media on any screen.
55. Speedtest.net : Use Speedtest.net for easy, one-tap connection testing in under 30 seconds—accurate anywhere.
56. iSyncr for iTunes - PC : Want to stop carrying both your phone and your iPod? Keep your music fresh with smart playlists? iSyncr enables you to quickly sync your Android device with the music you have in iTunes using a simple to use interface. No need to move your music into a new music management software. iSyncr works directly with iTunes so you can sync hassle-free.
57. VEVO - Watch Free Music Videos : With the VEVO app you can watch music videos, stream live concerts, and discover new artists on your Android device for free! Access VEVO's entire catalog of 75,000 music videos from more than 21,000 artists.
58. Shortyz - Save space on your phone and challenge your brain instead of flinging birds. Gives you access to dozens of crossword puzzles daily.
59. YPmobile - Yellow Pages app. Sometimes it's just a lot faster than Google at finding local information.
60. gTasks - GTasks is a simple and efficient task management app with both local and google account mode. You can customize your to do list, set reminder, share tasks with your friends, family members or colleagues and sync with your google tasks perfectly.
61. DigiCal Calendar & Widgets - Experience the most stylish Android calendar with Holo light and dark themes with 6 powerful calendar views and 5 beautifully designed widgets!
62. Flip Silent - regardless the phone screen up or down, just flip it, the phone will become silent. Do not worry about missing calls. Automatic recovery: After the call ends, the phone ring will get back to the original settings.
APPS THAT REQUIRE ROOT :
1.ROM Toolbox Pro - ROM Toolbox combines apps like Titanium Backup, Root Explorer, ROM Manager and others. A must-have root app *ROOT*
2.Android Tuner - The most complete system tuner and manager for all your phones and tablets!
3.BetterBatteryStats - With BetterBatteryStats you can analyse the behavior of your phone, find applications causing the phone to drain battery while it is supposed to be asleep and measure the effect of corrective actions. Guys you can also find this app if you search on XDA..
4.Titanium Backup - EXTREMELY powerful tool. Needs no introduction.. Backup ALL apps, Market links, remove bloatware & MORE! ☆Needs ROOT, Android 1.5-4.1+ Go for PRO.. Worth every single penny.
5.Appextractor - AppExtractor is a tool which will allow you to restore individual applications, data, SMS, and MMS messages from your ROM Manager backups.
6.Greenify *ROOT(my fav)* - Greenify help you identify and put the bad behaving apps into hibernation when you are not using them, stop them from lagging and battery leeching, in an unique way! They could do nothing without your explicit launch, while still have full functionality when running in foreground, like what iOS apps act!
7.AutoStart Manager : Great app and very helpful to get rid of many app's autostart and makes systems more Smooth and better..
8.Tasker - The best app of its kind. It does almost anything.
9. Kernel Tuner - Name says it all.
10. Incredicontrol - Time tested app for voltage/frequency control.
11. Autostarts - Keep control over your phone: See what applications do behind your back.
Shows you what apps run on phone startup, and what other events trigger in the background. Root users can disable unwanted autostarts and speed up their phone boot.
12. Spare Parts Plus! - Spare Parts Plus! PRO allows you to enable and change some hidden settings of your Android device. This app is based on the open code provided by Google
Instead of saying Thanks, just use the button and keep the suggestions coming
MORE to COME

**reserved**

-Harsh- said:
Hi guys..
This kinda thread not new for XDA, and i bring here one as well.. This list is all the must-have apps for this awesome device.. Will keep the OP updated regularly..
Sygic: GPS Navigation - High quality maps stored on your Android (no internet connection needed!) together with a robust set of navigation features help you drive with confidence.
Power Toggles - This is simply the best toggle app around. Able to toggle lots of main features.
Picsay Pro - This is a brilliant photo editor
Desktop Visualizer - Makes shortcuts or widgets using a custom image and can be used to make custom icons.
AirDroid - For moving files between your PC and phone using WIFI
MXPlayer - MXPlayer is one of the best apps for viewing movies.
Home Switcher - Switches between any Home Launchers you have on your device.
PicSpeed Wallpapers - Over 170,000 HD wallpapers of all different genres, for our device.
Dropbox - Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere.
Aldiko Book Reader - Read and download thousands of eBooks right on your Android phone or tablet. Download one of the best Android eBook Readers now!
ES File Explorer- ES File Explorer is a free, featured all-in-one file manager & application manager & task killer & cloud storage client & ftp client & samba client which explores the pictures, music, video, document & other files on your phone and your computer.
TeamViewer for Remote Control - Remotely control your computer with TeamViewer Free while you are on the road! Mobile and flexible: remotely access computers from your android device!
Whatsapp Messenger - WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messenger available for Android. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages.
Pocket - When you find something on the web that you want to view later, put it in Pocket. It automatically syncs to your phone, tablet or computer so you can view it any time, even without an internet connection.
Appy Geek - Appy Geek brings you all the leading tech news sources from the industry in a cleverly laid-out user interface, including TechRadar, Gizmodo, T3 Magazine, The Next Web and more... Staying at the cutting edge of innovation has never been so easy!
Tapatalk Forum App - The only and the best fully functional forum app in the Market, endorsed by over 35,000 of forums worldwide.
SmartTools - Measure length, angle, distance, height, direction and sound with your phone. Smart Tools is a complete package of 5 app sets. It includes 5 Pro sets for a total of 15 tools. In a word, All-in-One.
CPU Spy - This is a simple app to display the time the CPU spends in each frequency state. This can be a useful tool in diagnosing battery problems or tweaking your over-clock settings.
DroidWall - Allows you to restrict which apps can access the network. This is the perfect solution if you don't have an unlimited data plan, or just wants to see your battery lasting longer. For advanced users, it also allows you to manually define custom iptables rules.
GO SMS Pro - GO SMS PRO brings you cool UI, fast and convenient SMS/MMS experience. GO SMS Pro is the most popular messaging app; Very powerful, Cool, Funny, Safe, Fully customizable; Well support SMS/MMS + GO Chat(free message) + Walkie Talkie(free voice).
K-9 Mail - K-9 Mail is an open-source e-mail client with search, IMAP push email, multi-folder sync, flagging, filing, signatures, bcc-self, PGP, mail on SD & more!
Android Lost Free - Lost your android? We will help you find it. See http://www.androidlost.com. Remotely control your Android phone from the internet or by SMS.
Poweramp - Poweramp is a powerful music player for Android.
Google Googles - Search by taking a picture: point your mobile phone camera at a painting, a famous landmark, a barcode or QR code, a product, a storefront, or a popular image. If Goggles finds it in its database, it will provide you with useful information. Goggles also works as a barcode / QR code scanner.
MORE to COME
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
power toggles isn't needed, dropbar toggles are highly customizable.
picsay pro is awesome, might also want to consider this new kickstartr called Photoshop, its made by Adobe and is in the market for about the same price.
Desktop Visualizer is built into NOVA
really don't know what's special about MX video player, its less featured than stock, doesn't support. MKV files, and takes sooo much more out of the battery, not to mention uglier interface, no features, and loads super slow. if you want a dinosaur 3rd party video player use QQ, its chinese made so doesn't bother with things like licensing, and it'll play everything, even proprietary formats cause.. china ftw
home switcher is used so rarely, you might as well use the built in home switcher, under settings>apps
dropbox only if you already have it, otherwise use the 1tb dropbox destroyer Samsung included with the s4.
ES File manager .... let me share with you a proper file manager, Solid Explorer. every other file manager is the same except this one, multi pannels, drag and dropping, whole system indexing for instant search results, even includes your cloud drives (dropbox, gdrive, etc) and can drag and drop between them too.. most sophisticated file manager, competes even with windows desktop file manager.
too add to this list let me suggest a great pair;
BetterBatteryStats paired with AutoStart Manager. these two together can customly remove ads, remove battery drainers, mod features, remove trial limitations in apps, stop apps from starting up whenever tthey feel like it which is the reason you're losing 40% instead of 3% to standby throughout the day.
SMS Popup - if samsung doesn't offer option to keep screen off while getting notification, i suggest this. turn off notifications in messenger, and enable SMS Popup, i don't use the popup feature, but rather use it identically as stock, it brings up stock messenger, it only uses SMS Popup to notify (just without waking screen).
Titanium Backup, swiss army knife of android apps.
Thumb Keyboard. if you're not using Swiftkey to text like a maniac without needing to even look at your keyboard, then i suggest Thumb Keyboard. its an extremely comfortable hiiigghhlllly customizable keyboard, with a large split layout, or 13 other custom layouts, that you can tweak, has oh so necessary arrow keys, and test subsidies. to name a few of mine, i subsidize 'tue' for 'the' as built in dictionary will autocorrect it to Tue (short for Tuesday). i also changed 'khz' to '㎑' 'ghz' to '㎓', 'ducking' to '****ing' (lol..), as well as 'f3, f4, f5, and f6 to ( ￣ з￣), ( ´ ⌒`) (༯ ͡ ヮ ͡ ) (╥__ ╥╬)..
..anyways you get the idea.. you can replace any letter or longpress letters, and a zillion other features. just check it out.
QuickPic offers more photoviewing features, but ill admit integration with stock, and it's pretty ui are pretty awesome, so its your call.
same as above goes for poweramp, offers some better features, but ui is hideous compared to stock.
lastly i suggest you actually give the stock apps a chance before tossing them aside for 3rd party.. galaxy has come a long way since s1, at least give it a chance.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

soraxd said:
power toggles isn't needed, dropbar toggles are highly customizable.
picsay pro is awesome, might also want to consider this new kickstartr called Photoshop, its made by Adobe and is in the market for about the same price.
Desktop Visualizer is built into NOVA
really don't know what's special about MX video player, its less featured than stock, doesn't support. MKV files, and takes sooo much more out of the battery, not to mention uglier interface, no features, and loads super slow. if you want a dinosaur 3rd party video player use QQ, its chinese made so doesn't bother with things like licensing, and it'll play everything, even proprietary formats cause.. china ftw
home switcher is used so rarely, you might as well use the built in home switcher, under settings>apps
dropbox only if you already have it, otherwise use the 1tb dropbox destroyer Samsung included with the s4.
ES File manager .... let me share with you a proper file manager, Solid Explorer. every other file manager is the same except this one, multi pannels, drag and dropping, whole system indexing for instant search results, even includes your cloud drives (dropbox, gdrive, etc) and can drag and drop between them too.. most sophisticated file manager, competes even with windows desktop file manager.
too add to this list let me suggest a great pair;
BetterBatteryStats paired with AutoStart Manager. these two together can customly remove ads, remove battery drainers, mod features, remove trial limitations in apps, stop apps from starting up whenever tthey feel like it which is the reason you're losing 40% instead of 3% to standby throughout the day.
SMS Popup - if samsung doesn't offer option to keep screen off while getting notification, i suggest this. turn off notifications in messenger, and enable SMS Popup, i don't use the popup feature, but rather use it identically as stock, it brings up stock messenger, it only uses SMS Popup to notify (just without waking screen).
Titanium Backup, swiss army knife of android apps.
Thumb Keyboard. if you're not using Swiftkey to text like a maniac without needing to even look at your keyboard, then i suggest Thumb Keyboard. its an extremely comfortable hiiigghhlllly customizable keyboard, with a large split layout, or 13 other custom layouts, that you can tweak, has oh so necessary arrow keys, and test subsidies. to name a few of mine, i subsidize 'tue' for 'the' as built in dictionary will autocorrect it to Tue (short for Tuesday). i also changed 'khz' to '㎑' 'ghz' to '㎓', 'ducking' to '****ing' (lol..), as well as 'f3, f4, f5, and f6 to ( ￣ з￣), ( ´ ⌒`) (༯ ͡ ヮ ͡ ) (╥__ ╥╬)..
..anyways you get the idea.. you can replace any letter or longpress letters, and a zillion other features. just check it out.
QuickPic offers more photoviewing features, but ill admit integration with stock, and it's pretty ui are pretty awesome, so its your call.
same as above goes for poweramp, offers some better features, but ui is hideous compared to stock.
lastly i suggest you actually give the stock apps a chance before tossing them aside for 3rd party.. galaxy has come a long way since s1, at least give it a chance.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea dude adding them.. ANd yet to taste Samsung.. This is my first galaxy !!

Desktop Visualizer , AirDroid and powertoggles are not needed i Think...I think there would be a yet another easy way to transfer files via wifi..Who knows the default filemanager of s4 may support wifi file transfer to devices and pc....As of power toggles they are not really needed the same in the case of desktop visualizer too...
Optimus

optimusinc said:
Desktop Visualizer , AirDroid and powertoggles are not needed i Think...I think there would be a yet another easy way to transfer files via wifi..Who knows the default filemanager of s4 may support wifi file transfer to devices and pc....As of power toggles they are not really needed the same in the case of desktop visualizer too...
Optimus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup use wi-fi explorer pro.. Best out there !!!

Not spamming thread.

KNTXTremE said:
Not spamming thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who said you're ??
Sent from The Beauty - Xperia S

few more apps have been added to the OP

Better battery stats does not require root
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747

phositadc said:
Better battery stats does not require root
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does if you want some stats like kernel wakelocks..
Sent from The Beauty - Xperia S

I would recommend F Droid, especially for adblocking software.

mimart7 said:
I would recommend F Droid, especially for adblocking software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks would add it to OP..
Sent from The Beauty - Xperia S

I would recommend a free app - "My Emoticons". It is not a very complicated or powerful software, it is just a collection of more than a lots of nice and cute text emoticons which meets our needs in expressing emotions when SMS, Email, Facebook, Blogging, and any text typing activities.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Here is the download link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.potatotree.myemoticons

OP updated..

GoSMSPro. Forget Popup Quick Reply. Samsung's SMS client is pretty bad.
As for the rest of the list you provided....well....I would only recommend about 5 of them.

Added some more apps !!

You forgot gmail
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Snapseed! I love photography and snapseed is a quicky if there's no Photoshop atm
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

-Harsh- said:
Hi guys..
This kinda thread not new for XDA, and i bring here one as well.. This list is all the must-have apps for this awesome device.. Will keep the OP updated regularly..
1.Sygic: GPS Navigation - High quality maps stored on your Android (no internet connection needed!) together with a robust set of navigation features help you drive with confidence.
2.Power Toggles - This is simply the best toggle app around. Able to toggle lots of main features.
6.MXPlayer - MXPlayer is one of the best apps for viewing movies.
MORE to COME
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think u should add that it will run better when the required codec patch for gpu/cpu? architecture is designed

Things you should know about the Lenovo NBD new glass

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"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
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The Lenovo NBD new glass C100 is one of the most hyped wearable smart gears in China. As Google Glass failed to make its way into the Chinese market due to the PRC’s ban on all of Google’s internet services, many local manufacturers have been trying to create the Chinese version of this cutting-edge device, but it was Lenovo’s NBD (New Business Development) Platform that made it possible. Channeling the resources of the world’s largest computer manufacture, NBD successfully released two models of smart glasses tailored-made for Chinese users.
While the Lenovo NBD VUZIX M100, with a price tag of $1300, is mainly designed for business users, the new glass is more marketed as a consumer product. Although Lenovo hasn’t revealed the price of this device yet, there is reason to estimate an initial price tag of under $800.
I have been wearing the new glass a lot these days, and wherever I go, people ask three fundamental questions about the device:
What is the new glass?
What do you see with the new glass?
What can you do with the new glass?
Instead of diving into a fully detailed review directly, I want to address these key questions first. Please keep in mind none of the photos could do the new glass display justice. The holographic nature of the display makes it impossible to give an accurate visual representation, but this is already the best attempt I could give. What you really see with your right eye is a million times better.
What is the Lenovo NBD new glass?
The Lenovo NBD new glass is an Android-based headset, similar to the most talked about Google Glass. You can wear it with an ordinary pair of glasses, and enjoy the many functions it brings. A beam of light is projected horizontally through a prism in the upper right hand corner of your glasses (or the standard frame that comes with the new glass), which is then refracted directly towards your line of vision. The result: shift your eyes up and to the right and you’ll see a semi-transparent screen, similar to looking at a small computer monitor floating in the air.
After downloading an app called “Glass Manager” from the official website of Lenovo NBD, you can connect new glass to your phone with Bluetooth, allowing the device access to data such as your mobile phone contacts. With an 8MP camera capable of taking pictures and video, a microphone, an audio jack, an earpiece, integrated battery, a dual-core processor, and internal storage, the possibility is limitless.
The Lenovo NBD new glass isn’t available for retail at the moment. For now, only a limited number of selected testers and developers have access to the device. Although the hardware is already settled, the software is expected to undergo significant improvements before they’re publicly available.
What do you see with the Lenovo NBD new glass?
I’ve read a few articles about Google Glass before I tried the new glass, so I already had a sense regarding what it might be capable of. With that said, I was still quite blown away when I put it on for the first time. This isn’t some basic display that shows tiny bits of text and the occasional picture. It’s a fully featured display, as if a computer monitor was affixed to your daily vision. You can take a picture and instantly see how it turned out. You can take a video and watch the full video playback. You can read the latest news by opening a third-party news app. You can access navigation and see a full turn-by-turn display guiding you in real time.
As a matter of fact, the new glass display is not always on and instead hides by default, to both prevent distraction and save battery. Pressing the power/standby key or tapping the touch panel will wake new glass up, illuminating the display and allowing you to interact.
The display is semi-transparent, so it won’t completely block any part of your vision. You’ll always be able to see what’s in front of you. With that said, you need to shift your eyes far enough to the upper right to see clearly what is shown on the display. It is absolutely a distraction to some degree, which could raise questions about safety during daily tasks such as driving a car and riding a bicycle.
To sum it up: when the new glass is actively working and the display is on, it’s like having your own personal video monitor affixed in your vision, controllable with swipe gestures and voice commands. When the new glass is at standby, it won’t distract you at all.
What can the Lenovo NBD new glass do?
For now, Lenovo hasn’t built a fully-featured product with the new glass yet. Instead, the new glass is more of a platform that developers can leverage and exploit to create completely new experiences. Lenovo NBD is more focusing on the hardware and basics, allowing developers to create apps and games, hoping that they will extend the experience of the new glass which may end up rivaling the dominant Google Glass.
However, since there are many people asking, let’s talk about the core components of new glass, and then expand by discussing the possibilities.
Take (and display) pictures
Record (and display) videos
Read and send text messages
Navigation
Upload photos and videos to Baidu Clouds
Interact with the Voice Assistant
Install apps from 3rd parties
Adjust settings
The above set of already existent features are of utmost importance to the new glass experience and Lenovo will focus on perfecting their performance for launch.
The Voice Assistance can respond to your questions in both audio and text, but probably not the way you want it to. It may even joke with you, but if you are expecting it to perform anywhere like Siri or Google Now, you will be disappointed. Just keep in mind that the Voice Assistant app only supports Chinese now, the English shown on the screenshots are manually translated by me.
Compared to the somewhat dumb voice assistant, the Messaging app proves quite useful on occasions such as driving a car. Just say the words you and the new glass will convert them into text and then send the message to your specified contact.
Both the still camera and video camera apps work as designed. Opening the app then the new glass will instantly take a shot or record a video, this could come in handy when you want to record something immediately. There isn’t a digital viewfinder in either still camera or video camera mode, what you see with your human eyes is what you get. The photos and videos have decent quality, although still no match for the snaps of high-end smartphones.
The Navigation app, which is included in the V1.0 firmware, disappeared in the V1.1 firmware, replaced by a Video Calling app, which I still haven’t figured out how to use. I haven’t tried the Navigation app personally, but according to my fellow testers, it works fine on the V1.0 firmware, and the reason why Lenovo has taken it out is unknown, maybe it will show up again in the next firmware upgrade.
Photos and videos can be automatically backed up to Baidu Cloud storage if you turn on the “back up” in the new glass settings.
Meanwhile, Lenovo NBD will also be encouraging 3rd party developers who will undoubtedly bring their wares to this product. Since the Lenovo NBD new glass has a higher display resolution (800*480), it is not fully compatible with the apps available for Google Glass, which has a display resolution of 640*360. Lenovo’s attempt in bringing better visual experiences to the users is admirable, but the higher resolution does become a liability for software development, as there would be more difficulties in application transplantation.
Fortunately, you can install almost all the Android smartphone and tablet apps on the new glass. I tried many of my favorite multi-media applications and they can all run smoothly on this device.
I could read the latest news on BBC and CNN while taking a walk, I could listen to music on TTPOD while watching the lyrics on the display, I could also stream live news and TV shows.
The new glass generally works fine with applications which support landscape mode, so it is more compatible with applications designed for tablets. Apps for smartphones can also be opened, but if the app doesn’t have a landscape mode, it won’t be very useful as things look collapsed and fallen down to one side.
Even with tablet applications, the experiences are far from perfect. Swipe gestures on the touch panel can help you scroll and browse the content in style, but often fails to select the right link to enter. I often struggled to play the right song in TTPOD, or to open the right piece of news in BBC with the swipe gestures. And sometimes when I swipe down on the touch panel to exit an app, a dialog box pops up, asking me to confirm or cancel, I have no way to accurately touch “Confirm”, the only way out is to press the camera button, take a picture, then return to the home screen.
Although the Micro USB port on the new glass does support USB on the go and can host a pair of mouse and keyboard, or a remote controller, thus help you precisely control the new glass, it is still very inconvenient and seems like too much burden for a device which is supposed to make your life easier.
But if the new glass could hit the stardom according to Lenovo NBD’s plan, we will expect more applications easily controlled with swipe gestures or voice commands to go online soon after the retail release of the device.
Here are some examples of tailor-made applications I would expect to see available for the new glass in the near future:
Wechat: sending and receiving messages (text and voice), updating Wechat Moments (text, picture and short video).
Sina Microblog (Chinese version of Twitter): browsing blogs, uploading pictures, writing blogs with voice assistant.
QQ: sending and receiving messages (text and voice), updating Qzone blogs.
Youku: browsing and streaming online videos, uploading videos snapped by the new glass camera.
And apps such as Video feeds, TV live broadcasting, Music, News feeds for the new glass may shortly be made available for the new glass. Since the device is mainly targeting Chinese consumers, famous international apps such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram would come later, but I believe the Lenovo engineers will make the new glass compatible with Glassware (applications for Google Glass) very soon.
What about games? It’s a little bit unclear how game applications might fit into the ecosystem of the new glass. While most apps could easily transition themselves to a simplified glass experience with notifications, game developers will need to completely rethink the gaming experience for the new glass. And since Google failed to deliver in this particular area for its Glass, I don’t think the Lenovo NBD could do better.
Summary
Anyway, the new glass, or any smart glasses to be precise, present new opportunities with the potential to create completely new experiences. However, here come the million dollar questions: will developers develop for the new glass? Will consumers buy and wear the new glass?
Typically, developers want to develop for platforms that have lots of users, of which even the dominant Google Glass has very few, let alone the new glass, which isn’t even publicly available. Also, consumers want to use platforms that have a wide variety of apps and games, often playing “wait and see” until a product catches on.
So will the Lenovo NBD new glass catch on? That remains to be seen. The biggest challenges for the new glass appear to be the price, and the reliance on developer support. Being based on Android offers it unlimited possibilities, but if the device is priced too high and doesn’t woo consumers, it certainly won’t attract developer support, either.
But even if the new glass failed on its mission to become a successful consumer product and build a new industry of smart glasses in China, it won’t take long for other similar products to step in and pick up the baton. So, the new glass, in one form or another, is here to stay

A detailed hardware review will be posted here soon