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NFC and new stock Android apps in Gingerbread
Pt. 4 of 5 | 4:41 |
Thursday February 10, 2011
How Do I? Using Android 2.3 Gingerbread on the Nexus S
Thursday February 10, 2011
Near Field Communication, NFC, is among Android 2.3 Gingerbread's niftiest tricks. Little use right out of the gate, NFC will allow users to tap for information, perhaps even do micro-transactions and share information between smartphones. In addition to NFC, there are some new apps to help organize your NFC interactions, your downloads and more.
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Mobile Show Notes
Near Field Communication (NFC)
Turn NFC on or off in the Settings menu under Wireless & connections. If it's on, NFC-enabled points like Google's Places window stickers for businesses will automatically launch when in range.
While NFC is of little use right out of the gate, it has potential to be a micro-payment solution or could initiate a secure connection session between two phones without the need to fiddle with settings, pairing etc.
Downloads
Android 2.3 Gingerbread handles downloads a little differently than its predecessors. Now, there's a useful app that keeps track of all your downloads so you can easily find, access and open them.
To download a file in the web browser in Android, tap and hold a link, picture or video. In the context menus, select Save link as.
You'll see a progress bar appear in the top status bar; pull down to check the status. Tap the download to view it in the Downloads app. Select the checkbox to cancel a download.
Offline maps
Another big change in Android 2.3 is support for offline maps. However, it's not as simple as just searching Maps while your data connection is off. Rather, you'll need to go through your map while still on a data connection (WiFi or cellular) in order to cache map data. You'll need to go through the map in the level of detail you want to see when offline. Within Maps, view Settings to turn cache on or off.
Turn NFC on or off in the Settings menu under Wireless & connections. If it's on, NFC-enabled points like Google's Places window stickers for businesses will automatically launch when in range.
While NFC is of little use right out of the gate, it has potential to be a micro-payment solution or could initiate a secure connection session between two phones without the need to fiddle with settings, pairing etc.
Downloads
Android 2.3 Gingerbread handles downloads a little differently than its predecessors. Now, there's a useful app that keeps track of all your downloads so you can easily find, access and open them.
To download a file in the web browser in Android, tap and hold a link, picture or video. In the context menus, select Save link as.
You'll see a progress bar appear in the top status bar; pull down to check the status. Tap the download to view it in the Downloads app. Select the checkbox to cancel a download.
Offline maps
Another big change in Android 2.3 is support for offline maps. However, it's not as simple as just searching Maps while your data connection is off. Rather, you'll need to go through your map while still on a data connection (WiFi or cellular) in order to cache map data. You'll need to go through the map in the level of detail you want to see when offline. Within Maps, view Settings to turn cache on or off.
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