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ArrayList gameTypes = DBConstants.BuildQuestionNumOption();
int x=1;
int y =0;

}


This first part sets up the array list from an object containing all the details. I could have put the data into a table and used a cursor instead. However, my list rarely changes and I wanted to save the overhead on the data access. It also declares and initiates my counter variables for the loop.

ArrayList gameTypes = DBConstants.BuildQuestionNumOption();
int x=1;
int y =0;


This next section starts the loop and declares a generic button. The next line starts the layout parameters for the button. This was the hardest thing I had trouble with as the Android docs are a little confusing here. Next is some logic for where the button will be. I wanted them to line up under a TextView already on the page. So the first element is placed under that element (R.id.tvHighScores). The following elements are placed under the previous view based on the view’s ID. These are assigned dynamically further down.

for (NumQuestionsObj gt : gameTypes)
{

}
else
{
y=x-1;
}


Here’s where the magic happens. First you add your rules for layout. Next you set the ID. You can use any number here that you want. I recommend using the counter to make it really easy. Next I setup the graphic elements of the view and finally add it to the existing layout.

Last but not least you assign the “value” of the button from your array to a final variable. The reason for this is when you set up the View.OnClickListener() you have the have the variable finalized.


lp.setMargins(10, 10, 10, 0);
lp.addRule(RelativeLayout.BELOW, y);
lp.addRule(RelativeLayout.CENTER_HORIZONTAL, RelativeLayout.TRUE );
tempButton.setLayoutParams(lp);
tempButton.setId(x);
tempButton.setBackgroundResource(R.drawable.custombutton);
tempButton.setText(gt.toString());
tempButton.setTextColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.WHITE));
highscoremenu.addView(tempButton);
final int gameType = gt.getID();


What is a button that doesn’t do anything? To solve that problem you also setup the click listener dynamically. After that you increment your counter and start all over again.


((Button) findViewById(x)).setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener()
{
public void onClick(View v) {

x++;


If you want to see how he does it then check out this next video. He starts explaining the trick at about 8:27. Many thanks to Robert Scoble who originally post this on Google Plus.

Specs

Display

The new Kindle Fire will have a 7.5 inc 1024X600 screen with 169 ppi (Pixels per inch). While a nice size it is not quite a HD screen and as a result won’t playback HD videos.  It should still give you a very nice picture at that size.  In comparison the iPad’s resolution is a little better at 1024X768.  However it only has 132 ppi.  As a result images on the Fire should be sharper and clearer.

Some other popular tablets vary in their resolution.  For example the Toshiba Thrive is 1080X800 (720P) with 149 ppi.  The Samsung Galaxy Tab is also 1280X800 with 149 ppi.  However, it is capable of 1080 p video playback at 30 fps (Frames per Second).

Size

The Amazon Kindle fire is a nice comfortable 7 inch screen versus the 10 inch iPad screen. One nice thing about a seven inch screen is that it’s a bit more portable than the larger bulkier iPad. Also it weighs a good bit less coming in at a nice 14.6 ounces where as the iPad is about 1.33 pounds (21.33 ounces). Some of the other ten inch competitors like the Toshiba Thrive are heavier still at 1.66 pounds (26.56 ounces).

Memory

The Amazon Kindle fire has a nice 8 GB of internal storage built in. About 6 GB of it is available for your stuff like movies, games, music and more. Now you can’t add anymore to it but don’t worry because you do have the cloud. Amazon’s cloud service can hold all kinds of stuff for you. The pricing is really quite good and the nice thing about Amazon’s cloud is no constant syncing. Once up there you can listen to it on as many devices as you wish. Other devices often come with at least 16 GB and of course the more the merrier when it comes to memory. Only thing is that they currently start about $350 a good $150 more than the fire.

Networking
The Kindle has all the major Wi-Fi protocols (802.11b, 802.11g, & 802.11n) with that you shouldn’t have any trouble at all connecting to a hot spot just about anywhere. It does not unlike it predecessors have 3G connectivity. I’m guessing the reason for this is that Amazon wanted to keep the cost down. Not only do you have the price of the 3G radio but in the earlier versions they paid for the 3G and that could get quite expensive on what could be a seriously date intensive device. Also lately the trend seems to be getting away from built in 3G at least in the tablets. Why not, a mobile hotspot would be a much better investment. You can easily connect 5 or more devices to it with the ease of connecting to Wi-Fi.

Content

This is one area that the Kindle Fire will really outshine the other tablets out there. It is hardwired into all the Amazon services. You also get a free month of Amazon Prime that lets you stream movies free. As for music that is tied in too with Amazon’s MP3 music store and their cloud service. Granted you can also get these services for a regular Android device. However, the Kindle Fire has it pre-loaded which makes for a much better experience for that customer that might be technically challenged.

While this summary is by no means complete, hopefully it can help clear the air in regards to the New Kindle Fire. More to come soon.

White and Nerdy

Faster Processor

The iPhone 4s now has a faster processor. It is an A5 dual core processor that will dramatically improve the graphics handling for the phone. In fact Apple is saying 7x faster graphics. With that you will primarily get a better gaming experience. This is also the same chip that is in the iPad 2. Interestingly enough it is a Samsung chip. Looks like Apple will be buying processors from Samsung for at least another year regarless of what happens with the law suits going back and forth. For more info on the A5 check out Wikipedia.

Battery Life

They have worked on the battery life and reported that they have improved it over earlier versions. What is missing is any mention of GPS usage or video.  With the new camera I would be interested to see what it is.
Here’s what they are saying you should expect:

New Wireless System

This will allow the phone to switch between two antennas and get a better signal and better call quality. It will also lead to better download speeds of up to 14.4 mbs verses 7.2 mbs on the iPhone 4. As a result the Phone 4s will have HSDPA data speeds on AT&T. It will be interesting to see how this affects CDMA carriers since the phone doesn’t support LTE or Wimax. However, Sprint will be carrying the iPhone 4s and the 4s will be a World Phone. In other words the same phone will be used for all carriers and it will have CDMA and GSM capability built in. However, it wasn’t disclosed if you could take your phone from one carrier to another. Might turn out that you can.  For US T-Mobile users this still means that you will only get 2G data speeds if you get the phone to work on the T-Mobile network.  Depending on how the world phone function works this might be an option.

Camera

The new iPhone camera is a 8 mp with that measures 3264X2448 pixels. This will result in better quality pictures. It also has a backside illumination, is 33% faster at capturing images and has a Hybrid IR filter. The IR filter will result in more accurate colors and better uniformity. The lens assembly now has five elements which will result in sharper pictures and will allow the f stop to go down to 2.4. The higher the F number the better the depth of field. A lower number allows you to have a sharper focus on the subject of your image.

It also has a new Image Signal Processor that will allow for facial recognition and better white balance. Apps could result from this that automatically take the picture based on the what the subject is doing. Also they could auto focus and auto center on the face rather than somewhere else.

Video Recording

The new iPhone 4s will be able to take 1080p HD videos. It also has video image stabilization and temporal noise reduction. As before you can still edit the videos on the phone. Then with the new iCloud you’ll be able to upload them to the cloud. Just make sure you use WI-FI or have an unlimited data plan.

Air Play Mirroring

You’ll now be able to display what’s on your iPhone on your Air Play device. This will work wirelessly or with a cable. You’ll now be able to see that game your playing on your 60″ big screen TV.

Siri Voice Recognition

Although still in beta this will allow you to talk to your phone with normal phrases. It will be able to do anything from responding to a text message to telling you what the weather is. All you’ll have to do is hold down the home button and start talking. This will clearly work with all the Apple apps but nothing has yet been said about if it will work with third party apps. Siri is a personal assistant that can help you take control of your life. One really neat feature is that it can schedule an appointment for you while making sure that you don’t have any conflicts already scheduled. You can also do dictation with it and let it type for you. Dictation requires an network connection as it is not done locally on the phone. Languages supported are English, French, and German. With English it will recognize US, UK or Australian variants.

While we’re talking Siri, here’s a neat video created in 1987 in which Apple seems to predict the technology.

US Pricing, Carriers and Sizes

In the US AT&T, Verizon and newcomer Sprint will have the iPhone 4s. It appears that since the 3gs was only GSM only AT&T will have it. Its also unclear if Sprint will have
the $99 iPhone 4gb since that too was AT&T & Verizon only. T-Mobile has already said that they will not be getting it.

Availability

Preorders will start for US, Canada, Australia, the UK France, Germany and Japan on October 7th. The phone will launch in those places on October 14th. By the end of 2011 it will launch in 92 other countries.

For more specs check out Apple’s website.

One nice thing about Windows 8 is I’m not seeing the bugs I saw with the Windows 7 Betas. Granted this thing isn’t fully done but if this release is any indication, microsoft has really out done themselves this time.

Check out my experience with You Tube and Netflix on Windows 8 after the break.

YouTube
YouTube ran flawlessly once I installed the Adobe Flash Plugin. Naturally had to choose the one for Windows 7 but saw no compatibility issues at all. In fact it was very smooth and trouble free in the desktop browser.  The Metro Browser wouldn’t run for me.  Have to look into that later.

NetFlix
Had to install SilverLight to get it up and running. Seems kind of strange considering that SilverLight is a Microsoft project. Maybe they were just trying to keep the file size down. Anyway during the install it hung at 99%. Had to restart the VM to get rid of the install dialog. After that all went well and was able to play a movie. The movie did have a little trouble keeping the sound sync’d but I think that was because it was taxing the VM a bit and not anything necessarily wrong with Windows.

Overall still very impressed. Can’t wait to see the next Windows 8 release.