GroovyCam LiveStream - Released!

GroovyCam LiveStream is available now to download from SlideMe and will be up on the Android Market in a few hours from now.

It's not an application that's meant to be taken seriously, it's just for a bit of fun and to muck around with the camera a bit ... so remember that when it comes to rating and commenting on it!

It's also worth noting that you are going to need a pretty decent processor and camera on your handset to be able to get the full effect, because there is quite a lot of work to get through to process each frame in real-time!  You are going to want to use in in well lit conditions as well, otherwise you won't be able to appreciate the effects.

This is the first release and so it could be buggy in places - let me know via email if you find any.  Thanks :)

Oh, and one last thing - I intend to add more effects and custom settings to this in the future and in time the price of the application will rise accordingly.  So get it now while it's at a very reasonable price - only £1.49!!

Here's me with a dose of radioactive poisoning ...

SECuRET RemoteControl Review

Thanks to the guys at 2 Guys 1 Droid for making the following video and giving such a glowing review of SECuRET RemoteControl.  It is a bit of a confusing application for some, so hopefully this video will give some useful information on how to use it.

Link to the review

WiFi. Not 3G. WiFi!

More and more people are leaving comments and negative ratings against SECuRET LiveStream on the Android Market because it only uses WiFi, and doesn't use 3G.  You'd have thought that by naming SECuRET LiveStream as 'Camera WiFi LiveStream' on the Android Market (a seemingly fruitless attempt to try and make clear what the application is), that they may have got the massive 'WiFi'-shaped clue in the title.  Just in case they missed it, here it is again ... 'WiFi' ... got it?

Anyway, I think I better explain why it doesn't use 3G just on the off chance that any of those reckless commenters actually decide to read this and not rate an application poorly for something it doesn't do (thought: I wonder if they also rate Google Maps poorly because it doesn't play videos, or leave an insightful comment about Google Translate lacking any kind of 3D graphics :P )...

The main reason that it doesn't use 3G is because SECuRET LiveStream turns your handset into a web server in order to stream the video; that's how you are able to view the SECuRET LiveStream web page that comes directly from your phone.  The video stream on the web page is just a series of JPEGs; the Java applet in the web page just keeps requesting JPEGs as quickly as possible from the phone's camera to make it look like video.  To do all these web-server-based-shenanigans, your phone needs an accessible and unique IP address which is only possible when it is connected to a WiFi network (most of the time, that is - some public or corporate WiFi networks may not allow you to serve from your phone), and not possible with a 3G connection (when using 3G your address is NAT'd - all phones share an IP address; it's like a massive LAN) ... and ta daaah ... there's the answer - no guaranteed accessible and unique IP address when connected to a 3G network :)  Also, you'll find most network providers frown upon people setting up what amounts to a web server on their network without permission.

It's not impossible to design an application like SECuRET Livetream which uses 3G; you would just push the stream of JPEGs to an intermediary web server somewhere, and then connect to that to pull the JPEGs back to a web page ... I'd imagine this would be petty slow though and would surely use a huge chunk of your monthly data allowance if you were to use it for any prolonged period of time - peer-to-peer using WiFi is the quickest, cheapest and most efficient way to implement the application I set out to create and that thousands of people enjoy using.  Plus, I don't want to maintain an intermediary web server in my spare time.

So, there you go - SECuRET LiveStream a.k.a. Camera WiFi LiveStream has never claimed to, and doesn't use, 3G ... and is very proud to admit that fact :P

GroovyCam LiveStream ... Sample Pics!

It's almost finished and ready to go on the Market.  I had some trouble getting it to perform on less powerful devices, namely my HTC Magic (myTouch), and as such it is only going to work on the more powerful Android devices due to the amout of processing it requires.  If anyone is interested in testing a pre-beta version, then email pauldyble82@gmail.com and I'll get something to you to try out.

Outside my office window

Me!

My cramped working conditions ... yes, that is a lava lamp!

My Soundboards

I'm back from my short break (which included a VIP day at Anfield to watch Liverpool vs Arsenal - best day EVER!) and on returning I thought now was a good time to address all my various soundboards currently available on the Android Market.

First, let me start by thanking the thousands (almost a million) of you that have downloaded and used the soundboards - I never expected them to be that popular and from some of the great comments and emails I have received since their release, I can see that some of the sounds have bought back fond memories and emotions.  Thank you.

Secondly, I think I have a fix for the random resetting of some phones that occurs after setting a ringtone from one of my soundboards.  A couple of people have tested it out and confirmed it works for them, but with so many handset available now, I am not going to make any statements saying that it has definitely fixed the problem on all handsets with all their combinations of ringtone apps, hacks and mods.  I will be making the update to all my soundboards very soon and you'll see the updates appearing over the next few weeks.

And finally, that's it for my soundboards ... they will remain on the Android Market, but I will no longer be supporting them.  There's not much more I can do to them and I am being kept very busy with other projects.  It's got to a point where my time is better spent elsewhere and I can't really justify spending any more time trying to support 30+ FREE soundboards.

... Oh, and just one last little thing ... *RANT ALERT* ... I think that all those angry and confused people that have nothing better to do with their time than to direct negative and abusive comments towards a developer who has spent many hours working in his spare time to produce FREE soundboards deserve an honourable mention - well done to all of them and I hope it made them feel big and worthwhile - it certainly kept me entertained to discover the hatred some people can feel towards a couple of MBs of sounds that no-one forced them to download (did I mention the soundboards are F-R-E-E?)

Got A Question, Idea, Request Or Bug?

Inevitably, there will be lot's of you guys wanting to get in conatct with me to ask questions, tell me about an idea you have, make a request for something or, god forbid, report a bug!

I love hearing from all my users (particularly the ones that are using the paid versions - you're my favourites ;) ) and I always go out of my way to provide support and help.  I also like hearing your great ideas about possible new features for my applications; so much of the SECuRET range is based on user feedback and ideas - some stuff I would never have dreamed up myself.

So where am I going with all this? ... (the clue is in the picture) ...

PLEASE, please, please EMAIL ME (pauldyble82@gmail.com) with details on your ideas, requests and bug reports ... questions as well, but always check the FAQs first!

And, NEVER, never, never leave a question or a bug report in any comments section, either on the Android Market or this Blog.  There is no direct way for me to contact you via a comment and it leaves me frustraed at not being able to reply, and you annoyed at getting no reply or not getting your bug fixed.

So talk directly with me (I promise I won't bite :P) and let's work in perfect harmony to make some great applications and not fall foul of trying to communicate via useless comment sections.