Thanks for the comment, Murali

Good to see your comment. Welcome to the galaxy 3 user family.
Yes, the back button in the front is a bit bothering. You'll need to touch the button fully for it to work(plus there must not be any moisture). This is not exactly how it is supposed to work but now that we own the beauty, we need to learn to accept some of its features(drawbacks, to be more precise);)
If you have any doubts regarding the phone, I am sure the user manual will clear them. However if you any things to know about which you can't find there, you can always comment here or drop me an email.

sound quality in the galaxy 3

the speaker on the galaxy 3 will definitely not win any awards. it is just loud enough to get the ringtone when u get a call. listening to songs via the loud speaker is not the speciality. the DNSiE effect can be heard when you plugin the headset to listen to music. i checked it out with "break your heart-remix, ludacris" and the effects blew me away. i never knew that so many beats were hidden in the background of the song, which could not be heard when i tried the loudspeaker.

running python on the galaxy 3(or any android phone)

hi,
i am a programmer and what more would i want than a ful-fledged interpreter on my phone. i did install python on my 6220c, but the screen is small and typing is a lot of work. however it has scripts support so that i can always run scripts made on my laptop and transfer them to the phone (or just use the hyperterminal to invoke the interpreter on the phone).
back to where i began... to install python you need to first install sl4a(scripting layer for android) which is available on the android website or in the market. after installation, start the app. then go to options(left button)> view> interpreters> add. now select the interpreter you want to install. u can install the bean shell 2.0b4, jruby-1.4,lua-5.1.4,php-5.3.3,python-2.6.2 or rhino- 1.7R2 on the galaxy 3 using this option. now let the app do its thing, which involves downloading and installing libraries, packages etc.
once the installation is complete, start the sl4a app. now u may see a list of python scripts. u can either execute any of them or run your own. now options>view>interpreters. select the python interpreter. you should now be good to go.

if you face any issues doing this, please mail me at vamsi(at)vamspace(dot)net

the strange battery

this time i charged the battery to only 90% and it lasted only a bit more than a day, though i downloaded a couple of apps from the market and i used almost an hour of gtalk. i'm not very satisfied with the battery performance. they gave a huge (1500mAH) battery which is supposed to last more than two days under medium to heavy usage. but i cant see any of the 1500's capacity here. i have sent the issues especially regarding the battery to the samsung customer support. am awaiting their reply. i hope they do reply soon, and with solutions.
with so many instances of strange behaviour of the battery, i may even have to start a blog just for it ;)

recharge to 100%

for the first time after many days i have been able to recharge the phone battery to 100%. i switched off the phone and then plugged it in in order to get the 100%. when recharged with power on condition, full recharge cannot be achieved until you let it be for a very long time(as per the user manual, we can remove the charge when the blue battery icon on the top stops movement, but this does not give a full charge).
on another note, the phone battery has not been performing very good. it has been less than 24hrs since i did the charge, and the battery is at 5%. didn't use the phone much today :(.

Questions answered (internal memory and application installation)

Q1: How much internal storage do we get, how much do we get to play with?
Ans: About 170 MB. Almost all of it is available for our usage. Some of it is used for the phone numbers and messages.(I've got about 136 MB left free)

Q2: Is the application installation source doing good?
Ans: Yes. Very well in-fact. The android market comes as a pre-installed application, using which we can install other applications. The phone has not yet shown any failed installation(partly because i was a bit careful with the applications, and read the comments of other users).
An alternate way to install apps is to download the .apk files from the source(application author) and copy them to your phone sd card. This is where the installation might fail with reasons like version mismatch or the hardware requirments not met. Just be careful while installing .apk files.

I would also like to thank one of the blog readers, manish, for providing answers to one of the an earlier questions post.

Questions answered

Q1: Can we change the FM channel using the handsfree button?
Ans: If the handsfree button is the button on the headset, then ..No. We cannot change the channel that way.(It is a really good idea though)

Q2: What is the capacity for storing sms(number)?
Ans: Theoritically unlimited. Practically, space you have in the storage.

the camera on galaxy 3

the camera on the galaxy 3 can be said to not be the best 3.15 MP camera in the market. my advice is, better not go for this phone if you're expecting a lot from the camera. the picture taking needs a lot of help from external light. in case the light is facing the camera lens, then dont expect much from the photo you've clicked. also, the moving objects are not captured well. (i also own a nokia 6220 classic and i definitely know how moving objects are captured).

but there is no reason you shouldn't go for this phone just because of an above average camera. i'm sure my earlier posts and the many more coming posts will help you understand better....

youtube app on galaxy 3

the youtube app which came bundled with the phone is really amazing. i use the airtel gprs connection(i am sure you know how slow these connections are). the streaming speed allowed me to watch many videos with no video halting in between to buffer itself. though the quality of the video is not the best there exists the rate at which it played was just as i was watching a pre-downloaded video. it could be because the youtube server might have detected the android and the speed and encoded the video such that the video plays just fine on the phone.

answers to a few questions

Q1: Can apps be installed onto the memory card?
Ans: No, as of now, but the 2.2 update might give us an opportunity to do so.
This brings us to the second question....
Q2: Will there be a 2.2 update?
Ans: For galaxy 3 users in India, there might not be a froyo on our phones:(

Also, did not experiment with Layar yet....but will do so in a couple of days. And the results will be posted here. For sure.

(The post prior to this one was made via an app called blogger-droid. And thus the small subscript below the post)

some tips on the battery

whenever you feel that the battery status is wrong, just switch off and start the phone. this does sound painful but trust me, you'll get satisfying results.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

sensors near the ear piece

there are two sensors near the ear piece of the phone; one is for the proximity and the other is supposedly for the brightness of the screen(pls correct me if i am worng here). had a bit of fun today with the proximity sensor. it switches the screen off when the sensor detects a proximity of 1cm~2cms. it works very well, but works only during a call(so spent a few bucks on calls to see how well it works).
and about the other sensor, i don't know what it is for. if it were the automatic light sensor then it sure ain't working properly.

getting used to the battery issue

i think i am getting a hang of how the battery meter works on the phone ;). it works "ERRATICALLY". i am charging my phone almost daily cause i am 24*7 connected to the internet, i dont believe the meter and i need to be online. please dont trust the meter. one post on a blog i read the other day stated that the battery issue will be solved with the update from samsung. but i couldn't find any updates when i connected the phone with kies on my laptop and checked(i was connected to the internet while doing so, mind you :P)

finger print magnet

recently i changed the screen guard of my galaxy 3 and discovered something very disturbing. the new guard covers only the screen and the rest of the mirror finish has been smeared with finger prints. if you live in a humid climate then lot more finger prints can be expected. currently am very careful with the back and options button and use them as less as possible. also wipe the phone with a soft cloth once or twice a day.

good stuff

the mirrored finish is a pretty good add-on. also have been online 24X7 through g-talk. i have never been so connected.
getting used to swype now, which is btw, the best thing that happened to a mobile after T9.

touch insensitivity

off late, the phone has been responding a bit slower than when i bought it.....and it has been only 5 days now! i guess it might be because i haven't yet removed the screen guard.

battery issue

the battery has been a bother since three days. am unable to find out how much of the charging is left. one moment it showed 50% and the next it showed 5%. when i switched it off and started it again, the charge was back to 60%!!!!! whats going on?
read in another forum that this problem would be solved after a firmware update. i hope it works.

my first post

hi. this is my first post. bought my galaxy 3 on 3rd oct. have created and will author this blog using my galaxy3. I hope I would've done well here.