improve UK GSM Nexus One battery life.

trying to 'find' a 3G signal is the surest way for your battery to drain super quick.
So heres a handy tip which means the phone doesnt waste excess power finding 3G but retains a lookup table,apparently it means your phone is less likely to try and hunt a 3G connection in low signal/power areas.

Dial *#*#4636#*#* and tap phone information.
Scroll down to 'set preferred network type' to GSM Auto (PRL)

remember that sometimes the setting is lost e.g. after your battery dies.
so you have to re-enter it. (youll probably notice the drop in battery then realise lol)

makes a huge difference to my battery life , as well as automatically switching to wireless network when in range of my home.

http://www.google.ie/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=6a327a95211ac789&hl=en
http://forum.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-one/13037-wifi-turning-off-sleep-mode.html

Swype : Keyboard replacement for Android

an android app (well keyboard replacement strictly speaking) pointed out to me by a recent Buzz post by Giles.

http://www.swypeinc.com/

"Swype provides a faster and easier way to input text on any screen. With one continuous finger or stylus motion across the screen keyboard"

Im running Swype beta version on google nexus one eclair ( as of 21st july 2010 now running Froyo ;-) )
First there was simple text input for sending sms/email etc, then we had the now ubiqitous t9 predictive text. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T9_(predictive_text), which my wife still doesnt use !
Now there are some new players to the game, one of which is Swype

Basically you drag your finger around the keyboard to draw a line between the letter s of a word.
Sounds odd but quickly becomes second nature. Really accurate, it rarely gets words wrong first time, or provides a suggestions pop up.
Spaces are automatically added.
Double letters you just squiggle over the letter twice. Since installing I have used nothing else for sms and emails.
Its such a simple idea but just works, and saves a lot of time when creating lengthy messages.
Ordinary text input is still available if needed but you dont lol.
In fact I wrote this review initially while offline on holiday in Spain a week ago.

I even had a moment of panic this week, when my Nexus One upgraded to Froyo and left my Swype install not working!
Frantically downloaded the new installer but for a few minutes I was back to the 'old days' lol


Plus
---------
Free
Brilliant
Works flawlessly


Minus
---------
Still in beta (if you havent subscribed youre already too late) but released soon I hope.
Needs decent screen size for finger swyping.
You need to be aware of qwerty layout for long words
no easy smiley support

Summary

For me 5 out of 5 , must have application for android users.
I would struggle to do without it now, and theres not many apps you can say that about.


Others

Swift key Android T9
http://www.swiftkey.net/index.html
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.touchtype.swiftkey.trial

Dragon voice iphone (Iphone but will be ported to Android no doubt , speech to text engine)
http://www.dragonmobileapps.com/


keyboard reviews (lists a few alternatives which includes Swype)
http://www.androidcentral.com/android-centrals-keyboard-roundup