Samsung Galaxy Ace - Wi-Fi error

The Wi-fi function sometimes throws up an error on the Ace - roughly about every three days in my case. It stubbornly refuses to activate and detect available networks and no amount of begging, pleading or threats will make it change its mind (smart phone).

The solution is to power off and back on but I came across the following additional trick to fix it.

Type

*#*#526#*#*

This brings up the WlanTest which reloads the driver and voila!, the wi-fi will start to work again.

Success! After the driver is reloaded.

Sometimes when the screen switches off though, the phone shuts down and has to be powered on again.

Hopefully someone at Samsung or Google will make note of this and do something.

Until then, you have two equally crappy solutions.

Get started with apps for your Android Phone

Your android phone isn’t all play and no work. To get you started on using the phone for more day-to-day use, here are a few apps you may find interesting.

Video playback

MoboPlayer

Not only is it free, it is a powerful media player that can process most video formats. You may need to download the player and the codec depending on how your phone reacts.

Tip: Set the decoding default to 'soft decoding' for smoother playback of mkv files.

Browser

Opera 

I used to be a devotee of the Opera browser for the PC. I switched over to Firefox primarily because there were so many add-ons for all my needs and I haven’t looked back since. I was let down though when I went back to Mozilla for a Firefox version for the Ace. There is a Firefox mobile but that is incompatible with the Ace.

So I went back to Opera. I had used the browser on the K750i and was fairly happy with the super responsive browser. The user experience remains the same. The settings are quite uncomplicated to customize. Pages load quickly, you can ‘pinch’ to zoom, the text looks crisp and pictures are sharp. You can open multiple windows/tabs to get plenty of views on the latest celeb gossip – or that may be just me. Bear in mind that the Ace doesn’t support flash content. Hence, I wasn’t able to test that functionality and even the Javascript capability wasn’t all to my liking. But in all, this is a neat little app that meets the needs of the average surfer.

Now, if I could only sync this browser with my PC’s Firefox, I would feel perfectly happy.

QR code reader

Barcode Scanner

The QR – Quick Response – code is that square barcode that peeks out from newspapers, billboards and magazines with increasing frequency these days.

lithium-ribbon.blogspot.com for your phone!

As per Wikipedia

Although initially used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes are now (as of 2011) used over a much wider range of applications, including commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product marketing and in-store product labeling. Many of these applications target mobile-phone users (via mobile tagging). Users may receive text, add a vCard contact to their device, open a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or compose an e-mail or text message after scanning QR codes. They can generate and print their own QR codes for others to scan and use by visiting one of several pay or free QR code-generating sites or apps.

While that complex looking diagram sure doesn’t say anything to the human eye, a barcode scanner can intelligently process it and decode the message and direct your phone to perform the relevant action.

To have some fun and generate your own abstract QR codes to share with your friends visit

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Aesthetics

Wallswitch

I get bored of the same background picture glaring back at me all the time. On the PC, I use Webshots to keep refreshing the desktop with my personally picked pretty picture gallery. I was looking for something similar on the phone.

Wallswitch is a nifty little app that does the job. It doesn’t eat up too much space on the phone or SD card. It is easy to setup – you basically direct the app to the folder and set the refresh rate. 

I have set the refresh rate at 10 minutes but if you want to keep looking at your vacation pictures at work you could set it to 1 minute. 

You will find all these apps on the Android Market for free.

Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830

In a moment of powerful affection, The Sibling gifted me a new toy – the Samsung Galaxy Ace!!!!!!!!

I have been a Sony Ericsson loyalist so far – and I still am. I was among the first to hop onto the K750i bandwagon. That was in early 2006. Since then I resisted every temptation thrown my way - Nokia smartphones, Blackberry, I-phone – I may have drooled over pictures of all of them but I held steadfastly to my beliefs that my K750i served all my phone, text message and media needs. My digital Man Friday.

I even turned my nose up at mp3 players. I had a memory card shoved into the expansion slot and my music needs were taken care of. Sure the Paleolithic music player’s primitive shuffle capabilities are a minor annoyance. But that’s hardly worth abandoning a trusty friend over.

I have played (Java) games on it. I used it as an e-book reader (v. tough). I browsed gossip sites through GPRS and read email on its tiny screen. It is still my mp3 player for the occasional jog.

So when I opened the Galaxy Ace packaging and had my first glimpse, I was skeptical. It was HUGE compared to my candy-bar styled phone of over 5 years. I was suspicious about the lack of the physical keyboard/dialpad – I have a strange need to feel the keys depress and squeak to be certain that I successfully made that call or typed that SMS. And I missed my K750i joystick.  But I warmed to it and very quickly at that.

I don’t make too many calls but I do keep playing around with the ‘convergence device’. It is a wonderful blend of many different, extraneous-but-nice-to-have features.

Sure it may be a blatant I-phone clone.

Sure many cool games and apps are incompatible with its weak processor.

Sure I am still on the Android 2.2 version and waiting for Samsung to release the 2.3 upgrade.

Sure sometimes it just shuts down for no reason.

And sometimes the Wi-fi doesn’t work.

I am also saddled with a huge bunch of factory loaded useless apps that sit around consuming valuable phone memory and cannot be deleted or moved to SD card.

The media player included does nothing to enhance the experience. The sound capabilities are BAD. Music sounds flat and dull. That is CRIMINAL in my book.

I think I can go on a little more but let’s look on the bright side - it’s a cool touch-screen phone. More importantly the massive online apps and games market ensures that I will always keeping tinkering around with this instrument. Content is king.

I won’t be abandoning my SE phone, no sirrah. The abysmal sound quality of the Ace sealed my K750i’s fate. But I have welcomed the Ace into my home and heart. We make a comfortable trio as we embark on life’s adventures together.

Who says three’s a crowd?

Guilty Pleasure: Double Dhamaal

Dhamaal was an amusing, Indianised version of Rat Race. It was a good way to kill time on a flight. But I fail to recall any part of it except the ending.

Double Dhamaal on the other hand was a laugh riot. I am always surprised at Sanjay Dutt’s flair for comedy. The first time I truly appreciated his comic timing was in “All the Best”. He is just as good here. Arshad Warsi and Javed Jaffrey are in solid form while Ritesh Deshmukh is another pleasant surprise. Ashish Choudhary is getting there.

I watched the movie twice, the second time with The Mater. She wasn’t as amused as I was though. I understand most people found the first film to be a vastly superior product.

But how can you NOT laugh at “Main sardar hoon....aur asardar bhi” ??

Stop judging me.