Tag: google

Google Support: Successfully Shipped! Finally…

After the last post, I gave Google yet another call and found out that there have been similar issues: getting a confirmation on the website but no emails nor courier. They set things up yet again and thankfully the courier finally came to pick up the goods on Tuesday (they came on Monday but we were out for a company lunch, and didn’t even ring my number).

So after 3 weeks, 2 emails and about 5 calls, I have finally managed to get a replacement Nexus 4 and returned my old one. That totally felt much harder than it sounds (more reason to buy from physical brick and mortar stores?)

P.S. Recorded the hold music and found out that it is “The Lighthouse and The Whaler-Untitled (This Is an Adventure)” – listen on YouTube thanks to Shazam (at first I though it couldn’t find it due to the name having “Untitled” in the name…

 

 

Google Support: Progress but still not at home base yet

Nexus4replacement

So after the last post, I followed up with an email to Google Support and this time there was a response within 30 minutes, with the RMA details as below (full email). Hurrah!

Nexus4SupportEmail3

2 days later I got my replacement device. Double hurrah! Backed up and restored data to the new device and on to returning the old device

Nexus4SupportEmail3ReturnDetails

Nexus4Collection

Packing the device on Friday 29th and re-reading these directions, I realised that I didn’t get any confirmation email nor shipping labels. Cue a another call to Google support and Google Support lady (first one I’ve spoke to, previous 2/3 calls have all been guys) says that they don’t email shipping labels to Australia and that the courier man should have it.

Courier man never came yesterday, so retried requesting another return request today and got a “Collection for given RMA Number has already been requested”. So yet another Google Support call….

Nexus4SupportCollectionRequest

Searching for “Google Support”… still returning 0 results

Nexus4SupportEmail2After my last post on Google’s Support, I gave Google another call and thankfully William managed to further process my support ticket: he said that it was lodged and escalated but there wasn’t any updates on it.

He asked me to check my Google wallet billing and shipping address and after some verification with him, that it would be processed accordingly. He was saying something along the lines that it takes 2 days for the system to get updated after changing my billing/shipping address and it would then be processed. But alas still nothing.

Is this what customer support is meant to be? The customer having to manually follow up on things only to get things done?

Google Support. Where are you?

So my Nexus 4 started acting up 2 weeks ago: the left section of the screen doesn’t respond to touch: essentially anything between the vertical red and blue lines is non-responsive to touch. Watch the video to see it in action.

Screentouches

So I called Google and they advised to do a factory reset, which I did 8 days ago, and proceeded to reply the email I got for my case (which I still have no reply as of today).

Google Case Email

So I gave them a call the following day, which they told me that my device is still under warranty and that their “Termination Team” would get back to me. It’s been a full week since I called them and they have yet to get back to me. 

Call to Google

A twisted idea that came to mind, is that the longer they make me wait, the more chances I have for accidentally dropping my phone and getting it cracked or something that puts it out of warranty, and thus my wanting to document my perfectly fine looking phone (i.e. not physically damaged) just in case they were to try pull this stunt if I do accidentally drop it (I am being too paranoid aren’t I?).

But anyway, Google support, where art thou? Can you please terminate me/my Nexus 4 in a good way?

 

P.S. If Google support is having manpower issues, I wouldn’t mind helping them out to ensure customers aren’t getting left waiting for a week without a response.

Is My Google Maps Broken?

Phone, Laptop, Tablet: All clicked on the same ‘address’ link from Android Australia MeetUp page and the Nexus 4 location is incorrect (Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 opened the link from the Meetup app, while the laptop from the webpage)

Image

When opening the webpage link in Chrome for Android on both the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7, they both report the same incorrect place! So the Nexus 7 has changed marker positions…

Image

And now loading the link in the Meetup page on the Nexus 7 goes to the wrong location
Image

This is strange as a couple of months back, I had a similar situation shown below. The weird thing here is that both screenshots taken on Nexus 4s: just different ones (and obviously the one that didn’t work was mine!). Though taking a closer look shows that the non-distinct grey circle indicates the correct location. But why are the views so different? But whatever it is, all I know is that Google Maps has

Image

So You Want to Develop for Android – Google I/O Extended Brunei (2012)

An overview of Android development with a quick and easy way to get started in cross platform development (including Android) with PhoneGap, presented at Google I/O Extended Brunei. The presentation aims to provide attendees with basic understanding of Android development and providing them tools to create an actual application.


(this is a recorded presentation done after the actual event due to Internet connectivity issues during the event prevented an ideal recording environment)

Links

  1. Hackathon file list

    linked at http://tiny.cc/googleiobn complete with installation guide, tutorials, sample code and presentation slides used for the presentation

  2. PhoneGap Sample Code on GitHub

  3. “So You Want to Develop for Android” presentation slides

I prepared the materials assuming attendees would have no or very little Java programming background (which is needed for Android development) and thus a platform like PhoneGap was ideal as it provided an easy starting point into app development utilizing HTML and Javascript which are easier technologies to understand, and that more people would have exposure to. Based on the actual session, this assumption proved to be true and I believe was a good starting point and it has even spurred @mfirdaus to dabble with some Android development.

I highly encourage Brunei developers out there to contribute and give back to the community. During our time, there were no such developer events to my knowledge, and with social media, it is so much easier to get the word and out and just meet up and provide the young developers in the country with opportunities that we never had.

Footnote: Background

I was contacted by Cikgu Azaman (@azlinux) over a month ago regarding having a Google I/O Extended in Brunei. A hackathon was to be conducted and after throwing around a few ideas, I was put in charge of presenting an Android development session as in intro for the hackathon.

The event was held at iCentre on 27th June and while Internet connectivity didn’t allow a proper Google+ Hangout with a live video presentation (i.e. there was gagal-ness in trying to get things up and running) so we resorted to an audio Skype call while @mfirdaus went through the presentation slides at the Brunei side. So I thought it would be best to do a recorded presentation after the fact for a more complete presentation.

Android Google Maps Zoom Limit

A couple of months back, I noticed that the Google Maps app on my LG Optimus One phone couldn’t zoom in as far as it could before (unless my memory is failing me). Below is the maximum zoom level on the phone

This is not the maximum zoom of the Google Maps android application as my ZTE V9 tablet can zoom in much further as shown below

While you may think that this is a trivial matter, it really rises as a problem when I look for tram stops and street names here in Melbourne. Take a look at the CBD of Melbourne in the screenshot below and see how problematic this is: I can’t see the names of the smaller streets and I have to tap each tram stop in order to see the stop name.

To rub salt into the wound, apps that use a map view can zoom in further than the Google Maps application! Below are screenshots via the Domain.com.au app.

I’ve tried to search for a reason for this discrepancy and have yet to find one. The map settings are both the same in the tablet and phone. CPU and RAM-wise, both devices are comparable: 600MHz each with about 420MB of RAM. Both devices are rooted with my Optimus One running the official Android 2.3.3 ROM from LG and the tablet running Android 2.3.7 via CyanogenMod. The only other difference would be screen size and resolution: 7″ 800 x 480 screen on the tablet and 3.2″ 480 x 320 screen on the phone.

Anybody who has a clue what’s going on, do let me know. Any help would be well appreciated.

[categories Android, Technology]

Making Registration/Questionnaire Forms in Google Docs

Last Saturday a friend asked if it would be possible to have an online registration form for a camp their organizing, so I thought it would be a perfect time to look at Google Docs as I remembered that they had a form creation functionality and I was pleasantly surprised and what I discovered.

What is great is that Google Docs provides a relatively simple way to create the form and share it online (remember to change the privacy settings to public/not require a sign in if you want the public to answer). Above is a simple form that I came up with in about 5 minutes of playing around with the Form builder: just select the field type from a drop down list (text / multiple choice / checkbox / etc) and enter the question details and mark the field as required if necessary. Drag and drop the fields to arrange their order. Plain and simple yet effective. Now aside from that, you can also choose a theme from their presets although I don’t think you can make any changes/customizations to the theme, but nonetheless a nice option as opposed to a standard white background form. Not only does it generate the form, but all the responses are automatically linked to a spreadsheet and charts are even drawn up based on the the answers to the questions. So if you need a quick registration form / questionnaire all it takes is 10 minutes of your time to generate a simple form and be able to share it with anyone.

Step-by-Step Guide in Creating Forms using Google Docs:

  1. Sign into Google Docs
  2. Go to the “Create new” drop down menu and select “Form”

  3. Create the necessary fields/questions

  4. Set the proper permissions in the Spreadsheet that gathers the data (In Form Editor: See responses > Spreadsheet. In the Spreadheet: Share > Sharing Settings)

  5. Embed / share the link
  6. Gather responses / data from people filling in the form
  7. View responses

Show Me Where It’s At!

Ever had a person ask you if you know where a certain place is and you couldn’t get a good map to show them? Well I ran into this issue and I wanted a quick way to add a marker to the map and pass that information on to the necessary person. So here I introduce….

Show Me Where It’s At!

Just click on the map to get started. Fill in the details. Create and give the link to the person who needs the information. A quick sample: Brunei’s National Stadium