Australian can get access to Australian apps (I have a few) and paid apps (and a few of these as well) , but I did not realise that we cant get Paid Australian Apps.

Can Australian developers just realease to the US market which Australian can purchase from. ?

One point you overlooked in an otherwise well-rounded article, is that software publishers/developers from Australia canNOT yet sell applications over the Android Market.

While the US, the UK and many of the EU companies have been able to ’sell’ software (we are talking 99 cents to 2 or $3 dollars a shot) for a while now and Japan was added this month, Australian companies still cannot.

Cheers
Steve

I reinstalled the “Homes” app and pretended I was looking for properties in a US suburb. I must say this is pretty good implementation. You can browse property just fine, dial the agent directly form the property form and visit the agents website… etc etc.. but the best part is the program stays resident and you get notified in the phone like an sms when a new matching property is uploaded. It really takes advantage of the Androids ability to multi-task.

With so many Android phones on the horizon late 2009 and 2010 we will soon be saturated by them. The two paid portals should be looking at the current Homes app for inspiration and build that functionality and more into their own application. Unlike the domain IPhone app which requires the user to log back in, the android app will notify phone owners when new properties match their criteria.. driving more traffic and more inquiries back to the portal and agents.

The Domain IPhone app requires that users pull information from Domain whereas an Android version would additionally push information to the user. This is effectively another form of permission based marketing where a user install the software, sets up their requirements and the portal is marketing new properties automatically.

In the US there is no one database or portal that has the majority of the listings but here in Australia using the databases from realestate.com.au, domain.com.au or even the Real Estate in Google Base would be amazing.

BUT… by far my best addition to the new phone has been to upgrade to the Fatal1ty Hero rom. WOW!

Sean, I assume you would have seen the Hero info and video before but for anybody else the HTC Hero Phone is still to be released in Australia … HOWEVER the Android community has got hold of the ROM (effectively the operating system installed on the phone) and have ported it so it will run on the HTC Magic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKTDSfbcbBU

(Sorry Brett… I am not making my own video.. this promotional one will have to do :) )

Reading through the forums it took them a couple of goes to get the rom working smoothly but I have only tried the latest version and it works great.

The vanilla android installed on the HTC Magic is nice.. but the Sense UI on the Hero that HTC have developed is very slick. Unless you have done this sort of thing before (note to anybody considering do thing… I would not recommend anybody actually do this update unless you have done this sort of thing before. Its not that difficult per se but there are certainly opportunities to “brick” your phone. )

Thinking about it, Homes must have been pulling the data from Google Base (rather than google maps) but last time I checked the Australian data was not available through the API interface. Maybe they are waiting for the full launch of Google Base Australia before they do that… or maybe they have chosen to establish their own Google Maps solution in the marketplace before they allow others to mashup the data.

Lack of !!… as in NONE :)

There really is no specific AU real estate apps that I am aware of yet. Some of the websites are ok as Android phones seem to get directed to the iPhone web version.

There is a range of other handsets all about to hit the market including the HTC Hero, Sony Ericsson Xperia X3, Motorola Morrison, Samsung Galaxy as being confirmed models and then there is still a slew of yet to be named models such as LG who are claiming to be releasing three different models.

This means if the major portals are not creating an android based solution they should be shot. The iPhone is not even the number one smartphone in Australia yet Domain has created an iPhone specific app. Of course the fact that the typical iPhone user probably users the web a lot more on their phone than other smartphone users probably helps with that :)

I cant wait for when Real Estate is built into the mobile Google Maps application. Although this will not be android specific as its available for other phones as well, we might also see someone create an android mash up with an augmented reality browsing experience that makes use of the compass and gps.

Maybe you can tap into your old workplace and see when they will have that implemented.. we will keep it just to ourselves… whilst you are there ask about google voice, google wave and anything else you think we might be interested in :)

I got my invite to Google voice the other day.. only to be denied during signup about being non-US..

Some of my apps getting the most workout on the phone includes “My Maps Editor, Maps, Google Talk (who needs sms when you have im integrated into your phone that well), Exchange Activesync, Aussie Weather Radar, Bloo, TwitterRide, ChompSMS and Twilight. None are RE specific but they all come in handy. Which ones have you found useful yourself ?

I have checked out a couple of the overseas real estate apps and some look great but it is a bit hard to full appreciate them without local data.

Nice review.

What are your favorite real estate related Android apps? I’ve been using a G1 since late last yr and have been disappointed by the lack of quality AU real estate apps which have come out.

Sean

Gee, the auto switching between the Android’s independent Web connection and workand home wireless connection is a winner!
It’s a rip-off that I have to pay to turn-on the data option though. I guess it’s not possible to just use it through my work and home ISP’s without paying for the phone provider’s data connection?

Agents are going to love this beast!

Rgds,
Sal :)

I had done most of the research during the whole buying decision phase. That and I am fairly competent typist thankfully.

Lets not discuss the price of mobile voice and data.. there is just nothing good to say about it.

Because I have wifi at home and work I went with the 1gb option rather than 2gb. I expected to hammer that pretty hard and was prepared to upgrade if I needed it but I am quite surprised by my lack of mobile data used. I think I am on target so far to hit about 300mb for the month and that really surprised me. I download quite a bit on it but obviously most of that has been whilst it was connected to a wifi connection and since it switches seamlessly and automatically you just dont notice what it is using..

With any modern smartphone that spends 24/7 online I personally would never recommend anybody gets a data package under 1gb but if you have wifi at home and/or work you should be fairly safe even with high demands. Obviously with no wifi and if you are heavy user then larger data packages will probably be better.

Do you or anyone ‘out there’ know how much data one of these things uses to access email / What sort of data plan you would need to access email, please?
(It seems an absolute rip-off that a group like Optus – let alone the King of rip-offs, Telstra!, is allowed to charge so much for data when we are already paying through the nose for simple ‘voice’!)

Thx again,
Sal :)