Hands-free call volume with KVT-516

A few months ago, we replaced the head unit in our car with a Kenwood KVT-516.  One problem that we have been having is that the in call volume is too low for phone calls.  We would need to turn up the volume to hear the caller.  Unfortunately, this would affect the volume of music, which would be pretty loud at the end of the call.

It looks like the latest firmware update solves this problem.  Now the KVT-516 has separate volume settings for hands-free calls, and other audio sources.

Squeezebox for Android

I have used several third-party applications for to control my Squeezebox radios from my phones.  They each have varying support for the different Squeezebox applications.

It looks like Logitech released their own controller application for Android.  This is one of the nicest applications for controlling Squeezebox players.  If you have configured applications, you can play content from them.

I do wish that you could add or change alarms from the application.

ADW.Launcher

I was looking at trying an alternate launcher for my phone.  At first, I took at a look at Launcher Pro, but it requires more permissions than I am comfortable granting for an application launcher.  For example, it requests permission for read and write access to my email.  I am sure that this is required for a Gmail widget, but since I wouldn't use this widget, and Launcher Pro also has network access, there is a potential for my data to leave the phone.

Instead, it looks like ADW.Launcher does everything that I want in a launcher, without requesting too many permissions.  It also has some interesting features:

• Support for themes


• Customizable dock bar and application drawer


• Support for different sizes for widgets

The main thing I like about it is that it doesn' t request too many permissions, so there is less of a security concern.