Our friend Pete Mills developed this great ATTiny based Electronic Candle, we have seen electronic candles before but what makes this one shine is how the flickering was done. Pete actually sampled the actual flicker patterns of a real candle flame so that this reproduced flame would look as close to the real thing as possible.

You can see some other electronic candle designs here for inspiration.

“The ATTiny Candle is an LED candle. It uses a high brightness LED and some software to mimic the look of a traditional candle without the dangers associated with an open flame.

I figured the hardest part of this project would be making the flicker look realistic, so I decided to let nature do that part for me.  I made this candle with a Light Detecting Resistor ( LDR ) and a fixed resistor acting as a voltage divider.  This is fed to one of the ATTiny85′s ADC inputs and sampled at discrete time intervals.  At this time, the sample rate is 100mS.  These 8-bit light level values are then stored to EEPROM so that the candle can recall the flicker pattern to play back on the LED that is connected to a PWM channel after being turned off.  You only need to program the pattern once, but you can program it over and over again with just the push of a button.”

It's time to take a little editorial privilege and start a new feature wherein you'll get a few thoughts, ramblings and humblebrags regarding the goings-on here at Android Central, and perhaps the state of Android or the mobile space in general. Don't worry, politics shouldn't rear their ugly head too much. (Is it November yet?) Sports should be a non-issue with football just about over. (Giants-Patriots? Should be a good game. But, still, yawn.) So let's get to it.

• Mobile Nations Fitness Month: I'm pleasantly surprised by the traction in our new Health and Fitness forum. It's nice to see that a few of our readers appear to be taking up the challenge, too. We've still go a long way to go before we're anywhere near as sexy as CrackBerry Kevin (let alone knowing it), but I'm enjoying the feedback on my daily walk. Don't tell me to give up carbs, though. Not gonna happen.
• Android Central App Gen. 2: We've gotten back in touch with a number of developers interested in working with us on the next generation of the Android Central app. We're taking our time and doing this right, and we're excited about the possibilities. Everyone (including me) is going to need a little patience here.
• Paul O'Brien on the Podcast: If you haven't listened yet, Paul O'Brien of MoDaCo joined us on the podcast this week. MoDaCo (and Paul) have been around the mobile space about as long as the space has been around — I started reading them when I got my first Windows Mobile device lo those many years ago, and it's still a great (and friendly) place for some hacking. It was great to finally "meet" Paul and have him on the podcast. Be sure to give it a listen.
• Verizon Galaxy Nexus: What a debacle. Google changes a documentation page, and the fit hits the shan. If you're just joining us, it's really much ado about nothing. The Verizon Galaxy Nexus is still supported by Google. And Verizon. Be sure to read Jerry's explanation of what's changed (very little) and how it affects you (not at all). I gave a little thought to how such a badly reported story spread so quickly. Give it a gander. Here's to hoping the Internet does better this week.
• Mobile World Congress: We're three weeks away from the start of MWC in Barcelona, Spain. We'll have a team there, of course, including myself, Alex Dobie, editor-at-large (and large editor) Simon Sage, plus Kevin from CrackBerry and Dan from WPCentral. Most of the major players already have events scheduled (LG and Samsung are straggling, but that's not to say they won't have something to show). We're not doing posts on every event that gets scheduled, but be sure to bookmark androidcentral.com/mwc to follow all of our MWC stories. We'll toss a schedule on there soon, to help you track what's happening when. Remember that Spain is 6 to 9 hours ahead of the United States, depending on where you live.
• Android Wallpaper Gallery: Our Free Android Wallpaper Gallery eclipsed 1,000 uploads this week, which is pretty damn awesome. If you haven't yet, be sure to upload and share your favorite wallpapers. We're also featuring one a day during the week on the blog, so look for them in the mornings.
• Android A to Z: Dunno about you guys, but we're loving this feature. It's an offshoot of the Android Dictionary, wherein we expand on one definition a day. The idea isn't to give a whitepaper view of the nuts and bolts of Android, but more of a top-level, in-plain-English discussion. You can find all of our Android A to Z posts here.

Anyhoo. Yeah. Things are cookin' here at Android Central. Catch ya later.

We're kicking off this week's roundup of Android accessories with a closer look at some of our most popular picks from the store including some hands-on videos, topping it off with a daily giveaway of any one featured accessory of your choice. 

Every week we'll be looking at five select accessories from ShopAndroid.com, each featuring a hands-on video and brief description. At the end of the roundup, leave a comment stating which one of the five featured accessories you'd like to have.  Each day this week we'll randomly select one person that leaves a comment to win the accessory of their choice.  Pretty simple, right? Let's get this thing started.

 Jump past the break to dive in for more details.

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AT&T will begin to take pre-orders today for the Samsung Galaxy Note, the 5.3-inch phablet will be sold in carbon blue or ceramic white, and check in at $299 with a new agreement.  Orders are set to be delivered by Feb. 17, just a bit too late for Valentine's Day.  Also scheduled to be in AT&T stores are a few accessories, notably a desktop docking station, a spare battery charger, and a flip cover case and pen holder.  Speaking of the flip cover, if you head into Best Buy and pre-order your Samsung Galaxy Note they will hook you up with one for free.  Everyone loves free.

The Note is big, bad, and just what a lot of folks are looking for.  It's huge as a phone, but has enough size to it that it could function as a tablet for many.  The lure of carrying one device to cover both use cases is bound to attract quite a few folks, and the fact that LTE data is built into the unit is certainly a big plus.  The rest of the specs are certainly no slouch either.  That 5.3-inch Super AMOLED screen has a 1280×800 HD resolution, there's a 1.5GHZ dual-core processor (word is it's the same Qualcomm as in the Skyrocket), a 2500mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, and Samsung's excellent 8MP camera all running Android 2.3.5.

If you're going to do the deed and sign up to buy one of these big beauties, be sure to head into the forums and join the discussion.  It won't make the wait any shorter, but it might help make it feel that way. 

Preorder: From AT&T | from Best Buy
More: AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note forums

We noted Best Buy in the U.S. was taking pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy Note and now their Canadian stores have started as well. Although the Canadian release doesn't include any free goodies to go along with it, the price points for the device do vary across carrier with Bell coming out on top in terms of pricing.

• Bell – $200
• TELUS – $250
• Rogers – $300

Those price points are all on new, three-year contracts but that's a given for the Canadian mobile landscape. The Samsung Galaxy Note will be available on Feb. 14th so if you're looking to get your hands on one, head on over to Best Buy and get your pre-orders in.

Source: Best Buy Canada

Android Central member seanmacanally got an OTA notification on his rooted Verizon Galaxy Nexus, and with a little help from the great crew in the forums got the package pulled and uploaded for everyone to play with.  A few caveats:

• This is only for the Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus
• It's Android 4.0.4 IMM30B
• You will need to be completely stock with stock recovery to install it as-is

This doesn't seem to be an OTA that's going out in full force, so it very well could be some sort of internal testing version.  Keep that in mind if you flash it — things may not be working as well as you would hope.  

Manually flashing the OTA package is pretty easy, see the instructions here.  And you're going to need the file, which you can download right here.  Good luck, and have fun!

Source: Android Central forums

Whether looking to shake things up a bit, or help file your taxes there are plenty of application options available in the Android market. Lucky for you we take the time to check them out and see what's best, so let's hit the break and check out some of our favorites.

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Youtube link for mobile viewing

If you have a Google TV unit of some sort or another, and plan to watch the big game tomorrow, here's a neat app you might want to try.  Social GTV is a small utility that simply creates an overlay on your live television content where Twitter postings can be displayed.  I'm not sure I would want to see a bunch of tweets on my screen while I'm watching a movie with the wife, but I can see how useful (and fun) this could be for things like Presidential election debates and primaries, my favorite series, or live sporting events like the Super Bowl.

Setup looks pretty easy, you just fill in a few fields to let the app know what you want to see, set the position on screen and a background color, then start it up.  Press the live TV button on your Google TV remote, and away you go.  Now when Eli throws a strike to the end zone, or a referee make a questionable call, or the team you're rooting for scores you can see the social side of the Internet celebrate (or hysterically object) in real time.  Sure beats flipping back and forth from the Twitter app to live TV, and will give the same result.  

To use Social GTV you'll need a Google TV (naturally) running Android 3.1 or higher. There's a free version that allows you to pick from the top trending topics, and a paid version for $0.99 that allows you to set things like tweets from specific users, custom hashtags, and @ replies to a specific user.  Both versions have a language filter, which you might need if the Pats are losing and you follow me on Twitter.

Hit the break for a download link.

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In contrast to the letter-based naming scheme that it's using internationally, it seems Sony may be sticking with something a bit more unique for one future device. Following the unveiling of the Xperia Ion at CES, it's emerged today that Sony has filed to trademark the name "Xperia Sola" at the U.S. Trademark and Patents Office, as well as its European counterpart the OHIM.

What such a product might eventually be is anyone's guess. A few possibilities could lie in the recently-leaked international roadmap.

However, the registration of a trademark doesn't guarantee that any product with that name will appear — we've seen manufacturers snap up trademarks without using them in the past. But we have to admit that the "Xpreia Sola" name would certainly fit in with Sony's established nomenclature.

Any wild guesses about what, if anything, the "Xperia Sola" might turn out to be? Shout out in the comments!

Source: USPTO, OHIM; via: MobileSyrup

Brandon Watson, a major player in the resurrection of Microsoft's Windows Phone OS, specifically in his work with developers, has taken a job with Amazon. Watson confirmed his departure Friday on Twitter, and ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley tracked down that he'll be director of the Kindle Cross-Platform Team. Foley says that makes him responsible for for all of the first- and third-party Kindle apps, which would include Android's own Amazon Kindle application.

Said Watson:

The rumors are true. The team is in great hands. I'll miss working on #wpdev. I will [miss] the community, but won't be a stranger.

With a high-profile name like Watson, who was one of Microsoft's biggest cheerleaders for the revived Windows Phone platform (and a hell of a nice dude — I've met him a couple times), you can't help but wonder what else Amazon has up its sleeve. Amazon's running what is believe to be the most successful forked version of Android with its Kindle Fire e-reader/tablet, along with its wildly successful Amazon Appstore. And now Amazon's picked up some serious Microsoft talent. 

No doubt that if anyone has the traditional manufacturers looking over their shoulders a little bit, especially in the tablet space, it's Amazon. On the other hand, while the Kindle family (and Kindle Fire in particular) may be moving a bunch of units — up 177 percent over last year — maybe they looked at Amazon's profit and shrugged. Either way, things are getting interesting.

Source: @brandonwatson, ZDNet; via WPCentral