May 2013
9 posts
Calif. Teen Invents 20-Second Cell Phone Charger |... →
IT takes a teenager to solve one of the most vexing tech problems - of course, they have a very vested interest in this ;-)
6 tags
Star Trek: Into Darkness IMAX 3D vs. RealD 3D
So I went and saw Star Trek: Into Darkness again today (verdict confirmed: best Star Trek movie ever), this time in digital RealD 3D with Dolby ATMOS sound. During the IMAX presentation I did notice “ghosting” during several sequence in the movie, and in scenes like the opening with Kirk running through the forest I had trouble with fast movement with small details like leaves and...
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Do not read this until you see Star Trek: Into...
I’m not kidding. If you haven’t seen it, stop. If you think you’ll never see it, stop, because someday you will.
So I’ll just say it: Best Star Trek Movie Ever. But, only because of what came before.
You’re still reading, so you’ve seen the movie. Right? I’m serious.
OK. So this is the best Star Trek movie ever. J.J. and his team of writers...
Samsung Galaxy S4 ‘Google Edition’ to be announced... →
Wishful thinking, but if its real it might be worth looking into. I played with a friend’s S4 yesterday and really liked the hardware more than I thought I would).
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Windows 8: is ANYONE making apps for the Modern...
So I’ve had my Lenovo ThinkPad Helix for almost a week now and it is truly fantastic hardware. The first day I really struggled with it though, because in my mind what I thought I’d bought was a really fancy version of my old ASUS Transformer Prime. Once I wrapped my head around the idea that the Helix is an ultrabook laptop PC, not a “tablet” in the sense of Android and...
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Mystery of the Sony Xperia ZL Camera Sensor Solved
So Andrew Martonik’s excellent review of the Sony Xperia ZL had the answer: turns out when you use the “superior auto” camera mode, the ZL shifts the sensor into a 12MP mode. Why? Good question, but the fact is if you put the camera in “normal” mode (where you get access to all the settings) the ZL’s sensor shifts into 13MP mode and you’ll see that on the...
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Sony Xperia ZL Camera: 13 MP or 11.5 MP?
So all the spec sheets say the ZL has a 13 megapixel camera sensor. However, when you go into the settings screen the max resolution you can select is “12 MP” in the 4:3 setting, as seen here in this screen shot:
If you do the math, even 12 MP turns out to be a generous marketing number:
3920 x 2940 = 11,524,800.
That’s 11.5 MP people. I’m not really complaining per...
April 2013
16 posts
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WatchSo I made my first highlight video on the HTC One. It’s interesting that is says “made with HTC Zoe” since the highlight reels aren’t Zoes, those are the “moving” pictures/3/5 second videos you take in the camera’s Zoe mode. You’ll see a few of these in the highlight video.
Anyway, it took a little trial and error to figure out even where the...
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My Red Sony Xperia ZL (C6506) is finally here!
So I finally finished getting my HTC One setup and look what shows up today? Haven’t even booted it up yet but wanted to get some pictures up because this phone is absolutely gorgeous. My quick pictures here are close but really don’t emphasis how good the red back looks; it’s a metallic red and makes the plastic back look more like anodized aluminum. It’s a little...
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Turning on Accessibility for apps that require it...
So a few of us have discovered that apps like Light Flow, Tasker, or the Pebble watch manager that require you to turn on “Accessibility” in Android’s system settings will break the HTC One’s lock screen. By “break” I mean that when you power on the phone, instead of having to drag to unlock, you can simply tap the screen anywhere and the phone instantly...
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So I did a factory reset of my HTC One and that initially has fixed the problem with the “drag to unlock” not working (which also fixed the problem with “decline” not working - I think when the “tap” as unlocking the phone screen it was just bypassing the “decline” button action and accepting the call as it unlocked the phone).
So now I’m...
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More weirdness with the HTC One Developer Edition
So I’m having a couple of strange random issues with my HTC One Developer Edition:
The “lock screen” drag to unlock function isn’t working; it was when I first got the phone but after a few hours it change to just requiring a tap anywhere on the screen to unlock the phone. Really strange. I’ve checked around on a few forums and a couple of other people are having...
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The HTC One is running Android 4.1.2 and for me that’s actually better than 4.2.2 on my Nexus 4 for Bluetooth On my Nexus 4 if I have my Pebble connected and then I try to connect my Jawbone Bluetooth headset I get a lot of erratic behavior: music/podcast players won’t stream audio or just lock up completely, the phone becomes unstable and eventually requires a reboot, etc.
On the...
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It hasn’t even been a full day yet and I already miss my lock screen widgets from my Nexus 4 with 4.2.2. And wireless charging.
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It’s really annoying how HTC changed how you add apps to your home screens. On most Android phones you just hold down an app icon in the app tray, and that lets you “punch it through” to the home screen, where you can drag it around. On the One, you have to hold a blank spot on a home screen, then you get a the special “personalization” screen where you can add apps...
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So I got Light Flow working on the HTC One, but it’s pretty sad compared to the functionality you get on the Nexus 4 (or Galaxy Nexus for that matter). Basically all I can do is turn on the green or amber/orange LED - blinking doesn’t seem to work right at all, so it’s just a steady color. It’s better than nothing I guess. I’ll probably just use the green flashing...
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So in the end I pre-ordered the HTC One Developer...
I was pretty set on getting the T-Mobile version of the One, since it includes AWS 3G bands and dual channel HSPA+ support which the Developer Edition doesn’t. Then HTC put up the pre-order screens on Friday, and after some deliberation (or agonizing), I ended up pulling the trigger on the Dev phone.
I was a little surprised when I saw the T-Mobile phone was listed as an option on...
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Will we see the HTC One on T-Mobile in April?
I’m getting nervous about the One for T-Mobile being release this month. It could be T-Mobile is creating some space between themselves and AT&T and Sprint, who announced earlier this week that they One will be available on their networks April 19th, so when they do finally announce availability it will stand on its own. But after HTC USA plugged the AT&T/Sprint announcements on...
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AnandTech | 3DMark for Android: Performance... →
Interesting to compare the results for the current high-end Android smartphones. Nice to see the Nexus 4 holds its own against the newer HTC One. It’s pretty amazing how far the graphics have come on mobile devices.
March 2013
12 posts
Slingplayer for phones and tablets gets an update today that adds an “audio only” mode for listening to programs; that should really help battery life and data usage if the screen can be off and it’s not having to pull/process all that video data. The phone app on my Nexus 4 also has the ability to sync personal media from your phone to a Slingbox 500 with USB storage attached....
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With T-Mobile's announcements today, why get the...
T-Mobile finally made it official today that they will no longer lock their customers into 2-year contracts. You buy your phone, you pay for service, it’s that simple. The more interesting part of all this is how it affects SIM locking on their phones, specifically in my quest for an HTC One.
They basically said there phones are unlocked once you pay for them in full. If you decide to...
Lenovo ThinkPad Helix slated for April release in... →
Its getting closer …
HTC gives update on HTC One delays, availability |... →
So “before the end of April” in the US. As Phil points out, it’s really not that far away in the grand scheme of things, but it’s disappointing since all the tech sites have their reviews up and now those who want the One want it “now”. Based on the delivery of review units I think it’s clear this wasn’t HTC’s plan, but it is what it is. For me...
Bug in EA’s Origin game platform allows attackers... →
SimCity - the game that keeps on giving …
duhjwooly asked: I don't have HD TV at the moment so I don't think the 4:3 fit for the Non-Stop coverage/commercials is a waste. But otherwise I kinda agree with what you said
SonyStyle USA has a price for the Xperia ZL:... →
Ouch. I was really hoping this would be under $600. I guess that was a lot to ask for but I thought Sony would be aggressive with the unlocked model to get some traction here in the US. I really want a red one, but I don’t think I want a $759.99 red one. Even if I get a Sony credit card and get $100 off it would be $659.99.
Still no word on availability or when they’re shipping.
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Thoughts on Formula One's debut on NBC Sports...
NBC did a couple of things I really liked watching today’s F1 race from Melbourne Australia. First is the “Live on NBC” window where they continued showing the race during the commercial breaks. It wasn’t used on every break, but more than half by my estimation and we saw a couple of key pit-stops live because of it (Webber and Massa). It needs to be larger though; they...
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HTC One versus LG Nexus 4 | Android Central -... →
This comparison by Alex Dobie over at Android Central was particularly interesting to me since I have a Nexus 4 and am planning on getting an unlocked HTC One. One very surprising (to me, anyway) bit of information contained within is that the HTC One’s camera sensor’s physical dimensions have an aspect ration of 16:9 vs. the typical 4:3 seen on the Nexus 4 and just about every other...
Introducing the HTC One Developer Edition — HTC... →
So this is pretty cool - basically an unlocked US version of the HTC One with 64GB of storage for $649, which is about $60 cheaper than the 32GB unlocked European model I have on pre-order. Per HTC it will only be available in silver, however, not the black I have pre-ordered.
From every standpoint the Dev edition is what I should buy; it’s an unlocked phone made for the US market so it...
MetaWatch Strata Review & Rating | PCMag.com →
I think the reviewer gets it right for the most part. I’m trying to use my Strata with my Android 4.2.2 LG Nexus 4 and it’s been challenging, even with the updates to the firmware. The official MetaWatch manager has been really lacking in updates even though their website said we would see an update in a week or so after last month’s firmware update (another firmware update,...
February 2013
4 posts
3 tags
Amazon Cloud Player for iPad
Just downloaded this today and so far I really like it. I buy nearly all my MP3s on Amazon, so this app gives me an easy way to access my Amazon library both for streaming or downloading directly to my iPad. Since I have the 64 GB model and I usually want my “current” music on my iPad, I turned on the option to automatically download my new purchases going forward, since I mainly...
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Hands-on with the ASUS Padfone Infinity | Android... →
Conceptually I love the ASUS Padfone series. You have a single CPU/storage device, so even though you have two pieces (phone and tablet), it’s all your data on a single device regardless of what mode you’re using it in (as opposed to what I have now, a Nexus 4 and an iPad).
Yes the “cloud” mitigates a lot of the “data in two places” issue, especially tools...
January 2013
11 posts
BlackBerry Z10 review - Engadget →
The Z10 looks to be a nice device, but it’s level of refinement seems to be a couple of years behind the curve. It could have competed against my original EVO 4G, but can’t really stand up to today’s LG Nexus 4.
Nexus 4 (16GB) - Google Play →
Want a Nexus 4? You can order them again in the Play store and Google says it will ship in 1-2 weeks.
Apple releases new iPad with 128 GB of storage -... →
If the 128 GB option had been available two years ago when I bought my 3rd generation iPad I would have jumped at it. I love on board storage vs. being reliant on the cloud. Even Google is starting to figure this out by creating a 32 GB version of the Nexus 7.
But now? I’m not really interested. I’m easily able to keep 10 GB free on my 64 GB iPad and lets face it,...
Pebble smartwatch review | The Verge →
Another review of the Pebble. One thing that Nilay’s review points out is that for Android if you want a certain type of notification it has to be coded into the Pebble app that runs on your phone. I commented about this on the review site, as follows:
I don’t understand why these smartwatch manufacturers keep putting the “notification” control for Android devices inside an app that has to...
3D printing and NFC make a great looking Nexus 4... →
Kinda awesome.
Engadget's Pebble smartwatch review →
Something to read while we wait for our Pebble watches to ship. A little disappointing that the media control app doesn’t have the ability to control audio volume, especially since I can already do that on my MetaWatch, but I’m sure a 3rd party developer will step up.
If I was designing a media controller app for three buttons, they would be volume up, down and play/pause - those are...
Nexus 4, two months on ... | Android Central →
Nice summary. My only additional comments would be that since the 4.2.1 upgrade the phone has been a little wonky with things like bluetooth. It works perfectly fine but I’m forced to reboot my phone every couple of days (or it crashes on its own) to keep it working (after a couple of days it will randomly stop connecting to my Jawbone Era and other devices). I’ve looked for an app...
Audojo iPad Case for Games by Audojo — Kickstarter →
iPad games suck due to the on-screen controls. Audojo aims to fix that with this awesome looking case. I love how it communicates via the headphone jack instead of bluetooth. I can’t wait to try this with my Sphero :)
