Let's Talk Tech
Quick pro tip for you fine folks rocking the Galaxy S5. Even though it’s one of the most powerful phones on the market, doesn’t mean we can’t tweak it!
Here’s a handy trick to tighten up the animations so transitions will feel a little faster. All we have to do first is turn on the developer options in settings…
I’m leaving this one up to you folks! The pundits are weighing in on the announcement that Apple will be snatching up the love child of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine for $3.2 Billion. The general consensus? No one really knows why Apple is making this move now, or what they really stand to gain from it.
It makes some sense following the announcement that the former head of the Nokia camera division was moving to Apple, that Cupertino is looking to make a bigger multimedia push for future devices, but if the Beats buyout is approved, it’ll mark Apple’s biggest acquisition in the company’s history.
Also, Beats recently bought out HTC’s stake in the company to fly solo. At the time they discussed diversifying the brand and moving into more professional audio solutions. An Apple buyout would seem to contradict those plans.
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine Buy Beats Back From HTC
Drop me some comments below. What does Apple really stand to gain here? Does the Beats brand help restore some of Apple’s “cool factor”? Will consumers be more likely to consider Apple products if they come with Beat Audio?
Honestly, my readers out there are probably better informed than the pundits commenting on this story, so let’s speculate! Go nuts!
We posted a reminder yesterday that Google will soon be pulling support for 3rd party Google Voice clients. No big deal for people who use Android and iOS, as the Voice will likely get rolled up into the Hangouts app.
However Windows Phone users are getting caught in the cold war crossfire between Microsoft and Google, and it’s unlikely we’ll see a “Live Tiled” version of Hangouts any time soon. In the meantime, here’s how I’ll continue to use Google Voice on my Windows Phone…
Short and sweet folks. I love cooking. I love tech. I’m looking to combine those passions more, so:
What’s your favorite app to help you manage your kitchen activities?
Make sure you list what platform it works on too.
We’ll collect the list and write it up on Monday!
Let’s get this out of the way right now. The One M8 camera is good. Maybe it’s even “very good”, but over the last year we’ve seen some excellent cameras bolted onto the backs of our phones by companies like Sony and Nokia.
The M7 was my favorite camera on an Android phone of last year, and was only bested by the likes of Nokia. It lost the resolution battle with only a 4MP sensor, but the combo of larger “UltraPixels” and Optical Image Stabilization made it one of the best devices to shoot on in indoor and low light environments. Outdoor pics were very good, low light pics were gorgeous, and video was nicely smoothed out by the stabilizing hardware.
My expectations were tremendously high for the M8.
I’ve been super critical of the smartwatch. I make no effort to hide the fact that I hope people will move directly to heads up displays soon. I think they’re an evolutionary midpoint, a convenient way to continue the conversation on wearable computing started by Bluetooth headsets. Having worn watches like the Toq, Martian, and Pebble for a couple months now though, my opinion on smartwatches has changed a bit, and lately I’ve been more positive on the experience.
During my recent trip to Vancouver, I opted for a Windows Phone instead of an Android. It provided me a better camera and the ability to store maps for offline use, handy as data was something of a premium on my pre-pay SIM. Unfortunately this meant no smartwatch support. I was surprised by how much I missed wearing one… Continue reading “My Week Without a Smartwatch…”
On April 15th at 6am PDT Google will open up the Explorer program to anyone interested in owning their own heads up display.
Here’s the deal though, it’s still a BETA product, and it’s still fairly expensive. While it’s currently our best hope for a consumer, wearable, eye-level computing solution, you’ll have to pony up $1500 + Tax to grab one of your own.
I’m very positive on Glass, but it’s fairly apparent that Google hasn’t handled the launch of this project well. The general public is still fairly ignorant as to what Glass can and can not do, resulting in dramatic interpretations of privacy abuses. People have been written tickets for wearing them while driving, restaurants have asked customers to leave for wearing them, and an Explorer was even physically assaulted by a mob of people.
Google should be praised for pushing the envelope, but the Explorer experiment was flawed from the beginning. When it’s an invite only program for geeks, and the cost of entry is north of $1500, you have to expect that a statistically significant number of participants wont be the kind of people that you’d want as ambassadors for something so new. This has resulted in the coining of the term “Glasshole” to represent people who use Glass in a rude fashion. Unfortunately that term is starting to generically describe anyone with Glass, as it only takes one bad apple to taint the whole bushel. Continue reading “Anyone Can Buy Google Glass on April 15th, but Should You?”
On our recent vacation to Vancouver, I wanted to pack as minimally as possible. I have a rep in my family for packing an obscene gadget backpack, and using very little of the gear I bring. I wanted to see how minimally I could pack and still participate digitally.
Goodbye backpack.
My first task was whittling down the bag I travel with. Instead of my normal Canon backpack, or one of my Booq pro bags, I opted for a small travel camera sling. I love all the pockets and dividers you get with a camera bag, even though I wasn’t packing my DSLR.
The nice thing about a sling, it keeps everything cinched down pretty tight, while allowing me to have the use of both of my arms. I’ve started using them over my old messenger bags when I’m on the go.
Only ONE phone?!?!?
Even near home I tend to have two phones on me at any given time, so leaving the country with only one phone already had me feeling a little vulnerable. I opted for the Nokia Lumia Icon for a couple reasons. Even though it’s a Verizon phone, it’s completely unlocked. It also allowed me to leave my point and shoot camera at home, as the only compromise I’d have to make is not having a zoom lens.
After landing I grabbed a Virgin Mobile SIM card with a meager amount of data, but I pretty much relied on WiFi during my visit. Using a Nokia worked well for travel as I was able to download maps directly to my phone and use them offline with HERE Maps to get around town.
Only my Google+ usage suffered because stupid Google still won’t let us Windows Phone users upload pics and videos or use Hangouts. Pretty much every other social network was included in my touristy food pic uploads, even VK. No Google+, but I could upload to VK. How messed up is that… Continue reading “For the Traveling Geek trying to pack light… ish…”