Category: Editorials

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Apple iPad Pro: Is it really a Surface Pro Killer?

Tech comparisons often fall into confirmation bias, telling people what they want to hear. Let’s get my personal bias out of the way right now. I’m a big fan of Microsoft’s current strategy of consolidating their operating systems under Windows 10, and making sure you can access all of their services no matter which phone, tablet, or computer you use.

Apple keynote wwdc 2015Screenshot (26)_resultApple made a lot of news yesterday announcing new iPhones, a new Apple TV, Apple Watch updates, and the iPad Pro. It seems pretty clear that Apple has the Surface Pro in their sites, as Microsoft is starting to build a little momentum with their “PC in a Tablet Shell” formula. There was a lot of talk from Apple over how their new tablets and phones were “desktop powerful” devices thanks to new mobile processors.

Pricing, form factor, accessories, even the apps showcased, Apple claims they have the solution for mobile productivity. How does their new iPad Pro compare to the older Surface Pro 3? Let’s take a look.

Continue reading “Apple iPad Pro: Is it really a Surface Pro Killer?”

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Where Leo Laporte “Demonstrates” How Easy it is to Damage the Note 5’s S-Pen…

After writing my cranky rant about this S-Pen problem yesterday, I got a number of tweets and replies about how this issue is completely overblown, and everyone should just know (I guess innately?) that you shouldn’t do this. Apparently we’re all born with the evolutionary knowledge NOT to EVER slide an S-Pen into a Note 5 backwards.

Thankfully Leo Laporte from This Week in Tech was gracious enough to sacrifice his Note 5 for the cause. Live on the air, in discussing the story, he was fiddling around with his Note 5, and fell for the S-Pen trap.

This video should stand as a clear warning to NOT even THINK about TRYING to insert your S-Pen backwards, even though it slides in easily. There is no tactile feel for when you’ve gone too far, or when the internal latch system will clamp and ruin your day.

Continue reading “Where Leo Laporte “Demonstrates” How Easy it is to Damage the Note 5’s S-Pen…”

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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 “PenGate” – Doctor it HURTS When I Do This…

So the Doctor replies “then stop doing that”.

Why is this joke funny? Because we all recognize that the doctor isn’t really addressing the problem, and we’ve all shared in situations where we’ve felt an issue has been ignored or dismissed.

The Galaxy Note 5 suffers from a design flaw. If you insert the S-Pen into the stylus cavity the wrong way, it breaks the sensors in the phone which detect the S-Pen has been removed. In some cases, the Pen can become lodged in the slot, making removal extremely difficult.

samsung s-pen pengate galaxy note 5 design flaw somegadgetguySamsung’s official response to this issue?

We highly recommend our Galaxy Note5 users follow the instructions in the user guide to ensure there are no issues.

“Just don’t do that, and you’ll be fine.”

Continue reading “Samsung Galaxy Note 5 “PenGate” – Doctor it HURTS When I Do This…”

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Will Apple Ever Kill the 16GB iPhone?

It’s that time folks. We’re getting close enough to the launch of a new iPhone for the rumor mill to kick into high gear. Around this time last year, many were praising the merits of sapphire for phone screens, only to have Apple omit that particular lifestyle feature.

Now with the 6S and 6S+ on the horizon, iOS fans are wondering if we’ll see improvements to storage.

This generation, Apple took a great step up for their mid-tier iPhone. Instead of spending $100 to bump up your phone to 32GB, you would receive a whopping 64GB. Unfortunately the base model iPhone remained at 16GB, which is a bit lean for a modern smartphone. Even 32GB can feel a bit cramped these days.

We’re expecting improvements to the camera, likely resulting in larger photos and video files. Phones are often a primary device for storing music, our apps are getting more demanding, and OS updates require a certain percentage of your storage to be unused and available. We ask a lot of our smartphones, and lacking the ability to upgrade the storage on an iPhone means users have to monitor their geebees very closely on that first tier iPhone. Continue reading “Will Apple Ever Kill the 16GB iPhone?”

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Ellen Pao Steps Down as Reddit Interim CEO, Which Probably Won’t Change Much…

ellen pao steps down as Reddit ceoIt’s been an interesting couple of weeks at Reddit. The self-proclaimed “Front Page of the Internet” has been in a state of transition, as admins and investors work towards better monetizing the service.

Ellen Pao’s brief trek as CEO was peppered with controversy. Redditors questioned her policy regarding “safe places” after the admin team banned sub-reddits like Fat People Hate, but left racist haven Coon Town intact. Reddit’s community places a fairly high value on “authenticity”, and Pao’s personal life seemed to rub many the wrong way. High profile lawsuits regarding gender discrimination, and a husband accused of millions of dollars worth of investment fraud, fed an unending examination of her actions, policy, and whether she was the right fit for CEO of a social news aggregate built on volunteer labor.

Recently, the firing of a high profile community admin, responsible for coordinating the wildly popular AMA question and answer sessions, threw more fuel on a smoldering fire. Moderators, volunteers in charge of managing individual sub-reddits, protested by blocking access to their specific forums.

Ellen Pao took to traditional media to apologize for missteps and miscommunications, but this only added to the ire, for many it was further illustration of how out of touch Pao was with the Reddit brand and community. A petition calling for her removal as CEO quickly topped 200,000 signatures. Continue reading “Ellen Pao Steps Down as Reddit Interim CEO, Which Probably Won’t Change Much…”

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Dear Google: I Need Better Performance NOT Prettier Software…

Lollipop and Material Design are starting to filter out to more Android handsets. LG G3 and G Flex 2, Galaxy Note 4 and S6. Unfortunately my experiences have been somewhat mixed.

Google has taken some interesting steps in improving the look and feel of their newest operating system. Nice sliding transitions and animations, yet I’ve found issues with phones lagging and stuttering while multi-tasking. Button presses delayed long enough to make the user question whether the press was registered at all.

Screenshot_2015-05-08-09-58-40Most recently, formatting on Material Design apps breaking functionality. Running my Youtube channel, I LIVE out of the Youtube Creator app which helps me manage comments on my videos. It recently got a Material Design makeover! Terrific! It’ll be prettier to interact with!

Except, the app wont scroll up to show the comments field anymore.  The keyboard blocks the end of the comment and the area where I’d reply. Prettier doesn’t help me if I can’t interact easily with viewers while I’m on the go.

Of course it’ll get fixed in a future update, but I’m getting tired of waiting out a future update to address real and current concerns. I’m tired of the promise that eventually these things will work better in the future, especially when “updates” make them work less good than they used to work on older software.

Such is progress I suppose…

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I Ask You: How Should I Produce an iPhone vs LG Camera Comparison?

I NEED YOUR HELP!
I want to do a video quality showdown between the iPhone 6 and the LG G Flex 2, similar to the recent LG vs Nokia video we just published. Now, I think you should always produce the highest quality samples that a phone can shoot, but that means 1080p video on the iPhone and UHD video on the G Flex 2. I don’t want to produce four different videos to compare these two phones, so what makes the most sense for a SINGLE comparison video?

I’m taking this poll VERY seriously as whatever the general winner is here, will influence how I shoot and produce a comparison video. These videos often take me a couple DAYS to shoot and edit. Beyond just voting, comments and sharing will be GREATLY appreciated, as I want this to be as professional a comparison as I am able to create.


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Samsung Responds to SquareTrade “Bendgate” Galaxy S6 Edge Video

Recently, gadget insurance company SquareTrade made some waves showing off a stress test of the Galaxy S6 Edge, claiming it had bending issues similar to the iPhone 6 Plus, and that it wasn’t as “bend resistant” as the HTC One M9.

Samsung today replied with a video showing how they test the durability of their phones, comparing it to the amount of force necessary to snap five pencils.

While a three point test is certainly dramatic, what’s concerned me about phone durability, since the release of the iPhone 6, has been deformation over time, especially uber-thin phones utilizing aluminum shells.

It’s all well and good that a phone can bounce back from one brief instance of extreme force, but how does it hold up to months of lower pressure “influence” exerted by pockets and the contours of the human body. In that regard, having a glass back plate might actually be a benefit, and we’ve seen (anecdotally) that the Gorilla Glass 4 shell seems pretty durable.

Does this response from Samsung assuage your concerns over claims of another “Bendgate”? Drop us a comment, and you can read Samsung’s full response below.

Continue reading “Samsung Responds to SquareTrade “Bendgate” Galaxy S6 Edge Video”

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