Category: Tech

Google by Joe WilcoxApr 22, 20156:20 pm

Nexus 6 is Ready, Now I Just Need a Project Fi Invite

The waiting begins. This afternoon I asked the great Google god to bless me with an invite. If my homage is accepted, someday soon I can pay for the privilege of using the company’s new piggyback cellular phone service. The thing is so exclusive, only one smartphone is supported. It’s Nexus 6, or nothing, baby. I own one, so happens.

Project Fi switches between Sprint and T-Mobile cellular networks for core connectivity alongside wireless hotspots. That’s why I call it a piggyback service; Google is not building out its own infrastructure. Fi is contextually conceived and consumed. Nexus 6 switches networks based on location and availability. Your phone number traverses devices, providing access on laptops and tablets, too. Context is what differentiates this service from every other.

Gear by Joe WilcoxApr 20, 20158:00 pm

Moto 360 Review

A smartwatch by any other name is compromise. The question: How much are you willing to pay, if anything, for the privilege? No matter what any manufacturer promises, battery life will never be enough, particularly when daily recharging is the minimum requirement. If you use the wristwear as prescribed, no less is demanded, regardless of the device maker. None delivers daily use without sacrificing something.

Nearly all these mini-computers on the wrist aren’t smart enough. You need a phone, too. Is two of one and half-dozen of the other worth the trouble? The answer depends much on your lifestyle. If you text and drive, and can’t break the habit, a smartwatch could save your life or others. If your mobile handset feels like a ball and chain, adopting glance-and-go lifestyle can liberate you. But if your smartphone is practically surgically attached, for its frequent use, you shouldn’t add another tech accessory. If your phone battery often runs out, because you forget to plug in, don’t multiply your troubles. If you don’t wear a watch now, and haven’t for years, don’t bother.

Gear by Joe WilcoxApr 17, 20159:04 pm

Amazon Warehouse Makes Me Mad

Yesterday, I made the mistake of ordering Harman/Kardon Nova speakers from Amazon Warehouse, which advertised: “Used, Like New. Item will come in original packaging. Packaging may be damaged. All accessories are present and undamaged”. Present, yes. Undamaged, no.

A cord connects the two speakers together, but the pins on one end were badly out of alignment. I did try to straighten out the damn things but failed. I’m not sure success would have been better than what happened: Demanding a refund (that will take days); writing a stinging one-star review; and reboxing and returning the Nova.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 16, 20157:01 am

Flickr a Day 106: ‘La Nave de Juan Diego’

Today’s selection comes with a question: Does the effect appeal to you? Computer scientist by day, photographer the rest of the time, Pedro Szekely is a fan of HDR—high dynamic range—techniques for shooting and processing images. Done right, the method can add great depth to the final photo, particularly when taken in unfavorable conditions, such as low or harshly-mixed lighting.

Self-titled “La Nave de Juan Diego”, captured on July 10, 2013, is one of Pedro’s better photos using HDR. On Day 105, we saw example of a photographer who years later decided the original was better than the HDR composite. By contrast, given the high view count of this photo, more than 22,000, and that of other renders in the photostream, many, many other people presumably prefer Pedro’s punchy style.

Web by Joe WilcoxApr 16, 20154:19 am

Amazon Brews Unexpected Coffee Deal

I best be watchful, for my wife is smarter than she pretends to be. If not, she’s the mother of all coincidence. Because by all appearances, the woman used the vendor online tracking everyone suspects to snake a great discount from Amazon. Maybe you can turn to advantage persistant invasion of your privacy.

Our story starts on Feb. 11, 2015, when following days of price comparisons she ordered a 12-pack of one pound Café Bustelo from the Internet retailer. Price: $52.90. As we consumed coffee, she returned to Amazon on March 17, when a shocker waited: Same item cost $69.31. Ah, yeah. That’s a 31 percent increase. But by apparently gaming the system, she later purchased for 19 percent less than previously paid.

Money by Joe WilcoxApr 14, 20155:03 pm

What Sucks about .Sucks Domains

As someone whose name also is his brand (welcome to 21st-century journalism), I watch with interest the new .sucks top-level domain, which is available for select preregistration through May 29—the only time to surely secure your .sucks. Yesterday, i looked to a reputable registrar to see what joewilcox.sucks would cost me. Cough, cough: $3,797.99 now, during the so-called Priority Access (e.g., Sunrise) period, or $407.98 when general pre-reg starts in June.

The new TLD is just one among hundreds of available or forthcoming domain extensions sanctioned by governing body ICANN. “I think the motivation behind the release of all these new domains is money”, says Roger Kay, who describes the sellers as shady land speculators. “The .sucks domain is particularly nasty”, the president of consultancy Endpoint Technologies Associates emphasizes. “It’s pretty close to blackmail”. But is it really? This analysis means to help you decide.

Apple by Joe WilcoxApr 10, 20157:30 pm

What Happened to the Apple New Product Lovefest?

I typically don’t pull together review roundups, but bloggers and journalists with early access to Apple Watch and 12-inch MacBook beat the products senseless. Not even Wall Street Journal gives glowing look at the laptop; the pummeling is among the most brutal. Meanwhile, The Verge repeatedly gut-punches the smartwatch. Two themes rise from the many reviews, even those trying to cover up pooh with perfume: The devices are beautiful, but performance is a lumbering beast.

Welcome to the Tim Cook and Jony Ive era of putting form before function, and to a fault. Apple’s CEO and design chief may not be the dynamic duo shareholders hoped for. The first truly new products to emerge under Cook’s stewardship receive a collective meh, which should scare any intelligent buyer witless. Because if the past means anything, the carefully chosen coven of early reviewers embrace newfangled Apple things like the Devil clings to sinners. But not this week.

Apple by Joe WilcoxApr 9, 20158:45 pm

Apple Watch Social Sentiments Slump

As the clock passes Midnight and takes us into April 10, Apple Watch preorders begin. Sales start two weeks later. The buzz is big, but will actual demand be? Argus Insights, an analyst firm that is new to me, doesn’t see strong sales ahead. The metrics are interesting: 7.8 million social interactions and 65K online reviews about wearables.

“Though the Apple Watch will of course be successful, we don’t see the product to be wildly successful”, John Feland, Argus founder, says in a statement. I reviewed the firm’s report, which data is from September 2014 to end of March 2015, and it’s interesting reading. The question, and Apple Watch sales likely will answer: Is online social buzz a means for predicting a product’s success?

Apple by Joe WilcoxApr 8, 201512:03 pm

The Verge on Apple Watch

I am impressed with The Verge’s magazine-like presentation for the web, and the Apple Watch review is exceptional example. Presentation in PC browser or either of my Androids, Nexus 6 or 9, freshly flows from graphics to text overlay to paragraphs of experiential writing. Format, using the device during one day and fine touch of battery icon and time per major graphic, beautifully fits content and context.

Last month’s NeimanLab post “This is my next step: How The Verge wants to grow beyond tech blogging” spotlights changes ahead. “What The Verge has been doing the past six months, and will be doing for the next six, is turning itself into a site that covers pop culture, science, and even cars with the same voice they’ve trained on the world of technology”, NeimanLab assistant editor Justin Ellis explains. The Apple Watch review, posted today with a scad of others, illuminates transition underway. What impresses is writer Nilay Patel’s apparent honesty about the device’s benefits and shortcomings.

Web by Joe WilcoxApr 2, 20155:06 pm

A Tidal Wave Approaches

Fraking fantastic is my reaction to Tidal’s high-def audio.. I spent much of April Fools’ Day testing, and quite enjoying, the music service, although I am skeptical that most streaming subsctibers will care—not for $19.95 per month. Still, I see hope for the 10-buck standard quality other option if Tidal delivers enough artist exclusives and superior curation. The iTunes hegemony, and Apple’s rapidly evolving Beats Music acquisition, is all about content, much of it available nowhere else, better presented, and more easily discovered. With musicians” support, and unique content with it, maybe, just maybe, a Tidal wave approaches.

The service essentially relaunched on March 31, 2015, with a gala event hosted by Jay Z and other music superstars. He acquired Tidal, for $56 million two months earlier, but the lossless streaming service launched in October 2014. Architecture, audio quality, two-tier pricing, and streaming are essentially unchanged. New owners’ commitment, that of other artists, big marketing push, and 30-day trial distinguish Tidal today.

Gear by Joe WilcoxApr 1, 201511:20 am

‘The Last Link You Will Ever Click’

Google got me. Not because I didn’t get the joke but for how far it actually goes. Perhaps you saw the April 1st post, “Re-rethinking computing“, which introduces the project from a “rogue team of engineers…Today, we’re excited to announce a way to make your Chromebook self-browsing”. Of course, it’s an April Fools gag.

I first saw the post on my Nexus 9 tablet while exercising on the stationary bike. Later, thinking to post a quickie to Google+, I pulled up the URL from synced History on Chromebook Pixel LS. On the N9, I had clicked the post’s last link, which did nothing special but when opened on the Pixel took me to the Chrome Web Store with option to install the self-browsing extension. Now that was unexpected. What to do, what to do?

Gear by Joe WilcoxApr 1, 201512:42 am

It’s No Joke: $149 Chromebook

If Google made its big Chromebook announcement today instead of March 31st, I would think it’s an April Fools prank. Seriously? One-hundred-and-forty-nine dollar models, from Haier and Hisense, with one available from Walmart? I know some of these laptops sell for $199. But this is a new low.

Meanwhile, ASUS will, in summer, start selling something for even less: Chromebit, a $100 candy-bar size carry-all computer. Plug it into a HDMI display (say, the TV), and your Chromie lifestyle is even-more mobile. The company also will release Chromebook Flip, a tablet-convertible wannabe, sooner. Someone tell me: This isn’t a Foolie prank?