We conclude an unexpected trio of candid kids-on-the-street shots (see Days 125 and 126) with the delightfully composed self-titled “Takeway”. Gerry Balding captured the young ladies on Oct. 5, 2013, using the Fujifilm X10. The […]
Category: Tech
Flickr a Day 126: ‘Don’t Move’
Continuing for a second straight day our kids-on-the-street theme, Julien Grosjean presents self-titled “Don’t Move”, captured on Oct. 24, 2014, using Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF23mmF1.4 R lens. Oh what a prime it is! Vitals: […]
Acer Chromebook 15 Display is More Than Just Big
As if my Pixel LS review isn’t enough, another Chromebook demands attention. Last week, Acer offered its maxi-model for review. FedEx delivered yesterday but I only cracked open the box this afternoon. The screen is motherfraking huge. Everything is humongous, actually.
The other big thing about the display—maybe that should be plural: IPS and 1080p. It’s the first Chromebook that my aging eyes can handle at full, native resolution. I keep the Pixel jacked down to 1440 x 956, like Toshiba Chromebook 2. Acer smartly chose a matte rather than glossy screen, which works surprisingly well. Viewing angles aren’t exceptional, but they are surprisingly good. Very, very good. Colors and contrast please, too.
Chromebook 15 isn’t the first Acer to user a matte display, but the others tend to be dim TNs. I like the company’s approach of going back to move ahead. Matte should make the IPS screen viewable just about anywhere—even outdoors in the sunlight. Reflective screens arguably give greater contrast but are overrated and way overdone.
Chromebook Pixel LS Review
Nearly perfect is how I describe Google’s newest, and only, computer. If you’re going to manufacturer one thing, then it should be exceptional, which is the other way I describe Chromebook Pixel LS. The company introduced the original in February 2013, available in two configurations. Twenty-five months later, the notebook refreshed—refined rather than revolutionized—beating Apple to market shipping a laptop with USB Type-C, which brings new connectivity and charging options.
FedEx delivered the costliest Chromebook configuration to my door on Friday the 13th, in March. I ordered the newest Pixel from Google two days earlier, within hours of the laptop’s launch. I use no other computer. It’s more than my primary PC and could be yours, too. This laptop rests at the precipice of future computing, for those open-minded enough to welcome it. This review is purposely preachy, which reasons hopefully will be apparent should you read all 1,800 words.
LG Watch Urbane Goes Onto My Wrist
Late yesterday morning, LG Watch Urbane arrived from Verizon. Turnaround is quick for anyone who wants one right way, rather than waiting for Google to ship (now 1-2 days rather than by May 8). I am rushing a first-impressions review for BetaNews, and some comparison to the Moto 360 is mandatory. If round is your taste, consider one of these two smartwatches.
Meantime, to collect my thoughts for the review and for anyone considering the Urbane, I share something sooner. Overall, I am satisfied with the initial out-of-the-box experience. Urbane is gorgeous and looks like a traditional watch. The always-on, dimmed face contributes to the effect—without bleeding dry the charge. The watch is also more functional as a timepiece, as such. I mean, shouldn’t it be?
Flickr a Day 120: ‘Peace’
Our series’ fourth month ends with, like Day 87, the Leica Camera AG M Monochrom. Ross Pollack captured the photo in Hong Kong, when he lived there. He is now stateside after residing a decade […]
Microsoft ‘Continuum’: Lucky Timing, Right Context
They say in business that timing is everything. Before Microsoft shown a spotlight on new Windows technology “Continuum”, earlier today, Gartner released a disturbing forecast strangely validating the concept.
The analyst firm predicts that currency devaluation will compel major computer manufacturers to raise prices as much as 10 percent—particularly across Europe and in Japan. Higher prices mean more consumers will do with leaner configurations, and many businesses will push back upgrades. All the while, PC makers will give customers less for more money by cutting back features to preserve margins and shifting sales priorities to markets where currencies are more buoyant.
Apple Fiscal Q2 2015 Snapshot
If there be ghosts, Tim Cook should expect sleepless nights ahead. Surely Steve Jobs can’t stand to be so overshadowed by his successor, who takes Apple where the cofounder couldn’t: Massive earnings and margins. Today, after the closing bell, the company reported yet another ridiculously blow-out quarter, largely lifted by iPhone. If the smartphone market ever collapses, Apple Armageddon will follow. In the present, momentum is unstoppable.
Some perspective: Apple’s net income was more than two-and-half times Microsoft’s during the same time period (calendar Q1 2015)—and 3.8 times that of Google. To reiterate, those comparisons are put-in-the-bank profits, not revenues. By the numbers: $58 billion in sales, $13.6 net income, and $2.33 earnings per share. Wall Street consensus was $56 billion revenue and $2.16 EPS. Year over year, revenue rose 26.6 percent and net sales by 33 percent.
Shattered Dreams: When Apple Watch Falls From the Wrist
Saturday afternoon, new Apple Watch owner Ken Lecomte posted a frightening photo to Google+: His device with shattered screen. The spider-spray pattern is eerily familiar—one seen so many times—like an iPhone clumsily dropped to floor or pavement. The fruit-logo company boasts about the gadget being a wrist computer, but should it be as easily breakable as the other that customers carry?
I contacted him yesterday, and he shared his story, providing photos that also authenticate him as the watch’s owner. The problem with Ken’s story isn’t truthfulness but lies spun around it. Fanboyism is a cancer that spreads across any tale like his. Already, accusers flame his original post and others resharing it. Apple defenders are venomous. “I’ve been amazed with the amount of negativity”, he says. “It seems a lot of people just can’t believe that Apple could make a product that could break or have a design problem”.
Meanwhile, Apple critics call for label strapgate; there have been too many “gates” already. We don’t need another caustic moniker. In this toxic climate, legitimately aggrieved customers cannot easily step forward. The focus should be the device and whether there is a design flaw or owner error.
Take the Tidal Challenge
Lossless leader Tidal has a problem. Last month’s splashy relaunch let critics control the narrative, defining the streaming service as a tool for pampering the bank accounts of already successful musicians. But Tidal is something else: Affordable HiFi streaming for the listening elite—those people who want to enjoy music the way it was engineered, produced. The streamer should be the coolest thing, but the Jay Z ownership team fraked up the marketing messaging. Problem is fixable, but correction requires aggressive advertising, promotional pricing, and extraordinary exclusives.
For more than three weeks, I have listened to nothing but Tidal, and the service should challenge everyone signing up for the 30-day trial to do likewise. There is no other way for the majority of people to appreciate the aural benefits. The majority of potential subscribers are too accustomed to the muddy, mushy, overly-bassy sound of compressed, low-fidelity AAC or MP3 files. The brain and ears need to be freed from the habitual crappy sound to which they’re accustomed. iTunes is a prison. Spotify is another. Tidal will liberate you. But you must want freedom to attain it.
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.
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.