Why I am sick of Samsung Android devices….

 Life  No Responses »
Apr 192012
 

I currently use an iPhone.

It is an iPhone 4, not the latest, greatest 4s, but an older model. However the one wonderful feature is t at it runs the absolute latest version of iOS. This may not seem important to anyone. But to me it is nice because it means that even though the hardware is older, the feature set and bug fixes are mostly all present. True, I do not have Siri, but the OS is up to date and all bug fixes are present.

Compare that to Android.

My previous Android phone was a Samsung Infuse 4G. When I got it it was running Android 2.2, which at the time was already outdated, with 2.3 (Gingerbread) already available. As far as I am aware, there was never an official 2.3 upgrade available. I took the ‘aftermarket ROM’ route in frustration and as such I gained many bug fixes, a performance and battery life upgrade and a much nicer phone.

At the end of last year Samsung announced that it would never see an official 4.0 release. So I gave up with it. It was a very nice piece of hardware, but the OS support was terrible. I sold it…

So I purchased a lightly used iPhone 4, which has the latest updates.

Meanwhile PJ has a Galaxy SII, which once more has no official ICS update yet. It is likely that it will get an update at some point as it is ‘one the list’. We once more gave up waiting, sick of the bugs, battery issues and flakiness issues, we hacked it and gave it an upgrade to an unofficial ROM. Which is faster, considerably more stable and has better battery life.

Meanwhile I have a Samsung Galaxy TAB 10.1.

This runs the ‘Honeycomb’ release of Android. Since I got it about a year ago it has received exactly one update. 4.0 (ICS) has been promised for a considerable time, but once more it has not yet arrived.

As a habitual early adopter I now realize that Samsung devices are not for me…..

 Posted by admin at 6:45 am  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Thank you AT&T

 Life  No Responses »
Feb 012012
 

I have been an AT&T customer for quite a few years and I have rarely had a bad word to say about them. I have rarely experienced anything other than pretty good service from them. Their prices have never seemed too bad for our needs either. We have a grandfathered ‘unlimited’ data plan as well as a couple of tablet plans. I get a decent corporate discount too. I often read about the ‘evil empire’ and their terrible service, but apart from a couple of local ‘low signal’ spots I rarely have a phone that does not work.

Virtually without fail AT&T have managed to resolve my issues, usually first time too.

I therefore often do not understand the hate that seems to be directed to them.

Last night Dom came over, in need of a loaner phone. He is on T-Mobile and he is not due for an upgrade until March. He is also a Blackberry user and for reasons that are probably more related to RIM’s declining quality, they barely last ‘five minutes’. It seems that he is constantly complaining that his phone is broken. Last night his Phone was showing a serious screen issue, only the left hand ¼ of the screen was showing anything other than something that looked like TV noise. We tried the usual BB things, swear at it, pulling the battery, slamming it against the wall and threatening it with violence – none of this worked.

Continue reading “Thank you AT&T” »

 Posted by admin at 6:00 am

Dear Hollywood

 Life  No Responses »
Jan 252012
 

Your business model is broken and trying to fix it by hounding those that share content is probably not the best way to fix it.

 Let me explain.

A number of major studios have thrown their money behind a new digital content distribution system called ‘UltraViolet’, that in theory at least, allows you to rent or purchase a movie and watch it on multiple devices.

On the surface this is great.  Really, truly this is a great thing. Rather than rent a DVD or BluRay from Netflix, Blockbuster or RedBox for a couple of dollars, you can rent one directly from the studio; and you can watch the movie on any device.

Except an iPad, iPhone, Android Phone, Android Tablet, or a non-smart TV or connected device that does not support UltraViolet.

Oh and you need a fast internet connection too.

All of these are minor issues though and nothing a small investment in hardware or bandwidth cannot solve. Assuming of course the movies are available fairly quickly after they leave the cinema and that they are relatively inexpensive to rent/buy.

Sadly neither is true, a ‘High Definition’ movie is $19.99 and an ‘SD’ movie is $12.99 and the current plan appears to be to release the movies at the same time as the DVD/Blu-Ray.  Generally I can get most DVDs shipped to my door from amazon.com for about $10 or I can pay less than $20 for a BluRay, again, shipped to my door. Often Amazon will sell off movies a few months after release for $5 – $8 and there are many BluRays available for less then $10.

For example, one of the sixty movies that Paramount are launching with is ‘Rango’, their SD price is $12.99, the HD price is $19.99

  • I can rent the DVD from Redbox for $1.29 or $3.99 will get me the BluRay from Blockbuster.
  • I can buy the DVD that comes with a free digital copy that I can play on my tablet for $12.49
  • I can buy the BluRay/DVD/Digital Copy combo for $19.49
  • I can buy it on iTunes for $19.99 (HD)
  • I can watch it on Cinemax as a part of my $9.99 add-on to my basic cable subscription
  • I can buy it on Amazon Video On-Demand for $14.99 (HD Version)
  • It will be on Basic cable soon, so I can wait.
  • It is on torrentsRus with 10 million seeders for freeez !!!!1111oneoneeleven

In other words, UltraViolet, for this example movie is actually the most expensive (along with iTunes) and easily the least convenient.

Continue reading “Dear Hollywood” »

 Posted by admin at 6:30 am

Why am I using an iPhone 4 ?

 Life  No Responses »
Dec 302011
 

2011 was a crazy year for cell phone technology, I began the year with a HTC Aria running Android. I had replaced my iPhone 3GS with this on release of the iPhone 4. The Apple ‘walled garden’ finally pushing me back to Android.

The Aria briefly had a cousin in tow. I got a Samsung galaxy tab which I utterly adored. Unfortunately this was trashed and I replaced it with a nook color which is a hacker delight.

The Aria gave way to another HTC, this time a large screen Inspire. Which within a couple of weeks gave way to a Samsung Infuse with an even larger screen. The size of the screen matters as you get older.

All of these android devices gained custom roms. Wherever possible I use CyanogenMod ROMs as they are fast, minimalist and close to the standard Android experience than it is possible to find elsewhere.

My major gripe with Android is that the combination of carrier and manufacturer customization often make the android experience worse than the standard.

The Android OS is utterly fantastic. The standard UI is brilliant, the deep integration with google services rocks harder than Mötorhead in their prime. The variety of devices and screen sizes pander to everyone. Virtually any combination of carrier, screen size and speed is available.

Continue reading “Why am I using an iPhone 4 ?” »

 Posted by admin at 10:41 am  Tagged with: , , , ,

Applebook vs Amoogle vs Netflix ?

 Life  No Responses »
Oct 042011
 

Forget the iPhone 4s that was announced today.

It is not not really that relevant.

The new 4s is an incremental upgrade that sticks rigidly to the Apple design briefs, Launch a product, refine it then redefine it. The iPhone 5 will be the redefinition, the 4s is the 3g or the 3gs for the current cycle.

The new iPod touch in white is nice, the new 64GB capacity is nice, but for $399 I will pass for a while.

There was nothing in that product launch that stood out as ‘new’. The one thing that did stand out for me is that Apple is continuing the battle for the living room. Allowing you to pair your phone with an AppleTV and effectively play a movie or other content on a big screen.

Continue reading “Applebook vs Amoogle vs Netflix ?” »

 Posted by admin at 8:19 pm

Belief and Cultural Differences.

 Life  1 Response »
Jan 102011
 

Of the many cultural differences between living in the UK and the US, probably the single biggest difference revolves around belief.

In the UK, belief is very much personal, foisting ones belief onto friends and colleagues is seen as ‘bad form’ and is something that is rarely done. In general this type of behavior is restricted to the more ‘extreme’ groups. Jehovah’s witnesses, Mormons and the minority but vocal ‘Born again’ folks. In general though it is considered to be ‘poor form’ to even discuss your religious stance.

Many English churches are lovely buildings, in the village that I lived in as a teenager, we had a simply beautiful church, it was the center-point of the village and a landmark in many ways. As a family we went to church on an irregular basis, but as far as I can remember, my church attendance, or otherwise in later years, was simply not a subject of any conversation with friends and colleagues. Continue reading “Belief and Cultural Differences.” »

 Posted by emaren at 8:14 pm

1220 miles in a Pontiac Vibe

 Life  No Responses »
Jan 072011
 

A Pontiac Vibe last Tuesday

My  MINI Cooper S has been in the bodyshop since some time before Christmas and hopefully I will be back behind the wheel later on today.

My ‘Rental Car’ this time around is a Pontiac Vibe.

The Vibe was a joint venture between Toyota and Pontiac, with Toyota selling the Matrix and Pontiac the Vibe.

A number of years ago we had a Matrix and I loved it. It was roomy, comfortable, economical, practical and it even handled fairly well. It was fast enough to earn me a speeding ticket in Arizona (96mph) and apart from an odd issue with the ignition barrel it was very reliable.  I often regret selling it.

The Pontiac Vibe was the same car. Except it was ‘adjusted’ to make it less Japanese and more appealing to mainstream America. The first version of the Vibe had truly hideous plastic cladding and a roof rack, plus gaudy chrome-look wheel trims. The suspension settings where softened and the ride height increased.

It sold pretty poorly.

The second generation Vibe was less ‘Americanized’ and was the version that I have just spent 1220 miles driving.

First impressions count for a lot. Continue reading “1220 miles in a Pontiac Vibe” »

 Posted by emaren at 6:00 pm

A Bit Bloody Sensitive…..

 Life  3 Responses »
Dec 162010
 

I guess you learn a little every day.

Saying ‘god damn‘ is, apparently, about as extreme an expletive as it is possible to use when in the company of a christian. As I recently upset someone by defending a friend that used the expression I learned a lot in a short space of time.

So I guess that it is time to temper my language somewhat and have therefore decided that rather than  yelling ‘god damn‘, I will replace the phrase with something less offensive.

Doing a little research turned up the following list of potential replacements….. Continue reading “A Bit Bloody Sensitive…..” »

 Posted by admin at 10:03 pm

A tale of two security operatives…..

 Life  No Responses »
Dec 102010
 

I recently flew to Kansas on a business trip. Obviously this necessitated a little air travel and obviously this was going to mean a couple of encounters with the TSA.

The plan was to fly out of John Wayne airport in Santa Ana, an airport that is pretty local to me. I arrived in plenty of time for my (really early) flight, grabbed my tickets and headed to security.

OK, let me rewind a tad, prior to embarking on the trip I made sure that I was ‘in compliance’ as far as I could possibly be, no liquids, beyond a couple of items in my toiletries bag, no knives, guns, rocket propelled grenade launchers or nail clippers and very little metal ‘on my persons’. Apart from a Seiko Orange Monster wrist watch. Continue reading “A tale of two security operatives…..” »

 Posted by emaren at 2:25 pm

Imagine changing the lyrics, it’s easy if you try…..

 Life  1 Response »
Dec 092010
 

Driving to work this morning, channel hopping on the radio, I stumbled across the John Lennon classic ‘Imagine’.

Obviously I started to sing along to it, badly….

Then I realized that the song had been changed and I nearly drove off the road in a rage.

These are the original lyrics from the second verse, I just looked them up….

Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do

No need to kill or die for and no religions too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

The end of the second line had been changed to ‘…and one religion too’ Continue reading “Imagine changing the lyrics, it’s easy if you try…..” »

 Posted by emaren at 2:58 pm
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