The Samsung Gear S : The stand-alone-wristphone that isn’t quite there yet.

Jan 31

One of the things I fondly remember from my childhood are those cool sci-fi shows where the characters got to communicate with each other via their wristband-communicators. Whether it was David Hassellhoff calling his talking car in Knightrider or the crew of the Liberator communicating with their ship in Blakes 7 .. I thought it was the most awesome thing ! How cool would it be if you could make a call .. with your watch ?

Slide into ‘Second Gear’

A couple of weeks ago I got that chance. Samsung sent us a copy of their new “Gear S” smartwatch. Having owned it successor, the “Gear 1” I was familiar with Samsung’s approach to smartwatch technology. The “Gear 1” was pretty cool to use for notifications or even updating your calendar by using your voice .. but the “Gear S” had one more trick up its sleeve. It didn’t require to be paired with a phone at all. This was a stand-alone-all-on-its-own-wrist phone. Of course we had to try it out.

samsung-gear-s-product-photos02

“A prop from Minority report.”

Compared to the ‘First gear’ , the ‘Second Gear’ in Samsungs smartwatch race (#pun intented) looks like it is a prop from ‘Minority Report’.  The watch/phone  has  very futuristic design with a curved 2 inch Amoled display in a white plastic casing. The wrist strap IS adjustable for the more delicate wrists, but the general curvature of the actual smartwatch is of course static.  The Gear S comes with all the bells and whistles a regular smartwatch has (Bluetooth, Onboard camera, speaker, microphone) but adds a heartrate monitor, a barometer (yes !) a UV-light sensor (ok ?) and a compass to the mix. But in order to stand on its own (without a phone) it also comes with Wifi and 3G. The dual core 1 ghz processor,4 gigs of internal storage and 512 megs of ram make this Samsungs first actual “phone” running the Tizen operating system.

“Please use a companion device to install this stand alone device”

First impressions. We were quite impressed taking the Gear S out of the box. The bright white model we got immediately transfixed the female population of the Knightwise.com headquarters but it was the screen that both sexes agreed on as being the real eye-catcher. So it was time to boot up this ‘stand alone’ smartwatch and after 5 seconds we bumped into one major disappointment. “Please connect to Gear manager to setup” was the first thing we read on this future proof wristwatch. In order to setup a device that touts you can use as a ‘phone’ without needing a phone .. you need to connect it to .. a phone (a SAMSUNG phone). So for those of you that don’t HAVE a smartphone or don’t have a SAMSUNG smartphone , setting up the Gear S is not possible. MAJOR disappointment ! We managed to get trough this initial hurdle but it was not the last time the Gear S screamed for a brand-like companion. To install additional apps we also needed the Gear manager. Bummer 🙁

Aside from this initial discrepancy (A stand alone device needing a phone to become fully operational), working with the Gear S was quite pleasant. The display is pretty, the interface does not lag (perhaps its because its running Tizen and not Touchwizz) and reading your notifications is way cooler on the Gear S then on the other Gear smartwatches due to the higher  screen resolution. But lets be honest : A 2 inch screen is not something you use to surf the web or type out long emails (although with the Gear S you could theoretically do just that) Samsung’s voice recognition software is there to help you out with that but it comes up a little short compared to the Google voice recognition service. Still it was able to assist us in ‘making the call’.

“Hello ?  Mom ?”

Calling our mom from our smartwatch was not as futuristic as we thought it would be. Aside from the stares we got from people around us (I was doing this in a coffee shop where the average age is 98) you don’t have a very ‘discrete’ phone-call (The other party is on speakerphone). So when mom asked me ‘Why I don’t visit her more often” I got a lot of judgmental stares from the grannies around me . I wished I could have summoned my talking car … but we aren’t quite there yet.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Conclusion : The Gear S is a great first failed attempt at a stand-alone smartwatch. First of all : The stand alone part : If you need another Samsung device to setup your stand-alone Samsung watch somebody didn’t think things through. Second : Although bright, crisp and lag-less : The screen is just too small to type up emails and surf the web. If voice-control fails you (for example you want to send a text message in Dutch) and you have to use the keyboard .. your GRANNY will get out more words per minute on her Nokia 3310.  And finally: WE aren’t quite ready yet. Lets face it, we only just got used to not staring at people who call handsfree while walking down the street. (They sometimes hold their phones in front of them, just to show people they aren’t nuts) This makes calling people from your wristwatch just a little weird (if you are not David Hasselhoff), at least for now.

However : When you are looking for a top of the line smartwatch to accompany your Samsung smartPHONE , don’t go for the Gear 2, the Gear fit or the Gear Neo : Go for this one. Paired with an actual phone it will make a great ‘companion’ device with a decent screen, a fast processor and awesome looks. At 399 euro’s it IS a bit hefty in price but if this kind of swag is your thing : Go for it.

Links : The Samsung Gear S.

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kw906 : “Cyber Zen”

Jan 29

This week we look for ways to make technology work for you instead of the other way around. No really ! Have you noticed how you are constantly interrupted by notifications from your smartphone ? How you spend hours on Social media without doing anything productive ? How adds and Tv sometimes make you feel agitated ? We go on a quest for some practical tips to cyber-zen your lifestyle. So lets tame your content stream and your devices so they will work for you .. instead of the other way around.

Shownotes.

  • Introduction
  • Getting rid of cable tv
  • Taming my devices
  • The power of “Ding”
  • The “Ding” hierarchy
  • The results
  • Signoff.

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Review : The Thule Vectros 13” Macbook Bumper.

Jan 27

If I have to choose my favourite Thule product I would have to say its the black ski-boxes people strap to the top of their car. Not because I like to ski, but because those things look like a Photon Torpedo from Star Trek. And lets face it : Who doesn’t want to drive around armed with a photon torpedo. But that is not what we are going to talk about today. Instead we take a look at the Thule Vectros ‘Bumper’ case for the 13 inch Retina Macbook Pro.

“Like a G-string for your laptop”

We love ourselves some Thule ! The Thule Messenger bag we reviewed kept our laptops high and dry during the most ravenous of Thunderstorms. So when we got this “bumper case” like contraption to test we asked ourselves : Why does this look like a thong ?

In fairness, it doesn’t. The Vectros is made up out of 2 rubberised “squares” that snap to the top and the bottom of your laptop to protect it from harm should it encounter solid objects at a relative speed. Optionally you can also use the transparent plastic slate to fill up the space in the middle of the bumper case so even the center top and bottom half our your macbook are protected from scratches.

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How does it work ?
Basically you take the lower ‘square’ of the velcro and put it down on the table. You can place the transparent piece of plastic in the middle if you want to ‘fill up’ the gap. Then you ‘snap in’ your Macbook. You take the top half , repeat the process and snap the Vectros around your screen. Done.

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How does it feel
Once mounted the whole thing feels surprisingly solid. It adds some thickness to your Macbook but not in a bad way. You mac looks “ruggedised” and ,thanks to the rubber pads, is mounted much more firmly on the table. Ports are still easily accessible and (unlike the plastic hardcovers) the device has more chance to ‘breathe’. (Your Macbook cools down in part via its unibody casing, where the hard plastic covers trap the heat inside, the thin plastic slate covering the center of your Mac keeps it a lot cooler).

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What do we think
We didn’t do the drop test but are pretty sure the ‘bumper’ can save you when you drop your Mac (Just don’t drop it out of a plane). While the bumper snaps on nicely, the locking latch on the lid might be prone to some wear and tear. Placing the plastic cover in the center takes a little patience but once its in place .. it stays there. The Vectros is a pretty good solution to keep your gear safe and making your Mac look like it’s owned by Chuck Norris .. in a good way. At a fairly hefty 79 euro’s (69,99 Pounds in the UK)  its not cheap but .. fixing a dented laptop ain’t cheap either.

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Links.

We would like to thank Thule for sending us this review item on which we stated this review.

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How a slower computer can make you more productive.

Jan 08

The black, featureless background is only broken by the repetitious blinking of the amber colored cursor
. Its Rhythmic pulsing reminds that I need to press a multitude of keys on the keyboard to make these words appear. Aside from a small line of text below informing me of how many lines, words and characters I have produced, there are no other options to select, no notifications, suggestions or other distractions.

old-terminal

By modern day standards this application lacks a massive amount of features. No markup menu, word suggestions, contextual menu’s or share buttons. Just amber words on a black background. Yet this is one of the most productive pieces of software on my computer : It lets me write these very articles.

The computer I am running this application on is equally “under powered” by today’s norm. (and under priced) My Raspberry Pi computer with its hilariously low amount of memory, cpu power and storage is possibly less powerful then the smartphone in my pocket, yet I’ve chosen to make it my machine of choice ? Why ?

Sometimes its just “too much”.

Well, I have a love-hate relationship with modern day computers. Their powerful Cpu’s and elaborate operating systems are the very pinnacle of our digital existence. The come packed with a plethora of options and possibilities they can accommodate our every need. That however is also their undoing. In tandem with over-connected applications and services who want to do nothing else then to have you either tweak or tweet whatever you are doing .. to the point where your productivity is reduced to zero. Sometimes its just “too much”.

That is why I took the plunge and went back to “basics” for a couple of days. Using the Raspberry pi and in its very moderate capacity helped me re-think and re-evaluate what I really needed to be productive.

The Raspbian operating system isn’t packed with a lot of features. Just the basics to help you do what you need to get done. There are some applications installed , but when choosing extra software you have to keep the limited “power of the pie” in mind. Hence I started thinking about what applications I needed to be productive and what the minimal requirements of those applications were.

What do we really need ? 

So, I need a browser, but does it need to have 5000 extensions ? Turns out it doesn’t. I need a word processing application but does it need to have 39 buttons ? No it doesn’t. My initial thoughts of having my creativity seriously curtailed by the limited powers of my “simple” environment were wrong. The simplified environment and “simple” applications helped me focus more on what I needed to get done.. instead of getting distracted by the tools themselves.

“Slow computing” has another advantage. It takes my browser a couple of seconds to start up (an eternity compared to my other systems) but this is a great help in the “urge to quickly check Facebook” and get distracted. I can’t have 50 browser tabs open because I don’t have the ram, but that allows me to pay more attention on the one thing i’m researching.

In short : “Slow computing” helps me focus. It gives me the time to think about things before I press another hyperlink. It is free from those over-connected distractions and it keeps me from going down a 45 minute rabbit hole just to find the ‘right wallpaper’ for my dual screen desktop. Sure I’ll bounce up against the limitations of the system… and if I do I still have my other powerful laptop waiting in the wings. But the amount of stuff I “Got Done” before I have to make that move .. is pretty amazing. Slow computing .. helps you focus ! Try it 🙂

Links : Raspbian.

Same

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The Samsung Cellphone Shopping Survival Sheet (2015)

Jan 06

When a Noob (or a “norm”) walks up to you and asks you what Samsung phone to buy, you have a problem. A problem not in the sense that you do not have the technical expertise to advise person X on his next digital purchase (You obviously have those skills since you are reading this blog) but you need an extra university degree to try to remember the hurdle of mobile devices Samsung has produced over the last two years. Sure its pretty easy to distinguish the “primary product lines” : The phablet like “Note” devices with their big screens and high specs are obviously something for the distinct power users. The “S” phones form the ‘upper class’ of the more ‘standard phone models’ … but when you try to look farther into the product spectrum it is absolute chaos. The Ace, the Young, the Neo, the Alpha, the Avant, the Core, the Star …  You will have an easier time trying to remember Elisabeth Taylors Ex-Husbands in anti-alphabetical order .. then making sense of Samsung’s mobile product line.  So lets help you out by giving you a simple list on what Samsung  phone to suggest to what type of user in 2015

Screenshot 2015-01-06 09.03.12

The Note4 and the S5

 

The Samsung “Note”

Consisting of the Note 4 and the Note 4 Edge these are the high end phablet phones with high specs when it comes to both screen resolution (5.6 inches) and processor power.

For Who.

For the serious geek who lives on his/her phone and doesn’t mind the size of in in their pocket and who don’t mind spending a couple of extra bucks and who think of their “phone” more like a digital tricorder then a standard “communicator”.

The Samsung “S” line.

Consisting of the Galaxy S5 a fairly “normal” sized phone with a high res 5.1 inch screen and a good camera.

For Who : 

Your average user who wants to spend some cash on his/her ‘phone’ and expects a good screen and a point-and-shoot camera replacement. Those who want to hang with the Apple 5s Cool kids but want and Android : Its for them.

2015-01-05 22.47.05

The Samsung A3 and A5 side by side



The Samsung A line.

Think “Galaxy S5” for “Norms”.  New in the product line, the A-line devices (at last) sport unibody metal casings (Giving them an even more premium feel then the plastic-backed Galaxy S-line). The tradeoff is a non replaceable battery and slightly lower specs when it comes to camera and screen resolution but the end result is more then enough for a good price-quality device . Models : The A6 (5.5 inch display) the  A5 (5 inch display) and the A3 (4 inch display).

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The A5 with the new positioning of the headphone jack

 

For who :

As you know we love devices that have a good “value for money” and with these phones you get a well built device with more then average specs for a good price. Good for the entry level Android user who isn’t a smartphone hipster but still wants a decent device.

2015-01-05 22.34.41

The unibody design of the A5 (Dual Sim model)

 

The J line. 

Available in the second quarter of 2015 these are the low end phones in the line. The lines consist of the Samsung J1 . A low end smartphone for a low price with a low resolution screen (480×800) and a basic processor and camera spec.

For who : 

At a cheap price this is a phone for people with moderate or low expectations of a smartphone. If playing bejewelled and snapping a picture of their dog is the pinnacle of smartphone technology , this is the phone to choose.

Conclusion.

Samsung is starting to mature in the mobile market by establishing a clear product line AND easing up on the (over)zealous use of their TouchWiz interface that has been irritating their high end customers for quite some time.  The unibody designs of the A-line phones look better then the cases on the current Galaxy S lines (which is a little awkward) but we think this is only a matter of time.

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