Phone, Tablet and Gizmo Thread #0x02

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 03 Mar 2013 19:51

^^^Many places in the corporate world are locked in to IE, there is no other choice and users are not the administrators of their PCs. They can not install any other browser. There are corporate web-based applications running on the company intranet designed specifically for IE and even if the user wanted to use another browser, the application may not work with another browser. My question is what is the desktop browser share outside of the corporate world?

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 03 Mar 2013 19:57

New OS falls even further behind the pace of 2007's flop, Windows Vista

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 03 Mar 2013 20:08

How Microsoft is failing Windows 8

This is a really good article as to why Windows 8 just isn't getting acceptance.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 03 Mar 2013 22:55

Going by Mickey's alleged yearly refresh cycle of all its software from now on, I would expect Android-like trends in its adoption numbers for various versions moving forward.

Though in the end it may not matter to Mickey since they are good at backward compatibility so any monetization of their apps/services is not too dependent on user having the latest and greatest version of Windows plus users switching to versions looks like a sliding window so certain things they want to push to all users will happen within the width of that window. Till there is a viable alternative which can take on Windows as the mango abdul's OS, Mickey will make money off Windows regardless of the versions being used (both in business and consumer). OS X is hampered by the high purchase price of the devices it runs on since its a vertical offering and Linux, ChromeOS are nowhere on the scene.

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 03 Mar 2013 23:19

I got my son a 6k 7 inch tablet to play with, he loves tom the cat and the device also keeps him away from the laptop. It has a HDMI port and whenever I want to watch youtube videos on my tv I just connect it and add on a wireless keyboard / mouse combo. Plus I can also access my desktop from the tablet through a remote desktop program and can access video files on my 2 TB WD my book connected to the desktop. No video lag or anything of that sort and its very comfortable option I would say. Not the best option, but definitely the cheapest.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 04 Mar 2013 02:27

Raja Bose wrote:Then either get the cheapest small PC you can find in BestBuy ityadi (unless you want to build one) or get WiDi (WiFi display) dongles for lappie/PC and TV if you dont wanna dedicate a PC for the TV.

I am also looking for a solution but my problem is the following:

I have a Sony overhead projector in the basement which is only 1080i (as far as I can tell) which is wired to a Denon Receiver which is connected to a cable box, DVD player, and yes a VCR player. I had a 5 disc one which went phut, so using a very cheap DVD player for now. I want to upgrade this to a Blue Ray Player with WiFi Internet. Would that be enough to get stuff from Netflix?

I also have another problem - connected an optical cable ffor sound from the cable box to the Denon amp. I get the picture from Cable TV but no sound. This is driving me crazy. Actually stopped watching TV downstairs.

What is the best solution for an overhead projector which is mounted to the ceiling? The mounting is strong enough that it can take a small amount of extra weight but the device has to me small and completely remote controlled.

TIA gizmo wizards

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Mar 2013 02:40

Check Denon PCM settings and ensure cable box output on Toslink optical out. The cable box may not output HDMI and optical simultaneously.

Since you have a projector, my advice is don't skimp out on a cheap Blue Ray player. Digital artifacts and noise are annoying. Check out Oppo Blue Ray players available on Amazon. Yes $500 in cost, bit well worth it if you have a projector.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Mar 2013 02:40

Check Denon PCM settings and ensure cable box output on Toslink optical out. The cable box may not output HDMI and optical simultaneously.

Since you have a projector, my advice is don't skimp out on a cheap Blue Ray player. Digital artifacts and noise are annoying. Check out Oppo Blue Ray players available on Amazon. Yes $500 in cost, bit well worth it if you have a projector.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 04 Mar 2013 04:09

Thanks bro

$500 ... ouch. Moi was thinking of spending ~$150 may be $200 max. need to get a requisition passed from SHQ.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Mar 2013 07:31

^^^What is the screen size you have? 80" seems about minimum for a projector.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 04 Mar 2013 08:09

I have a 100".

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Mar 2013 09:40

Well, it seems your entire home theater is at least $5000 in setup, if not more, so spending for a critical component such as the Oppo BDP-103 is well worth it. You already budgeted $200, so it would be best to save up for a couple of months and then go for the Oppo. As it is warmer weather is coming in and there will be more daylight in North America, so you should be spending less time in your basement. This purchase can be deferred, but should not be cancelled. I was going to get one last fall, but will now wait until Nov. 2013.

BhairavP · Post by **BhairavP** » 04 Mar 2013 10:18

Sriman wrote:I'm also looking for a media player, but mainly to play movies on my hard drive. I'm tired of converting videos into formats my TV plays, so I want something that'll play all popular formats out there. I'm not really fussed about internet streaming, so it doesn't matter if the support for that is average. Of course, it has to be something available in India. I'm looking for something under 5k. I looked around a bit and looks like Asus O!Play Mini does everything i'm looking for and is priced around 4k. WDTV is more expensive (9k) and comes with 1 TB hard drive but i don't really need the additional storage. Any other options? Bhairav, Marten et al, what do you use?

I use an older Kaiboer H1055+ - it holds an internal 2TB drive, and bitstreams DTS-HD-MA and Dolby True-HD from my Blu-Ray ISOs.. very nice, got it for 4k a couple of years ago.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 04 Mar 2013 10:30

I have a 15 inch CRT TV (Walmart Durabrand) - very sasta & tikau onlee. To your $5000.- setup, I stake my $50.- setup!

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Mar 2013 12:27

^^^If you value it and use it with your family, then even $5000 isn't much at all. Back in the 1970s EEs prided themselves on having a good "hi-fi" system at home. Even to this day, amplifiers and speaker systems are good for nearly a life time. On one home theater forum, there are entire dhaagas dedicated to high end systems discussion at $20K+. With kids now, high end audio has taken a back seat to PED, but they will spend as much or more as in the past and have a crappy audio system.

Anyway, your priorities are probably different from us older guys.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 04 Mar 2013 23:06

RB has all kinds of doo-dahs at work. Is one of the other three his GHQ? If so he is all set. KB sure would have bathrooms with showers. Where is the need to even go home?

15" TV is a red herring, me thinks.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2013 00:00

pandrah inch is hooked to my C64 onlee. I don't have cable TV @home.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 05 Mar 2013 01:03

dunno what to do with my heavy weight 32" sony crt. the good will people would charge me to take it away for free.

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 05 Mar 2013 02:17

Raja Bose wrote:pandrah inch is hooked to my C64 onlee. I don't have cable TV @home.

That is a Commodore 64?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 Mar 2013 06:03

Canon has come up with a ff sized low light optimized sensor whose pixel nodes are 7 times larger in size than current eos1 ff sensor.
A proto device has been made and able to take much better astronomy shots and even a room lighted only by incense sticks per the report.
So perhaps a new model of eos1 targeted for low light work is inbound.

sample video in this link http://www.canon.com/news/2013/mar04e.html

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2013 09:03

Yes it is a Commodore 64.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 Mar 2013 09:28

Rb this one is for you

http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/03/why-ev ... ing-desks/

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 Mar 2013 09:32

coming to more important matters, the straight dope on medical marijuana use in silicon valley..apparently its much denser than SF/LAX

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/articl ... 322122.php

Being a computer coder takes a physical toll. The long hours sitting at a keyboard can cause back and wrist pain.
You can run to a pharmacy and pick up some Advil, or if you're in Silicon Valley, you can drop by the Palliative Health Center for some Sour Diesel.
Palliative Health is a medical marijuana dispensary, one of many in San Jose. Inside, iPads are mounted on pedestals so patients can scroll through and check prices and availability of Sour Diesel, Chem Dog and a dozen or so other strains. The shop offers marijuana-infused sodas, muffins and chocolates, and monthly classes on cooking with cannabis.
Around 40 percent of Palliative Health's clients are tech workers, said Ernie Arreola, 38, the assistant manager. "We're seeing people from some semiconductors, lots of engineers, lots of programmers," he said.
That makes sense, because the shop is a short drive from some of the area's biggest employers - Cisco Systems, Google, Adobe Systems, Apple, eBay. Also, people in Silicon Valley do like their pot.
106 pot clinics
San Jose has 106 pot clinics (four are delivery-only) - more than four times the number in San Francisco, twice as many per square mile as Los Angeles, and, according to San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, "many more than are necessary to meet the medical needs of our population."
The pot dispensary industry in San Jose really took off after 2009, when the Obama administration said it wouldn't prosecute patients "with serious illnesses" or caregivers complying with state laws. California is one of 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have medical marijuana laws.
In California, a would-be marijuana buyer must show a dispensary that a doctor has recommended the drug for migraines, arthritis, "or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief," according to the 1996 California ballot measure that started it all. Doctors charge about $40 for a recommendation. Federal law bans doctors from writing out a formal prescription.
Usage 'common'
Marijuana use is "extremely common" among tech workers, said Mark Johnson, 34, chief executive officer of Zite in San Francisco. The company, owned by Time Warner, produces an application that offers a personalized news stream on smartphones and tablets.
"People just don't care," said Johnson, who added that he smokes pot daily. "If you do, you don't need to hide it; and if you don't, you accept that there are people around you that do."
MedMar Healing Center, a half mile from Adobe headquarters, offers a marijuana-infused chocolate toffee called Veda Chews that appeals especially to the roughly 15 percent of customers who are tech workers, said Doug Chloupek, 35, its CEO and co-founder.
"It does not give the high or intoxicated feeling that you would typically get from a lot of medical cannabis," he said. "Those who are coding for 15 hours a day with cramping hands, that is the product that allows them to have mental clarity and still get pain relief."
Veda Chews sell for $13 apiece. MedMar also carries $10 joints with names such as Sour Grapes, Skunk and Super Silver Haze, along with cannabis-infused breath sprays, brownies and chocolates.
Not in workplace
None of this abundance should obscure the fact that companies don't want employees getting high at work. Cisco forbids use or possession of "illegal drugs while on Cisco-owned or leased property, during working hours, while on company business or while using company property," said Robyn Jenkins-Blum, a company spokeswoman. Adobe has a similar policy, according to a company statement. Neither company screens potential hires for drug use, which is probably just as well.
"Silicon Valley data support recent news reports citing some employers who say they are having a hard time finding candidates that can pass the pre-employment drug test," said Barry Sample, director of science and technology for Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions.
Johnson says that Silicon Valley's predilection for marijuana shouldn't come as a surprise. The tech industry employs a lot of intelligent people, he reasons, and a lot of smart people smoked marijuana in college and never lost the habit.
"Pot is an extremely functional drug. Coders can code on it, writers can write on it," he said. "I see good days ahead for pot."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/technology/articl ... z2MdUIrXZA

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2013 09:36

New Amazon API takes on Google for Android ad dollars

Takla continues on his crusade.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 05 Mar 2013 10:59

Singha wrote:Rb this one is for you
http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/03/why-ev ... ing-desks/

But I cannot think while I am walking!

member_20292 · Post by **member_20292** » 05 Mar 2013 11:11

any junta over here, has bought the blackberry 10 ?

What feedback do you bring us ? Thanks, in advance.

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 05 Mar 2013 11:15

Singha wrote:Rb this one is for you
http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/03/why-ev ... ing-desks/

Some of the IT mullahs at my workplace are programming standing up. It started with a Canadian guy and next thing you know, four others have joined him. Not for me though, I like my seat.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 05 Mar 2013 11:29

I can tolerate a stand up desk. But walking while programming?! How can one think? Already sitting down and sipping coffee my code doesnt have bugs. My bugs have code

Meanwhile ... Paparazzi catches motorma wearing Google glass during Oscar after party, wonders how she got one

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2013 11:42

^^^How is her company doing? Dont see the blimp any more from Airship ventures with the big ads of her company, flying over Palo Alto. An-124 was missing today from Moffett, I guess it got its satellite payload over the weekend.

The video however demonstrates how socially awkward wearable devices still are.

---

I have a desk which can be stood up using hydraulics - its pretty standard fare in Silly-con valley nowadays.

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 05 Mar 2013 11:43

BhairavP wrote: I use an older Kaiboer H1055+ - it holds an internal 2TB drive, and bitstreams DTS-HD-MA and Dolby True-HD from my Blu-Ray ISOs.. very nice, got it for 4k a couple of years ago.

Thanks, will check if it's still available or if an equivalent exists.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 05 Mar 2013 11:48

Raja Bose wrote:^^^How is her company doing? Dont see the blimp any more from Airship ventures with the big ads of her company, flying over Palo Alto. An-124 was missing today from Moffett, I guess it got its satellite payload over the weekend.

The video however demonstrates how socially awkward wearable devices still are.

Did you see the article by Steve Mann in IEEE Spectrum about Google Glass? The fellow seems to be brilliant .... and strange.

And why is Pranav Mistry getting all the Kudos for Sixth Sense hain ji? Steve Mann has described an exact same system decades back *and* called it sixth sense! Mistry is more marketable when compared to the weirdo Mann? Or is it the MIT halo?

http://www.eyetap.org/papers/docs/telepointer.pdf

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2013 12:06

Steve Mann is one of the pioneers of wearable displays and wears one himself full-time. Once he got 'assaulted' in Paris by some McDonald employees for wearing one. BTW he got his pee-chaddi from MIT so it can't be the MIT halo.

One can't blame Pranav Mistry (actually it was his advisor Patty Maes who did the PR) since media attention is rarely a function of who innovated first, rather it is a function of who marketed better. Even Chacha's Glass whether the form factor or the technology behind it is not new (it dates back to early late 90s - 2000s iirc) but it is just positioned in a much better, marketable way.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 05 Mar 2013 12:15

There is a key difference:

When companies make products, it is not who came first which counts. Take the iPhunwa. Palm pilot had a touch screen PDA before that and Apple newton before that. There were numerous windows phunwa which could make calls, do internet and had apps. There was Palm treo. I myself had a HTC Apache. The point of iPhunwa was it was well put together and a joy to use. And came with a few killer apps: Browser, Youtube, Maps, Music, Photos and Camera and a store where you could buy music and apps for it. It is entirely understandable if Mahdi proclaims it as "magical" and "innovative" and "first time evar!!!"

(And if FruitCo comes out with a Jesus Watch -- you can buy smart watches right now -- but they will call it first smart watch evar!!)

In academia though it is customary to give salaams to people who came before. I would have liked to have seen some mentions atleast in Mistry mian's talk acknowledging the pedigree of the idea.

Abhijeet · Post by **Abhijeet** » 05 Mar 2013 12:26

I just got a prepaid "GoPhone" SIM from AT&T on a short trip to the US. It's $15 for 200 MB of data and $25 for 1 GB. Obviously cheaper as a fraction of income compared to India, but more expensive doing a straight currency conversion: Rs. 750 for 200 MB and Rs.1250 for 1 GB.

So -- wonder of wonders -- data rates are relatively reasonable in India. I've also found pretty good coverage in my usage: HSDPA in most places in Chennai, Mumbai and on highways.

So now you have relatively cheap smartphones around Rs. 5K and relatively cheap data plans where you can spend Rs. 100-200 a month for a smallish amount of data. The main factors inhibiting widespread 3G adoption are: (1) the perception that data is a luxury add-on; (2) probably poor coverage in rural and semi-urban areas; and (3) the fact that most Internet content is still in English.

This last factor is probably the most difficult to change in the short term.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2013 12:37

Nowadays there is not much difference between academia and industry in that respect. Gone are the days of honourable rivalry with integrity ruling above all. Everything is cut-throat now and marketing rules above all. As the great Mahdi once said, "Perception is everything."

Take Pranav Mistry's example onlee. How many figured out from Pattie Maes's TED presentation that not only was the idea not original, even the system was nothing to write home about (it was a webcam plugged into a MacBook Pro) and it didn't work that well (notice how she didn't demo the system on stage). In fact the 1st truly mobile version of the Sixth Sense style system was built by a bunch of undergrads at University of Vienna (they used a GB N95 smartphone running S60 instead of a laptop). But nobody knows about them except folks in the Ubicomp community - the difference, they didn't market themselves, Pattie did. Plain and zimble onlee.

To be honest, the smart watches available today are POS. 1st thing a smart watch needs is a round face (you heard this epiphany here 1st

).

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 05 Mar 2013 12:48

This aspect of HCI always bothered my goat. They are very poor system builders. More than that, most are convinced that building their idea (or seeing it built) somehow spoils their creativity! They think concept is everything and execution is useless. Remember that the best architects are also structural engineers. Else they will make buildings and bridges that collapse in a day.

Good design is possible only when technology hits a point where it becomes secondary to the application. And execution of the concept makes it usable. Else all you can do is a few good demo videos. IPhunwa would not have been possible in the era of Pentium 100 consuming 30 watts and needing a fan to cool it.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2013 12:58

Pure HCI folks are pretty useless in terms of hire-ability in industry. Real good HCI folks are also real good engineers by instinct if not by formal qualification. Just drawing pretty pictures and giving vent to flights of fantasy does not a good designer make. The product has to be physically realized in working form only then can it be considered a tangible contribution. Among the companies which have historically had great design culture, imo GB is probably the one which scores the highest in terms of great design which is practical (for example, till GB did it with the N9, nobody figured out that polycarbonate unibody would take away the antenna woes but still provide a premium finish in looks and touch). Fruit Co. has great design but there's no feedback loop between engineering and designers. Mahdi made it a one way diktat from designers to engineers which led to fiascos like Antennagate (even there when the cause was discovered, the designers remained unscathed and engineers got made the IED ka bakra).

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 05 Mar 2013 21:47

Mortullah, for you:
White House Backs Phone 'Unlocking'

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 05 Mar 2013 22:22

I read about this on The Reg yesterday. It was bad enough that phones could only be locked out of contract. But criminalization of the act of unlocking ?? I sure hope the telcos get a 3" thick danda up their musharraf for this one.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 05 Mar 2013 23:19

Raja Bose wrote:Steve Mann is one of the pioneers of wearable displays and wears one himself full-time. Once he got 'assaulted' in Paris by some McDonald employees for wearing one. BTW he got his pee-chaddi from MIT so it can't be the MIT halo.

One can't blame Pranav Mistry (actually it was his advisor Patty Maes who did the PR) since media attention is rarely a function of who innovated first, rather it is a function of who marketed better. Even Chacha's Glass whether the form factor or the technology behind it is not new (it dates back to early late 90s - 2000s iirc) but it is just positioned in a much better, marketable way.

Steve Mann says that the Glass like device will be very bad for health - says all kinds of weird pisk effects will result - extended discussion on /.

Chacha's glass is definitely the smallest and lightest (and bestest for Chacha fans

)