Windows Phone 8 – for iPhone users who want a larger screen

I love Windows Phone 8. It reminded me of when I picked up a 1st generation iPod Touch when it was first released (before iPhone!) and how intuitively easy it was to become familiar with iOS (1.0?). WP8 seems to lean towards users who don’t really care so much about customization and love intuitive functionality.

It would be PERFECT for an iPhone user who wants a bigger screen using phones such as the Lumia 920 or HTC 8X. I want it to be a huge competitor, but the WP8 app store needs to build up its catalog. And Microsoft, for the love of digital god, please fix Skype. You know you own it, right?

The Bad

With all that cash under its mattress, Microsoft MUST encourage popular app developers to make apps for WP8. I’m sure they’ve been doing just that, but not well enough. I was most disappointed to find (or not find) that Flipboard hasn’t made it to WP8 (yet).

I know this isn’t specifically WP8, but the Skype app is inexcusably bad. Despite Microsoft buying Skype a couple years ago, WP8’s version is by far the worst out of all OS’. Skype itself claims it’s still in beta (preview) for WP8, which is an excuse so people won’t grumble too much when they encounter bugs. But this charade has gone on long enough. There are barely any features, such as switching front and back cameras, to even have bugs. For this, I cast binary shame upon thee, Microsoft.

The Good

I am a great fan of the side-scrolling navigation. You’ll quickly become accustomed to side-scrolling by visual cues and clues.

In some apps, like Shazam, it feels like the phone contains a page or tapestry that is wider than the phone itself. You scroll from left to right so the display focuses on what you want.

Notice the seemingly random “r” on the left, it’s a visual clue to swipe right to left. Also notice how “Shazam” and the background shifts as you swipe right to left

The live tiles and the way they occupy the home screen is pretty cool; I didn’t miss wallpapers at all. The tiles display information from the app on the home screen without having to go into it, which is similar to Android’s Widgets. You can adjust tile sizes, rearrange them and change color themes. Even the brown theme looks good on this thing.

For everyday functionality, such as phone, texts, email, calendar, etc, WP8’s native apps are intuitive and work perfectly well. However, only Nokia phones will have their brand of map features (HERE) which are on par with Google Maps. Other WP8 phones are stuck with Bing Maps which is OK, but you’ll find it lags behind Google Maps.

8/10 on a Nokia because of map features

7/10 on other WP8 phones

Should You Get a Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5?

My quick answer?

Galaxy S4.

Why?

If you’re like me and you use your phone A LOT, a larger screen just makes sense (iPhone has a 4 inch screen whilst the S4’s is 5 inches). I also think some of Android’s standard features along with the S4’s new features could enhance everyday phone use. iOS 6 is stale and after using the S3 with Android 4.1, I was hooked by how much more use and customization I could get out it.

S4 vs iPhone 5

Both phones perform basic functions extremely well. This means calls, texts, emails, maps, calendar, taking photos and some apps. In some cases, the S4 makes those functions even more useful with features such as Air View. Samsung’s objective to make the S4 a “Life Companion” lays the foundation to turn phones into true “all-in-one” devices. Want to change the TV channel? Use the S4’s “WatchON” app! Want to track your fitness efforts? Use the S4’s native “S Health” app! Check out this list to see what else the S4 has to offer; there are some photo/video features that could be really cool.

Android 4.2 vs iOS 6

If you’re an iPhone user and you haven’t tried a recent Android phone, you’re not going to know how far you can customize phones to be more useful and visually appealing.

• On iOS 6, you tap an icon to open an app. Android works the same way, but you can also create  “widgets” where information FROM an app, such as Calendar, Weather Channel and even Gmail, is displayed on the home screen. Most Samsung/Android apps, third party included, have widgets.

• To customize iOS 6, you can change the lock and home screen wallpapers, switch around app icons and create folders that hold up to 20 apps. Same on Android…but more. For example, you can customize the appearance of icons themselves, as I have done below on a Galaxy S3. (I replaced the original app icons with simpler, white icons because, hey, I could! I left the Gallery icon to have SOME color. Also notice the weather widget on the top-right). You can also have live (moving/interactive) wallpapers.

If hardware matters to you…

…the S4 blows the iPhone 5 out of the water. “Why does this matter?” you politely ask. Indeed, even if the iPhone 5’s hardware isn’t as good as the S4’s, it works extremely well. One reason is Samsung needs its hardware to run Android AND their own software on top, called TouchWiz, which offers all those fancy shmansy Samsung features. Apple doesn’t need to compensate for any additions on top of their OS.

So, where are you in all this? Are you satisfied by the iPhone’s 4 inch screen? Not satisfied? Wish you could customize it? Converted from iPhone to Android or vice versa? Why? What other ways do you customize your Android phone?

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Specs, Air View, Air Gestures and Other New Features

Same width and height as the S3, but flatter on the top and bottom edge. It’s also thinner, lighter than the S3. Photo from techreport.com

Finally, we are released from the clutches of rumors, leaks and speculation; the Galaxy S4 was officially revealed last night at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall. The unveiling event, full of glitz and glam, looked like an Oscar’s Awards ceremony with a pinch of Broadway, but this is a tech blog, not a theater review.

Some new software features set the S4 apart from the competition. Samsung’s tagline for the S4 is “Life Companion,” and they have begun the journey to integrate every day tools into a single device. WatchON, for example, uses infrared to turn your phone into a TV remote. In some cases, it enhances what we already do with our phones, like cool photo and video recording features. For a full list and explanation of all these new software trinkets, follow this link.

Some especially interesting features take a user’s finger off the screen, such as Air Gestures and Air View. Wouldn’t want to smudge that glorious 5 inch 1080p screen now, would we?

With Air Gestures, you’ll be able to use hand movements to control certain aspects of the phone. For example, you could switch between open browser tabs or websites, flick through pictures or skip to the next song by waving your hand left or right over the display.

Air View is particularly neat. It will allow you to hover your thumb (or finger) over items in a list, such as texts and emails, and a comprehensive preview will appear. Basically, this eliminates the need to open the text or email. For example, this can be used to quickly read an email and keep it marked as “unread.”

Here are the official Galaxy S4 hardware specs:

• Polycarbonate body, available in “Black Mist” or “Frost White”
• 5 inch, 1080p Super AMOLED touchscreen displaying at 441ppi
• 2GB of RAM
• 16/32/64 GB of on-board storage, can be expanded a further 64GB with a microSD card
• 13 megapixel back camera, 2 megapixel front camera, both capable of recording 1080p video at 30 fps
• 1.9 Ghz quad-core CPU

What do you think of the new S4? What features look cool? Completely useless? Have your say.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Revealed TODAY! Will Eye-Tracking Rumors Meet Reality?

If we’ve hung out in the last few days, you know I’m pretty excited about the Galaxy S4. My internet scouring efforts have revealed some leaked hi-res images and some potential specs.

IF this is it, and it’s still an IF, we’re not seeing much of a design change from the S3. But honestly, smartphone design can only go so far and basically requires a rectangular shape, at least until flexible screens become a realistic possibility. Photo: http://www.it168.com

These days, it’s software features that differentiates the weak from the strong and I’m excited to see what Samsung has done with this fact. Eye tracking seems to be one of the most prominent rumors out there. If this is true, Samsung might be encouraging us to use our eyes to control the device rather than using our filthy, oily, unworthy fingers on the purported 4.99 inch 1080p screen. Sounds cool, really cool, but it could reduce battery life from a whole day to about 7 minutes. If this rumor meets reality, however, Samsung could be revolutionizing how we use our devices in the future with eye tracking technology. Possibilities are endless for text input, scrolling, opening and using apps, I could go on and on. We’ll have to wait till tonight at 7pm EST during the Samsung event to get the real details. You’ll be able to watch the event streaming live from Samsung’s YouTube channel.

Six Strikes for Illegal Downloading – Not Actually That Bad

Last week, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Cablevision and AT&T began the implementation of a “six strike system” to counter the illegal downloading/uploading (D/U) of copyrighted materials; namely movies and music. This sounds like a “six strikes and you’re out” kind of deal, but it’s not as dire as that. This approach focuses on “educating” and encouraging legal behavior. It actually makes me believe that entities such as the much lambasted RIAA and Hollywood might have realized that they can’t realistically eradicate pirating, but they can reduce it. You can find a basic explanation of what these six strikes are at the bottom.

Copyright holders find suspect downloaders/uploaders by leafing through the internet for IP addresses that are active on P2P (peer-to-peer) networks and D/U their copyrighted materials. Then, they send the IP address to the correlating ISP who can then start warning you to stop. Don’t worry, your identity won’t be revealed to the copyright holders without a court order. Also, unless you D/U all the Oscar winning movies right after the Oscars, or constantly D/U torrents of copyrighted music and movies, it’s pretty unlikely the copyright holders will pick you up. Basically, try not to download the newest, biggest, most popular musics or movies whilst they’re, well, popular. Or at least when they’re out of the public spotlight.

This is a vast upgrade from the harsh style of copyrighted content protection the RIAA used to apply. A very unlucky few were targeted for illegally downloading protected material. They were brought to court and charged absurd penalties for their “crimes.” That approach of making an example out of an arbitrarily chosen few and basically ruining their lives with a lifetime of debt whilst others roamed free was a little unethical; mostly because such tactics are archaic and there are no words in any language on Earth to describe how ineffective they are. Even Eskimos, with their 30 different words for snow, are lost for words.

Here is a basic rundown of the six strikes if a copyright holder and ISP suspect that copyrighted materials have been illegally downloaded from your account:

Strikes 1-2: Your ISP will contact you vie email or other means to alert you that your account has been used for illegally downloading copyrighted material. For these first two alerts, ISPs employ a “innocent until proven guilty” mindset as you might not actually be illegally downloading songs and movies. For example, it might be someone who hacked into your wi-fi. In these alerts, you could be given information on how to secure your computer and wi-fi connection, how to avoid content theft and where you can legally purchase protected content.

Strikes 3-4: You ISP will send you more alerts with a little umph to them. These alerts will require you to acknowledge the alert message (perhaps just pressing the “ok” button) before being able to continue using the internet. Here, ISPs are “making sure” you receive the message and information provided in the first two alert in case, you know, you deleted the email alert by accident etc. It also serves as a reminder that illegally downloading protected content could lead to consequences under the law and published policies.

Strikes 5-6: The ISP may implement “mitigation measures” such as temporarily throttling your internet speeds, redirection to a landing page until you contact your ISP to discuss the matter, being subjected to educational information about copyright and whatever else your ISP feels is necessary to resolve the matter.

So, not so bad then. The consequences are nowhere NEAR as dire as the “scorched earth” tactics previously used by the RIAA. In fact, these new measures might seem quite tame and probably ineffective, but it is this tech blogger’s opinion that they may actually help reduce copyrighted content piracy. Recently, the “you get what you pay for” adage has been most relevant. Pirated material has been extremely low in quality (video/audio) which pretty much ruins the experience. Also, I am feeling more and more that I just don’t want other people’s files, and what may be lurking inside them, on my computer. You can think of a stranger’s computer like a NYC subway car and holding the railings; you’re risking the contraction of the entire microbial life-form dictionary. If not, you’ll at least leave the subway with a film of grease/stickiness/slime on your hands.