Equip

Nexus 7 Dock: Can You Pogo Or What?

I’m really into docks. If I get a device, and they make a decent dock for it, I buy! Glancing across my desk right now I see an iPad dock, an S III dock, one for my 3DS XL…my PSPgo…my Fujitsu U810…and several others for devices I don’t even use any more! Until recently, however, there was a glaring exception – the continual absence of the Nexus 7 Dock forced me to improvise – combining a generic portable stand with the standard USB charger. I wanted to keep my N7 docked in order to use the Currents Daydream to supplement my Chumby/Dash and G19 information feeds – but the pathetic truth is that while I had found myself favoring the N7 over the iPad for casual web browsing etc. since its arrival, the meager chore of having to continually unplug it and plug it back in had me favoring the slightly less tedious action of lining up the iPad’s connector with its dock lately.

I would regularly search to see if there were any developments on the release of the Nexus 7 Dock, leaked so long ago, yet with no news or release date mentioned. Then they started to show up on Amazon, but well above list price – but one day, when I’d all but given up, I finally stumbled upon an article announcing their availability, dated only one day prior – with a link to the Google Play product listing! But, it had sold out – in less than one day (in fact, almost immediately!). I kept Read More…

Solved: Evernote for iPad “Could not sync note” Synchronization Error

Solved: Evernote for iPad “Could not sync note” Synchronization Error

I made the switch from OneNote to Evernote several years ago due to the latter’s superior app availability for the plethora of devices that I use. Despite comparatively feeble editing capabilities, Evernote’s device agnosticism gave it the edge for me. In the past few months, however, it had become barely usable on my iPad due to a “Could not sync note: The content is invalid” error that would pop up continually while I was trying to work. After finding no solutions initially, I pretty much gave up and resorted to brief read-only sessions only when using the iPad. But I decided to give it another shot today and while perusing a very long thread documenting others’ experience with the issue, found one post that mentioned finding the offending notes in the Trash. Frankly, I’d never even noticed the Trash on the iPad app, but managed to locate it eventually under Notebooks, and then sorted by Title to find and eliminate all notes titled “Untitled note” – there were a fair number, but I eventually made it down to one from several months ago which still had the little blue “pending sync” arrow next to it, and deleting that note immediately silenced the pop-ups. I vaguely recall that when this started I had accidentally created multiple notes with a few errant taps, and must have deleted the duplicates faster than it could sync or perhaps during, which seemed to be the cause of this issue. I’m very pleased to have Evernote back to normal on my iPad, not popping up an error message continually and making the app unusable!

Sprint/Ting Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Update!

Sprint/Ting Galaxy S III Jelly Bean Update!

Sprint is the first US carrier to deliver Jelly Bean for the Galaxy S III, which means Ting customers benefit too!  My impression of the S III to date has been that it is an amazing piece of hardware, which brings with it some brilliant innovations, but also many frustrations, primarily in the software layer – after only a short while with the 4.1.1 update, my affection for the device is growing rapidly – in addition to obvious things like the Google Now functionality that I’ve been raving about for ages, there is a comprehensive “blocking mode” (for e.g. preventing notifications and other disturbances while you’re sleeping – except specific important contacts!), better input options, and “Smart Rotation” which rotates the screen based on your eye position rather than the accelerometer (meaning your screen stays the way you want it, even if you’re lying down!)! (ô_ô)

Google Play’s Customer Support Is Pathetically Low Tech

Google Play’s Customer Support Is Pathetically Low Tech

I’ve found Google Play’s Customer Support and general experience frustrating and sub-par since the moment I ordered my Nexus 7 – my initial order had my billing address (a PO Box) as the shipping address – a physical impossibility – yet refused to let me cancel the order, claiming that seconds later was already too late to cancel.  I got it sorted eventually, but was left with a bad taste in my mouth before I’d even received my device.  Now I’ve discovered that the device is faulty – I was already concerned that it was starting to suffer from the infamous screen lifting issue, but recently tried to use the 3.5mm stereo jack only to discover that the resultant audio was mono – and that swapping to a different cable, or even headphones, made no difference.  I had a great experience returning a faulty mSD card to Amazon recently and hoped Google might offer something similar – but instead was presented with no option but to give them a call – something I would find shocking from even a small online retailer, let alone a global technology leader like Google. (ﾟД ﾟ )

 

 

Google Nexus 7 with Google Now: Return of the PDA

Google Nexus 7 with Google Now: Return of the PDA

There are plenty of reviews enumerating the Google Nexus 7‘s impressive specs, its obvious deficiencies and compromises, and flippant comparisons to the bigger and vastly more expensive iPad. Instead of rehashing these topics, this blog post concentrates on the experience of using the device.

I have carried a computing device of some manner or other about my person for close to two decades. In high school, it was the HP 95LX and 200LX DOS-based palmtops. In college, it was a succession of clamshell and “Palm-size PC” Windows CE devices, which eventually merged what was then called “PDA” functionality with that of a mobile phone. By this time, mobile computing and cell phones were becoming less of a niche, and this gave way to today’s widespread adoption of smartphones, tablets, and other specialty devices.

While a fair amount of software was available for these legacy devices, their utility was not really comparable to modern devices – without a wireless data connection, most would sync to a PC via a wired serial cable for calendar and contact updates – if that.  As such, one of their primary functions was to provide mobile access to so-called “personal data” as a replacement for Read More…

Ting FTW: Day One

Having activated my new Ting phone last night, today is the first time I’ll be using it in anger for a full business day.  The M370 is a decent little phone, but it simply cannot replace my Droid X.  Thankfully, I have a fairly ludicrous stable of other devices that I’m intending to select from in order to supplement the simplistic feature phone.  I could of course continue to use the Droid X on WiFi, but I decided to go large and test the Nexus 7 tablet as my primary mobile computing device.  I carry my Jack Spade Port Case with me most of the time, which easily fits an iPad and sundry accessories, so stowing it should be no problem – if I even choose to stow it, since it seems to be continually useful – more so than my old phone was, despite the larger form factor.

It was very strange not having access to email when I left my desk for the first time. But I had a safety net, since my wife Read More…

C U L8R VZW: Saying Goodbye to Big Mobile

I’m your prototypical early adopter.  I bought my first cell phone when I started college – at a time when people assumed anyone that age with a mobile phone or pager was a drug dealer…or perhaps Doogie Howser-style teenage doctor.  But this was also a time when landline providers charged more for long and even “local-long” distance.  So it actually worked out cheaper to get a cell phone with the area code of my hometown and use it to call friends and family as if locally than to use a landline from my apartment.  But somehow over the years my service has mutated from a cost-saving measure to a considerable expense. Unlike other technologies, cell phone service somehow seems to have gotten more expensive during the sunset phase as the market becomes saturated – between our family’s minutes, messages, data, and hotspotting/tethering, we were spending thousands of dollars per year. I had been holding out for Verizon’s rumored shared plan in hopes that it might bring things more in line with  Read More…

Quick $250 PC Build

Quick $250 PC Build

Looking to replace an EeeBox PC with something a bit more capable, I recently pulled the trigger on Newegg Combo 864885 (and used ShopRunner to get it here in two days – free!).  For not much more than I paid for the diminutive supplanted machine a few years ago, this combo offers a Rosewill R363-M-BK MicroATX Case (with power supply), BIOSTAR A55MH Motherboard, AMD A4-3400 Llano 2.7GHz APU, G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, and Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive.  I added a second 4GB stick, technically pushing the total over the $250 goal, but well worth it IMO.  The build was absurdly fast – I stuck the kettle on, then unpacked everything and reviewed the instructions.  The entire thing was together in the time it took to brew a cup of tea and allow it to cool to a comfortable drinking temperature!  I was a little leery of the Rosewill case when making my original purchase, but it turned out to be a very attractive, high-gloss case with an amusingly large glowing power button.  The BIOSTAR mobo impressed as well, with an extensive feature set and clear documentation that quickly quashed any reservations I had about selecting it over the ASUS in the other bundle I’d been considering.  Very pleased with this combo so far, as well as the build experience! □＿ヘ(^_^ヘ)

Pebble Digital Watches are a Pretty Neat Idea

Pebble Digital Watches are a Pretty Neat Idea

Perhaps I’m just amazingly primitive, but the Pebble E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android on Kickstarter may be compelling enough to rekindle my childhood obsession; this was a time when things like temperature and altitude were not so easily obtained as they are now via apps and widgets, and I couldn’t help but bore anyone who’d listen with continual updates of these exciting (to me) measurements (even when up to 50 meters underwater!)!  I can’t recall the last time I donned a timepiece on my arm, but the concept of a fourth screen to supplement my third – not to mention one with its own SDK – may prove irresistible! ￣～￣

[Update 2012.05.09: It did - I'm now a backer!]

WordPress for NOOK Color!

In addition to the great apps I mentioned recently, I just discovered (in what may be the first documented case of “Customers Also Bought…” displaying something useful) that the superb WordPress app is also now available for NOOK Color! The built-in NOOK App browser is somewhat limited, so apparently I just missed it during my most recent combing-through-for-new-apps session – in fact, I inadvertently discovered it while browsing the web-based app list with my iPad!

I really like the functionality of the mobile client – it seems truly optimized for the quick tasks you’re likely to want to do from a small screen with no physical keyboard; though the entire web-based Dashboard is one click away (and can of course be accessed from any browser without app installation), the app is just great for jotting down a quick idea or making a quick edit.  I wrote the bulk of this post on my NOOK, though came back to the laptop before publishing in order to spell check and add links.  The lack of spell check, as well as the inferior stock Android keyboard (vs. e.g. Swype on my Droid X or the easier-to-use stock iOS keyboard) will likely discourage use for publishing extensive dissertations, but for what I want it for: just jotting down a quick idea while reading, or putting together an outline for a book review, it’s perfect! ￣ー￣

New For NOOK Color: Dolphin Browser, Twitter

I bought my NOOK Color with one purpose in mind: reading eBooks.  I was also intrigued by the fact that it was inherently an Android tablet, but, I’d not really anticipated using it for much more than browsing – especially given the limited apps and lack of marketplace at the time.  Numerous firmware updates have improved the device by leaps and bounds, improving performance, enhancing the UI significantly, and adding NOOK Apps, including Netflix, Evernote, and of course Angry Birds!  The selection of apps has been rounded out nicely with the recent addition of the official Twitter app, and Dolphin Browser HD.  The stock browser is competent enough for basic browsing, but curiously has been crippled by Barnes & Noble to prevent basic features such as copying and pasting.  The Dolphin browser has none of these restrictions, and moreover includes unique gestural navigation that takes advantage of the NOOK Color’s multitouch capabilities.  Since this is an Android system, Dolphin can be set as the default browser, unlike the iPad where Dolphin exists in Safari’s shadow, with no way to usurp the handling of links throughout applications.  My NOOK is still my eReader, but with extremely powerful browsing and convenient tweeting added to the mix, the NOOK Color just gets better and better!

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