UB Weekly: Viruses
So Friday again, man the week goes fast….sometimes! The trenches have been busy this week yet again with many UB’s rolling through like thunder. The questions have been equally as entertaining though.
UB Weekly: Everything Everything
Its Friday! (Well It was) and while that means a lot to most people, to me it means nothing. But what it does mean is that it’s time for another edition of UB Weekly!
This week I have been asked the same question a lot! (Surprisingly it’s not when is the iPhone 5 coming out which ranks in at number 2) This question happens to be related to data, or more precisely - information. Data is a term now more commonly associated with smartphone data plans, which, is fair enough.
Information. Always a hot topic in the world of tech. Its protection, its safety etc etc. People are very fussy about their data. Well UB’s are anyway. Most tech orientated people ensure their data is backed up somewhere (usually in the cloud) so that if something happens to a device of theirs the only pain they feel is for the device. Most UB’s are not like this, they think their phone or device is full proof and will never fail and never delete their data. Until it is too late of course.
Me: I’m going to have to do a hard reset, this will mean all your data/information on the device will be lost.
CR: All of it?
Me: Yep, all of it.
CR: You mean I’ll lose all my contacts?
Me: Yep, everything.
CR: What about my messages?
Me: Yeah, er everything, kinda said you’ll lose everything.
CR: What about my music?
Me: ….. Everything
CR: Ohhh does that mean photos of my kids/partner/drunken nights out…
ME: ….. this is getting ridiculous now.
So that’s how the conversation goes usually. And half the time it’ll be like that again when the restore is finished. Half the time, people agree because they’ll have a working device but then when the restore is actually finished and they have a fully factory reset device its a look of disbelief.
“So i’ve got nothing on here no?”
………
Sometimes though, no matter how many times I say to people. YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING they still obviously don’t listen, they agree then rage and vent when they find I have deleted everything. I smile and say, I did warn you numerous times. Retard.
That Awkward Moment When….
…You realise your not a tech god.
UB Weekly: Data Roaming
So, I have a new feature for you. I’ve been reading Emails from the Command Line on Gizmodo UK and reading BOFH on The Register. Both of which are hilarious. Several friends have already thought about this sort of blog but I decided today to implement it. In UB weekly I will post the most retarded story of the week from life on the frontline as a technology advisor and dealing with the general public.
The Power of a Touch
Today I’ve got one acronym for you, it has 3 letters and begins with N and ends with C…. No its not NEC but close. Its NFC dumbass.
NFC is growing and growing and the acronym is becoming more and more widespread and mentioned at present. What is NFC though and what does it mean to us?
NFC stands for Near Field Communication which in non tech babble means the wireless transfer of data between two devices close to one another. Before you say it, no its not Bluetooth and it’s remarkably different and simple. NFC unlike Bluetooth needs two devices to physically make contact. You see, NFC only works with distances of up to 10cm depending on the service or device most devices are in the <5cm area too. NFC in practical terms is used with current debit and credit cards with many UK high st banks and is supported by both Visa and MasterCard for payments. However, NFC has other uses beyond banking. Sony launched last month their brand new Xperia S with which they bundled some smart tags (network dependant) these are actually NFC based tags that launch apps and perform different functions. Sony have tried to show people how NFC can be used for other purposes. For example, one tag will put your phone on silent, turn down the brightness and turn on your alarm. Pretty cool and useful.
NFC is slowly being introduced into all the top Android Smartphones. Samsung even re-released its best-selling Galaxy SII smartphone with NFC support. All the newest Android phones out recently fully support it. Galaxy Nexus, Xperia S, HTC One S, X and V, Galaxy SII and expect more going forward.
Soon expect NFC to be expanding to advertising too. Soon it’ll be everywhere.
Try it out with your smartphone and see what the fuss is about (excludes iPhone). There are Apps on the Google Play store that even allow you to write and create tags from blank ones so you can customise them for your own needs.
Brilliant stuff.
The Dark Side of Technology
Being a child of the digital age is not an easy one. Sure it means generally speaking i’m pretty good with technology and that I understand it better than previous generations but it also has a downside.
It’s ugly and its not a buzzword but it is called laziness.
Lots of technology is there to enhance and enrich our lives, computers, smartphones, the Internet all enrich our lives in some way or another. They help us get things done quicker and more efficiently, they help us reconnect with old friends and connect with friends, relatives and loved ones around the world. All these things are great and show the real benefits of technology. However they also have a dark side too.
We all know that one person that stalks their ex or partner via Facebook to make sure they aren’t up to no good. We also know that person is very suspicious of everything everyone around them is doing with their tech and when on the internet. This sort of behaviour is exhibited because technology brings us closer together, in these cases as there are many, technology can serve to drive people apart. Its where technology is used to abuse personal space and privacy. The recent phone hacking scandal here in the UK is a great example of this sort of technology abuse. We also all know that one person that uses technology to hide things from their partner and use it indecently. What is weird though is that among the generations above ‘Generation Y’ this is the sort of tech abuse that is most likely to happen.
However this is not the only dark side to technology. The other major one is the one I mentioned earlier. Laziness.
Some technology seems to have a curious side affect of making us lazier. Most of this is again an unfortunate dark side to tech that was meant to be created to enrich our lives. But in making things easier it has made people lazier as a side effect.
Auto-Correct is a big one on this side, whereby now many children can’t spell or even write properly in written exams because their smartphones effectively spell for them. Social Networking means we no longer speak to our friends or family, we just Facebook them, or tweet them (some may even +1 them, who knows) we don’t pick up the phone and have a good conversation anymore. There are people of all ages I have seen that get lost in Facebook & Twitter, they sit and use the site constantly. It’s unhealthy and unnatural.
As a tech fiend though, I am not immune to this.
I create and build tech solely to make life more interesting and in turn easier for myself. I built a server for all my media meaning I could get it off my various machines and into a central place. This however means all I need to play music is a phone or a remote. no longer do I have to move around or use my PC. I can lie in bed and listen to music without lifting more than a finger. This means generally I don’t.
I find ways to link all my tech so I can use it all at the same time, this is great as it makes me more productive, but this can also make me lazier through not having to do or think as much to get things done.
Technology brings light to many areas of the world, but remember it has a dark side too. Soon when Skynet exists we’ll regret making our tech smarter at the detriment of ourselves.
This is not a warning, just a notice.
Slipping Backwards
Today I had my first taste of Android 4.0 on The HTC One range with the One X. I liked what I saw and touched. I liked the multitasking implementation which was beautifully Sense and beautifully different. I also liked the speed of the One X I was playing with. Most of all I loved how Sense 4.0 UI was no longer shoved down your throat and obscene in look, feel and use. I liked the new simplicity of Sense 4.0. Great stuff.
There is a but in here though, I know you were waiting for it really!
The but is the other devices I had the opportunity of playing with last week. And before you ask, no they weren’t new and no the Galaxy SIII does not exist.
So I had the ‘pleasure’ of playing with A HTC Sensation XE with Android 4.0 running Sense UI v3.6 and a Samsung Galaxy SII running TouchWiz 4.0 and Android 4.0.
Unfortunately for HTC and Samsung, the pleasure was all theirs and none of mine. So what is wrong with me you ask? 3 great phones all running the same great operating system.
If that was true I wouldn’t be writing this right now. Quite frankly the legacy devices (XE and GSII) were horrible to use.
Why you may ask?
Simple. HTC & Samsung took all the best UI tweaks & features of ICS and removed them in favour of their own UI skins (Sense & TouchWiz).
Granted the GSII looks exactly the same and will not alienate non power users and UB’s but this is part of the problem. Samsung has removed all the great UI tweaks Google made with ICS on the Galaxy Nexus in favour of TouchWiz, which despite being ok to use is not as easy to use now as Vanilla Android 4.0. The only thing Samsung seem to have kept is the data counter, settings menu style, Face unlock & the addition of the camera features like the panoramic capabilities. I miss the sweeping menus, the ability to add widgets directly from the main menu, the roboto font, the speed of the OS in general and more. All of which are missing from the GSII’s ICS implementation. Now I was never a GSII fan, I’ve hated TouchWiz since its origins on the Tocco range but now I simply abhor it.
Now onto HTC who seem to have gone for an even more baffling stance (for now anyway) where they have decided that the new awesome and simple Sense 4.0 is just not right for their older, Sensation range. So they decided to release Sense 3.6 for ICS on the older devices. Soooo HTC, you decide that you have to develop and release 2 UI’s for the same OS depending on which handset the customer has?
Great strategy…. ‘in tech la la land’ maybe.
HTC’s legacy Android 4.0 implementation is the same as Samsung’s. They have effectively shoehorned ICS onto the device whilst keeping their UI the same. Now with the One range out this is an even weirder option as there are striking differences between the two UI’s. Many of the features of Sense 3.5 were there because they weren’t on Android 2.5 Gingerbread. With ICS the UI adds elements of Vanilla ICS like the multitasking pane and folders but doesn’t do so in a way that makes it feel consistently Sense or consistently ICS. It feels hashed together and looks nothing like HTC Sense 4.0 on the One range, nothing at all. The main menu is also strange, forgoing the stock ICS implementation which as I mentioned already was a beautiful re-design. It’s the same in Android 4.0 with Sense 3.6, the same up & down swiping. It is only odd because in Sense 4.0 its completely the opposite, with a side to side swiping navigation style. That in itself is irritating.
HTC & Samsung seem to be taking the the same steps with their legacy handset upgrades to Android 4.0 ICS. Until the Galaxy SIII comes out to remains to be seen whether Samsung follow HTC in fragmenting their UI as well. It is unlikely but given what HTC has done, anything goes right now.
I was never a fan of Sense 3.5 either, it was vulgar, to in your face and too slow even when paired with dual-core processing. It crashed too frequently and was just cumbersome and hogged memory. Sense 4.0 is a vast improvement but the fact that HTC are not bringing it to legacy devices makes me sad. I thought the One range was meant to bring HTC back from the doldrums of Android and back into competition with Samsung. But it seems HTC are far more content with fragmenting Android even more.
The Android UI wars are raging on and now it seems they are helping to fragment Android even more than previously, despite wanting to make it familiar for current users it actually seems to be doing the opposite and alienating people who want to use the brilliant Android 4.0 ICS as seen on the Galaxy Nexus.
Is it time for Google to start putting it’s foot down on how OEM’s treat its operating system? Maybe Google should introduce slightly stricter rules on customisation and what UI & software features should be kept from the vanilla builds.
I for one stick to my guns, I always said for me to use an Android device it would have to be running Vanilla Android. The only devices I’ve ever wanted to own were the Nexus One and now the Galaxy Nexus. For good reason I say.
Multi-Tasking
Multi-tasking is a buzzword of Smartphones. Without it a platform is laughed at and sent packing by the tech press. When Windows Phone 7 launched it had no multi-tasking solution and was taken to town by the press. Microsoft released an update of course that brought it into the fold.
Why is multi-tasking so important? Most UB’s I’ve met never use it. However saying that, these are the same ‘people’ that think you should be able to get 4 days minimum out of a smartphones battery and wonder why their phone is slow when they have every app open. Multi-tasking used to be the power users best friend. Now it is a minimum requirement on a platform or device for it to be taken seriously.
Why is this?
That question I do not have an answer to. However it poses another set of questions.
Which platform utilises it best? Which makes it the most seamless and which; makes it the prettiest?
Weird. You wouldn’t think of a function as being pretty now would you? Not really…
But in this case, it actually comes into play.
Now the following are all my opinions, so feel free to disagree… (or not as I will hunt you down!)
So which is most functional? Difficult question as multi-tasking is the same thing right?? Nope you’d be wrong there. There is a distinct difference.
iOS and Windows Phone both take advantage of Sleep-State multi-tasking where the apps in the background are frozen until you re-open them, the exception in both cases are media apps or social networking apps that take advantage of push notifications or background music.
Android and Blackberry however take advantage of Continual Process Multi-Tasking where the apps constantly run in the background to allow ‘proper’ multi-tasking to take place, so webpages load while you do something else.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages of course which is mainly down to memory and battery management. But that is also up to the user.
So again back to the question of which is the most functional?
In my opinion: Android 4.0 Ice-Cream Sandwich is the most functional with the multi-tasking pane. It allows nice a nice visual look at whats running and allows you to end tasks with minimal effort (a swipe across) and/or killing all tasks at once which is great (and something not offered on the other platforms)
Whats the most seamless? By seamless I mean the most natural to use and easy to do on a daily basis.
Again i’ll go with Android 4.0. There is a constant button for it for one and it’s easy to do especially if you want to kill all tasks. On the iPhone is a pain to have to close every single app one by one… zzzzzz. And on Windows Phone you have to hold the back key which is unnatural….
Finally, whats the prettiest?
Errmm tough one, considering WebOS had the most awesome multi-tasking. I think though that Android 4.0 is gonna take a 1-2-3 here. Its very good looking compared to Windows Phone (yuck) and the iPhone (functional but unexciting).
Weird that. I’m not a fan of Android. I like 4.0, its the best version so far and the only one (in vanilla shade) that has not made me want to kill myself but, despite being a power user myself I still would use the other 2 platforms as my main OS of choice on mobile.
Shows that in my opinion multi-tasking isn’t everything.
Decisions
So this past week I have faced with a decision to make. In my opinion its a tough decision to make. My friends think I am crazy (but hey I am so whatever) but I am soooo undecided its terrible.
Do I go back to the iPhone?
I always said, until Apple release a 4” iPhone I would never go back. The idea of a <4” screen on a touch-screen phone is ridiculous for me and my giant hands. I have been plodding along enjoying Windows Phone for ages now, (too long with the HD7 but it’s been the best phone i’ve owned since the iPhone 4) and I love the platform, I still recommend it to everyone who asks over everything else.
So why would I jump ship… Again….?
Good question. Simple really, it’s services. I am fully integrated with Google and Apple services. I use Macs at home, I use Apple Wireless services. I fully utilise iTunes. I use an iPad etc etc. Apps aren’t such a biggy, I have a Galaxy Nexus as a secondary device and most of the decent iPhone apps are on Android anyway, with Android 4.0 they’re pretty awesome too. (Note hate using and would never again use Android as my main device. I just don’t get it as much as I do Windows Phone and iOS)
I’ve got on fine till now though, but the future products I’m planning to buy will work more seamlessly with an iPhone in my pocket. Also I am kinda bored of the Windows Phone interface, just as the iPhone iOS interface bored me 18 months ago. I know I am a pain in the ass when it comes to phones, but in general I haven’t been bothered by this up till now, i’ve spent over a year with the same phone, which is highly unusual for me and never had an issue.
Maybe it’s just how I am feeling in relation to the rest of my personal life, the indecision I (used to) feel and the feeling of foolishness, that I need a shiny new object of desire to take my mind off it all. Maybe, probably in fact.
I also always said that if the ‘next iPhone’ was shiny enough I would go back. That is minimum 4 months away (which in tech terms is a long time) and a maximum of 8 months away (eternity) so the decision racks me. It kills me! Hmmmm…..
Apple TV
So I have only recently started lusting after Apple TV, I am using AirPlay more and more in my house for music with several rooms connected up via AirPlay and AirPort Express with its 3.5mm jack. Its awesome but I can’t help but feel that video is the next logical step, especially with AirPlay mirroring now available on iPad 2 and ‘iPad’ (I refuse to call it ‘the new iPad as thats just as silly as iPad 3) and with AirPlay mirroring coming in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion this summer having the capability to mirror my MacBook Air’s screen on my TV will be awesome. But to do all of this I’d need an Apple TV. Which at £99 might not sound like much but it’s still money I don’t currently need to spend for something that is still a luxury and something I am only ‘looking forward’ to using and not using currently or needing currently.
Thats the same attitude I have with most Apple products though but Apple TV is the least useful so to speak. I have no desire to use iTunes Movies for renting, why would I do that? Who rents movies anymore anyway, thats stupid. As for the UK there are serious, serious shortcomings in the content available on the device. Netflix is the only thing i’d use and I’m quite happy using that on my PS3 currently. Also Apple TV doesn’t currently allow you to connect to anything other than iTunes (apart from the current content providers that is) which is useless as I have a MacBook Air where the whole point is not to store memory hogging video files. If I had an iMac then yeah maybe, but I don’t. I use a Windows Home Server (being the only Mac user in a house of 4 its very useful for backing up PC’s) where all my 1TB of movie files are stored. Why would I migrate this anywhere…? Apple TV doesn’t connect to it without a Jailbreak and well I don’t like that. Plus My PS3 connects no problems thanks to DLNA support in Windows Home Server 2011.
As much as it is a nice to have, currently I don’t see the point, I also don’t see it fitting into my life at present, I will be more tempted once Apple steps up its capabilities here in the UK which is a must if they want to sell more units. Until then, sorry Apple you won’t be getting more money from me.
*note should this change I will update this post.
