Phone Swap Fun!

The Galaxy Nexus has been my primary phone for just over a year (it launched on Verizon in August, 2011); it is still a great phone but I find the Samsung Galaxy S III has some improvements over it's ancestor. It was decided to test out the Galaxy S III to see if it merited an upgrade.
It appears that Sprint's coverage in metro Atlanta can be very spotty- and Sprint's 4G coverage is almost non-existant (save for a spot around Cumberland Mall in Marietta).  Slightly better than GSM speeds were my primary experience on both Sprint's 3G and 4G networks (tests ranged from 150Kbps to 500Kbps).  Perhaps my home and office are both in realitively bad coverage zones for Sprint?  The speeds were disappointing, so the Sprint Galaxy S III went back to the kiosk 6 days later.

T-Mobile also offers the Galaxy S III- and their 4G coverage in Atlanta seems much better.  In about 90% of the places I have visited, I have had a decent 4G coverege- and speeds seem to stay in the 14Mbps range.  After a few days, the number port request was submitted to T-Mobile and my Verizon account was cancelled.
All said and done, the Galaxy S III cost me about $350 ($150 to T-Mobile and $200 to Verizon for early cancellation) and I get a much cheaper plan and better data throughput (Verizon can be very slow at times as well)- and I still have a fairly decent Galaxy Nexus that I can resell for around $200 to $250 (with the extras I have purchased).
I should be able to get leave Verizon after a year with no real financial loss. :)
Why did I not just stay with Verizon?  There are a few reasons.

1. I was not eligible for an upgrade until August 2013; the Verizon Galaxy S III would cost me $600.
2. If I was eligible for an upgrade, a subsidised phone would force me to abandon my unlimited data plan and pick one of the overpriced Verizon data tier plans.
3. Verizon (and AT&T) plans are very expensive; about $140/month for unlimited everything; Sprint is $110 and T-Mobile is $90 for the similar offerings.  (the T-Mobile rate includes a $20/month payment arangement for the full cost of the phone- the acutal unlimited 4G plan is $70)
4. Verizon (and AT&T) no longer offer an 'unlimited everything' plan; $100 will buy me 2GB of 'shared' data with unlimited talk/text.

It is ironic that unlimited cellular minutes are rapidly becoming dirt cheap while the data plans are becomong more expensive- even though they are both across the same data network.
Getting the Galaxy Nexus ready for resale has been pretty easy thanks to the One Click back to Stock application from the XDA forums; 15 minutes later my phone is back to the stock Android 4.0.4 with a re-locked bootloader.
My Galaxy S III is now running an early release of Jelly Bean and rooted.  My old number was ported over today and all is well in gadget land!  :)
Also interesting to note is that you can have an AT&T iPhone unlocked via eBay for $15-$20; T-Mobile is revamping thier network to support LTE and same HSPA+ frequencies as AT&T (namely 1900Mhz), which should allow them to offer 3G/4G connectivity with an unlocked AT&T iPhone 3/3GS/4/4S/5!

WhisperSync for AudiBooks- Not Such a Great Deal…

 

Amazon Prime and Audible are among my two favorite items; The new Kindle Fire HD event introduced the idea of WhisperSync for their Audible audio book content with a matching Kindle eBook from Amazon. 

Today I received an email re-affirming this interesting product: WhisperSync for Voice-ready read-along will work on my current Kindle Touch.  Sounds cool; let me check it out:

It appears that in addition to the audible version I have already purchased for $23.39 I must also purchase the Kindle eBook version for an additional $16.99.  i.e. To use this new feature, I must purchase two different formats of the same book; That makes the entire WhisperSync sound a bit unappealing.

I am sure this would be very beneficial for Amazon, book publishers and authors- but it makes a book that costs $11.60 in paperback run a total of almost $40 for a read-along option.  Not very appealing for the customer.

Interesting idea Amazon, but no thanks.  :(

Sony Tablet S Review

A few months ago, I sold my Motorola Xoom to a friend as I determined that I really don’t use the tablet enough to keep it around (it was sitting locked up in my fire safe for months on end).  Last week, I was trying for find a decent way to view comics on my iPad- and realized that it just cannot display a readable page unless I zoom in; I think it is a combination of the aspect ratio and lower resolution that makes it just uncomfortable to read full screen (perhaps that will change with the iPad 3?)- so I decided that I ‘need’ another Android tablet to do this and other things…

My three choices were the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Transformer Prime and the Sony Tablet S.  The Sony Tablet S won out due to it’s form factor and features, such as:  IR transmitter for remote control, ability to pair with a Sony PS3 Sixaxis controller and the very nice way it acts like a big-ass Chumby when docked (there is an included Chumby app).

I used the Sony for about a week and I have been fairly happy with the performance- but not so happy with the ‘portability’ options.

The system is fairly responsive and battery life is very good- I would estimate I can get 4-5 days of normal casual use out of the tablet; checking gReader a few times a day, checking email, surfing the web, and occasional Netflix movie, etc. Leaving the unit in standby doesn’t seem to drain the battery life at all. Granted, it doesn’t have iPad battery longevity, but it lasts a hell of a lot longer than my Motorola Xoom did.

The screen is very nice; sharp and clear, nice color, and the perfect format for reading comics or magazines. Resolution is the typical 1280x800 found on most tablets and the viewing angles are pretty good.  With ComicRack for Android I was catching up on my comics and a few magazines I have neglected for the past few months.

The remote control is pretty nice but lacks several devices (or at least ways to find such devices- such a the Popcorn Hour C200 and the Sony NSZ-GT1 Google TV/Blu-ray player) but it can learn them one button at a time form the old remote.  I also had more than one occasion where the remote would stop working for one device (my C200) and would not return control until I killed the app and restarted.

The form factor is very comfortable to hold; it is like a rolled over magazine providing a good grip and always giving the proper orientation to find the power & volume buttons (on top if holding thick part in left hand). This can however cause some issues with generic cases designed for flat tablets.

The included Crash Bandicoot game is pretty fun when using a Sixaxis controller.  Gameplay is decent (dual core Tegra 2 CPU) albeit it felt a little laggy at times.  NES/SNES emulators are also enjoyable (once you get the controls configured for the Sixaxis).  To pair the Sixaxis, you will need to purchase a microUSB to USB A female cable (such as the Sony SGP-UC1 for $14) to pair the controller; the cable can also be used to connect other USB devices (keyboard, storage, etc.).

Memory is one down-side of the tablet; the 16GB version has 8.92GB available for storage (music, movies, etc.) and 3.94GB allocated to Android application space -leaving about 3GB dedicated to system use.  It does have a SD card slot (yes- full sized SD Card- not microSD), but this can only be used as storage for transferring music/videos/eBooks/etc. into the internal memory; When a SD card is inserted a ‘File Transfer’ program pops up.  This behavior is also true if a USB storage device is attached to the ISB host port. Looks like I won’t be putting much of my FLAC music collection on the device…

The main issues I have with this tablet are the accessories options:

I was able to find only a single slipcover specifically designed for the Tablet S; it is made by Sony and it is $100.  Let me say that again- there is a slipcover case (i.e. it doesn't even hinge to hold the tablet) and it costs one hundred fucking dollars…  I expect to see these on closeout for $30 in the next few months.   There are other 3rd party cases can be used (such as a generic neoprene slipcase for $15) but I am astounded that Sony would only provide one $100 option for protection of their tablet.

EDIT: looking at Sony’s accessory website, there does appear to be a new offering for ‘STM Skinny’ case for the Tablet S- along with two offering from Targus.

Sony managed to create an extreme proprietary (*surprise*) power connector for the tablet and it utilizes an in-line power brick for power- making it pretty much useless for travel.  A spare/replacement power brick costs $40.  The optional dock for the Tablet S provides charging via this odd connector, but the dock does not come bundled with a power supply -and also costs another $40.  These prices are somewhat on the high end with similar offerings for other tablet devices, but the connector choice makes the only charger option very bulky when compared to the ‘wall wart’ charging common to other tablets (and makes a generic or USB powered option impossible).

The power connector is very reminiscent of the old power connector used on the Sony Clie line of Palm PDA devices from about a decade ago.

I have not seen an automotive charger option for this tablet; a power inverter could be used, but this adds additional bulk for a portable device.

 

All said, the Sony Tablet S is a very good Android tablet; it has several features that others do not and its unique shape is comfortable to hold for reading.  However, the charging options make this device much less attractive for use when travelling- so my tablet is going back to the store tomorrow. 

I will likely try out one of the Samsung Galaxy tab options and see how they fare for portability.  I would prefer an Asus Transformer Prime option, but these devices are sold out in almost every store (Frys, BestBuy and MicroCenter) and as well as Online (including a vendor that is charging $50 over MSRP).

Some pics of the Tablet S:

Tablet in dock running the ‘Cassandra’ application

Sample page from ComicRack

Sony Custom application drawer.

View of gReader for Android (but nothing is quite as nice as Flipboard- when is this coming to Android!?!)

Jailbreaks and DirecTV App

I have been a fan of the DirecTV app for iPad for some time; it allows me to setup a list of channels I frequent (TLC, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Science Chanel, etc) and it will present a list of shows that are currently playing on those channels. I can then tap a show for more info or have my DirecTV receiver tune to that channel. This saves countless time scrolling through the 100s of channels or tuning to each of my eight favorites on the receiver to find the same information.

The jailbreak for iPad 2 running iOS 5.0.1 was recently released, so I immediately tried it out. The jailbreak works great- but the DirecTV app now states it will not work on a jailbroken device:

While I can perhaps see DirecTV adopting this stance as they must protect the video content that can be steamed to the iPad, I don’t understand their actual reason for streaming to the iPad- I must be on the same wireless network as the DirecTV receiver- i.e. I will be at home where there is a much larger screen than 10.1” attached to my DirecTV box. DirecTV should abandon its failed attempt at offering streaming video and allow the app to work as what it works best for- an interactive remote control program.

On the positive side, here are ways of bypassing the jailbreak restriction: In Cydia, add the resource ‘http://n00neimp0rtant.dyndns.org/repo/' as a source repository. The repo info will download and you can find and install the xCon anti-jailbreak app. After an automatic springboard restart the DirecTV app will be able to launch again.

PlayerPro for Android and AE2i

I have always been one that thought the price of the Bose headphones was insane- $150 for a pair of headphone?  They must be crazy!  But lately I have been seeing the ‘Beats by Dr. Dre’ headphones- and those are just fucking stupid in price- $500 for a set of headphones?  Kids these days…

Long story short, I actually tried on a pair of the Bose AE2i headphones- and I was pretty impressed with the sound.  Since it is return season (xMas holidays have an extended return period) I decided to purchase a pair of the Bose AE2is- and I am now actually considering keeping them...

Over the past few days, I have spent many hours re-ripping all of my music in FLAC format and then converting to Apple Lossless so I can play on my iPod.  After wasting a bit of time doing this, I realized that my Samsung Droid Charge can play FLAC music natively with the built-in Samsung music player (also works with PlayerPro and PowerAmp)…

I purchased a 32GB MicroSD a few months ago, and I believe I will be able to fit a bit more than 1/2 of my music library when most of it has been converted to FLAC format.

I really started using PlayerPro- and I am very impressed with this software; this makes my phone one of the best MP3 (and FLAC) players I have ever used- iPod Touch/Zune/Sony/Sansa has nothing on this App.  If you download this software, make sure you play with all the settings- specifically the lock screen settings/widgets- and the headphone controls/volume button overrides…

I think what I really like about this program is that is can change any/all of the functionality of the Android OS- something that Apple and others strictly forbid when working on their hardware.  :)

Ya Gotta love technology!

Kinect and Move USB Extensions

I don’t think I am alone in the way I have my TV mounted to one wall and my game console not just sitting on the floor beneath it- in fact, my game consoles are in the other corner of the room (in my stereo rack).  Having the TV mounted about 12’ away from the consoles can make the newer accessories for either a bit hard to connect.

Wii is easy- there are numerous wireless sensor bars that can be put anywhere; but the Microsoft Kinect and the Sony PS3 Eye (used with the Playstation Move controllers) can be a bit more challenging. 

Monoprice has a 10M USB 2.0 active extension cable for $8.46- which is considerably longer and less expensive than the Microsoft official 10’ Kinect Extension cable that is going for about $50.  The big difference is that the Kinect cable is designed to plug into the special port on the back of the xBox 360 slim and provide additional power.  If you (like me) purchased the Kinect separate from an xBox bundle, you also received a USB to Kinect power injector- and this when used with the 10M USB extension cable works perfectly!  :)

The PS3 Eye worked with the 10M extension cable- no problem.

I now have both USB cables ran in my walls and through my attic- so there are no cables to see save for the power plug for the Kinect power injector. 

Life is great when shit works!