Newbrew

Move To Android

I recently decided that my Blackberry just didn't provide what I needed anymore.  Yes, it made phone
calls.  It also received mail and allowed me to compose outbound mail.  The Facebook app worked.  So did the Twitter app.  Battery life was good.  Durability was excelent.  The browser?  It was terrible.  Screen size, too small (for these near 50 eyes .)  Video?  Forget about it.  While my iPhone can take the place of my laptop for much of the time, my Blackberry was basically a better phone and not much more. 

I had considered moving strictly to my iPhone.  But, AT&T has the worst talk plans in the US.  Plus, T-Mobile offers something no other carrier offers:  Wifi calling (or UMA for those in the know.)  Wifi calling is great when you're in a basement or in the middle of an office building allowing you to use the Internet (via Wifi) to login to T-Mobile.  This feature is also great for use when you're overseas.

So, I went to T-Mobile almost a month ago and started looking at their two top phones:  The Samsung Galazy S II and the HTC Amaze 4G.  Both have dual-core 1.5Ghz processors, both support "4G" data speeds (via HSPA+) and both currently run Gingerbread, the latest Android operating system.  Both have large screens, lots of memory, MicroSD card slots, 8MP cameras, GPS and more.  But, this decision wasn't just my own.  My wife too had the same Blackberry I had and she really wanted either an iPhone or something similar.  She too suffered from the lack of a descent Internet experience.

We both went for the HTC.  And though Wifi calling wasn't out yet, we figured it would be soon.  Just this week it was released and works (still with some lag and echo though.)  I also like many other features of the phone including availability of apps, the speed and ease of use of the browser and the UI provided by HTC (on top of Android.)  However, Android isn't for those uncomfortable with customization.  You have to be somewhat tech savvy to get the phone to do all you want.  This is the opposite of the iPhone where everything works out of the box.  For example, the native HTC email app doesn't work with SMTP on a Zimbra server.  The native HTC calendar app doesn't support CalDav.  Yes, there are work arounds.  I use K9 (free) for email on the Zimbra server.  I use a $2.88 app that supports CalDav and allows me to use the native calendar app to sync with the same Zimbra server.  What a pain though to figure out what works and what doesn't work. 

Other apps don't work the same on Android as they do on the iPhone.  ESPN Scorecenter doesn't push out alerts on Android.  This is bad during football season.  However, Angry Birds is FREE on Android.  That's a plus!  Pandora (I'm a Pandora One subscriber) and Netflix work well.  So does SiriusXM.

Battery life though is a real problem.  Of course, the iPhone 4S suffers the same problem.  Perhaps these dual-core processor, bright screen, multi-radio (4G, 3G, 2G, Bluetooth, Wifi) features mated with limited multi-tasking and smart app management all combine to accelerate power usage.

If Google and the limited number of manufacturers out there focus on giving users the same seamless experience Apple provides, competition will ensure new features and capabilities will keep coming.  I am an iPhone user and fan.  I'm also a long time Mac user.  But, don't be an Apple automaton.  There are many excellent smartphone choices!  I hope soon to have a reason to buy and test Windows Phone 7.5, perhaps even mated to Nokia hardware.

I've Got a Time Machine

Actually, I have many Time Machines.  Time Machine is a feature of Mac OS X starting with Leopard (10.5). For those not familiar with versioning for MacOS, OS X (or 10) is the current OS.  The current "dot" release is 6, also called Snow Leopard (10.6.)

That's the boring part.  The great part is how absolutely mind saving Time Machine is.  Today, I noticed one of my email inboxes in Apple Mail was empty.  All the mail was gone.  I don't know what happened.  I don't believe I deleted anything.  Luckily, email back to June 23 was sitting in the "Trash" folder.  I just dragged that back into my inbox.  BUT, I had lots of other email in that inbox.  Not to cry, I have Time Machine.

Once or twice per week, I merely plug a 1TB Western Digital drive into a USB slot in my Macbook Pro.  That's it. It performs an incremental backup of my machine.  All files, except the operating system, are backed up.  If I have any problems, from an accidental data loss to a crash, I can recover to exactly that last backup.

So, I brought up Apple Mail, then brought up Time Machine.  It then showed me a view of Mail from today backwards.  I went back to Tuesday the 20th (today is the 22nd), when the mail was there, and when I backed-up last, and clicked on "recover" for just that folder in that account.  That was it.  Time Machine placed all that email in a recovered folder on my Apple Mail folder list.  I dragged those emails over to their inbox.  DONE.  Windows 7 is OK.  But, it just can't compete with OS X.

 

What Do I Do With My iPad?

2 weeks now and I absolutely love it.  This past Friday evening, I started out having a call using Skype (I have a SkypeIn number and a world subscription).  The iPad has speakers and a microphone built in.  I didn't have to use the headphones.

What else though.  Here goes a partial list:

• Netflix.  I stream movies to it.
• Email.  I check mail first thing in the morning with it.  No need to go down and get my laptop.  The iPad sits nice on the bedside table.
• Facebook.  Sure, the app is an iPhone one.  But, it works well.
• Tweetdeck.  For Twitter activities on 3 different accounts.
• Pandora.  A nice new iPad app.
• iBooks, Apple's book reader
• Kindle.  YEP, there's a soft Kindle app for buying and reading amazon ebooks.
• Live radio via specific apps for 920WGKA and WSB.  I also have iheartradio and ooTunes apps for many more stations.
• Kayak, for travel
• GoToMeeting client
• Discovery Channel Videos
• ABC shows
• Solitaire (who would have thought)

OK, there's lots more.  It is more than a toy now.  Now quite where I need to live for work.  Better than the iPhone for most internet things.  Even a better phone when at the desk.

I'd recommend this to anyone.

 

A Better Receiver I Didn't Want To Have to Buy

For the past month or so we've noticed our home theater receiver was clicking a lot when we switched inputs.  I suspected there may be a short.  Finally the clicking reached maximum irritation.  So, I had to purchase a new one.  25 years ago I'd be cheering it's death.  "Hurray, I can upgrade".  But, age had diminished my desire to spend money this way.  I want my equipment to last good and long.  But, here I am.

I purchased the Sony 9 years ago.  It was the 4th piece of gear I had purchased for amplification.  I bought a Yamaha integrated amp in 1983.  Still have it.  My buddy is using it today and says it works great.  I have a late 80's Yamaha Dolby Surround receiver in my bedroom.  Works great.  However, I haven't turned it on in a decade.  In the basement I have a Yamaha Dolby Digital receiver I purchased in the mid-90's and it's still fantastic.  And back in 2001, I bought this Sony as it supported DTS and was less expensive.  Well, less money, lesser brand, less satisfaction.  So, I've gone back to Yamaha. 

The Yamaha RX-V565 is a 7.1 receiver.  It has HDMI ports (4 in/1 out) and support for Dolby® TrueHD and DTS HD-Master Audio, new formats that you find on Bluray discs.  And it upscales DVD's, regular HD programming and even regular TV programming up to 1080p.  So, now I send my Bluray and cable box output to the receiver and let it send the video to the television via HDMI. 

Best though is how I was able to remove my older optical connections (from the cable box and the Blueray player).  Seems HDMI is a better transport for video and audio. 

If you read my last post on my new networking gear, you'll know I use Apple devices.  Just as before, I use the Apple Remote Base Station located by my Bluray player to provide Internet access to the player, to extend my network to wireless devices upstairs AND to provide AirTunes to my receiver.  What can I do?  Read below:

• I have a Mac Mini in the basement attached to a 1TB drive with all my music.
• I keep iTunes open on that Mac
• I use my iPhone "Remote" application to "see" the iTunes library on the Mac Mini
• The same Remote app allows me to play music located on the Mac Mini remote drive and route the music to speakers/receivers attached to Remote Base Stations.
• I have 2 Remote Base Stations each by a receiver allowing me to simulcast music on 2 floors

OK, I only do this at Christmas and when other aren't in the house.  But, it's just fun to do every now and then.

New Networking Gear. The Same, Only Better

I recently bought new networking gear for my home.  Not too exciting.  But, I have less gear and better coverage.  I did have an Apple Extreme Base Stations (802.11g) with 3 Apple Remote Base Stations (also 802.11g).  I ran all of these in a Wireless Distribution System configuration or WDS.  Apple made is relatively easy to make the remotes "repeaters" expanding the wireless system.  This worked well given my house is 3 stories and right at 6000 square feet.  I did have a 4th repeater.  But, I've been carrying that in my briefcase for use situations where I have Ethernet connection and want to turn that into a wireless network (my office, hotels, etc.)  

The Remote Base Stations served multiple purposes.  They have Ethernet ports AND AirTunes jacks for music distribution.  I had one Remote behind our Xbox 360 in the basement allowing for Xbox Live and for Netflix movies streaming.  I also had one behind our Blueray player upstairs for system updates and for Pandora, Netflix and YouTube streaming. 

It seems though that WDS repeaters need to be very carefully tuned so as to broadcast in just a certain area.  Otherwise you have signals stepping on each other.  I grew tired of tuning and adjusting the devices.  After a consultation at the Apple store, I realized it was time to move to 802.11n.  Now I have a new Extreme Base Station and 2 new Remote Base Stations.  And, only the Remote upstairs allows wireless clients.  The one downstairs is merely for extending the network to the Xbox and allows no wireless clients.  I seem to have more coverage with only 2 devices broadcasting.  Further, Apple made it very simple to setup the network.  Before I had to setup all sorts of details on the devices.  Now, I was able to tell a Remote to extend the network and let the Extreme and Remote set each other up.  More range, less points for devices to connect, easier setup.  It's not like showing off an iPad.  But, I now have better performance and less to bother with.  And I sold my old gear on Ebay!