2011: Year of the iPad 2!

[irvinehomeowner]

Oh... and back to tablets... did you notice the Zoom 2? There are two versions, a 10" and a 7" one:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/25/motorolas-xoom-2-tablets-pair-up-for-a-portrait-both-at-around/

 

[roundcorners]

I am waiting for IHO to post his iphone 5 news... cause I know he has got some release dates... this morning... bla... can't wait anymore... gotta go to work...



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E1mSSBKEPU
[/youtube]


I'm not a photographer, but I know some of you guys are. A simple point and click is not enough for you. You need your huge SLR camera and $2000 lenses just to shoot pictures of your kid and dog. This post is not for you, but it is about pictures.

The RC family like most of you still use our Canon clicker, I have a real old A400 which I trash around every now and then and the wife bought a SD 1300IS 12.1 Mega pixel camera recently.

Although we always remember to bring the camera wherever we go the htc is quickly surpassing to capture the number of Kodak moments on film. I totally agree with an article that the hand held camera will eventually be obsolete.

The smartphone is now consider a "social camera". I'm not on Facebook but all the pictures and videos I take are automatically uploaded to Picasa when I get home.

My father-in-law came over for a visit this past weekend; I must have took over 50 pictures and 10+ minute long videos.  We came home late Saturday, walk through the door, I took the kid up straight up for his bath and by the time I get back down, the pictures and videos are already on the desktop. No more wires, no more downloads, no more organizing and deleting.

It is automatically synced and organize, I can then share with friends on Google+. I know iPhones picture gallery is great but Cyanogen 7's picture gallery is the same one from the stock Nexus One's. I love all the floating piles of 3d pictures. They can be organized by date and location.  By the way I always have my geotag on.

Picasa has an unlimited capacity for pictures and one minute videos but you can purchase more. Its also good to know that all of our pictures are safe in the cloud. The Android gallery also pulls seemlesly from my Flickr account that I can't tell which pictures are online and which are on my phone.

The stock gallery is good enough for me, but there are other picture apps in the market that is available...


QuickPic
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcMFRKXYx2Y
[/youtube]

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.alensw.PicFolder&feature=search_result


Picasa Tool

https://market.android.com/details?id=larry.zou.colorfullife&feature=search_result


Google+ (now open for everyone)

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.plus&feature=search_result

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Haven't even had time to surf my tech sites this morning (TI is always first)... but I totally agree with you... my phone is my primary camera and it's got tons of pics and videos.

Unlike a camera, you ALWAYS have it with you so it's very convenient.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Oh... and the rumor is that Amazon's tablet they are announcing tomorrow may be called the "Kindle Fire".

Hehe... brings to mind Fahrenheit 451.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Apparently, Amazon took a shortcut to get Kindle Fire released for the holiday season. It will look just like a playbook.

I'm so disappointed.

Kindle Tablet was the chosen one and supposed to bring balance to the tablet market. But not like this.

Yup... also slower processor and running Android OS 2.x, not 3.x Honeycomb... so basically a Nook Color competitor.

The good thing is it might bring prices down even more... force Sammy to lower their ridiculous MSRPs for their Tabs (can you believe they want to sell the 16GB 8.9 for $469?).

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Meh... only 1024x600 resolution... I think I'll wait to see what the Nook Color 2 looks like... or if Sammy can get the 7.7" to the US (it passed FCC recently).

I think the Kindle Touch is something my mom could use, $99 for the WiFi only but $149 for the 3G version with no monthly 3G charges.

 

[roundcorners]

So it is official the Kindle Fire is here, this is very encouraging a dual core "tablet" for $200!  This should put a lot of pressure on the other Android makers to get their supply chain costs in line.

I'm trying to read up more on hardware specs but it doesn't seem to have a camera or microphone.  One thing that B&N's Nook did right was to make the thing easily Rootable & Hackable.

I don't doubt the Android community would try to hack the Fire the second it comes out.  I don't mind not being able to make Skype Video calls on the Fire, but let's see if they get Blue Tooth to work on the thing like on the Nook Color.  I don't really care much about taking pictures on the tab or making phone calls, I'll probably assume those functions would also be lower on their priority list as well.

The $200 price mark is good but not impressive.  I've mentioned the $199 X10 before without hacking but I guess the value is in the name and support, all of which won't matter much if it is rooted.

So the main difference is the Dual Core processor, if it does fly on movies and downloads and other multi-media, multi-tasking then the Fire might be worth buying.

X10http://www.x10.com/promotions/airpad_7_inch_android_tablet.html?TWENTY11

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_EImGGWFiY[/youtube]



Fire
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVsfLnMqOC4[/youtube]

Specs include:

14.6 ounces
7-inch IPS display at 1024x600
Gorilla Glass
1GHz dual-core TI OMAP processorDual-core processor
Wifi-only
Whispersync
Amazon Silk browser
WiFi, no 3G option
8GB of on-board storage

Amazon's Silk - Fire Browser...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u7F_56WhHk&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube]

 

[roundcorners]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oywzqa5i78s
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs_qbjOcrVU
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ73_BBgLhg&feature=related
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGlnwNjW8LU&feature=related[/youtube]


I personally think crime is on the rise.  From just anecdotal evidence, I have heard more than my fair share of burglaries, theft and even home evasions.  There are also strong evidence linking the recession and the weak economy to rise in crime and violence.  I know of three acquaintances who had a break-in where jewelry, cash and valuables were stolen.  Our neighbor here in the South Bay had his red Acura stolen, and just about two week ago, there were about 20 swat officers combing our neighborhood block and backyard for a suspected burglar who was jumping yards and possibly armed.

Recently I was changing a tire in the street in front of our house, and had the contents of my trunk scattered on the sidewalk and curb.  I left the car jacked up on on side, to get a new tire replaced when I get a phone call from the wife that some lady was taking my motor oil, and some work related material/samples/literature.  It's been a few months since the incident and I'm still discovering that some items were indeed stolen despite my wife's intervention.

All this makes me, well, miss Irvine a bit (ok, I said it)...  and wonder more about security in general, and in particular our smartphones.  To be honest, I don't think much about securing my phone.  This is one topic that probably need some good input.

I do have the pattern lock screen, but people found a loop hole where you can just wait for a incoming phone call and simply push the "back" button to get to the phone.

There has been some good feedback on the app Lookout, but I can safely assume that if someone were to steal my phone here in LA, I would never see it again.  I'm almost fanatic about keeping important things like pictures and music on the cloud; and most other things are already backed up.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I personally think crime is on the rise.  From just anecdotal evidence, I have heard more than my fair share of burglaries, theft and even home evasions.  There are also strong evidence linking the recession and the weak economy to rise in crime and violence.  I know of three acquaintances who had a break-in where jewelry, cash and valuables were stolen.  Our neighbor here in the South Bay had his red Acura stolen, and just about two week ago, there were about 20 swat officers combing our neighborhood block and backyard for a suspected burglar who was jumping yards and possibly armed.

Recently I was changing a tire in the street in front of our house, and had the contents of my trunk scattered on the sidewalk and curb.  I left the car jacked up on on side, to get a new tire replaced when I get a phone call from the wife that some lady was taking my motor oil, and some work related material/samples/literature.  It's been a few months since the incident and I'm still discovering that some items were indeed stolen despite my wife's intervention.

What happens in LA, stays in LA.

All this makes me, well, miss Irvine a bit (ok, I said it)

Yeah... the universe's safest city!!!!

...  and wonder more about security in general, and in particular our smartphones.  To be honest, I don't think much about securing my phone.  This is one topic that probably need some good input.

I do have the pattern lock screen, but people found a loop hole where you can just wait for a incoming phone call and simply push the "back" button to get to the phone.

There has been some good feedback on the app Lookout, but I can safely assume that if someone were to steal my phone here in LA, I would never see it again.  I'm almost fanatic about keeping important things like pictures and music on the cloud; and most other things are already backed up.

Yeah... I have almost no security on my phones because I don't keep anything on there that is that important. Stuff that needs purchase access (like AppStore or Google Market) is password protected, I periodically copy photos/videos to my computer and Google keeps my contacts in sync... so if I were to lose or get my phone stolen... I would be okay. My wife has the password screen on her phone but that's to keep the kids from playing it without her permission... heh.

 

[rkp]

I personally think crime is on the rise.  From just anecdotal evidence, I have heard more than my fair share of burglaries, theft and even home evasions.  There are also strong evidence linking the recession and the weak economy to rise in crime and violence.  I know of three acquaintances who had a break-in where jewelry, cash and valuables were stolen.  Our neighbor here in the South Bay had his red Acura stolen, and just about two week ago, there were about 20 swat officers combing our neighborhood block and backyard for a suspected burglar who was jumping yards and possibly armed.

Recently I was changing a tire in the street in front of our house, and had the contents of my trunk scattered on the sidewalk and curb.  I left the car jacked up on on side, to get a new tire replaced when I get a phone call from the wife that some lady was taking my motor oil, and some work related material/samples/literature.  It's been a few months since the incident and I'm still discovering that some items were indeed stolen despite my wife's intervention.

What happens in LA, stays in LA.

All this makes me, well, miss Irvine a bit (ok, I said it)

Yeah... the universe's safest city!!!!

completely off-topic but my friends tech company in irvine had a robbery over the weekend and his $1M+ inventory was stolen.  and on sunday, i was at coffeebean near harvard & main and saw haggard old asian man in torn clothing rummaging through garbage for recyclables and food.  i have never seen this in irvine and it was rather sad to see such an old man digging through.  he didnt ask anyone for money or anything and just quickly walked trash can to trash can. 

now back to topic, my blackberry is fully encrypted by our enterprise servers.  its great to know that even my silly pics of my baby putting food on her face are safe if phone is lost but it does sick to access and move content as it is rather slow

 

[irvinehomeowner]

and on sunday, i was at coffeebean near harvard & main and saw haggard old asian man in torn clothing rummaging through garbage for recyclables and food.  i have never seen this in irvine and it was rather sad to see such an old man digging through.  he didnt ask anyone for money or anything and just quickly walked trash can to trash can. 

You didn't say "Hi" to BK? Next time ask him about his ultimate detached condo project.

 

[roundcorners]

A great week has come to an end... in case you missed it... here is a summary of this week's  Android news (well the ones that stood out for me...)  enjoy...!


Great Kindle Fire Q&A...http://www.androidcentral.com/amazon-kindle-fire-qa

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-oUrzy0Lvw[/youtube]



A nice leak of Ice Cream Sandwich from Engadget... yummy!!!http://www.androidcentral.com/ice-cream-sandwich-supposedly-shown-short-video-could-it-be-real-deal
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE9COQcw7Jg[/youtube]



Nexus Prime coming to San Diego & Verizon (w/o Bloatwear)...!
Ummm.. yeah, hunny; I gotta work San Diego on the 11th, can you give the kid a bath that night?

http://phandroid.com/2011/09/29/verizons-nexus-prime-to-come-devoid-of-any-bloatware/

Thrive 7" coming.. December...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzS7L0_ztzU[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c62c7yVQeLo[/youtube]



ThunderBolt Users...!  Hows about some Gingerbread...

Someone in Irvine is rocking 3.2.1... (someone in LA is jealous...)

Galaxy Tab 8.9
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3iVCHYO7cc&feature=fvst[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jkOyPxvobc&feature=fvst[/youtube]



Galaxy Player 5 - 5" WiFi only phone size tablet...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJHaDZLi98U[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7X8H5kFyI[/youtube]



Galaxy Player 4
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP9TzgM_omY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLxVmJAUd1c[/youtube]



BONUS...
iphone Optimus Prime...?  Scenes from Ghost, Titanic..?  The most bizarre Android/IOS video this week...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cSSiCghAdU&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Hehe... just OTA'd the 3.2.1 update on my TF last night... not much changes but they did add the SuperNote app which is AWESOME. I've been looking for a notepad app (tried ColorNote and Note Everything) and this one seems to be the best.

Do the other tablets get timely updates like Asus? I'm actually impressed by how much they are working on it... if only my phone could get past 2.2.

But get ready... next week Apple is going to suck all the air out of the Android space.

 

[roundcorners]

Now this is going to sound like complaining and I have to admit there is a lot in common here but I'm not complaining; I'm merely... venting!

I had to cough up about $50 (between the wife & I) over the weekend cause one of our ministry leaders from Church is moving overseas. It is a huge leap in faith as he is following God's calling for his family. One person thought it would be good to collect some money from the group and get the family an iPad as a suprise parting gift.

Now I totally appreciate the gistuere and he totally deserves it and yes, I'm cheap (frugal) if you don't know that already, and I yes $50 does go a long way on the RC family, but I'm more annoyed that what our society considers as an acceptable gift had to start with an "i".

This is about the third time, I contributed in a pot to buy an ipod or ipad; and never once did the organizer ever asked the group for what might be a good gift, it was always assume that an Apple products is best.

In our industry there are constant Sales Contests, Spiffs & Rewards going around with different manufacturers.  And you guess it, the number one "Grand Prize" is almost always an ipad or ipod!  I'm sick of it...  this has got to change people!  I have absolutely no motivation to sell your product if you're giving away an iPad, as a matter of fact, I'll sell your competing product if you run the promotion.

Android has more than twice the market share of iOS and chances are people who want an ipad or ipod already have one; what people want and what people are excited about are Android devices!

A gift of Android this holiday season says:

-- I know you!  I know you're not the generic friend or average consumer, you're special!
-- You're more sophisticated, I know you can use a more complicated technology than an Apple product!
-- This gift is special, it took thought, research and a lot of work; ok, it might have been "cheaper" but that doesn't matter, I thought of YOU when I bought this!!!


You people feel me...?  thanks for letting me vent...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4zbOyIdOuw[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5znuqSd380U[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmP7_cWNMLg&feature=related[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW5i1UiMl8E&feature=related[/youtube]

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Android has more than twice the market share of iOS and chances are people who want an ipad or ipod already have one; what people want and what people are excited about are Android devices!

Sorry RC... but this is where you are wrong.

For tablets, iPad has way more than twice the market share... and way more apps. People want what most other people already have... least common denominator gets the most usage. And chances are, he will get more support for his iPad overseas than he will for Android Tablet of the Month.

While I prefer my Android tablet over the iPad, that has more to do with its dual functionality than its OS and that I am more techy than the average user... but that's the kicker... "average" user.

Do you use Windows, Linux or OSX?

 

[roundcorners]

LOL... iphone day...?  nah... due to popular demand, Android central today is announcing that it's...
https://plus.google.com/115963387846188704264/posts/EnFsLjFfbi9

Rex Manning Day...!  hahahaha... oh... Rex... so sexy with the Android...!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szvt8iWJ0oo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]



and if that isn't enough... we have a Screen Shot (yes, very timely, Prime w/ software buttons...!

I will try to keep my Engadget window open this morning...http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/04/engadget-broadcasting-live-from-apples-lets-talk-iphone-eve/

really funny... I spoke to more than 10+ iPhone users over the weekend and yesterday at work... most don't even know a new phone is coming out and all are NOT upgrading...

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Someone needs to learn some iPhone tolerance... can't we all phone along?

Happy iPhone day... in 10 minutes.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

really funny... I spoke to more than 10+ iPhone users over the weekend and yesterday at work... most don't even know a new phone is coming out and all are NOT upgrading...

Looks like more than 10+ users know because both of the live blogs I'm following keep crashing from too many hits... didn't do this before so that tells you the iPhone 5 is going to break iPhone records (which broke all the records before that).

Sad day for RC.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Apple is dumb... they delay the refresh almost 4 months and then just give us an incremental update.

Mrs. IHO is not going to be happy because she doesn't like the form factor of the iPhone 4. Maybe she'll get a Galaxy S2 instead (RC would love that).

 

[jvna]

Was thinking of iPhone for the wife since she's so Apple minded.  But may look to get her the new Prime when it's released.