After A Few Days With Amazon fireTV

Once the Amazon fireTV was turned on, and connected my Amazon account without any action on my part, I was excited to get right into it.

The obvious difference between the fireTV and other streaming boxes is the fireTV is based on the Android operating system. The biggest difference with this box over others is the natural integration with Amazon Prime Instant Video. Just like the Kindle where books are the primary interface, Prime movies and TV shows are the primary interface, Netflix, Hulu and others are secondary apps.

Finding items to watch is as simple as speaking into the remote what you want, and it did a great job of finding nearly all the items I searched for. At first it was a little clunky, I was pressing the speak button and letting go then talking into the remote. Nothing was happening. Turns out you need to hold down the speak button until you are through speaking. Either I didn't see the instructions or I was trying to use it like Siri. The other thing that I thought was weird is I couldn't speak my username and passwords when setting up Netflix and Hulu? Seemed like I should be able to do that just as easily as speaking a search.

I like that the remote is very minimalist, however, the ring used to navigate left, right, up and down, should have some kind of arrows on it for those not used to that kind of interface. I was ok but my wife wasn't sure what to do to go back and forth.

I haven't had time to check out games, but I'll get there. I don't see games becoming a huge boon for this device as people aren't trained to use their streaming media box as a game console, they are using their Xbox for that.

Everything about this box is excellent. The thin size, speed, and simple remote make it a great choice. I'm certainly glad I picked it up.

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Apple iOS 7 Translucent UI Needs Help

I installed iOS 7 on one of my iPads today. The first thing that struck me was the change in the way folders and the system tray looked. Honestly, I didn't spend a whole lot of time studying every aspect of iOS 7 so some of this might not have been surprising with a little digging, but this really caught me off guard. As you can see from the image below, the folders and the system tray look skin color. I really wanted to puke. I thought, how could this be!

After my initial shock wore off, I changed the wallpaper and sure enough, the colors showed through what I guess is a translucent UI. I searched the settings to see if there was something that let change the percentage of translucency or even the color, and nope, nothing.

I do like the new fast app switch, but it took me a few minutes to figure out how to close down an app. It's not the old-fashioned way of hold and press the X, you simply perform the Android maneuver of sliding it off the screen. Closed.

 

This isn't a post knocking iOS 7, or Apple. Just my initial observation. I wish for a day I can control some of the UI look on my personal device. But that's another post.

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Ouya Is Still In Beta Mode

After spending a week with my Kicstarter backed Ouya, I must say, it's still in beta mode. I'm keeping in mind it's a $99 console, but honestly, I didn't want to have to do that. I don't want to make excuses for the device just because it didn't set me back $400.

I let my Son-in-law who is a very avid gamer take it for spin this past weekend, and he wasn't impressed. His first surprise was how cheap-ish the controller felt. Compared to an Xbox controller, he has a point. Second, we tried to play a few games, but they wouldn't load, and we tried to download a few games, but the download speed was so slow that it took an hour to download one game. Again, not impressed.

I'm not calling this device a failure, far from it. I know that it will get better over time. But I certainly thought the software part of the system would be a lot more solid than it is.

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Mobile Cameras No Longer About Megapixels

A feature of the iPhone that is very annoying is the low megapixel rear facing camera. For the longest time I wondered why can't Apple fit a really nice 13MP camera in the iPhone. And they could. But maybe it's not about megapixels any more. I ran across this from HTC today, http://www.htc.com/www/zoe/, the Ultra Pixel Camera, which will appear in the new HTC One. The company claims a 300% performance increase over a 13 megapixel camera. I'm not really sure what that means, but the specs talk about "advanced CMOS Sensor, ISP, and optical lens system that captures significantly more light than most 8 or 13 megapixel cameras."

I know most people are used to measuring a cameras value by the number of megapixels (I am/was one of those people). However, of the picture quality can be improved digitally, then I guess I don't care what the megapixels are, only that it produces a very high quality true image.

This Verge review of the HTC One kinda puts the Ultra Pixel camera to the test and didn't care much for it.

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Android 4.2.2 Arrives For My Nexus 7

This little message popped up when I turned on the Nexus 7 today. w00t!

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Nexus 7 Here To Stay

I was pretty excited about winning a Nexus 7 at a recent Google Chrome Developer challenge. I wanted a Nexus 7, and it was on my "buy" list. As it stand right now, there's only one thing I can do (aside from rooting the device) on my iPad 3 that I can't do on the Nexus and that is watch Amazon Prime Instant Movies. That issue makes no sense to me, and is extremely frustrating. If there were an Amazon viewing app like the one on an iPad, I don't know that I would use my iPad as much.

I'm learning how Android works. It's much different than iOS. I'm also learning that the majority of apps aren't nearly as "good looking" as an iOS app. But generally, I can do nearly the same things on my Nexus 7 as I have done on my iPad. Here are some highlights so far.

Codeaway
I am a premium subscriber to Codeaway, the development IDE in the cloud. There is a great Android app (or I can also access via the web).

Twitter
There are a number of Twitter clients for Android (but I really wish Twitterbot was one of them), and they all work fairly nice. Most are not tablet ready, meaning it's really the phone version stretched to the 7" screen.

That seems to be the problem with most Android apps. Not all, but most.

Google
I am a Google user; Google+, GMail, Drive, Calendar, Picasa, and any other app they have out there. Google apps seem to work really well on the Nexus, I wonder why.

WordPress
There is even a fairly decent WordPress client available for Android.

One feature that I really dig is the ability to customize the look of my Nexus. I can change screen, icons, background, and widgets. All of things give me a very customized view of my Nexus.

What are pain points so far?

• Trying to do any amount of typing on the small screen is really difficult. It's not that you can't type, but you are limited to the amount of screen real estate you can view.


• Navigation is funky at best. I'm trying to get used to using the back arrow versus the back button.


• There is no back camera. Very difficult to take photos.


• The speaker is in an akward place when. When you are holding the device in landscape mode, your fingers tend to cover the speaker.


• Not a deal breaker, but it would be nice to have an external SD card slot.

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WordPress App For Android Sports Snazzy Stats

WordPress for Android (and iOS) has a pretty snazzy stats module. The UI is simpe but has great graphs. You must log into your Wordpress.com account, and it's possible you will also need JetPack. My stats suck so thanks for helping a brother out.

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5 Tech Stories Worth Reading

1. i’mWatch The Android Powered Wristwatch
We have seen quite a few different watches that can be used with your smartphone here at Geeky Gadgets, but I think this may be the first one that is powered by Google’s Android OS, the i’mWatch.

2. Instagram Turns Your Likes Into Photo Albums
Social photo app Instagram pushed out a new update today on the iPhone. The first thing you notice is that uploads are a lot faster. Speed, quite frankly, is one of Instagram’s competitive advantages. But the update also includes some new features, the most important of which is the ability to see all the photos you’ve liked in the past.

3. Clouds Are Like Buses: Public Isn’t Always Better
Since the concept of “private cloud” was introduced, there have been efforts by certain people to prove it “wrong” or show that it doesn’t make sense when compared with the public cloud. This seems like a silly crusade, not because I’m a supporter of private cloud (which I am), but because both provide tremendous value if you actually understand the value that “cloud” has delivered to the industry.

4. Spending More Time Outdoors May Help Prevent Nearsightedness
Playing outside is one of the great joys of childhood, and studies now indicate this sun exposure may also help prevent kids from developing myopia, a.k.a. nearsightedness—if they spend enough time outdoors.

5. The Power Of Online-To-Offline Is Moving Beyond Local Commerce
While the idea of ‘online to offline’ for purchasing is proving to be powerful in the local commerce world, the trend of linking the physical world to the web is producing a number of startups that are innovating beyond just purchasing from local merchants or finding a product nearby. Many of the most interesting startups that have emerged over the past year or so are making our lives in the real world better; using data, location and curation as their competitive weapons.

BONUS

6. 6 Free E-Books and Tutorials on HTML5
HTML5 is popular for building rich Web sites as well as cross-platform mobile applications. And it looks like with Windows 8 Microsoft is embracing using HTML5 and JavaScript as a paradigm for building desktop applications as well. With everyone from Apple to Microsoft embracing HTML5 as "the future," if you don't know it yet, you should probably get started.

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Two Features Social Photo Sharing Services Must Have

I'll be the first to admit I'm a social photo sharing application addict. I install apps all the time on my iPhone and try them out. Most of the apps I delete as fast as I install them. There are two must have features every social photo sharing service should have, or they will struggle to catch on; a web site for each user, and a mobile application.

You Must Offer A Web Site

Viewing one photo at a time is, a waste of time. I want to see a grid, or a gallery, or a time line of photos. I want to see a description, the ability to like, republish (via Twitter or Facebook), and comment. I want the ability to build a community around a photo or a collection of photos. Many of the most popular photo sharing services offer this type of web experience.

Not offering a web site, or one that is so restrictive and lacking in features, is a huge misstep.

You Must Offer A Mobile App On Multiple Platforms

Apple'siPhone is a very popular device, and is becoming one of the most popular ways to take photos. Just recently flickr announced the iPhone is number one camera used to to take the photos uploaded to it's service. That is huge. But it's not the only game in town.

Android based phones are becoming, if they haven't already, the most popular phone in the world. As this new platforms gains popularity, with phones having larger screens, dual core processors, and cameras that exceed 10 mega pixels, to ignore it would be another huge misstep.

No one else in my Family has an iPhone. Services that require an iPhone to view photos in a mobile app don't work for me. Many of my developer friends don't have an iPhone, they have an Android based phone. A large portion of the market is being left out. And it's a misstep if your services doesn't cater to all mobile platforms.

Developing For Android Sucks

David Karp, CEO of Tumblr recently said in a live interview at TechCrunch DISRUPT, Android "Absoutley sucks to develop for." Wow, what a statement.

Crazy amounts of investor money is being thrown at photo sharing services, and I'm hoping these services have something up their sleeve besides an API and an iPhone app. I know Android isn't the easiest platform to develop on, but there are alternate methods that would allow you to get started. I'll post more on those later. In the mean time, give us the full experience, and the ability to share with all our connections, not just the ones who own an iPhone.

 

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The Windows Phone 7 Land Rush

Windows Phone 7 is about to hit the streets, and there is a lot of buzz being generated. My first impression of the phones are so-so. Nothing to write home about. The device is simple, and according to Steve Balmer's keynote address at PDC2010, Microsoft wanted to put the most important features front and center on the main screen.

Microsoft is late to the mobile party as it were. Apple owns a commanding lead in the smart phone arena, with Android and BlackBerry having large user bases. But Windows hasn't had a game competing device or OS until now. If Microsoft does this right, and doesn't strong arm developers as much as Apple does, the Windows Phone 7 app store could be the piece that makes this phone a winner.

Application Stores like iTunes, have given Apple the leverage it needs to remain strong and keep their lead. With over the top developer agreements, and total control over the hardware and software, they also control the experience. Microsoft owns the OS, but is allowing other manufactures to build the devices, which isn't necessarily and bad thing, but could be one reason it only achieves mediocre success. If I could wave a magic wand and command the Mobile division at Microsoft, that's what I would do. Users may kick and scream, but taking a queue from Apple, so what. The experience is second to none.

The application space for the Windows Phone 7 could be a land rush. And with the shear number of developers who write software for the Windows platform, and so have a good understanding of the language used to write applications for WP7, I would expect see the volume of apps built and sold in the WP7 store to dwarf that of Apples iTunes App Store. I could be wrong, but the numbers are in Microsoft's favor.

Microsoft is definitely muscling in on the mobile and cloud space. With the introduction of the Azure platform, and the WP7, Microsoft is finally starting to embrace anywhere computing as it's lead platform.

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