Showing 1 - 10 of 11
Apple struggles to make a connection
Life, James Hein, Published on 22/03/2017
» There is a rumour that Apple could be replacing its Lightning Port on the 10th-anniversary iPhone with the popular USB-C alternative. I don't believe it. USB-C is too popular, and Apple has a habit of going its own way with connectors and other items. Apple has long been anti-standards when it comes to their devices, and, while it would be a good thing, they have invested too much in their proprietary Lightning connectors to let them go. So even if they did adopt USB-C it would be an Apple-only version, requiring Apple-specific cables and chargers. Sure, Apple could come up with a Lightning-to-USB cable of some kind, but that would be too easy.
Look before loading
Life, James Hein, Published on 01/06/2016
» Loading a couple of Android apps on the new tablet, I was about to load Facebook before I stopped to read the permissions required, something unnecessary if you use a PC. The list is 56 items long and reading through them it seemed to be about the same as holding your computer out in the street and saying: "Take me". One question I have is: "How many people actually read the required-permissions list?" Some scary permissions you might miss include "Find accounts on the device" and "Send email to guests without owner's knowledge". Then there is "Read your text messages", "Modify or delete contents of your USB storage", "Record audio" and "Full network access".
Samsung's 7s ain't too bad
Life, James Hein, Published on 02/03/2016
» The new Samsung Galaxy S7 duo has been announced, bringing to mind the Meatloaf lyrics, "two out of three ain't bad". Some will remember I sent a letter to the Korean electronics giant some time back, but the letter was returned to sender. At first I was confused by this until I remembered that job titles are of high importance to the Koreans and I had used the general term product manager instead of what the exact title was, hence the return. Despite that I suspect others had also contacted Samsung and provision for the SD card was returned, along with the S5 waterproofing. There's still no replaceable battery but for many that is not really an issue.
Coining it in
Life, James Hein, Published on 03/02/2016
» So the People's Bank of China (PBOC) is planning to set up a virtual currency for China. The stated purpose sounds reasonable, reduce the cost of paper currency and allow the country to have greater control over the currency supply. Apparently this would also help with money laundering, tax cheats and allow for greater transparency.
When help is really a hindrance
Life, James Hein, Published on 16/12/2015
» Computer help has progressed to the point where it has become annoying. Microsoft is the master of trying to help and at least in my case, not getting it right. Users of Yahoo Mail will also know what I mean. You will be in the middle of doing something and Yahoo will refresh the inbox bumping you out of a move, a delete or some other half-completed action. Note to Yahoo, this is not helping. I can understand that Yahoo wants to get the latest emails to you as quickly as possible but I wonder how those who get lots of emails every day cope with continually being interrupted by the never-ending refresh. I can understand a drive to continually improve things but there is a point where too much help can be less than helpful, and what some consider help is a hindrance to another.
Apple is being sued by iFans
Life, James Hein, Published on 14/01/2015
» Apple is being sued, not really news. Apple being sued by fans, however, is news. The issue is the memory claims for the Apple devices being 8GB, 16GB and so on. The problem is that up to around 23% of the memory can be taken up by the operating system restricting how many media files and applications it can support. iOS 8 takes up quite a bit of memory and will not even fit on some older devices. Not sure the claimants will get away with this one but it does make an interesting point and highlight how bad any iDevice is that does not support plug in memory cards.
Safe surfing with a VPN
Life, James Hein, Published on 27/08/2014
» So how safe is your surfing? Not the water, board and shark kind, but what you do on the web. Sitting in front of your computer you will either have your own internet protocol (IP) address or be assigned one as part of a pool that is doled out by your internet service provider (ISP). Somewhere between you and the rest of the internet will be a domain name server (DNS) that knows how to get a message from out there back to you and vice versa. Or to put it another way, they know where you are.
Tablet sales a bitter pill for top firms
Life, James Hein, Published on 14/05/2014
» According to International Data Corporation analysts, tablet sales are starting to flatten and are not making the latest estimated quarterly shipments. There is still some growth, but nothing like the previous steep rise. Hit hardest was Apple, dropping from 40% to under 33% of the total market share. Second was Samsung, which went from 18% to a bit over 22%. Lenovo also jumped, but was still fourth behind Asus that saw a drop of almost 3%. As predicted, the boom time for tablets is almost over. Let’s see where they are at the end of the year.
Spies like us
Life, James Hein, Published on 20/11/2013
» Does anyone else find the current rhetoric around countries spying on each other hypocritical? Everyone does it, either officially or unofficially, and every country spies on its neighbours, enemies and even allies in the name of national interest. History shows us that neighbours _ and Thailand is well aware of this _ can turn on you at any time so you have to keep tabs on them. In the past the only way to do this was using human intelligence, reading letters and intercepting telegrams. These days emails are read, phones are tapped and servers are hacked in addition to using regular human intelligence. To pretend otherwise is just plain silly. For the moment the US National Security Agency just happens to have the biggest and fastest computers to do this with.
World mobile expo focuses on tablets
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/03/2013
» For those lucky enough to attend, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) was recently held in Barcelona. Thailand was represented with John Nuvo seen wandering the halls collecting information. Ironically there were not as many new phones announced this year compared to previous ones. The focus was more on tablets and operating systems. MWC was larger in area this year and showcased plenty of devices; the problem was that not many of them were brand new. The existing phone range this year was, of course, quite broad _ from low-priced versions right up to large, fully functional fast-connectivity units like the Huawei Ascend P2 and everything in between.