On anticipation and celebrities tweeting

September 9, 2014
3 min read

It’s September 9th finally and I’m very much in the anticipation of Apple presentation. This time I’m really interested in company’s announcements. I’m not sure why, but it feels like something big is coming (and it’s not a pun on the screen sizes). I try hard not to read the rumors. Yes, I know there will probably be two new bigger phones with 4.7 and 5.5 inch screen and there probably will be some kind of wearable. This is the information you get without even trying. All the websites and podcasts are talking about that. But I try not to open “news” about upcoming products. If all those mock-ups and information about internals are true, then I would rather be surprised during the presentation. If all this information is false, then what’s the point of reading and posting it. (I know what is the point for publishers, I’m not that stupid). I’m just waiting for Apple to impress me. It’s like going to watch a movie, when your expectations are too high, you probably would not enjoy it. So, if you can, you should isolate yourself from all this talk, which is of course easier said than done, because of the Internet.

It’s hard to find links about something other than Apple event. Everybody tries to get his last minute predictions. It’s interesting how predictions work. If you didn’t guess – nobody will care, maybe your biggest haters, if you get something right, you can for the rest of your life link to that triumph.

But this time, I feel like Apple has outdone itself. There is no hint in the invitation to journalists. Just “Wish we could say more.” That’s the first time, as far as I can remember, we’ve always gotten at least something to deconstruct. Also big room, a lot of journalists, even Gizmodo is invited and some fashion press.

One more thing, I’m considering what my next phone will be and that’s the last presentation I’m waiting for. Last year in a similar circumstance I’ve chosen HTC One instead of iPhone 5S and still think that was a right choice. There is plenty to hate about HTC One, but until iOS 8 I’ve enjoyed Android more, let’s see how it changes with the new OS and then the update to Android, later this year.

That’s not a celebrity you’re following on Twitter, it’s an assistant  Why would anyone think that celebrities are tweeting? First, they do not care. Why would Britney care about Twitter and what somebody is saying about her. Second, I don’t really care what Britney talks about. Fans enjoy her account as it is, I am sure. They retweet and mention her. If she was, indeed, writing herself, I don’t think much would change. All her fans would continue following her and those who weren’t interested would not be interested in any case. Maybe mentioning in the bio, that someone else is writing on behalf of celebrity would be nice, but that will never happen.

Charging the watch two times a day

September 6, 2014
3 min read

There are some news on the smartwatch front – reviews for the Moto 360 came out and all your dreams will come true with this watch. Its battery life will last for about… 12 hours. Are you serious Motorolla? This is not even funny. I guess most geeks would be ok with charging it every night, but then charging it in the middle of the say also. Someone has to remind this company they’re essentially making a watch. A WATCH. I have this beautiful, old watch from the USSR. It has to be wound up… Every two to three days. I’m now very interested in what Apple will show us on September 9 event. Probably won’t buy it, but still, it’s interesting to see if they’ll show how it’s done.

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Since I’m in the market for a new phone, I’m looking closely at what companies are announcing this week. Interesting that many don’t mention release date or prices. It shows they just want to show whatever they have before Apple. Which is fine, I guess.

Samsung showed two phones – Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge. First is similar to the previous one and like most of their products is boring and has problems grabbing attention. Second one, at first glance, seems more interesting. It has this curve screen, but like with many samsung products, again, it doesn’t know what to use it for, so you are mostly presented with setting for the new cool feature.

Nokia presented low end and middle end devices with flagman class camera. It’s interesting in theory and it does cover my needs – camera and battery life, but it’s a Windows Phone. I love how it looks, but even by Android standard, new apps don’t come out fast enough.

The most interesting device so far is Moto X. As I can see they’ve corrected everything they’ve done wrong. I’m not sure about the bigger screen, 5.2’’ is by no means too big, but still most people consider 4.7’’ a sweet spot, so we’ll see. They’ve also improved the camera, it now features 13-megapixel sensor, that is standard in flagships nowadays. That was actually the biggest problem with the previous model. I love wooden and leather backs, that’s probably the main reason I won’t buy this phone – it probably won’t sell officially in Latvia and buying it from someone, you would have to be OK with whatever they’ve chosen and it would be hard to find the one I’d like. But I have a couple of friends who already decided that Moto X will most probably be their next smartphone.

Up until that point it looks like, nothing has come out, that I would like or would be able to get and the only announcement, we have left, if I’m not mistaken, is the one on September 9th.

This post almost didn’t happen, posting it last minute, but still, the streak is going on. It’s six days now, I think it’s the longest I’ve been writing something, especially the 500 words (and yes, this paragraph also counts towards this number).

My thoughts on smartwatches

September 4, 2014
4 min read

You know you have a problem, when one of the best designs in the category looks like this:

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Or almost round Moto 360. As most of the people don’t use their watches to see time, your product should look good on the wrist, there is no other way around this.

It’s not the best practice to draw some kind of conclusions based on personal anecdotal evidence, but I’ll do just that right now (you could feel it will be this way, by reading the begging of the sentence). I do wear a watch, it’s analogue, pretty big watch by Tomy Hilfiger. I love watches, I use them (I don’t even notice what time it is when I pull out my smartphone), I also wear the Fitbit Flex on the other hand and like a watch, it is an accessory for me, I have a couple of different color bracelets. If they’d looked ugly (like most smartwatches), I wouldn’t even consider wearing them. So that’s my thoughts on design.

The other important thing is what do you use the watch for. On IFA Samsung showed Gear S, which is mini smartphone strapped to your wrist. It’s bulky, 2’’ screen is just too big to wear on a wrist. It has standard wristband and you can change it, which is good, I guess, but won’t help you much. Here is a promotional video of the device.

Let’s look at possible uses for the device from this ad and some hands on from different blogs:

  • Notifications – there are two types of people, in my opinion, those who have too many notifications, so their wrist will constantly buzz (many tech journalists complain about that) and then, there are those, who don’t have as many notifications, so you can just pull your phone out of the pocket. I’m in the latter category and I don’t see a point in this idea of getting notifications on my wrist.
  • Accept or Make calls – this one looks cool, from my understanding, you can’t do that on many smartwatches, but if you watch the promo video, you’ll see, you have to keep your wrist close to your face and in that case – why even bother? – just use a phone with loudspeaker turned on, or better yet Bluetooth headset.
  • Easy text input – let’s repeat this one more time. Easy. Text. Input. Using the QWERTY keyboard on 2 inch screen. Do you even hear yourself Samsung? After using bigger screens I can’t type on the iPhone, let alone the smartwatch.
  • Navigation – this one is interesting, but again, you could just as well use your smartphone. Also, using my phone for navigation, you just see how it drains battery, what about the smartwatch? Will it drain the battery as fast? My guess would be – yes.
  • Music and Tracking Activities – I’ve combined these two, just because it makes sense. Here again, will it be able to keep charge while Bluetooth and GPS are on? If it can, it would be one good use for this watch.
  • UV information – this is just ridiculous, but maybe someone needs it, I just won’t even comment.
  • Tracking Sleep – when I first got my Fitbit Flex and started tracking sleep with it, for about a week I felt uncomfortable wearing it while sleeping, I can’t even imagine wearing 2’’ phone on my wrist.

I think the best you can do with the category of devices you wear on your wrist is some kind of health and fitness use. Without this watch and notification bullshit.