The Verge: These are the 7 best new features of Android Marshmallow. I am looking forward to seeing how Marshmallow runs on my Nexus 9, and hoping it runs better than Lollipop. Frankly, the Android experience on my Nexus 9 has been the worst of any tablet I have ever used. Speculation has been that Android has problems with the Nvidia processor, which Google needs to fix given that the Pixel C will also have an Nvidia processor. #
The Verge: Is Google's future in television in Chromecast, or is it in Android TVs? When looking at Chromecast, one also has to take in to account the fact that with a $35 price it is an impulse buy and the real question is, how many are actually being used? Personally, I bought one of the new ones because I want and need the faster wireless communication, but I wonder how many other people feel the same way? #
Click to expand my notes outline below:#
Here we go to the next announcement that will help me determine which smartphone I will by next. Waiting for the stream to commence.#
I am leaning towards the Nexus 5X, however I am discouraged by the latest news leaks regarding this announcement, particularly the small battery the possibility it won't support wireless charging. If these two items hold true, I may opt for the Moto X Pure. #
Pixel team = aspirational devices. Sounds like the rumors about a Pixel C (is it a tablet or notebook?) may be true too.#
Lots of stats#
Two new Nexus phones, 5X and 6P. #
5.7" phone, but not as much bezel. #
Type C port; faster charger#
Nexus Imprint = finger print scanner, on the back of the device#
Smart burst, make animated GIFs. #
Starts at $499 (32 GB); $549 (64 GB); $649 (128 GB)#
136 grams; 5.2" screen. #
Battery 2700 mAh (Boo!); Type C port#
Nexus Imprint#
White, black, and ice blue#
Starts $379 (16 GB); $429 (32 GB)#
Spent a lot of time talking about the cameras, more than I remember from prior Nexus events.#
Devices to be sold on the Google Store. #
90 day free subscription to Play Music#
Nexus pre-orders in U.S. include $50 Play credit#
Nexus Protect provides 2 years coverage for mechanical breakdown and accidental damage. Costs $69 for 5X; $89 for 6P. #
Both phones support Project Fi. #
Another overview of the changes coming with this new release of Android, including Now On Tap. #
Voice Interactions for app developers so they can add voice support to their apps. #
Doze mode is supposed to help with battery life by paying to attention to the phone's physical movement. Hope this really helps the 2700 mAh battery.#
Marshmallow is rolling out next week to Nexus devices.#
Album sharing. People with whom you share the album with can add photos to the album. Sends notifications when a photo is added to a shared album. #
Cast photos to a device to which a Chromecast is connected. #
Showtime adding support for Chromecast, as well as Sling TV. #
Support for 5GHz. Adaptive antenna, improvements for WiFi performance.#
Chromecast Audio: plugs in to existing speakers, stream audio via WiFi. #
Improvement to app to show content on apps installed on phone or tablet. #
Available today for $35#
Chromecast audio also costs $35#
C stands for convertable; basically a 2-in-1.#
Keyboard looks very thin. Looks like a 2" wide magnet attaches the tablet to the keyboard. Connects via bluetooth.#
10.1" screen#
Induction charging between tablet and keyboard, so you don't have to charge the keyboard.#
Farfield mic input so you can talk to the tablet across a room#
Available at $499 for tablet; keyboard costs additional $149 for the holiday shopping season #
3 GB of memory#
Neither phone has wireless charging! #
I was really leaning towards the Nexus 5X before the event rather than the Moto X Pure, but now I am sour on the 5X. Based on price and features, the Moto X Pure looks like a better deal than the 6P. A Moto X Pure, 32 GB with leather back costs $475 but includes a microSD slot where as the Nexus 6P 32 GB costs $499. Is having a Nexus device that gets updates direct from Google worth an extra $25 and no external storage card and no leather.#
Another consideration, the Nexus 6P has a slightly larger battery, 3450 mAh vs. 3000 mAh but has a Type C port that means it won't work with any of my existing micro USB cables.#
One more consideration. Nexus Connect adds $89 to the 6 P price. #
Is Type C charging as fast as the Qualcomm Fast Charging 2 that the Moto X Pure supports?#
Nexus 6P - Solid Metal Frame - Huawei - Nexus - Android Phones - Google Store.#
Nexus 5X - Fingerprint Scanner - LG - Nexus - Android Phones - Google Store.#
Chromecast - 1080P - Google - Chromecast - Google Store.#
Chromecast Audio - Streaming Music - Google - Chromecast - Google Store.#
9to5Google: This is the 2nd gen. Chromecast. I will happy if the new Chromecast came with 5 GHz support. #
EvolveSMS 4.0 Comes With An Android Wear App, Fingerprint Authentication, Marshmallow Support, And More.#
Microsoft is surprisingly close to making a decent Android phone. Interesting observations, one can see if you preferred it, you could use Microsoft products for just about all the major smartphone areas. But, how does Microsoft make money from this approach? #
Livescribe 3 Smartpen Moleskine Edition goes up for preorder - SlashGear. I used a Livescribe for a few years and if you prefer taking handwritten notes and need to be able to search through those notes, Livescribe is a great solution short of the Surface 3 or Surface Pro 3. Not to mention it is quit a bit cheaper.#
Toshiba Satellite Click 2-in-1 now available for $350 and up - Liliputing.#
iPad Pro vs Surface 3 - Which Is For You? - Love My Surface. Interesting comparison, but one item the article does not compare is size. I think the iPad Pro is too large and that the Surface 3 size is just right.#
Windows 10 glitches have sidelined my Surface 3. I have seen similar glitches in Windows 10 on my Surface 3, and these type of things could be a real problem for Microsoft. We have come to expect tablets and smartphones to work consistently whenever we turn them on, and I think people are becoming less tolerant of this type of behavior. Glitches happen on PCs, not on devices. #
Phil Windley: "The Internet of Things envisioned today isn’t a real Internet. It’s a forest of silos, built by well-meaning companies repeating the errors of history, giving us the modern equivalents of isolated mainframes, non-compatible LANs and incompatible networks like those of AOL, Compuserve and Prodigy. What we're building ought to be called the CompuServe of Things." I used all three of those services, and understand exactly what Phil is saying.#
Testing a CSS tweak to enable using Fargo in Firefox on my Surface 3. Not going to do that, as it looks like it requires me to re-load the edit every time I load Fargo. The issue appears to be with bootstrap.css, which I imagine Dave is loath to mess with. #
Opinion: 3D Touch gives iPhone 6s one lead over every Android phone on the market. I guess I don't get it, to me this is no different than tap-and-hold, which I have used on mobile devices since the Pocket PC. Do I really *want* a gesture that requires me to press hardware on the screen? #
Official Android Blog: Tap. Pay. Done. So, Android Pay is launched, is Google replacing Google Wallet with Android Pay? I am wondering that when they say they are beginning to rollout Android Pay, to whom are they rolling it out to? Normally one doesn't get an app update unless you already have that app on your device.#
This Microsoft blog post suggests the September 22 launch of Office 2016 is only for enterprises. Paul Thurrott provides some clarification, I think it means regular Office 365 subscribers can manually go get the Office 2016 update on September 22 and then automatic updates will follow in October.#
The Verge: "What I was surprised by, when I got some hands-on time with the tab today, is just how large it is. It has a 12.9-inch diagonal display. This is not your iPad mini, or any other 7-inch tab. This is not a cross between a tablet and a phablet. It doesn't even feel comparable to your standard 10-inch variety. It feels...big."#
Engadget iPad Pro initial impression: "That's not to say I'd want to use this much in portrait mode; it feels a little too top-heavy in-hand. But in landscape, the height is actually on par with the iPad Air 2; it's just wider. That makes it pretty manageable in horizontal use, which I suspect is how most iPad Pro-optimized apps were meant to be used anyway."#
Currently waiting for the Apple event to kick-off, I am watching the TWIT live broadcast.#
No updates because there is a lot of new stuff, or because the numbers don't look as good?#
Apple filled up the auditorium with employees, insuring there is plenty of applause for every announcement.#
Airstrip comes across to me as too complex of an app for a smartwatch. Again, a smartwatch is not a standalone computer, its an accessory.#
So much for apps, now to the accessories for the accessory (bands). #
Watch OS2 launches September 16#
Not really much Apple Watch news, I am guessing this is a throw in.#
Apple declares the iPad is now a productivity tool and not just content consumption.#
Showing one using a >10-inch tablet in portrait is ridiculous. Still think Microsoft has it right about larger screen tablets. #
Just think there is a maximum size for tablets, and I wonder how many people will want a 12.9 inch tablet. Lots of emphasis on PPI, but at the end I imagine people who will want the Pro will be for split screen. #
Is ten hours of battery life enough? My first thought is no. First iPad that has worse battery life than previous models. #
Smart keyboard = Microsoft Type Cover. Optional accessory, and puts the iPad Pro firmly in competition with the Microsoft Surface 3 Pro. #
Stylus, but of course they have to call it Apple Pencil. And the Pencil is the first opportunity for a Jony Ive video. #
TWIT.tv folks are excited by the stylus!!! #
Lots of re-quotations coming from when Steve Jobs ripped styluses, which was really a backhand rip at Microsoft. Personally, I've alway's took Steve's comment to mean if you have to use a stylus to operate the device, you've made a mistake, and he was right then and now. One can still operate the iPad Pro without the Pencil. #
Microsoft demoed the Office Mobile apps, which I think have been available for iOS for a while now, although they have been updated for the Pencil. #
Looks like Apple has shifted their industry focus from education to medical.#
So far I haven't seen a demo of split screen on the iPad Pro, which I would think is a primary feature.#
I am guessing the iPad Pro is going to cost north of $1K. #
As I expected... the only way to buy for less than $1k is to not buy the keyboard and Pencil. You buy the keyboard and Pencil, the rice goes over $1k. #
Still happy with my Surface 3#
Amused by the lapability comments. I don't think Apple will ever use the term "2-in-1" to describe their products.#
I expect Siri to be a part of Apple TV. I won't be surprised if there is no iPhone news, or they blow through the iPhone news.#
"The future of television is apps." #
Lots of emphasis on the remote control. #
New operating system: tvOS. So, Microsoft wants to consolidate their operating systems and Apple seems to be spreading theirs out.#
Meh! #
We've changed everything, so bring out those credit cards!#
Rose gold looks ugly to me. #
Force touch or tap and hold? I don't see how "3D Touch" is any better. Feels like we are getting tapped out on smartphone features and now Apple is reaching. #
Almost through the entire event and the hair finally appears!#
Fitzed around with everything hoping that people will buy the new iPhone.#
All prices are contract-dependent. Apple is introducing install plans for the phones. Upgrade program, $30 per month, add that to your carrier charges, forever.#
iOS 9 coming on September 16. #
In my opinion, the big (literally) news from today's Apple event is the iPad Pro. Everything else that Apple announced were incremental improvements aimed at getting us to buy more of the same stuff. The iPad Pro is the closest to something new.#
Expect most of the press to focus on the Pencil, and how Steve Jobs was so against styluses. On the other hand, the iPad Pro legitimizes Microsoft's efforts at creating an enterprise tablet market. For those who have been saying tablets can be productivity devices, Apple has finally said, they agree.#
The question is, do people really want 12.9" tablets? Even if they are thin and light, a 12.9" device is big, possibly too big to carry around comfortably. The Surface 3 Pro screen is a little smaller, at 12 inches, and Microsoft markets it as a landscape-oriented device, which in my mind makes the screen appear smaller. Hold a Surface 3 Pro or an iPad Pro in portrait and it will feel huge. #
Back to the Pencil. I hope we quickly get past all the snarky, Steve Jobs wouldn't do that, comments. There is a big difference between how one uses a stylus today and how one had to use them with the original Tablet PC, Pocket PC, and Palm PDAs. #
The devices of ten years ago required a stylus to operate because all the controls on the screen were so small. Turns out, people prefer touch-operated devices that don't require styluses, which at worst can be easily lost, and at best take time to retrieve and use. #
Yet, for some, there are legit use cases for a stylus, use cases that don't require one to use the stylus for general operation of the device like with a Pocket PC. Artistic people like styluses for drawing on the screen, while some, like me, like using styluses to write notes in digital ink. #
It will be interesting to see how many people buy the iPad Pro. The prices are high, particularly when you add the keyboard and Pencil. Who will find it worth the price, particularly when you have all those other, cheaper iPads, not to mention cheaper tablets from competitors? My gut says the iPad Pro has a niche market, the size of which is at this time unknown. #
Why Microsoft's Continuum may succeed in putting a PC in your pocket Windows Central hedges by saying "may succeed, but I don't think it is likely, mainly because I think most people think a smartphone is a phone and don't necessarily think of it as a computer. Further, I don't think people want it to be like a computer, and to make Continuum work one will have to buy extra hardware. #
How Continuum Works On Phones#
To get the on-screen keyboard to appear on the task bar in Windows 10 tablet mode tap and hold on the task bar. #
NextBit’s Robin Puts a Cloud Twist on the Low-Cost Android Flagship. Two thoughts. One, the phone is ugly. Two, I don't understand why Tech web sites keep writing about crowd-funded products as if they are actual, shipping products. Until the product is actually manufactured and being sold, it really is just an idea that is more likely not to happen than to happen. I also don't get why people are willing to pay for such products. #