* Posts by Dave 126

10622 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jul 2010

How do you like them Apples? Farewell sensible sized phones, forever

Dave 126

Re: I like

Samsung make a dual screen Android clamshell phone, but only sell it in China and they want a ridiculous amount of money for it - around $1,000.

I have no idea.

Dave 126

Sony make a small device the size of a pack of chewing gum. It is a Bluetooth transmitter receiver that can be clipped to a shirt - it has a 3.5 mm socket. It can also be popped in the ear like a traditional BT earpiece. It has a built in FM radio and media player, physical call / media controls and a monochrome display.

It would seem to be a good companion to an overly big phone.

Dave 126

Re: Bonus to the bigger screen - more battery!

2Nick was quite specific about use cases where the screen is off - I.e standby and during phone calls (where the proximity sensor turns the screen off. The bigger screen of the 8 Plus necessitates a bigger battery for screen-on use cases. So if you don't use the screen much, the bigger battery will equate to longer standby and call time.

Dave 126

Re: The 4-inch SE is the smallest popular phone on the market

The People's Popular Front of Judea, or the Judean People's Popular Front?

Dave 126

Re: iPad Mini Cellular

@Jack

Just to clarify, my mates use a Wacom graphics tablet with a Mac Pro. Most of their business is video, with some 3D stuff composited into it.

Dave 126

Re: I like

You can get an iPhone 6 for around £600... You just take a small hit in the camera, some of the AR silicon and wireless charging. On the plus side, you get a headphone socket and a less fragile chassis.

Dave 126

Absolutely - I have an active job so went for an Xperia Z3 Compact a few years back. That said, I've found my Nexus 5 to be not too big in my trouser pocket.

I don't wear skinny jeans.

Dave 126

Re: iPad Mini Cellular

As someone who likes sketching, I'd love a stylus tablet with the iPad Mini's size and screen ratio. It'd just fit in my jacket pocket so.

Jony Ive's old mate Marc Newson (now an Apple employee) would do a lot of his preliminary sketches in postcard-sized paper notebooks - the size of the iPad Pro is over kill for some use cases (preliminary sketches on small device before CAD refinement on a mouse machine... though I've mates who drive their 3D modelling with a graphics tablet to avoid RSI)

Metal 3D printing at 100 times the speed and a twentieth of the cost

Dave 126

Re: Problems to overcome

Jet *engine* parts were not mentioned in the article - only a private jet. Private jets often have customised (suited for one-off or low volume production of parts) interiors. Whilst it is desirable for a bespoke drinks cabinet on a jet to be lightweight, no one dies if the hinge fails.

The fuselage and engines come from the established manufacturers.

Card shark Intel bets with discrete graphics chips, shuffles AMD's GPU boss into the deck

Dave 126

Re: Great for competition

Actually, the media transcoding abilities of Intel integrated GPUs has been power efficient. Anandtech consider the latest Intel iGPUs to be good and feature-rich, considering the modest target performance, but suggest the challenge is to see if they can be scaled into more powerful (ie equivalent to mid and high end gaming GPUs). They also note that it is only really Apple that has used Intel's most powerful integrated GPUs.

You know what's coming next: FBI is upset it can't get into Texas church gunman's smartphone

Dave 126

Re: The reports so far with some editorial....

Australia has had some success in changing its gun laws and buying back guns from citizens. However, the cultural, demographic (far smaller) and geographical (no land borders) differences may be too great for this to be a worthwhile comparison.

Google's answer to the Pixel 2 XL CRT-style screen burn in: Lower the brightness

Dave 126

Re: Nope

I've heard much criticism of oversaturated colours on Samsung OLED phones over the years, but this is the first time I've heard of it on iPhones which all bar one are IPS.

But yeah, I'd heard Google had deliberately tuned the Pixel screen towards more natural colours than Samsung traditionally does.

This could be our favorite gadget of 2017: A portable projector

Dave 126

Re: What would be the best one of these to go with my new iPhone X?

The OP doesn't own an iPhone; he's clearly a straw man.

Dave 126

Re: Good lord.

I didn't mean LSD. I meant something else, originally intended as a treatment for PTSD, though was adopted for recreational purposes - which was perhaps why its therapeutic potential wasn't fully explored. The chemist responsible died last year.

[ Big yellow smiley face ]

Dave 126

Re: What would be the best one of these to go with my new iPhone X?

We'd recommend you stop being a troll. iOS gear works fine with Apple Airplay and DLNA. On other devices, the iOS YouTube client plays fine sending content to Chromecasts and PlayStation YouTube apps.

Dave 126

Re: Does it have...

It has HDMI in. It also has two USB sockets apparently, but I'm not sure of what flavour.

Can't find info on power connector.

It also has onboard storage for around 'ten movies'.

Dave 126

Re: Oh no, you didn't just say that.....

There's currently a huge pumpkin in my local pub, and we're being invited to guess its weight. I'm completely thrown by its awkard-to-lift shape, and I know from last year's competition that my estimate is likely to be far out.

Dave 126

You misread the article. It doesn't rely upon a smartphone. However, a smartphone can be used in addition to the included remote control.

If you have ever tried to enter a search term using a television's remote control (left left left down enter up right right enter down left enter ...) , you appreciate the ease of using a smartphone to enter text instead ( W E S T W O...)

Dave 126

Re: Relativity

Projected against a sheet strung between a couple of trees, I don't think that full HD is necessarily worthwhile. Also, higher resolution comes at the expense of battery life.

As regards your second point, the article stressed the ease of use and ease of set-up of this specific device, comparing the adjustment of the image shape favourably against pricier models.

Dave 126

Re: Interesting

Good point, a lot of the target market will already have battery speakers. To regain the convenience of a 'one lump' device, self-adhesive Velcro tape is your friend.

We're beginning to see portable Li-ion battery packs that have the capacity and the oomph to power laptops and similarly hungry devices over USB-C

Dave 126

Re: Nebula Mars

It's not the only product to sell itself using pictures of attractive people in beautiful surroundings at the 'magic hour'!

Even Birdseye fish fingers have swapped out some bearded salty sea dog for some stubbled young chap who appears to escaped from the cover of a pulp romance paperback.

Dave 126

I thought glamping was invented by the generation before the millennials, the ones who used to rough it at festivals but now in their forties and fifties whose aging bodies appreciate a comfy beds and other creature comforts.

Dave 126

Re: Good lord.

Sometimes I enjoy the tranquility of camping, watching the mists rise from a small lake at dawn as the birds sing and warmth slowly returns to the land.

Sometimes I go camping and find myself dancing with a dozen women from the neighbouring campfire one of whom has MiniRigs* strapped around her, some under the influence of a substance first synthesized in 1970s California.

C'est la vie.

Either way, no one can deny that the white LED, the product of some high tech gallium alchemy is a far Eastern land, has made camping much easier. Less high tech but still appreciated is the Aeropress coffee device.

* Brand name of a battery-shaped modular speaker system that seems to be popular on the festival circuit.

Dave 126

Re: 6.5" cube and 2kg

Other factors are brightness, ease of use and speaker quality.

All engineering and product specification is largely compromise.

Dave 126

If you clean the mold stains off the inside of your tent, you might find it is white! Sorry, I couldn't resist!

My tent is white in the inside, but not all. In any case, I think camping is just shorthand for being away from a power socket.

Lord of the Rings TV show shopped around Hollywood

Dave 126

Re: Amazed no one else hasn't commented.....

Most of the appeal of GoT is the scheming and intrigue, lifted from European history. Until the most recent series, the fantasy elements have sat on the periphery, just as our maps once had areas marked 'here be dragons'.

It seems odds to cancel House of Cards on Spacey's account, when his character was fading and Claire Underwood had just risen to the top - though in this age of 45's carnival the show had lost some of its relevance.

Looking forward to another series of Wolf Hall with Mark Rylance, even if we know the ending!

Dave 126

I haven't read it, but I like devil's advocate aspect of it. It was a point that first came to my young awareness in an Isaac Asimov (himself a historian as well as a Sci-fi author and biochemist) short story about using a time machine to learn more about Carthage.

All we know about Carthage is through their enemies the Romans. The Romans razed the city to the ground. According to the Romans, people in Carthage ate babies.

Dave 126

Re: Scouring of the Shire

The Scouring of the Shire always struck me as a critique of the industrial revolution (dark satanic mills). It was echoed in Danny Boyle's 2012 Olympic opening ceremony (green Teletubby land gives way to smoke belching chimneys)

Dave 126

There's an unofficial (and never published in English) *alternative* telling of the events of LOTR. The premise is that history is written by the victors and thus LOTR is propaganda written to justify the actions of the racist and technologically backward men and elves. It's told from the perspective of the enlightened (but ultimately defeated) Easterners.

The Tolkein estate has nixed any English publication (the original is in Russian) but an English translation approved by the author is available online.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Ringbearer

Pixel-style display woes on your shiny new X? Perfectly normal, says Apple

Dave 126

Re: haters gonna hate

Samsung do make the displays but the end user's contract is with Apple, and it is with Apple the responsibility of quality control lies.

As it is,.The OP on that Reddit thread seems to have a duff screen that's slipped through QA and he should receive a replacement phone.

Dave 126

Re: Samsung that is..

Samsung have had a reputation for oversaturated (or bright and vivid! Take your pick) colours for years.

Dave 126

Re: Exact same panels as on Samsung S8 / Note 8

The iPhone X uses Samsung panels, but they're not exactly the same as the ones Samsung currently uses on its phones.

Dave 126

OLED burn-in isn't permanent like CRT burn in of yore.. it can usually be scrubbed eventually.

It's also worth noting that the Reddit user with the dodgy phone hadn't been refused a replacement by Apple - because he hadn't yet tried. Some of the other Reddit users had some slight issues in specific circumstances (off angle, displaying 10% grey) but none as bad as the original poster. Most of them were wondering why he didn't just take it back for a replacement.

Dave 126

Re: OLED FTW?

The advantages of OLED stem from pixels being lit individually, so the blacks are perfect black, and displaying a small amount of text on a black screen uses very little battery.

LG OLED televisions have mostly solved issues with burn-in by tweaking the control circuitry. The OLED TVs are just beautiful, but cost about 4x as much as an equivalent 4K television set. Their phones, which use a polymer rather than glass substrate, evidently haven't.

The other advantage of OLED is that it allows for flexible displays. Samsung are promising to release a couple of such phones next year.

Dave 126

Re: Google One Hit Wonder?

Nexus stuff was co-branded - so a Nexus 5 is still an LG phone. Chromecast, like Pixel, is all Google.

Dave 126

Re: Problem for OLED

I'm guessing it's the substrate; LG use a polymer substrate and have screen issues, Samsung phones use a glass substrate. Samsung make the OLED panels for Apple. Whilst I can't immediately find which substrate Apple use, my assumption is that they've gone for the lighter, thinner polymer.

AMD, Intel hate Nvidia so much they're building a laptop chip to spite it

Dave 126

Re: Not at again....

Game engines, graphics drivers and OSs are all a few generations on from when Optimus was first introduced.

Post-Brexit economy SAVED: Posh-nosh truffle thrives in Wales

Dave 126

Oh, I get it now, sorry for being slow on the uptake. Evidently the coffee didn't work do I'll now try beer.

Dave 126

Actually, he came across very well when he appeared on Dragon's Den a few years ago. He'd done his research, and spoke confidently. One of the Dragons said "I love the idea, and I'm very impressed with you" or words to that effect.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/brightideas/6957082/Dragons-Den-truffle-grower-hopes-to-unearth-profit-after-five-years-cultivation.html

Look out, Pepe: Martha Lane Fox has a plan

Dave 126

Re: here is one

Well, Pepe Le Pew has quit his job as a lobbyist since being barred from the Houses of Parliament following a charge of harassment.

Dave 126

Accessibility

If the badge denotes that the website is accessible to all users it should be in Braille, or at the very least embossed.

I saw a documentary once called Brass Eye about how web scum can feel children through a monitor, so obviously this underused haptic technology does exist. It's just Nonce Sense.

Off-brand tablets look done, but big players are growing

Dave 126

Re: Who's cheap?

It's a weird analysis, as it is looking at £50 Android tablets, £400 iPads and £1,500 Surface Pros.

It's like comparing wheelbarrows to pickup trucks.

Dave 126

Re: Value for money?

Bloody Tab 2, doesn't even have a gig of RAM. Doesn't seem to want to upgrade itself past Android 4.2. I have a Tab 1 10.1 too - "Firmware update failed, please try using Kies" so stuck on Android 3. Urgh. Still awaiting email response from Samsung.

Dave 126

Re: Windows or Android?

> I assume that most (non-Apple) tablets are Android but this doesn't seem to be called out in the figures.

The article states that the figures include full Windows / Intel machines such as the Surface Pro, though one assumes that far fewer of these have shipped than cheap n cheerful Android tablets (£50 to keep the kids happy with CBeebies). Still, it's a curious decision group such very different machines together in the first place.

Apple hauls in $52.6bn in Q4, iPhone, iPad and Mac sales all up

Dave 126

Re: What is the point of the cash pile?

You might be over-simplifying Jobs' role - though of course whatever he did do then did work! He didn't wake up with a vision of the iPhone. He had staff suggesting Apple make a phone. He had two teams working in competition, one being an iPod that made phone calls, the other team picking up old Apple touchscreen GUI R&D that was languishing down an old corridor. Jobs really had to be shown that a scroll-wheel driven interface for phones was bad before throwing all the resources at what would become the iPhone.

Dave 126

Most iPads don't leave the house. As such, factors such as weight and battery life aren't as critical as they might be for a phone. Therefore many people might be content with an older iPad and not feel the need to upgrade.

OK, we admit it. Under the hood, the iPhone X is a feat of engineering

Dave 126

Re: Small battery?

iPhones have generally had much the same battery duration over the generations. One assumes that silicon process size and software mean it'll last for about as long as its predecessors. That's an assumption. Real life reviews will follow soon.

Dave 126

On my product design course we had to reverse engineer the working group drawing from an Alba radio... The horror, the horror

Dave 126

Oh the Romans were massive perverts, and had their wealth inequality been any greater their society would have collapsed. Yep, that's civilisation!

Dave 126

There's stuff called Silicone Conform Spray, and is used for potting PCBs as an alternative to epoxy resin. According to one 3D printing website I stumbled across (I was looking for a food safe material for making jelly molds) some people also use Conform Spray on personalised 3D printed dildos.