Rivet and Other Cool Children Apps

I'm always looking for new, child friendly apps for the iPad / iPhone or even maybe Amazon's newly updated Amazon Kindle Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet specifically when it comes to reading or math. Granted, I'm pretty sure that my children do not spend more than 20 minutes on any device per week when I'm home as I have a strict no screen time during the week and only VERY limited time on the weekend. Anyways, that's a whole different batttle these days as the Wall Street Journal points out.

Out today is Google's new Rivet app from their incubator team Area 120 called Rivet on Apple App Store or Google Play. It's a speech processing app that has over 200 books availble for children to read and learn. I played with it yesterday with my son for just over 3 minutes and it was awesome. I've also done the Apple Coding App for children called Swift Playground on the iPad but of course, Google has their own app as well, by the same group called Grasshopper. I encourage you to check them all out. Pretty intuitive and interactive stuff!

Apple iPhone 7 Benchmarks vs Android

This iPhone 7 Single Core Geekbench testings shows an amazing lead compared to rest. Even dating back to the previous model at one year old, the Apple's Single Core optimization beats the rest. But when it comes to Multi-Core, Samsung does indeed come very close.

Device                    Single Core           Multi-Core
iPhone 7 / 7 Plus         3285 / 3211           5285 / 5191
iPhone SE                    2409                 4051
iPhone 6s / 6s Plus       2375 / 2400           3991 / 4027
Samsung Galaxy S7            1806                 5228
Samsung Galaxy Note 7        1786                 5213
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge       1744                 5203
Huawei P9                    1729                 4735
OnePlus 3                    1698                 4015
LG G5                        1658                 3745
iPhone 6 / 6 Plus            1463 / 1471        2457 / 2470

One VERY interesting feat is the fact that today's iPhone 7 / 7 Plus beats out the MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2011) and even the Mac Pro (Late 2013) in single core benchmarks. Intel better be watching. As The Verge clearly put it,

Now, before you accuse me of being high on my own metaphorical supply, I’m not saying that Intel will be crippled or surpassed anytime soon. But I am arguing that the chip giant is under a substantial threat, the likes of which it hasn’t faced for a long time, maybe ever. A quick look at the Geekbench scores attained by the iPhone 7 quantifies a staggering achievement: the single-core performance of Apple’s latest generation of smartphone processors has basically caught up with Intel’s laptops CPUs. The A10 chip inside the iPhone 7 comfortably outpaces its predecessors and Android rivals, and even outdoes a wide catalog of relatively recent Mac computers (including the not-so-recent Mac Pro). The iPhone’s notoriously hard to benchmark against anything else and this is just one metric, but it’s illustrative of Apple’s accelerating momentum and mobile focus.Now, before you accuse me of being high on my own metaphorical supply, I’m not saying that Intel will be crippled or surpassed anytime soon. But I am arguing that the chip giant is under a substantial threat, the likes of which it hasn’t faced for a long time, maybe ever. A quick look at the Geekbench scores attained by the iPhone 7 quantifies a staggering achievement: the single-core performance of Apple’s latest generation of smartphone processors has basically caught up with Intel’s laptops CPUs. The A10 chip inside the iPhone 7 comfortably outpaces its predecessors and Android rivals, and even outdoes a wide catalog of relatively recent Mac computers (including the not-so-recent Mac Pro). The iPhone’s notoriously hard to benchmark against anything else and this is just one metric, but it’s illustrative of Apple’s accelerating momentum and mobile focus.

This is one POWERFUL A10 Fusion chip and Apple I'm sure is proud. Congrats on the optimizations!

Do you Clash?

The company made profits (before certain items) of €848 million, or $964 million, on revenues of €2.109 billion, or $2.326 billion. That compares to earnings before income tax, depreciation, and amortization of €515 million, or $592 million, in 2014, on revenues of €1.545 billion, or $1.777 billion.

Clash of Clans, which debuted in August, 2012, accounted for the bulk of that revenue, though Supercell didn’t say how much. The game was ranked at either No. 1 or No. 2 during the course of 2015 on the top-grossing list. It’s not official, but it’s pretty clear that Clash of Clans is the most successful app in the world.

And to this day, my friends and I are declaring "war" every weekend. And yes, I am also playing their new game, Clash Royale. It's addicting and still fun. 

Exposing Holes and Shortcuts in Android

First this (via Reuters):

The change came after security researcher Joshua Drake unveiled what he called Stagefright, hacking software that allows attackers to send a special multimedia message to an Android phone and access sensitive content even if the message is unopened.

then this:

Samsung Vice President Rick Segal acknowledged that his company could not force the telecommunications carriers that buy its devices in bulk to install the fixes and that some might do so only for higher-end users.

Samsung and telecoms taking care of only the top...maybe. And if you use the HTC One Max X and utilize the fingerprint reader (via The Guardian):

Researchers from FireEye have found that data that could be used to clone a user’s fingerprint was stored as an unencrypted “world readable” image file on HTC smartphones.

Four security researchers discovered that the image file, which is clear replica of a user’s fingerprint, could be stolen by rogue apps or hackers.

“While some vendors claimed that they store user’s fingerprints encrypted in a system partition, they put users’ fingerprints in plaintext and in a world readable place by mistake,” the authors wrote. “On the HTC One Max X the fingerprint is saved as /data/dbgraw.bmp with a 0666 permission setting (world readable). Any unprivileged processes or apps can steal user’s fingerprints by reading this file.”

This is why Apple does what it does. I can't say never, but so far, they really are winning when it comes to security and protecting its users.

A 6-month Android Journey: The Beginning

On Thursday May 15th, I embarked on a journey that many have written about. This is my foray into the six month ownership of an Android powered Samsung Galaxy S5 Mobile Smartphone. [hashtag: #elijahsgalaxyxp] All this, in search of a full understanding on why my few remaining Android friends are still ranting and raving. Granted, I also have a small group of friends (read: 3) that have also switched to Android. I've owned and used a 2012 Google Nexus 7 tablet since it's debut but more and more I've found myself frustrated with the lag and short comings from what I can deduce was aging hardware. I can't recall being happy with it at any point in time except for the initial excitement and unboxing. To prepare for my journey, I pre-ordered a Spigen TTough Armor Case and a 64GB micro SD card.

Note: Upon accepting the device, I found myself with 24 hours on Wifi only before I was able to insert my Nano SIM Card due to adapters not being readily available. I called Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T and even Best Buy, Fry’s Electronics, Radio Shack and a few iPhone repair shops and none, absolutely no one had an adapter that would take my Nano Sim and size it for Micro Sim Card slot in the Galaxy S5. I found a few on amazon, and paid $3.99 for one day delivery ending up with the Nano Sim Card Adapter.

Still, day one was not a wash as I was able to do almost everything via Wifi. Here is my early breakdown.

Hour 1: I needed to find my must have apps. I needed 1Password, Simpletnote, various social networks apps such at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, Instapaper and Clash of Clans. Come to find out, 1Password's Android app is just a reader app, Simplenote is pretty much the same, Tweetbot was nowhere to be found so I chose to go with the official app, Instagram is so large on the phone but pretty, Facebook is pretty much the same but the workflow very different and Clash of Clans was beautiful in syncing my iOS progress.

Hour 2-8: Still adjusting to the sheer size of the device, I ended up configuring the Samsung Fingerprint Scanner and let me tell you, that is one crazy nuisance. After my second attempt of programming it, I could never get the phone to unlock at a consistent scan. Infuriatingly, I scanned the same fingerprint again designating slot #2 and even #3 to the same finger, but it still refused to recognize it. After a few attempts, the phone alerts you that you have tried too many times and defaults to a backup password that you create during the initial setup but just click back twice on the phone and it allows you try again… and again and again. The phone never once locked me out nor prevented me to stop trying. I thought that to be bizarre. Needless to say, I turned it off after a few hours.

I continued to download quite a few apps that my friend Jeremiah mentioned such as Muzei enabling live wallpaper updates, Google Camera, and HD Widgets. I also downloaded HBO Go, Tivo, 8tracks, Amazon Kindle, Dropbox, Metam, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Waze, VSCO Cam, and Snapseed. Amazingly, I did all this while connected to the Karl Strauss Wifi and the speed was awesome.

I didn't play with it that much further but I was already beginning to miss a few iMessages from my iPhone friends. So far, so good, but still difficult.

T-Mobile Unleashed Is NOT So Cheap

At this time, my Early Termination Fees (ETFs) with AT&T are $155 for a line thats due in September of this year. Thats a prorated amount down from $350 in case you're wondering. Let me back up. If you've been following me on twitter, I've been fed up with AT&T's false advertising that sold me a few years ago for a service that CLEARLY said "Unlimited Data" for $30. I use FaceTime quite a bit,¹ stream my baby monitor from hundreds of miles away, and sometimes just soak up youtube so yea, I'll easily go over 5GBs a month and trust me, hotel WiFi is horrific! I hate that they expect me to use it in place of a service that I pay for! So back to the story.

If I sell my Apple iPhone 5 64GB White to T-Mobile for $300 and they pay my ETF at $155, that's "$455" in my pocket. The only way they will "Unleash" you is if you trade in your phone, no exceptions. Then I have to buy a FULL priced mobile phone, desirably an iPhone 5s 64GB, for $799. That means, I still have to shell out $344 so that's not that bad of a deal right? That's actually incorrect. Let me explain. I'd be shelling out $499 for my new phone after the trade-in credit followed by a Mastercard Gift Card in the credit amount of $155 in approximately 8 weeks. So I'm out half a grand to "unleash."

If I can wait, and probably will, for just six more months, I can unlock my iPhone 5, sell it on the market for maybe $400 or more, then buy a full priced iPhone 6. So yes, I'm still out $399 but, here's where I could save. I could then bring it along with me to T-Mobile, and pay nothing leaving me with just the $70 Unlimited 4G Everything Plan plus a $10 SIM kit. When it comes down to it, I'll be out money obviously later in the year with me upgrading my phone but ideally, I'd rather T-Mobile just pay my ETF now and I bring my current iPhone 5 with me. That's what the deal should have been in the first place.

disclaimer: I signed a 2 year contract with AT&T for a subsidized iPhone 5 so ultimately, with the "Unleash" deal, you still end up paying full price for the device. I could save a bunch of money and purchase Google's Nexus 5 for $349 unlocked online instead but that's a whole other story of iOS vs. Android, etc. I'm not going to go there just yet.

And yes, it's pretty awesome that with the unlimited 4G Data you get an additional 2.5GB of tethering capability.

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1. I use FaceTime about 1-5 minutes almost every couple of hours for a total of 30-60 minutes a day. Sometimes, I'm on for 20 minutes in a row. ↩

Google's Nexus 5

I would love to be able to recommend this device wholeheartedly, but I can't do that until Google sorts out the issues with the Nexus 5's camera. If the company can make software changes large enough to materially and noticeably improve the performance of its shooter — to make it competitive with other top-tier phones — then this becomes a different story. Even now, Google's working on fixing its issues, and someday we might see the Nexus 5's camera upgraded from problematic to usable, or even good. When that day comes, the Nexus 5 will be a killer package I'll happily recommend. But that's not today

If you're going to compete with the iPhone 5s, you're going to have to release a phone with a camera that can at least take pictures.

Still a solid release by Google with a great design. Has potential and the pricing is just right. Don't buy it for more than $349 or $399. Best Buy is pricing it at $100 over MSRP. Be careful.

via The Verge

Don't bother with the Finger Print Scanner

The Verge reviews the HTC One Max and where it fails with its new "gimmick."

Equally enervating is the fact that you have to wake the One max from sleep before swiping to unlock it. The whole point of these fingerprint sensors is to speed up security processes, not make them more finicky, and that’s exactly where the HTC One max fails.

via The Verge

Who Knew Touching Matters?

Final proof on responsiveness. This doesn't event include Apple newest iPhone 5s loaded with the new A7 processor.

In its first TouchMarks benchmark test, the iPhone 5 responded to touches at an average time of 55 milliseconds, compared to 85 milliseconds for the iPhone 4. The closest Android device was the Samsung Galaxy S4 at 114 milliseconds.

via VentureBeat via Agawi Touchmarks

Facebook Home Invasion

The excitement around Facebook was at a all time high last week with the expectations of a mobile phone. What we got instead was an app, wait, a skin, wait... "a completely new experience that lets you see the world through people, not apps." Facebook included a FAQ which I'm going to translate for you.

What is Home? Home is a new Android skin for your Android phone. It turns it into a money making and advertising platform in favor of Facebook but not until you fall in love with it will we turn on all the banners and advertisements. We want to suck you in first.

How can I get Home? Of course we are offering it for free on April 12 through Google's Play Store. You can also buy the experience for $99 on th HTC First which has Home pre-installed. But it's actually only for the most current devices for now too.

Where is Home available? We are testing the U.S first on April 12 but the rest of the world will follow shortly primarily due to Android fragmentation.

What Android phones does Home work on? Because of Android's fragmentation, we were only able to implement Home on a few select devices on launch including two future devices, the previous generation Galaxy and the Note II.

How can I buy a phone with Home on it? AT&T is the first sucker looking for something else besides the iPhone and they will offer the HTC First on April 12.

Is Facebook building a phone? No. We built an experience to install on a phone. Skinning is cheaper.

Is Facebook Home an operating system? No, but we want it to be that way with the family of apps we are going to release. They will become part of your phone.

I'm not sold on it but as Dan Frommer sees it, he thinks there's a market for it. Again, I don't see too many of my friends, if any, who will install this or use it after the first day. Most of us don't live within Facebook but rather visit.

Om Malik published his review and I couldn't agree more.

Shift in Computing

Bob O'Donnell, IDC Program Vice President, on the IDC Quarterly report.

"At this point, unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market..."

It's a bad time to be a vendor of PCs or Windows 8 for that matter.

IDC PC Shipments Steepest Decline

Why No NFC?

Why NFC still isn't on an Apple's latest iDevice?

NFC has not delivered, and Apple has no incentive to change that. By shipping NFC in the current climate, Apple would implicitly take responsibility for making that technology a success.

The only people who I ever hear complain about its absence or tout the NFC features in some of today's Android devices are those that are heavily into technology. Otherwise, the average joe / plain jane just doesn't give a hoot. Even with Starbucks implementing their mobile apps and scanners, besides me, I have yet to see the morning customer use their phone to pay.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for advancing NFC but it seem like WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 is getting the job done.

via Apple Outsider

Google Getting It Right

Even without using the device, I can already feel Jeff Bezos squirming in his chair at Amazon. I wonder what Apple's play will be this fall now that the new price point is $199! Because of Google Now, I'm even intrigued to give it a shot. Joshua Topolsky on The Verge

"The Nexus 7 delivers way more functionality than I expected, and it delivers it in a package that’s sleek, smart, and affordably priced. Believe it or not, the last time I was surprised by a product with those same qualities, it was called the iPad."

Google's Nexus 7 Review | The Verge