All posts by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond
Sound & Vision Show – Part 3
I took hundreds of photos as a memory for myself of the crazy amazing and expensive electronics on display.
What I did notice was the use of digital formats and how many laptops and iPads were being used via the USB digital output.
I mentioned turntables were to be seen everywhere, and Avid had a new model on display. What’s unusual is that it has 2 arms so you can configure each side dependent on what sound you prefer for a different type of music.
Next up is some sensibly sized equipment by Onkyo. At least this would fit in most people’s homes unlike some of the displays.
PMC had some insane sized speakers that looked mean. But there is no way I would want them in my living room. Would you?
And some excessively large speakers by Focal. I liked the finish on these.
And finally just to set a more realistic price point, Musical Fidelity had on display a range of their gear from £150 to £2,000 using Atlas cables.
That’s it until tomorrow.
And Now Sony commits to Firefox OS
Sony announced today to commit to produce a phone running Firefox OS in 2014.
It seems like a number of manufacturers are starting to show interest in this OS. I wonder if this is due to Google manufacturing its own hardware and the threat that poses.
I never thought there would be room for another OS but I could be wrong.
Don’t I look Cool with this phone
2 new phones, one from Samsung the other Asus. Actually their tablets but both companies are promoting its phone aspects. Below is how cool you would look using one.
I’m waiting for the optional printer attachment that clips around your head.
Blackberry Z10 is outselling the S3 and iPhone
Gentel, a Canadian retailer with over 330 stores in Canada has said the Z10 is outselling the iPhone and S3. Sounds good but is it loyal blackberry fans trying the device out as its different.
Many have said Blackberry want survive but if people buy and like the Z10 anything is possible.
My only gripe with the Z10 is its battery life, otherwise it’s quite a neat piece of kit. And apps, the lack of native apps.
Doubletwist & Qualcomm to launch MediaPlay
Qualcomm has worked with the developers of doubletwist to create an open source media streamer called MagicPlay. This will work via wifi. This looks promising and clearly intended to take on Apple’s AirPlay.
Sound & Vision Show – Part 2
Looking at some of the visual gear on show was a room displaying a TV screen the size of the room. It was so huge I could have sat and watched the whole film with ease.
However, that was not the most impressive TV. A new state of the art TV with more quality than I can remember was playing and it felt like I was watching the concert myself. Amazing.
An unusual style speaker, called Anything But a Box, was on display in a red and white finish. Below is the red finish. A bit different but I am not sure it is for me.
Also on display were panel speakers by Alternative Audio. The sound tone was not my cup of tea, but they were very different. Again these were very expensive circa £12,000.
Tomorrow I will look at some other designs present at the show.
Sony Xperia Z vs Samsung Note 2
At the weekend I got to play with the new Sony Xperia Z. I also had the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 side-by-side with the new Sony.
This is not meant to be a detailed technical examination more of a quick comparison. They say first impressions count and in this case they really do.
The Xperia is available in white and black. I would suggest ignoring the white and simply focusing on the black as the white looks rather cheap in comparison to the black finish. The Sony is actually larger than I thought it would be and that I think its size is amplified due to its squareness. If it had curved corners and sides it would look a lot smaller probably. I would only get the Note 2 in grey and avoid the white finish as well.
The Sony screen is fabulous and makes the Note 2’s screen look like it has fake colouring. Also the Sony launcher is not in your face and looks a lot more professional than Samsung’s Touchwiz launcher. The Touchwiz wastes a lot of screen with blank spaces. The square sides of the Sony are not as comfy to hold as the Note 2. The Xperia is water and dust resistant. The Note 2 isn’t. The Note 2 has a stylus and the Xperia doesn’t. Each device comes with bespoke software. The camera on the Sony took better quality photos. Plugging my headphones into each phone revealed the Xperia Z had a better headphone amp and sound quality but not by huge amounts.
But overall they are different devices. And they are both amazing. If I had to choose between one of them I really couldn’t.
MWC & Lenevo
Mobile World Congress, Lenovo is showing tablets. At their top end is the S6000, a 10-inch, 1,280 x 800 IPS display and a quad-core MediaTek’s 8389 / 8125 processor, clocked at 1.2GHz. The tablet, which measures 8.6mm thick and weighs in at 560 grams , with eight hours of battery life, and an optional HSPA+ radio.
The 7-inch A3000 has a 1.2GHz quad-core MTK processor, IPS display and optional HSPA+ , but a resolution of 1,024 x 600. Its thicker, at 11mm. Then there is the A1000, a 7-inch tablet with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and Dolby Digital. Both models have microSD expansion, but the A3000 supports cards up to 64GB, while the A1000 can only handle 32gb.
Again another slab or two but nothing special really.
Keyboard Autocorrection fun
Just a quick post.
On the standard default keyboard for the Samsung Note 2. Typing iPhone autocorrects to opponent.
