Apple’s unannounced ‘iWatch’ faces manufacturing issues, much like Qualcomm’s Toq.
Apple has yet to even announce such a product exists and there are no signs of an impending product launch of Apple’s iWatch.
However rumours wont die down and now it is reportedly facing poor yield rates of less than 50 percent in trial manufacturing.
If it’s a trial run then this is when issues are meant to be found so really it’s not that surprising.
So after a frustrating first day, I’m giving the Note 3 another chance. I’ve reinstalled all my apps nearly, but will have to go through the painful process of setting each and every app up.
Samsung seem to have included a crazy amount of bloat ware apps. Totally unnecessary. By trying to flog their apps and services they part ruin the device. Within the Samsung Apps/Hub was a Winter Wonderland offer app with a free gift every day. I installed it to find the offers were no longer running. There was also 5 free albums on offer. I got the redemption code from the Samsung Music app only to find the same thing. Then Samsung Music Premium shows as stopping at end of Jan 2014. Then some of the apps for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 within Samsung’s App Store were just bloat ware again. Totally unacceptable.
So, I was setting up the Note 3 again from scratch installing all my apps without a sim installed as I had moved it back to another phone temporarily late last night. So after everything was installed from an app point of view, I powered off and put my sim back in the Note 3. Therein after it just kept rebooting with no end in sight. Don’t you love this phone! This was cured by removing the battery and powering up without the memory card installed and just the SIM card. Then I added the memory card whilst phone was powered on. Finally. And the memory card has to be removed every time you turn the phone on.
Right let’s put some balance back in the Note 3. Despite everything so far I really like this phone. Side by side with my iPhone 5S it looks like a bad boy and the 5S a kiddies toy, despite my 5S being the shiny gold version. So as you guys may realise I have a number of accessories that work with phones from my Sony QX10/100 lenses, Moga Pro Game Controller, WeMo internet plug and my new Sphero Robotic Ball. And with every single one of these the Note 3 flies above anything other phone using these hardware accessories. Let’s take each accessory in turn.
WeMo – nothing special here just a much larger screen to operate all my WeMo’s from Belkin
Sony QX10/100 lenses – using the Note 3 NFC these work from start far quicker than the iPhone. The clamp doesn’t really fit, so a tripod or flat surface is needed to use these. But the processor power of the Note 3 provides a seamless integration.
Moga Pro Controller – OMG – this controller was awesome when I got it, but compared to the iPhone version which I have, android Moga compatible games are on a different level. Air Attack HD and Need For Speed Most Wanted are now Moga A compatible. Asphalt 7 and 8 too. Playing on the gorgeous screen is breathtaking. The Note 3 fits fine in the Moga clamp. There is no way in a million years I can go back to the iPhone 5S after playing games with the Moga and the better screen. On Android there are over 200 games that work on this game controller versus 60 on iOS.
Sphero Robotic Ball – works perfectly as expected. But having a bigger screen to operate the on screen controls just provides a much better experience.
It’s all about the screen so far. The Note 3 first impressions is flawed but you must give it a chance. It doesn’t have the slickness of software and hardware integration of iOS 7, nothing does. BUT it does have its own magic.
In the next part I will cover more and more of the phone.
Good news if you have a Sony Z Ultra. Sony is extending the case options to include the Z Ultra.
I imagine the lenses are proving rather popular.
Samsung has outed its new Smart Control remote for its 2014 line of televisions. The restyled remote is now Pebble-shaped, for a better grip, and has an 80 per cent smaller touchpad that remains within thumbs-reach.
There’s voice and motion control integration alongside a Soccer Mode that enhances the viewing experience with a single button.The new Smart Control remote will be on show at CES 2014.
With the acquisition of the company in September, Bump and Flock CEO and co-founder David Lieb quietly announced last night that both apps were shutting down effective January 31st. According to a brief blog post on the Bump site, Lieb says his team is “deeply focused on our new projects within Google” and given that the acquisition appears to be talent-driven, the shutdown comes as little surprise.
Another app and service swallowed by the big boys. This is the danger when using smaller services. Acquisitions can occur and suddenly the app or service you depended on is gone.
The upcoming Galaxy Note Pro was rumoured to have been demoed in South Korea a few days ago. According to ZDNet Korea, the 12.2-inch Galaxy Note Pro will be released in the first quarter of next year, at CES 2014. The tablet is said to have a 2560 x 1600 resolution LCD display, 2.4GHz processor, 3GB of RAM, 9500mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat. A9500mAH battery would mean that the Galaxy Note Pro will have the largest battery of any Samsung device to this point. In addition, the device will weigh 1.7 pounds, and measure 11.6 x 8.0 inches and 14.1-inch diagonally.
But really the specs are meaningless. It is also about the software integration that will really count as well.
I thought it would be a good idea to get the Samsung Note 3 again. It arrived yesterday at 11am, took over 2 hours to complete 7 software updates one after the other. If that wasn’t bad enough every app installed seemed to have an update even after 7 software updates. Then every Samsung app or service had same issue.
I have tried two hard resets wiping the phone clean and starting again. 2 restores after a hard reset. And despite the Samsung and Google backups in place, the restore process is crap compared to that provide by Apple for iPhones and iPads. None of the layouts are remembered in the restore and no app data either. Useless.
As I write this at 6pm I still don’t have a fully working phone. The positive. It’s a great piece of tech. Lovely sound quality via headphones, camera better than expected actually took best photo to date of my dog George. See below. This compares even to the amazing Nokia Lumia 1020 and iPhone 5S. It has the kitchen sink of specifications and I love every aspect of it.
But it cannot play music streamed via Google, using Google Play Music. It plays one track, maybe a second, but on third no sound comes out of the headphones even though the track is playing. If you pause song and press play again you hear sound immediately.
So, I have to ask why were there 7 software updates? Why not consolidate them into one, and update the default applications at the same time?
Not sure whether I have a faulty phone re the music issues, as I have read about other people having same issues. It’s a real pity as the technology inside the device is magical.
As an update it appears Google Play Music app got updated and became incompatible with many Note 3’s, see screen shot below of review of app..
So welcome to 2014.
Can anyone tell me what happened to 2013?
So what resolutions did you make for 2014? And have you already broken them 🙂
I made a resolution not to change my tablet for 2 years *cough* and to keep the same phone for at least 6 months *chokes*.
Yesterday, I arranged for a 9am Apple Store Genius appointment to explore my 5S problems. 10 mins later I was leaving with a new iPhone 5S. It was that simple, no fuss just a quick explanation of the problems I was having with my battery, reboots and finger print scanner.
Even though I cannot complain with the whole manner, I do feel that if iOS 7 software is the root cause and I have simply been fogged off with a new phone then I will have the same problems. Time will tell, so I will keep you in the loop. Of course, a rogue app or two could have been the issue as well.
So here’s the killer Apple feature with their iOS devices, iPod Touches, iPhones and iPads. iCloud Backup. So I have a brand new iPhone. I hit restore. All my apps, games, settings and data are restored over the air in 2 hours flat. Within 2 hours I have connected to my mac and restored my 2,000 photos and 1,000 songs too on to my 5S. iCloud Keychain handles all my passwords now to the point I don’t know what my actual passwords are. I can enter into iCloud Keychain and copy out the password for any app(s) that needed a password. So music, media, photos, passwords, accounts, settings, saved data and 260 apps/games all back on my iPhone 5S , as easy as ABC. Try and do that out of the box on any other operating system.
As an update so far battery is slightly better but not amazing. Maybe, it’s the design. Slim phone for stylish finish equals small battery. For light to medium users the battery should last a day. For heavier users a charge point is essential.
In the meantime, I am expecting a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to arrive later today so I will see how it fares.
Teenagers are ditching their Facebook accounts in droves, according to newly-published research into social networking habits across Europe by Global Social Media Impact study.
Instead of Facebook, youngsters are gravitating to the likes of Snapchat, WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook-owned Instagram, where their parents are less likely to be monitoring their activity or asking them what time they’re going to be home for tea.
According to Daniel Miller, a professor at University College London and lead anthropologist on the research team, “Facebook is not just on the slide – it is basically dead and buried.”
Social networks are sometimes just a fashion that ties and fall to the next new social network. But there are too many people on Facebook for it to be dead and buried.
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