Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

Nexus S: Another Super Tiny Pixelated Picture!

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

new nexus-s-macbook-pro-spyOnce again there is another super tiny picture of a phone that is supposedly the Nexus S. I am assuming that they are right and it actually is the Nexus S. To the left is the picture in question.

Supposedly this was found in a Google Employees Picasa Album.

I guess it is an interesting picture but really who cares about the phone? I am wondering why this macbook looks like some nasty unknown substance I eating away at the screen! Come on Guy! Get a micro fiber cloth and clean that up!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot this picture shows that the front of the device is curved and that the Nexus S will use Micro USB. yay! but unfortunately it still does not tell us whether or not the actual touchscreen glass/plastic is curved. And I had already assumed that it would use Micro USB. so really, it is a useless picture, Engadget still wins!

The Canon Rebel XS Screwed Me…

Friday, November 19th, 2010

So last April (April 2009) I bought a Canon Rebel XS. This was right before I left for my summer spent in Taiwan. Being new to the world of Digital SLR’s I was very excited and in love with my DSLR camera. Of course the novelty wore off and it became just a fun toy. Don’t get me wrong, the camera took wonderful pictures, even with my poor photography skills. But you know? novelty wears off.

It was, of course, very low on my electronics replacement schedule. I usually get rid of my expensive electronics in less than a year in order to increase the functional value of my electronics and shrink the amount of losses I take over time on quickly depreciating hardware. Cameras, especially DSLR’s, don’t depreciate as fast as say a laptop so I didn’t really have any succession plans for my camera. What a mistake.

So anyways I now have had this camera for about 19 months and guess what!? It just broke today. All on its own. No drops, no spills, no shaking, just broke. I turned it on, the LCD stayed black, then I tried to take a picture, it focused and then nothing. Looking through the viewfinder I noticed that it just kept flashing “busy.” This is actually a somewhat common issue with the Canon Rebel XS. I have seen it multiple times in my searches trying to find a resolution.

In the end I did find the resolution. There is a firmware update for this camera that stops this issue. But guess what!? Once the issue happens it is impossible to do the firmware update. After doing some more research I found a person who actually tried to send it in for repairs. These repairs were going to be between 300 and 400 dollars. $300 to repair a year old camera that was only worth $500 with a kit lens to begin with? I think not. I am REALLY wishing I got the extended warranty on this thing. Next time I buy a camera I definitely will.

So what do I have? a $400 paperweight plus $500 in lenses for this paperweight. But hey at least it still focuses and flashes right?

This type of photography is too expensive for my tastes, I think I will just sell my lenses for whatever I can get for them and go back to point and shoot cameras. These DSLR’s are just too expensive!

But anyways the moral of this story is:

First,If you own a Canon Rebel XS then make sure that your firmware version is higher than 1.0.5. Otherwise you too could become a victim of the infamous flashing “busy” in the viewfinder. And Second, buy an extended warranty plan because who knows what will happen.

That’s all folks!

–Edit–

After having a night to sleep on it and cool off I think I will buy another DSLR. I can’t just go back to point and shoots! I have been exposed to the wonderful world of DSLR’s. I think I will buy another entry level Canon DSLR. The Rebel T1i looks good since it does HD video. I might even buy it in hong kong, but that all depends on how the money works out.

The Nexus S hmm…..

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

The Nexus One is the first HTC phone I have ever owned and as far ass hardware is concerned it is by far the worst phone I have ever owned. Two weeks after I got my first phone the speaker broke and it had to be exchanged. In both of my Nexus One’s the touch screen was absolutely abysmal. But I stuck with it because I LOVED the software. And I still do love the software.

After reading that there would never be a Nexus 2 I thought all was lost and that I would be stuck with a crappy touch screen for another year. I really don’t like those user interfaces that cell phone manufacturers add on to the Android Experience. I just want the plain vanilla android. And after having to exchange my phone after two weeks I wasn’t about to void my warranty by rooting the phone to get the experience that I wanted. So I resigned myself to dealing with crappy HTC hardware. And after trying to get it exchanged for the touch screen, I now know I will NEVER buy an HTC cell phone again.

Then on November 16th, 5 days late, I found out about the Nexus S. The Nexus S is really the Nexus 2 with a mirrored 2 according to Eric Schmidt. When I heard about it I though “OMFG, FINALLY! I no longer have to feel all crappy about my phone!” Then it just keeps getting better! It’s going to have Gingerbread (Android 2.3), It will have NFC (Near Field Communication), it’s going to be coming out soon (more on the “soon” later), It will be sold at Brick and Mortar stores (Best Buy), and most importantly it is NOT going to be made by HTC! I was instantly in love.

nexus-s

I know that as soon as I get back from Hong Kong I am going to throw down 600 dollars and buy that phone and junk my Nexus One on Ebay. The Samsung Nexus S with the “pure google experience” is where it’s gonna be.

So in my excitement I sat down and watched the entire talk with Eric Schmidt at the Web 2.0 Summit and actually say the bad ass phone! But then came the downer. When Eric Schmidt said that Gingerbread will be coming out in the “next few weeks” I was very sad. This reminded me of the Froyo debacle from earlier this year. Google said Froyo would be coming out in a few weeks, or soon, or when it is ready, and it took months after that announcement.

 schmidt_nexus_sNexusS

Then I started hearing about hardware issues, and dual core optimized software. Supposedly at the last minute they decided to add a dual core processor to the device but the software is not optimized for dual core. For these reasons they delayed the November 16th release date. But in any case I hope that this phone comes out in time for the Christmas holidays. But with Google’s track record, I am starting to think that it won’t.

I really want the Nexus line of phones to continue because I enjoy the pure Google experience with tethering, no crappy UI’s, no AT&T telling me I can’t install outside applications, the ability to travel outside of the US and use my phone without having to figure out Black Snow and Cydia, and no Man with his foot on my neck! So please, please, please, do this right Google and Samsung. Please get the holiday sales so that this Nexus phone will be both a success both financially and in  terms of getting android out there to the public. I know that people like me will buy the phone no matter when it comes out because that’s how we do things. We are Android fan boys and girls haha. But you have to get the normal people on the bandwagon too!

Whenever the Nexus S does come out I will be buying it if I am in the US at the time. I won’t be back from Hong Kong until December 31st!

For all those people who think that “Samsung sucks and they shouldn’t have been chosen to make the phone and HTC makes good quality phones” you obviously haven’t suffered with the Nexus One’s abysmal touchscreen. the touch screen issue on the Nexus One is well documented and all over the internets. And HTC has done what? Zip, Zilch, Nada. In fact they make a big deal about how impossible it is to exchange the phone when you call them about problems. Then when they finally transfer you to the warranty exchange department, the warranty exchange department transfers you back to the tech support as soon as they find out you have a Nexus One. So yeah I am EAGER to get off of HTC.

Even if 99% of your products are great, how you handle that last 1% says volumes about your company. And those volumes about HTC are full of bad tech support and not taking care of their customers.

So anyways, that’s all folks I’ll write something else later!