Long time Google, and things haven't been so kind in the blogger space

It's been a long time since I visited blogger portal due to my international transfers and setting up a new permanent home back in my home country.

While Google has been playing the change in "Authorization APIs" close to its heart and disrupting one too many platforms which connect its services from other cloud applications. Microsoft & Apple have been equally less enthusiastic in ensuring that this cross-rival handshakes are being oiled and working all fine.

Where does that leave the "looking for free" or "subscribing" netizens; basically stuck in Web portals trying to type their blogs or ponder over the decision to move their blogs to other services such as "Wordpress" which on my recent visit is thriving well and probably should be my only blog portal if Google & Microsoft's blog writing software keep each other in isolation.

Although my frequency doesn't really justify the above rant, but simple things like updating your applications of minor authorization mismatches shouldn't sit around for months altogether when users report it. Granted that the maintenance & intent to update "free" software is not really on Microsoft's agenda, then it is better to kill these non-value apps then letting them linger around and invite the negative feedback from their users.

Having said all that. I did finally write this post from the web portal. :P Like I had a choice to begin with..

IOS 7 & OS X - Work half done

Yesterday's Apple WWDC was awaited with lot of anticipation. The introduction of the new OS versions for the Macbook & iOS devices were eagerly awaited. I was disappointed with what was introduced would be the most flattering response, given the features unveiled and the ones which never showed up.

Here is what was introduced (in the Apple eco-system)

OS X (As in 10)

• Finder Tabs (Still trying to understand the real utility behind such a feature)
• iCloud & Keychain  integration (Good start again on a unfinished feature)
• Upgrades to Safari (Not sure if it is a catchup-game to Chrome)

I am not too excited by the above features, so might skip this version upgrade on my 2011 MBP unless the price is really attractive for upgrade. It was surprising to see no talk about Aperture or any other products such as Garageband or iPhoto.

iOS 7

The most awaited overhaul to the ageing OS UI finally arrived. The new look is much cleaner than before, and finally Apple is coming to smartphone standards with notification pull-ups and doing away with the glassy shine. What stands out is the clean UI which reminds of Windows Metro & more recently the Android JB 4.2 UI. They're all starting to look mutant siblings slowly but steadily.

Features introduced (for the iOS ecosystem)

• Notification drawer goes the Android/Samsung way but from bottoms up.
• Icons now resemble Nokia N8/9 and Miui ROM like.
• New filters and Panorama mode in Camera App
• Activation lock if phone is erased/lost.
• Multitasking finally looks like WebOS like.
• iTunes Radio
• Upgraded Safari with iCloud Keychain support
• Facetime Audio (Good addition to the default video calling app)

What was glaringly missing in the event for iOS

• Dynamic content icons - The icons are still static !!
• No talk on Maps !! Why ?
• Long needed update to Contacts app for intelligent dial/contact search.

Upto this point, we are not even discussing anything innovative except that Apple took the courage to change the ageing UI and Activation lock feature which should deter some, if not all the iOS device thieves. The years from 2007 - 2010 were the trailblazing years in my opinion for Apple with incremental features added and interesting hardware upgrades. Since the iPhone 4 and iOS 5, things haven't looked the same.

It remains to be seen if Apple picks up steam again during fall and impresses with hardware refreshes for the Macbook Pro and the iOS device line. The catching up game on the software & hardware could result in bulk migration of people to other ecosystems. With the iOS 7, the catchup game is already a generation behind and it will be old by the time it lands in consumer's hands given the fact that Android & Microsoft will have refreshes up their sleeves as well.

iPhone 5–Flattering to disappoint

 

The newest version of the most important product from Apple was unveiled yesterday. With purists gunning for bleeding edge tech to be adopted and inserted into ever thinning profile were not disappointed, it was still a lackluster debut where I felt certain key things were missed.

Build

It was a welcome return to the original design, which was one of the greatest reasons, iPhone sold out when it was introduced. The aluminum back would greatly reduce the need to invest in a phone case.

Physical dimension – Apple avoided the lure of going big and stuck to something which I really appreciated - The width is being retained while the length was increased. I have rotating use of the HTC One X, iPhone 4, and Blackberry 9700. I believe the fit in your pal determines, what you tend to pickup for your daily use irrespective of screen size and features.

I personally do not bother with the 4.0 inch screen introduced. 4.3 would have been the best screen to introduce and continue for a few years, after all, our palms will not evolve in next few years for us to feel the Galaxy Note screens to be any smaller.

Hardware Upgrades

The other hardware upgrades were either expected, given the current crop of smartphones with overflowing features. But, Apple still is left behind by missing to introduce several features beyond the obvious. Retina displays are common, so is LTE and high end optics in flagship phones. Neither did Apple introduce newer Bluetooth version.  The change of data port pin is a bit relief, but again, Micro USB plugs have been around for a while, and we are now heading into Era of Wireless charging, so Apple seem to be chasing the past here.

IOS 6 – Although announced during early Summer, it would turn out to be the weakest part of iPhone eco system, which lacks innovation. It should have been a innovative upgrade, but has ended up being incremental. The classic look is now getting stale and unless, Apple introduces dynamic icons / screen elements to catch up with Android widgets or Live tiles of Metro UI. Apple might excel at what it does, but then so did Blackberry with mobile email. It did not take much time for Blackberry to start staring at its grave with the onslaught of consumer preferences, which they ignored.

What’s for future – The wishlist for iPhone 6 is already out on some tech blogs, I thought I would put in one from my side as well.

• 4.3 inch screen,
• Dynamic screen elements,
• World phone with world wide LTE capabilities in single device,
• NFC or similar approach to use with passbook,
• Offline navigation as standard,
• FM Radio (It’s a unicorn in Apple world),
• Wireless Charging,
• USB Mass Storage mode,
• and a decent set of Earphones, which you don’t throw away after 2 months.

Initial Impressions of the MacBook Pro

Being a PC wanderer, I have jumped the fence to the other side, where everything white is cool, premium and the "in thing".

I'm personally not a fan of the features to cost ratio of Apple products but somewhere down the line, Windows based products were really letting me down in terms of features and execution. Windows Vista was nearly a killer but it was killing the systems it was running on and not the competition. Windows 7 and Windows Mobile have come and saved the MS world for now.

To mention that I own a product from every major platform including RIM (yes, I still love my Blackberrys) is a feeling where I get to evaluate each of the platforms' strengths and weaknesses.

Since this post is about the MBP (MacBook Pro) I will concentrate on it for now. The version of MBP I have is from the refresh cycle of Spring 2011 where they came out with Core iX series of processors from Intel and featured the new Thunderbolt technology. Honeslty, I do not care much for it for now unless it matures and you start seeing a plethora of devices which use this technology.

Build :
The build of the unibody aluminium is impeccable. I have not seen HP Envy but would assume it to be of similar quality if not better. Dell Adamo was another one, but it never caught my attention. Plus, the aesthetic value of an Apple product cannot be underestimated.

The otherwise minimalist appearance is something worth showing off. The build is definitely a 4 out 5 rating.

Hardware :

Intel inside with the GMA video option is something which will be bypassed in today's Windows 7 world with sigh. 1 GB and 2 GB dedicated video cards are the norm.

But the Apple world places a premium on everything. The Core i5 build in the 13.3 inch MBP does not allow any video card customization and still costs equivalent to a Wintel laptop which would include 8 GB of RAM, Core i7 and any of the above mentioned video graphics with a Bluray burner.

But as they, fastest is always not the best. The utilization of the resources in a optimum manner is what is desired today.

I would from a Hardware perspective, give a 2 out of 5 to Apple even though considering they are among the premium laptops irrespective of the OS world.

OS X Lion :
Coming to the OS, I have upgraded to the recently released OS X codenamed "Lion" which has brought in excellent features of the iOS platform and combined some neat multitouch features which nearly eliminate any kind of lengthy scrolling or navigation key strokes.

A swipe to the right with 2 fingers takes you forward in a browser, 2 finger swipe to the left takes you back. Changing screens between Dashboard and active window is a matter of 3 finger swipe to the left or right.

The scrolling is something you have to get used to. There are no scrollbars and flicking to scroll is the  opposite to what you do in iPhone or iPad.

The OS is a major change with introduction of built in App store and also introduction of iOS like architecture where now applications can be full screen without need of a menu bar or status bar.

It is a very promising move and Apple leads the way here, I would assume some novely from Windows 8 when it is released.

Software :

This has been my biggest disappointment. I also assume this would be resolved to a great extent since now the App store is integrated. I hope there are many developers attracted to make good and cheaper Apps for the Mac store so that more tools and utilities can be created for people to use.

A good example is blogging software. On a Windows, I would use Wordpad or Windows Live Writer to get some blogging done, however on the Mac, unless you use iWeb which comes installed with the OS. All other options run from $20 to $50 for a decent blogging utility. In today's world when every mobile platform has blogging tools available for free, it is really appalling looking at the Apple repository for such costly alternatives.

Software has been always premium on Apple platform due to small market share and targeted audience. I guess it will improve with the App Store arrival.

For a long time Wintel loyalist, I take comfort in the fact that whenever I would need to go to Windows 7. It would be a bootcamp click away on the MBP. This is one of the strong reasons for me to combine the hardware superiority of a Mac with software usablity of OSX and Windows on the same machine.

It would be really incredible, if Apple would release its OS like Windows to be installed on any machine without providing support for the hardware issues. That would help people like me to build and enjoy low cost Hackintosh and Win7 platforms on awesome hardware specs.

The Software unless bought and used for which Apple is famous for, gets a 3 out 5 rating in terms of cost and variety of choices.

I will possibly post an update to the software later this week.

Your route to the wireless world - Wireless Routers

As Internet transcends to our everyday activities, the desire to access the information and store data without being constrained to connected cables is more pronounced than ever. Although, city wide WANs are still in the nascent stages of implementation, the mushrooming of small wireless networks in the homes and in enclosed public areas such as malls and restaurants/stores has been anything but slow. You can find Wifi probably more easily than public telephones nowadays in the cities of US.

This post addresses picking up the better equipment for making your life wire-less inside your home. I shall address the nuances of public place Wifi hotspots in a later post.

I have been battling a war against the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz in my home. The reason, is the "mushroom" of Wifi equipment in residential apartments as everyone goes Wireless in their homes and couple it with the multitude of gadgets which use the same 2.4 Ghz as do the wireless routers. This congestion of the frequency spectrum causes couple of issues which are highlighted below :

1. Interference due to concurrent use of devices such as cordless telephones or Microwave equipment.
2. Interference due to large number of wireless equipment in a given area.
3. Cross-Interference between equipment when the frequency are right next to each other.

The above issues coupled with other technical difficulties led to induction of the 5Ghz frequency in wireless equipment. This not only ensured that the wireless equipment operated in a range where none of the household equipment currently operate, but also to give a steady signal strength as well.

This introduction of a separate frequency led to design of new wireless equipment which utilize either 2.4 or 5 Ghz transmissions, or come with dual band frequency transmitters to support legacy equipments. Now, you might be thinking, what does all the above mean to an average consumer who just wants to buy a wireless router. Here's why.

If you know your equipment which utilize Wi-Fi functionality such as phones, laptops, tablets, PMPs. You can zero-in on the frequency you would require while also taking into consideration how much congested your wireless space is.

Wifi-n is the current standard which supports both 2.4 and 5Ghz bands depending on the manufacturer of the equipment. Older equipment running on Wifi-g / b operates mostly on 2.4Ghz while Wifi-a operates at 900 Mhz.

 

2.4 GHz is probably the most congested of all. Anything which emits radio signal probably uses it. So, if you are looking at getting a new telephone or router, here is what you can do to save yourself interference headaches and performance issues :

 

Computing / Networking Equipment	Wireless Router	Telephone
Older Computing Equipment with Wi-fi G capability	Wireless - G	DECT 6.0
New computing Equipment with Wi-fi N capability	Wireless – N	DECT 6.0
Mix of the above	Dual & Simultaneous band Wireless – G/N	DECT 6.0

Most of the home networking setup would land in the last category where you would encounter mix of old and new equipment. The best way to address this go for the dual band and importantly “simultaneous” transmitting wireless router. Here is the marketing gimmick you need to be aware of :

a. Almost all of today’s Wireless routers come with flexibility to allow Wi-Fi N access over 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, but within the configuration, only one can be active at a given time.

b. The ones which come with capabilities to operate on both the bands are not very clearly identified unless you can find the word “simultaneous”.

The latter is always on a higher range price , but it will serve you well in many ways. First, the older equipment can keep chugging at the 2.4 spectrum, whereas all the new equipment supporting Wi-Fi N would benefit from accessing the 5GHz spectrum. It will allow the newer equipment to work at its best setting thus provide your with a faster bandwidth experience in operation. The networking mantra is always “the least speed of a connected device will determine the overall speed for the network”, this is also true for wired and wireless connections.

If you go with the last category in the table, your network should be operating in the following way :

1. Wi-Fi N clients >>> 5 GHz  >>>65 – 300 Mbps connectivity
2. Wi-Fi G clients >>> 2.4Ghz >>>36-54 Mbps connectivity.

Couple of noteworthy Wireless routers are shown below, which I have tried out :

Wireless G/N Device ( Operates on one band at a time).

Wireless G/N Device (Operates simultaneous bands)

I hope the above points help you in deciding the right equipment and provide the value of investment with peace of mind. Happy Networking.

Technorati Tags: Wireless,Network,Networking,Router,Home,Apple,Netgear,Dlink,2011,Home Networking,DECT,Wi-fi

Apple - Always flattering to deceive . . .

A long break from blogging and so much has happened since the last post was done. The last week was a pretty exciting one and has brought me to capture my thoughts and put it here.

I gave in to the temptation to the Apple as Eve had done and didn't completely bite it as she did, so the world around me still looks good. Apple as company has always fascinated me, but the way they intentionally limit features in their products to create variants is something which I fail to understand. Why on earth would they want to leave out some obvious features and leave prospective buyers on the edge.

Take for E.g : FM Radio. God knows since how long mobile phones and PMPs have carried this feature ever since FM radio became independent of a radio box. A quick look at the Apple species and you would wonder whether Apple ever knew FM radio could be put into iPod and iPhone without major design change. From a business point, putting in a feature which might kill their iTunes store really doesn't make sense. Which goes to emphasise that Apple will always have its mouth where the money is. I guess that is the same reason behind Apple products not having other things such as : User replaceable battery, Medium for transfer of media to the player.

Adding to it is the insane cost of a protection plan which is like rubbing salt into the wound of victims with faulty products in their hand, sometimes with no responsibility of theirs.

I guess this premium attitude of Apple held well with their fan boy following and till the point they were not directly in a quick changing environment like the mobile market.

iPhone has not only exposed the cracks (physically as well) but also made Apple realize that premium prices sometimes need to be justified with proper products which work as intended out of the box. If you see the sheer number of updates released by Apple in last 12 months, Microsoft should be feeling the competition heating up.

Bugs, which are part of every Software / Hardware life cycle was something Apple had made parodies targeting Microsoft. Now I guess their creative ad people wouldn't want to attempt that thing again.

I might end up sounding like a Apple hater, which I am not, because not only Apple has wonderfully designed products, they have been the indirect reason for Windows 3.x and GUIs for Linux flavours and development of multifunction smartphones which before iPhone were limited to set of integrated email and mediocre entertainment.

I will still wait for Apple to come up with decently priced products OR products with a good feature list. Till that time, I will step aside and say "Too Good to be useful for me".