SteelSkin.net – The Ramblings of Chris Nutt

I wandered into town today to see the Samsung Galaxy Note in the ‘flesh’. I have been intrigued by the Note for some time. Smartphones have reached a point where the phone aspect is just a small percentage of the value of the device. A good smartphone is your; walkman, video player, sat nav, portable computer, messenging device and phone. The Note takes this one more step and extends/adds in notebook and tablet. This thing runs at a higher res than most tablets and has a proper Wacom stylus not just a nasty resistive/capacitive job. So that’s why I went to see it, what did I find?

Firstly compared to my late 2009 Acer Liquid the Note is slick as Terry Thomas. Now I don’t have an S II or equivalent device so it might just be my muggle eyes being amazed. The stylus works great and the screen is fantastic. However it was locked in a stand, so I could neither judge the size for holding nor the  weight.  It is however extremely tempting. That 5.3″ display would make SatNaving and video playback amazing. It also uses both GPS and GLONASS the new Russian sat system. So you get double the amount sats to position you with.

In context: Just before Christmas I sold my Laptop to my Mum. I just didn’t use it, it was bulky compared to my phone and so much slower to start. I don’t like 9-10″ tablets they are just to big and too heavy. If I have to rest something on my knees why not just buy a netbook? No 7″ tablet has wowed me. The Note makes most look second rate, but I would expect that for £500+ of portable everything goodness Vs the £200 Archos 80 G9.

So it all comes down to do I want a do it all device or should I split between a Phone and a Tablet, where neither is a real beast.

I just picked up a new set top box. It’s the Echostar HDS-600RS. In terms of features the box is amazing and compared to it’s conventional peers it is pretty good and responsive. However I am not used to normal set top boxes anymore.

For over 2 years I’ve been running PlayTV for my PS3. I unfortunately live in a low signal area and years after launch no HD or Sat HD version is on it’s way. I’ve seen my mates VM Tivo and I thought I was prepared for the massive backward step in interface PVRs have even today.

Really I am not, I have gotten used to things just happening quickly and beautifully. Why in all these years is there not a decent PVR platform that doesn’t require a PS3 or a full blown PC to run is beyond me. Seriously how slow and laggy are these boxes, no wonder people are leaving TV. The devices they use to access TV are RUBBISH.

As much I didn’t like the guy, Steve Jobs would never stand for this shit. Hell Bill Gates didn’t either and neither did Sony. Why the hell can’t Humax, Echostar or Samsung get their asses in gear and bring out a Android/Linux/WindowsEmdded/Meego box? Slap in a half decent ARM CPU, wifi and tuners and booom!

But no, it’s like they want Apple to come in and take all of their stuff.

I think 3D gaming has it’s place, much like with films. But to me both are ‘niche’ versions of their media. Just like everything shouldn’t be Move or everything shouldn’t be played through a guitar controller.

The current consoles just about do 720p at 30fps in mainline games. We can’t even do 1080p 60fps in all but the rarest games. Adding the 3D gimmick to games makes them worse in most cases, when the power on the console isn’t doubled to compensate.

Also having watched Tron Legacy in IMAX 3D and 2D Bluray I can tell you that 3D seems to destroy a lot of detail. Most games have an element of precision in them, adding flickery/polarised glasses makes them harder to see. You loose to much to gain too little.

Also 3D is just unpopular. An unnamed competitor’s 3D hand held hasn’t sold, all of the TV manufacturers have posted losses because 3D and smart TVs haven’t sold.

The only area that had any positive response to 3D is the PC market. For two main reasons: You can just add another graphics card and get perfect 3D performance and 3D monitors double up as 120hz/120fps monitors. In both cases their are no compromises and plenty of benefits.

Also 3D isn’t 3D. The Stereoscopic effect only hooks into one of many visual indicators of depth. You can’t focus on one area, because the film camera has done the work for you and you brain can flip out trying to focus.

Saying the current implementation is true 3D is as true as a virtual controller on a touch screen, i.e. no where near the real thing.

3D as it is now is just the same gimmick we had in the 80s and 50s, a passing fad with a few niche applications.

I use Opera at home. It doesn’t work so great in our corporate network at work, but lovely at home.

However there are two services I like to use; Zootool and Amazon Universal Wish List.

Rather than just drag the button to the side, I copy the link text and use QuHno’s Buttonator to make Opera integrated buttons. In the screenshot above I use the Star for Zootool Lasso and the Plus Sign for Amazon. This keeps them discreet, but always accessible.