Gadgets

A Primer for those remedial “I can’t (insert complaint here) on my Surface” people

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Ok. This is going to be short because it’s a really easy concept. In the Microsoft Surface family, the ones intended to be laptop/desktop replacements are the “Pro” devices.

You can install whatever apps you like from the Windows Store on anything in the Surface family. However, if it doesn’t say “Pro” in the name then it won’t allow you to install any DESKTOP software except for an exclusive handful of things in the Microsoft Office suite.

If you want to install desktop software (like alternative web browsers) then you should select a Surface Pro.

Simple.

Take notice, however, that this is BETTER than what you get with either iPads or Android tablets; you can’t install ANY desktop software at all. PERIOD. You can’t install the desktop version of ANY browser. AT ALL.

Simply put, the non-Pro Surface devices are meant to compete directly with their iOS and Android counterparts. They all offer about the same physical specifications.

If you want to get mad at someone do it at Google as they have been actively hostile towards any competing Microsoft product since day one. Ask them why they don’t create an RT version of Chrome. The same can be said of Apple and Safari.

Stop posting ignorantly because you are cheap and also didn’t take time to do your research or read the product card in the store. Like the person in the attachment. The only possible argument that *MIGHT* (and I stress might) keep this person from being a complete ID10T is if the salesperson told him/her the wrong thing. And I doubt that happened.

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A Primer for those remedial “I can’t (insert complaint here) on my Surface” people

Android really ISN’T your friend

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It is simply amazing to me that people don’t pay more attention. Case in point, I wonder how many of the devout (yes, that is the word) Android (and in the first case iOS) users know about the following two articles that I saw today…

How Fandango and Credit Karma exposed millions of smartphone users’ data

Apps with millions of Google Play downloads covertly mine cryptocurrency

The first is a clear example of an utterly-reputation-damaging-yet-probably-survivable breach of trust that we’ve seen in the media recently (Target anyone?). Even though the situation and circumstances are different the outcome is the same: they blew it when it came to relatively easy security practices and it’s up to the consumer to make them pay for it.

The second is much more malicious in that someone is willing to most certainly shorten the life of your smartphone to make themselves richer. The onus of this one is on the greed of the app author… but the blame is needs to be shared with Google and anyone else who provided the app because of their very-much flawed application certification processes. Although comfortably couched in legalese and corporate rhetoric in their TOS and statements to the media about those apps, at the end of the day they pulled apps that should’ve never been published in the first place.

And let’s not forget this little ditty where Google tries to say that Android is “more secure because it’s open”… if that isn’t round-robin logic I don’t know what is.

Logic Fail #1: Google assumes “people” will review and contribute fixes to the OS. Hmm…. that’s like assuming your neighbors will willingly mow your lawn for you while you’re sitting by the pool drinking lemonade and working on your tan.

Logic Fail #2: Google says that hackers will go where most people are. Hmm… No, it’s been my experience that hackers go where the low-hanging fruit is. I’m not talking about the hacking elite that are trying to change the world; I seriously doubt they even care about this stuff. I’m talking about the script-kiddies and malware cartels that are intent on using you to make them money.

Logic Fail #3: Google says their app certification process is state of the art and that every submitted app is checked for malware. Really? Then how did the two Google summarily pulled from the Play Store get there in the first place. And let’s not forget that this ISN’T the first time Google has been to this particular dance… (http://www.bing.com/search?q=google+pulls+malware+apps)

Anyway, I think I’ve ranted long enough.

Please pay more attention to what is real and not the bull the marketers push on you.

Vote with your wallets, people.

Android really ISN’T your friend

Galaxy Gear might as well be called Galaxy Nova

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My private take on this: “Sammy, you shouldn’t have expected ‘pretty’ to overcome single OS & device, not-yet-ready packaging and ridiculously expensive price.”

My public take on this: “Feature-rich ubiquity will ALWAYS reign supreme. Your offering was too little, too early, at too high a price.”

I do entirely expect the form factor to take off, and that very soon. However, Samsung has *proved*, with this its at least SECOND failing at a smart watch offering, that it needs to let someone else figure out how to make it work and improve upon that.

Full Article: Galaxy Gear has a staggeringly high return rate

Posted from WordPress for Windows Phone

Galaxy Gear might as well be called Galaxy Nova

Plagued by the Garmin Forerunner 610 charging problem? You’re gonna be pissed…

azarc3, , 25 Comments

… because I just figured out what the actual problem is. And if your problem is the same as mine then you don’t need to send the watch back or exchange it for another one.

Let’s run down what we know:

  1. Customers have complained that the 610 won’t keep or take a charge, and in some cases actually actively discharges while plugged in.
  2. Customers have also complained that the 610 sometimes will charge and sometimes it won’t, or that it wasn’t charging before and now it does.

My situation went from being #1 to #2 after about 2 weeks of me owning the watch. Then, 2 weeks ago (I’ve had mine for about a month now), it all of a sudden started working. What did I do differently? (This is the part where being pissed comes in…) It seems that Garmin, in their infinite wisdom, decided to save money by developing a charging block that can accept various terminals. I’m sure this is to facilitate charging your watch while you travel internationally since we all do that so often. Well, have you ever noticed how that interchangeable terminal doesn’t always sit flush in the block, in fact it rarely does? Yep, you see where this is going.

Long story short, you’ll have to figure out a way to keep the terminal in good contact with the two pins on the charging block. My proving solution was to get an extension cord (for computers, not the brown one at the grocery store) so I could rest the block vertically on the floor. With enough patience I was able to get the watch to start charging, consistently. You can tell because it will go through that “beep! buzz… beep! buzz…” cycle that drove us all crazy when we first got the watches, but it will settle down and stay on the charging screen once you’ve got the contact just right.

My solution:

  1. Make sure you’ve got the charging stand in the right position. Yes, I said charging stand. check out the photos to see what I mean.
  2. Make sure you’ve got good contact with the watch in the charging stand.
  3. Make sure you’ve got good contact between the interchangeable terminal and the pins on the charging head.

My next test will be plugging the block into the wall directly, but upside down. Hopefully this block doesn’t need specific polarity.

Charger Parts

Interchangeable Terminal Contact Points
Contact Points
In the Stand, from the right
In the Stand, from the right
In the Stand, from the rear
In the Stand, from the rear
Problem solved!
Problem solved!
Gallery