Technology catch-all thread

[bigruss]

Amazon Prime now has PrimeMusic included. 1 million + songs free to stream. Will definitely have to check it out and will probably cancel my google play music account.

[Jake]

Amazon Prime now has PrimeMusic included. 1 million + songs free to stream. Will definitely have to check it out and will probably cancel my google play music account.

 

mmm...this is a tough one for me. I really like GPlay Music All Access and am locked in at the intro rate. It's awesomely integrated into my Android devices, too. I'll have to at least give Amazon's offering a spin, though.

[Jake]

I take it back. Holy hell is that a miniscule streaming library: http://geeksided.com/2014/06/12/amazon-lau...ify-competitor/ (I wrote this)

[chw42]

Also, re: WWDC.

 

Something I saw mentioned a while after the fact that could be a big problem.

 

We're assuming the iPhone 6 will be a significant size increase - I think I saw reports of 4.7" screens being manufactured. Between TouchID and the fact that iOS 8 shows no signs of on-screen navigation buttons, we're talking about a device with that big physical home button being huge relative to screen size. It could rival the LG G3 in footprint while still having a smaller screen than all competitors.

 

It's nowhere near the size of the G3, it's about as big as a Nexus 5.

 

The leaked model that's been floating around is very thin though, around 6 mm. However, its height and width matches that of a Nexus 5.

 

Due to the home button, there's a lot of bezel.

[chw42]

Tesla announces that it's turning all of its patents over to open source

 

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/all-our-pa...-are-belong-you

 

That's so refreshing in the era of patent trolling.

 

Tesla is an awesome company and I'd totally get one if the infrastructure for electric cars improve.

[bigruss]

I take it back. Holy hell is that a miniscule streaming library: http://geeksided.com/2014/06/12/amazon-lau...ify-competitor/ (I wrote this)

Woah didnt realize it was that small....hopefully they keep adding because that's pretty abysmal actually.

[bigruss]

That's so refreshing in the era of patent trolling.

 

Tesla is an awesome company and I'd totally get one if the infrastructure for electric cars improve.

My hope is that by 2017/2018 the infrastructure is much better (helps that my company has 5 chargers to use in our parking lot) and the GIII model is a great car and somewhat reasonably priced with options.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

That's so refreshing in the era of patent trolling.

 

Tesla is an awesome company and I'd totally get one if the infrastructure for electric cars improve.

 

Tesla is hoping to have a more affordable family car somewhere in the $30-$40K range in a couple years. That's the version I hope I'd be able to afford by then if I get a career job soon.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Just briefly looked up the new LG G3. Is there some big improvements I am missing? I mean, I love the G2, best phone I've ever had, but comparing specs between the two, it seems like a better screen is the only real difference, other than things like being able to remove the battery and adding external storage (both of which absolutely needed to happen).

 

I didn't see anything about it being waterproof, which was always a feature I wanted to see, so I guess it's a good thing my G2 is still running like a champ *knock on wood*.

[Jake]

The notion of a 4K screen on a cell phone pisses me off and I perceive it to be a virtual slap to my face. WE CAN'T SEE THE DIFFERENCE. We will feel the difference in battery life, though. What a waste.

[Y2HH]

The notion of a 4K screen on a cell phone pisses me off and I perceive it to be a virtual slap to my face. WE CAN'T SEE THE DIFFERENCE. We will feel the difference in battery life, though. What a waste.

 

Cell phones have been like this for a while now -- we also can't see the 400+dpi range they use now on 1080p screens, but people don't seem to care.

 

Any screen below 50" that's 1080p is a waste.

[Jake]

Cell phones have been like this for a while now -- we also can't see the 400+dpi range they use now on 1080p screens, but people don't seem to care.

 

Any screen below 50" that's 1080p is a waste.

 

I will say that for a while I used a computer monitor that was 27", QHD and it was totally worth it. It increases your usable screen real estate, basically. You can have more properly rendered "stuff" on the same screen. Doesn't really apply to cell phones though

[chw42]

Just briefly looked up the new LG G3. Is there some big improvements I am missing? I mean, I love the G2, best phone I've ever had, but comparing specs between the two, it seems like a better screen is the only real difference, other than things like being able to remove the battery and adding external storage (both of which absolutely needed to happen).

 

I didn't see anything about it being waterproof, which was always a feature I wanted to see, so I guess it's a good thing my G2 is still running like a champ *knock on wood*.

 

More RAM, better processor, less crappy-looking software, faux-metal plastic instead of that awful plastic on the G2.

[chw42]

Cell phones have been like this for a while now -- we also can't see the 400+dpi range they use now on 1080p screens, but people don't seem to care.

 

Any screen below 50" that's 1080p is a waste.

 

I went back and forth between a Moto X and Nexus 5 recently. There is a noticeable difference.

 

The Moto X has a 316 ppi screen and the Nexus 5 a 445 ppi screen. It's not night and day or anything, but if you put the screens next to each other, you notice the difference in sharpness.

 

I can't say the same for a QHD screen, because I haven't used one yet, but I thought this video was interesting:

[Y2HH]

I went back and forth between a Moto X and Nexus 5 recently. There is a noticeable difference.

 

The Moto X has a 316 ppi screen and the Nexus 5 a 445 ppi screen. It's not night and day or anything, but if you put the screens next to each other, you notice the difference in sharpness.

 

I can't say the same for a QHD screen, because I haven't used one yet, but I thought this video was interesting:

 

As a previous poster said, they give you more screen real estate (which instantly gives them a real world use case), and the sharpness will be there if you look at a close enough range, but studies have shown that an unaided human eye cannot see above 300dpi unless they're holding the screen closer than it was designed to be held. At normal use distance, MOST people wouldn't be able to differentiate anything above 300dpi, that being said, there are people with better vision than others, but for the average person, the dpi's modern devices use are already higher than we can distinguish. My eyes are no longer good enough to see a difference without having to TRY to see it (ie, holding it closer than I would if using it, etc.)

 

I wouldn't mind a desktop with 4k though, because then I can have a billion windows open in their own space on my screen all at once.

Edited June 14, 2014 by Y2HH

[Jake]

As a previous poster said, they give you more screen real estate (which instantly gives them a real world use case), and the sharpness will be there if you look at a close enough range, but studies have shown that an unaided human eye cannot see above 300dpi unless they're holding the screen closer than it was designed to be held. At normal use distance, MOST people wouldn't be able to differentiate anything above 300dpi, that being said, there are people with better vision than others, but for the average person, the dpi's modern devices use are already higher than we can distinguish. My eyes are no longer good enough to see a difference without having to TRY to see it (ie, holding it closer than I would if using it, etc.)

 

I wouldn't mind a desktop with 4k though, because then I can have a billion windows open in their own space on my screen all at once.

 

Yes. I love having a billion windows open

 

[Y2HH]

Yes. I love having a billion windows open

 

I do this now, on my desktops I've always liked windowing everything, I only like full screen on smaller devices where space is a premium. When I do go 4k, it will be that much nicer (next computer upgrade), which is every 3-4 years or so.

[Jake]

I do this now, on my desktops I've always liked windowing everything, I only like full screen on smaller devices where space is a premium. When I do go 4k, it will be that much nicer (next computer upgrade), which is every 3-4 years or so.

 

I had to sell my desktop with QHD when I moved and I'm currently using a mid-range laptop with 1376 x 768 resolution. It was a rough transition.

[chw42]

As a previous poster said, they give you more screen real estate (which instantly gives them a real world use case), and the sharpness will be there if you look at a close enough range, but studies have shown that an unaided human eye cannot see above 300dpi unless they're holding the screen closer than it was designed to be held. At normal use distance, MOST people wouldn't be able to differentiate anything above 300dpi, that being said, there are people with better vision than others, but for the average person, the dpi's modern devices use are already higher than we can distinguish. My eyes are no longer good enough to see a difference without having to TRY to see it (ie, holding it closer than I would if using it, etc.)

 

I wouldn't mind a desktop with 4k though, because then I can have a billion windows open in their own space on my screen all at once.

 

Well really, it depends on how far away you're holding the screen. What exactly is the distance that the phone was "designed" to be held at?

[Y2HH]

Well really, it depends on how far away you're holding the screen. What exactly is the distance that the phone was "designed" to be held at?

 

This is actually hard to find information since whenever you try to search for "how far to hold a smartphone", you find a billion links to the radiation crazies that think you're cell phones are giving you cancer. Off the top of my head I believe most manufactures found their users hold their phones about 18" away...that's about the distance I hold mine. Holding them closer will allow you to see more detail, but on average, when people are using their phones they hold them about 18" away.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Y2HH

[Jenksismyhero]

SCOTUS rules against Aereo. There goes your non-cable streaming option for TV.

Edited June 25, 2014 by Jenksismybitch

[chw42]

SCOTUS rules against Aereo. There goes your non-cable streaming option for TV.

 

That thing had like 15 channels.

 

If it had more it would have been very interesting though.

 

Google I/O is in an hour, the new version of Android should be announced today and from the few leaks that have been released, it's going to look radically different.

[Jake]

Self-promotion alert: Live stream available here with my live-blogged reactions - http://geeksided.com/2014/06/24/google-io-...ream-live-blog/

[Y2HH]

Is it just me, or has it become a thing from Apple/Microsoft and now Google to all converge on the same basic design principals?

 

Everything looks like flat, borderless tiles on every single mobile OS now. Android/iOS and Windows Mobile all seem very similar to each other now.

[LDF]

Is it just me, or has it become a thing from Apple/Microsoft and now Google to all converge on the same basic design principals?

 

Everything looks like flat, borderless tiles on every single mobile OS now. Android/iOS and Windows Mobile all seem very similar to each other now.

 

 

yes so they can all take advantage of those who are computer naive to not know the difference