Inexpensive ways to view content on TV

A comparison between Chromecast, Plex server, and Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter

Because Blogger cannot conveniently blog with tabular content, posted with OneNote under Refactoring life > Inexpensive ways to view content on TV.

Surface Pro 3 review, before and after Windows 10

A possible configuration you can have with a SP3  :-)

With Windows 8/8.1 (around October 20, 2014)	With Windows 10 (July 29, 2015 onwards)
No decent battery indicator app that can be Pinned but battery level does show beneath time when swipe in Charms from right.	Battery indicator shown in task bar in Tablet mode and non-tablet mode
Q:  How to select autocorrect suggestion without having to reach far up (or need to bring text closer to level of virtual keyboard)?  Is it possible to select a word and get spelling corrections to select from?  Why isn't this available all the time?	Spelling suggestions come up just above virtual keyboard so easy to reach, although if begin with wrong letter, suggestions are not  that good?
3:2 aspect ratio is nice as can have virtual keyboard up constantly in portrait mode.  Virtual keyboard is movable in Desktop mode but is it not moveable in Modern interface?	Keyboard is not in the way of "start menu" text entry when in desktop mode
Tablet is too heavy to hold in portrait orientation for more than 20 seconds.	[hardware issue]
Does not autocorrect in Desktop applications (e.g. Notepad)	Spelling suggestions available even for notepad and also touch appropriate text selection
Handwriting recognition and way of input and erasing, corrections is interesting.	Still slow method at inputting text
Heat from Surface Pro 3 when in portrait mode or reflection off screen?	Just a feeling during initial use
Harsh glare on screen in office environment.  Not noticeable at home and on bus	Might be same for an iPad, but maybe not the latest iPad Airs?
No spelling suggestions in modern version of Internet Explorer with Google Docs	[TODO] Try Edge and Google Chrome
OneNote doesn't sync ALL notebooks to computer for offline access on initial start-up (unlike Windows Phone client?)	[TODO] Try OneNote Mobile
Google Maps Street View works well with touch.	[TODO]
To use pen or finger to scribble in OneNote (Modern version), need to press and hold until circle menu appears.  Then select "Draw".	In non-Desktop version of OneNote, select Draw tab in menu that is always visible
Can't zoom in/out using OneNote (Modern version); web version is better in this respect.  Difficult to use Modern version when on lap because of default small font.  Note that this can be changed in Settings > Options > Zoom	In non-Desktop version of OneNote, select View tab in menu that is always visible, then Zoom option
Surface Type keyboard had problems installing ... Error message seemed to be about problems with driver installation but in fact, required restart of computer after Windows Update.  Re-start took about 10 minutes?
Modern version of Adobe Reader resumes where you left off.  Modern version of OneNote autocorrects when using Type keyboard.	Modern version of Adobe Reader uninstalled with upgrade to Windows 10?  Desktop and Modern version of OneNote shows word suggestions when using virtual keyboard
More difficult to adjust angle of screen compared to with conventional, clamshell laptop.	[hardware issue]
Relatively slow start time from hibernation: 10 seconds at least	Unfortunately this has not changed with Windows 10
Why is one Page of Notebook not showing in OneNote, when offline?  In fact, poor user interface design such that it looks like entire page is blank when actually at bottom of page with all text off-screen; scrollbar is not visible.	Unchanged in OneNote with Windows 10
Kickstand useful to support tablet on table or other surface (e.g. Backpack), when held in hand	[hardware feature]
Full keyboard, which needs to be enabled, is better for touch typists as the location of keys is familiar and don't have to switch keyboards for symbols, etc.  Availability of Del in addition to  Backspace is useful in addition to arrow keys.
http://lifehacker.com/tinyspell-adds-spell-check-to-notepad-wordpad-and-oth-1510316332	Most (all?) of Microsoft apps that come with Windows 10 have spelling suggestions enabled when using virtual keyboard.  Therefore Notepad has spelling suggestions enabled but not Notepad++
When streaming music from songza.com in Modern Internet Explorer, once IE is not an active window, streaming pauses.  Desktop version of IE will continue to stream "in background".	[TODO]
Couldn't get "TouchPal X for Windows 8" (http://www.touchpal.com/en/downloads.html#win8) to work.  Virtual keyboard and spelling support is horrid:  Difficult to reach and touch auto-complete suggestions, thumb-typing is difficult	Virtual keyboard, especially split keyboard, and spelling support is much improved
Need to further test how easy it is to resize columns in Excel (Web App) with use of Surface Pen.	[TODO]
Need to further test battery life.  At this time, appears to be about 5 hours maximum.	[TODO].  In general, has not changed much
Ergonomic issues since screen is so low  when placed on a table (without additional support), in comparison to a clamshell laptop or typical monitor,	[hardware issue]
After enabling Hyper-V, after Sleep/Hibernate sessions, seems to disconnect from Wi-Fi.	[TODO]
No built-in GPS so can't, e.g., automatically set starting location in Google Maps	[TODO]
Problems connecting to Lumia 925 as Wi-Fi hotspot after Hyper-V install?  After removing Hyper-V, still the same problem.  Solution:  Forget the Lumia 925 hotspot.  When reconnecting, finally prompted for password.	Occasional problem with Wi-Fi networks, solution remains the same
Ubuntu running in VirtualBox works well although do miss the right Ctrl key (Surface Type keyboard) and targets are very small so touch doesn't work well with Ubuntu/Surface Pro 3	[hardware issue]
While Surface can get warm, it won't burn your lap because of stand.	[hardware feature]
Surface became unresponsive while simply charging overnight.  When power button held down, the screen would turn completely  white.  Eventually shut off by holding down power button longer.  Again holding down power button, it appeared to take time to power on but possibly the screen is just black during boot up sequence.	Hasn't happened in a long time, one-time occurrence?
Typing on virtual keyboard does not make noise (E.g. In a meeting room)	[hardware feature]
Can I disable virtual Capslock key, with Autohotkey?	Don't hit Capslock key as much as before for some reason
Stand makes use as laptop (with Type cover) easier on an uneven surface (such as top of a bag)	[hardware feature]
Surface would not turn on (Dec 13, 2014), had to try Solution 4:  http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-pro-wont-turn-on Also trouble shutting down/turning on December 24, 2014 although didn't require 2-button shutdown	Hasn't happened in a long time, one-time occurrence?
Improper screen rotation locked until restart December 24, 2014	Hasn't happened in a long time, one-time occurrence?
Unable to connect to home Wi-Fi until turn off Wi-Fi and set Airplane Mode December 31, 2014	Hasn't happened in a long time, one-time occurrence?

Battery life of Surface Pro 3 with Windows 10

I'm loving Windows 10 with my Surface Pro 3.  Windows 10 still has some kinks to iron out and their new web browser, Microsoft Edge, is far from ready to be your default brower, or even secondary browser, but its been a great upgrade for my SP3.  More on the reasons why Windows 10 is great in another article.

Tips

• The new "Battery Saver" feature is easy to activate (and de-activate) through the battery icon on the taskbar.  It does not appear to impact performance appreciably and does seem to extend battery life considerably.  
• See which apps (Modern or Desktop apps) are consuming power by checking:  Settings > System > Battery saver > Battery use.  E.g. is "Mouse without Borders" eating my battery?  
• Change the time it takes for your computer to hibernate to a reasonable number.  After upgrade to Windows 10, the setting was to hibernate after 4 hours of inactivity, which is ridiculous.  See:  Settings > System > Power & sleep > Additional power settings > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings > Sleep > Hibernate after.  The SP3 takes about 10-15 seconds to come out of hibernation  
• Is the "connected to Wi-Fi while asleep" feature useful?

Findings

• Watching online video consumes the most power so far
• Film & TV app uses less power than VLC Desktop app 
• Using Adobe Flash Player does not appear to consume any additional power for Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge seems to be slightly more power-efficient than Google Chrome for watching YouTube video
• Windows Store (i.e. Modern) apps may be somewhat more power-efficient than Desktop apps

Estimated battery life for various scenarios

• Offline reading on airplane - 7-8 hours
• Offline movie watching on airplane - 5-6 hours (using Film & TV app)
• Online video viewing - 3.5-4.5 hours (YouTube fullscreen on Microsoft Edge)
• Web conferencing - 5-6 hours (e.g. WebEx)
• Coffee shop/library "work" scenario - 5.5-6.5 hours (web browsing, writing, streaming music but not watching video)
• Participation at conference - 7-8 hours (occasional online use)

The last three scenarios were tested with the Battery Saver feature turned on whereas the other scenarios were not.  Therefore, with the Battery Saver enabled, the estimated battery life may be even higher for the first three scenarios.

The SP3 can be powered by an external battery (pictures and details of equipment in another article) but in a situation like a conference, where more weight is an extreme burden, the SP3 is able to last the entire day without relying on another battery.

UPDATE 2016-02-01

Another potential way to save power is to disable calendar notifications.  Calendar notifications turn on an otherwise inactive screen to display a reminder; really, do you need your SP3 to display a reminder when it's probably happening on your phone already?!?  Have not measured power savings by doing this yet.

Choosing a physical keyboard for the Surface Pro 3

Numerous bloggers have criticized Microsoft for not bundling the Type Cover with the Surface Pro 3, saying that the price of the SP3 with the Type Cover price added would not be competitive.  Also others say that the Type Cover is essential to the operation of the SP3.  Further, they typically complain that the Type Cover and SP3 design with its kickstand for support, makes typing on a person's lap unwieldy.  I want to address each of these.   

I argue that the retail price Microsoft has set for a SP3 without a Type Cover is fair in comparison to competitors like an iPad Air or a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.  The SP3 can function as both a full-power laptop running IDEs and VMs.  An iPad cannot and needs to rely on cloud services or remotely connecting to a computer that can.  There's a place for this computing power delegation but the SP3 can do those as well as the iPad.  In evaluating against MacBooks and ultrabooks, the keyboard can get out of the way entirely to become a tablet you can hold comfortably in one hand (especially with the SP3 kickstand fully open).  The SP3 is lighter than any of these laptops.  Regarding tablet-oriented apps, in general, currently the Windows Store for Windows 8 is stuffed full of horrid apps that are difficult to filter through.  However, in case touch-friendly apps are missing, this may be partially alleviated by running an Android emulator on the SP3.  More in another post.  
 
While the Type Cover is a good accessory for the SP3, it isn't ideal for everyone.  For someone that loves using the keyboard over a mouse, these are some mobile keyboards I considered and their highlights/drawbacks. 

For the Type Cover, I didn't like the half-sized up and down arrow keys as I often would hit the right Shift key rather than the up arrow key. The Enter key is also smaller than I prefer.  It does wake the SP3 on opening and maintains a physical connection to the device so there aren't any lost Bluetooth connection issues.

Logitech K810 keyboard I was interested in that has illuminated keys.

 

Another Logitech keyboard which has a slot to stand a tablet in, which I'm not sure would fit the SP3.

I missed the row of Function keys in the "Microsoft Universal Mobile Keyboard" and also its up/down arrow keys are too small.  If I recall correctly, I could prop the SP3 into this keyboard.

One problem with this keyboard that I purchased from Amazon is that the Ctrl key is not located in the most left-most position on the bottom row.  I forgot how my muscle memory uses my pinkie finger to hit where the Ctrl key usually is.  Not only are Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V keyboard shortcuts hindered but also Ctrl + arrow key for quick navigation.  Also occasionally SP3 forgets its pairing with the keyboard which means at least 30 seconds before being able to use the keyboard.

A good test for a mobile keyboard is to edit an Excel document or Google Sheet where you keep tabular data.  Simply typing a blog post as many bloggers do, doesn't fully exercise the keyboard.  When you edit an Excel doc, you have to use many non-alphanumeric keys and keyboard short-cuts to do it efficiently (F2, Esc, Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V, Shift + arrow key, arrow keys alone, etc.)

Regarding "lap-ability", the SP3 does suffer at this, but so do many other laptops.  How so with laptops?!?  The problem is that they can heat up and on a public transit commute in the spring/summer, this is unbearable for me.  The second problem, shared with the SP3, is that the distance from the screen to my eyes is too far when a laptop is actually on my lap.  Previous to the SP3, I was using a regular laptop and I found that I had to zoom into PDFs or web pages I was reading, to have a comfortable experience.  So I agree that the lack of a clam-shell design means the kickstand must be supported and the SP3 is not "lap-able".

However, it is a decent "bag-top".  Microsoft will never market it as such, but when the SP3 is resting on a bag, it brings the screen closer to the user and provides a "surface" for the SP3 to rest on.  Whatever keyboard you're using can also rest on the bag.  Currently experimenting with this and testing the ergonomics.  While this usage might sound like a failure, most laptops probably are better used as bag-tops too.

OCR shoot-out: Microsoft OneNote versus Google Docs

I wanted to copy the text from the photo of a document.  Using my phone, I uploaded the JPG file to a OneNote page using Microsoft Office Lens and then in the Modern version of OneNote, I selected the image and choose "Copy Text".  This is what I got:

Teacher Is  

She is reullg good  

She me about  

She alwags sags  

This is Teacher  

Over Ibe summer she will  

L give my teacher q:  

(Che I  

n thumbs up Mg favorite thing  

gears old.  

n Five Stars  

(D Love  

Teacher Karen Is  

She Is reallg good  

gears old.  

She me about  

She alwags sags  

This is Teacher  

Over the summer she will  

L give teacher q:  

n An A for Awesome A +  

n Two thumbs up Mg favorite thing about her is  

n Five Stqrs  

CD Love 

Quite horrible.  So I uploaded the image to Google Drive from my desktop, right-clicked on the file in Google Drive > Open with > Google Docs.  Result:

Shetாghtme bout

I give M teqcher :

Shetாghtme bout

I give :

| | Two thumbs | lawrite thing abouther is

Five Stars O

Even worse.  In fact, I had to rotate the photo to be portrait for Google Docs to spit anything at all out.  So for this particular photo, OneNote "wins".

Going paperless at home

1. Switching to e-statements, saving those locally if needed (or to cloud like OneDrive or Google Drive, if not as concerned about privacy)
2. Use scanner (e.g. http://solutions.ca.fujitsu.com/products/scansnap/ix500/) and/or phone (e.g. http://blogs.office.com/2014/03/17/office-lens-a-onenote-scanner-for-your-pocket/) to scan:
• paper receipts
• biz cards
• brochures
• manuals
• packaging with instructions, etc. on them
• miscellaneous jots and scribbles
• sections of physical books?
• hard-copy old photos?
3. Use Shredder (e.g. http://m.costco.ca/Royal-Sovereign-RDS-818C7-18-Sheet-Cross-Cut-EcoShredder.product.100090168.html) to shred statements that you can't convert to e-statements
4. Backup to external hard drive or to cloud

Evaluating Surface Pro 3: Introduction

I've skimmed a number of reviews of the Surface Pro 3 prior to purchasing my own, and generally they don't go into depth about how they use the device.  I've used the SP3 for about 40 days now, to varying degrees each day and I keep discovering better ways to make use of this multi-faceted device.  Supposedly it can replace your laptop and I want to suggest at this time that it can also replace your tablet and e-reader (smaller-sized tablet). This won't be one long article but a series that will have the tag SP3. 

Windows file system annoyances

While Windows has come a long way since when file names were restricted to 8 characters, it still has many limitations compared to operating systems like Ubuntu.  For example, the following file can't be opened by Microsoft Excel until the file name is shortened significantly.  The total length of the file path is 234 characters.

Secondly, while generally spaces in a filename are handled by Windows properly, as a developer, if I encounter a strange issue opening a file or writing to a file, I will first eliminate any spaces from filenames I am providing to my application code.  

 

OneDrive and Excel Online data loss

I think that around the time that I noticed that OneDrive's Excel Online finally got the ability to sum cells by mouse-selecting a range of cells, rather than manually specifying the range, that is when there were some hiccups at Microsoft and a day's worth of changes were lost.  Looking in the revision history of the file (File > Info > Previous Versions), there was not even a trace of any changes made on Nov 19, 2014.  So far this data loss appears to have only affected Excel Online and not OneNote, which I also frequently use.

I use Excel Online mainly for ease of use with my Windows Phone; many of my other are in Google Drive.  I hope the worthwhile changes Microsoft is making don't further adversely affect Excel Online.  So much for cloud backup.  Note, a quick search on Google and Twitter did NOT seem to indicate any problems with Excel Online.

Microsoft Windows annoyances

Although I am most comfortable using Windows, for the past several years, I have considered switching to Mac OS due to the prevalence of its usage in the software development community.  I have used Ubuntu Linux for more than a year as my primary OS at work and I tried a Mac Mini briefly.  With exposure to these other operating systems, as well as to mobile operating systems, iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone, the annoyances of Microsoft Windows has become more apparent.  These experiences are with Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise

1. If using Windows in a secure manner, by typically logging in as a non-administrator user, Windows will prompts for administrator password even though you've given it moments ago in the same program.  On the other hand, in a Ubuntu terminal window, e.g., you only need to give the root password to sudo once  
2. Windows seems to be a worse experience for handling files that have spaces in their paths , often not locating these files.  This may not be as apparent to a typical user, but is troublesome for developers working on Windows
3. Updates that require restarting the computer are too frequent.  While I recommend keeping up with software updates, I suggest "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them" for desktop computers (i.e. computers not on a metered connection) and "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them" for mobile computers (i.e. on a metered connection).  Defaulting to the recommended option means your computer might restart overnight, losing any of your unsaved work.

4. Windows sometimes locks files and then doesn't indicate what process has a lock on a file/directory (Process Explorer might help).  This can prevent deleting a file/directory until all programs are closed, and sometimes even logging out or restarting the computer.  You're lucky if you get an informative window like this:
   

Fortunately Blue Screens of Death (BSOD) are extremely rare now, unless there is defective hardware involved, so Windows has come a long way. 

Windows 8.1 Pro, Disk running constantly at 100%, resolved

I was experiencing problems where my computer's disk was running at 100% constantly, as soon as I restarted the computer and switched to the Desktop.  This started happening in the last few days and was causing my computer to be almost unresponsive.  Not one single process seemed to be the culprit, similar to the screenshots found here.

After running a virus scan, a post in the above forum twigged something to try:  I went to the Action Center and saw this seemingly innocuous notification.

I discovered I could "archive" the notification and once I did, Disk usage dropped to reasonable levels.  While I was glad to solve this, I wonder how Windows can possibly operate so poorly.

Intermittent problems with VirtualBox, resolved

Trying to upgrade an older Ubuntu VM, I was experiencing intermittent problems during start-up of the VM.  These problems included:

• blank screen
• keyboard/mouse unresponsive

I tried installing Kubuntu to a VM, and also upgrade VirtualBox but continued having the same problems.  Was VirtualBox not compatible with Windows 8.1?  I considered Microsoft's Virtual PC, then tried installing VMWare Player.  Installation of VMWare Player error'd out on the fact that I had Microsoft Hyper-V enabled for Windows Phone development.  

Eventually I realized that Hyper-V might be interfering with VirtualBox.  After disabling Hyper-V, I tried multiple boots of my Linux VMs without encountering the symptoms I had before.  

Searching in Outlook

The ability to search and quickly find what you're looking for is obviously important.  We have become used to this with Google (although Google doesn't suffice for certain types of searches), but for some people, searching for files, email, etc. at work seems to be a hopeless task, and this situation is accepted.  

For Outlook 2003, the Advanced Find dialog box is extremely useful to narrow down your search.  It is available from the search bar, under Options on the far right.  Alternatively, just press Ctrl+Shift+F.  It is easier to use than using the search bar itself.

One caveat to Outlook searches is that if you are searching for text that is within a section of XML tags in the body of an email message, as may happen with technical discussions, Outlook is unable to search within those XML tags so the email you want will be missing from your results.  This is despite the fact that Outlook will search inside attachments, including ZIP files, and find text within XML tags for those attachments.  This behavior is consistent between Outlook 2003 and Outlook Web App (Client Access server version: 14.3.123.0).
 

Nokia Lumia 920/Windows Phone 8 impressions over a month and a half

For the potential WP8 adopter, like I was, there were these questions, which I didn't get answered until I was using my Lumia 920.

Some rights reserved by punk17er 

Does WP8 sync Video to SkyDrive, rather than just photos?  Yes, see Settings > backup > photos

Can User Agent of included Internet Explorer be adjusted?  No, it does not appear possible (can only choose between "mobile version" of website versus "desktop version")

Which smartphones (iPhone, Android, etc.), other than Nokia Lumia 920 and siblings, offer optical image stabilization?  The latest iPhone 5S does not yet offer this.

As I used the Lumia 920, there were some surprises, good and bad.  I generally focus on the unexpected bad surprises in this post although overall, I like my 920 and I feel the experience gets even better as I discover more features of the device and more apps and operating system updates are released.  For example, as winter approaches, discovering I can use the 920 with gloves on is a welcome surprise.

# September 16
- yellow theme color isn't as bright as expected ... Adjusting brightness helps
- doesn't focus well/photos aren't sharp ... Operating system update helps
- feel of screen is different than Samsung Focus (glass rather than plastic, and possibly a coating)
- flash doesn't activate ... Still an issue, occasionally activates
- list of apps is not separated by letters ... Requires installation of more apps to activate
- is scratch on glass (used phone) noticeable when phone screen is on?  No
- need to remember:  set up app-specific passwords for Google accounts that have 2-factor authentication enabled
- month view does not show actual calendar entry names but rather what appears to be Latin words?!?
- numeric keyboard for certain fields in web browser like for Google verification code
- does NOT show up as additional drive when connected to computer?

# September 28
- WP "app store" on WP8 shows whether app has Live Tile support and also when app was last updated rather than "originally released" as on WP7, much more useful to determine whether app is being maintained
- phone gets noticeably warm after continuous use
- apps work faster on 920, just enough so that there is no waiting on the user's part  
- some apps seem to have different versions for WP7 versus WP8 (for example, Accuweather) even though look and feel may be similar
- Screen not activating after pressing power button - this has happened to me only once and although very scary, to reset the phone (since I couldn't remove the battery as I could with Samsung Focus), I followed these soft reset instructions.


# September 29
- still a lag refreshing information on Start screen, e.g. Weather details
- more clear how to resolve upload conflicts when editing Excel files stored on SkyDrive 

# September 30
- no problem with SkyDrive surveys.  On WP7 and older Internet Explorer, SkyDrive survey would never completely load

# October 3
- weird behavior in MetroNote, a SimpleNote client, where attempt to select an entire word selects every character except the first.  And words like "ddone" are not underlined as being misspelled.  Not an issue in built-in OneNote

# October 7
- battery (or something) is moving around inside phone body when it is shaken
- Agenda view of Calendar remains confusing when glanced at:  which Day is the calendar entry on?

# October 8
- problems with syncing multiple Google calendars despite following instructions in forums - never resolved, purchased True Calender 8 app, a super if imperfect Calendar replacement

# October 13
- DataSense useless to find Wifi hotspots when offline (isn't that the point), despite downloading maps prior to going offline
- Does not prompt to save unsaved calendar entry when hit Back button

# October 16
- can't add a OneNote Section on WP8?  Can only add Pages to existing Section
- searching Gmail folder doesn't return correct results (no results) when using default mail client
- cannot "favorite" businesses, etc. found through Search?  This was possible with WP7.  Now can only Pin to Start screen

# October 22
- editing of Excel spreadsheet is difficult, cannot copy and paste multiple cells.  Also if editing same spreadsheet on SkyDrive, cannot edit spreadsheet on phone

Migration from old WP7 phone to new WP8 phone

Migration roughly consists of the following steps:

• need to synchronize WP7 to Zune for backup of photos
• migrate data that I want to keep; cloud-based storage is best
• sign into online accounts within phone
• re-install apps individually
• sign into various apps

Lack of official apps and third-party apps

While there are many apps and for many services, sometimes the WP ecosystem is still lacking official apps for certain services.  One can use third-party apps, e.g. Auctionapp, but unless the app is very popular and has been released for some time, I would avoid them because there is the potential that the app is malicious and the developer could be stealing security credentials.  This also applies to web browser apps where you type in your credentials into web pages.

Do your research before downloading and installing.  If you have nothing valuable to keep secure for that service, go ahead.   

Skyping between iPad and Windows Phone 8

One of the reasons I moved up to a smartphone with front-facing camera was so I could Skype with my dad, allowing him to see our preschooler more often.  But after many attempts trying to use my Windows Phone 8 device to "phone" his iPad, I was almost ready to give up.  On the iPad, no incoming call was being detected. 

I was going to resort to Google Hangouts and using my wife's Android phone.  Google Hangouts required a iOS upgrade, so I updated my dad's 3rd generation iPad to iOS 7.0.2 and in the process, I updated Skype as well on the Apple device. Before heading home, I decided to try Skype once more and eureka, video-conferencing finally worked! 

Now the challenge is to get my dad to learn a couple of steps and try Skyping with me when we are at two different locations and I can't directly assist him.

The one major problem with the BlackBerry PlayBook

Some rights reserved by Charles Williams

With the availability of a good alternative Web browser, OrigamiBrowser, the Playbook became a very adequate tablet.  But it still has two serious and related failings:  poor battery life/high power consumption, plus a very long boot time from cold.

Under my normal usage (connected to Wifi, not a lot of video playback), my Playbook lasts about 3-4 hours.  Even with attempts to conserve power by turning on Airplane mode and putting the device into Standby, it still drains the battery more than expected.  If I turned off the tablet until I needed to use it I'd need to wait upwards of 3 minutes for the Playbook to finish booting and be ready for use:  completely unfeasible.

So I purchased an external battery with 2A output, capable of charging an Ipad, and on paper, capable of charging the Playbook.  Playing with the connectors, which I don't have to do for either an Ipad or my Lumia 920, I am able to get the Playbook to charge about 10% of the time.  To top it off, using a wall charger, it takes 3-4 hours to completely charge, about as long as the device lasts on a single charge.  Something is not right here.

So while the Playbook lasts long enough for a couple meetings and my daily commute, it isn't a device you can take to a conference and expect to use for the entire day.  I'd like to keep using the Playbook and not buy another tablet device but it will likely be relegated to use by my preschooler in the near future.

Nokia Lumia 920 first impressions

Coming from a Samsung Focus running Windows Phone 7.8 background, my first impressions:

• Faster Web browsing as pages rendered quickly.  Ditto for PDFs
• No need to plug into computer to update operating system software as was necessary for WP7 and need for Zune
• Larger screen is good but expected to be able to put more Live Tiles on screen, that is, 5 small tiles across rather than 4 as with Samsung Focus.  Tiles almost look too big
• Sharpness of resolution appreciated - back to what I was used to with 4th generation iPod Touch 
• Camera is disappointing in terms of sharpness but need to test further with latest Lumia updates 
• Weight of phone is hefty but I think should be something manageable.  I notice when I think about the weight of my Focus in hand, even though it is an extremely light phone like the iPhone 5, it begins to feel weighty when you deliberately think about its weight 
• 
  

Continue with Windows Phone?

I've been using a Samsung Focus since November 2011.  I bought it used and it was already released for a year.  It was missing a front-facing camera which I didn't think of much use until I wanted to have grandpa see my son using video calling.  I came from a pairing of a Windows Mobile 6 phone plus a 4th generation iPod Touch.  In retrospect, the WM6 device was awful but I hung onto it for almost 4 years due to the initial cost of $400.

So what are the options now:  iPhone 5S, Moto X, Nokia Lumia 1020?   The iPhones prior to iPhone 5 have a screen that is just too small for reading fixed-format PDFs and the like but the iPhone 5 has a decent-sized screen and iOS 7 is intriguing.  Moto X is also interesting and has some subtleties that I probably would like; it's Leo Laporte's current phone of choice.  Lumia 1020 is too camera-centric and too expensive at this time. 

Well, I'm one to watch my budget so I'm considering the almost year-old Nokia Lumia 920.  Yes, possibly another Windows Phone. 

A good web browser makes a huge difference

Some rights reserved by elPadawan

While I was testing out the Maxthon web browser for Playbook, Origami Browser was released.  For almost all web sites tested, this excellent browser is able to render them well, browser menu usage (accessing bookmarks, going back/forward, etc.) is quick and easy, and finally text editing capabilities, as I noted as a must requirement in my previous post, is superb.  I donated to the developer of this free browser; an excellent developer for an end-of-life product deserves support. 

Text editing capabilities are built on top of Playbook functionality, which is actually very good.  This is unlike the Maxthon browser that poorly implements its own text selection, copy-paste, etc. functionality.