Dear Samsung

Dear Samsung,

I’d like to establish something first before I get things off my chest.

I respect Samsung. They’re a great company, their products are great and their foundation, what they stand for, is even greater. I have only one product from Samsung: a microwave (well, my dad has a Note, but it’s not really ‘mine’). The microwave is great, although I wish they’d put the numeric keypad on it, giving me more options than just “One Minute cook.” They have the dial and all, but it’s not as efficient as using a keypad. Back to the topic…

Anyways, Samsung, you are a powerhouse company for all the good reasons. I like that about you. But, for the past two years or so, you’re becoming a problem.

You’re becoming more like Apple…

You release another Samsung Galaxy S5 and it barely has any changes, really. Sure, a scanner here and there, some specification changes, but that’s it. Nothing major occurred to your phone – and it’s scaring me.

We all know that Apple just keeps on selling the same thing, just refurnished. But Samsung, being a company of innovation, starts selling the “same thing” again, then we have a problem.

All I can say to you Samsung: please do better. We love your phones and your tablets and all your other gizmos and gadgets, but please, don’t turn into something so painfully and utterly scary.

That’s coming from me, a fan of your work, and a plethora of the Android community (I can only imagine).

Keep Chewing!

Lenovo Buys Motorola

A week ago, Lenovo purchased Motorola Mobility from Google. They purchased it for a steal at $2.91 billion.

This will be quite an amazing change for Lenovo. You see, Lenovo is not a big company when it comes to phones — at least in North America. Worldwide, they are number five. It’s interesting that Lenovo bought Motorola and not some other mobile phone company. Motorola is an amazing company and Lenovo will definitely take advantage of their expertise when it comes to the smartphone market.

There are two possibilities that may come out of this transaction:

1. Lenovo uses Motorola to compete in the North American market. This allows them to create an even larger technological monopoly and increase sales tenfold. The only thing they have to do is create a smartphone that can either make it or break it for the company. They need to do something revolutionary — a change in the ideal “smartphone.”
2. Lenovo uses Motorola their knowledge of the smartphone to create their own under their own name. From assumption, Motorola will continually build phones under their name, but if Lenovo decides to enter the North American market and they want to make a Lenovo smartphone that can compete, they will definitely need Motorola.

According to articles and extensive videos (including the one after this paragraph), Lenovo bought Motorola Mobility only. This doesn’t include all the patents that was included in the sale of Motorola in 2012. That could mean that Lenovo, Motorola and Google are becoming allies than enemies. Could Lenovo be working with Google? Maybe after this purchase, they can start thinking about other deals, like making a Chromebook with Lenovo as the manufacturer. Interesting, right?

Here’s the video:

He points out some great details about the deal that went on.

Let’s just hope for the best for all the companies in this situation because they are all great companies.

Keep Chewing!

The New Samsung NotePro is New

Samsung showcased their new Samsung Galaxy NotePro. It’s a tablet with, in a lack of better terminology, freakin’ amazing specifications. Here they are 12.2 inch Super Clear LCD screen with a 2560×1600 resolution

• LTE Version: 2.3 GHz Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor
• 3G Version: 1.9 GHz Exynos 5 Octa processor
• RAM: 3 GB
• 32/64 GB storage
• Up to 64 GB microSD storage
• 8 MP back camera with LED flash; full HD video recording and Zero Shutter lag
• 2 MP front camera
• Bluetooth 4.0
• USB 3.0
• WiFi ready: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac; MIMO technology
• GPS and GLONASS enabled
• 9500 mAh battery
• Android 4.4 KitKat
• S-Pen Stylus; dedicated software such as Remote PC, Samsung e-Meeting etc.

The OS is Android KitKat 4.4 running, what Samsung calls it, a “Magazine UX” environment. The GUI is different with the typical Android GUI. It feels very much like Windows with stacked tiles of up to six gathered and organized. The leather backing gives it a nice, professional look. The stylus is proprietary, meaning other S-Pen styluses will not work. Notice that there are two versions of the tablet: a 3G version and an LTE version. The LTE version has a more powerful processor compared to the 3G version, but both offer tremendous processing. There are other screen sizes of the Samsung Galaxy NotePro: a 10.1 inch and 8 inch display – both bragging a sharper display. The price has not yet been announced, but it’s projected to be around the $300 – $400 range.

I’m sure Samsung has more up their sleeve, and I cannot wait to hear more.

Keep Chewing!

CES 2014 Coverage

It’s that time of the year again: CES 2014!

CES 2014 celebrates the amazing achievements of technology. It is not just a place where companies can market their products, but also a place where they can reveal new things, show their sales reports, brag about new technologies that are in the works and showcase first looks on never before seen (or heard) products.

I am very excited to cover CES 2014 (as much as a one man administrator can) and report about my personal favourites.

What I’m excited for?

• Good stuff from Valve, maybe an actual announcement regarding HALF LIFE 3 (seriously, according to tPenguinLTG, Valve can’t count to three).
• Intel and dualOS implementation.
• Intel wants to join the wearable tech competition
• The Avegant Glyph, a wearable “home theatre” headset that doesn’t want to compete with the Oculus Rift.
• Sony’s new Core and the announcement of the new Xperia smartphone.

CES 2014 will begin tomorrow, from January 7, 2014 to January 10, 2014. The schedule will be thrown out of the window this week and a post spam will be initiated for the CES 2014 coverage.

Keep Chewing!

It’s Not Even April Fools Day…

Dear Nintendo,

The recently announced Nintendo 2DS.

Three things:

• What the heck is this?
• Will this be cheaper than the Nintendo 3DS?
• Can you play Pokemon X and Y on this?

If Pokemon is playable on this and is cheaper than the 3DS, then I’ll take it!

***UPDATE (28-08-13)***

The price is $129.99, which is cheaper than the 3DS. It also plays both 3DS and DS games, which I believe is a great plus! The release date is October 12, 2013. This means many will see this as an option when buying Pokemon X and Y! I can’t wait!

Keep Chewing!

The Truth About Careless People

Ever since I worked for Future Shop, I’ve always wanted to write this. Here it goes.

What really grinds my gears are those who can’t take care of their tech. I am a lover of all things computers, from cellphones, gadgetry, hardware and software. Out of all of my things, I’ve only broken one special thing to me: my old Toshiba. After that, that was it.

Even then, although I was not tech savvy as now or as careful as now, I still feel bad for being careless about my stuff. I just feel that we should give some kind of importance for the things we buy or we get, no matter the price.

Consider this. I’ve had my HP laptop (Hannah Patricia) for an exact year now. Never have I scratched her, broken her or let her down. Sure, she was sick every once  and a while from BSODs and fever (overheating while installing Ubuntu), but I made sure that she was working on top performance. I cleaned her every week both software and peripherally. She still runs as good as new.

I hate those people who are so careless that you can literally smell the smoke coming out of their computer. I opened computer units that are so dirty, I had to excuse myself because I vomited a little. Some collect so much dust, that we have to vacuum it for at least 10 minutes.

Some are just so scratched out, that when we write our sign-in report, we just literally put an X on top of the report to signify that the unit came in with these scratches.

Come on! I seriously can’t believe some people. I mean, even Apple products get scratched. It shows that people are becoming less and less appreciative of things.

If you are reading this and you think you’re one of those people that I mentioned, please stop. Take care of your stuff. Be nice to it. Be thankful that you have it. Don’t get careless.

Keep Chewing!

Reviving My Old Gadgets

After summer cleaning my house, I found a few gems that I used to love when I was about as young as a tadpole.

Well, not really.

I found my old Canon PowerShot A400 camera that only had 3.2 megapixels! It’s a dinosaur, The last time I used it was in our 2013 Vacation Bible School, but the last last time I used it was 3 years back, before I had my Nikon CoolPix camera. Anyways, long story short, I found this old bulk of junk (it still works fine, except for the clock battery) and I plan to use it as a backup camera when all else fails.

Also, I found my old iPod 5th Generation (yes, I have one for music purposes only). The only reason I bought that was for the high quality camera and basic music listening. Everything else was a hassle. iTunes is bloated and a crazy source hog and well, it’s Apple. Enough said.

I plan to revive these two gadgets. The iPod Nano is still useful for playing music. Ever since I got my phone, that’s what I’ve been using as an MP3 player. The bad thing about it is that it dies out easily because we use it as an MP3 player for long trips. That will most likely be the use for this: a car ride MP3 player!

Sometimes, the oldest of things can still give out a little juice. Finding ways to reuse them is a great thing, because not only does it help the environment, it also helps us realize that everything is useful, in one way or another.

Keep Chewing!

Lenovo IdeaPad Z500

NCIX, a computer company that sells computers, parts, PC games and other gadgets, let me demo and review this laptop.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z500

Lenovo is one of the awesome companies that actually sell some darn good computers. Their laptops have true accessibility, performance and power. Although Windows 8 is completely unusable, I’m sure, as a geek, you’ll figure something out. If you’re not a geek, go get a geek. They’re not that hard to find.

The IdeaPad Z500 is a great starter laptop. For those who want something cheap, but has a bang for their buck, this one is a great choice.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Intel i5-3230M @ 2.6 GHz (Dual-core) with 3 MB Cache
• Intel HD 4000 GPU (shared RAM)
• 6 GB DDR3 SDRAM (2 slots)
• 1 TB HDD @ 5400 RPM
• 15.6″ (1366 x 768)
• 4 cell 5 hour battery

From my personal experience, it holds out. It’s very fluid and smooth when it comes to processing. I gamed on it for a bit (Minecraft) and find it fine on run. Considering Windows 8, I still felt a bit locked out. Other than that, the performance is good, the graphics are great and the sound is fine.

I’m sure the 6 GB RAM can be upgraded to 8 GB, but that’s my only preference. Oh, and install something like Windows 7 (it should be worth it) and get rid of that lousy Windows 8 operating system. After installing Windows 7, you may commence ULTIMATE TWEAKING! Play around with the settings, install all the necessary proprietary drivers, install your own personal theme, the whole nine yards! Then after that, you can finally sleep soundly at night.

Unless, you actually like Windows 8. If so, go to the doctor and get yourself checked out.

In conclusion, the Lenovo IdeaPad Z500 is a laptop that’s doing what it’s supposed to do: work. It’s your typical home, browsing, word processing and gaming laptop. I don’t think it can handle bigger multimedia power (like a heavy session of League of Legends), but it can certainly give what the user wants.

Priced around $700, it’s a great buy!

Lenovo IdeaPad Z500

Keep Chewing!

Speed Dating a PC

This is the first post for the category “Tech Support.” It will feature any tech questions and support that will help the lost beginner.

The title may have thrown you off. This article is actually about choosing the right PC using the Speed Dating method. I used this method when I bought my laptop a year ago.

School is coming. Students are working hard to earn minimum wage. Some are saving up for University/College funds. Some are just saving up so they can get some pocket money. And then there’s you. As a teenager, you want to buy your own computer. Fact is, the computer that you already have was bought by someone else. That someone isn’t you. So, you plan to buy a PC.

After working hours and hours at that popular fast food restaurant, you finally saved up enough money to buy a PC. Now what?

Ask yourself the following questions in exact order.

1. Do I really need it? (If yes, continue)
2. What am I going to use it for? (Answers may vary)
3. Do I have the money for it? (If yes, continue)

Now that you have all the things needed – objective and cash – you may now begin to think about buying a computer!

Before you begin with the Speed Dating method, you WILL need the following:

• The money, of course…
• A little bit of PC knowledge
• Two to three hours of your day

The idea of this method is simple. Given the two to three hour time frame, you go to your nearest electronics retail store (ex. Best Buy or Future Shop etc), go to the computers section and “date” any computer that catches your eye. This is where PC knowledge comes in. Learn about its features, performance, hardware and software. Take a look at its processor, how much RAM it has (and can handle), what operating system (although most of the time it will be Windows 8, but if you get lucky, get Windows 7), and all of its specifications. List them down so that later, when looking at other PCs, you’ll be able to compare them against each other. Give yourself at least fifteen minutes per computer and switch to another one. By this rate, you’ll be able to look at eight computers in two hours. Use the last hour for figuring what you need to purchase like warranty, setup and other software. Then, use your money to buy it. Make sure you take into account all the taxes the government adds in when purchasing an electronic device.

It actually took me approximately one hour to figure out which laptop to buy. It was probably because I planned it before and did my research online. I just had to check it out myself in a demo at Best Buy to see if I liked it.

This is a great method to use when buying your first PC because not only do you gain a great PC, you also gain knowledge about the pros and cons of different types of computers.

Keep Chewing!

Why I Didn’t Install Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a popular Linux distribution. It’s the most user friendly and a very heavily supported open source operating system. It’s what Linux newbies (like myself) install.

I definitely liked it when I worked with it in school, but the OS is terrible for laptops. Here’s why:

1. It’s a battery hog. It’ll eat all of the battery power it can take. Jupiter, the famous power management application, is no longer supported and so it was taken off the Ubuntu market.
2. It overheats my laptop. Like I said, Jupiter is no longer supported, so that’s never going to get fixed.
3. For some reason, my settings don’t stay the same. Each time I reboot my laptop, everything is there: my account, background and customization, but my power settings, brightness settings and other things such as my Unity Tweak settings do not stay the same.
4. It looks a lot like the Mac OS X user interface. I just don’t like it. Period.

I am hoping for some more apps similar to Jupiter that can help my battery life. Get this: when I had Ubuntu on my laptop, it only ran approximately one (1) hour on a 96% battery percentage. Usually, on my Windows 7, I’d be using my laptop for at least five to six hours.

At some point, when Hannah Patricia doesn’t perform her abilities (I’d say that would be five years from now), I’ll be getting a System 76 or something like Lenovo or ASUS.

If you have any suggestions for a battery friendly distro, comment below!

Keep Chewing!