pixel 8

I’m a little disappointed reading that I’ve had my Pixel 5 for only three years. But the battery isn’t what it used to be. With all the traveling 2023 has brought, I am unable to get through a full day with the camera on. I guess I could replace the battery… but maybe I just want a new phone?

I sprung for the Pixel 8 as soon as it was announced last week. I got a great deal with my Google Fi account, $300 off the $699 price plus $90 trade-in on the old Pixel 5. This justifies the purchase even more, especially considering how much I overpaid for the old phone.

Google delivered the phone a day earlier than expected, and I was off to the races setting it up. I opted for an eSim, but will keep the sim card just in case. Not every app installed, most curious was Accuweather. I had to log in to many apps again, some knew my password, some didn’t. Fitbit was troublesome too. I also had to sign into my work wifi and eduroam, as well as setup my Duo app for the new phone (scan the barcode). It looks as though most of my data copied over, including my ringtone, Euphoria by Neu! And I did remember to pair my phone with my Prius.

As for the phone itself, it’s a lot bigger than I expected. It feels chunkier and heavier, well, because it is chunkier and heavier than my old Pixel 5. It’s a little disappointing, I will miss the elegance of that old phone. I turned Gestures off in Settings>System>Navigation Mode, probably because I am old school. Also, getting used to the fingerprint sensor being on the front of the phone; added thumbs to help. I don’t really notice much difference with the new Android 14.

Final verdict: It’s just another phone, the latest of my Android life adventure. As I celebrate another year on this planet, I am reminded that most of my life was spent without a cell/smart phone.

developers > keep focus to the current window

Have you ever been typing away at a computer and another window pops up, or the mouse hovers over something that then pops up? Or typing a sentence on Facebook and the last word highlights to some user name? What about typing congratulations in Outlook or Word? Balloons galore? Ever have to cut/paste that? Or how about texting away on your phone and a notification pops up over what you’re doing? ARGGGH! Okay developers, quit with the cutesy stuff and keep the focus on the THE CURRENT WINDOW BEING USED. ALWAYS. NO DISTRACTIONS. Thank you.

google hangouts to google chat?

Hey Google, I understand that for whatever reason you are switching Google Hangouts to Google Chat, but please do not forget to transfer the Group Hangouts over. I have one for my family, it’s how we communicate, you know, as a family.

Hangouts was a nice solution for communicating with my wife and our kids. We use it exclusively for intra-family communication. No messages, no texts, no messenger, etc., just Hangouts. So when that green bubble notification comes up, we immediately all know it’s a family matter. In addition to the app, it also sits conveniently at the bottom left of Gmail.

C’mon Google, do the right thing. Convert the Group Hangouts over to Chat!

Edit Jan 27th – Our family hangout appeared in Google Chat under Rooms! thanks Google!

pixel 5

Santa brought me a Pixel 5 for Xmas. The old Pixel 2 was a venerable phone, but “typing” had become more than troublesome, and knowing I had just performed the last Android update, I got the bug to upgrade. Didn’t get much of a deal, $50 off an unlocked model, plus I traded in my daughter’s Pixel 3a (more on that later). I had thought about a Pixel 4a, but the cheaper glass and plastic case made me think otherwise – and no, I don’t care about a headphone jack.

To be honest, the two phones are incredibly similar. In fact, I prefer how the Pixel 2 felt in my hand – the slightly rectangular bezel made it easier to grip. Sure, the Pixel 5 has 5G, another camera, etc, but what I notice the most is that the screen bleeds to the very edge of the phone case. Whoopdedoo. It’s uncomfortable to reach my fingers down to the bottom edge. Thankfully I found out how to restore the three-button navigation at the bottom (Settings>System>Gestures), I sure was not up for “swipey-swipey-hold” all the time. Switching between phones was nearly perfect – only my VPN and SSH clients need to be setup from scratch again.

The $649 question: Was it worth it? Not really. I probably should have held off until next year to upgrade. If you really ting about it, the smartphones are a mature product. The hand is only so big, and there’s really not much to add to improve the experience. Another camera? More storage? 6G network? Better screen? These are all incremental at best. In the future let’s hope that phones are more about longevity – having the ability to keep getting software updates – rather than just replacing hardware every few years. Ho-hum.

microsoft surface go 4/64

I have had a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 for quite a few years now. It’s a “hand-me-down” from work, that gives me access to Active Directory, etc. when I’m not in the office. Nice computer, but it’s showing its age, type pad is glitchy, front camera doesn’t work – but what do you expect for free?

I’ve been using that and what amounts to be a terrible tablet (Lenovo Tab 7) – painfully slow, always needs updates, poor battery life – in my man cave for running Roon controller, and that old Surface for running REW, Room EQ Wizard software. Here’s the thing. This room is my sanctuary. Once I’m at home, I leave my phone in the kitchen, not to be bothered. I want to sit in the sweet spot when I play digital music, and not get up; one must get up to play vinyl! So, the desktops won’t do. Plus, I need the portability of a notebook or laptop for room correction. So having a Windows computer that can do all that, and a few other things – having a working webcam – is a real bonus. Yes, the itjerk loves Windows, and that old Surface.

I looked on CDWG’s site and found the Microsoft Surface Go 10″ Pentium Gold 4415Y 4GB RAM 64GB EDU in stock for $390. Wow. In stock! Plus, as an EDU edition it comes with a license for Windows 10 Pro. So a couple days later, here I am settling in with my new Go. It’s very elegant hardware, with a screen that’s great on my eyes, though maybe a bit small. But the kickstand and touch screen are fantastic! I didn’t initially get the cover type pad, but will, eventually.

The Surface Go was only current to Windows build 1809, which meant a ton of updates. I know what I’m getting into with a Pentium with 4GB RAM. It’s just fine to run a few applications and surf the web; after all, I’m not planning on using Adobe Creative Cloud on it. But updating to the current 1909 build took a long time. The tablet has one USB-C port and one 3.5mm audio out – minimal to say the least. Thankfully it doesn’t use that USB-C for charging; speaking of which, that’s one universal ding the Surface Go gets – battery life. Another thing to look out for is disk space. 64GB is pretty paltry, especially considering I only had 14.5GB free after all those updates (though running Disk Cleanup freed 38GB, including 32GB from the Previous Windows version). TGFTC? (Thank God For The Cloud)!

All in all, it’s great solution because as a Windows notebook, I can do more than I could with an Android tablet, and as a tablet it’s much more convenient and less expensive than a notebook.

One the web:
Meet Surface Go – Portable Power – Microsoft Surface

android file transfer

Happy New Year!
When the year changes, I make a concerted effort to backup and archive my digitalia. While some backups are easily defined, others are becoming more and more cumbersome – mainly the thousands of photos on my phone. What to do? Google no longer syncs my photos to my computer. Do I really want to leave them on Google cloud forever? This actually works:

1. Unlock your phone.
2. With a USB cable, connect your phone to your computer.
3. On your phone, tap the “Charging this device via USB” notification. Under “Use USB for,” select File Transfer.
4. A file transfer window will open on your computer. Use it to drag files.
5. When you’re done, eject your phone from Windows.
6. Unplug the USB cable.

Another recommendation: Completely clear your browsers of everything, cookies, saved info, etc. Sure it’s a pain to log back into everywhere, but that doesn’t stop this from being a good idea.

Sony Walkman 40th

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Walkman, Sony will release a specially branded edition of the NW-A100 Media player. The coolest feature, undoubtedly, is the Cassette Tape UI, a nod to the original Walkman, the TPS-L2. The NW-A105 base model is an Android 9.0 based music player that supports just about every format (including hi-res and flac), and with wifi, bluetooth, USB-C and a stereo mini-jack, it’s nothing short of awesome. Full review when I receive it (first order from eBay was cancelled by seller).

I purchased my first Walkman in the summer of 1981, while living in Germany. For many years, it was a trusted companion, and I still have some of my cassettes from back then. Be sure to check the first link, it contains a video with the story of the creation of the first Walkman. Congratulations, Sony. You did good.

On the web:
Sony Global – WALKMAN 40th anniversary
NW-A100 Walkman® A Series Media player with MP3 and Hi-Res Audio | Sony Asia Pacific

another bricked nexus 5x

My wife head out of town for work and unfortunately her Nexus 5X promptly bricked. Props to her hotel for giving her a ride to the office. When she returned, I got on the phone with Google Fi who in turn got me on the phone with LG. Sent the phone in with prepaid labels, they replaced “the board” and a week later she was back in action. So that’s 2 of 3 Nexus 5X’s I own that have used had the “extended warranty” from LG.

Props also to LG for taking care of business?

android 9 pie… in your face

System upgrades are a tricky thing. You do them, mostly because you have to, but when they change things, it takes a while to get used to. Especially Google’s latest Android 9 “Pie.”

• Time is now displayed on the left, in what was previously for every Android version the so-called “notification area.” So while our brains have been trained to not worry if something was there, we now need to be retrained that the time will always be there (reportedly because “notch” design doesn’t leave enough room on the right). Bad.
• Bluetooth doesn’t work with my — and a lot of others — Fitbit. I have to go to bluetooth settings, pair the device, then quickly return to the Fitbit app to sync. This appears to have been going on since Pie’s debut over a week ago. And there’s no bluetooth icon in the notification area. Really bad.
• To close unwanted apps, I still click the square button on the left bottom of the home screen, but now I have to swipe up to close. Is this better?
• Notification area is now huge blue for on, grey for off icons. Is this better?

I have to admit that my Pixel 2’s out of the box experience with Android 8 was hands down the most elegant experience I’ve had on a smart phone. This latest upgrade however seems more change for change sake, and, pie in Google’s face.

google pixel 2

With $250 off — $150 trade-in on my “warranty repaired” Nexus 5X plus $100 discount for being a Google Fi subscriber — I couldn’t resist upgrading to the Pixel 2. It’s the same size as the 5X, and honestly, not much different other than the price tag. Excellent battery life and 64GB of storage popped out instantly, as did the “swipe up” home screen, but what I like the most about it is that it’s the purest Android experience yet. And it’s not repaired. 😉