Category: Mobile Computing

Android Wear–to make designing more and better wearables easier

simonmackay 19/03/2014 Current and Future Trends, Mobile Computing, Smartwatches and other wearables No Comments

Article

Google unveils Android Wear, its modified OS for wearables | Internet & Media – CNET News

From the horse’s mouth

My Comments

Google has just released Android Wear which is a version or “fork” of the Android mobile operating system that is pitched at the so-called “wearable” devices. But what do I see of this?

One advantage that I see of this is that manufacturers can focus on designing smartwatches and fitness bands without the need to work on the software for these devices. They could work on a brand-specific “overlay” which includes applications specific to a brand’s needs like what Samsung, Sony and HTC have done with their Android phones and tablets. But most other manufacturers like the traditional watch manufacturers can jump on the wearable bandwagon and focus on devices that look elegant and fashionable to wear. They can also work on shortcomings of the current designs such as short battery runtime (make it possible to wear a smartwatch for a night or weekend “elsewhere”).

For example, could a Swiss watch name or someone like Casio or Seiko, the doyens of the digital watches. find themselves able to clamber on to the smartwatch scene? Similarly, could we see that it is feasible to have the “ladies” and “gents” watches as well as smartwatches that are a perfect replacement for the traditional analogue or digital watch.

Another factor is software development. The Android Wear platform could appeal to software developers to write apps that work well on the wearable devices and see these targeted to many different devices. But, personally, I would like to see this focused on to “let-me-know” or “check-this” apps such as to show up messages from a messaging service, check the weather or “check in” on Foursquare. The fitness bands could work with health-and-wellness apps or similarly the “let-me-know” or “check-this” apps.

The third group of users that would benefit would be us consumers who could then find it easier to purchase a cost-effective smartwatch that we can impress others with at the office or on Friday or Saturday night. These will have as much a consistent user interface that can be worked by touch or voice thus not having to learn something new when you purchase a different Android Wear device.

As well, it also means that you don’t need to run multiple device-interface apps on your smartphone to have it work with different wearable devices like watches, Bluetooth headsets or fitness bands especially if you run multiple devices at the same time.

A question worth raising is whether these devices will have the “hub” capability promised in Bluetooth 4.1 where the watch can interact with other Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth Smart) devices yet be able to upload and download data to a smartphone or tablet. This could be of use if you decide to leave the smartphone behind while you go for that jog or swim and keep that FuelBand on you while you do that bit of exercise.

Personally, I would see this as a big break for wearables, especially smartwatches, and the Android platform. This could lead more so to innovation rather than imitation while the Android platform gains more traction as an “open-frame” mobile-device platform. In the same way, it extends the multi-screen concept between the smartphone and these watches this not having us bringing out our smartphones frequently.

Show Report–Connect 2014

simonmackay 17/03/2014 Current and Future Trends, Mobile Computing No Comments

On Thursday and Friday this past week, I had visited the Connect 2014 technology convention as an expo visitor mainly to observe key trends affecting business and personal computing that were surfacing over the past few years.

IP-based telephony

A few companies had shown some IP-based telephony systems at Connect 2014. This is due to telephony moving from the traditional circuit between the local exchange (central office) and the customer’s premises towards Internet-based packet-driven end-to-end connectivity. The trend is being assisted by the goal for reduced operating costs, increased competition in the telephony space and the move towards next-generation broadband infrastructure. It is also being assisted by the prevalence of various “over-the-top” IP telephony programs for mobile devices like Skype and Viber.

One company even showed a desktop IP videophones with wired handsets along with IP DECT cordless-phone bases. I even raised the issue of integrating Skype in these videophones because this is seen as the preferred “consumer, small-business and community-organisation” video telephony solution. One path that organisations would have to use is an IP PBX server with a Skype video “trunk” which likes Skype to the videophones. On the other hand, he showed me one of the desk videophones which had an app platform of some sort and mentioned that a Skype front-end could be deployed in these units.

Mobile-device computing in the workplace

A key workplace computing trend is to implement mobile computing devices like smartphones and tablets. This can be as a fleet of equipment owned by the organisation or a “bring-your-own-device” model where employees bring their own devices to the workplace and use them for their job. Here, they may be seen as supplanting regular desktop and laptop computers or serving as a highly-portable adjunct to the regular computers.

If these devices were used in the workplace, they would either work with document-viewing and communications tools, and a Web browser to support office tasks typically performed on a regular computer. On the other hand, they would ether work with a purpose-built device-side app or a Web front (task-specific Web page) as part of a business-specific workflow or system.

A few companies were showcasing mobile-device management systems, typically pitched at large corporate and government customers. These worked on a platform-independent manner yet allowed data security whether by implementing a managed “business realm” and “business app store” on a BYOD device or providing a highly-locked-down device.

BlackBerry have set up presence at Connect 2014 in order to show that they are moving from a hardware-based operation to something that is more software-based. This means that they can provide managed mobile computing to all of the platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows and covering all management arrangements ranging from a totally managed and locked-down fleet to a BYOD setup with a managed “business space” on the employee’s device.

In my conversation with a BlackBerry representative, I raised the issue of small businesses and community organisations neither knowing nor defining their intellectual property. We were raising the issue in relationship to these organisations neither being careful or wise about their data security nor being interested in corporate-grade information-security products and services. He stated it in a simple way as being whatever information places your organisation at risk if it falls in to the wrong hands.

A lot of these systems don’t embrace what I covered in the last paragraph because they are pitched at a larger business with its own IT department and significantly-sized server equipment. An effort that I would like to see achieved is the development of “small-business” variations that can run on a hosted cloud service or on-premises using modest equipment like “business-in-a-box” servers or classic “tower-style” server PCs. They would also have to implement a user interface that simplifies this kind of management for a small-business owner.

3D Printing

Heated 3D printer in action

A technology that has been given a fair bit of Web coverage of late is 3D printing. This is where a single-piece object is constructed using a special machine that builds up that object in layers. An analogy of this is the “3D Jigsaw” which had cardboard pieces that were stacked in a particular way to become a known object, typically a figurine.

There were a few companies who were presenting 3D printers that were in action turning out various pieces. One of these machines, which was a freestanding one the same size as those larger gas barbecues that have adorned may Aussie backyards, is able to “paint” colour on to a piece it is printing using an inkjet system. Another machine, this time about the size of a small fridge, used a heated environment to improve accuracy and reliability.

I had a conversation with a representative of one of the companies who do 3D printing and he and I reckoned that the technology would suit a wide range of short-order fabrication jobs. One application I was even thinking of was the ability to reconstruct a replacement part even though the part is no longer manufactured in quantity. One example that came to mind was a mechanism that has a highly-worn or damaged component that needs to be replaced, something encountered by people who are restoring late-20th-century consumer electronics, especially record players, tape recorders and the like, as a hobby. Here, he could scan the component using a 3D scanner and effectively “re-design” that component to what it was like when new, then make it with the 3D printer for reinstallation in that mechanical subsystem.

Similarly, the car-restoration scene could benefit from 3D printing at least when it comes to re-constituting vehicle detail-work such as marque badges and hood ornaments which have been often damaged or stolen from vehicles. This could allow a vehicle owner to make sure their pride and joy is still complete even if any of the detail-work went missing.

The connected home

It was often said that the connected home concept was “nearly there but not complete”. The problems hightlghted here were lack of a desire by industry to implement application-level standards for home-automation setups. This is manifesting in the form of manufacturers developing their own control apps for mobile platforms, making it harder for customers to use competing “smart devices” at the one location or establish task-appropriate control setups in a “smart-home” environment.

Similarly, the home-AV market is being centered around content producers tying up deals with smart-TV and video-peripheral manufacturers or connected-AV platforms. This affects consumers because they are not sure if their favourite content producers or distributors, or their favourite titles are going to appear on a particular connected-AV platform that they intend to buy into. Similarly, it affects content producers and distributors who want to run an IPTV or video-on-demand service because they have to obtain deals with various equipment manufacturers and connected-AV platforms.

Both these situations effectively have the manufacturers, content producers and other companies effectively owning the consumers and stifling innovation and competition in the connected-home space.

In-home telemedicine

A tablet used as part of an in-home telemedicine setup

One concept that was being shown at Connect 2014 was in-home telemedicine, known also as in-home telehealth or simply as telecare. This is something I have covered in this Website in relation to standing for access to proper broadband in rural and peri-urban communities. Here, this technology allows people in these sparse communities access to continual specialist medical care without the need for the patient or caregiver to frequently travel between home and larger towns or cities when clinical supervision is needed.

Bluetooth-connected medical sensors

A functioning demonstration setup which is currently used in the field involved the use of medical-parameter sensors like a blood-pressure monitor or pulse oximeter linked to a tablet via Bluetooth with this setup at the patient’s home. This, in turn was linked to the clinic via mobile-broadband technology and the staff at the clinic were able to look at what’s going on using a Web-based dashboard that highlights critical conditions affecting patients in their care.

A Bluetooth-connected pulse oximeter in action

It is being pitched at community-care organisations and would typically be seen as being useful for rural applications. But there have been some Melbourne hospitals implementing this as part of a “hospital-at-home” program for managing certain chronic diseases. But there was a setup being shown that allowed this kind of telemedicine setup to work as part of an “independent ageing” setup to assure older people the ability to live independently but know they are still being looked after, which is also being factored as the baby boomers become the ageing population.

Conclusion

These technologies that were presented at Connect 2014 are being more about what the connected work and home life is all about with the current technologies.

Convertible or detachable–where to go?

simonmackay 12/03/2014 Laptop, Notebook and Netbook Computers, Mobile Computing, Tablet Computers 2 Comments

You are not really keen on keeping a separate laptop for creating content and a separate tablet for casual browsing. But there are portable computers that can become a regular clamshell-style laptop; or a touchscreen tablet at a moment’s notice.

Typically these will run the “open-frame” operating systems such as Microsoft Windows 8 or, in the case of most smaller 10” variants, Android with some newer varieties moving towards being able to boot from either operating system or run Android as a separate virtual machine..

Why own a convertible or detachable?

HP Envy X2 detachable-screen hybrid tablet-notebook computer

One of the HP X2 series detachable-screen hybrid tablet-notebook computers

These portable computers are optimised for both content consumption and creation. Here, they work as a tablet to use for reading in bed or on the couch, or they can become a laptop for frequent text-entry work such as using Google / Bing frequently to look for concepts, creating emails of any length, or amending notes for your speech, typing up documents “on the go”.

A person who values the idea of separate devices may stand for the idea of particular screen sizes and operating platforms being perfect for particular tasks. For example, a 10” tablet such as the popular Apple iPad family may work well for reading while a 13”-15” laptop may work well for writing up material and performing “larger tasks”.

Some people even couple a tablet with a USB or Bluetooth accessory keyboard typically in the form of a device cover that has an integrated keyboard and works as a stand for the device. This is seen as a cheaper path to a “combined-device” concept and may be seen as whether it is the path to go for your portable computing needs.

Screen sizes and what they are good for

HP X2 detachable tablet as a tablet

Most manufacturers have units with either 10”-11” screens or 13”-14” screens in their convertible and detachable product lineups with most of these products with the 10”-11” screens.

Sony VAIO Duo 11 slider-convertible tablet

Sony VAIO Duo 11 slider-convertible notebook

The 10”-11″ units will work well for short bursts of text entry such as searching for information, short email replies, a few Social Web entries at a time, or amending speech notes before / after your speech. This is while they work well as a tablet screen size that suits most users. Some of you may value these units if you are typing up notes during a presentation because they don’t cramp you in between the seating rows.

Sony VAIO Duo 11 slider-convertible tablet - Right-hand-side view - 2 USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port

Sony VAIO Duo 11 as a tablet

The 13″-14″ units work better for longer periods of text entry such as creating documents or writing down heaps of notes. The larger screen can also earn its keep if you are browsing Web sites, or viewing pictures and videos alongside someone else like your significant other frequently.

15” convertibles like the Acer Aspire R7 or the Sony VAIO Fit 13a may also appeal to those of us who like the large screen for both typing up content and browsing. This may also allow you to see the detail more easily but they won’t be as portable as the 13”-14” varieties.

Detachable tablets

Sony VAIO Fit 13a convertible Ultrabook at Rydges Hotel Melbourne

Sony VAIO Fit 13a 13″ convertible laptop

These computers like the HP x2 family, the ASUS Transformer family and Microsoft’s Surface family, also known as hybrid tablets, have a keyboard that unclips from the tablet itself.

The computing power, memory and main secondary storage in these detachables is housed within the tablet like what is expected for a typical tablet. But the detachable keyboards contain some extra functions like supplementary storage space, a high-capacity battery and extra connections like more USB ports. Some of these computers may use a microSD card slot in the tablet itself and a standard SD card slot in the keyboard and this would require you to use the keyboard if you are “developing” those pictures from your digital camera’s “film roll” on your detachable tablet.

They appeal to those of us who value carrying around the lightweight tablet and reading material from it more.

Convertible notebooks

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 courtesy of Lenovo

Lenovo Yoga convertible notebooks

The convertible notebooks have a mechanical arrangement where you can fold, swivel or slide the screen to switch between a tablet computer or a clamshell-style laptop computer.

These would appeal to those of us who want a readily-accessible keyboard and don’t place emphasis on the lightweight tablet. Like the regular laptop, they have their connectivity, functionality and battery runtime as a known quantity and there is less of a likelihood of you losing the detachable keyboard.

Different convertible styles

Sliders

These computers, like the Sony VAIO Duo family, have the keyboard slide out from behind the screen with the screen coming up at a particular angle.

Typically most of these work at a fixed angle when they become a laptop and are worth their salt if you value a computer that, when used as a laptop, doesn’t have a larger footprint.

Swivel-head

Lenovo ThinkPad Twist convertible notebook

This type of convertible computer was considered the “original” convertible laptop when Microsoft launched Windows XP Tablet Edition and brought on the idea of pen-based computing for the Windows platform. They have the screen swivel 180 degrees vertically to become a laptop or tablet. A current example of this is the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist which is pitched at the business user.

Flip-screen

This style has the screen flipping horizontally between a front view or a rear view with the display rotated accordingly. These will have the screen either on a small hinged support like the Sony VAIO Fit 13a or the Acer Aspire R7; or in a frame like the Dell XPS 12.

360-degree hinged lid

Another type of convertible notebook, popularised by Lenovo under the Yoga name, is the 360-degree hinged lid. These computers which are like regular laptops have the lid swing from a closed position to the back of the computer’s case. Once you have folded the lid out all of the way, you turn the computer over for it to become a tablet.

The disadvantage with this style is that the keyboard is exposed to dirt when the computer is set up as a tablet, which can limit its useful as a tablet in areas where you may be eating or drinking.

Choosing the right convertible style

Each convertible style suits particular users and scenarios. These depend on how easy they are to switch between the different setups, what usage environment they work well with

The swivel-head, flip-screen or 360-degree lid may appeal to those of us who want to place the screen at an angle for viewing photos and videos when the machine is resting on a table. A swivel-head or 360-degree lid may appeal to those of you who may have dexterity problems or find operating some mechanisms difficult.

A slider unit or some flip-screens like the Acer Aspire R7 may appeal to those of us who want to expose the keyboard without taking up too much room when you do this. An example of this may be a public speaker who needs to quickly amend notes for their speech at the lectern using the regular keyboard rather than picking around on the touch keyboard.

Conclusion

If you are thinking of having one touch-enabled portable computer to use as a tablet or a laptop / notebook computer, I would suggest that a detachable would work well for those of you who value the lightweight tablet or a convertible for most usage scenarios.

It is also worth considering the convertible notebook or detachable-keyboard tablet as a valid option for your portable-computing needs especially if you see yourself typing up material.

Vodafone Germany to provide SIM-based end-to-end encryption for smartphones

simonmackay 12/03/2014 Current and Future Trends, Data security, Mobile Computing No Comments

Article

Vodafone Germany looks to provide end-to-end encryption with SIM signatures • The Register

My Comments

The SIM card could be the heart of corporate-grade end-to-end mobile data security

If a company or person wanted to have highly-secure data or voice communications on their smartphone or tablet, they had to install an “over-the-top” software package and establish a separate password or key for the secure path..

Now Vodafone Germany, who is part of the Vodafone mobile-telephony conglomerate, have worked on a SIM-based setup that they can easily provide as part of a value-added service. This is based around all the passwords and keys being part of the SIM card and software held on the handset making use of these keys along with native apps to provide the secure tunnel.At the moment, this is offered to larger corporate and government customers but could be offered to small business accounts especially as some of these businesses also provide goods and services to the large corporate and government user base

One reason I would suspect that Vodafone have worked on this concept is to provide an easy-to-deploy end-to-end encryption service for consumers and small business in the wake of the Snowden affair. At the moment, the setups would be designed to work with Android devices but with Blackberry and Windows Phone ports being considered. In the case of Windows Phone, this could allow for the concept to be taken further to Windows-based tablets, laptops and desktops which are used for a lot of business computing.

A limitation that I see with the SIM-based solution is that it is dependent on a device having an integrated 3G or 4G modem thus wouldn’t be considered truly “transport independent”. I see this as being of importance as people use Wi-Fi hotspots provided by many different venue hosts and not many of these are kept secure by the venue owners thus making the customers’ data vulnerable. Similarly, this will also be of concern for client-to-box VPN setups where the “other end” of the VPN tunnel connects to the Internet via a fixed WAN connection like cable, DSL or fibre-optic.

This could be a step for mobile carriers and telcos to provide the encryption needed for secure communications especially in the wake of some serious spying scandals.

Apple CarPlay–to be focused on newer iPhones only

simonmackay 04/03/2014 Current and Future Trends, Mobile Computing No Comments

Article

Apple’s CarPlay: What You Need to Know | Mashable

My Comments

Apple now to conquer the vehicle’s space as a computing environment

Apple has just launched its CarPlay in-vehicle operating environment and brought a large number of vehicle builders like Ferrari, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz on side. This will be intended to work with the iPhone 5 and its descendents only. Similarly Google is heading towards a so-called Projected Mode system that is to work with their Android platform.

There is an issue with CarPlay and similar operating environments in which we will head towards systems that can only work with one particular mobile platform such as iOS or Android. A vehicle could be shared amongst multiple drivers, whether it be a household car shared amongst everyone in the household who can drive, or an organisation’s vehicle that is shared amongst the organisation’s employees or volunteers.

Not all people will follow a particular mobile platform and this could cause the idea of an app-linked platform like Ford’s Sync to be considered more valid. Here, an interlink app ported to the different mobile platforms and written to work with the vehicle’s platform may be seen as an answer.

On the other hand, a “dual-platform” setup could be seen as an answer where a vehicle could run CarPlay or a competing platform like MirrorLink with the appropriate interface presented when the device is connected. It primarily depends on where the “heavy lifting” in a vehicle’s connected infotainment system is intended to be performed – whether in the dashboard or in the driver’s smartphone.

Philips to present Android all-in-one touchscreen displays

simonmackay 28/02/2014 Computer Systems, Current and Future Trends, External Monitors, Mobile Computing No Comments

Article

Philips Launches Two Smart All-In-One Displays | TechPowerUp

Philips Smart All-in-One Android-Displays mit Touchsteuerung | Gizmodo.de (German language / Deutschesprache)

From the horse’s mouth

Philips

Product Page

S221C4AFD 21” variant

S231C4AFD 23” variant

My Comments

After the Consumer Electronics Show 2014 had passed, it was for sure that Android was to step up to the plate as a desktop operating system and the classes of personal computing equipment were to be blurred. One class of equipment that was being premiered was a monitor that was an Android-driven “all-in-one” computer that that was being showcased running one of the Angry Birds games.

Philips was no further from the truth when they launched a pair of Android-powered Full-HD “smart monitors”. These monitors are able to work as primary or secondary displays for Windows computers but also work in their own right as the equivalent of a recent Android 4.2-powered tablet.

They are available as a 21” (S221C4AFD) or 23” (S231C4AFD) variant with full access to the Google Play store (and such goodies as Instagram, Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga and the like). Here they run this software using NVIDIA Tegra 1.6GHz horsepower and work with 2Gb RAM and 8Gb flash storage. They also can mount an SDHC card for your digital camera’s photos or other “offloading” storage requirements and connect to your home network using 802.11g/n Wi-Fi.

Some of us could see these as “toys” but they could be purposed not just as secondary monitors for your propped-up laptop. There is the ability to use these as task-focused computers like digital signage / electronic picture frames, kiosks, POS terminals and the like when it comes to work use or they could be used in the same vein as the Sony VAIO Tap 20 and its ilk where they end up on that ottoman so that two kids play air-hockey or similar multiplayer games.

At the moment. they are being sold in Europe for €440 (21” model) or €470 (23” model). This is a symptom of what will be happening with Windows and Android being the mainstream operating systems for both regular and mobile computing needs.

France’s overseas territories to benefit from 4G mobile broadband

simonmackay 25/02/2014 Internet Access And Service, Mobile Computing No Comments

Article – French language

Bientôt des licences 4G pour la France d’outre-mer | 01Net.com (France)

My Comments

France DOM-TOM courtesy France Government

France is even working on the overseas territories to raise the broadband capacity there

France has established a highly-competitive mobile broadband market in the main territory, especially with Free.fr offering mobile telecommunications at very low prices in that area. But the government in Paris want to see its “DOM-TOM” outlying territories such as La Réunion, French Guyana, Martinique and co have proper Internet service.

Now they are working on opening up cellular-telephony spectrum in the “DOM-TOM” territories over the first half of this year to make sure these territories are on the same mobile broadband level. They have found that the spectrum in use in these territories isn’t enough to satisfy the real needs for people living there. There is proper coverage for 2G and 3G technology in those areas but not for 4G where they are needing to open up all of the cellular bands there.

As well. they need to do work to make sure there is affordable fixed and mobile Internet service in those territories. This could be achieved by ARCEP encouraging Free, Orange and co to set up shop and make sure there is competitive service on the same level as the mainland. The amount of bandwidth that passes through the territories could be increased whether as making them become “axis territories” for telecommunications backbone projects so they can serve themselves and any neighbouring countries with strong bandwidth.

SanDisk raises the bar in small-footprint storage with the 128Gb microSD card

simonmackay 25/02/2014 Computer Hardware Design, Current and Future Trends, Mobile Computing No Comments

Article

SanDisk unleashes world’s first 128GB microSD card – storage, sandisk, Personal storage peripherals – Computerworld

From the horse’s mouth

SanDisk

Press Release

Product Page

My Comments

SanDisk has raised the bar with flash-memory storage by releasing the ultra-small 128Gb microSD card at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. This is seen as providing increased removable secondary-storage for Android or Windows phones and tablets due to its small footprint and is something I would see as important if we carry high-grade music and video files or complicated games on these devices and value the ability to “swap them out” as we see fit.

HP Envy X2 Detachable-Keyboard Hybrid Tablet

Tablets and Ultrabooks could also benefit from increased solid-state storage capacity

But I also see this as being suitable for more than the smartphone or tablet. This capacity is very much equivalent to what is available as a baseline all-SSD storage capacity for Ultrabooks and similar low-profile ultraportable notebook computers which typically run a full Windows deployment. Here, I could see this capacity appeal for smaller Wi-Fi portable NAS devices or it could be an encouragement to increase storage capacity in most dedicated-function devices like printers due to its small size and high capacity. This factor will be underscored for anyone who is working towards an extremely-low-profile design for a device rich in functionality such as the idea of a desktop multifunction printer having the same level of document control as a freestanding enterprise-grade multifunction printer.

Sony WG-C20 mobile NAS - press image courtesy of Sony

Could raise the capacity of these low-profile NAS units very significantly

It also shows that the storage density for flash-based storage applications is increasing which could be a benefit for both fixed and removeable solid-state storage applications. For example, an Ultrabook or tablet could be ending up with 512Gb storage capacity furnished by flash memory rather than the mechanical hard disk as a product option. Or the low-profile Wi-Fi portable “media server” NAS that you take with you could carry your media library with you and serve it to your tablet, Ultrabook or car stereo from a 512Gb solid-state storage.

I would expect a lot more for high-capacity ultra-quick solid-state storage to become the norm for “there-and-then” data storage applications.

Make Spotify and Shazam work with your favourite bar or cafe

simonmackay 27/01/2014 Mobile Computing Apps, Smartphones No Comments

A cafe who can benefit from DLNA network AV technology

Spotify, Shazam and similar programs are music programs that can come in handy with people who have a café or bar as a favourite watering hole. This is whether through creating a playlist that relates to this location or identifying songs that are playing on the music system there.

As a café or bar owner

A café or bar can make Spotify work with their Website even if they can’t legally play content from this service through their music system. The manager could create a Spoitify account which is a so-called “public account” and use this just for sharing the playlists. Here, they identify tracks that are in the current playlist or on the music system and create a Spotify playlist based on these tracks.

Shazam song-identification for Android

This is then inserted in to their Website using the code that Spotify supply for inserting playable playlists in to a Website. Customers who visit the Website can have these songs playing through their computer which should be connected to a hi-fi or a pair of good speakers. They can even “subscribe” to these playlists to have them play through their Spotify-Connect-enabled equipment or their mobile devices.

As a “regular” customer

Customers can put Shazam, MusicID or similar music-recognition apps in to service to identify tracks that they like playing through the venue’s music system. This is more important with venues that have music systems that don’t readily show details about what’s currently playing but can be a problem in crowded venues where there is a lot of noise contesting the music.

These apps keep a record of what you have identified using them and have a link to various apps and services. For example, one could share the track names through Facebook or other social networks or play the tracks on Spotify or buy them through iTunes or other affiliated “download-to-own” online music stores.

Spotify, one of the most popular online music-streaming services

What I even do is create a “favourite places” playlist on Spotify which is comprised of songs that I have identified at my favourite cafes and bars. Here, I can then play this playlist on Spotify or use this as a reference for purchasing music or syncing it to my phone.

iOS users simply buy the songs from iTunes Music Store and download them to their to their iPhone or iPad “as they go”. Then they sync them to a Macintosh or Windows computer using the iTunes desktop software. Android users use a music store that supplies music as MP3s on a download-to-own basis like Amazon or Big Pond Music. If you aren’t comfortable with downloading the music to your device, you can use the store’s “wishlist” function to create a memo list of the music you have liked when you trawl around Amazon to buy CDs online or visit your favourite music store.

Once you have bought your music, you could then work on a playlist or compilation CD/MiniDisc/cassette that focuses on these songs in a similar vein to what can be done with a subscription music service like Spotify.

Conclusion

Once you use Shazam, Spotify and similar software on your mobile computing environment, you can be able to get more out of your favourite watering holes.

Should you worry about your USB charger’s current output for your gadgets?

simonmackay 14/01/2014 Computer Accessories, Mobile Computing, Mobile Phone Accessories No Comments

Article

Pay Attention To Charger Amperage To Juice Up Your Gadgets Quickly | Lifehacker

My Comments

You shouldn’t have to worry about the current output from your USB mobile-device chargers anymore.

Most AC and car-powered USB chargers and USB external battery packs are being available at different current-output levels, typically 500mA, 1A or 2.1A . In most cases, if a charger comes with a particular device, it typically comes with one that is rated to the device’s needs such as a tablet coming with a 2.1A charger.

Connecting a device to a more powerful charger will typically speed up its charging time whereas a less-powerful charger will cause the device to take longer to charge. The classic example is one connecting a smartphone to a high-power 2.1 amp charger that comes with a tablet or an additional 2.1 amp 2-USB charger and finding that this device charges up more quickly than with the charger that comes with the smartphone.

But this kind of connection used to affect older devices which had batteries that couldn’t accept higher charge currents without adverse effects. The recently-designed batteries and device-side charging circuits are now designed to handle higher currents and permit quicker charging. With external battery packs, the amount of power drawn by a device can affect the number of times you can charge the device’s own battery off that pack or the run-time available for your device with that pack if you are using the pack to extend your device’s run-time.

It is also worth noting that if a charger has the standard USB Type-A socket on it, you can use a USB charge/data cable that has the device’s connection (microUSB, Apple legacy 30-pin Dock or Apple Lightning) on it so you don’t need to have chargers for different device types. An increasing number of 2.1A chargers are equipped with two or more USB sockets mainly to allow you to charge two devices at once and the current budget that these chargers put up is shared amongst the devices connected to it. This would typically allow for two smartphones to be charged at a normal rate.

So you can really get by with using higher-powered chargers to charge up your gadgets quickly especially as today’s models are more tolerant of the higher current. Similarly, the use of the 2-USB 2.1A chargers can go a long way with saving on power outlets for charging multiple smartphones.