Article – From the horse’s mouth

Google

Exploring New Cities For Google Fiber

My Comments

After its success with Kansas City, Provo and Austin, Google is planning to hit nine more US cities with their fibre-optic broadband service. Here, I see this as an attempt to bring competition to Internet service in these communities in a situation where competition is dwindling due to the pending merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

Even though most of the city fathers representing these communities are behind these projects, usually to see their communities grow economically, there are issues with state and federal authorities who have frustrated competitive activity like municipal Wi-Fi deployments. This is typically to protect incumbent cable and telephony companies against competitive service, but it allows these companies to treat their customers as second-class citizens by redlining good services away from certain communities or simply providing poor-value service to their customers.

But something needs to be done to assure competition on the Internet-service front and this may involve the US Department Of Justice rather than the Federal Communications Commission. It may involve prohibition of uncompetitive mergers or overriding anti-competitive state requirements in order to make sure that third-party Internet service providers can operate in more communities. It may even require a repetition of the 1980s court action that took place to break up “Ma Bell” to assure competition. Once we see more of Google Fiber in action and other Silicon Valley Internet companies work towards providing end-to-end Internet service, it could open up the idea of competition to the US market.

Introduction

I am reviewing the Sony VAIO Fit 13a convertible Ultrabook which converts between a 13” “portable-typewriter” notebook computer and a 13” tablet, which is something I am starting to see for this class of computer.

It is one of the few 13” highly-portable notebooks that is in a convertible form-factor where it can become a large tablet or media viewer. Here the screen folds over a hinge that is positioned in the middle of the lid to convert to these different form factors – as a laptop, tablet or a presentation viewer with a kickstand.

Some of you may find that a 13” tablet device as being too unwieldy when used in that form but I usually think of these devices as being the size of an A4/Letter-sized notepad or notebook or a placemat and still easy to stow in that shoulder bag. For example, the large screen area comes in to its own when viewing photos or videos or simply lounging on the couch browsing Facebook. In some cases, this large size also appeals to “head-to-head” situations where two people are viewing something on that screen like some photos or social-media chatter.

Of course, these convertible notebooks still earn their keep when you are typing up those notes in that “second-office” café while the barista is making that latte or cappucino on the espresso machine or as you type up that magnum-opus while you are on that long flight with it sitting on that economy-class tray table.

The computer itself

Aesthetics and Build Quality

Set up as a tablet

The Sony VAIO Fit 13a is a well-built convertible notebook but for first-time users, the method to convert between notebook and tablet use can be daunting. Here, you have to flick the RELEASE-LOCK lever under the screen to the left and twist the screen at the top with both hands to make it become a tablet. Then you have to pull the screen up at the top to fold it to a conventional notebook.

Set up as an image viewer

Even though I had used this on light tasks, there wasn’t any overheating going on with the VAIO Fit 13a although it felt warm underneath during some network video watching. There is some venting on the left side of the keyboard and any unoccupied sockets are forced in to service as vents. Personally, I would have some perforation underneath the keyboard to improve the ability for the notebook to cool itself. As well, the use of an all-aluminium lid and aluminium all over the keyboard surface also allows for better temperature control.

User Interface

As a laptop conducive to typing

The keyboard is a full-width illuminated keyboard that is conducive to touch-typing. It has a proper feedback that makes you feel sure that you are typing the right characters and your hands aren’t “crunched in” which works well when typing up a large amount of content.

The trackpad works as expected and I haven’t even noticed it “jump around” when doing a lot of typing and can serve its role as a fine-level navigation tool while the touchscreen works well for coarse navigation and quick function access with recent software.

The NFC sensor is at the foot of the trackpad which is at the right place for sharing contact detail or Web links between your Android smartphone and the VAIO Tap 13a. This is also conducive for touch-and-go paring of small Bluetooth accessories like headsets but may be too awkward for pairing to larger equipment that implements “touch-and-go” Bluetooth setup like most of Sony’s newer audio equipment.

Audio and Video

The Sony VAIO Fit 13a’s display was very responsive both with regular computer work as well with multimedia activity such as watching online video from SBS Australia. There is still the issue with the display being glossy which may annoy some users and is common with most consumer-targeted portable computers.

The audio subsystem is typical for most laptops where you don’t have the ability to hear the full range from the sound. This may be good enough when you are close to the screen but wouldn’t be good enough to fill a room. I still would recommend using a pair of headphones or external speakers when you are after the good sound.

Connectivity, Storage and Expansion

Right-hand side view – 2 USB 3.0 ports, SDXC card slot and HDMI output port

The Sony VAIO Fit 13a has 128Gb of solid-state storage which would be enough for “second-office” work or short trips and may satisfy longer trips when you use auxiliary storage like a NAS or USB hard disk. It is still very quick and responsive but the capacity wouldn’t have me use it as a main or sole computer.

This is augmented by an SDXC card slot which comes in to its own when you “develop” your digital pictures from your digital camera or camcorder or show these pictures to a group of people.

Left hand side with power and audio sockets

There are two USB 3.0 peripheral sockets along with a headset jack and ah HDMI port for connecting external devices. It also connects to your network using 802.11a/g/n dual-band Wi-Fi technology, but you would need to use a USB Ethernet network adaptor if you are connecting to an Ethernet or HomePlug segment.

It also has Bluetooth with NFC functionality for “quick pair-up” with some newer  devices or transfer of data like contact details or Web links to and from newer Android and Windows phones.

Battery life

I could use the Sony VAIO Fit 13a for a long time on most regular computing activities and even watching a 45-minute online video show from SBS Online had the battery to 50% capacity from full charging. This means that the VAIO is taking advantage of the current generation of Intel chipsets to work properly as a portable computer.

Other usage notes

Other people who have seen the Sony VAIO Fit 13a in action have been impressed with certain features like the convertible form-factor and the large-screen tablet size. This is more so with people who are used to ordinary 10” tablets like the Apple iPad or not seeing much of the touch-enabled convertible notebooks.

For example, a waitress who works at a downtown (CBD) hotel restaurant which is used regularly as a “second office” during the day was impressed with the VAIO’s convertible design. This is something she doesn’t come across as often – she mostly sees the typical laptop or iPad-style tablet used by customers using the restaurant and bar as that “second office”.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

Sony could offer a premium variant with an Intel i7 processor, 8Gb RAM and/or 256Gb solid-state drive as a deal-making option, especially if they want to use this model to court those of us who live out of our suitcases.

As well, the VAIO Fit 13a could be delivered with Windows 8.1 out of the box rather than users having to download the updates to bring it up to date to the newer Windows version. I would also look at improving the DC socket so it feels less fragile to use when connecting your charger to the VAIO.

The NFC chipset could be duplicated at the top edge of the keyboard to cater for “pairing up” with fixed equipment like Bluetooth speakers or stereo equipment whether the VAIO is set up as a tablet or a laptop.

Conclusion

I see the Sony VAIO Fit 13a convertible notebook as a viable contender to the market when it comes to the so-called “traveller’s computer” or “second-office computer”. This is more so in both these cases when you you want to view or show video or photo material on the go such as showing that presentation to the client over that latte or viewing that movie on the plane. It is more augmented by the fact that this computer works with a median performance requirement such as an Intel i5 processor and 4Gb of RAM.

It would also work well for those of us who like the idea of the tablet but want the proper full-size keyboard offered by the 13”-14” “portable-typewriter” notebook that is conducive to comfortable touch-typing for creating plenty of text-based content.

Article

Just Recorded A Scam Hoax Virus Call | Barb’s Connected World

Previous Coverage

Fake “Virus Infection” Phone Calls – Be Aware Of Them

My Comments

I have previously covered the issue of home and small-business computer users receiving “virus-alert” phone calls and am refreshing this topic with a reference to a recording of one of these calls that a tech blogger had done and published to keep it alive in your memories. These purport to be from Microsoft, a desktop-security software firm or similar entity stating that your computer is infected with a virus.

Typically they require the user to head to a particular Website and either supply email-address or personal banking details or download software of questionable provenance. This leads to the user being at risk of a spam attack, wire-fraud incident or malware / spyware infection.

When you receive these calls, immediately hang up on these callers. You also have to remember that the typical situation with handling computer troubles is that you take the effort to seek help. This help would be provided by a computer-expert neighbour, friend, relative or acquaintance, your business’s IT department (if it has one) or an IT contractor whom you are dealing with.

Sometimes demanding their business-registration or tax-registration details to prove they can legitimatiely do business in your jurisdiction can effectively put them on notice as one friend has done when he received one of these calls.

As well, keeping your computer’s operating system, application software and desktop-security software up-to-date is a wise data-housekeeping practice so you are protected against the malware. I would even extend this to keeping the firmware on your home-network devices up-to-date so as to protect against software exploits that take advantage of bugs in older firmware.

Log out properly of GMail by clicking “Sign Out”

A common situation that affects most home users is the existence of a desktop, laptop or tablet computer used by many people of the household. This computer may not just be used by members of the household but also by the household’s guests. I was infact talking about this with someone who had come in from overseas and was using a commonly-used iPad to work a few Web-based services like his GMail and Facebook accounts. Here, he and I were underscoring the need to properly log out of these services when done with them as well as clearing Web-browser history on these devices.

Log out properly of Facebook by clicking “Log Out” in Settings

But as one operates their Web-based email, social-networking and other services using these computers, it can be easy to leave a session of these services going especially if you are called away for some reason. This could lead to other members of the household snooping around your account or doing something on that account in your name like playing a practical joke.

A wise practice with these computers is to make sure you log off your Web-based services as soon as you have finished with these services and before you leave the computer. To do this properly, you have to click or tap the “logout” or “sign out” button on the Web-based service’s user interface, which causes the service to log you out as far as it is concerned while cleaning up any cookies and other data held on your machine relating to that session.

Familiarise yourself with the option to remove your Web-browsing history on your browser

Similarly, clearing your Web browser’s history especially when finished using these commonly-used computers is also a wise practice. This avoids other users “tracking back” in to previous sessions for Web-based services or having people snoop on what previous users been browsing the Web for. The latter situation could either cause some nasty gossip to float around or, at worst, put the user in danger.

Use of multiple logins

Some operating systems like Windows and Android 4.2+ tablet implementations allow for the creation of separate accounts on that system so that each user can have their own operating environment. This can be beneficial because you can avoid the situation where someone can “snoop” around your Web history or someone’s Web email or social-network session that hasn’t been logged off properly.

Here, you could use one login as a “common-user” login while creating separate logins for the computer’s regular users. The regular users then use their own logins when they use the computer so they don’t have to worry about this kind of issue. Similarly, the separate logins can be personalised with wallpapers, “favourite Website lists”, customised colour schemes and the like as well as supporting application-level links to various social-network and other sites.

Windows 8 and 8.1 also implement a login setup which can be ported and synced across multiple computers thus allowing you to carry your computing environment between, say, a desktop and a laptop or to operate your computing environment on both your personally-used machine and a commonly-used machine.

Here, it is still a good practice to log off these accounts or enforce a lockout on them when you have finished at the computer so you can keep them private and less at risk of being meddled with.

Once you get in to the habit of logging off Web-service or user accounts on commonly-used computers and clearing Web history lists on these computers, you can avoid placing yourselves in a vulnerable position with your Internet use.

Article

A dual Windows-Android machine: PC industry savior or non-starter? | Mobile – CNET News

My Comments

A computer that slides to become a tablet or laptop

Previously, a computer with a screen greater than 11”, having a physical QWERTY keyboard and running a desktop operating system like Windows, MacOS X or Linux was a separate class of computer from something that had a smaller screen, no physical keyboard and running a mobile operating system.

Now we are starting to see these classes become blurred by the arrival of 7” and 10” tablets running Windows 8.1 on Intel x86 microarchitecture, along with a plethora of ultra-portable laptops with integrated physical keyboards that convert to tablets whether by folding the keyboard under the screen or detaching the keyboard. This is now augmented with a new trend where computers can boot between Windows 8.1 and Android or run both operating systems concurrently; and Android is being ported to work on the classic Intel microarchitecture.

The HP X2 family – showcasing the trend for a detachable-keyboard tablet computer

What is happening for both consumers and business users is that they will find it hard to determine which kind of computer is exactly the right one for them to use for their needs. Operating systems and baseline hardware configurations may lose their position as a factor for determining a computer’s suitability to a particular task.

Rather I see factors like the screen size which typically affects the computer’s size and form factor; the graphics or audio chipsets; the existence of a physical keyboard and its actual size; as well as the unit’s connectivity, primary RAM and secondary-storage capacity along with the presence and runtime of an integrated battery being what determines the computer’s suitability for particular tasks and operating conditions that a user may put it to.

The 15″ mainstream laptop will still earn its keep as an option for one’s “digital hub”

For example, if you are creating a lot of documents and other textual content, a full-sized physical keyboard would be considered important. Similarly the size of the screen along with the computer’s form factor and the battery integrated in the computer would also affect its portability and suitability to certain tasks.

In a lot of cases, you may end up with multiple devices where each device suits a particular task or activity. For example a 7”-8” tablet that you can stuff in to a coat pocket may come in to its own when you want something that has material you refer to when you are on the road. This is while you keep a 10”-14” ultraportable computer for when you are “doing a bit more” like taking notes or creating content “on the road”; or you may keep a 15”-17” laptop or a larger-screen desktop computer as your “main digital hub”.

Desktops of a sessile nature like traditional 3-piece desktops and “all-in-one” desktops will typically end up just for applications where the computer is used in one place only. Whereas the “adaptive all-in-one” computers of the Sony VAIO Tap 20 ilk, along with 15”-17” high-end laptops will end up for those situations where the computer will be shifted as required.

What will become of this is to look at particular features and the size and form-factor of a computer to rate its suitability for a task you are targeting it at rather than thinking that one computer would suit all your needs.

Article – French language / Langue Française

Freebox Révolution : InfoMusic et DNLA dans une mise à jour | Numerama.fr

From the horse’s mouth

Free.fr

Press Release (French language / Langue Française – PDF)

My Comments

Freebox Révolution now with Shazam-style abilities

Often when you are watching TV, you may hear that piece of music that was used in that movie or TV show even though it may not be visibly identified.

Normally you could use Shazam or SoundHound on your smartphone or tablet (iOS, Android, Windows 8) to identify the songs but you have to “cock” your device to your TV’s speaker and have Shazam running before you know when that song is to play. Here, it can be difficult if you are watching broadcast TV content in real time rather than from a user-controlled recording like a PVR, optical disc or streamed on-demand service.

In France, the country where the set-top box is not the ordinary set-top box and the pay-TV and Internet service is delivered highly competitively, Free.fr have integrated this function as part of a software upgrade for their Freebox Révolution set-top box. Here, the software version number is 1.2.11 to gain this functionality.

This software, like Sony’s TrackID Android app is powered by GraceNote music-recognition technology and works from any of the video sources passing through the Freebox Révolution Player set-top box. This includes content available on the home network.

For that matter, Free has even improved the DLNA abilities for this software by having the Freebox Révolution Player be a DLNA MediaRenderer. This means that, like with the Sony BDP-S390 Blu-Ray player, you can “push” image, audio and video content to this device using software like TwonkyBeam, Gizmoot or BubbleUPnP to appear on your TV.

This is another example of what the competitive telecommunications and Internet market in France is bringing about in a healthy manner.

Article

Lenovo Aims New Rugged ThinkPad 11e Laptops at Students | Tom’s Hardware

From the horse’s mouth

Lenovo

Press Release

My Comments

Lenovo who are well known for their highly-durable ThinkPad business laptops have taken this class of computer to the student user-base. Typically the student is more likely to take these computers through a rough lifespan as they make their way to and from school and friends’ houses and some of this rough-handling can cause problems in the computer’s life.

What they have done is to release a quartet of 11-inch notebooks with rubber bumpers, reinforced ports and strengthened hinges to handle this rough activity. There is the ThinkPad 11e which runs Windows 8 along with a ThinkPad Yoga 11e convertible also running Windows 8. But Lenovo also offered these as Chromebooks that run Google’s Chrome operating system. For the Windows-based models, I am not sure what RAM and storage capacity they have but would need to cater for a reality with students using them for more than school life.

It is a step in the right direction for companies like Lenovo to create highly-durable portable computers not just for big business but for school life, “first cars first friends” and eventually startup and small business life.