Apple

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active Review 2019

The Verge:

The Active’s design is fairly generic. It comes in nicer colors than the black variant I reviewed, but all of them share the same understated style that almost looks like something Pebble would have made. It’s not flashy, but it works. The 20mm bands are easy to replace, as well.

But Samsung took something very important away from the Galaxy Watch Active: it lacks the rotating bezel that has proven to be an intuitive, natural, and fun control mechanism on the company’s other smartwatches. The Tizen Wearable OS 4.0 software is designed to put the display’s circular shape to good use, but navigating the Galaxy Watch Active can feel more finicky without the rotating bezel and its satisfying clicks.

For one, the watch’s software doesn’t really take into account this significant change in how you interact with it. The user experience is largely identical to that of the Galaxy Watch, and it’s clearly meant to work best with a rotating bezel that can quickly scroll through menus.

Translation: not as good as Apple.

Sony Officially Kills PS Vita

BBC News:

But despite its niche appeal, the Vita ultimately failed to live up to Sony’s expectations, says Stefan Langford.

“It certainly comes as no surprise that the PS Vita has finally ended production, ultimately sounding the death knell of Sony’s mobile gaming ambitions,” says Mr Spendelow.
While the PS Vita has been consigned to history, Sony is believed to be readying a new games console.

Last year, company president and chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida told the Financial Times that it was “necessary” for Sony to work on next-generation hardware. He declined to say whether this machine would carry the name PlayStation 5.

Apple is eating everyone’s lunch.

Dash Developer Releases Audio Call with Apple

Bogdan Popescu, Kapeli Developer, behind the Dash App released a statement today regarding his apple dev account suspension.

I was not aware my account was linked to another until Apple contacted me Friday, 2 days after closing my account. I was never notified of any kind of wrongdoing before my account was terminated.

What Apple has done: on Friday they told me they’d reactivate my account if I’d make a blog post admitting some wrongdoing. I told them I can’t do that, because I did nothing wrong. On Saturday they told me that they are fine with me writing the truth about what happened, and that if I did that, my account would be restored. Saturday night I sent a blog post draft to Apple and have since waited for their approval.

Tonight Apple decided to accuse me of manipulating the App Store in public via a spokesperson.

Sounds to me like he is in the wrong here. He is trying to fight it on the technicality that he wasn’t the only one with the access to his other account, but both the accounts are linked to his bank account.

And what Apple was asking from him wasn’t really a big deal at all IMO, so I think he should have taken the deal.

Here is the backup of the audio:

Google Announces Familiar Looking Google Pixel Phone

Google Pixel Phone via Google

With Pixel, we obsessed over every detail, from the industrial design to the user experience. We carefully sculpted the surfaces of the phone, and rounded the edges to make it easy to grip. We used 2.5D Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 on the front display and back glass to accent the aerospace grade aluminum body.

The glass on the back also features Pixel Imprint, our fingerprint sensor, which is placed on the back of the phone where your finger expects it. You can even swipe it to access your notifications. And no matter what you’re using your phone for, you’ll need a battery that lasts all day and charges fast — up to seven hours in 15 minutes.

Pixel is available for pre-order today starting at $649 in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and Australia. Pre-orders in India will begin October 13. In the U.S., we’re teaming up exclusively with Verizon to make Pixel available nationwide at all Verizon retail outlets, including Best Buy stores. We’re also offering Pixel unlocked on the Google Store and, for you Project Fi fans out there, you’ll be happy to know that Pixel is the latest device to work on the Fi network.

google pixel phone

Sold by Google, Built by HTC, Designed by Apple.

iTunes Apple Music Confusing Tabs Layout

New iTunes has a lot of new problems since they added “apple music”. My biggest issue is that I don’t know which one of the main tabs I should use to search “Apple Music”. I guess there is no difference between the first 6, they all let you search for your music as well as “apple music”. But if you use “iTunes Store” tab it doesn’t let you search “apple music” or give you an explanation why.

Screen Shot 2015-07-16 at 11.02.19 PMIf it doesn’t find it in my music it should automatically search “apple music” especially since I’m a subscriber. But instead it offers me a link to search the iTunes store to purchase the music…awesome.

Screen Shot 2015-07-16 at 10.59.55 PM

If you do happen to search the store for Drake for example you’ll get to an artist page that will not let you stream the music you’re subscribed to. You have to leave and do another search on any of the other 6 tabs which you can pick randomly I guess. Also, tabs in popups? Wow. Awesome.

Screen Shot 2015-07-16 at 10.57.37 PM

If you click play on this page you only get 90 seconds of each song. Why would I wanna buy a song if I’m an apple music subscriber? Oh, to burn a CD I guess…