Archive for 2014-09-14
Early iPhone 6 Reviewers Might as Well Be Rating Vacuum Cleaners
With every new iPhone release, Apple delivers a
handful of new iPhones to a select few industry journalists to review.
How are those journalists and publications selected? First, they are
known to appreciate the Apple aesthetic -- they have written dozens of
positive reviews. No Apple haters allowed, which makes sense. It's
important to set the stage for positive vibes when launching a new
product -- a professional marketing launch with billions of dollars on
the line is never organic.
The reviewers also are under pressure to get their reviews written
and out the door in a quick time frame -- about a week or less -- and
they know there will be some high-powered competition as their review
hits the Web. The challenge is to cover the bases and make some sort of
opinionated statement -- but be careful with the negativity, because if
you piss off Apple, you won't get future new Apple products ahead of
time. You'll have to order them just like everyone else.(Oh what a fall from grace that would be!)
So what we get are staid reviews. Except, what happens when you read between the lines? What happens when you try to ascertain tone? Impressions?
Well, I read through all the reviews I could find. My take?
It's not good, but on the surface it sounds good. To me, it goes something like this:
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are bigger phones than their predecessors, and now they have screen sizes comparable to bigger Android and Windows phones. The iPhone 6 is finely crafted. The iPhone 6 Plus seems really big. Bigger-er. The screens are sharp and pretty. The camera takes great photos. They are thinner and have acceptable battery life. iOS 8 is great. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are now the best smartphones available. OK, moving on. What's the next gadget I have to review today?
'It's Just Excellent'
While all the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, what I'm not feeling is the delight. Where's the hyperbole from someone who actually cares? Where's the cadence of a voice that conveys real enthusiasm for getting to play with Apple's latest gadget?Generally, I'm not seeing it. And that sucks.
Is it because there is no new Siri to try? Because there is no new Touch ID to try out? Nothing to play with? Maybe.
David Pierce, reviewing for The Verge, nailed it, multiple times, in slightly different ways. His review reads as if he's casting about for something accurate but failing to come up with any sort of emotional response to the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus:
"The iPhone 6 is not terribly exciting, or groundbreaking. It's just excellent," he wrote.
"The iPhone 6 is utterly without obvious problems or drawbacks -- it's going to be a huge hit. I'm going to buy one," he wrote.
"Everything is better and nothing is different," he wrote.
"For a variety of reasons, from the camera to the app ecosystem to the hardware itself, the iPhone 6 is one of the best smartphones on the market. Maybe even the best. But it's still an iPhone. The same thing Apple's been making for seven years. A fantastically good iPhone, but an iPhone through and through," he wrote.
Woohoo.
The trouble is, had Apple graced me with an early iPhone 6 to test, I might have written this same emotionless review. Or went the David Pogue route. Pogue, who's now at Yahoo, used to write for The New York Times and is a huge personality in the tech world. He just couldn't seem to get hot or bothered.
'Worthy Heirs'
To launch his review, he started with a clickable, tweetable headline, "Reviewed: The iPhone 6 Is a Thin, Sexy Phone with a Killer Camera."So far so good. Then he undermined the headline by saying all the fuss was just about a phone, and that phone was a symbol of your cultish phone religion, and the enemies of Apple were just waiting for the company to fumble.
"Well, this time, Apple hasn't fumbled. Its two new iPhones are excellent. Beautiful. State of the art. Worthy heirs to the iPhone throne," he wrote.
True enough. But what's missing? Delight. I sense in him no delight for the iPhone 6 -- no joy, surprise or pleasure in his review. So why? He tells us -- either on purpose or by way of an unconscious apology for his inability to care much, one way or the other, phone cults be damned:
"There's nothing actually surprising about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Partly that's because in the post-Jobs era, Apple isn't as good at suppressing pre-announcement leaks. And partly it's because there's nothing much surprising about any phones these days. They're mature. These days, designing a phone is a matter of nips and tucks and playing catch-up and one-up -- as attractively as possible," he wrote.
Sheesh. By this point, I'm starting to think Apple might have been better off dropping off a box of iPhones at a retirement community and bringing in a bus full of schoolchildren to teach the old folks how to use the iPhones, filming their reactions, and buying ads everywhere to show them off. At the very least, we would have seen some delight.
Pogue's review ends with a screed on the Android-vs.-Apple religious war and a lecture about how phones are deeply personal.
"You never want to think your phone is inferior, because then you might feel inferior," he wrote, basically telling us to judge the entirely excellent iOS ecosystem while also judging the equally excellent Android ecosystem, and observing that competition will slowly make future phones better and better.
What about Pogue's jaunty video with all the larger-than-life "big" things in it? Pogue's review includes a video review that makes fun of the bigger iPhones by using props like a giant red cup, giant paperclip, giant sheath of paper, and giant lollipop -- but as I near as I could tell, the only delight came from delivering the ongoing visual gags. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus just happened to be the phones he was reviewing.
In other words, folks, the damn iPhone 6 is now bigger and excellent, so buy it if you want, or if you don't want to buy it, that's OK, too. What's next for me to review again?
The sad thing is, I might also have written this lackluster review (and would not have bothered with the video). The review is absolutely long and comprehensive. Covers all the bases. Takes a shot at the silly Android-Apple fanboy stupidity.
'I Wish...'
The Wall Street Journal's Geoffrey A. Fowler basically had a similar response, noting that the iPhone 6 was Apple's Cure for Android Envy. Fowler, however, seemed a little more willing to imply that he wasn't particularly impressed with the standard battery life, and he still envied the Galaxy S5's waterproofing."I wish Apple had designed a slightly thicker phone to stave off the battery blues that afflict so many iPhone owners," he had the guts to note. "Will I eventually have to put a chunky battery case around this lithe beauty?"
Yes, Mr. Fowler. Yes, you will.
The real problem is, Apple seems to have delivered a really good iPhone upgrade. Great. When it comes to the smartphone industry, though, the iPhone 6 seems to imply that our so very personal smartphones simply have evolved into everyday appliances that we happen to carry around. And we sort of just want them to be a little bit better here and there, so we no longer really care all that much, despite the reviewers invoking to the so-called smartphone "cults."
Is the age of the inspiring smartphone over?
I hope not.
Tag :
Computer,
Opera Sings for Linux Users, With Just a Few Sour Notes
Opera
offers an interesting alternative to the Google Chrome and Mozilla
Firefox Web browsers, but its recent Linux release leaves some room for
improvement.
Opera previously enjoyed a reputation as the go-to browser of choice for mobile environments. However, Opera Software, the developer, ignored Linux users for quite a long while until now. Opera's Version 12.16 is a very usable release -- but it is not without drawbacks.
Perhaps its biggest accomplishment is creating a library of Firefox-like extensions. These add-ons let users configure the browser to expand the feature base and mimic the functionality of favorite extensions they may have used in the Firefox browser.
As another bonus, Opera brings to Linux users some of the popular browser features Mac and Windows users have enjoyed. It focuses on rebuilding the browser from the ground up and adding a new engine. This Linux version of Opera includes the Speed Dial, Stash and Discover features.
Opera's limitations are the result -- in some cases, at least -- of delivering half-baked or mini versions of the Firefox extensions. That impaired performance might weaken the user experience. It could force potential adopters to choose between staying with Opera for its brand-specific interface or returning to Firefox for the fully cooked extensions ecosystem.
Opera For Linux promises compatibility with hundreds of Firefox extensions, but it delivers only mini or lite versions.
Misdirected Add-Ons
The Opera extensions are cataloged on an apps page built around colorful tiles, much like Microsoft's Windows Store. Unlike both Windows and Firefox, though, the extensions listings in Opera are mostly artsy rather than very informative.The Opera extensions install much like they do in Firefox, but the extensions lack much in the way of user preference settings. This is mostly due to their "mini" nature.
For example, I rely on the Xmarks bookmark extension. I find that it lets me update and synchronize bookmarks and browsing history among my numerous computers without the clumsiness of each browser's own sync feature. Xmarks looks and works the same in both Firefox and Chrome.
But the Xmarks Mini extension in Opera is nothing more than a pseudo browser tab -- as if I logged onto my account in a browser window. It simply pops up a scrollable list of my bookmarks minus the menu bar. All of the unique Xmarks functionality is stripped from the mini version.
Questionable Claims
I have not toyed with Opera long enough on any of my computing platforms to judge how well its built-in safe browsing tools work. I use third-party add-ons in other browsers to check for risky sites and sound the alarm for potential security threats on the Internet.Opera's privacy settings claim to let you surf the Web without being tracked, as do other browsers. Some industry reports claim that private browsing windows and scripts that tell websites not to track you are largely bogus.
Feature Phenom
One of Opera's hallmark features is the Speed Dial page. this works like a home page where you see your bookmarks, folders and recent history displayed. You just click the thumbnail to launch that URL.Two other nifty Opera features are Stash and Discover. Stash lets you collect Web pages and arrange them in categories. Discover works like an RSS reader. It brings articles and selected content to a central place
Opera Link is a very handy tool. Use it to store your bookmarks, Speed Dial sites and passwords. This feature gives you a quick launch to that content or Web location.
Fast and Furious
I was pleased with Opera's speedy interface and its ability to load graphics-laden websites with numerous tabs already opened. A digital speed meter is visible in the URL to show how much data and how quickly the browser is connecting.Caution: Using the Opera Turbo feature may place your personal information at some risk. To speed up page loading, Opera compresses pages and logs some of the information on its servers. This information includes your IP address, the Web addresses of the pages you visit, and time stamps. This information may stay on the server for up to six months.
Turbo Tuneup
Opera's Turbo feature processes the pages you request in its clouds. Opera's data-saving servers remove extraneous page elements, clip out unseen image pixels, diagnose the state of the Internet connection, and compress the remaining data before downloading it to your screen.Opera officials assure users that the process will not compromise their private data. Browser documentation states that Opera will never interfere with any secure connections.
So, when you browse a secure site such as a bank or email, Opera Turbo is not active. Your sensitive data is sent directly between your device and the secure site, according to the Opera website.
Look and Feel
Opera's user interface is highly configurable. It provides many options for displaying different menu rows and sidebars. This lets you create a very minimalistic, bare-bones browsing screen or put large screen size to maximum use by displaying much more than just the website.With Opera, you can also change the placement of several interface components. This lets you put tabs and sidebars where you want them on the screen.
Opera For Linux offers a highly
configurable user interface with options to show or hide a combination
of tool bars, panels and sidebars.
Email Management
Another built-in component that you can use or ignore is an email manager. The preference settings let you choose which application Opera should use for email.Opera has its own built-in client. It places your email as integrated tab within the browser. This lets you handle your email accounts as if they were running in a separate email program without interfering with your Web-browsing activity.
Opera has a built-in email manager that displays as a browser tab.
Bottom Line
Opera Web browser for Linux is a potential alternative browser. If you are not deeply tied to the Firefox full-feature extensions or the Google ecosystem of productivity apps and services, Opera's highly configurable interface and mini extensions could be a good fit.Opera is available in packages compiled for Linux distros that include Arch, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Memphis, Mandriva, Linux Mint, Saboyan, Red Hat, Slackware, Ubuntu and OpenSuse. It is also available in compressed formats for tar.xz and tar.bz2.
Opera's developers skimped on making it easy to migrate to Opera from most other browsers. For example, importing contacts, bookmarks and such is limited to html, Konqueror, Firefox and Internet Explorer. If you use Google Chrome, you are out of luck.
Want to Suggest a Review?
Is there a Linux software application or distro you'd like to suggest for review? Something you love or would like to get to know?Please email your ideas to me, and I'll consider them for a future Linux Picks and Pans column.
And use the Talkback feature below to add your comments!
Tag :
Computer,
নষ্ট মেমোরী কার্ড ঠিক করুন:
ফোন যতই দামি হোক না কেন, প্রাণভোমরা কিন্তু মেমোরি কার্ড। উপযুক্ত মেমোরি কার্ড স্পেস না থাকলে হ্যাং করতে পারে দামি ফোনও। সাধারণত মেমোরি কার্ডের স্পেস হয় ৪ থেকে ৬৪ জিবি। কিন্তু মেমোরি কার্ড নষ্টও হয় আকছার। ফোনের মেমোরি কার্ড হঠাৎ খুলে নেওয়া হলে বা কোনো ভাবে সংযোগ বিছিন্ন হলে সেটি ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত হয়ে অকেজো হতে পারে। জেনে নিন কিভাবে নষ্ট হওয়া মেমোরি কার্ড ঠিক করবেন।
কার্ড রিডারে মেমোরি কার্ড ঢুকিয়ে নিয়ে কম্পিউটারে কানেক্ট করুন। খেয়াল রাখুন, হার্ড ড্রাইভের অন্যান্য ডিস্কের মতো মেমোরি কার্ড দেখালেও সেটিতে প্রবেশ করা যাবে না, কিন্তু ফাইল সিস্টেম ঠিক আছে। এবার আপনার উইন্ডোজ এর স্টার্ট মেন্যুতে গিয়ে cmd লিখুন। এতে আপনার স্টার্ট মেনুর উপর দিকে কমান্ড প্রম্পট (cmd) দেখা যাবে। এখন এর ওপর ডান বোতাম চেপে Run as administrator সিলেক্ট করে সেটি খুলুন। কমান্ড প্রম্প্ট চালু হলে এখানে chkdsk mr লিখে enter ক্লিক করুন। এখানে m হচ্ছে মেমোরি কার্ডের ড্রাইভ।
কম্পিউটারে কার্ডের ড্রাইভ দেখতে পেলে এখানে 'চেক ডিস্ক' সম্পন্ন হতে দিন।
এখানে convert lost chains to files বার্তা এলে y টিপুন। এ ক্ষেত্রে ফাইল যদি ঠিক থাকলে কার্ডের তথ্য আবার ব্যবহার করা যাবে। মেমোরি কার্ড যদি invalid file system দেখায় তাহলে সেটির ড্রাইভের ডান ক্লিক করে Format-এ ক্লিক করুন। File system থেকে FAT নির্বাচন করে Quick format-এর টিক চিহ্ন তুলে দিয়ে Format-এ ক্লিক করুন। ফরম্যাট সম্পন্ন হলে মেমোরি কার্ডের তথ্য হারালেও কার্ড নষ্ট হবে না।
নানাভাবে এমন অকেজো মেমোরি কার্ড সচল করা গেলেও সম্পূর্ণভাবে ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত এবং বাহ্যিকভাবে নষ্ট প্রায় কার্ডকে ঠিক করতে ডেটা রিকভারি সফটওয়্যার ব্যবহার করতে হবে। মেমোরি কার্ডের তথ্য দেখা যাচ্ছে, কিন্তু সেটি ব্যবহার করা না গেলে আপনাকে এই সফটওয়্যার সমাধান দিতে পারে। এ ক্ষেত্রে ডেটা উপস্থিত থাকে কিন্তু কম্পিউটার বা অন্য যন্ত্র সেটিকে 'রিড' করতে পারে না।
400 × 400 - shop.infogro.co.za
