The Beanster Blog

It's "Show Your Lock Screen Saturday", I have been on a Ralph McQuarrie kick lately the photos from #McQuarrieMonday on the web. XiaoMi Mi3W   Samsung GT-S7582 What's on your Lock Screen/s???

Ok. As I mentioned in my previous post I am embarking on a one (1) week Android only experiment. This post will focus on the apps I have purchased to make the switch from iPhone to Android. The experiment will last until Tuesday, June 8, 2014, at that point I will decide if I will stick to the Mi3W as my main device and use the iPhone 5S as a secondary. Right now the iPhone is in a drawer. PODCASTS - I am podcast fanatic, I think they are great and on my iPhone and Mac, I use the amazing [ DOWNCAST APP ]. I have tried about ten podcast apps in my previous flings with the Android platform and all of them have not been a good experience. Well that all changes with [ POCKETCASTS by shiftyjelly ] it is a paid app at 159.41PhP and it’s fast, slick and easy to use. However it does not support enhanced podcasts, I hope this functionality is added in the future. MUSIC – The Mi3W’s player does not display album art, so I am using Google Play Music to play local files. Let us go int...

My current main device is a 32Gb iPhone 5S. Mostly I have relegated Android OS for my secondary device (for work or just to mess around with the OS) and usually I get the cheap low spec devices. My past Android device history shows this. HTC Hero HTC ChaCha Samsung Galaxy Pocket Samsung Galaxy S Duos Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 Xiao Mi Mi3W - current Since [ Xiao Mi Philippines ] was offering their Mi3W at a very affordable price I decided to get one. The Mi3W is not a low-spec device [ mi.com ] the specs are actually pretty good. It has KitKat and MIUI which is the skin from Xiao Mi. photo from mi.com site Now with the rumors that Apple will finally be releasing a bigger screen iPhone I think this is a good time to start getting used to a wider device. I must admit that I am not comfortable holding the Mi3W and I rely heavily on Keeep (full-disclosure I sell Keeep) to handle the larger device. Text input is also done with two hands instead of one, which is not ideal. ...

iPhone rumors and leaks are coming in, and since Apple is suing Samsung again. Some documents have become available and people are analyzing away... in the leaked court documents Apple admits that consumers want bigger screens (and more affordable iPhones) if we correlate this with the alleged drawings from a Japanese magazine from last month I think we can say that Apple is seriously considering bigger screens. Personally I am not over the moon about a wider device, the rumored smaller size iPhone is as wide a LifeProof case which makes it acceptable for me, the bigger size iPhone is a bit taller and is closer to size to a Note 3, which is really too big to be a phone. I think Apple would not care if a huge iPhone eats into the iPad mini market. Should Apple increase their screen size this round or should the company wait another cycle? Judging by my friends who have moved on to Samsung I would say yes they need to do it this round. Should they release both sizes or stick with i...

The following clips show the difference in response of Google Now for iPhone vs Android. Also added a Siri clip for comparison. Google Now Android Test Google Now iPhone Test Siri Test What's curious is the information being presented on Android has already been acquired by Google so why is it not showing up on the iPhone side? Keep in mind the iPhone app is behind the Android app.

As I mentioned in my previous post I am using my palm Treo Pro as a phone for my VRDC (work) SIM card. I got contacts & email (hosted on MSFT's Outlook.com) to sync using Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) however I am stuck on the calendar. The VRDC calendar which I share w/ my colleague is on Google Calendar. I've subscribed to the calendar via Outlook.com so I can see it online but since Windows Mobile 6.1 doesn't support multiple calendar sync the appointments are not pushed down to the Treo. So I decided to move VRDC calendar to Outlook.com, it was fairly easy to export the ics files from Google calendar and import them into Outlook.com. On Outlook.com After the ics files were imported into the main VRDC calendar, I unsubscribed from Google calendar (since those were now duplicates) On Apple iPhone 5S On Chrome Mobile (you can also use Safari Mobile)  went to https://www.google.com/calendar/syncselect  and un-selected VRDC In Mail, Contacts, Calendar - turne...

I'm a huge fan of LifeProof I have been using their cases since the iPhone 4 and I have had every version of their iPhone cases. So when I bought my 5S, I naturally ordered the fre for it. The LifeProof fre for iPhone 5S. Is basically the same as the fre for iPhone 5 with some slight modifications on the design. So I will be discussing those changes. #1 The lanyard loop for hand-straps is now gone. It has been replaced with a plastic attachment to hold the washer. While this is convenient and will certainly help keep your washer from getting lost. I still miss the lanyard loop. Lanyard loop is gone but your washer is secure #2 The flash optics has a bigger window. I do not usually use the flash but I think it is an improvement over the fre for iPhone 5. Bigger piece of glass for the flash optics #3 Of course the home button covering is the biggest change. It is a very thin plastic membrane which allows TouchID to work with the case. In my limited testing I got it to...

The iPhone 5 is no more, it will be replaced with the iPhone 5C (C is for color not cheap!) It will come in 2 capacities (16, 32Gb) and 5 colors (green, white, blue, pink, yellow)   Basically they made a poly-carbonate (plastic) backed iPhone 5 with more color choices, complete with over priced silicone cases. More info in the iPhone 5C If you own an iPhone 5 you may skip the iPhone 5C. Apple’s new flagship iPhone is the iPhone 5S. They are coming out in 3 capacities (16, 32, 64Gb) and 3 colors (Space Gray, Silver, Gold) these are the high-end iPhones and will have that glass and metal finish. The iPhone 5S will be running 64-bit operating system. They are saying it will perform better. They are selling over-priced leather case for this higher end device. As usual they made a big deal about the camera features. They also made a big deal about Touch ID, it’s fingerprint scanner which should improve security. I think I am most intrigued by this feature. Security made simpl...