The Beanster Blog

While I appreciate the lengths that XiaoMi has gone to make their default MIUI skin very familiar to an iPhone user such as myself. I know this is nit-picking but we all know that the devil is in the details. Here are some details they hit and missed in my view… Music & audio playback, the default app doesn't display album art. All of my music has been tagged in iTunes and the album art is not recognized. This is annoying. The lock screen also displays only the barest of media information. Sometimes when you use another audio app it displays the wrong info namely the last tracked played on the default app or nothing which I think is sloppy execution. And here is a detail they did get right. Dynamic Weather Icon -The weather icon changes and displays current weather. ARE YOU LISTENING APPLE? IT IS POSSIBLE, DAMN YOU! I also like that the default alarm has the weather. One of the best things about Android is that you can change the default apps for most of the ...

Day 3 on my experiment of going full Android with the XIAOMI Mi3 XIAOMI PHILIPPINES is selling an additional 2,000 units of the Mi3 04-July-2014 at 11:00AM visit http://www.lazada.com.ph/mi/ . If you want to get one I suggest you create an account today and then start refreshing the lazada site 5 mins before the item goes on sale.  I am still struggling with the size of the device and there is still a sense of un-ease because I am using it without a case. Speaking of cases, the Mi3 Flip case is no longer marked "coming soon" but I still cannot order it from lazada. Odd. I have found that the plantronics [ Find MyHeadset ] app is not compatible (immediately crashes upon launch with no error messages). I also think that the iPhone handles media & calls better, one time I was playing a podcast using PocketCasts and a call came in but the podcast did not pause playback and I had an active call with a podcast playing. I am not sure if the person on the other line hear...

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. ...

Semi lifehack: you're delivering chocolates to your god kids and you forgot to bring an ice chest. Put on the car AC full blast all vents down place chocolates near vents. Hope that the chocolates don't melt before you get there.

Companions Galore! Joined a fellow DH clan-mate in a bounty run and I saw that he had all the companions out. So I asked him how he did it.  He informed me that it came from a set bonus. It's from the "Embodiment of Marauder" set and set bonus for 4 pieces. In another game another player gave me his double of [ Marauder's Spines ] and since I already had [ Marauder's Carapace ] and [ Marauder's Treads ] A gift from another player! Thank you! That makes 3 items! Fortunately I had a [ Ring of Royal Grandeur ] which lowers the set bonus requirement by 1. Unfortunately my ring is a low level version which dropped on another character so hopefully I get a level 70 in future runs.  Ring of Set Bonus!!! I am not sure if I will be running with this set for very long, the novelty of having all the pets out might not last too long. Not really interested in the sentry bonus cause I don't use sentries. 

This legendary templar relic dropped on a rift run.  Glorious!!!