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Monday, July 30, 2012

Microsoft Confirms SW Upgrade for Touch Mouse; Brings Windows 8 Support!


Just the other day I mentioned how excited I was to try out the touch mouse on Windows , well Microsoft have officially announced that the update is coming, SOON! for FREE!

Here's a list of the functions to be supported:

  • A one finger swipe will allow you to move side to side or up and down, shifting content on your screen.
  • Two finger movements manage apps, allowing users to display Windows 8 charms, switch through open apps and show app commands.
  • Three finger movements will let you zoom in and out.
  • Thumb gestures navigate backward and forward through apps.


VIA

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Microsoft Mouse Gestures Reviewed


A while back I posted a couple pictures of the "Microsoft Touch mouse" and promised you a full coverage of the functions/gestures supported; well here it is.

As soon as you connect the mouse to your Laptop/PC it automatically downloads the drivers (no need for those pesky CDs) as well as a tutorial program that teaches you how to use all the mouse gestures.

The groove down the middle separates the mouse into left and right side for right button/left button clicks.

The basic gestures are:
  • Single Finger Scrolling- Just dragging a single finger up or down scrolls across the page
  • Two Finger Panning Up/Down- Dragging two fingers upwards or downwards toggles between Full screen and windowed mode (maximize/minimize), while two consecutive swipes downward of a maximized window will dock it into the taskbar
  • Two Fingers Panning Left/Right- Swiping to the left or right with two fingers will "justify" the current window onto the right or left half of the screen (Splits the screen)
  • Three Finger Panning Up/Down- Swiping up with three fingers will bring up a really neat multitasking view that allows you to switch quickly between open applications/folders (as seen in the image below), swiping with three fingers downwards will automatically dock any open window into the taskbar regardless if its maximized or minimized.

  • Thumb Flicks Left/Right-  This gesture was a little tricky to get the hang of , basically you first have to grip the mouse in a normal fashion (fingers on top, thumb against the side of the mouse) then from this position either move your thumb towards the center of the mouse (Right) or towards the surface of your desk/mousepad (left); these gestures are used to navigate Forward/Back in webpages and folder directories.
Overall the gestures on the mouse become very natural, almost second nature; making switching back to any other mouse a pain a nuisance, the two gestures I use most are the "thumb flick: for navigating webpages as well as the "dock to right/left" to help organize my open applications/folders.

Verdict: The Microsoft touch mouse is pretty darn awesome, good looking and extremely useful, I really hope it's supported on Windows 8 as it would make scrolling through the Metro Desktop a breeze.

If you feel like picking one up you can get the Touch mouse from Amazon for $28 for the black version and $22 for the White "cheque" artist version (super saver shipping available).

Monday, July 2, 2012

Crazy Curved Keyboard Leaked from WP8!!!

curvedy keyboard

This has got to be the craziest idea I've seen in a very long time, the image above is taken from a leaked presentation  from the WP research team, as you can clearly see the keyboard is for lack of a better word "whacky" as it curves to make all the letters accessible by one thumb only (for one handed typing); this would surely come in handy with those large screens such as the Titan 2 with it's 4.7" of display as well as the Lumia 900 whose 4.3" might be too much for those of us with smaller hands.

It appears as if it's a mix of a T9 keyboard with the normal QWERTY layout as each "key" has three letters, it's worth noting that as of now WP only has a single keyboard (counting portrait and landscape as one) with no option to use a 3rd party keyboard so it wouldn't be that crazy to see a new keyboard coming along with WP 8.

Would you ever use a keyboard this crazy?

VIA

Random Dude Trashes T-Mobile Store in Manchester

Here's a nice change of scenery, always goes to show how thoughtful customers are towards their service providers, I guess this guy had one too many calls dropped by T-Mobile so he decided to take it out on the store in Manchester.....



One question though, why was that security guard just standing around watching,is it against UK laws to use force against an unarmed person?? Also I've never seen someone look so happy while being arrested.

Pureview 808 Available From SmartBuy; Comes With Free Tripod - 450 JD



It's rare that we ever get any special offers from Nokia officially here in Jordan, since it would seem that nobody cares about us; for example almost every single country out there has had some sort of deal involving a Play 360 speaker or the Monster headphones, here? They don't even exist! I asked the Nokia store were I could get some 360s and they said "Nokia doesn't make speakers".

Regardless this deal is pretty nice, through SmartBuy (Jordan's version of BestBuy or hhGregg) if you purchase the Pureview (available in White and Black with red coming soon) you can get a free tripod mount + the tripod itself (the two on the right of the image) for 450 JODs (around $630):
 

You would not believe how hard I've looked for a mobile tripod that is NOT an iPhone and finally this comes around

Saturday, June 30, 2012

So my Lumias Won't get Wp8; I Don't Care, You Shouldn't Either

 
 So the news has been out for a while now that the current range of WPs won't be getting the next major Overhaul AKA WP8 or WP Apollo; guess what? It doesn't matter since my Lumias are "Content". No, Not content as in "The things that are held or included in something." but the other more peaceful definition:

con·tent/kənˈtent/

Adjective:

In a state of peaceful happiness

Noun:

  1. A state of satisfaction: "the greater part of the century was a time of content".
Allow me to explain why, first of all we need to delve into the age-old question, "Are updates a Right or are they a gifted privilege??", Keep in mind when I say updates I mean MAJOR Updates adding NEW features and not just bug fixes. Personally I can't see a clear black or white answer to this issue, there are countless factors that affect the answer but let's take some examples.

Caution! Personal views below; if you're incapable of carrying a civilized conversation this would be your moment to exit.

Case A: If the Update was promised BEFORE/WITH the launch of the device,  the best example I can think of for this case is the Sony Xperia S, the 12mp shooter from Sony released early this year; although the phone did not launch with ICS (Android 4.0) early adopters and all future adopters were promised the update; in this case it is the companies DUTY to deliver on this update as it's a major decision factor; i.e. choosing between One X vs Xperia S the OS would be removed from the comparison as it's a promised upgrade. In this case the ONLY excuse for a device NOT to receive this update is complete bankruptcy; even if Sony had decided to stop producing Android phones and move to WP it would still be their duty to deliver the update to their users.

Case B: If the Update was not promised before the product launch but is crucial for the phone to be taken seriously (More important in Flagship devices); clear example is the N8 launching with the crappiest half-baked OS in the world, without a proper keyboard or split screen typing. I've said it before, even though I purchased an N8 in release week for a CRAZY amount of money releasing the Stock S^3 as it was on the N8, C7 and E7 is a crime against both the phone and the user. in this position I would consider the Anna update which brought some crucial fixes and updates a RIGHT to all the users, Belle is a nice touch but it wouldn't qualify as a "rightful update" as it was mostly UI changes and didn't do much to enhance the actual core functions of the phone.

Case C: The update was never mentioned or promised and the phone itself works fine. This is obviously where all the Lumias land in regards to WP8; never did any Nokia official go on record stating that they would get them, nor is there a gaping flaw in the Usability of the OS itself that would deserve similar treatment (this is where the "you shouldn't buy a phone you're not COMPLETELY satisfied with at the moment of purchase" argument might come in,  the reason I'm not demanding Bluetooth transfer or file manager on my Lumais is because WP is a closed OS; asking for this feature would be requesting a change in an integral part of the OS which is definitely not your right). For this group of phone users any update received should be considered a "gift" as the phone is not crippled by a software defect, if any change does occur that requires a bug support/fix then it would be considered their duty to provide the customer with this simple fix (example: if facebook changed its APIs stopping notifications from loading in the people hub; you would have the right to ask for a fix).

As you should have surmised from above my Lumias would fall into category C; meaning that users should be Content (see definition above) with what they've gotten (as well what's to come= Tango + WP 7.8 which qualify as Case A). I personally have yet to see a single Lumia (or any WP owner) who thinks they've gotten a sour deal with the WP 7.8 update, besides the fact that the Lumia 900 has the highest satisfaction rating of any phone on the internet (which usually means users aren't in need of an update) Nokia has promised a slew of awesome apps that nobody knew was coming (I'm really looking forward to the data counter app).

In a nutshell I love my stormtrooper I still smile everytime I pick it up; sure I'd love WP8 but I don't demand it nor did I expect it, a new start screen is nice to keep the spice in things though; in short if you think your phone deserves an upgrade then chances are an update won't make you feel much better since you're "settling"; don't settle- find true love, for me it was the stormtrooper who knows what yours is?

Lost My Lumia 800 to My Dad- Awkward.








So this is a tad bit awkward, a couple weeks ago when I was in Chicago (around the time I got my stormtrooper) my dad came and asked for a spare phone to use his T-Mobile sim on (he carries an S2 and an iPhone 4) so i gave him my Cyan Lumia 800 that was sitting in my bag ignored after I had gotten my Stormtrooper.

After setting it up and showing him how simple the tiles were and pinning myself and all our family to the start screen he went on his way... I never saw the phone again. I'm no really sure where it is as he's not using it (that was only temporary) and I feel it would be bad taste to ask him for it, so I'm basically back to one WP. #FirstWorldProblems

Also if anyone in Chicago finds a Lumia 800 forgotten in a hotel room somewhere let me know please.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Umniah Launched 3.75G in Jordan... Starts Lying

Basically Umniah in Jordan have FINALLLLLLLYYYY stopped using Edge for their mobile data (for the record they're the last mobile provider in Jordan to do so), now they've come up with 3.75g or Umniah EVO; what is it? Basically a big bucket of lies.

3.75G gives you THE SAME exact browsing/download speeds that you get on 3.5G (which is HSDPA+ by Zain); and that's only attainable when your sitting inside the Umniah/Zain labs- now ehre in jordan will you ever get the full speeds so the minimal difference is pointless; it's just a branding to trick people who don't know what's going on- for those who would like to know here's some numbers about the lack of difference between 3.5G & 3.75G:

3.5G

HSUPA upgrades the uplink for higher
data transfer speed and
capacity of 1.4 ,1.9 ,5.8
Mbps. 

HSUPA name is given by Nokia and used in its phones only
but 3GPP does not
support this name.
HSDPA High-Speed
Downlink Packet Access
having faster speed from 1.8 ,3.6 ,7.2 to 14
Mbps. 

3.75G

HSPA High Speed Packet Access is a
combination of HSUPA
and HSDPA that
improves the
performance of W-
CDMA and can attain speed 21Mbps to
28Mbps. HSDPA High-Speed Downlink Packet Access
having faster speed
from 1.8 ,3.6 ,7.2 to 14
Mbps.

So yeah Basically almost NO difference, unless your in china and need a CDMA which last I checked Jordan does not belong to China. a

Monday, June 18, 2012

Lumia 900 Macro Mode test


The other day I took my new stormtrooper to the museum of science and industry in downtown Chicago; there was a nice little minature/Model city of Chicago on display there so I decided to test out the Macro Mode filming on the Stormtrooper; your thoughts?

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

My new Stormtrooper is HERE!!!!



Yes the time has come! My new beautiful love has reached, and I are so happy!.

Oh an unboxing video you say? sure here you go:



Still not satisfied? Wanting for something more? perhaps a gallery?