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Hi all,
I am starting a series of videos that will look at every aspect of the Surface RT tablet. I do reviews on different aspects of the device, basic tutorials to learn how to use the device and app reviews on the best, most useful and free apps.
I have previously done very successful videos on the Asus Transformer Prime (150 videos) and the Nexus 7 (100 videos) but I see this as being my biggest project to date since Windows 8 is such a radical departure from previous version that I'll be posting many videos as I learn new and interesting things. Here are a few videos just to give you a flavour of my work.
I am literally scratching the surface (every pun intended) of this device and will be kicking out a couple of videos everyday for a good few weeks. I'll be updating this thread regularly. I hope you find them useful, entertaining and informative.
Thanks in advance,
vgjfelix
Cool - Couple of comments.
On the Tile Screen, if you drag one app way to the bottom, it will also shrink the size of the start screen overall, making it easier to drag long distances accross many groups. I am finding this crucial, since my start screen is getting really long - over 70 apps. Which brings me to my next comment - Hopefully MS or a 3rd party developer will come up with an option to group tiles into folders as you can do on Ipads and Android, as app management is going to be an issue with the current layout and no ability to group into folders
Regarding the charging cable - I am surprised you made no comment how tough it is sometimes to get the magnetic connection to seat properly and start charging even though it appears to be connected - I think MS failed on the design. Apparent in your video when you are using 2 hands to get it seated correctly. I had heard this can be fixed by filing the sharp edges of the connector but have not been brave enough to do it yet.
Other than that - Good job - Keep them coming . .
guitar1969 said:
Cool - Couple of comments.
On the Tile Screen, if you drag one app way to the bottom, it will also shrink the size of the start screen overall, making it easier to drag long distances accross many groups. I am finding this crucial, since my start screen is getting really long - over 70 apps. Which brings me to my next comment - Hopefully MS or a 3rd party developer will come up with an option to group tiles into folders as you can do on Ipads and Android, as app management is going to be an issue with the current layout and no ability to group into folders
Regarding the charging cable - I am surprised you made no comment how tough it is sometimes to get the magnetic connection to seat properly and start charging even though it appears to be connected - I think MS failed on the design. Apparent in your video when you are using 2 hands to get it seated correctly. I had heard this can be fixed by filing the sharp edges of the connector but have not been brave enough to do it yet.
Other than that - Good job - Keep them coming . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the comment. Thanks for the app drag tip. I am learning just like everyone else at the moment so whenever someone tells me something like this I think 'this needs a video' so I'll probably do one about it.
I have noticed since doing the plug review that is it a little tricky to connect up the charger. I might bring this up in a later video.
vgjfelix
Two more videos here.
First of all I know this review is completely out of number sequence, I just wanted to put this one up as soon as I did because this topic is important to me.
Font sizes. Once again another tablet fails to deliver when it comes to giving us the freedom to set font sizes how we would like. That's what we do a lot of the time with tablets, and you can always resize fonts in books readers. So why doesn't this extend to apps and the tablet (and I'm talking about tablets in general here) eco system as a whole. Well one app in this video proves it is possible with a brilliant feature.
And the second one: here begins my App-Snack videos. First one is a simple live clock and date tile:
vgjfelix
A quick look on my experiences (so far) of how the tablet lock and unlocks
If you use the legacy (non-Metro) control panel, you can adjust the DPI to enlarge text and everything in the screen. However, this may push the display below the minimum resolution to use metro-style apps.
This video is a quick test about using the tablet in a confined space:
Today is a quick look at an odd problem with the youtube reply button on the browser.
Just in case you didn't know. You don't have to get an official HDMI cable:
This is a video about some of my first impressions tile arrangement on the start screen:
This one is a quick look at the lack of uniformity when changing settings. Why is the same option accessed by different methods.
Another quick look, this time at frustrating experiences of the App store search function (am I really doing something wrong?):
As I start to get a grip on this operating system, more and more Basics tutorial videos will start to come out. In this one I look at the offscreen swipe gestures (on the startscreen).
Another quick look, this time at my shrinking storage:
Another quick look in this one regarding High Contrast Mode:
A look at an excellent Tech news app that's arrived early on Surface RT
A guide and impressions of the app store in this one:
In this video I show you how to quickly move tiles around your startscreen,
So the Surface RT is seriously telling me that it won't support the resolution of my television so I can't watch movies on it? Very disgruntled! Help someone!
A quick basic video about lock screen passwords.
--
UPDATE: I've decided to discontinue my work on Catena, the project is too heavily reliant on community, and the time investment required to make it successful was several magnitudes higher than what I could offer. If anyone is interested in continuing this project let me know.
If you're interested in any of my other projects check out my site at: http://www.creepybit.co.uk
--
Catena is an anonymous and location based instant chat client. The main purpose of Catena is to give you an anonymous outlet for calling out to others in your local area and meeting new people, without the burden of identity. Catena lets you chat in a typical instant chat environment, but also lets you post semi-permanent messages on a shared map, for the whole world to see!
Catena is free, there are no user accounts or signing up. The instant you install Catena you are able to chat. For those who need an identity, either to maintain a conversation or single yourself out for others, there is a type of disposable user name that you can change as often as you want. There are also chatroom like tags you can use that make your messages private and only viewable to others with the same tag.
You can find Catena on the Google Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Creepy+Bit
I also have a website up with more info at: http://creepybit.co.uk
I started development on this app when I couldn't find an anonymous alternative. I'm a single developer working in my spare time around work, but I'm currently still managing to push out almost daily updates. Catena is currently in Alpha stage, meaning I'm still adding and changing features, and I'm still modifying the server equipment.
I'd really appreciate it if you guys could give this app a go. Catena has been live for a week and I currently have around thirty users. The users I have thus far have given me really great feedback, and I think with some more hard work down the way I can make this a really great app that people will love.
I have similar idea for Android app. This is good idea, but when not enough people have this app, this is not good working. I wish you more and more downloads!
Sounds awesome. This sounds like the Love Section on Craigslist where people say, "Oh I saw this sexy woman at Walmart. Hope to see you again".
It would be great to leave messages up for like a day and be able to show your GPS route. That way, at the end of the day, you could retrace your day and see if anyone left you a note. Like, "To the hot guy sitting at the bar in the blue collared shirt. I think I love you".
I always wanted a personal area chat room.
It could also be used for marketing such as "Burgers tonight are top notch!". Perhaps if things take off, you could sell extended comments that last longer.
I haven't used it yet, but how would this program handle a single place with lots of chatter? Is it a single point on the map that links to a chat room style interface? 1 map point per comment would create clutter. In my mind, a single comment would just be a dot on the map which would open for dialogue. You'd also probably want to allow accessing ANY of those locations on the fly. So if I want to go get dinner at Red Lobster downtown, I can find the location on the map and read the comments left there. Perhaps someone says, "4 hour wait @ 7pm". Or actually having the ability to ask someone that is physically there to put your name on the list, haha.
I can see SO many possibilities for this.
So perhaps you can only START a chat based off your location but you can join ANY. Also it might be a good idea to be able to disable GPS in case someone is at their home and doesn't want anyone to know where they presently are (can't start a convo but can join one). You don't want to hear about how crazies are killing girls using your app. lol
[UPDATE]
I would do away with broadcast messages. Obviously they just annoying and childish. I would just show the dots to let you know there is a comment there, to open up the local chat for that dot. In the future, I would make the broadcasts a paid ad type thing. Like $20 a day... which is super cheap. Even right now, I could broadcast a business and 30 people would instantly see it.
As the app gets more popular, the map will get flooded with broadcasts and you'll be unable to even see the map. Icons should scale with the map. It's ok right now, but again, things may get crowded. You might also think about playing with the idea of making the icons semi-transparent so you can see the underlying map.
At this point I'm unsure how to even find other local chats; if it is even possible at all. All I see from the map are the broadcasts.
I just want to be able to create a chatroom at my GPS location and be able to have others leave comments. Right now, I see several broadcasts, but I can't chat with them. One was about a guy speeding. It would be fun to be able to go in that chat and leave a message like, "There is a guy going slow" or "That was me!"
player911 said:
Sounds awesome. This sounds like the Love Section on Craigslist where people say, "Oh I saw this sexy woman at Walmart. Hope to see you again".
It would be great to leave messages up for like a day and be able to show your GPS route. That way, at the end of the day, you could retrace your day and see if anyone left you a note. Like, "To the hot guy sitting at the bar in the blue collared shirt. I think I love you".
I always wanted a personal area chat room.
It could also be used for marketing such as "Burgers tonight are top notch!". Perhaps if things take off, you could sell extended comments that last longer.
I haven't used it yet, but how would this program handle a single place with lots of chatter? Is it a single point on the map that links to a chat room style interface? 1 map point per comment would create clutter. In my mind, a single comment would just be a dot on the map which would open for dialogue. You'd also probably want to allow accessing ANY of those locations on the fly. So if I want to go get dinner at Red Lobster downtown, I can find the location on the map and read the comments left there. Perhaps someone says, "4 hour wait @ 7pm". Or actually having the ability to ask someone that is physically there to put your name on the list, haha.
I can see SO many possibilities for this.
So perhaps you can only START a chat based off your location but you can join ANY. Also it might be a good idea to be able to disable GPS in case someone is at their home and doesn't want anyone to know where they presently are (can't start a convo but can join one). You don't want to hear about how crazies are killing girls using your app. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some nice ideas, I'll let you discover it but it's basically the world is just one huge chat room, but you filter the messages you receive by range. So it ends up being a digital "everyone shouts and you choose how far you listen" kind of thing.
If a small area gets really popular and you can't hold a conversation then there are things called Hash Tags. They're basically a short keyword you filter your messages by and it's sort of like joining a chat room. For example I could apply the hash tag "Crime" (like in the screenshot), and it basically means I only see messages from other people with "Crime" and they are the only ones that see my messages.
For the map I'm currently in the process of implementing an upvote system. Messages on the map (I call them Broadcasts) will expire after a certain period, that period is shorter depending on how busy the area is, you can extend the life of a broadcast by 'Bumping' it.
I'd love to add new stuff as I go along. But as it's been said, the key thing I'm lacking is users.
Ahhh I see about the "how far you listen" type range thing. Thats fun and all... but really hinders the usefulness.... well let me think, no I guess it wouldn't if you simply picked a restaurant and did a Spoof Location from that area. I would change that and label it as something like, "Chat from here" or something. Also need to intregrate the map better. Maybe have that as the initial screen that users see. It is a pretty map and looks fantastic. Opening the app to just see an empty chat is a let down. I would initially start zoomed out so you can see the surrounding areas and users online. Tap = popup "Chat from Here" button.
Also a slider for chat radius that displays as a blue circle around your location. Having to go into settings to set a number is kind of awkward.
Focus on the map and let users pop in and out of chat as will based on their location.
Broadcasts expiring based on how busy the area is, is a good idea. I had no idea about the bumping. "Bumping" a thread, I get it... but I when I bumped the broadcasts, it didn't do anything. Maybe just a simple vote system like "Was this helpful: -1 and +1". Because honestly most of those broadcasts are retarded. Peeing on the benches? Smelly Town? Sand Vaginas? The community needs to be able to down vote and get rid of those messages as badly as they need to up vote. Regardless of votes, Broadcasts should still naturally go away after a set time. Like broadcasts = 1 hour with 1 day max.
Also the hash tags, perhaps make it more user friendly... such as a button for "Create a Group" or "Join a Group".
player911 said:
Ahhh I see about the "how far you listen" type range thing. Thats fun and all... but really hinders the usefulness.... well let me think, no I guess it wouldn't if you simply picked a restaurant and did a Spoof Location from that area. I would change that and label it as something like, "Chat from here" or something. Also need to intregrate the map better. Maybe have that as the initial screen that users see. It is a pretty map and looks fantastic. Opening the app to just see an empty chat is a let down. I would initially start zoomed out so you can see the surrounding areas and users online. Tap = popup "Chat from Here" button.
Also a slider for chat radius that displays as a blue circle around your location. Having to go into settings to set a number is kind of awkward.
Focus on the map and let users pop in and out of chat as will based on their location.
Broadcasts expiring based on how busy the area is, is a good idea. I had no idea about the bumping. "Bumping" a thread, I get it... but I when I bumped the broadcasts, it didn't do anything. Maybe just a simple vote system like "Was this helpful: -1 and +1". Because honestly most of those broadcasts are retarded. Peeing on the benches? Smelly Town? Sand Vaginas? The community needs to be able to down vote and get rid of those messages as badly as they need to up vote. Regardless of votes, Broadcasts should still naturally go away after a set time. Like broadcasts = 1 hour with 1 day max.
Also the hash tags, perhaps make it more user friendly... such as a button for "Create a Group" or "Join a Group".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good stuff, I'd love to implement most of this. I'm very close to starting the up vote system so I'm not sure how I'll be doing it yet but I definitely plan to have down voting. Or at least a report button! Thanks for the post!
Love the idea but u might wanna look into integrating facebook n g+ somehow.
Sent from my SK17i using xda app-developers app
I agree, you need users and you should use social network to get them automatically
How about adding video chat for the devices with front camera?
What kind of social network integration would you want? Something like when you post a broadcast you get to share it on your wall? I'd be tempted to do something like that down the line.
Video chat would be hard because my server bandwidth would struggle to keep up, but I could certainly try adding an easy way to connect to other users and enter some sort of skype room or something.
I just uploaded version 31, this has the new upvoting and downvoting system. I called it Bump and Report just to be edgy and different (you love it), but the basic functionality is there. By default a Broadcast needs 10 reports to disappear, but the more it's bumped the more reports it'll take.
I'll see how it goes, there's room for lots of changes but it'll be server-side so I can do it over time in small increments.
Also, Yesterday evening I cleared the Broadcast database, which wiped out the whole map of Broadcasts. Clean slate now but it's looking rather barebones.
This weekend I'm possibly upgrading my servers again. You shouldn't notice any downtime though.
This is great! This has so much potential!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
great
Omg this is so cool The location spoofing is a great idea. I hope that you are aware that your app is unique and there is a lot of potential in it
Keep up the great work
Thanks guys
My current plan is going to be to add private messaging and some changes to client-server communication to fight spam (in anticipation). Is there anything else you guys feel should be added before I start the Beta phase? Once we're in Beta I'm going to be much more conservative with adding new features so now is the time to make a case. I'll consider practically anything.
This looks like it could be interesting.
Will keep an eye on it.
Hey guys, today I found out I'd apparently taken out server time synchronization at some point in the past. That's fixed now so there shouldn't be any odd problems with message order anymore. You might find that your messages appear in odd places but that's because your clock is offset from the servers time (not blaming you obviously, but I can't really fix that).
Version 32 is up, it includes some new stuff:
- haptic feedback on message receipt
- you can now disable the lingering tray icon
- Cast Range now defaults at 100,000km, I'll keep it like this until we reach a release version
Nice I see you are working on this really hard. Thats not a bad thing I'm looking forward for the private messaging feature
Hi everybody,
Our newest superphone the Galaxy S4 is full packed with cutting edge technology hardware but we already know that. But what about the so called “bloatware”. The S4 come with a series of new features to enhance the user experience and make the phone more than just a phone. Many of those features are at an early stage and may seems not so useful for the moment, but remember that it is often the case with new software. We all remember the quote from Ken Olsen CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation in 1977
There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which one is your favorite one? Which one do you think you will use the most? etc..
Features List (it’s a first draft, please notice me if I forgot some)
Auto unlock zone
You can add several "home" Wi-Fi networks and the lockscreen will be disabled when the Galaxy S4 hooks up to one of them. This way you can have a secure PIN lockscreen outside and a quick unlock at home or the office
(EDIT: Looks like a lot of devices are missing this feature. In the mean time you can use HOME UNLOCK for free from the market.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...xLDEsImNvbS5zdGtkZXZsb3BlcnMuaG9tZXVubG9jayJd)
Quick glance
It uses the proximity sensor to detect you reaching for the device and it lights up the screen that shows the time, missed call and message counters, battery charge and music track info.
Multi-window
It runs two apps side by side on the screen. You can adjust the division line giving one app more space. Only compatible apps can be used with Multi-window, for now that means mostly the ones that come preinstalled on the phone.
Note: Samsung is probably blocking apps on purpose since mods exist on the SGS3 forum allowing any apps to use Multi-window.
Air View
There's no need for the S Pen on the Galaxy S4 anymore - the phone can detect your finger hovering over the screen. This enables information preview (e.g. SMS text, calendar entry text and so on), previewing videos just by pointing to a spot in the timeline, the next track in the music player by hovering over the next button (works with previous button too), previewing folders, speed dial contacts, and magnifying links in web pages. Air view detects fingers 1cm / 0.5" away from the screen, so there's no danger of accidentally tapping the screen when you wanted to use Air View instead.
Air Gestures
You can use this to scroll web pages in the browser (vertical waves), switch between tabs (horizontal waves), move between tracks in the music player and photos in the gallery, accept a call and move app shortcuts and S Planner events.
Air Gestures can detect your hand up to 7cm (just under 3") and might prove useful in some situations.
Who will use this? Former iphone user who looking to look cool.
Smart Stay
Prevents the screen from locking as long as the front-facing camera can see your face (great for reading).
Smart Rotate
Uses the orientation of your face rather than accelerometer info to decide how to rotate the screen.
Smart Scroll
It allows you to scroll up and down by tilting the phone as long as you're looking at the screen. In effect, it's an accelerometer based scroll that prevents accidental scrolling by making sure you're paying attention to the screen.
Smart Pause.
It uses the front-facing camera to track your face and will automatically pause the video when you look away. Look back and the screen and the playback continues.
Camera Modes
The camera interface is based on the Galaxy Camera.
There are two virtual shutter keys (still and video) on the right, plus a mode button. Modes are picked from a carousel with descriptive images and text. At the bottom there's an up arrow for color effects - the cool thing is that all effects do a live preview, Samsung is really showing off the chipset's processing power here.
Dual shot mode
Snaps a photo with both cameras and presents them picture-in-picture style (think video call). You can move and resize the image from the front-facing camera that's taking a photo of you
360 photo mode
One of the rarest camera modes. It creates a spherical panorama like you see in Google Street View. (There's a regular panorama mode as well.)
Sound & shot mode
It snaps a photo and records a few seconds of background audio, which really gives photos an ambience.
Cine Photo mode
To have motion in your shots you can create cinemagraphs.
Eraser mode
Snaps a burst of photos and automatically detects moving objects and removes them. This is great for popular tourists attractions as it's quite difficult to get a photo of those without at least one person walking into your shot.
Drama mode
It takes multiple photos of a moving subject and creates multiple "clones" of it.
**3D Movies & Still
This is rumour to come in a future upgrade
Group Play
It shares various multimedia across multiple devices in the same room but unlike DLNA it's interactive.
One use case is to play a music track on the Samsung Galaxy S4 and use multiple phones as speakers. You can pick the role of each phone (e.g. left channel, right, all the way up to surround sound). This way you can control the music from one phone but use the loudspeakers of all
More useful are the options to share a picture or a document - you can have the same picture appear on everyone's phone and you can draw over it if you need to highlight a certain element of the image. Imagine this in a business meeting
Multiplayer games
Finally, it allows for multiplayer games to be played on several phones simultaneously. Of course, only supported games work
Samsung also introduced its new game controller.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
S-Link
Unlike Group Play, S-Link is intended for personal use. You can link the phone to a computer that is synced with Dropbox, SkyDrive or SugarSync and remotely access content on that device.
S Voice
Can be used to:
Initiate a call,
Dictate text,
Take pictures,
Play music,
Open an app,
Change a setting,
Make a memo (including voice memo),
Add a reminder,
Schedule an event,
Set an alarm or timer,
Check the weather,
Do a search on the internet,
Look for local listings (e.g. nearby restaurants)
Answer to a question.
Some features are available outside of S Voice, set the Galaxy S4 to answer a call or snooze an alarm by voice commands even when S Voice isn't running.
S Translator
It can translate between two languages using either typed text or by using speech recognition. It can read out the resulting translation too, if you don't thing your Korean accent can cut it. S Translator supports all the widely-spoken languages - English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and, of course, Korean. S Translator can be invaluable when traveling
This app can work together with Photo Reader, which employs Optical Character Recognition so you can just snap a photo of the text instead of having to type it in (which can be quite a challenge, imagine typing Chinese if you've never studied it).Photo Reader can read the text for you and sent it to S Translator
IR remote control functionality.
The app can control TVs, DVD and Blu-ray players, streaming media players and air conditioners. Devices are organized by rooms.
The app knows some home setups are messy - some let you change channels with the TV remote, others require you to use the set-top box remote for that. Same for the audio, you might be using the TV to output the sound or an AV receiver. The app will ask about your setup and present a unified remote control interface even if you have multiple hardware remotes to control all the devices.
I can already see the practical jokes you can do with this.
S-Health
Will track your steps, stairs climbed, and the ambient temperature and humidity, plus track your food intake and estimate calories consumed/burned. You can even track sleep with an optional accessory. There’s a wristband you can wear independently of the phone (in case you prefer running without it), which will track your steps and monitor the quality of your sleep. It will then sync wirelessly with the app. There’s also a connected scale and heart rate monitor.
So let’s discuss about these new features. I can see many aplications for most of these features in daily life. A lot of these features will unleash
their true power when combine with multiple phone.
<- A little thanks is aways appreciated
I think I'll actually use most of those features except multi window. I love the auto unlock feature. And I'm definitely getting a game pad when it is released
Sent from my Xperia Arc S using xda premium
1337RYoN said:
I think I'll actually use most of those features except multi window. I love the auto unlock feature. And I'm definitely getting a game pad when it is released
Sent from my Xperia Arc S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I'm surprised Samsung didn't talk much about the game pad, It looks awesome.
All this looks so awesome! I love that wifi lockscreen feature. Anyone know what kind of games will be able to play with the game pad? It looks like a 360.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
Kremata said:
Yes I'm surprised Samsung didn't talk much about the game pad, It looks awesome.
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Click to collapse
It's definitely gonna be a major competitor to Project Shield. The S4 + Gamepad is more portable and has way more features. The Shield's processing capabilities are either matched or bettered by the S4.
And since the S4 is going to be a huge seller, hopefully more game developers like Gameloft will hop onto the bandwagon and make their games compatible. It would be awesome to play Mc4 with that
Sent from my Xperia Arc S using xda premium
I am veey much interested to see how capable is Ir blaster. I would love it if it will control all my devices without nees of anything else. Surly a great thing to show off too, haha.
sent from: The New S-Pen
Project Shield is different, that uses your computer to play your computer games on the device remotely (at least that is one of its functions), but all the Samsung version needs is a way to stream games from the PC like Project Shield and then it would best it, with your computer doing all the work all it needs is some sort of remote viewer app with no delay.
In fact with project Shield being android based it could be more than possible you could just install the app and it would work (possibly with some hacking) actually come to think about it Nvidia could just sell the app make some money hat way as I don't see many people wanting a 2nd device just for games when they already have a phone.
This add-on controller to me it looks like a cheap attempt to counter Nvidias Project Shield.
I played with most consoles from cheesy monochrome to Gameboy and PSP. Touchscreens were the first to bring a new dimension into handheld gaming. I don't see any need to go back. Instead gamedesigners should rather focus on making the best experience for what the given hardware offers.
I don't feel like carrying around extra controllers with me.
The other, imho useless feature is "Smart Pause". When I watch a longer movie I sometimes look away from the display to just relax my eyes, but that doesn't mean playback shoud stop.
But in general: The more gimmicks the better
Game controller is cool idea but $110 is too much for me. Very expensive.
sent from: The New S-Pen
I agree much of the software is bloatware, but I will be disabling quite a lot of it, till I can root and remove things like chaton etc..
sohebq said:
I am veey much interested to see how capable is Ir blaster. I would love it if it will control all my devices without nees of anything else. Surly a great thing to show off too, haha.
sent from: The New S-Pen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the app will ask about your setup and present a unified remote control interface even if you have multiple hardware remotes to control all the devices. And it's supposed to come with a very complete database.
Soon you will start seeing people changing the channel of TV's in sports bar and public places. I don't know if Samsung thought about this. Oh boy.
sohebq said:
Game controller is cool idea but $110 is too much for me. Very expensive.
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Click to collapse
Because it's new, I'm sure the price will go down soon and more games will be added. It's still cheaper than buying another game player.
I like the air gestures and stuff, but I hate the embedded unremovable Chinese bloatware that comes with almost every phone one buys in China. How beautiful would it be if they were replaced by Google Apps.
how do i activate auto unlock zone ?
prodigiez said:
how do i activate auto unlock zone ?
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Click to collapse
If I remember correctly it's in the Lockscreen Settings->advanced
there is no advanced option in lockscreen setting.. :|
prodigiez said:
there is no advanced option in lockscreen setting.. :|
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Click to collapse
Are you on AT&T? Cuz the AT&T LTE version doesn't have this option, They replaced it with AT&T Smart Wifi.
im not on att.. i dont have both smart wifi and advanced option in lockscreen..
asia version i9505
What's the app for the remote control? (home theater stuff) Is it right in front of me and I'm missing it??
for some reason i'm finding the menu/touchwiz to be more responsive on my S3.. i've only had the phone for a few hours but i can see some slight lagging in the UI at times. phone does have tons more stuff installed than the S3.. i never rooted my sprint S3 since it ran pretty good and didn't seem so bloated, the S4 may change that.
Since we live in an age in which phones pack more computing power than PC’s from less than 10 years ago, the number of tasks we can accomplish with mobile devices grows very fast. Which means the functionality of applications gets better every day, to give us a faster way to achieve our goals, on a day to day basis. That’s why, a lot of automating apps these days try to stay on top of it for us. One of these aps is IFTTT – If This Then That.
Tasks we can accomplish with the app range from scanning for updates on RSS feeds, Ebay, Reddit or Youtube and connecting to different apps, like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and much more. For instance, we can receive a notification, if a new item is available on Ebay, or when we are tagged on Facebook. It all sounds great, but the question is how well does it work in the real world?
I installed IFTTT mostly in the hope to be able to stay on top of news and new items, which works really well and is really easy to set up. All you need to do, if you want to scan for specific items on Ebay, is to add a new recipe (+ button on top) and search for the Ebay trigger, select it, and activate the channel. After that, enter the search terms or keywords for which the recipe should be searching for. Now that the trigger is set up, we can choose actions or in other words, what should happen when we get a match. There are a lot of actions to choose from, like adding the item to a spreadsheet or text file on cloud based storage services, or simply sending an email to a friend that the item is available.
The procedure to scan the RSS feed of a website is also very straight forward. We simply select the RSS trigger, after we created a new recipe, and then we paste the feed link and enter the desired keywords, for which we are searching for. Now, we just need to finish the recipe with the desired action, and we are good to go. Anytime something with the desired keywords is posted, we know about it. IFTTT looks for changes every 15 minutes.
On the other hand this is not an app which is great in automating only device based actions. It is not meant for that, yet. The problem is not in triggers which give you more or less what you need, but in actions. Lets say I want to disable the pattern lock screen when I get home. While the trigger for a specific wifi SSID is available, the action for disabling the pattern lock screen is missing. We can only choose to change the ringtone volume and update the wallpaper under actions, which is actually pretty scarce. But this is not where its true power currently lies.
To sum it up, IFTTT is great for connecting together services or different apps like Twitter or Pocket and it is also very straightforward with the building of recipes. Anyone can do it. This is something that other automating apps are missing, which is why IFTTT fits right in. Nobody did provide such functionality in such a simple manner to this day...
IFTTT in Google Play
This thread is specially for people from India and people who recognise the Indian Talent across the globe.
Let me ask you a question : Who doesn't like to see his community name or country's name flashing in news ? Isn't it a proud moment for all of us?
Take an example of Xiaomi news braodcasting over news channel. You are running late but the moment you hear the news, your feet freez on floor and spearding a wide curve on your face, you look at the TV and smile proudly
The same case is with every nation and their people, beat it's India or China.
Today we are going to explore some cool featured applications which are "Made in India".
Hike Messenger
With instant messaging becoming such a huge trend since of late, it was only natural that India would not be far off the bandwagon. Hike is a communication app that offers both SMS and instant messaging in one single app. Developed by Bharti Softbank, a 50-50 partnership between Japans Softbank telecom provider and Indias Bharti Telecom, the app is the brainchild of Kavin Bharti Mittal. This cross platform messenger app is pretty similar to WhatsApp, but also allows users to communicate through SMS when they do not have access to data on the go, or mobile internet.
Features that make Hike worth trying are:
Invite each of your friend via SMS for FREE
Users can create group to chat with their friends and family members, even along with those who are not in Hike via SMS
Share videos, photos and other attached files up to 6MB via Hike or SMS to anyone
Simple User Interface will make you fall in love with it
No username or PINs required and Hike is always connected
Even if phone is switched-off, Hike saves the offline messages automatically so that users can read them later
All messages on hike are encrypted over Wi-Fi
Application can be moved to SD card also
Share your locations with friends
Pros:
Fast
Simple UI
Sends message to non-hike users as well
Free of cost
Cons:
Smileys and emoticons seems old
Few glitches while uploading multiple files
Download Links:
Google PlayStore
Real-Cricket-14
Created by India-based Nautilus Mobile, Real Cricket 14 promises ‘the most captivating cricket experience on mobile’. This addictive cricket game offers users never-seen before game modes, real ball physics, unique art styles, and tons more. A true must-have app for all cricket fans.
Real Cricket 14 is not a short burst game of a few overs though it can be played like that if you prefer so. But, if you like playing long games with 20 or 50 overs then that too can be played on Real Cricket 14. When you play on mobile or tablet you are not exactly looking for a long stretched game. Your battery consumption takes a heavy toll with this game and if you don't have a charging socket handy, you definitely won't want to take on an innings in the game. The game developers thought about this problem well and have programmed the game to auto save your progress at the end of each over. This way you can spend whatever time you want to play and when can't continue any longer you can just close the app and continue later whenever you want to.
You can select the number of players you want in the game, the overs and the information you need. A thin bar at the bottom of the game also displays useful information during the game like your present run rate, number of overs finished as well as the the number of balls remaining in the over.
Real Cricket 14 is a Freemium game which means that it has advertisements and in app purchases. You can remove the ads by making a one time payment of Rs.50. For the same amount you can unlock more features of this game like T20 World Cup, Knockout Trophy, Master Teams or Super Over.
Pros:
Intutive
Smooth control
multiple leage options
Cons:
Multiplayer Game mode
Download Links:
Google PlayStore
Signeasy
Signeasy, developed by IITian and ex Microsoft employee, Sunil Patro, allows users to sign documents digitally from pretty much anywhere in the world. Its accolades include becoming the second most downloaded app on the iPad as well as the 5th most downloaded on the iPhone worldwide. Currently, Signeasy has over 60,000 paying customers and has crossed the 2 million download mark. It is available on various cloud services like Google Drive, Evernote, and AppSense.
The app lets you import documents (it supports PDF, Word, Excel, Text, Open Office, HTML, Apple Pages, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP formats) from your photo library, email, and from popular cloud storage services such as iCloud, Dropbox, Evernote, Box, OneDrive, and Google Drive. Once imported, the documents show up in the app's main screen. Tap any document to open it and tap the big blue button at the bottom and tap signatures to select your signature.
Pros:
Enhanced Security
Time Savings
Easy Accessibility
Improved Customer Service
Better Communication
Environmentally Friendly
Efficient Audits
Cons:
In-App purchase could be costly affair but manageable for business needs
Download Links:
Google PlayStore
Shifu
Shifu is a popular Indian-made productivity and task management app that observes how a users uses their phone and reminds them about all the tasks that need to be done. The app has been developed by Deepansh Jain, Michael Massey and Prashant Jain. Instead of you having to set specified time for your specified tasks, Shifu alerts you when you might have the free time to complete a particular task. It has wi-fi based, phone call based, and location based alerts integrated into it. So far, Shifu has 50k downloads on the app store.
One of the big upsides of using an Android phone is the sheer scope of customisation that is available to users. Rooting your phone and choosing a completely different version of the operating system isn't hard, but otherwise there is a whole laundry list of apps that can change everything from the way your phone looks to the way it works.
Shifu, by Delhi-based The Signals, is one such app, which lets you outsource the job of remembering what's important and when to do it. The app keeps running in the background and tracks how you're using your phone. It also requires access to your phone's calendar. So it knows, for example, that at 9AM every day, you're traveling from home to office, and it knows that you're going to take half an hour to get there.
Shifu is a personal assistant app, which helps you record reminders with respect to time, place and some activities.
The Homepage
Here are some use cases for the app –
General time based reminders – Remind me to call mom/dad/girlfriend at 7:00 pm every day.
Location based reminders – Say you’re visiting a cafe for the first time and you really like it, you can set a reminder to remind you of this place the next time you’re in it’s vicinity.
Activity based – Currently, you can set reminders based on networks you’re connected to (WiFi, 3G etc) or when you’re on a call with someone.
In the process, Shifu does something obnoxious as well – it displays these reminders on your phones home screen. I hate that, but it is definitely one the most effective way of reminding me.
Another reminder app?
I might be a little biased against reminder apps; I still don’t think a disorganized person will become organized because of a reminder app. It is a mindset problem of not caring for the more mundane but necessary tasks of life. These tasks pile up and your life becomes a mess (trust me, I know).
The homescreen reminder display
However, a nag, who holds you accountable has been the closest to getting me responsible and organized. I get the same feeling with Shifu. For things that I haven’t attended to, it makes sure that I know about it with it’s homescreen reminder. It’s ugly, but at least it gets me back into the app to get rid of the reminder notification. Sometimes, I even do the tasks that it reminds me to do.
Pros:
The biggest pro with Shifu is that it has realized what it takes disorganized guys like me to take it seriously. Apart from this, it is feature rich and some of the activity based reminder options are pretty cool and I hope more activities are integrated with Shifu. For example, reminder on using an app excessively (game/social media etc) would be a neat feature.
Cons:
The app is data and sensor intensive and there is a visible drop in battery performance that I’ve experienced since I installed the app. However, this is something that the app developers might want to be wary of. Furthermore, if there was a prettier way of displaying notifications on the homescreen, it would be greatly appreciated.
Download Links:
Google PlayStore
Hope the information was informative to you and you will be considering trying few or all of it in near future.
If you have any suggestion, comment or feedback, feel free to drop it in comment section below.
Good job mate ! there is no need to create this op but nevermind . running out of thanks