Microsoft!!!

Hands-on: Microsoft’s HoloLens is flat-out magical

2015: The year that sci-fi becomes real.

The HoloLens headset.

Microsoft

Ars at the Windows 10 event

• In pictures: Windows 10 on phones and its universal apps
• Gallery: Spending a few minutes face-to-face with Windows 10
• Microsoft’s new interface: FREAKING HOLOGRAMS
• New Windows 10 preview comes to PC next week, to phones in February
• Windows 10 includes in-home game streaming from Xbox One

View all…

For the second time in as many months, I feel like I’ve taken a step into the world of science fiction—and for the second time in as many months, it’s Microsoft who put me there.

After locking away all my recording instruments and switching to the almost prehistoric pen and paper, I had a tantalizingly brief experience of Microsoft’s HoloLens system, a headset that creates a fusion of virtual images and the real world. While production HoloLens systems will be self-contained and cord-free, the developer units we used had a large compute unit worn on a neck strap and an umbilical cord for power. Production hardware will automatically measure the interpupillary distance and calibrate itself accordingly; the dev kits need this to be measured manually and punched in. The dev kits were also heavy, unwieldy, fragile, and didn’t really fit on or around my glasses, making them uncomfortable to boot.

But even with this clumsy hardware, the experience was nothing short of magical.

Microsoft calls it holography. I’m not sure if it really is (Wired describes HoloLens’ “light engine” as having a “grating,” so perhaps it really is using interference patterns to reconstruct light fields rather than providing the same simple stereoscopic 3D found in VR systems), but this is a detail that only pedants will care about. (Though if it is true holography, it should solve the focus issue that many people find with existing 3D systems.)

However it works, HoloLens is an engaging and effective augmented reality system. With HoloLens I saw virtual objects—Minecraft castles, Skype windows, even the surface of Mars—presented over, and spatially integrated with, the real world.

It looked for every bit like the holographic projection we saw depicted in Star Wars and Total Recall. Except that’s shortchanging Microsoft’s work, because these virtual objects were in fact far more convincing than the washed out, translucent message R2D2 projected, and much better than Sharon Stone’s virtual tennis coach. The images were bright, saturated, and reasonably opaque, giving the virtual objects a real feeling of solidity.

Minecraft comes alive

We ran through three interactive demos and watched a fourth. My favorite was Minecraft. I was in a room with a couple of tables and a picture on the wall. After putting on the headset and looking around the room so that the HoloLens could figure out where everything was, the world around me suddenly transformed. The table was no longer just a table. It had a big castle on it, with a river flowing beneath. The middle of the table was no longer there; I could peer through the hole to see the river below. As I moved around the room, I could examine the castle from all angles.

My attention was then turned to a second table which had something of a zombie infestation. Fortunately, the foolish zombies were clustered around a block of TNT. Detonating the TNT blasted through the table, revealing a lava pit below. The zombies toppled through the hole and fell to their deaths.

The picture frame on the wall now housed more TNT. Triggering it revealed a large cavern beyond—and out flew a bunch of blocky bats.

Through it all, the 3D effect was thoroughly convincing. The system felt very low latency; as I moved my head and walked around, the objects retained their positioning in the real world, with the castle, for example, never becoming detached from or wobbling around on the table. While Minecraft of course falls some way short of having photorealistic graphics, the melding of real and physical nonetheless felt convincing.

Enlarge / Minecraft leaking into reality.

Microsoft

If Microsoft can get the price of HoloLens right, it could become the must-have Minecraft accessory at Christmastime. Microsoft’s decision to buy Minecraft‘s developer all of a sudden makes sense.

Using Skype

A Skype demo was intriguing. I, with the headset, was talking to a person using regular Skype on a Surface Pro 3. The person was helping me wire up a light switch (and it seems that, yes, it was a real light switch with real electricity running through it). My assistant saw the world through my eyes; I saw him on a floating Skype pane that I could pin in place, where his head would remain. Using his Surface Pro 3 pen, the assistant drew diagrams showing me how to wire the switch up, pointing out which tool I should use for each task.

Enlarge / We weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the HoloLens experience, and helpfully, Microsoft’s image demonstrating the Skype experience shows someone changing a plumbing fixture rather than wiring up a light switch. The effect is much the same, mind you.

While I’m not so sure about the specific situation of using Skype to perform simple home repairs, the ability to overlay directions and guidance onto the real world feels like something that could be valuable in all manner of technical fields. The ability to see things through someone else’s eyes is also intriguing. It almost brings to mind the film Strange Days, and I’m sure we can all remember what the S.Q.U.I.D.s were used for there; I imagine that HoloLens will find similar use cases.

Mission to Mars

Our third and final demo took me to the surface of Mars. I walked around a 3D world constructed from data captured by the Curiosity rover. (NASA intends to use HoloLens to explore data from Curiosity and collaboratively make decisions on how the rover should spend its time.) The experience reinforced just how immersive this kind of augmented reality can be; the Martian imagery obliterated most of the room I was in, except for a computer workstation. I joked that I was surprised to see a computer desk on the Martian surface, because that’s what I was seeing.

Further Reading

Microsoft’s new interface: FREAKING HOLOGRAMS

Introducing Windows Holographic and its wearable partner, the HoloLens.

The Mars demo extended the HoloLens experience in a few ways. In Minecraft and Skype, the interactivity was provided by a mix of voice command and hand gesture—a sort of finger wag serving as a mouse click—with the cursor driven by the direction I was looking. On Mars, I could use a mouse cursor to perform finer manipulations.

On Mars I was also joined by a second person, who appeared before me as a sort of golden apparition. This other person was using HoloLens, too, and so I could see a gaze line emanating from the face, showing me exactly what was being looked at. The apparition talked to me about some of the rocks and how they indicated that we were likely standing in what was once a lake bed.

Finally, the one non-interactive demo showed off HoloStudio, Microsoft’s 3D modeling application for HoloLens. We saw a koala in a space suit and a monster truck assembled in front of us, again using a mix of voice and gesture control. Microsoft described this as “print preview for 3D printing;” by projecting the objects in 3D space and integrating them with the real world, artists and designers can get a sense of just how their objects will look before sending them to the 3D printer.

The future

Is this the future? In a few years’ time will we do away with computer screens and walk around with magical 3D glasses? I don’t know about that. Traditional screens are better for shared viewing, don’t have battery life concerns, don’t require headgear, and so on and so forth.

But HoloLens certainly felt like part of the future. It excites me. I imagine a world of gaming that interacts with the environment around me. A world where designers and engineers can manipulate virtual 3D objects JARVIS-style, simply by using their hands. A world where I can sit at my desktop PC and have a monitor that’s near infinitely large and totally private. I don’t know exactly what people will use HoloLens for, but it feels very much like the killer app is out there, just waiting for someone to develop.

I felt it to be a much more compelling future than VR, too. The VR systems I’ve tried make me feel too detached from the outside world, to a degree that I find disorienting. Also unlike VR systems, HoloLens didn’t make me want to instantly vomit. It felt very natural.

I would like to know why Microsoft didn’t go this route (as others are doing) and wonder if it would be easy to offer a blackout mode that did obscure the view of the outside world for a VR experience—such a thing may not be to my tastes, but others seem to enjoy them.

I also find myself anticipating future iterations of the technology; I can imagine a HoloLens with pupil tracking, for example, so the cursor could follow my eye movements rather than my head movements.

Microsoft wowed me with HoloLens. I’m already impatient for production hardware, and I can’t wait to see what people do with this.

Mac Classic?

The designed at  CURVED/labs took up the challenge to figure out what a 30th anniversary version of the iconic. Mac Classic might look like. The based their design on the current components of a Macbook Air with an 11-inch screen. However, they transformed it into a touchscreen so you can choose whether to control it via mouse and keyboard or type directly on the 11.6 inch touchscreen. There are also some nice touches like honoring the detail that Steve Jobs wanted the Macintosh to have a face so at the spot located under the screen, where the drive for 3.5-inch disk sat, you will now find a slot for SD cards, the FaceTime camera, speakers and a microphone. All of this makes for one impressive look computer that is a fantastic tribute to the past while reflecting the current state of design.

I finally get to look Cool & Wireless: Beats Solo 2

Well, Well, Well…. Look what came in the mail. I love surprises! It’s the new Beats Solo 2 Wireless. “Designed for Sound, Tuned for Emotion”.  It’s also tuned to make your wallet just a bit lighter at a $299.95, but hey you can get them in 4 different finishes.  Alright here we go.

Just in case you have been living under a rock for the past few months, Apple Computer Inc. bought the Beats headphones and fledgling online music service.  For 3 billion dollars, I just want to say that again, 3 billion dollars.  Although vague Apple really hasn’t said what it plans to do with Beats. If you want my opinion they will retire the Beats online music service and just sell the headphones in their stores until they are no longer cool, and then retire them too.  Just from reading this you might think I’m not a big fan of the beats headphones, well yes and no they are decent sounding on the ear headphones, not sure they are worth the $299.95 price tag, but hey we’ll get into that now

Here they are the new Stone Grey Beats Solo2 wireless on the ear headphones the first product that has come out since the Apple acquisition.  The packing is very well done, easy to open, and they come in a handy neoprene case.  Also included is a very nice micro usb cable for charging, 3.5 mm cable for you to still be able to connect your Beats when they are dead.  Awesome! One more cable for me to carry.  Hey at least the wired connection has a mic for you to use them as a head set for your phone.

I’ve been using these headphones for about a week for the most part I do like these headphones, they are comfortable, light and look really nice. OK, OK I look trendy, and that makes you instantly cool.  Over the course of the week, I did notice an issue with the headphones dropping the Bluetooth connection.  I have been using them with my iPhone 6 plus, at times I would have to “reboot” the headphones or go into my Bluetooth settings and reconnect them.  At times I would hear a loud beep in the headphones, as they would reconnect as I was going about my day, I thought I would note that just because it annoyed me just a bit.

I know that the Beats brand gets a bad rap about “not sounding that great”  These headphones do sound good, but they are on the ear headphones, not over the ear headphones. So things like TV’s, background noise, and conversations are still heard while using them, which makes the audio quality slightly less. I have to admit I am more of a fan of the over the ear, which they didn’t send me, but I might like those a bit more.

A really cool feature of the Beats Solo2 is on the left ear cup you can switch songs and adjust the volume without taking the phone out of your pocket, I found this really useful when walking, and doing my daily tasks.  The battery life for me was fantastic, I didn’t have to charge them until after the 5th straight day of use.  How long will these last?  This has been worrying me since I have been using them.  Plastic is the only way I can describe them, everywhere you look and touch is plastic. The first thing that I feel will go is the hinge on the ear cups, for that reason I wouldn’t fold and unfold them a bunch. They kind of make a plastic snap every time they click into place.  You will have to take care of these things and treat them as fragile cargo. Again I’m always afraid of breaking my stuff ;). Hey! I’m poor, and can’t go out and afford $300.00 headphones every time they break. If you can great! Also if can afford to do that, and are a single attractive female please email me. 😉

The Wrap Up:

The price tag – $300.00 Bad
Bluetooth Wireless Headphones – Cool and nice at times
Make you cool – Yes they do and people will ask a lot of questions, so be ready

Really and truly the wireless function was great, but really only came in handy 2 times out of the whole week.  The first one was keeping my phone in the nice warm garage while I shoveled my driveway.  The headphones do sound good, I won’t say great because they just aren’t there yet. They aren’t noise canceling, and let too much ambient noise in.  If you have to have wireless headphones, then these would definitely be the way to go.  If you don’t, then a decent pair of over the ear headphones in the $80-$100 range at Best Buy would take care of you just fine. Sure they might be a little more bulky, slightly harder to carry around, but they will leave a little more jingle in your pocket.

Yay! Another SmartWatch! Sony SmartWatch 3

Is it bad that I thought North Korea was keeping tabs on me while I tested this new Android Wearable From Sony?

Yes it’s the new Sony SmartWatch 3. Sure it sounds new and improved like  it’s the third version in a line of gadgets, but really, it’s the first. Sony’s first two watches ran it’s own proprietary platform, which, while Android-friendly, didn’t have nearly the same experience as Google’s Android Wear. It’s great that Sony is finally giving up some control, but the SmartWatch 3 isn’t ground breaking, and really late to the party letting rivals like Motorola, LG and Samsung take over. Here we go!

Pros

• Built-in GPS is ideal for runners and other athletes
• WiFi and NFC make this more future-proof than other Android Wear devices
• Long battery life
• Display is easy to read in direct sunlight, which actually blew my mind

Cons

• Crappy Design
• Not many Android Wear apps currently make use of the GPS, WiFi or NFC, which is probably why other manufactures haven’t included it yet.

Hardware

While some Android Wear watches like the Moto 360 and the ASUS ZenWatch make attempts at trying to look cool and fashionable, Sony’s SmartWatch 3 seems to say, no thanks we won’t do our hair, and makeup before we leave the house. Really the Sony SmartWatch 3 is just the sweat pants trip to Walmart. In all honesty it’s really just a square with a rubber wrist strap. It definitely gives it more of a sporty, utilitarian look than a fashionable one.

The good news the watch isn’t bad to wear nor is it uncomfortable. The strap is coated in what feels like a soft-touch plastic material, and the weight of the core watch unit is only 45 grams (with the strap, it’s about 74 grams). It’s relatively easy to take on and off thanks to a simple metal clasp, which you can adjust to fit the size of your wrist which for me is a big deal (I have tiny girl wrists). The watch might jostle around a bit when you’re running, but on the whole I found it pleasant enough to wear on a daily basis.

The SmartWatch 3’s wrist strap comes in four different colors: white, black, pink and green. You can easily switch wrist straps by pushing the watch out of the rubber enclosure, and push it into a new strap. Which kind of freaks me out, just makes me think if I do this over and over again at some point my watch will just fall out. Remember the watch face isn’t a standard size so you’re stuck with the four colors or until Sony decides to give us more options.

Sony giving up just a little more control, the watch doesn’t use a fancy new Sony cable or special charging dock just a standard micro-usb cable. I actually really like that the watch has this built-in port. If it means not having to carry around yet another thing with me when I travel, I’m all for it. I do recommend popping the watch out of its rubber strap before plugging in the charging cable, however, because it’s rather awkward otherwise.

The SmartWatch does have a physical button to quickly wake and sleep.  You will be doing the majority of navigation through the touch screen display.  Now the specs! Internally, the SmartWatch 3 makes use of a rather beefy 1.2GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor along with 512MB of RAM, plus 4GB of built-in storage so that you can load it with apps and music from Google Play. Other senors are an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a compass. Of course, it also has Bluetooth, which you can use to pair with your phone, or connect to a set of headphones. Wait! Can’t I just listen to music with my phone and headphones, which I have to carry with me anyway to make these Android wearables even funtion. I can! which really makes the 4gb on the SmartWatch great for apps.

Using The Watch

From the default screen, you swipe down top to botom to show the date, battery, mute, and theater mode. When a notification pops up you can swipe to take a peek and swipe to dismiss it, because taking the phone out of my pocket is just to much hard work. Pressing down on the default watch face lets you swap out different watch styles. It’s all fairly intuitive and you should have no problems navigating it if you’re at all familiar with smartphones.

Yes it has Voice Commands. Just say, “OK Google,” and it’ll bring up a short list of eligible voice commands. You can tell it to do all kinds of things, like set a reminder, send a message or find directions, and it’ll do so.  I often had to repeat myself once or twice, but it worked pretty well most of the time.

GPS

This is a very important feature for runners, who often like having GPS in their watches to track their distance, route and pace. In previous Android Wear devices, you still had to lug your phone around with you in order to get that geo-location data, which can be a pain if you want to run with as little burden on you as possible. The SmartWatch 3, on the other hand, lets you keep track of your run completely phone-free

Battery life

The SmartWatch 3 packs in a 420mAh battery, which is the biggest battery I’ve seen yet in a SmartWatch. Sony tells me the battery should last around two days. Using this watch like the shiny “new toy” it is I really and truly got three days of battery, even with heavy use. I left notifications on for Twitter, Facebook and my calendar appointments; used GPS to track my car route, and used voice commands extensively throughout the day. Near the end of the week I noticed I was getting around a day and a half before I needed to charge the watch, that really isn’t a big deal considering I charge my devices at night while I’m sleeping.

Sony’s SmartWatch 3 certainly isn’t for everybody. It’s looks like crap compared to the sexy Moto 360; its strap is made out of rubber; and the display is not as bright or colorful as others. If you are into function rather than form, the SmartWatch 3 suddenly looks a whole lot more interesting. For fitness buffs in particular, built-in GPS is a great feature that lets you leave your phone at home. It has a battery life that makes it one of the longest-lasting smartwatches on the market. No, you shouldn’t get the SmartWatch 3 if you want a watch to impress people at the office or at parties. If you want one that’s more suited for fitness, this is absolutely worthy of consideration. Really though I would just wait a few years for any SmartWatch. They are going to get a lot cooler with more features, I just don’t feel like beta testing for any wearable company right now.

Merry Christmas! What Did You Get? (XIM 4 Review)

It doesn’t matter how old you are, this seems to be the age old question after the holidays.  Well being a review site I get to “review” all the things I got for Christmas, and not sound like a spoiled little brat.  OK well I’m a little spoiled, so we’ll only review 2 things. Well actually only one thing cause the other has been beaten to death. I’m talking about the XBOX One Of Course.  That’s not what we are reviewing today, we are reviewing the new XIM 4.  The Mouse and Keyboard adapter for all consoles, expect the Wii U.  That gives you a PC gaming experience on a “Next Gen” console.

The XIM4 (pronounced Zim) originally stood for Xbox Input Machine, but branching out into the other consoles XIM creator OBsIV (pronounced Obsessive) dropped the XBOX moniker. If you’re looking for a PC style gaming on a console this is it! I have tried many other keyboard and mouse adapters, and nothing compares to the XIM.  Why you ask? The precision of the XIM is unmatched.  Here are a list of the benefits of the XIM

• Next-generation console input adapter
• Game on your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, Xbox One and Playstation 4! Using your favorite PC gaming-grade hardware
• Supports both desktop and living room gaming styles
• Mice, Keyboards, Joysticks, and Gameboard compatibility
• Unsurpassed in-game 1-to-1 feel thanks to advanced Smart Translator technology
• Simple configuration
• Real-time feedback to guide you to your optimal settings
• Supports your existing Xbox headsets and chatpads
• Firmware upgradable
• Active community forum

One of the coolest features of this product is the ability to update and upload different styles, smart translators, and button configurations just using your smart phone.  Wait! I’m stuck in the late, late 90’s and I have a flip phone. That’s ok! Wait! That’s not ok. Go now to a store, and get a smart phone, but not to worry you can still use your computer to program your XIM4.  Using your smart phone over Bluetooth is the way to go, I found making changes very quick and easy, giving every “gamer” whether you’re causal or serious minute adjustments over everything… Yes I do mean everything, way to many to mention.

Really the only bad thing I can say about the XIM4 or really any other keyboard and mouse translator is the fact that you still have to plug-in a wired controller, which for the PS4 user is no big dealing just using a mini-usb cable, and you’re off and running. Us Xbox people need to but a separate wired controller. It’s a small price to pay for an unmatched gaming.  Maybe soon Microsoft or Sony will allow the use of keyboards and mice, but for not this is the way to go.  The XIM4 comes in at $124.99 and is available now for the after Christmas rush at. http://www.xim4.com. Also check out the videos below for a small taste of what the XIM4 can do.

Thanks. TECH Guy!

Christmas Bag Review #2 – The ManPack

Man-Pack Classic 2.0XL:
http://www.man-pack.com
Creator: Aaron Tweedie

The second of three reviews for the “Holiday Of Bags”.  I carried the Man-Pack Classic 2.0XL for just over a week now. I went with the XL model because I wanted the largest bag Man-Pack offers just to be sure it would carry my “everyday items”.  So far this bag does not disappoint, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect by any means, but overall I was very impressed. The people at Man-Pack were great to work with, and I even spoke with the creator and CEO Aaron Tweedie.  If that doesn’t scream great customer service I don’t know what does.

The first thing you will notice is how well it is constructed.  Made from lightweight very durable 600D Cordura Nylon, and comes in at 15.5″ x 11.5″ x 3.5″, which is one of my favorite things about this bag, it’s just big enough to carry the things you need making it a perfect everyday carry bag without all the bulk.  In the previous posts I have listed out what I carry on a daily basis so I’m not going into that again. So let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this bag.

The bag is comfortable to wear, the longest distance I carried this bag at one time was 2.7 miles “fully loaded”.  The strap isn’t really padded which worried me in the beginning, but having the bag slung across your body, the XL 2.0 is well-balanced, and the Man-Pack left me with no shoulder/back fatigue.

At the front of the bag is a large pocket with a magnetic closure that was perfect for my laptop charger and headphones, the paranoid side of me would like a snap closure, but it never came open in the week I carried it, and I haven’t lost anything from that pouch. There are 3 pen holders that are easy to get at and use, the only problem I noticed is when I would sit the bag down flat and pick it again the bottoms of the pens would get pushed out of the holder, and fall on the floor which really annoyed me. Moving to the side of the bag is a collapsible drink holder which is genius. I don’t know about you, but walking by things like desks, people, and anything else your drink holder can and will get caught on everything.  The drink holder on the Man-Pack is available when you want it, and stows when you don’t.  Moving around the bag at the bottom of the shoulder strap by your hip are a generous amount of MOLLE loops, perfect for carrying your cell phone, knife and really anything that has MOLLE straps. Hey! Doesn’t the strap have a cell phone pouch? Yes it does.  It will fit most cell phones, but if carry anything around the size of an iPhone 6 Plus or large Android, those cell phones won’t fit. However it does fit the iPhone 6 perfectly, and on the other hand is a great sun-glass holder. I buy cheap sunglasses so for me this wasn’t an issue. I’m not sure I would put a $200.oo pair of Oakley’s in there, but it is out-of-the-way and protected.

The strap does come apart using Velcro (ya know for when you’re having  good hair day,and don’t want to mess up it up) a plastic buckle with a strap to adjust for height secures it to the bag.  To be honest I pulled the strap apart just once to see, but after that I would just throw it over my head (I don’t have very many good hair days). The Man-Pack can be carried one of three ways. Across the body, over on shoulder which unlike the Hazard 4 is comfortable, and with the bag in front of you on your chest.  The very bottom of the bag hides the “secret compartment”  as I like to call it. A zipper closure pocket that measures the length of the bag, and is padded in neoprene with 3 nylon loops inside.  This pocket is great for a, iPad, android tablet, small laptops, and even your gun and holster which they sell on the website. This pocket is great, and can be accessed without taking the Man-Pack off.  I never carried my laptop in this compartment.  Again I’m a paranoid freak when it comes to breakage, I just didn’t feel that it had enough padding to keep my Macbook air safe, but again that’s just me.  I carried a number of tablets, and self-defense items the pocket worked great!  When accessing the “secret compartment” the Man-Pack comes around your body, and is now in-front of you which is handy  if you use mass transit, or you’re like me and just need to drive a short distance, and don’t feel like taking it off.

The main compartment of the Man-Pack is a flap secure by a metal turn buckle, which at times can be annoying to close, when the fabric sinks the buckle is hard to get into place and turn to secure it.  Underneath the flap is a two zipper opening keeping your belongings very safe and secure.  Inside the main section, are two large pockets, one with a zipper closer and a D-Ring for your keys. Here is a quick hack the packing of the Man-Pack comes with a metal ring that attached the tags, which I took apart attached to the D-Ring for fast and secure key storage.  The main storage area held all of my documents, laptop, Altoids tins, and many other miscellaneous other items.

The Wrap Up:

At the price point of $79.95 for the XL 2.0 and $59.95 for the Man-Pack Classic. These bags are great, and probably one of the best bags I’ve carried in the last year. Easy to carry and affordable.  Really and truly I have one complaint about this bag. IT NEEDS A HANDLE! I move with my stuff many times a day, and normally a short distance if the top of the bag had a handle for me would make it perfect. Aaron did tell that there are more products on the horizon for the upcoming year, and yes we get to review them.  Check them out on the web http://www.man-pack.com you still have time before Christmas if you have a picky person on your list. Also you can save 10% by using code #toughlove.  At the end of the reviews I will post some videos of my findings of the 3 bags, but until then enjoy these videos from Man-Pack also check out their very funny commercials, and my attached photos.

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HP Stream 11 Review: Chromebook Killer?

It’s no shocker that people like Chromebooks. They are small relatively fast, work great with Chromecast, and OH Yeah! They’re cheap. This can’t be good for the folks over at Microsoft, Sony, or Dell, but I think Microsoft has a big bee in their bonnet.  Which is why they came out with a smaller version of windows, that PC makers could you use to build a smaller lightweight laptop inexpensive enough to take on the giant that is a Google, and a small portion of their Chromebook glory.  As far as I know the Stream 11 is the first in I’m sure a long list of “Chromebook Killers”. It performs well has a full version of window 11.6″ display, and costs only $200.00. Microsoft is also throwing in a $25 gift card, 1TB cloud storage and Office 365 for a year for free.  Ya know just to sweeten the deal a bit.

Pros

• Low price
• Great Design, But Feels A Lot Like Plastic
• Very Comfortable keyboard
• The audio is great for a small computer
• $25 Windows Store gift card included
• Includes 1TB of cloud storage and a one-year Office 365 subscription

Cons

• The Display Is Horrible
• Slow boot-up times
• Touchpad Needs To Be Re-Worked

The Stream 11 is a good deal at $200.00. Compared to the more pricey chromebooks, but you are going to have some trade-offs.

It’s a good-looking machine, I won’t say “sexy” cause we’re not there yet with, notebooks, or netbooks whatever you want to call them.  The stream 11 is available in two colors blue and pink… I’m sorry I’m Sorry. Cobalt or Magenta.  The Design is nice with the little features like the dot pattern around the keyboard, and how they made the keyboard “Arctic White” in contrasting colors it looks good.  Taking a quick spin around the device, it matches the Chromebook, two USB connections (one 3.0, one 2.0), a full-sized HDMI socket, a full-sized SD card reader and a combination headphone/mic jack. The keyboard is smooth and functional, and in my opinion had the best keyboard of all the inexpensive Chromebook/Netbooks I’ve tried.  The trackpad however made me feel like it was 1995 again when this was just an emerging technology, it truly had me beating my head against the wall.  The Stream 11 features a 1,366 x 768 non-touch display, which doesn’t bother me pixel for pixel that’s enough for the 11.6″ display. The colors however are washed out and faded, and after a while I really didn’t want to look at it anymore, not because it hurt my eyes, I just couldn’t take the lack of resolution/clarity.  That and my other computers were getting jealous for the time I was spending with this device.  Remember! it’s a $200.00 machine so keep that in mind.

Specs:

It uses an Intel Celeron N2840 processor, it is a fan-less device, 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of eMMC storage. Not much more you can say about that pretty cut and dry. The machine for me did feel a bit slow at times compared to my Chromebook, but it is running a full version of windows 8.  The boot-up times for me were ok the extra 3-5 seconds I could wait.  Battery life wasn’t an issue for the week I was getting at least 7.5 to 8.0 hours with normal use.

Summary:

The fact that the Stream 11  can run desktop apps, and really does work offline means if they met in a dark alley trust me the Chromebook isn’t walking away. As a bonus, the Stream 11 actually costs less than most Chrome OS devices, which could make it a no-brainer for some shoppers especially if you have a young computer scientist in the family. Christmas is right around the corner Moms and Dads.  The Stream 11 is a full-fledged Windows machine, but it’s also portable and inexpensive, with a comfortable keyboard, cute design and surprisingly good audio. At $200.00 it’s a good deal for the money.

Again. Remember! It’s A $200.00 computer.  The display quality is a step down from most Chromebooks or any other Netbook. Rather than a Chromebook you can do more with a miniature Windows laptop like this.

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Let The Bag Reviews Begin! – 1st Up Hazard 4

Hazard 4 Switchback: Sling Pack

To start things off I think Hazard 4 should change their slogan from “progressive modular gear” to “Accessory’s Not Included”. We’ll get to that in just a bit.

The Switchback Sling Pack, is constructed of 1000D Codura Nylon, measures 18″ long, 11″ wide, 6.2 inches deep, and has a generous amount of MOLLE. Now remember that’s just the pack without anything attached to it.

In a review like this I would normally do a Pro’s Vs. Con’s. I don’t feel that I should do that this time considering we are putting 3 bags up against each other for “everyday carry items” Not scaling a mountain or clearing / breaching a room.

My Everyday Carry Items: Please don’t rob me if you see me on the streets, cause there is just one item I’m not showing you. 😉

1. Macbook Air 13″ Laptop
2. Macbook Air Power Adapter (yes I know the battery lasts 10 hours, but hey I’m paranoid about running low on juice)
3. 2 Altoid Tins that are my “Med Kit” and USB flash drive box
4. My iPhone 6 Plus
5. 3 Pens, 2 Pilot V7’s and my Fisher Space Pen
6. Seagate Portable Hard Drive
7. Bose Ear Buds
8. Swiss Army Knife (you can’t be Macgyver without it)
9. Keys
10. iPad Mini
11. Document Sleeve

In my opinion this is a pretty standard carry for anyone who is involved with Technology, and if not, really only a few things are gone.

I carried this bag for just a little over a week, and at first I really liked this bag its was comfortable, the strap is nice and padded, I felt that my laptop was safe and secure, but as the days went on, I slowly started to loathe the Hazard 4.  The materials used are great, very strong durable codura nylon, but I noticed the stitching around the rubberized handle was actually starting to come loose.  The Switchback Sling Pack, is large for an everyday carry bag, inside on what I like to call the “chest desk” there are dividers and places to put small things like my altoid containers, headphones, pens and keys.

There are no dividers for the large compartment where 90% of your things will go, I never needed a document sleeve until I started carrying this pack, it destroyed 2 file folders in one day.  Ok this is one of my biggest pet peeves.  Hazard 4 will gladly sell you one of their own divider packs for your bag, but at the price point and premium you pay it’s not worth it, most of their “accessory’s” start at $35.00.  Wanna carry your cellphone? Bang! $35.00 bucks.  Wanna carry your wallet? Bang $35.00 Bucks. Wanna carry anything? Yup you guessed it $35.00 dollars, well that’s at least what the price starts at. This is where my local Army Surplus store comes in handy.  I purchased, one external pack for my charging block, and 2 dividers for the inside which cost me less than $25.00 for everything all with MOLLE straps. Now my biggest frustration comes out to play.  This bag made me feel like I had to carry everything that I needed on the outside, instead of being protected inside the bag! What do you mean, you say? Yes that very large pocket on the inside of the bag is great if you’re going to be carrying, C-4, AK-47, AR-15, and a pant load of misc. other weapons.  I’m not kidding they have a picture right here.  If I have to carry that on my back, the zombie apocalypse is finally here or no thanks, I already have a range bag.

I know it sounds like I’m really dogging this bag.  Honestly it has a lot of great small features. One of the things I thought was the best, is the way Hazard 4 deals with excess straps once it is in the correct postion, there are 2 velco tabs that get placed around the strap when it is rolled up. The locking mechanism on the main buckle is awesome, it even tells you when it’s locked, so far that has been great.  The Switchback also has three handles one on the side, the bottom and top which makes it easy for carrying when you don’t want it around you. This bag is designed to be able to wrap around your body and use the “chest desk”.  To do this you have to first release the support strap, grab the bottom and pull it around you. I hope you are wearing tight-fitting clothing or it really doesn’t work that well when the bag is “fully loaded”.  The only other bad thing about this bag is that you can’t carry in on any other shoulder, so grabbing it and slinging it around your right should is not a possibility.

The Wrap Up:

The SwitchBack: SlingPack is constructed very well the placement of the MOLLE loops are great, and you can pretty much hang anything anywhere.  The Hazard 4 is hard to get into, even the large main compartment is “guarded” by two buckles on the side, and a very large zipper run.  It does fit the body very well, and carrying this bag for several miles “fully loaded” left me with little shoulder and body fatigue.  The velcro badge and patch holder is nice and makes this bag have a statement all its own. I cannot recommend this as an everyday carry especially at the $176.99 price point. Unless! You are not using this bag on the go. I noticed the time I most enjoyed this bag, is when I was just traveling would be stopped for long periods of time, and could load / unload my belongings.  If you are a commuter to an office, and like I said you just used it to transport your stuff, this bag will work great for you.  Me, I just get in to my stuff to much to make it worth while. Remember Accessory’s Not Included!

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Thanks! Tech guy

Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro

Well, look what finally showed up today the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro.  I admit I’m a little late on this one, but hey it showed up on my doorstep so i figure I should give it a proper look-see.  I am however going to use the “press photos” for one reason only, combined with the commercials,  and the tons of articles I think we’ve all seen enough. I know again sorry I am late to the party, but so was Lenovo, took it forever to get here.  With this one I am going to put it through its paces and place it up against the MacBook Air 13″ based on my previous review.

Oh The Glorious Ways Bend

I do like the looks of the of this laptop its slim, and sexy just like a laptop should be in 2014. The watchband hinge is elegant and no matter how many different positions I placed the yoga in, the screen remained stiff, and in place.  However, when it was in what I call display mode (keyboard on the table and the screen bent backwards basically for viewing movies) I noticed that surfing the web, scrolling, and pinch zooming was fine, but the screen did have a bit of a bounce when tapping. Onto tablet mode this laptop weighs in at a 2.70lbs, and my MacBook Air at 2.96lbs.  The only reason I bring up weight, is the fact that when the the screen is bent all the way back into “tablet mode” 2.70lbs doesn’t sounds like a lot, but trust me trying to use this as a tablet was both clumsy, and awkward I found myself cradling this thing more like a baby than using it as a tablet. The MacBook Air has always been marketed as a thin light weight laptop. I think it best if Lenovo would have just left that feature out. It still would have been cool to lay the screen flat against the table or all way back around for viewing without having tablet mode. One more thing, once the screen is bent passed a certain degree, the keyboard shuts down. Kind of  a bummer 😦

Now The Meat And Potatoes

The MacBook Air has a screen resolution of 1440×900 and the Lenovo Yoga 3 has a staggering 3200×1800 the screen on the Lenovo is beautiful, but is dwarfed by the huge 2.5 inch bezel that sits around it. In actuality when placed up against the retina display the 4 people I asked really couldn’t tell a difference.  Both have a 720p front facing camera to share all you wild exploits online, or just Skype with Grandma, if your Grandma is tech savvy. you should probably call your Grandma.

I was very excited to test a new ultra-book, laptop, yoga thing with the new Intel Core M Chip.  The new Intel chip was one of the coolest things put out this year. Why? Because it makes things like a 13″ 0.68″ Think laptop a possibility. They just still have some work to do.  Battery life for me is one on of the biggest issues of this laptop.

Taken from Engadget.com

	PCMark7	3DMark06	3DMark11	ATTO (top disk speeds)
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro (1.1GHz Intel M-5Y70, Intel HD 5300)	4,699	4,734	E1,076 / P595 / X175	554 MB/s (reads); 261 MB/s (writes)
Samsung ATIV Book 9 2014 Edition (1.6GHz Core i5-4200U, Intel HD 4400)	4,835	5,947	E1,752 / P948 / X297	551 MB/s (reads); 141 MB/s (writes)
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (1.9GHz Core i5-4300U, Intel HD 4400)	5,024	5,053	E1,313 / P984	555 MB/s (reads); 252 MB/s (writes)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2014, 1.6GHz Core i5-4200U, Intel HD 4400)	4,773	5,881	E1,727 / P930 / X284	555 MB/s (reads); 137 MB/s (writes)
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro (1.6GHz Core i5-4200U, Intel HD 4400)	4,676	5,688	E1,713 / P914 / X281	546 MB/s (reads); 139 MB/s (writes)
Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus (1.6GHz Core i5-4200U, Intel HD 4400)	4,973	5,611	E1,675 / P867 / X277	547 MB/s (reads); 508 MB/s (writes)
Acer Aspire S7-392 (1.6GHz Intel Core i5-4200U, Intel HD 4400)	5,108	5,158	E1,724 / P952 / X298	975 MB/s (reads); 1.1 GB/s (writes)

Battery life
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro	7:36
MacBook Air (13-inch, 2013)	12:51
MacBook Pro with Retina display (13-inch, 2013)	11:18
Samsung ATIV Book 9 (2014 Edition)	9:48
Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus	8:44
HP Spectre 13	8:30
Acer Aspire S7-392	7:33
Samsung Series 9 (15-inch, 2012)	7:29
Microsoft Surface Pro 3	7:08
Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro	6:32
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2014)	6:18

This a very fancy chart. Thank you engadget.com.  What it doesn’t tell you is that for “normal use” of a laptop I couldn’t get more than 7 hours of batter life. I promise I was just surfing the web and watching some web videos. I regularly get 10-11 hours from my MacBook.  Why? the Intel M chip, wants to run at the lowest possible speed, and voltage to maximize battery life. When taxed, it jumps up to 2.6ghz the fan kicks on (yes it has a fan) at that point the battery life goes into the crapper.

Wrap Up

There’s something to be said for a 2.6-pound laptop. It’s sexy; it’s that much easier to carry around; and, uh, did I mention it’s sexy? I hope that over time, super-light laptops like this come with fewer trade-offs.  All things considered, I would recommend the Yoga 3 Pro; it doesn’t has enough going for it for the $1,300 asking price. I’m going to sick with my Macbook Pro, but if you do love your Windows 8 I say go for it. It’s still the most versatile and powerful ultra-book with some cool features. In conclusion the  Lenovo Yoga 3 may be a good laptop however it is nowhere close to the top based on consumer satisfaction.

Hope this was helpful any question? heytechguy at gmail.com

It’s The Holiday Of Bags! No we aren’t talking about Santa’s Sack…

Holiday Bag Guide For Everyday Carry

Coming up this Friday we will start our 3 weeks until Christmas, holiday bag review.  We have three bags, and three weeks until the big holiday, coincidence I think not.  The products we will be reviewing are the STM Velo 2 Medium laptop shoulder bag. Also The Hazard 4 Switchback: sling pack. Last but not least the Man-PACK Classic 2.0 XL.  I have spoken to all three companies, hazard 4 being the hardest to get a straight answer from, and a demo model to test.  Literally it was like pulling teeth, the only reason I say these things is, well because it’s true and in my opinion reflects on their customer service.  STM was a great company to speak with and getting the demo bag was easy, now I might sound a little biased, maybe, just maybe, I am. I have carried this brand of bag in the past, but I promise it will not influence my review one bit, scouts honor. The third company I spoke with was Man-PACK, and in fact got to speak with the President and creator Aaron Tweedie. He and I spent 30 minutes on the phone, he answered all my questions. A great person to speak with and didn’t know me from “Adam”. Thanks again Aaron, and the marketing departments at the other companies.

Here is how the review is going to work. I have set aside a list of things I cannot be without during a “normal day”  which you will see with the first bag review.  I will carry each bag for one week, and report back on how the bag performed i.e. weight ease of use, shoulder and body fatigue etc. etc.  Yes I know how much you like them so yes near the end will be doing some video reviews as well.

Again thank you to everyone for sticking around during the server move.  We will have the full site up and operational hopefully soon after the first of the year.

Also a big THANK YOU! To the sponsor this week…  Please check them out for all of their, unique and custom jewelry.