4K Resolution, Do You Need It?

4K resolution is the latest thing in television and display technology. Unlike previous technologies, the name 4K implies to the amount of horizontal pixels shown on the display not the vertical pixels like people always thought. A 4K display has 3840 horizontal pixels (There is also 8K displays with 7680 pixels). 

Roughly it is like putting 4 1080p displays' pixel onto one display. The cramming of the pixels leads to having an ultra high definition, which is very very sharp. The differences might not have been noticed with naked eye if you're 2-3 meters away from the screen.

The 1080p has been a standard for quite some time now. Television and display manufacturers have to find a way to make people buy new TVs. Their previous lobby on 3D TVs was unsuccessful, people seems not very keen to wear a 3D glasses just to watch TV. Especially for people who have already needed to wear glasses to see, adding another glasses in front of them just not feasible.

cramming approx. 4 1080p's into one display

There were also no-glasses 3D technology being developed, however the technology only limits to several viewing point only. No company were ready to gamble on that technology, therefore they have to find another technology to show to customers.

Even though 4K might seem to be too much, I think that it will be a good technology to invest to, provided that you're going to buy a 50 inches or bigger display. However, do wait for 4K Blu rays (which allows 100GB storage), or else what you'll get is just and upscaled 1080p pictures.

Bump

Have you guys tried the bump app before? It is a file sharing app that lets you share files between smart phones. It started modestly as a way to exchange your own contact information between two phones, and grew until it can even share multiple files.

Among other files that can be transferred are social network pages (Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn), photos, other people's contact (with pictures) and even files in your smartphones that is 20mb and lower.

It works like magic. All you have to do is to turn on your Internet, may it be 4G, 3G or even Wi-Fi, and turn on approximate or precise location to make the transfer. Following is the video that might help you understand how it works.

With the new updates, now bump can also work with computers. You can now transfer files from a smartphone to a computer and vice versa. No more wires, bluetooth, IR (anyone still using this?) needed to transfer files between a smartphone and a computer. Here is an instruction video about it.

It's like magic. I was pretty amazed when I first tried to bump between phones, and left with awe when the first time I used it to transfer a phone to a computer. When I demonstrated to my friend on how it works, he said "how did they do it? how? how?".

However, after reading FAQs and everything, it all makes sense. Why didn't I think of it before. The app is very original and very very useful. It diminishes the purpose to add NFC onto a phone (unless you want to use NFC for payment of course).

Google has recently bought bump and bump CEO has announced the joining on 16 September 2013. I wonder what Google can add to the table. Perhaps Google Maps, Google+? Here are the links for those who wants to try bump. Android (link) and iOS (link).

Apple Special Event 22 Oct 2013 Review

I have been busy the whole day. Just managed to watch the keynote from Apple. Almost all the things that I expected (link) to be launched on the day are there in the keynote. However some of my predictions were not quite right.

Things that happened:

• OS X 10.9 Mavericks launch.
• New 13" retina MacBook Pro with Intel Haswell chips.
• New 15" retina MacBook Pro with Intel Crystalwell chips.
• Mac Pro will launch by December 2013.
• iPad Air.
• iPad mini with Retina display.
• New iWork and iLife.

OS X 10.9 Mavericks was launched, with all the features that Apple promised. It is available for free. I just can't wait to get my hands on it. I'm still halfway downloading it. Another 2 1/2 hours before I can get to play with the new OS.

There were also announcement of iLife and iWork that I don't care so much. It is a good feature, however you'll only get it for free if you bought a new Mac or iDevice. For someone like me, I won't get the iWork for free for the time being.

I was quite surprised when Apple didn't drop the thick MacBook Pro lineup once and for all. (There is one type of 13" still available for purchase). I was more surprised to see that iPad 2 is still on the iPad lineup! That is good, but I was hoping that iPad 4 is the one that should be a cheap iPad. 

I'm quite disagree with the "iPad Air" naming. It goes out from the convention, and it is not thin enough to be called an "Air". I didn't get my hands on the device yet, but I might retract my statement once I feel the lightness of the product.  

I realised that there is no touch ID available in the iPad lineup. I can see the reasoning behind that. It's just that iPhone is a personal device (thus privacy), while iPads are usually shared with other people, therefore it would be difficult to register everybody's thumb print in it.

Now, the new Mac Pro. Some says it looks like Darth Vader's ash tray. I don't hate the design, but I'm afraid someone would try to throw a paper cup onto it because they might mistaken it with a dustbin. If I have a lot of money, that might be my target just for the sake of wanting one. However I don't think I really need that much processing power. Sour grapes? I hope not.

Well, I think that rounds up the review for today. Don't forget to rush into an Apple store as soon as possible.

Retina-like and Touchscreen Combo

With all the advancement in the technology nowadays, a high spec computer can be sold to people affordably. Lots of things can be included into a laptop, and now almost all computer maker company has one. 

The shrinking of storage, the ability to sense human touch, the portability and of course the shrinking of the pixels even a 20/20 vision people couldn't differentiate a pixel. These technology, combined with Windows 8 touch control friendly user interface has lead to the born of the Ultrabooks.

Above 3 examples are the ultrabooks with retina-like display and a touch screen ability. They are among the best Windows Ultrabooks around. Several years ago, Apple dazzles us with MacBook Air with the machine's size. Nowadays, with all these sleek choices put in front of users, one would forget about a MacBook Air altogether.

In my opinion however, there is a oxymoronic features that these Windows ultrabooks offer. They are touchscreen combined with retina-like display. For me, these two features are great on their own, but not a good idea if they're combined together. 

Imagine a crisp no weird pixel visible screen, and then you put your oily or sweaty fingers on it to touch the icons. It'll certainly leaves a mark, and might even enlarges the pixel and make it visible to the eye. Well, that's just not retina to me. 

Yes there are a lot of material available that leaves no smudge on the screen. However, that usually left to a matte display, which again doesn't fit the purpose and enlarges and distorts those fine pixels. Well, these two technology just don't mix, not without some other new technology of course. 

This is another example of companies pushing technologies into consumers without thinking properly about the user experience. It's just not right. In my opinion, for the time being people should choose either one of the technology. Unless you don't care about smudges on a retina-like screen. Then, by all means, go and buy one. 

Best Operating System For You

Which one of the operating system (OS) available is the most superior of them all? I can't answer that, because that's all depends on how do you want to use it. Each operating system has their advantages, and each has their own shortcomings. 

Currently there are several front runners in the OS race. IMO, they are, Windows from Microsoft, Chrome OS from Google, Linux from many distributions, and Apple OS X. Windows and Linux can be run from any x86 computers. While Chrome OS is basically can be run on its proprietary hardware, and same goes to Apple OS X. 

Microsoft Windows

This is currently the most used computer OS in the world! Its latest iteration of OS is the Windows 8. I have tried the OS, and it is very good for touch screens. It has been customised for the touch screens that it would be a disadvantage if you only have a mouse to navigate across the screen.

Windows 8 has the same interface as a Windows RT and Windows Phone OS. The uniformity looks nice, and it also plays nicely with each other. Microsoft should be applauded with their effort on reinventing their OS over and over again.

Basically there are a lot of good things in Windows 8. It has a nice and clean interface. I like the live tiles, It's easier to find your favourite applications. It uses less memory compared to its predecessor, Windows 7 and play a lot of games on it. Yes, the games is actually one of the main reason that the OS is still one of the favourite. 

The bad thing about it would be that it is a little bit sluggish when used for a long time (1 year +). It is expensive, and is not as smooth when run with a low end PC. Not having a touch screen makes you feel a little bit in a disadvantage. 

Google Chrome OS

The Chrome OS by Google is one of the new OS in the market. It is usually shipped together with a Google ChromeBook. These ChromeBooks usually very sleek and comparable to a Ultrabooks that many manufacturers offer. There is also a base Chrome OS that are usable on other x86 computers, and it is called Chromium OS. 

When Google first come out with the ChromeBook and Chrome OS, the price tag has been quite high. I have always thought that it won't last long in the computer industry. However, as many years has gone by, it is still here. I'm guessing  Chrome OS is here to stay.

For me there are a lot of good things about Chrome OS. It automagically connects with Google Cloud services. Just like a Chrome browser, Chrome OS also has an automatic update of the OS, so you're always using the latest version of the OS. The UI and design is very simple, sometime I think that I'm using a tablet instead of a computer.

However, just like everything man-made, there are some imperfections. From my point of view, Chrome OS is very shallow. It's just like an interface for the Google cloud services. Even the ChromeBooks comes with a high spec, you don't feel like you use all the resources to the fullest. It is like buying the best games rig, but all you play is Solitaire. 

Apple OS X

The Apple OS X was first developed to run on Apple proprietary processors, and then moved on to be run on x86 Intel chips. There are times where the OS took a lot of things from the BSD OS, but Apple has been changing a lot of it and make it their own. 

OS X came together with any Apple Macs. It can be run on other x86 computers, but you have to find or program your own drivers to use all your devices. Major upgrades are sold for around £20. Apple latest OS X is Mountain Lion (10.8), but the Mavericks (10.9) is coming soon this year (link). 

The good. Apple OS X has the best user interface, this might be because Apple has been very keen in designs and fonts right from their first Mac. It has the ease of use just like of Windows, and the programming friendly just like of a BSD and Linux. It's like the best of both worlds. 

However, there is a shortcoming, Apple OS X can only run on Macs, which is very expensive. It plays nicely with other Apple product such as iPhone, iPad, etc. but not with a non-Apple product. It is a closed source, so its a little bit late on repairing problems with the OS. 

Linux OS

There are a lot of Linux distributions. Picture above shown some of them. I have only used a handful of them. I've tried Redhat, Fedora, Mandrake, Mandriva, openSUSE, Damn Small Linux, Ubuntu and Kubuntu. There might some that I've forgotten but I have a fair share on using it.

I was a fan of Redhat, but then Redhat started to divide into two parts, consumer and pro, Fedora and Redhat respectively. So I moved on to Fedora and later to Ubuntu. Among all of them, I think the best one for consume would be Ubuntu, and I hope it will go on to be the best (for me).

The pros of the Linux is for programming. I think it is the best platform for programmers. It is open source, therefore it is quite good if you want the latest, out from the oven softwares from programmers all over the world. In Linux, you're in control of everything. By everything, I mean e-ve-ry-thing. It gives you a lot of control on what's going on, and you can monitor everything that is running in front and at the back.

The problem with a Linux OS is the installations. Not all people can install the OS on computers that have been preinstalled with other OS. Having the whole world programming for you is a double edged sword. You get a lot of programs, and that means a lot of updates too. It's like having to update almost every other day.

Another problem is, Linux distros are more focused on performance rather than energy consumption. You can run Windows / OS X longer on a laptop computer, but it won't be the case with Linux. 

Conclusion

All these 4 OSes are here to stay. They are either run by big guns of the industry or by big community throughout the world. If you want me to choose for you, I can give a little guideline.

• If you like to play games on your computer or if you have to use a Windows only software, use Windows. 
• If you have extra cash and would like to utilise the (Google) cloud services at its fullest, get a Chrome OS.
• If you have a lot of money and like to have a beautiful and capable OS, use OS X.
• If you like to play with your computer and you like programming, use a Linux (I recommend either Ubuntu or Fedora).

Having a virtual machine might also help, but we will discuss about it later in the future. 

Windows 8.1 is Everywhere

I thought one OS update for a day is enough, but I couldn't overlook and not writing about the new Windows 8.1! Yes it's here now. The great news is, it is free for anyone who owns Windows 8. Just go to the Windows Store and download and upgrade.

There are a lot of special features available, and now the OS is more mouse friendly than the Windows 8. That is a good start. Customers is always right. Here is the video by Microsoft of some of the features in the Windows 8.1. 

Ubuntu Touch Released

Ubuntu Touch for smartphones has been launched. That adds to the smartphone OS race, and might add to more choices for the end users. Like its PC counterpart, the Ubuntu Touch is an open source, and supported by Canonical.

Some call it Ubuntu Touch, but on their website, there isn't any sign that the operating system is going to be called Touch. Maybe they wanted to steer away from confusion if Ubuntu for the PC decides to make a computer OS for touch.

Basically what Ubuntu is trying to do here is to combine the two gadgets that people always use, the smartphone and the computer. That is a good intention, but not many people know how to change their phone OS, and another setback would be, not many percentage of people really use an Ubuntu Linux.

The project can easily be killed if Microsoft could grasp the idea and combine their Windows phone and Windows computer successfully. Nevertheless, it is not a bad thing for Ubuntu to try the smartphone OS market. They're even a step ahead of Firefox OS.

For those who have Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4, why don't you try and install the new OS. This is the link. From the looks of the instructions, it doesn't look very difficult. Just don't forget to save and backup all your data, especially the original Android OS. It will come handy when you're bored with the Ubuntu Touch OS.

I just can't wait for one of these new OSes to become matured. Android has been around for quite some time, they should have be very very stable, reliable and fast but it doesn't. So somebody, let it Ubuntu Touch or Firefox OS should step in and show Google the right way to do it.