wolters

In the midst of all of the negative news on the Pixel 3 XL, I just wanted to say that it isn’t all negative in my experience. I’ve duplicated Paul’s issue of the camera app killing media but not every time. Also, some Chrome pages sites will auto-refresh after I’ve been in and out of other apps and back to Chrome again and that is part of the memory management issue. But other than that, it has not had any other issue that seems to be all over the news.

My primary reason for ditching the Note 9 for the Pixel 3 XL is the camera and it has not disappointed…at all…

The selfie camera is much improved and for sure, way better than the Note 9.

And of course, the rear camera is amazing…

I've used and defended WearOS (Android Wear) for several years now. My first smartwatch was a Samsung Gear and while it was slick and elegant, it just felt limited. So I moved over to WearOS (Android Wear at the time) and while it for sure has had its share of quirks, it "just worked."

I decided to give Tizen another go with the Galaxy Watch. Here are my first impressions.

• Tizen. I am so sorry for not recommending you. You have matured.
• Samsung Health is miles ahead of Google Fit. There are a lot of options that may be on par with Apple Watch.
• The notifications are far more integrated than I remembered. Most apps on the phone can be mirrored on the watch and you can respond from a wealth of auto responses, use an onscreen keyboard, swipe or do voice to text.
• It is said to have up to 4 days of battery life. I'm ready to see if that is true.
• Waterproof and swim ready. I may put that to the test soon.
• Beautiful screen and intuitive rotating watch face.

I feel I might owe Tizen an apology again when this is all over. Will give it a good shakedown this weekend.

I picked up a Note 9 and want to share my initial thoughts. But first, a quick History of my last few years in mobile.

When I moved off of my beloved Windows Phone, I spent some good time with the Note 5 and loved it. Then came the Note 7 but we all know what happened there. So, I moved to a Pixel, then Moto Z Force Droid and finally a Pixel 2 XL (but after dabbing a little in the Note 8.) The Pixel has been the best phone since my Lumia ICON.

Like Paul, Camera is HUGE for me…top of the list. Beyond some things here and there, the Pixel phones haven’t let me down on the camera.

The Note series has always seemed to be a complete, if perhaps, “dream” smartphone, packed with a ton of features and I always found the S-Pen to be very useful.

Spending time with a Pixel and then going back to a Note, in this case the Note 8, I soon realized that Samsung has a lot of bloat. Bixby, duplicate apps, their own app store, menus, etc. I end up missing stock Android. And I don’t want to “hide” from everything by loading a different launcher. That in itself feels bloated and heavy.

Same applies for the Note 9. But here are my random, first thoughts.

·        Screen is amazing. Best I've seen on any smartphone.

·        Performance is consistent and snappy.

·        I actually like the edge screen options. I tend to be all widgets on home screens so this is a good place to put app folders.

·        Camera, so far, is a let down, especially when it is essentially the same as in the S9+ and it was rated higher than Pixel 2 XL. I went to take a "Live Focus" (Portrait) photo of my daughter at the bus stop today and it was blurry and never could get it to work correctly.

·        Low light is terrible compared to the Pixel 2 XL, especially if the subject moves even in the slightest.

·        Low light selfie with the screen flash produces grainy shots, which may be expected but the Pixel does it better.

·        Camera, when it has ample conditions, does take some great shots and you can zoom and maintain some incredible detail.

·        Samsung Experience (TouchWiz) is fine but I do not like the rounded squares. I've tried looking for themes but nothing truly looks great.

·        Bixby...oh Bixby. Can you just please go home? I've turned off the Bixby cards, home page and also voice. It is still there yes it is just not needed in the world of Google Assistant.

·        Battery Life is good but even with 4000mAh battery, I feel that the Pixel 2 XL may still have the battery battery efficiency. I feel I may be back to charging every 12-18 hours whereas my Pixel can go just about 24 hours before I charge it. 

Bottom line…it may go back, as soon as tomorrow. Unless someone can convince me that I’m using the camera wrong, I am very unimpressed. Despite those performance lags I’ve had with the Pixel 2 XL and the upcoming “Notch”, I think I’m going to stay with the Pixel line, especially if the camera remains the most consistently awesome camera that it is.

Android 9 (Pie) is here and my Pixel 2 XL just got the OTA, so it is downloading and about to install.

Anyone else get it?

A few months ago, I got top dollar for my Surface Book (512GB Model) and picked up a Surface Book 2 (512GB) and I’ve been extremely happy with it. Until now…

Over the last few days, it will not power on by the button. It simply will not power on from sleep/hibernation. Same goes if it is a full power down. It will not power on at all.

The simplest workaround is to detach the screen and it will power on with the button. If I leave it attached, I have to do the 12 second button press and then back on and then it works. Both of these are unacceptable.

Is anyone encountering this? Is this a hardware issue? I don’t want to have to swap it out. I love this one and don’t want to have to replace it. I hope it is fixed with a firmware update. I just hope it won’t take too long.

I am demoing a Google HOME and I am a happy Amazon Echo customer, so going to compare it to Echo.

I noticed that if I ask Google HOME to play music, it always appears to "cast" from my phone if we are on the same Wi-Fi. I heard it isn't really casting but just a companion app to the phone. Yet that app does say "casting."

If I turn WiFi off on my phone, Google HOME will simply stream without phone.

Is there anyway to turn this off when both devices are on the same WiFi?