Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts

Taking Windows 10 Technical Preview Out For a Spin


     The Windows 10 Technical Preview has been available to public for quite some time now. While I did try it out using VMs during the earlier builds, it wasn't until when Microsoft enabled Cortana in Build 9926 and announced the free upgrade to Windows 10 for both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users; that I installed it into a true partition. This post will be about my experience using the Technical Preview as well as some pointers for you all wanting to be prepared for the free upgrade.


     Before I get started, if you are interested in getting into the action yourself, installing the Technical Preview is easier than ever; just get the Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool (link) and the Technical Preview ISO (link). The procedure is pretty self explanatory and if you are still confused, I am afraid that you are not prepared (sick reference, bro). Also, this post is written in the perspective of someone who has switched to Windows 8 from the get-go and didn't find it as frustrating as the general consensus has it be.

     Installing the Technical Preview was as easy as any other OS installation and if I recall correctly, didn't take as long as my Windows 8.1 install, but not by much though. If you are coming from Windows 7 or any previous OSs, I recommend that you do not connect your PC to the internet to ensure that the initial setup process. For Windows 8.1 users, go ahead and sign in using your Microsoft account so that things like IE settings and wallpapers will get synced to your new Windows 10 ecosystem.



     From the get-go, the most noticeable difference one will see would be the addition of a search bar on the task bar. This search bar is what Cortana is. Users can either type their search queries in the search box or use voice activation. To be honest, it's faster and way more reliable to just open up the browser of your choice and type what you want to search for. As for searching on local disk, I didn't notice any significant differences in terms of speed. Talking of local searching, if you didn't like how local searching worked for Windows 8.1, don't hold your breath for Windows 10. Typing 'control' in the search bar, the first result instead of being the comprehensive 'Control Panel', the OS gives you the inconsistent 'PC Settings' instead. While I am used to this (yup, Win8 behaves the same way), I still find it a mild annoyance especially for new users coming from Win7.


     Speaking of the 'PC Settings' interface, the inconsistencies doesn't stop at just being confused as a control panel, in fact, it is just plain dumb. One would assume that clicking into the 'Personalisation' sub-section would give users access to all customisation options including things like changing wallpapers, colour schemes, and all the other doo-dad; but nope, we have that option in another menu instead. Maybe if they just changed the tool-tip according to what the menu actually does. It wouldn't create these issues. Of course, that is not the only example of redundant menus, I could go on all day long about the 'PC settings' menu, but the post has to go on.

     Oh, and if you didn't notice already, the start menu is back! Now with Metro a.k.a the Start Screen integrated into it. If you are one of those rare few that like the Start Screen, you can still click the full screen button found on the right top corner to bring back the Start Screen. Apparently, I read that one could re-size the start menu to be taller, but I can't for the life of me re-size it. No matter, the quirks of being a Technical Preview I guess.

     From the screenshot above, you can also see that Microsoft went ahead and changed how the taskbar behaves in relation to active and inactive windows. Have a better look at it here.


     On the left, you will see that the file explorer icon on the taskbar only has a little grey-ish line due to it being inactive and the 'PC Settings' icon being grey-filled due to it being the currently active window. I'm not too keen about this change but perhaps people would like the minimalistic (?) approach.


     On topic of active and inactive windows, Microsoft has also brought a very nice feature from OSX into Windows 10: the workspace/task manager/whatever it's called. Now, you can have multiple workspaces and switch between them seamlessly using the task manager button beside the search bar or using the "Windows Key + Tab" shortcut key. This is great news for people like me who tend to have too many windows open while multi-tasking, now I can properly manage work from pleasure! (curse you Steam and Reddit). This is pretty much my favourite feature to come out of this Technical Preview.


     Onto the system apps, Microsoft has pretty much changed how 'Modern' apps behave. Now, users can use modern apps like any other desktop app, with the ability to run it in a window, or fullscreen. I think this is one of the most requested feature from users of Windows 8/8.1. However, for whatever reason, the OS still defaults to the redundant file openers like Photos, Videos and Music (apps designed by Microsoft with modern-esque accents). While it only takes one click to change it back to our trusty old Windows Photo Viewer, it still presents itself as a mild annoyance.


     On the other hand, Windows 10 also comes packaged with a technical preview for Internet Explorer. I don't have much to report about that. I think it's just a way for web developers to determine their websites are displaying correctly in IE. There's even a button for users to report to the IE team if they see a website not being properly displayed in IE.

     There are a ton of minor adjustments made to Windows 10 compared to Windows 8. I could probably go on and on if I had to describe everything in this post, but nobody is going to read that. So as a closing note, is Windows 10 usable? Pretty much yes. For those who are on the bandwagon that Windows 8 is the worst thing to ever happen to Windows after Vista, perhaps it is not for you because I find Windows 10 a slightly modified version of Windows 8, instead of an improved version of Windows 7. If you have any other questions about Windows 10 before making the jump, feel free to leave them in the comments down below. Until then, see you in the next post (if I can figure out what to write).
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Ken's Best Of CES 2015


     This year's CES has come to an end and here I am again, summing up what I find interesting throughout the annual event. These products/concepts are some of my personal favourites that were revealed during the event. While I don't cover everything that's happened during the event, I find that TechCrunch and The Verge provide some of the best coverage on this year's event so check out their coverage if you are keen on learning about everything CES.


ASUS ROG Swift PG27AQ 27-inch 4K G-Sync Monitor (link)
     ASUS's ROG Swift PG278Q swept everyone off their feet when it was first released as it was the first 1440p monitor to have G-Sync support. G-Sync is NVIDIA's propitiatory standard which allows monitors to refresh only when the display card outputs a new frame. To learn more about G-Sync, you can visit NVIDIA's page here. In short, it provides a smoother and much more enjoyable gaming experience for consumers. This time around, ASUS has addressed one of the major issues that reviewers/users have pointed out, the TN panel. The PG27AQ features a 4K IPS panel which allows for better colour reproduction and overall better image. Of course, the only drawback is the downgrade to 60Hz but as of now, only a handful of people can drive 4K above 60fps so that's fine in my eyes. Overall, a good upgrade to an already amazing monitor.
pictured: LG 34UM67
AMD FreeSync Monitors (link)
     AMD is off to a good start with its FreeSync technology, a direct competitor to NVIDIA's G-Sync, with the introduction of 9 FreeSync supported monitors, which if I recall correctly. is already more than the number of G-Sync supported monitors despite its earlier launch. Competition is always good for consumers as it keeps competing companies on the edge, always trying to top each other. My favourite among the 9 monitors would be the LG ultrawide monitors. I always wanted a 21:9 aspect ratio monitor but could never find one here in good ole Malaysia; the only LG products I can seemingly find are washing machines and refrigerators. Oh well, such is the vain of living in a developing(?) country.


NVIDIA Tegra X1 ft. Drive CX and Drive PX (link 1 link 2)
     I swear this is the last item on the list that has to do with graphics chip manufacturers. Remember the Tegra K1? Meet its little sister, codename Erista (Tegra X1). The Tegra X1 continues to improve on the K1's already very powerful display and processing capabilities. Utilizing NVIDIA's latest Maxwell architecture, the X1 effectively reduces power consumption without compromising its performance. While that doesn't sound too exciting, wait till you hear this: self-driving cars that can learn. Yes, utilizing the Tegra X1's amazing processing capabilities, the Drive PX is able to drive itself around the a course with some learning; which goes to show how powerful its real time processing is. Drive CX on the other hand, is a digital cockpit interface for vehicles, which looks pretty impressive on its own. I will attach a video below from the NVIDIA press conference.




ASUS ZenFone 2 (link)
     ASUS is on the list again, this time for the ZenFone 2. The reason the ZenFone 2 is on this list is for its amazing value; the base 16GB/2GB model is priced at a mere $199. Also, an interesting thing on the spec sheet is the Intel Z3580 processor; I want to see if Intel could break the monopoly that Qualcomm has over the industry on flagship phones. Still not a big fan of the on-screen buttons though.


Razer Turret (link)
     What is a CES list without Razer in it, am I right? While Razer did reveal the Forge TV Android gaming console, what interests me more is the implementation of mouse & keyboard for this particular setup. While this combo is not a entirely new concept (ROCCAT Sova), it's nice to see a much more compact and subjectively more stylish implementation. The mousepad is also magnetized to ensure that the mouse doesn't just fall off, which is a nice touch if I might say.

Honorable Mentions


ALCATEL ONETOUCH's Watch (link)
     This would have been one of the top things on my list, if only it ran on Android Wear. A $150 Android Wear running circular watch that looks nice? Sign me up for that.


MSI GS30 (link)
     If you didn't know, I am not a big fan of having to sync multiple devices especially when it comes to personal computers which contain some of my very important work. The GS30 is a lightweight laptop on-the-go and a graphics powerhouse when you need with a simple docking mechanism. Now MSI, make it cheaper and I will bite. With all that said, I really want this concept to take off so I don't have to panic when one of my documents are synced with the cloud.
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Ken Plays: Evolve Big Alpha (Alpha Key Giveaway)


     First day of November (GMT+8), Evolve opened it flood gates and launched their Big Alpha test. While gamers still need a key to get into the alpha, it seems that a lot of online personalities/publications are giving upwards of 20,000 keys to those who are interested. I, too, got my hands on a key and have been playing the game for a few hours now, and here I am to share my opinion about the game with you guys.

     Unlike almost any multiplayer online alpha/beta test, Evolve's servers are apparently up to snuff to the point where after the alpha launched they were still giving out alpha keys like it was nothing. I really like how confident they are with their servers, probably a good sign of confidence for those who are looking to buy the game on February 10.

     Performance wise, Evolve is quite the taxing game. My GTX660M could barely run it on 1080p Low. It would probably be fine on lower resolutions but yeah, I would recommend a desktop GPU, probably GTX560 and above if you are wanting to play the game in its full glory.



      Gameplay wise, matchmaking is made very easy. Arrange your preferred role in numerical order and the game will try to match you into a game where you can play your preferred role. One thing I would like to note though, is that players won't know what role they are taking before going through 2 loadscreens, so it's almost like going into the game blind. The game will also sometimes drop you into ongoing games, which is not a big problem for hunters, but for monsters, I would think that is a major disadvantage. All these issues will probably be addressed in the full release, but for now it is pretty annoying. The alpha also has a system to deter leavers, where they impose a matchmaking pause for leavers.






     In the game, you either play as one of the hunters, or the monster. For the most part, I took the role of assault, where my responsibility is just to tank as much damage as possible with my shield and shoot lightning! The support has a mini-gun and is able to cloak the entire team, the medic has a sniper rifle and is able to heal (duh), and the trapper can shoot harpoons to slow down the monster and deploy mobile arenas to restrict monster movement. Teamwork is pretty much essential in this game. For those who have played Left 4 Dead before, just think of it as facing a very buffed up Tank, but this time, you have technology on your side.

     Overall, I have to say, the game is pretty much mindless fun. Of course, players can also look into deeper strategies like where to place mines, or how to throw hunters off your trail et cetera. Will I buy this game though? I probably would but first of course I would need to build a rig (coming soon) to get the full experience and of course I would like to see how polished the end product is before I make a decision. Oh well, let's not frustrate ourselves with that and end this post with a alpha key giveaway! Key in one of these keys into where you would normally activate a Steam key and you are set! Happy hunting!
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Map to the Custom ROMs: OPPO Find 7a


     This post will basically be an overview of a few of the custom ROMs that are available for the OPPO Find 7a: Paranoid Android 4.6 Beta 1, CyanogenMod 11, Omni ROM and Dirty Unicorn v7.9; and a micro how-to guide.

    Before you are ready to proceed, you need to get your device rooted and equipped with a custom recovery. If you have no idea how to do that, you can head over to my other guide over here: How to root your OPPO Find 7 & Find 7a. If you have everything sorted, time to bust out your command line for some fastboot action.

     After making up your mind on what ROM you are going to flash, download the main package, open it up and you will find something called "boot.img" inside the zip file. Put it into your fastboot folder established in my previous guide so you would have something like the folder below. You should also get a Google apps package from wherever your ROM dev recommends. For the Find 7a, it is recommended that you download the micro-modular package from Paranoid Android found here: Micro-GApps on Devhost


     Transfer the ROM's zip file and the Google apps zip file onto the your phone and put your phone into fastboot mode (Power off > hold power + volume up until vibration is felt.). Connect your phone to your PC over USB then fire up a command prompt and type the command below:

fastboot flash boot boot.img
     This will replace your device's kernel with something appropriate for the ROM you are about to flash. After that, unplug and boot into recovery (Power down > hold power + volume down until vibration is felt.). In the recovery menu, do a wipe user data and factory reset then select "Install from zip on sdcard" for CWM or "Install" in TWRP, then browse to the directory of the ROM's zip file, select and then install. After installation is complete, from the same menu, install the Google apps zip file as well. After that, you are basically set and have a new ROM installed on your device! With that clarified, below will be my opinion about some of the more popular ROMs out there.
NOTE: never ever ever use "fastboot erase cache" on this device, it will send your device into a bootloop and the only remedy would be a full wipe.



     Paranoid Android is currently my "flavour of the year" for most of my devices, reason being it simply has been one of the more innovative ROMs that introduces new ways to interact with a device. However, those glory days are over; so what is keeping me from switching to another ROM? Notice how PA has a "4.6" in their current release name? What makes this ROM two increments ahead of the current Android 4.4 KitKat. Apparently PA has implemented several Android L features like expandable heads-up notification, dynamic status bar and the new recent menu. If you are like the ever so impatient person I am, you will be thrilled to experience a piece of Android L before its time of release (which is pretty soon now). However, PA's implementation of a dynamic nav bar still has some polishing to do, while scrolling down, the nav bar will somehow change it's colour to an app's secondary colour, which makes it very uncomfortable to the eyes, you will understand from the screenshots below. To add on, PA also offers support for legacy functions on the Find 7a like the O-click, screen-off gestures and many more; so if you are a fan of OPPO's implementations on its ColorOS ROM, you are still able to utilize those.



     CyanogenMod... basically the staple name in the custom ROM scene. With so many years of experience developing ROMs, one can say that CM is the go-to ROM when stability is a main concern. However, stability is no longer a focus for the CM team as they are releasing nightly builds instead of stable builds on an interval. It also has been too long since anything has happened of note to CM. After incorporating into its own company, CM has been branded as a traitor to the Android spirit and I will be honest that it is also one of the reasons why I don't use CM on any of my devices any more. With all that aside though, CM11 is still a solid ROM for like PA, it also has support for legacy functions.



     This is actually the first time I have used an Omni release on any device. First impressions are that this flavour of ROM is actually pretty bare bones compared to CM11 which I already consider too basic already. What makes this ROM special is the implementation of something called OmniSwitch, think of it as Android's version of the assistive touch found on iOS. You can add your favourite apps onto it as well as access recent apps and also access hardware buttons on-screen. Legacy function support wise, Omni has much work to do as some of my favourite screen-off gestures like the arrow to skip track is not working as of now.



     What is Dirty Unicorn? If that's the question atop of your head, I will answer it for you; imagine a snowball rolling down the hill, picking up every inch of snow on its way down. That is what Dirty Unicorn is, it's a snowball of almost all ROMs known to man. Remember OmniSwitch? DU has it. Adblock? DU has it pre-installed. Anything you can imagine, already compiled into this neat package. However, nothing is perfect. The drawback of taking things from different ROMs and putting it together makes things seem unnecessarily cluttered, not to mention a few hiccups while playing around with what DU dubs as "Dirty Tweaks". If you want a taste of everything Android has to offer, this is the ROM for you. 

     Before I end this post, I would like to say that all these custom ROMs have some bugs in common, after all they are still forked from the same sources so it's no wonder they have similar bugs.
  • Mic not functioning on speaker phone
  • Photosphere and panorama not working
  • SuperHD(50mp) mode not working
  • Screen lighting up randomly when charging on VOOC
     To summarize:

     What's my pick though? If you didn't already know, I have already make it inherently clear that my favourite is Paranoid Android. How about you? What flavour of ROM do you prefer? There is so many different ROMs to experiment with so do head down to XDADevelopers and have a go on your Find 7a!
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Father's Days Gift Ideas for 2014


     We are halfway through the year already and one of the most significant events happening this month would be Father's Day! To celebrate the occasion, one would often buy a tie or a wallet alongside a cake for the man of the house. With KENYSL.com being a technology blog, of course, I won't be recommending the usual clothing accessories, instead, I will be recommending some awesome technology related gadgets that dad will probably find useful.
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OnePlus One: The One to rule them all?


     A few months back, I remember seeing weird pictures/tweets appearing on famous leak (more like psuedo marketing) account, @evleaks which were apparently sponsor messages. These messages made fun of campaigns created by other phone manufacturer. From 'Goodbye Moto' to 'Here's The Change', followed by the hashtag '#neversettle' and OnePlus branding. Since it was sponsored, I didn't pay much mind to it; that was the case, until specifications of a phone named OnePlus One was released. It swept all Android enthusiasts off their feet; the phone that was announced to be less than $400 (~MYR 1,300), had specifications of a flagship that would normally cost more than $600 (~MYR 2,000).


     Of course, being the ever so sceptical me, I went "Cool, now what are you not telling me? ". Since it was not the full specifications nor had the design of the phone surfaced, I naturally made the assumption that there were gimmicks used in order to reach this price point. Fortunately, over the past month, I was proven wrong.


     Yesterday, press renders came out and showed the world what the One allegedly looked like. If the leak is true, the One will easily be one of the first phones that comply to most of the wishes of the Android community, or well at least the Android community on Reddit. Beautifully designed phone (dat interchangeable back) , with specifications to walk the talk.

a photo taken by the phone
     So you might be saying, "Cool phone. So what?" Perhaps this will be a take-off point, for Android phones. Nevertheless, the OnePlus One will be officially released on April 23rd. In three more days, we will know if this is the One to rule them all.
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Ken's Best of PAX East 2014


     So PAX East 2014 happened last week at Boston, New York. If you don't already know, PAX East is an event all about gaming started by Penny Arcade. Going strong for 10 years now, the event has slowly expanded from featuring games alone to also highlight some hardware vendors that are closely related to the gaming culture. As usual, I will list down some of the best reveals/announcements/releases from the event, in no particular order.

Logitech G502 Proteus Core

     It seems that Logitech is so fond of PAX that after revealing the G602 (which I have a review on) at PAX last year, they decided to unveil the G502 Proteus Core they have been teasing on Twitter for the past few weeks. If you are wondering why is there an extra codename behind the mice's model name, Logitech explains that they are trying to move away from the traditional naming scheme. The most interesting part of the G502 is of course the new sensor that it utilizes. The optical sensor bolsters up to 12,000 DPI, which is the first time anyone has seen an optical sensor capable of such high DPI. Logitech claims that the sensor is the "most accurate" among all sensors but that remains to be seen. Other than that, the Proteus Core also features a revamped adjustable weight system which does not change the centre of gravity of the mouse no matter how much weight is put into it. Again, this is a very interesting mouse and hopefully I will be able to get my hands on one soon.

There Came an Echo
           
     Are you tired of the traditional RTS game that requires relentless focus throughout the entire session and impeccable macro + micro management skills? Fright not; There Came an Echo is a very interesting RTS game that doesn't utilize the traditional control mechanics, instead, units are controlled by using voice commands. While this is not the first time it's been done *cough* EndWar *cough*, this game takes it up a level by allowing gamers to customize the voice commands; instead of "Fire in the hole" for throwing a grenade, perhaps I will change it to "HOT POTATO!". The possibilities are endless. The game also takes a few pages from the XCOM games so fans of that franchise might love this game as well.

Star Citizen
     If you haven't heard about Chris Robert's Star Citizen, you are missing out on a lot. Said by many PC gamers as the game that will push PC hardware to its limits and perhaps reintroduce the same effect as the first Crysis had on the scene. Star Citizen, while having release its hangar module quite some time ago, is in this list because it recently unveiled its dogfighting module which is pretty darn amazing. I wish I were there to experience it myself, but until then, we have loads of videos about it so that will have to do for now.

Transistor
     From the creators of Bastion, one of my favourite indie game of all time, comes Transistor. While retaining the unique narration techniques in Bastion that I absolutely love, Transistor introduces some new mechanics that seem to add another level of depth to the game. It will be out very soon and I can't wait to play it!

Honourable mentions
  • Galak-Z
  • Aztez
  • Invisible Inc.
     Those were my favourites from the event, how about you? What are you most excited for? 
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Are you willing to switch to a smartwatch?


    With the recent announcement of Android Wear, the official Android flavour for wearable devices alongside the pioneers which will be among the first to utilize the OS, more notably Motorola's Moto360, it got me thinking: "How many people will actually take the leap?"

The Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887
     Well for myself, I bought one of those fancy swiss watches, to be specific, a Tag Heuer, the swiss watch for hipsters apparently. The Moto360 is expected to arrive at a price as high of $400 which costs about a sixth of a watch with Tag Heuer branding. I expect if Malaysia ever gets to see the Moto360 officially launch over here, it will come slapped with a price tag of about MYR 1599 which is still pretty reasonable for an early adopter I suppose.

The elegant looking Moto360
     However, am I jumping the gun? Comparing a smartwatch to a swiss watch, that's like comparing apples to oranges some might say. Let's see why people buy swiss watches, other than the number one reason which is snob appeal, the other reason would definitely be the elegant design of said timepieces; which brings us to one of the problems that people have with previous smartwatches, the design. Some say the design of previous smartwatches looked like it was meant for nerds only, which I wholeheartedly agree. The lack of appeal to the masses have resulted in a slow adoption rate of the product line. The original Pebble, while being an innovator, to be honest, resembled those hippy kid watches, like ODM watches, which I hate to admit, at some point in time owned one too.
The first generation Pebble
vs
ODM, close enough?
     Things seem to be changing for the better, seeing how the initial renders of the Moto360 are, I'm pretty confident that they have finally nailed the design aspect in order to appeal to the general public. They are using sapphire glass too, which is the same material that they use for swiss watches. With sapphire glass, the watch face will definitely look crisp clear; which brings us into another point that we should consider, the display and the battery life of such a device.

A smartwatch that actually is a watch when it's needed
     Wearing my current watch, I can check the time no matter the condition, pitch black or blaring bright. If you have used your smartphone under the sun, it is a common problem that most have difficulty seeing what is actually being displayed. Okay, let's say the upcoming smartwatches have a display that can counter this problem, how about the battery life of such devices. With a digital display that is constantly on, one would figure that the battery will probably go dry in a day or so. Compared to an automatic watch that runs on the sole action of wearing it, the smartwatch seems quite troublesome if one has to charge it everyday. Of course, the added features the smartwatch will have is to be considered too, so what I ask of is a battery life of 2 or 3 days and I will be sold on this idea.
Something the typical swiss watch can't do
     Am I excited about the idea of premium looking smartwatches that are actually meant for serious people? Definitely. Am I going to get one as soon as it's available? Not necessarily. With the arguments I presented atop, how do you feel about the emergence of smartwatches? Are you willing to stop wearing the swiss watch that you invested so much in? Do leave your thoughts below.
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