MobileViews Blog

Google Search’s new ability to use natural language to search through your personal photos is a neat bit of programming and pattern recognition. But, like any new feature, it may need a bit more tweaking.

You can see the result of a search for “my photos of dogs” resulted in photos of our pet rabbit! FYI: Searching for “my photos of rabbits” resulted in no search results.

You can learn more about this new feature in Google’s Inside Search blog:

Finding your photos more easily with Google Search

Google added subscription streaming to its cloud music player. Everyone compares it to mindshare leader Spotify. But, it is much closer to Microsoft’s Zune Market (now named Xbox Music). Like Microsoft’s offering you can buy music and, optionally, pay for the ability to stream from a large music collection. There is no free ad-supported option like Spotify.

Just as Microsoft focuses its music service to its own platforms, Google Play All Access only supports Android in the mobile world. Its web-based interface works across desktop platforms as well as Windows RT, however. The lack of an iOS app is a big limitation for me. It would be nice to be able to stream music to an iPhone or iPad. And, the web interface for the desktop needs a bit of work in its navigation interface.

If, however, you have an Android device, update the Play Music app to be able to stream from the All Access service. Google provides a free 30-day trial. And, if you start the trial and opt to pay for the service before June 30, 2013, the monthly recurring fee will be $7.99 instead of the regular $9.99. There is no indication how long this reduced price will be in effect.

The Android Play Music app provides a sparse but usable interface. Its Explore option will show you recommended, featured, and new music lists. You can also explore by music genres. I didn’t find this feature particularly useful. And, it seemed especially weak in the world music category. But, it might just be a learning curve issue. One thing to pay attention to is the apps settings. I recommend limiting it to WiFi-only (see screenshot) until you learn more about how the app operates. I found, for example, that it downloaded over 250MB of data while testing it. One factor is the “Add to Library” downloads, for example, an entire album. Just remember that a “library” is different from a “playlist.”

My initial opinion is that Spotify’s Windows software (I haven’t tried the Mac OS X version) is easier to than Google Music’s web interface. Spotify’s UI makes it easier to search for music, discover related music, create playlists, and, in general, simply play music.

In a post-June 30 world where both Spotify and Google Play All Access will cost $9.99 per month, I think Spotify’s support for iOS devices and better desktop interface wins. Oh, and one more thing… Google Play All Access only lets you share music on Google+. If your friends are on Facebook (along with hundreds of millions of other people), that is just too bad. Google’s current social strategy feels very 1990s AOL walled garden-like to me.

I started using the free DataWiz from Princeton’s Edge Lab to learn how apps on my Nexus 4 use wireless broadband data. I quickly found two badly behaving apps (in my opinion).

The first was Amazon’s AppStore. It downloaded 9MB of something over 3G/4G. I don’t know what this somewhat was since I did not download any apps from Amazon. And, it had not notified me of any app updates. I found a setting to force it download apps larger than 1MB only when connected to WiFi.

The other misbehaving app is Google’s Current – its magazine reading app that I never use. It managed to download 2.4MB even though I never used the app that day. And, unfortunately, like other Google apps, it cannot be uninstalled. Updates to the can be removed but not the app itself. The solution for this app was to set sync to manual. It should never sync since I never use the app.

If you are wondering what on your phone is using up your 3G/4G data, you might want to take a look at the free DataWiz app.

Happy to say I passed two Fitbit milestones in the past couple of days.

1. 5000 miles
2. 11,000,000 steps

“Ordinary Things” photo series.

I stopped posting regularly on Google+ on October 3, 2012. However, recently, I started posting near daily to a photo series I call Ordinary Things. Here’s why:

I bought a Nexus 4 phone to replace an HTC HD7 (Windows Phone 7) earlier this year. However, it was rarely used to take photos because I use an iPhone 5 for that function. The Ordinary Things photo series is a way to force myself to use the Nexus 4 to take photos and to learn more about both it and the Snapseed photo app (now owned by Google) – Most of the photos have some processing using Snapseed. So, it seemed like posting these photos to Google+ would make it an all-Google effort. You can find me on Google+ at:

Todd Ogasawara on Google+

[Audio length - 48:43]
In MobileViews Podcast 62 Todd Ogasawara and Jay Stone discuss the relationship software and hardware being so good that consumers do not feel the need to upgrade or update to the latest version. This, of course, affects growth, revenue, and the bottom line for tech companies.

The recent update for the FCC’s speed test apps for both Android and iPhone turned off the ability to run a test. And, the new app is not available yet.

The Verge reported that the wireless inductive charger accessory for the Nexus 4 (which became widely available just recently itself) is now available for $59.99. I was giving it some thought as a possible purchase when I remembered that I had an Energizer Qi-Enabled 3 Position Inductive Charger (Amazon link) that I used tested with an iPhone 3G a couple of years ago. The Nexus 4 also uses the Qi wireless charging technology. So, it seemed like it should charge using the Energizer product.

Initial testing indicates that it does. Placing the Nexus 4 (in a case) on top of one of the two Energizer Qi pad’s charging areas started charging the phone after waiting a few seconds. You can see in the photo above that the Nexus 4 indicates it is, in fact, being charged while sitting on the Energizer Qi pad. The current Amazon price of the Energizer Qi pad is $68.24. So, it is $8.25 more than the custom dock for the Nexus 4. However, it can charge two Qi devices at the same time. And, it is not limited to the Nexus 4 form factor.

Disclosure: Energizer provided the charger, a charger case for a BlackBerry, and a charger case for an iPhone 3G for evaluation.

I passed 10 million steps on my Fitbit today. And, it looks like I passed 9000 floors climbed about two days ago.

Microsoft released free apps for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone to request help or offer help (in a variety of ways).

Download a Lifeline: New Disaster Response App Launches

The HelpBridge mobile application simplifies the process of notifying loved ones by simultaneously sending an e-mail and SMS to the communities you select & posting a message to your Facebook wall. You can even include your GPS coordinates so that message recipients will know where you are and the circumstances surrounding you.

The apps are named HelpBridge.

It took over a year 7 months but Android Jelly Bean (the 4.1.1 version, not the 4.2 new flavor) finally appeared for my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 tablet.

4.1 includes Google Now but does not include 4.2′s Multi-user, Daydream, or Photo Sphere. And, while the 4.1 update does not include 4.2′s Gesture Typing, Samsung added a gesture typing feature to its proprietary Samsung keyboard. This feature is turned off by default.

Samsung retired its handy screenshot applet in favor of the less handy but standard screenshot (press Power + Reduce Volume buttons simultaneously) function introduced in Jelly Bean.

Jelly Bean (4.1) feels fast and smooth on the Tab 2 7.0 so far. And, it is good to finally have a stable Google Play apps update function. Google play frequently stalled and froze in Ice Cream Sandwich and required forced Android restarts to get a series of apps updates completed.

I’ve spent a full two months using the Microsoft Surface with Windows RT (check out my review of it on BYTE linked below). The tablet is still something I carry and use daily. However, while the Touch Cover I bought with it is “usable,” it is not optimal. After two months I still make a lot of typos that don’t occur when using a “real” keyboard. So, I bit the bullet and spent another $130 to buy the Type Cover for the Surface. It arrived this afternoon (Christmas Eve 2012). It is far too early to pass a judgement. However, I can say it feels better than the Touch Cover and the number of typos is much less using the Type Cover.

More later…

(BYTE) Surface With Windows RT: A Winner Despite Apps