MobileViews Blog

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

1. Handy ChromeOS/Chromebook features you might not know about. Chromebooks have a richer toolset that it did just a year or two ago
   • The built-in Gallery app can edit PDF documents
   • The built-in Scan app can scan from your scanner. It can even use the form feeder
   • The built-in Screencast app lets you record video presentations with transcriptions but only displays on other Chromebooks
   • The built-in Cursive app lets stylus-enabled Chromebook users create handwritten notes
   • On newer Chromebooks (or least the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5) the old Google search key with a magnifying glass icon is now a button icon with a solid large dot in the middle and a thin ring around it. Google renamed the search key the “everything key” a few years ago. It is the same search icon that you see at the bottom left of a Chromebook’s display.
   • After Google Cloud Print was shut down at the end of 2020, I had a difficulty printing to printers on my WiFi network. However, recently, for reasons I don’t understand, there haven’t been any problems printing to a WiFi printer
2. Discussion Topic: when do you upgrade your “tools” – concept being that sometimes we upgrade for fun, but for your daily drivers, how do you know when it’s time to upgrade? Can you know when your work could move faster?
3. Unannounced but expected Apple October product announcements

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

Dr. Jon Westfall (a university professor), Don Sorcinelli (father of a incoming college freshman), and I (former college student and father of a graduated college student) discuss back to school technology.While focusing on the present, we also reminisce tech in college over the past decades.

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

K23 Bluetooth earbuds could play but not record audio on a Macbook Air 2020 M1

In a recent mini-podcast, MobileViews Blog :: MobileViews Mini-Podcast 32: Microphones comparisons, I tested audio recording quality of several microphones and declared the STADOR K23 as a no-show because while I could hear audio on it from my Macbook, I could not record audio using it with Audacity.

This was not a show stopper since its main purpose was to listen to audio and not to record with it. However, I gave it another try by pairing it with a Windows 10 laptop PC. Specifically, I used it with Microsoft Teams for conference calls. The microphone worked with this combination of hardware and software. The audio quality was good with a reasonable volume level.

The earbuds with over the ear soft hooks are comfortable when wearing for relatively long periods of time (multiple conference calls). The charging case is huge! I estimate it is four times larger than an Apple AirPods Pro charging case. That said, the K23’s case can work with either a USB-C or USB-A cable. And, its front panel LCD shows charge level in percent (vs. just yellow or green light indicators). I have a suspicion that its soft silicone over the ear hooks will deteriorate after a year or two. However, depending on your price tolerance, its relatively low cost may make up for that possible future state.

Its list price is $60US but is available from Amazon for $39US

STADOR K23 (Amazon link)

Gadget with no on-device on/off switch. Must use remote control to turn on/off

In this podcast Jon Westfall and I discuss:

1. Netflix just announced a huge audio upgrade — and you can try it now

   In addition to Apple’s spatial audio

   Thanks to some help from Sennheiser, Netflix is enabling standard two-channel speaker systems — like, say, your basic soundbar, headphones or even your TV’s built-in speakers — to produce spatial audio sound without the need for a surround system. Spatial audio adds extra immersion by creating a 3D sound space, making noises sound like they’re coming from above you as well as on the left and right.

   Bringing Immersive Audio to Our Members Around the World

   Spatial audio on Netflix

2. The dumbing down of UI/UX
   The clue-ing down of UI/UX – fewer visual cues & options

   The Dumbing Down of UX Designers

   Is it worth having a list of MAC addresses and devices on your home network? With IOT, this is becoming kind of a nightmare! Also Asus Router oddities in features only in app not in web UI.

   If you use the web UI, it assumes you are dumber than if you use an app???

   Tangential: I bought a “swamp cooler” (evaporative) that doesn’t have an on/off switch on the device itself. On/off is only on its (easy to lose/break) remote control

3. Customer reviews on Amazon (comedic YouTube video) What Shopping On Amazon Feels Like

…Dedicated to Jon’s Mom.

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

1. Chromebooks will now tell you when you’re using the wrong USB-C cable

   The new feature is coming first to Chromebooks with 11th or 12th Gen Intel Core CPUs that support USB4 or Thunderbolt, according to the blog, “with more devices to come.”

2. Recently (sometime in the past 10 days), I noticed that Chrome on the Chromebook requires me to add Google Docs Online to enable pasting text into Google Docs even though I am online
   Google Docs Offline
3. Apple Music is now available on Waze
   With a direct connection between the apps, you can now access Apple Music content directly from the Waze Audio Player
4. Look closer and take better notes with your Chromebook – Google Cursive
   Cursive will be preinstalled on all eligible Chromebooks – just tap the Everything Button and search for the app – or you can download it by going to cursive.apps.chrome and tap “install” in the toolbar.
5. Speaking of note taking: Todd is finally trying to come to terms with OneNote – by using it on a Chromebook in a web browser. Using it to jot down notes for a series of “thoughts before I go” pre-retirement blog posts on GeezerViews
6. Jon’a annoyance at Siri solved – my own playlists now reliably triggered by a Siri Shortcut.
7. Button Bluetooth Remote Control Kit for iPhone and Android

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

Jon Westfall tolerates my Google rants in this podcast

1. Google rant #1
   I remembered why (1) I have only bought Google branded Nexus or Pixel devices over the years – consistency & reasonable updates. Why I won’t be getting a Samsung tablet for my Doodle-a-Day project
   The Samsung Tab S7+’s S pen is an active Bluetooth device that has features not available in other Samsung Tab devices like the similarly named S7 FE
   The S7+ keyboard has a touchpad. The S7 FE keyboard does not
   The S6 Lite also has an S-Pen and will be on sale at Costco later this week for $280. However, the S6 Lite was released in 2020 and while it will get Android 12, next year’s Android 13 will be the last update available for this device
2. Google rant #2
   I remembered why I hate the Lenovo USI stylus for the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 so much. The stylus lost connectivity with the Chromebook several times while trying to use it for tonight’s doodle. I had to reboot the Chromebook to get it to work. And, the image somehow flipped upside down after I finished the doodle. Infinite Painter (an Android app running on the Chromebook) doesn’t appear to have a rotate function. Neither the app nor the Chromebook settings appears to have a palm-rejection option. This led to an annoying doodle session.
3. Google rant #3:
   Google I/O 2022
   Google announced a new Android Pixel tablet after exiting the market in 2019
   Google’s Pixel team is making an Android tablet
   But, wait, it won’t be available until 2023! Presumably around the time of the next Google I/O event. So, I won’t be getting an Android tablet for my Doodle-a-Day project in the foreseeable future.

   Google Pixel tablet 2023 (YouTube video)

   Google’s Pixel Watch might end up using a four-year-old chip

4. Google Pixel Watch 2022 digital bezel is huge

   “Square is the new round” in a digital world

5. Jon’s Discovery: Canonical Multipass – great for spinning up VMs and then learning Ansible to deploy / set up an instance
6. Google Open Source Maintenance Team

   Google Open Source

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com