Category Archives: Mobile Devices

MobileViews Podcast 429: The need for Certified Minimally Viable End-users



In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

  • USB-C tester/multimeter
  • M2 iPad Pro battery life is horrible. Significant battery loss when in Airplane Mode
  • Discovery: Apple Watch Chargers can get dirty, and when they do, they don’t charge properly and can actually cause discharge.
  • Waiting for iPadOS 16.2: External extended display for M1/M2 iPads and Freeform. Mid-December?
  • Horrible idea:
    Bloomberg-Apple’s Next Change for Siri: Dropping ‘Hey’ From ‘Hey Siri’ Trigger
  • Todd’s Rant (in a caring way): People should not be allowed to use a computer for business purposes unless:
    They have a professional IT support team and a defined set of processes and practices that they are required to follow
    Lacking an IT support team, they go through a process to certify them as a minimally viable end-user
    Why?
    Cyber-security
    Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity

    What IT support doesn’t fix:
    Fully-justified text with no understanding of typography: Kerning, tracking, leading
    Documents formatting that looks more like a ransom note than a document
    Center justified columns of numbers in spreadsheets
    Spreadsheets formatted as a report when it needs to organized for analysis
    Slides packed with text far exceeding the 7×7 rule

    Jon’s corollary: I can add into this the advice I tell my students: You can be the most articulate and well-educated person, but if the product you’re putting out looks like crap, you will be judged by it. And never let me hear you say “But people don’t notice that…” They notice, consciously or unconsciously.

  • Jon’s funny story about his Withings Blood Pressure Cuff
  • Jon has a Popupiano to join his Populele

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

MobileViews Podcast from Audible.com

MobileViews Podcast 423: Chromebook new apps/tips; deciding to buy new devices; Apple October announcements expectations



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

MobileViews Podcast 419: Back to school tech with guest Don Sorcinelli


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

In all fairness: Another look/listen to the STADOR K23 Bluetooth wireless earbuds

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)

MobileViews Podcast 415


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

MobileViews Podcast 408: Mostly Google topics; making peace with OneNote; Jon’s Siri Shortcut solution


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