Is there anything Apple can do at their announcement to win over android loyalist?

A little bit around this time last year I began my grand experience of dropping many of my apple products for Google. I was looking at Chromebooks and researching the app parity of Google play vs app store. If you keep up with my blog you know that over the past year or so I have been pretty much fully vested in the Google universe and this once self admitted apple fanboy became one of the biggest advocates for android and chrome os I know personally. So of course in lieu of the recent apple event announcement a few people at my job took this time to throw a few jabs my way. More than one person remarked, "so I guess your going to come back to apple after tomorrow right". I laughed and said "never that" initially, but later my reply became "it will take a lot". The final time I was asked I hesitantly replied, "we will see urrr ummm nawl I cant picture it!" That last retort led me to writing this post. Is there something apple can actually say tomorrow that will make me come back as the prodigal son? Can apple ignite that nerd excitement? I was thinking about things like maybe: 

1. Ipad mini retina with scaled down size comparable to nexus 7

2. Apple Iwatch with more capabilities or versatility than galaxy gear

3. Added feature to iworks and icloud in which everything is saved every few seconds ala Google. 

Well it feels as though im pretty much reaching so maybe I should ask you, is there anything apple can do to make a android loyalist switch?....

I believe it will start 10:00 a.m. pdt. Last year it was live for SAFARI browsers ONLY and of course I will be watching on 2 different tech sites. I usually use cnet.com and twit.tv and you guys can look for remarks from me if you cant get those sites at work haha. GOD BLESS 

things i heard this past week 10/1

Nexus 5 photo. This look a lot like the nexus 7 I think it will be nice to go the smamsung rooute and streamline the design across the board. People are angry at the camera but I don't know why I think it doesn't make a difference and o guess I'm used to it because it looks similar to the bezel around the nexus 7 cam. There are rumored specs like snapdragon 800 , 2 gig ram, sseperate graphics and the usual but I think nexus stands out primarily by price and os so the is nothing to be excited about or remember for that matter. What would you guys like to see?

Aereo delayed Chicago launch. From my knowledge Aereo is a service that allows you to watch local tv online. I know some are saying so what but aereo hosts the channels so you don't have to worry about tweaking your computer with a antenna or run cords. They sent an email a few days ago saying that the rollout will be late because the beta went wrong. This makes me so sad because I want to be a cord cutter but I need a reliable solution to have commercials play as environmental noise as I interact with my family. Am I the only one that feels less comfortable when Netflix is playing all say? It seems like a commitment or something I have to plan for. I never hear people say it but I think we enjoy the randomness of TV and its commercials. Netflix forces you tk make a decision. Any cord cutters excited about this?

Amazon new tablets-- this is amazing how they compete with Google on bottom prices. Outside of Google I probably use amazon the most. Specs seem to be on par with the nexus 7 and the price is the same but the fire hdx has a bigger display at 8.9. The only drawback is app compatibility. I don't use the amazon app store but I don't recall much apps for my taste not a available on this store but in Google play. They retained last years fire HD but placed it in a new body ala apple iPhone 5c (oops).. The killer feature is. "Mayday" that will be a button that will connect you to a customer rep in 15 seconds. Jeff Bezos the owner of amazon claim they will be ready for Christmas but I can't imagine he realizes just how much this thing is going to sell. I know while your reading this your thinking of a elder family member to give it too! The commercial alone makes me want to press "mayday" as soon as I get the chance. Hey but on another note, if there is anyone who can claim to have the logistics ,its amazon! I'm typing this on my nexus wrapped i a case I ordered 2 days ago! ,,,,,,,,,,,,

Oh yeah and the review's of the note 3 is released and from what I'm reading this is the phone to beat!!!

Things I heard 9/14 iphone, 8.1, nexus lte , chromebooks, nexus 5

It has been a while isnce I updated so forgive me if some of this is dated but I just wanted to talk about the things that caught my eye or ears or ...whatever

1. Chromebook updates- I am sure windows is nervous because it seems as though there is a new buddy in town. All of the big vendors from lenovo, toshiba, to hp are making their own version of the chromebook. The chromebooks range from arm low powered arm chips, mid range atom refreshed bay trail processors, and surprising cheaper haswell. For non geeks this means the chromebooks will be able to run longer on the battery, run faster, and have better graphics! I love my Acer A7, its my go to machine for creating content because most of what I do is using google apps. This will just make things smoother for me when I ad a linux os on the side.

2. Possible Nexus 5 FCC leak - this was pretty cool people seem to be freaking out like it was an iphone. I see android fanboys can be just as passionate. I found myself clicking on every story I seen mentioning the nexus 5. That speaks a lot when your device gained so much loyalty, people cant wait to the next iteration. You have previously only seen that on the iphone and recently galaxy.

3. iphone 5c preorders- it is a lot to this story because what people are not talking about is the fact that I don't hear anything about iphone 5s orders ? Why not? Does apple realize that the announcement is underwhelming? Are they trying to build up a artificial sense of demand? I don't know , i guess I am a hypocrite because I seem to be excited about a processor bump to chromebooks when it is the same thing but I made fun of apple! I guess its just hard for those on top!

4. new windows 8.1 devices - i heard something about Asus coming with an 8.1 transformer type device for about $350! Wow if this is the case I am definitely interested. The problem with windows tablets is the price. The low price of android tablets helped people leave their comfort zone of the ipad but the surface was too expensive. As a government employee who is forced to use windows at work, I think I would like to have a portable device that runs windows and windows product. I have to admit though Im interested, it will be hard for me to part from my nexus!

5. Nexus LTE is here! - Im so excited! I have talked often about how I wish I had a device to rule them all, I was excited about the note 3 and I got really excited about the Sony Ultra Z but I have been waiting on the Nexus 7 LTE. I heard that tmobile will give a free month when you activate the sim card that it comes shipped with. I currently subscribe to verizon lte for my old ipad but I would love to switch it out. I now face the hard part. I need to seel my nexus devices so I can purchase a lte nexus 7 and maybe a cheap flip for backup. Any body want a nexus package? I need like 400 to cover tax. Leave comments for suggestions and let me know will using this as a phone and tablet will be a good choice!

iphone presse event 9/10

so the big thing I heard today was the iphone announcement and this one time admitted apple fanboy revealed to the world just how much I now distant myself from apple. I was laughing and resenting the keypoints during the key note and I laughed at the things that I knew my former allies where going to be happy about. I decided to take some screenshots of my nexus to do an annoying little point. Admittedly none of this matter in the bigger picture because nothing can bring you to joy but the HOLY SPIRIT but this is just fun stuff, so enjoy and as always, GOD BLESS.

my quick settings

IOS quick settings

tabs in chrome for nexus

safari tabs

notifications

ios 7 notifications


So lets just say, this press conference was pretty familiar. I could post more but this just a quick point. 

things I heard 9/8

Samsung Note 3 - it was weird because I was listening to the twit live coverage of the Samsung unpacked event and they seemed to be un-amused at this phone, I think this phone is awesome! (dj lance voice, unless I can get sued) . I had plans to write about what specs I would like in a new phone and this phone seems to come close. It has 3 gigs of ram which seems plenty, it does picture in picture, it has a floating screen like you tube, it has a strong quad core chip and it has a stylus that opens a note option when you pull it so you don't have that awkward moment asking someone to hold on while you open a notes app and then find out later auto-correct rendered the note you typed useless. If you like me finding yourself putting your phone back in your pocket and writing on scrap paper, you would love to have this spen and large screen. oh the screen is nearly 6 inches. Earlier I spoke how I would love to have cell service on my Nexus 7 but this phone also replaces that, I would love it was a 6.5 like the mega but hey this is a cool compromise. I am just thinking how awesome it would be just to have the one mobile device when I'm out in about , using a aftermarket wallet case for my licence and one debit hoping that nfc will make most of my payments. I don't like carrying baggage so the less I have to carry the better! so umm yeah i wont a note 3 

galaxy gear- wow what a dumb name but moving on. This "gear" is basically a smart watch. I will be honest its pretty cool and if I wasn't so happy with nexus I probably would have a Samsung phone which is needed for the gg because it doesn't actually have a data radio. Its basically a glorified pebble..mms/d.mgzn.sfngf sorry I fell  asleep on the keys from the boredom. I am confident enough to exclaim out loud tho that I am nerdy enough to rush out and get one if somebody like ,,,,Apple come out with a stand alone smart watch that can make calls , can take pictures crappy or not , have nfc , and Bluetooth 4.0. I can use my nexus 7 for every thing else . Remember I don't like walking around carrying stuff , but if I had a actual phone on my wrist I can run in jump and play with my kids at the park without the worry of things falling out my pocket! 

nexus 5 spotting, maybe- i feel like cnet asking a question to spread a rumor as if it was true but i love them (dont attack me I am a fan). This is understandable because there was a guy using a large phone that said nexus and it was next to a lady holding a nexus 4 , how convenient , which made it clear this phone will be bigger. There was soon after , convenient again, fcc specs on a phone which happen to have a similar model number that match eyeball specs, haha. Supposedly it will have a 5 inch screen , seems huge but nexus 4 is 4.7. I just hope the phone has longer battery , speakers on the front or bottom , and as mentioned earlier, I wish that it couldve had an even bigger screen. haha I know what your thinking, I should just get the LTE nexus 7 and wait for my watch , where in the world is my lte nexus? oh its over in Europe, how did they get it first :(. 

xbox one release date - November 22 I will probably be trying to figure out how to ask my wife to let me get the new xbox one for $500 even though my sons birthday and Christmas is in that same season. So umm yeah time to start telling myself only loser's get it first , yeah that should make me feel better, judge others, who im sinning, i mean kidding "spirit slip." Seriously I wont get this unless GOD wills different, prayerfully its because of my discipline of service to others and not just because I'm broke or value the warmth of my wife at night haha. 

Random thought, anybody tired of people taking pictures of kit-kats affixed to android phones? 

First few days with my Nexus 7 (a nexus review)

Some background. 

I have had the pleasure of using an Ipad since the first generation and instantly fell in love with it. After a few years and experiencing excellent browsing on my iPhone I noticed that it was something I was missing. I first wanted to get a bigger phone, I found myself thinking that if I had just a larger screen I would browse on my phone more. That sparked my first desire for an android device. I soon purchased a nexus 4 which has a much larger screen. I soon found myself using my phone much more than my ipad because the ipad began to seem to big and heavy for me. I once thought it had perfect portability but now frequently I decide to leave it at home because it felt like a chore to tote around. So now I have come to the conclusion, I need something bigger than a phone screen but smaller than an Ipad.

Why not ipad mini 

I first experienced the ipad mini when I purchased one for my lovely mother for her respective holiday! It does help with the problem of portability but it was slightly to big to fit in my pocket. I also felt it had some weight that I wasn't happy with. The greatest problem was that I couldn't figure out a justifiable reason to spend so much money for a ipad mini that has less than half the specs of my current ipad. It has an old processor, an old screen technology , and old standard of ram! I would love to continue the large and I mean LARGE investment I made in the itunes store but it's like my grandfathered contract with At&t, how much is my investment really worth?
I noticed everyone talking about this nexus so I had to check it out, with its quad core chip, 2 gig of ram , open gl (that means it has the specks of a laptop computer). In fact it has the graphics power that you can reasonably equate to our past console, that's saying a lot for gamers. The greatest thing  was that it is smaller and lighter than the mini and $100 cheaper!

Whats so cool about it? 

First look. 

I was able to log in with my google account and most of my things where loaded on there! I pulled up the google now and right away it had the places I been and directions home (even though I was in my neighborhood). I instantly fell in love with its beautiful screen, even more beautiful than my retina ipad arguably. The screen was so bright and I can see it from all angles! The device feels warm and sturdy. It looks expensive and that's saying a lot! The large bezels stick out like a pimple between your eyebrows but all in all its good! I loved how after initial setup I was able to slide it in my pocket and keep going. I have a weird thing about caring things in my hands (I HATE IT!!!!!!) so putting it in my right pocket , and my phone in my left pocket which also holds my cards and I am good to go.

Wife proof 

The wife was happy because it was only $229, its no where near the large investment that my $499 Ipad was. I don't know but its something special about $200. If your a middle class worker , even today, $200 doesn't seem like nothing you have to sweat about. For a device you will use for primary computing , $200 something is almost a impulse buy, especially when you consider it a savings to getting the Ipad mini for $327.

Portable 

I already touched on it but its worth talking about more, I finally have a very light device I can carry around without feeling like I am carrying something around. I was able to actually read it without worrying about it falling on my face as I fall asleep. Ipad owners know what that's like! Especially with my cargo's I actually took it with wherever I went without having to think about a bag I can put it in , or holding it in my hands.

Function 

I was delighted to see that its so much free stuff in the google play store. I do hate that its missing some HUGE things I need that I got on my ipad , I thought it would have been available , the largest problem is no amazon instant streaming app, or amazon mobile, I was able to side load the amazon mobile app but unfortunately I had to side load flash and FireFox to use the amazon instant in browser. (Side load is downloading a unsupported application outside the play store). I also greatly miss textbooks which should be coming soon according to the +googlenexus press conference. I also don't have power school , that will be a big point of contention because I am a teacher.
That aside, the nexus is sooo fast. The speakers are awesome for a tablet. Its dual speakers with "surround sound" allowing me to hear clearly. The fast processor allow for quick loading of beautiful video, even YouTube looks awesome. The home screen is cool with google play widget and weather, google plus populating my many home screens. I complained about the mail rendering on my nexus but this double pain rendering of email is even better (because its faster) than the industry leading Ipad. The camera is grainy but quck to pull up. I love how snappy everything is. Pure android is buttery smooth and quick like I used to tout the ios. I like the app switching tabs button pull down status menu. It is so good apple is adopting it in ios7. I also love the integration with google services. Last year I wrote how it was ironic that all I use is google services on my ios devices but now I see the benefit of being part of it full fledged. I easily share things to google plus, take pictures for google keep, pull pictures from my google+ backups, email from GMail, use hangouts etc,,, google is AWESOME!

Summing it up 

I love this tablet. I haven't had this much fun with a tablet and been this excited about a product since the first ipad. I have a otg cable coming in the mail which will give me a usb port for thumb drives, ps3 controllers, and other weird nerdy tricks. I am debating a small keyboard which is only $10 on amazon. Despite the missing apps I am happy with my portable power house and I recommend it for anyone, even if you already have a ipad!

Waiting on my Chromecast

Im soooo exited about the new chromecast. So I was already excited about the "breakfast with Sundar" which was a press conference from the person in charge of chrome and android. I was expecting something cool with the Nexus 7 but I did not expect this chromecast at all. That's what made it so exciting! I remember watching apple and experiencing the 1 more thing , this was in a weird kind of way a torch pass to google with its one more thing.

Now I am not saying that the quality of the nexus 7 and the chromecaset for that matter match the beauty and the overwhelming architecture and detail but the the spirit of ingenuity is their. It's like the coolness for the nerds rather than the masses.

So why am I excited? 

Well the first thing is that now that I have moved to android from my iphone I no longer use the airplay like I used to. It feels sorta weird too switch back in forth from my ipad to my phone so most of the time I carry my nexus 4. I then find myself looking for my ipad when it is time for me to show my family something at the spur of the moment. If i have the chromecast hooked up i can easily press the button like I did in days of ye old I phone
The next thing and most important thing I look forward to is the use of the chrome browser mirroring. I see panned reviews already seemingly disregarding the "beta" tag google aggressively expressed during the press conference. I work with Linux, needlessly to say I can deal with hiccups here and their for the sake of innovation.I mainly look forward to showing webpages, like my blog for instance, while sitting amongst friends and family.
So to the critics,,
I heard a few critics noting that Hulu was laggy using the browser cast or mirroring but I believe that Hulu and vimeo , etc, will most likely hurry to add the additional function to its app to allow chromecasting so they will not be left behind netflix. I don't phantom a reason why they wouldnt though I have seen stranger things happen in the intellectual property world. I hope that it will be more on par with the offerings of apple tv soon seeing as though the apps are already available in the android store and its just a matter of an additional api. On a side note,  I am a tad bit skeptical of the lagginess review due to the fact that it pulls urls rather than device to chromecast.

Brief explanation for how it works. 

For my non techies, I do not work for google and I dont have access to the materials or actual device as of me writing this but I will tell you by my percepetion and understanding of the explanation. Please feel free to correct or clarify what I got wrong: It seems as though everything is handled in the cloud. When you press the chromecast logo on your device (phone, tablet, computer) will tell the chromecast to pull the URL from the web and display it on the tv. It is as though your just giving it directions. That is cool because unlike with apple tv, I don't have to worry about keeping something on my device screen in order for other people to see it on the tv and this will help with multi-tasking!

Value 

This is the best part. The chromecast only costs $35 and on top of that, the first day buyers like me got 3 months free of Netflix! This means I basically played 11 bucks for something that serve a lot of the same functions as apples $99 appletv witch I felt was a good deal anyway!

Waiting game
My device should be here by thursday and I am trying to keep my mind focused on the LORD so that I dont get to anxious. I have many things to do and luckly tomorrow is Sunday so I can pray for patience (pray for me yall) haha GOD BLESS