Saturday, September 7, 2013

iDenkilla's Ideal Smart Watch

Earlier this week I said I would post an entry on my ideal smart watch. Well here it is. Sorry for the delayed post.

If I were to create a smart watch, I would give it a nfc chip so I can pay for items by tapping the watch against nfc equipped cash registers. This is already available for phones with built in nfc chips.  The other benefit to this would be that my phone would unlock when I grab it with the wrist my watch is on. It's cumbersome to always have to take your phone out and unlock it to use and on the other hand you need a password to protect your phone from prying eyes.

It should also include a GPS chip, heart rate monitor, pedometer, and the technology to track sleeping habits (like the Jawbone Up). This way it's one device that I can use while I'm doing cardio, or sleeping. The smart watch would be competing with the likes of the Nike fuel band and Fitbit.

The watch face should pop up and the camera should be built into the back of it. When I want to take a picture, I'm able to raise my wrist to the height I prefer and be able to have screen facing me instead of me looking down at it. It also improves the cool factor because it looks futuristic.    

The device should be actively listening to for a keyword to activate the virtual assistant. This is similar to the moto X functionality, this way I am able to do use it while I'm on the move and not be distracted by fiddling with the device.

Additionally, I would include wireless headphones to listen to the music on my phone and be able to control it from the watch on my wrist. Another plus to this feature is my texts, emails, etc can be read to me I'm private.

What do you guys think of this smart watch? What else would you add?

iDenkilla

Thursday, September 5, 2013

My Thought on the Galaxy Gear Smart Watch

So on Wednesday Samsung released its first piece of wearable technology, Galaxy Gear, a smart watch. It has a camera, touch screen display, and runs android. I'm a bit disappointed with how they built the device. It also seems to lag from the videos I watched.

I honestly don't see how I can use this as a working professional. I wouldn't want to to dictate personal texts/ emails I'm sending while at work. I wouldn't want my texts or emails to be read aloud either. Additionally, I would find it annoying as Hell to hear someone else be doing the same at work.

The camera which is placed on the wrist, band of the watch, is not intuitive at all. To take a picture of something I'm looking at, I would need to pull my wrist to eye level so I can see the screen and take the picture.

To activate the virtual assistant, you have to either press a button on the device or use the screen. I'm not a fan of the virtual assistant technology because I don't want people hearing my business in public. But if I were to use it, it is way too cumbersome to activate.

The Samsung smart watch will be able to run apps also. The downside, is that the device can only handle 10 apps at a time. There shouldn't be a limitation on how many apps it can handle.

There is a smart watch which was released by a company named Pebble. I think that company created a better smart watch. It's simple displays times, texts, emails on the phone. It can run other apps as well but I'm not familiar on which ones. It's simple and doesn't overdo it. The one feature I really like on it it's that you can change the way the time displays.

That's it for my review, tomorrow I will be posting on what items my smart watch would have.

Thanks,
iDenkilla

Monday, September 2, 2013

Goals

So like I've said before, I just had surgery done on my ankle due to recurring ankle sprains and ankle instability.

There was an incident last year which made my ankle worst. I was at a company picnic and terribly sprained my ankle during one of the events. The injury set my back on a personal goal of weight loss. The goal was to lose weight and become healthy. I was doing well with the goal, I had lost about 20 - 30 pounds in about a year. I felt great, I picked up hobbies and really enjoyed the outdoors, such as running, cycling, etc. Earlier in my life, I wasn't really active and spent a lot of my time indoors basically just gaining weight.

After having this surgery, I really miss the great outdoors. I miss the ability to spend time outdoors and just run or just walk through the park and enjoy the weather. It hasn't been a full week yet and I'm dreading my recovery, dreading that I will put on weight and become unhealthy. So I have set goals for myself and decided to make it visible so I can be a man of my word and accomplish what I have made public.

I've been told I tend to have unrealistic goals, so I'm going to change that and list realistic goals below.

My goals during the recovery period are to eat smaller portions, eat healthy, and maintain my weight. Prior to my surgery, I was eating unhealthy food, eating take out or food from restaurants on a daily basis. Not being able to go to restaurants will help change this horrible habit.

The doctor will put me in a boot after this cast in about 2.5 weeks and I'm hoping to lose 1 - 2 pounds during this time by eating healthy and walking more each day. I don't want to hurt my ankle by being too aggressive but at the same time I don't want to create excuses.

I plan to continue the plan above while I am receiving physical therapy. The only difference will be that I will start lifting weights so I can build muscle. I won't be lifting much, just enough to lose between 3 - 4 pounds a month.

Once I am cleared by my physical therapist to begin cardio training, I will cycle/ run. The weight loss goal will be to lose a minimum of 5 pounds a month. At the same time, I will be weight training.

My ideal weight is between 155 - 165. I hope to reach that weight and remain there for the majority of my life.

I will be posting "status reports" every two weeks. Which will help show I am on track.

Thanks guys,
iDenkilla

Friday, August 30, 2013

Man of Steel Sequel

So it's day number 2 post surgery. I'm able to sleep more which is a good thing since I love to sleep.

So recently, we all found out that Ben Affleck has been chosen to play Batman in the Man of Steel sequel. I think that's such a bad idea, think back to when he was Dare Devil, it was a horrible movie. Affleck is not meant to play super heroes, he's going to ruin this movie also.

Chris Nolan should have asked Joseph Gordon Levitt pay Batman. That's how they left it in the Dark Knight Trilogy. He would have made a better Batman for the movie. Chris Nolan built the character up already for us, we understand why he is Batman. This would have been a smooth transition for the fans.

The only good thing about the Man of Steel sequel is Bryan Cranston playing Lex Luthor. He is amazing in Breaking Bad as Walter Whiteand he was great in other movies/ tv shows. He will be a great villain for the movie.

What are your thoughts?

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Going from the iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy S4

So I recently got surgery and I'm not able to sleep much. I figured I'd start a blog to keep me semi occupied when I can't sleep or am bored.

A few weeks ago I finally switched from my iPhone 4s to the Galaxy S4.

To show you how nerdy I am, at my last job I did a presentation on the iPhone and the HTC evo. Discussing the pros & cons.

I was a big android fan when it was first released. I was always anti-iPhone, all my friends knew that. I would root each android device I had and constantly update the roms (using modified version of android created by advanced users), tweak settings, etc.  The only thing I was unhappy with was the battery life. The HTC evo, I would charge it a minimum of twice a day. And it wasn't a defective unit since I had bought another one after I lost my first one. When the iPhone 4s announcement came out, I decided to jump on the band wagon.

The iPhone was a big change from the evo, I liked it. I told myself I wouldn't go back to the Android. I loved how everything just worked and synced with my iPad, it was also very easy to use. I also enjoyed the using iMessage with my other iPhone buddies. Facetime was another great feature since people can just video chat with me by dialing my number.

The reason I switched back to android is because I was bored with my iPhone. There were no awesome features I could show off, the screen looked dull.

Using the Galaxy s4 is a big change from the iPhone. The first day I was using the Galaxy was the most frustrating day, I remember telling myself I'll have to send this phone back. The battery was dying quickly, I was using certain iPhone gestures that do not work on the Android operating system.

Things got better as the days went on, I did some research on how to improve the battery life, I have gotten a handle of these Android/Samsung gestures.the one thing I really enjoy is the Google Now feature, my phone will tell me at all times how far I am from home, tell me when to leave for things booked in my calendar, and other great things. Sprint's 4G LTE is nice also it is springing up I'm areas that I commonly visit. It also seems like the 3G speeds on the phone are faster as well.

There are still somethings I'm not happy with, like not being able to properly use the phone with one hand, or when I'm streaming music over Bluetooth in my car I am not able to see what song is playing, not able to stream music through the usb cable like the iPhone.

Well that's all for now. Bye everyone.

-iDenkilla