Related
Just felt like writing about my experience using an Apple Iphone in comparison to the many WM devices I've used over the years. Was over at a friends house today and got a chance to play around with his Apple Iphone. While I'm not ready to give up my WM HTC Trinity with it's advantage of push/exchange integration and abundance of 3rd party apps, there were some things about the IPhone that left me a bit envious.
First was the physical dimensions of the Iphone, while a bit big compared to my Trinity the thinness of the device made it feel a hell of a lot smaller. I was picturing a wallet type hard case for it that would allow me to fit it into my back pocket or inside jacket pocket without it bulging out.
Second was the overall look and feel of the interface, all the applications were well blended into the theme and the little effects made using it quite enjoyable. There was a little lag calling up apps from time to time but overall I found it to be a lot snappier when calling up an app. A lot different from Windows Mobile devices, just take the WM Calculator as an example, even after all these years looks like something that came out of Windows 3.1. Microsoft really needs to get rid of that PC minded interface and make something much easier to use.
Now the thing that impressed me the most was solid feeling and sensitivity of the IPhone touch screen. The sensitivity was very very impressive. I did a comparison with the IPhone and my Trinity side by side pressing keys on their respective calculators to see how much pressure it took, no matter how slowly and softly I tried pressing the Iphone the second I felt my finger touch the screen I got an instant response. Doing the same with the Trinity provided a harder press and it wasn't always consistent. I tried the same test on the Trinity using the stylus trying to press it ever so slightly to get feedback but it always took a bit more inconsistent pressure. Unlike the Iphone touch screen which felt solid to the touch, the you could feel the Trinity screen indenting slightly.
I think Apple is still years away from catching up with WM devices in regards to 3rd party software and improvements to their built in applications and we know Microsoft is going to update the overall look of WM in the next version but if anything good comes out of the Iphone competition, I hope WM manufactures like HTC and others will start improving the overall designs of their devices with thinner dimensions and more importantly better quality touch screens. HTC making a piece of software and touting it as a new Touch technology just doesn't cut it, what they really need is to start using a screen that is sensitive to the touch with a finger. TouchFlo is a nice to have but it's just layered over a Desktop Computer like interface and the screen isn't sensitive enough to get 100% response to what you're doing every single time like the Iphone.
I've been thinking recently of upgrading to an Ultimate 8150 for the fact that it has a hardware keyboard, reason being I just never found the finger method of using a WM5 device to be all that great and I hate pulling out my stylus to dial a number ect. After using the Iphone, except for the advantages of a hardware keyboard when needing to dial an extension or tapping out a quick sms in certain circumstances like driving or not being able to look at your device, I would have probably been more than happy with the touch screen if it had the same quality touch screen as the one found in the Iphone.
There's a reason why Apple's touch screen tech isn't used by many other devices...and about a year or less from now we'll start to see why.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Sto...405B-A7C8-02A1126093CE}&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo
I have been debating giving my opionion here because I feel like I have gone to the dark side.. I have used a WM device for about 2 years and owned about every variant (not really but it seems like it). My latest being the Touch. I thought the Touch would be a phone that would make me not want the iPhone, but I was wrong. I finally gave in about a month ago when I realized that I spent most of my free time tweaking the Touch to work like an iPhone - or rather make it easy to use.
Here is my not-so-quick breakdown comparing my iPhone (unlocked and highly tweaked) to the Touch (with out of box ROM, but MUCH customization):
Phone itself: As listed above, the touchsceen is the clincher. The iPhone has a capacitance rather than resistance display. When I go back to the Touch from the iPhone, I feel like I am pressing the heck out of the display or I have to remember to try and use my fingernails (that I don't have). Screen size and resolution is not even close. The iPhone can even be seen in the daylight, as compared to the Touch that is almost worthless outside. Overall size, however, the Touch is smaller, lighter and if all I was going to do is make calls, I would prefer the Touch. The iPhone does have much better side volume keys and the switch to togle from ringer to silent is much better. I thought I would miss not having as many hard keys on the iPhone, but the only one I kind of miss is a dedicated camera button. It is a little tough to take pictures when the capture button is on the touchscreen. I would say the finish on the Touch is more durable and if you were hard user (i.e. outdoors) I would not have an iPhone. The metal back and chrome bezel around the screen scratch very easy. The only durability problem I have had with the Touch are some light scratches on the display from being in my pocket. I'm sure some kind of plastic polishing compound would fix it, though.
e-mail: Yes, the iPhone can do corporate exchange mail. This was the final frontier for me and the iPhone. With my company turning on IMAP with SSL, I am able to get e-mail from our company exchange server. No, it is not push, but every 15minutes is fine for me. It does reconcile nicely, with the exeption of not removing deleted mail from servier that is deleted on the device. I find it somewhat pathetic that the e-mail and attatchments I get on the iPhone look and opperate 10 times better than WM. Once you see HTML mail on the iPhone, it is hard to go back to WM. Yes, the Touch has many more features that some can't do without. I won't deny I miss a couple of them, like corporate address lookup and complete push syncing. I don't know that I have ever had to edit an attachment on my mobile, so only being able to view attachements doesn't bother me.
The keyboard: Over the weekend I did a little keyboard showdown because I was curious about how close the overall typing time would compare between some of my devices with hard keyboards and some with soft keyboards. The bottom line is that in my test, yes I could type faster on a hard keyboard. The HTC S621/Excalibar was the fastest at 1 minute 12 seconds for my test text. In comparison, however I was able to do 1:17 with the iPhone and 1:19 with the Touch (pocketCM keyboard and my iPhone color skin). Given that with the Wizard and Herald - both hard keyboards, I was at 1:14/1:15, I was very impressed with the speed and accuracy of the iPhone keyboard. It would be nice to have landscape keyboard support on the iPhone for all text entry, not just Safari.
3rd party apps: I am using some great apps on the iPhone that overcome some of the 1st generation problems that were publisized. I have IM, a todo/task program and full homescreen customization (custom icons, wallpaper, etc). With the "installer" app that can be loaded on the iPhone, you can even install and uninstall apps and custom graphics, ringtones, etc. from the device. To me, I used to find it fun customizing WM devices, but now it is almost frustrating compared to how easy I can see results on the iPhone.
Stock apps: Again, not to bash WM, but it's not even close. The calendar app syncs perfectly with my PC and Outlook. As do the my contacts. The weather widget is great and I also have a safari shortcut to accuweather that shows live radar and infrared views. Notes are much easier to see and edit than the "Notes" program on WM or OneNoteMobile or Notepad. GoogleMaps is close to the WM equivilant although not being able to use GPS (with my Trinity) or a Bluetooth puck, the WM version does have some advantages. I have not tried the 3rd party app for the iPhone called Navizon. Apparently it uses cell site information to triangulate your position. YouTube is amazing. iPod, duh, is amazing with coverflow. Safari is by far the best mobile internet browser - period - Yes I have used Pixel and Opera for WM devices. With the new HTC Album program, photos as now close to the iPhone, but... Threaded SMS is still better on the iPhone than any of the threaded SMS apps I have seen on WM. I think you get the picture...
Processor: 600+mhz on the iPhone vs. 201 on the Touch or even 400 on the Trinity. Even with the Touch overclocked to 273 and closing out apps when done, the Touch is so slugish compared to the iPhone. Think about it from the task management standpoint. YOU NEVER NEED TO CLOSE APPS on the iPhone. You just hit the home button and go to the next. This doesn't sound big, but trust me it is very liberating to not worry about closing apps. Did I mention video streaming or video playback? Again not even close, even comaring it to the Trinity.
Battery: Honestly I don't know how Apple did it. This think has a bigger display, faster processor, (relatively) huge internal memory to access and somehow the battery life is much better on the iPhone than any of my (touchscreen) WM devices. With both the Trinity and Touch I have to charge them every night, regardless of being charged throughout the day. The iPhone charges in the cradle throughout the day and I never charge it at night and usually (depending on if I am watching video or things that utilize the display) not charge the iPhone all weekend. The spec of 8 hours talk time, may just be accurate. I have made 2 hour plus conference calls and had the battery barely move.
"Mystery" dialing / answering: I know there are lock programs and the like on WM, but I have yet to find a solution that I like to prevent the phone ringing in my pocket and me accidentally answering it when the screen / keys turn on. I thought the iPhone "slide to unlock / answer" was a gimic when I first stared using the phone, but now I am sold - you can't accidentially answer a call and you can't accidentally call someone by forgetting to turn off the display (power button) and pressing the send key (on my Touch or Trinity, as I have done too many times). My wife uses a (Wasabi Green) Touch and has accidently called me many times. She swears something in her purse bumps the power button and then the send key gets bumped to redail me.
Rebooting: This is a comon occurance in WM, but I think I have only had to reboot the iPhone once since I have had it. And when you do turn off and on the iPhone: 2-5 seconds and it's off and it is back on in about 15 seconds (if you think that sounds long, time your WM device some time....).
Visual indicators on the main screen: While I know there are WM today plugs that can do this, I really like having a wifi signal meter and a bluetooth connection icon on the status bar.
Things that I don't like about the iPhone:
1. No copy, paste, select. I have learned to do without, but anytime I have to delete a large amount of text or type in the same thing more than twice, it gets a little annoying.
2. No stereo Bluetooth. This doesn't make any sense. This Apple's best iPod interface on a device that has Bluetooth and they don't set up A2DP? I have been able to use a Jabra BT adapter and it does stream stereo audio to my Motorola S9 headphones, but you can't use it with the phone and it gives you the annoying "this is not an approved iPhone accessory. Do you want to turn the phone off?" every time I plug in the adapter. WM does have the advantage hear, but going back to some high end wired headphones plugged into the iPhone give me AMAZING audio quality (I own B&W home speakers, so this not something I say lightly).
3. The camera is very limited in it's funtions. It is great if you are taking pictures of things that don't move in good lighting. If that is not the case (as with my 7 month old daughter that doesn't stay still for a minute), use another camera. There is no zoom, no lighting adjustment, no video capture, etc. Don't get me wrong, I use the camera quite a bit, so I wouldn't call it usesless, but compared to the same 2mp on the Touch and Trinity, they offer functions that I do miss on the iPhone.
Can't complain to much, but: as I don't live in an AT&T market (yes there are some in the US...), not having the visual voicemail is a little painful after seeing how cool it is. The good news is the phone does opperate exactly like my other phones when I do have voicemail. The indicator works. I press the voicemail icon and the iPhone calls my voicemail number (set by the SIM) and puts in my password. The keypad is visible to delete, save etc.
In my opinion, the iPhone will push Microsoft and the handset manufacturers to do better. Microsoft can publically denounce the iPhone all they want, but the fist day I saw a mouse connected to a PC I knew that sometimes even the mightly Microsoft can realize that somethings just make sense for everyone.
So, if you thought you knew everything about the iPhone, hopefully if you actually read all this you may have learned something new....
welcome to the dark side
from what i have read the A2DP mess is beause of the drm thingy going on..
anyhow it has been 1 month since i have even touched my jasjar (and i used to swear by it)
the only time i miss my old phone is when i want to go to a wap site, and win live maps..in which i can search using a persons name instead of an address
Gaming on the go is something I have always thoroughly enjoyed and, in many ways, was one of the reasons that the Galaxy Note appealed to me so much. So far, I have been rather impressed by Android's offering of games. However, I simply love classic old games such as Sonic and Mario so have turned to emulating them. Unfortunately, consoles such as the SNES have simply too many buttons to use the on-screen controls for. Does anyone know of a gaming pad that is compatible with my Note running Android 4 and which slides under the phone similar to the keyboard in this thread here?
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1722306
may not be exactly what you are looking for but I feel like it is the best option if you want to game. kind of expensive though.
You could buy that Slide keyboard.
And remove the keyboard, and borrow the tilt backplate. Place another (game)board inside.
It would be much trouble trying to find something that fits well.
Especially a model which has the 4-action buttons and 2-joysticks (D-pads aren't necessary if you have the extra joystick). And joystick (like PS Vita) always trumps Nubs (PSP).
Now you're only problem is having 4-shoulder buttons.
And this time its Samsung's fault. SONY is doing it right by placing the Volume buttons on the right side, they can be mapped for shoulder keys. If you had a Camera button, and an Extra button...they would've also been mapped for the R1/R2 shoulder buttons.
Anyways, OEMs tend to think in this order
Build-Price>Marketing>Competitors>Carriers>Usability>>>>Niche-User.
Take my concept (what started out as the OpenPandora), and evolved into an N900, then to a SuperPhone concept, dating back to 2009 (or drafts from 2007):
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/599/console7.png
With an attachable keyboard/charging battery module:
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9765/console72qwerty.png
Playing a First Person Shooter:
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8643/console73cacontrols.png
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2131/controlchat3.png
Playing a Third Person Racing(Flying) Shooter (aka DBZ):
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7612/console74dbzcontrols.png
...now I think it can be evolved with the use of:
-Better specs like 1GB RAM and big.LITTLE computing (Tricore A15-A7)
-Higher Screen Resolution
-Get rid of 3D (such a gimmick)
-5V charged MHL (usb host + hdmi)
-Update Gamepad (I can update a picture for you if you like)
-Introduce a better concept of module from M$'s new patent:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/23/microsoft-patents-modular-windows-phone-with-swappable-batteries/
OR OTHERWISE A NOTE_2 with Project Andraxis:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1476571
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26920096&postcount=74
As we all know Microsoft just presented quite a revolutionary piece of hardware, Hololens. It's supposed to be released in July 2015. The onstage presentation was pretty awesome, "holo" object were super steady and blended really well with their surroundings. It also seemed to work very fast.
I am curious what you guys think about Microsoft Hololens? Is the world ready for fully augmented reality?
HoloLens looks interesting, but I'm used to product launch hype, and excited I ain't.
This isn't revolutionary, but evolutionary. The AR (not holographic) function is a step beyond the VR scheme of the competition, but this is mere leapfrogging over present Oculus & co, and we've yet to see what the competition will bring, specifically Magic Leap, et al. Likewise, we can be sure that the rest of the field, including Goog Glass, will be upping their game.
The headset device shown at presentation is likely a mock-up, as the actual prototype demo'ed is still tethered to a box. This means that MS still has a long way to go before being able to bring it to market, let alone being able to sell it at "affordable" prices. The claim that HoloLens will see light of day "within Win10 time frame" is taken by some to mean "by Win10 launch," ie this year. But it can also mean "within Win10 lifetime" which is any number of years. I consider this latter more likely, as HoloLens is much more unfinished than Google Glass when it launched. Glass today is still stuck in the expensive-toy category.
Lens has a more difficult road than Glass in that its job requires real-time 3D mapping of environment, which likely entails more processing power. Note that heat-dissipation was discussed, which means this thing will be more powerful than a phone/tablet. The downside is battery life. Since Lens looks to be geared toward indoor use, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes with a cord.
My takeaway is that this is another step toward headset computing. MS' *announcement* had leapfrogged the competition for the time being, but time-to-market looks to still be long, and anything can happen before then (as had happened to Google Glass).
Greetings everyone!
Well i think holograms; voice control; robot companions/artificial intelligence is everyone's childhood dream. Since we (humans) tend to develop stuff to the highest bidder (if not developing stuff for war purposes) i must say that we are way behind where we are suposed to be. Therefore i dont see exactly the evolution. Ofcourse this ghread is not meant to talk about thechnology evolution.. But yes Holo lens is innovative.
About its probable issues:
Main problem so far seems to be: Battery Duration.
So why not implement some science in there?
(This should be implemented in almost everything. Like future cars for example)
- Overheating:
Heat can generate power. So lets give good use to that heat.
- Solar Panels / Photo Voltaic Panels:
Even if they where small they could enhance the device capacity to operate.
- Battery:
Something must hold the generated Power.
- Water (Cold/Hot Technique)
Assuming the processor(s) will always generate heat.. Redirect that heat to one owater container. The generated power can easily help enhance way further battery life.
There are more ways to generate power. i just dont think they wouldnt fit at hololens.
Quick Joke: Can you imagine using potatoes to enhance even more the battery dutarion?
Furthewards i agree with what has been said before.
...Including:
Hololens must somehow be released to an affordable price. To increase selling; and development everywhere. (Here i go into evolution again) That will lead to faster "technologic evolution" whithout the expensive cost of programmers / development. People will do it for fun; for themselves; to help in several things or sectors; etc.
Stepping way further and resuming the best i can:
This Hololens is an important step for everyone...
Who wouldnt love to live in a fantastic technological era; Where what you think start to be done almost instantly? Not having to type a key; waiting for my os to start; to go sit at the chair; waiting to open a program; to move my mouse to make a draw which is on my mind; etc...
We are "fairly" close to achieve this.
I belive Hololens will contribute significantly to cybenetics and neurology by expanding any creative mind around the world.
Yet a huge ammount of programming and innovative development will be required.
Im not 100% excited about it (as i fi d it a little bit limitex) but i would love to have one.
And who knows i can help develop it a little too?
Finally someone has the power to bring it to make it available.
Besides the current features, hololens can be way more than that.
Ofcoufse implementing everything i have in mind would make it severely expensive for some time... But would be an amazing and helpcul tool for everyone.
Sent from my E310 using XDA Free mobile app
e.mote said:
we've yet to see what the competition will bring, specifically Magic Leap, et al.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are interested in a prediction from a patent reader:
Some information from the Oculus Rift subreddit from /u/FredzL:
> *Disclaimer* : pure speculation based on published patents and reviews.
>
> I think Magic Leap is :
>
> * 40°x40° FOV
> * 8 Mpx/4K (scanning fiber display with piezoelectric actuator)
> * 60 Hz
> * blocking light from the physical world (occlusion mask with LCD(s))
> * nearly correct accommodative depth cues (zone plate diffraction patterning device => 12 levels of depth from 0.5 m to 3 m)
> * low-persistence (720 Hz high-frequency binary display => 1.38 ms illumination per depth layer)
> * glasses form-factor (waveguide with embedded diffraction grating => end goal, not done yet)
> * release in 2016-2017
>
> I think Microsoft HoloLens is :
>
> * ~40°x22° FOV at most (from the reports : tiny FOV, rectangular)
> * 4 Mpx/2.5K (OLED) or 8 Mpx/4K (LCoS) but color sequential
> * 60 Hz
> * not blocking light from the physical world (additive blending)
> * no accommodative depth cues
> * full persistence
> * large and heavy glasses form-factor
> * release in 2015
reddit/com/r/oculus/comments/2t74sf/microsoft_announces_windows_holographic_ar/cnwsyny
A later update:
>Release dates were just shots in the dark based on the state of what has been shown (nothing for Magic Leap, what looks like a consumer design for Microsoft).
>The others are based on the patents I've read at that time and some known limits (no 4K OLED microdisplays).
>I since discovered other Microsoft patents about masking pixels and variable focus (not really accommodative depth cues but can limit the vergence-accommodation conflict).
>From the reviews it's not clear if that's already been implemented and if not, there is no way to known if it will in the future.
reddit/com/r/oculus/comments/2tiyos/fov_for_the_synthetic_bits_is_not_as_important_in/cnzxw3e
vrwiki.wikispaces/com/Magic+Leap
vrwiki.wikispaces/com/Microsoft+HoloLens
TV physicist Brian Cox and the visual effects team behind the film Gravity are supposedly making a show that debuts Magic Leap at the Manchester International Festival in July.
I’m curious as to how close they are to their patent pictures and wild promises.
Graeme Devine said that it was massive like the head mounted device from the Brainstorm movie, and I don’t think that the first look was too long ago.
If Microsoft gets slightly edged out on hardware, they’ll have to push good software.
E.g.
HoloLens Gaze detection:
>Gaze detection in a see-through, near-eye, mixed reality display
Bloomberg LP (makes financial software) built a virtual prototype of their data terminal for the Oculus Rift that has 20 virtual screens
Looking at a floating button, and pressing a HoloLens eye-tracking “select-what-am-looking-at” button would probably be better than trying to move a mouse-controlled cursor across multiple virtual screens.
>Microsoft patents eye-tracking keyboard software
>The idea’s just like swipe-based keyboard software, but instead of tracking the motion of your fingertip, the system tracks eye movement.
pocketnow/com/2014/12/24/eye-tracking-keyboard
>Microsoft Brings World’s Fastest Texting to Windows Phone 8.1
>“Our whole approach,” Paek says, “is all about promoting muscle memory and making shape writing robust to mistakes.”
research.microsoft/com/en-us/news/features/wordflow-040414/aspx
> Fully Articulated Hand Tracking
research.microsoft/com/en-us/projects/handpose/
3divi has a "turn a surface into touch surface" prototype Youtube video (youtube/com/watch?v=upGTLrSUa5c ) that uses Kinect, and a Pico projector.
Maybe you can replace the Pico projector with a AR generated image.
I would love to see Microsoft excel in Hololens productivity apps, such as something that would extend Visual Studio.
e.mote said:
Since Lens looks to be geared toward indoor use, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes with a cord.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Patent pictures of Magic Leap depict mobile experiences, such as being at a grocery store, or mowing the lawn, but I personally prefer a solidly tracked indoor experience, and don't mind being tethered.
(I’d be more than happy to fuse multiple Kinects)
But regardless, I’ll probably be getting both of them.
I don't really care much about it. Be careful if you want to use it in the public places. Really disturbing others with holograms.
But if the hologram is going to appear in the real world, unlike Google Glass, I'll buy it. But I need to know where to get it, or where to buy. If I can get by airmail, Thailand Post is really good for breaking stuffs. (My home country is Thailand)
The holo lens seems so cool, and looks like it can have various implementations with the whole world. The only tweek i would make is to make it less bulky. although to be fair, it still is in development
Using Microsoft HoloLens was surely an experience of a lifetime, the one that you can’t easily forget. This wonderful device is filled with a number of pros, however we did come across a few cons as well, all of which are enlisted below for your quick reference.
Pros
Hands free hologram experience
Using HoloLens is no rocket science, Microsoft has taken a number of steps to make this device extremely user friendly. There are no wires and remote control that works over this device, all you get is a head gear that has a few inbuilt buttons on the outer rin
Impressive resolution
Microsoft’s promise to give its users an ultimate holographic experience with HoloLens doesn’t seem illogical. The resolution of this device is so impressive that it literally transforms you to another world of digital excellence.
Spatial sound like never before
Apart from the high quality holographic resolution, HoloLens even boasts upon excellent spatial sound system that works wonders in giving its users a worthy AR experience.
Excellent build quality
Microsoft’s HoloLens comes with a headgear that might appear like few of its contemporaries, however the build quality that it comes with makes it all the more likeable and better device. HoloLens comes with a comfortable weight and sits right on the head giving its user a viewing experience like never before.
I would also like to try them, but everywhere only Oculus is promoted, which I hate.
Emulatoring like a Boss | "Now you're playing with real Pow... Buttons!" #Turnand
Super Mario Vs Ash - the struggle was real.
Let me take the elephant out of the Room. We (@Turnand) have designed a Smart, Smartphone Case that can turn your Phone, into a Game Boy. With that outta the way:
So, if you’re reading this post, you probably have used an emulator before. Amiright? Well, emulating any handheld console on a Computer, works like a charm; albeit with one exception. These systems are not that demanding-“advanced”, to begin with, but the feeling a large monitor speaks when we are talking 160x144 awesome pixelated Pokémon art, is just wrong. Your 20ish inch FHD monitor has no power here. Your phone on the other hand; well that’s a whole other story. A story, with much more ups and downs, and options to explore, dare I say. Let’s jump in:
As a child I’d swear by my Game Boy, but in my teens, it got lost. It got lost, by a kid 2 blocks away from my place. Luckily, at around that time I got my first smartphone. A Samsung Omnia!
An amazing phone at the time- it was 2008 or so. It could emulate Pokémon, Super Mario, and even Final Fantasy ([email protected]) IX! Yep, a PS1 game! Ok, its specs would be laughable by today’s standards, but still. It was an amazing Pokémon-machine! But, anything out of the turn-based RPG genre and maybe puzzle games, was totally unplayable. Why? Well blame that resistive, smallish touchscreen.
Now fast-forward almost a decade. It’s 2016, and my daily driver is a LG G Flex 2. A 4G, octa-core, 5.5 inch, fHD monstrosity. So, why am I still complaining? Well, cause my original problem still persists! Smartphones and tablets were made with throwing birds to pigs in mind. None will ever consider them a real alternative to a console, until they get proper controls.
Ten-year-old me, beat Super Mario World Advance 2, on the GBA with no problems at all. To this day though, I’ve never even reached world 3 using an emulator, on any phone I’ve ever owned. A PC got’s proper controls, but simply doesn’t feel right to me. On the other hand, yeah, I have paired a Bluetooth controller to my Android phone before, but I love to see you balancing your 5inch phone, or even tablet, on your laps while holding a gamepad, on your daily commute. Everything game-boy-ish is called a hand-held, instead of a lap-top, for a reason!
That’s the need Turnand’s cases try to solve. That’s how the original idea spurred into our minds. This was a real life pain for us, and we believe that we are not alone in this. Gamers, and retro enthusiasts unite! Let’s take things in our hands for once. Literally grab yours now. We can’t change the past, but we can game comfier in the future – lol. We’ll be on Kickstarter on 29 June, 2016!
So this is Turnand’s take on the matter: The smartphone case we’ve created can transform your smartphone into a Game Boy; and trust us, oh it feels good. But no, we are not suggesting that you compromise your smartphone’s usability. In the end of the day, that social-media- feeder / cat-photos- viewer you call my phone, still has to and should always be ready to receive calls and texts.
Side Note:
We are a Start-Up taking its first baby stepps. So our website is still under development, but you can take a look, and we'd love to have you join us on Social Media! So our Facebook is awaitng, so does our Twitter, and some we also got some jazz going on Instagram !
Let me guess something, before wrapping this up!
And, if my guess is correct, then you will read the next paragraph! ‘Ere it goes: You also used up all the batteries from the TV remote, and the wall clock to feed your Game Boy!
Amiright?!
With that out of the way, allow me to clarify that our case / controller thingy, won’t need no batteries, charging, not even Bluetooth, Wi-Fi; no nothing! It’s just works, take my word for it. Or don’t, you can ask for a Beta Prototype, here!
One of the main reasons for ordering LeMax2 was the availability of this VR kit.
Came just before vacations so I only had a day so far to play with it.
First off, only cardboard type functionality is supported without special drivers/software. Since I'm running CM, that software is not there: Evidently that's only available on LeTV's own app store, and that seems unavailable even with a Chinese RIM (installed 18S for a short test) unless you chance to have a Chinese phone number to register.
Also missing is support for the pass-through USB port, which mostly seems intended for headphone use. I managed using a Bluetooth headset.
So what actually works?
Well, as I said, it's a better cardboard VR by default, except that I also had to emulate the button using a Bluetooth mouse.
That gives you already quite a bit of functionality, 3D movies for starters. In terms of real VR experience I guess I'll stick to my Oculus devices, but for movies on a plane, I guess there is nothing cooler at the moment, even if the backside may be suboptimal against a headrest.
On the other hand, no VR kit is as easy to put on and off as this, especially when you wear glasses.
I saved so much on the phone, I don't mind not getting any more on this kit. But if somehow LeTV/LeEco were to make LeVR support available on the Google play store, I certainly wouldn't mind!
Lag seems quite tolerable, but there is considerable drift. From the LeTV Web site I got the impression, that that should not be the case, but most likely only with LeTV's own software, in cardboard mode drift may be unavoidable.
Again not an issue in the 'personal movie theater', which I consider the main use case until hardware has grown another two orders of magnitude on a mobile power budget.
Where did you buy it?
whymoo said:
Where did you buy it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
spemall.com, they even have the small LeMax2 model in Grey as well as pink.
abufrejoval said:
spemall.com, they even have the small LeMax2 model in Grey as well as pink.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please check your pm abufrejoval. How did you get this headset to work with other VR app beside the stock vr one?
Cardboard just works out of the box
xterminater07 said:
Please check your pm abufrejoval. How did you get this headset to work with other VR app beside the stock vr one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the Google Cardboard project is just bits of cardboard, two fresnel lenses and evidently some kind of "hammer", which translates an external button into a touch on the screen, the only physical interaction supported by cardboard (I use the blutooth mouse for that: I bought and tried the new Microsoft Xbox controller, which supports Blutooth, but none of the Cardboard games seem Controller enabled: Pity!)
So all I did was just to install and launch cardboard applications from the Google Play store: They can't verify if you actually have cardboard "hardware" or some other kind of lenses.
Now, I'm using Cyanogenmod which doesn't contain the VR stub application which the Indian and Chinese ROMs seem to contain. And perhaps that stub application is causing trouble in your case, because it launches whenever you connect the device.
If you don't want to switch to CM, you can simply remove the app from the phone if it's rooted and you have some kind of app-remover or Titanium Backup. Then it won't launch the stub (which evidently isn't useful outside China or without a LeEco app store) and you can use the Cardboard apps without interference. Perhaps you can also just switch away from it, I haven't really tried extensively because my son wanted his phone and I'm not going to try on my "production" phone (swapping a production ROM forth and back with full backups simply takes a while).
Phyiscally and logically LeVR Pro1 seems largely a copy of Samsung Gear VR, even if it's not a downright clone. As far as I can tell its touchpad and back-button duplicate the same thing on Samsung. But without a proper driver it's dead and with a CM ROM at least there is absolutely no reaction if you insert the phone into the headset nor will the external USB-C connector have any use, which is a real pity.
There is a good chance that won't ever change, unless LeEco were to publish driver sources for the LeVR Pro1, which I sincerely doubt. I've also tried installing the VR Setup application on top of the CM ROM (I won't run no EUI ROM for "production"), but it just crashes. Evidently it is deeply intertwined with the Chinese LeEcosystem, for which I have absolutely no interest (while LeEco has absolutely no interest in supporting users which are outside it: I believe they sell their phones below manufacturing price).
While LeEco is trying to enter the North American market, it seems to draw its baseline at the LeEco Max Pro3, which doesn't have the 2560x1440 screen (and is more expensive). They may be launching another VR headset soon, potentially with another phone which is DayDream compliant.
LeEco doesn't seem to believe in backward compatibility or long term support.
Well nor does anyone else, evidently, they only charge for it and that at least LeEco did not.
Essentially we have a super cool Cardboard and I'm happy enough with that, since I have two Oculus Rifts (DK2 and CV1) to ease the pain (actually I also have a DK1 but that's a museum piece now). It allows me to watch movies on a virtual big screen and some of the Cardboard apps are great to impress friends.
Unfortunately there is little chance it Le Max2 or LeVR Pro1 will be good enough for the new Google Day Dream base requirements, so it's basically obsolete already. Should LeEco, CM or some XDA-Developer make it Day Dram compatible anyway (without certification), I'd be happy, but I don't know if Google Day Dream will be such a great success. The fact that essentially all of today's smartphone population is already disqualified may not sit too well with potential VR enthusiasts. And at €1000 for a smart phone which isn't really any faster than the €230 LeEco Le Max 2 in base configuration, a Google Pixel XL may simply be too much of an entry price for Android VR.
Google is doing its best to kill Android while they are grasping to replace the Internet and free choice.
abufrejoval said:
spemall.com, they even have the small LeMax2 model in Grey as well as pink.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
abufrejoval said:
Well the Google Cardboard project is just bits of cardboard, two fresnel lenses and evidently some kind of "hammer", which translates an external button into a touch on the screen, the only physical interaction supported by cardboard (I use the blutooth mouse for that: I bought and tried the new Microsoft Xbox controller, which supports Blutooth, but none of the Cardboard games seem Controller enabled: Pity!)
So all I did was just to install and launch cardboard applications from the Google Play store: They can't verify if you actually have cardboard "hardware" or some other kind of lenses.
Now, I'm using Cyanogenmod which doesn't contain the VR stub application which the Indian and Chinese ROMs seem to contain. And perhaps that stub application is causing trouble in your case, because it launches whenever you connect the device.
If you don't want to switch to CM, you can simply remove the app from the phone if it's rooted and you have some kind of app-remover or Titanium Backup. Then it won't launch the stub (which evidently isn't useful outside China or without a LeEco app store) and you can use the Cardboard apps without interference. Perhaps you can also just switch away from it, I haven't really tried extensively because my son wanted his phone and I'm not going to try on my "production" phone (swapping a production ROM forth and back with full backups simply takes a while).
Phyiscally and logically LeVR Pro1 seems largely a copy of Samsung Gear VR, even if it's not a downright clone. As far as I can tell its touchpad and back-button duplicate the same thing on Samsung. But without a proper driver it's dead and with a CM ROM at least there is absolutely no reaction if you insert the phone into the headset nor will the external USB-C connector have any use, which is a real pity.
There is a good chance that won't ever change, unless LeEco were to publish driver sources for the LeVR Pro1, which I sincerely doubt. I've also tried installing the VR Setup application on top of the CM ROM (I won't run no EUI ROM for "production"), but it just crashes. Evidently it is deeply intertwined with the Chinese LeEcosystem, for which I have absolutely no interest (while LeEco has absolutely no interest in supporting users which are outside it: I believe they sell their phones below manufacturing price).
While LeEco is trying to enter the North American market, it seems to draw its baseline at the LeEco Max Pro3, which doesn't have the 2560x1440 screen (and is more expensive). They may be launching another VR headset soon, potentially with another phone which is DayDream compliant.
LeEco doesn't seem to believe in backward compatibility or long term support.
Well nor does anyone else, evidently, they only charge for it and that at least LeEco did not.
Essentially we have a super cool Cardboard and I'm happy enough with that, since I have two Oculus Rifts (DK2 and CV1) to ease the pain (actually I also have a DK1 but that's a museum piece now). It allows me to watch movies on a virtual big screen and some of the Cardboard apps are great to impress friends.
Unfortunately there is little chance it Le Max2 or LeVR Pro1 will be good enough for the new Google Day Dream base requirements, so it's basically obsolete already. Should LeEco, CM or some XDA-Developer make it Day Dram compatible anyway (without certification), I'd be happy, but I don't know if Google Day Dream will be such a great success. The fact that essentially all of today's smartphone population is already disqualified may not sit too well with potential VR enthusiasts. And at €1000 for a smart phone which isn't really any faster than the €230 LeEco Le Max 2 in base configuration, a Google Pixel XL may simply be too much of an entry price for Android VR.
Google is doing its best to kill Android while they are grasping to replace the Internet and free choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the great reply! I will use titanium backup to try to freeze that VR app. Also the cardboard app from google is limited as well, I don't see many contents from that app. You mentioned you installed the vr app, is it the same one as vr.letv.com? Supposedly that app should work for this headset but I don't have the instruction that came in the box. If you have that pamphlete, do you mind scaning it and uploading it through google drive or mega for me? Did you have clear resolution of your phone? The VR looks like it's 480p instead of what we're seeing 2K on the lemax 2 screen. I hated it, and I wonder if there's a way to fix it?
xterminater07 said:
Thank you for the great reply! I will use titanium backup to try to freeze that VR app. Also the cardboard app from google is limited as well, I don't see many contents from that app. You mentioned you installed the vr app, is it the same one as vr.letv.com? Supposedly that app should work for this headset but I don't have the instruction that came in the box. If you have that pamphlete, do you mind scaning it and uploading it through google drive or mega for me? Did you have clear resolution of your phone? The VR looks like it's 480p instead of what we're seeing 2K on the lemax 2 screen. I hated it, and I wonder if there's a way to fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome!
Well the pamphlet is all in Chinese and if you can understand and read that, there is quite a bit more material on the net than information in the pamphlet. It just tells you how to insert the phone into it and that the external USB-C connector is for your headphones (and not for charging).
Google translate helped me understand that much and I tossed it into the trash because there was nothing else beyond that.
I've watched some Chinese videos on YouTube for clues and inspiration (real-time translation still missing there), but my guess is that even within the LeTV ecosystem there isn't actually a lot of content or apps.
Actually there is a video of the LeVR Pro1 presentation on YouTube, which I find quite instructive:
Evidently LeTV's CEO Jia Yueting gave out a couple of devices to some of the most famous actors from his soaps and then instructed them to appear awed and enthusiastic at the great introduction event in spring this year.
I don't think they were such good actors after all, because my impression is that they saw nothing and totally faked it (too bad I can't find the video on YouTube for now). We may be chasing shadows...
Resolution: Cardboard content, whether it's the demos or some of the games (my personal favorite is Bandit Six), will render with the native resolution of the screen. The headset only contains lenses, the resolution comes from the device and it's 2560x1440 (minus the invisible areas) for both eyes together. It certainly looks better than the Samsung Note 3 display inside my Oculus DK2.
The iMax like video demos you get via the "Within" app for example, are recorded with a resolution far below what Le Max 2 can deliver, but there the resolution is determined by the source and the encoding, nothing Le Max 2 can do about it. They are still very impressive so I can only recommend you trying them, both for the visual stimuli (Cuban dance) and the emotional impact (Syrian refugees).
Screen refresh may not be 90Hz, the LCD not as good as Amoled but honestly I can't tell. I was quite surprised at the quality and the lack of lag for both games and iMax type videos. Perhaps I just don't move my head just as rapidly any more these days, the weight of Le Max 2 is also somewhat higher than the Oculus headsets.
There is an app called "Google Cardboard" on the Play Store. It contains a couple of demos inside but it also opens some kind of a "sub-store" containing Google selected demos and applications which can actually be purchased.
I installed most of those and purchased some of the games.
Generally if you enter "Cardboard" into the Play Store, you'll find Cardboard compatible apps (and lots of garbage).
What might be interesting to explore is some of the apps which seem to fake a Samsung Gear VR device to the Play Store and the apps themselves.
I haven't done that myself yet, but that would open up a couple more games, at least if they support mouse or controller inputs and don't depend on the Samsung touch panel in the Gear headset.
Again this isn't long term as Google seems happy to totally ignore what Samsung has done and make DayDream incompatible with everything existing today.
Requiring Vulkan API support for Nougat certification is a clear indication on how much Google cares about the installed base.
If I had any say, resources or influence, I'd make Le Max 2 and the LeVR Pro1 into some kind of a hybrid Steam Link box and MiraCast receiver.
The panel is excellent, the gyros on the phone are great the video decoding power and WiFi hardware are top notch. So using both the Max2 and VR Pro1 to project semi or fully spherical content generated on a very powerful gaming PC wirelessly onto this combo would be technically feasible with latencies acceptible to quite a lot of centent, if not to LoL world championship participants.
Well we can dream, I guess...
abufrejoval said:
You're welcome!
Well the pamphlet is all in Chinese and if you can understand and read that, there is quite a bit more material on the net than information in the pamphlet. It just tells you how to insert the phone into it and that the external USB-C connector is for your headphones (and not for charging).
Google translate helped me understand that much and I tossed it into the trash because there was nothing else beyond that.
I've watched some Chinese videos on YouTube for clues and inspiration (real-time translation still missing there), but my guess is that even within the LeTV ecosystem there isn't actually a lot of content or apps.
Actually there is a video of the LeVR Pro1 presentation on YouTube, which I find quite instructive:
Evidently LeTV's CEO Jia Yueting gave out a couple of devices to some of the most famous actors from his soaps and then instructed them to appear awed and enthusiastic at the great introduction event in spring this year.
I don't think they were such good actors after all, because my impression is that they saw nothing and totally faked it (too bad I can't find the video on YouTube for now). We may be chasing shadows...
Resolution: Cardboard content, whether it's the demos or some of the games (my personal favorite is Bandit Six), will render with the native resolution of the screen. The headset only contains lenses, the resolution comes from the device and it's 2560x1440 (minus the invisible areas) for both eyes together. It certainly looks better than the Samsung Note 3 display inside my Oculus DK2.
The iMax like video demos you get via the "Within" app for example, are recorded with a resolution far below what Le Max 2 can deliver, but there the resolution is determined by the source and the encoding, nothing Le Max 2 can do about it. They are still very impressive so I can only recommend you trying them, both for the visual stimuli (Cuban dance) and the emotional impact (Syrian refugees).
Screen refresh may not be 90Hz, the LCD not as good as Amoled but honestly I can't tell. I was quite surprised at the quality and the lack of lag for both games and iMax type videos. Perhaps I just don't move my head just as rapidly any more these days, the weight of Le Max 2 is also somewhat higher than the Oculus headsets.
There is an app called "Google Cardboard" on the Play Store. It contains a couple of demos inside but it also opens some kind of a "sub-store" containing Google selected demos and applications which can actually be purchased.
I installed most of those and purchased some of the games.
Generally if you enter "Cardboard" into the Play Store, you'll find Cardboard compatible apps (and lots of garbage).
What might be interesting to explore is some of the apps which seem to fake a Samsung Gear VR device to the Play Store and the apps themselves.
I haven't done that myself yet, but that would open up a couple more games, at least if they support mouse or controller inputs and don't depend on the Samsung touch panel in the Gear headset.
Again this isn't long term as Google seems happy to totally ignore what Samsung has done and make DayDream incompatible with everything existing today.
Requiring Vulkan API support for Nougat certification is a clear indication on how much Google cares about the installed base.
If I had any say, resources or influence, I'd make Le Max 2 and the LeVR Pro1 into some kind of a hybrid Steam Link box and MiraCast receiver.
The panel is excellent, the gyros on the phone are great the video decoding power and WiFi hardware are top notch. So using both the Max2 and VR Pro1 to project semi or fully spherical content generated on a very powerful gaming PC wirelessly onto this combo would be technically feasible with latencies acceptible to quite a lot of centent, if not to LoL world championship participants.
Well we can dream, I guess...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will switch to cyanogen once the cm14.1 is released, if it's ever releasing. For now, EUI will not let me go to any other VR contents beside the stock ones. I do like the stock ones now because it just got updated to a whole lot more contents. But to me it is still looking like 480p instead of 1080p or even 2k contents. The only way for me to ever find true 2k is by doing youtube vr but I can't access youtube vr because youtube app is not part of the stock letv vr launcher The full screen view is super super big, it makes my head hurt because it's too close to us. The theatre mode is nice but the background screws it. I wish there's a feedback function for us to tell LeEco to push full screen mode back a little so it's perfectly within one's view. They should also change the dumb background so it doesn't look like we're in a cave of some sort.
I am really interesed in getting this le vr pro 1 however I haven't found it on any website as much as I haven't tried, could you please let me know where you found it?
---------- Post added at 06:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------
Ohh I have found it, but do you think is a great deal? The cost is about the $80 and what do you think about the new leeco's explorer VR that is coming? Would it work with the le max 2?
edwarddd said:
I am really interesed in getting this le vr pro 1 however I haven't found it on any website as much as I haven't tried, could you please let me know where you found it?
---------- Post added at 06:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------
Ohh I have found it, but do you think is a great deal? The cost is about the $80 and what do you think about the new leeco's explorer VR that is coming? Would it work with the le max 2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Explore VR is the same as the vr pro 1! Good price bc in china its about $60. I will post tutorial on how to use this VR PROPERLY soon.
It depends on what you look for
edwarddd said:
I am really interesed in getting this le vr pro 1 however I haven't found it on any website as much as I haven't tried, could you please let me know where you found it?
---------- Post added at 06:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------
Ohh I have found it, but do you think is a great deal? The cost is about the $80 and what do you think about the new leeco's explorer VR that is coming? Would it work with the le max 2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear the VRExplorer is nothing but a rebrand of LeVR Pro1. If that's the case it definitely works with Le Max 2, because that's what I use.
For my old eyes (>50) high resolution screens better be big!
It's really kind of crazy but Le Max 2 packs more pixels into 5,7" than any of my desktop screens: Magnifying glasses are the only way I'll ever be able to take advantage of all that pixel-estate!
So here is what I did yesterday: I laid down on my bed, put some nice Bluetooth headphones on my ears (Sennheiser MM100), downloaded a movie and some soap episodes on Le Max, slid it into LeVR and put that on my head.
Then I launched "VU Cinema VR 3D Video Player", selected a normal cinema (not the i-max), launched the videos and 'locked the screen': That screen locking fixes video just in front of you, independent of your position, which means I can just watch those movies on a 'really big screen' lying down. Without the locking you'd be looking at the cinema's roof.
It's the most comfortable screen viewing experience you can get without mounting a really, really big screen at your ceiling and you can continue to watch on your back, both sides and perhaps even on your belly.
LeVR is extremely easy to put on and take off and no hassle with the cables. If you should fall asleep, you won't choke or hurt yourself.
Now when it comes to real VR content that is stuff *generated* at native resolution and using your head and body movement as real-time inputs, there are natural limits to the compute power of the mobile platform: It's quite fine for many things, but when it comes to eye candy, my Oculus does better.
For me the decision was simple: Even with LeVR added on top, Le Max 2 was cheaper than any competing device, so LeVR basically came for free.
It's been uphill ever since!
What a awesome response! You did encourage me to buy the le VR pro , I really want to get it, Since I have never tried the "virtual reality" and since I do not have TV, (I know it is rare but I don't have one jajaja) so I am really exited about this, I am still looking, on where I can purchase it, where have you bought it? And at what price?
Please send me a pm if possible!
spemall.com
edwarddd said:
What a awesome response! You did encourage me to buy the le VR pro , I really want to get it, Since I have never tried the "virtual reality" and since I do not have TV, (I know it is rare but I don't have one jajaja) so I am really exited about this, I am still looking, on where I can purchase it, where have you bought it? And at what price?
Please send me a pm if possible!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it from spemall.com (https://www.spemall.com/LETV-LeVR-Pro-1-Helmet-3D-Head-Mounted-Glasses_g.html).
My impression is that spemall.com is somewhat lacking in techincal knowledge (but honest in their financial dealings), which may actually explain why they are perhaps the only ones selling to the West: The 'intended use case' is currently not supported outside China so more 'professional' shops simply won't offer LeVR.
The 'secondary' use case (luxury Google Cardboard) is not well known, but perhaps good enough for many of us.
But you should in fact be able to use any (€10-20) Google Cardboard 'hardware' with your LeMax with perhaps similar fidelity in terms of viewing or interaction quality: In terms of functionality that's all you get at the moment.
I simply enjoy the fact that it looks very cool, is easy to put on and remove even with my glasses and will survive some of the beatings it's likely to get around here.
And I can't stress enough that the entry level LeMax (4GBRAM/32GB Flash) is just a crazy cheap $240 so LeVR Pro1 is essentially for free compared to the competition.
LeVR Pro1 also works (mostly) with OnePlus 5
I've had various problems with my Le Max 2, camera autofocus on Nougat doesn't work with my 6/64 GB device (but works fine with three 4/32 GB others in the extended family) and the touch buttons started to have severe ghost touches, which made the device unusable (it naturally works just fine as I am writing this...), so I got myself a OnePlus 5 with 8/128GB to soothe the pain... and out of curiosity, I inserted that into the LeVR Pro1, to see if it would work...
I am extremely pleased to report that it does work.... mostly. First of all, because the OnePlus is a bit smaller, it fits into the headset with the protective cover mounted, which is a great bonus all on its own: Removing even the simple silicon covers (hard covers are so much worse!) always carries a certain risk of dropping the phone just when it's least protected and I have had so many encounters with Murphy, I really appreciate when he's out of my face for once. The OnePlus is only 1080p, so you'll get a little less resolution, but with movies IMHO that doesn't really matter all that much: You'll also get AMOLED, which is supposed to refresh faster, but again when your primary use case is the mobile "big screen movie theatre", perhaps you won't care, at least, when he video is catching your attention.
"Partial" mostly refers to the fact, that the touch field on the side of LeVR works, but "back" button doesn't, which can be a bit of a bother, if your application requires it. Also any "higher precision" gyro inside the headset (if that actually exists), may not actually be used, but the interal gyros of the OnePlus are pretty good, even if they may eventually get out of sync with your real orientation, depending on the apps. Missing generic support for blue tooth game controllers, such as the ones from Microsoft, is really had to excuse several major releases after the first tentative support for gaming controllers: Shame, Google!
I didn't test very deeply, because for me the headset is mostly about virtual big screen video, not about VR games: Neither the 820 nor the 835 have the power of a GTX 1080ti with a dozen of 4 GHZ cores to support it, but a VR streaming over WLAN should really be possible technically. But Nvidia, Oculus/Facebook and Qualcomm would want to own that on both ends, before they ever make it happen: Greedy, moneysuckers they are!