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Quick question I'm hoping the brilliant minds of XDA can answer:
Does anyone know if the following possible (and if so how)?
Can Two Note 2s (or S3 or S4s for that matter, as I believe they can both do 240fps @ dvd resolution - 720x480) be synced so that they can record the same event from different angles? The specific application I have in mind is recording a golf swing from down the line (behind) and front on. I've done a quick search, just thought I'd post here in case someone by chance had already researched it. Building a website for a Golf Course and Pro Shop and the PGA Pro that runs the shop is keen to use just one - he was very surprised that a phone could record 240fps @ dvd resolution, with more than enough quality in daylight conditions.
Combined with a couple of Cam Caddie (can't post link - not enough posts, but there's this search engine... Anyway it has been confirmed to fit the Note 2), it's really a no-brainer (even if they can't be synced automatically, his assistant could hit record on a countdown, to be synced more accurately later when putting them side by side in the video editing software (I've been using AVS for what it's worth and then Kinovea for the golf specific functions for anyone that's interested).
It has helped my swing, which is saying a lot (just calling it a swing is generous ).
Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated - hopefully someone has had the thought at some point
Cheers,
Dan
Not sure if thats possible but this is a damn good question and could lead to allsorts of possibilities I would imagine.
So just to get things straight you have multiple note 2, s and your saying you want them placed at different angles to the shoot, press record on one note 2 and the others record automatically at the same time?
If this is the case I'll be watching this thread like a hawk.
GT N7105 with XDA Premium......that is all......
bearusa said:
Not sure if thats possible but this is a damn good question and could lead to allsorts of possibilities I would imagine.
So just to get things straight you have multiple note 2, s and your saying you want them placed at different angles to the shoot, press record on one note 2 and the others record automatically at the same time?
If this is the case I'll be watching this thread like a hawk.
GT N7105 with XDA Premium......that is all......
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Click to collapse
Literally couldn't (and didn't) have articulated it better myself
So yeah, with the example of applying this to golf coaching (or training by one's self), the direction of the two lenses would be at right angles to each other (both facing the golfer). A coach or decent player that knows what he or she's doing would use either two long alignment sticks or several ones of standard length to get them exactly where he needs them to be at at 90° to each other.
Gotta be some money in it for an app developer with this, it's technically doable using a variety of ways for the phones to communicate (latency would be so low as to be immaterial to the sync). The demographics of people that spend money on golf and golf lessons is, to put it mildly, an attractive target audience that is not unaccustomed to spending a hell of a lot more, regularly, than what such as app what sell for. It could also be used in between lessons to send/show your coach (people already do this, but the Note 2 and I assume S3 & S4 have the [email protected] dvd res), or just by a good player wanting to better evaluate his swing with the myriad of software tools to do so these days. We're talking about a demographic that were buying Casio cameras @ several thousand each, often in pairs, just to do lower 100fps at lower res than the Note 2 does at 240fps - the Go Pro Hero 3 now offers something more affordable and will so the same resolution as the note 2 [slightly different aspect ratio) at 240fps for ~ $400, but a lot of people already have phones that can do it and use their phones as range finders, score cards, clubs distance recorders etc). Only noticabled (I know there are a tonne of benefits to the much bigger lense) advantage of The Casios and the Go Pro for most users for this application is in low light, which should rarely be an issue.
One should be doing this during the say on a grass practice range. But even at night, I've found the lighting at the range I use in winter (still winter here) more than sufficient, along with the camera's LED, just a bit grainy, but I'm using it to see swing arch, club flex etc. need front on for impact position, which I can't do in a booth anyway, so has it be at a proper grass practice range, during the day.
Wow.. Lot of information.. I'm not sure.......................……………………………………………………………………
Sent from my LG-LS970 using xda app-developers app
Have you tried motion detection apps ? Like this one https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.busywww.cameratrigger&hl=en
Description says this:
"Trigger Timer:
Motion detector trigger timer function is as same as the common camera self-timer.
After delay time finishes, the motion detection will be started. And waiting for the motion movement, and the application would not take any photos until it gets detection."
spidermoon said:
Have you tried motion detection apps ? Like this one https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.busywww.cameratrigger&hl=en
Description says this:
"Trigger Timer:
Motion detector trigger timer function is as same as the common camera self-timer.
After delay time finishes, the motion detection will be started. And waiting for the motion movement, and the application would not take any photos until it gets detection."
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Click to collapse
Very interesting, will certainly try it out, can think of several other uses already.
Cheers
I got my zenwatch yesterday and I can't seem to get the heart rate or the relaxation to work right. My heart rate is always extremely high and I have yet to get a sucessful relaxation reading as it times out. Anyone having the same issues or advice on using this, it's pretty much useless to me now?
iirc those heart rate sensors are only to get a very rough approximation. None of 'em work right, from Asus to Samsung.
CrashTestDroid said:
iirc those heart rate sensors are only to get a very rough approximation. None of 'em work right, from Asus to Samsung.
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I will tell you the microsoft band one does. I put it on in the mall and my heart rate showed what it should be continously. The Zenwatch is all over the place giving me readings that are what Im at on a treadmill. Still like the zenwatch for other reasons, but I would not even advertise a feature as flaky as the heart rate monitor or relaxtion gizmo on this thing.
I have found that Google's Fit app fails to get a heartrate, but I get a very accurate reading from Asus Wellness. Checked against manual reading from my pulse. Hopefully Google fixes their app as I prefer it to asus wellness.
It's pretty flaky, but I get a better reading if my fingers are not super-dry when touching the bezel.
I also get better results if I try to make sure that the hand touching the watch isn't touching any other bare skin or clothing, i.e. don't allow the touching hand to rest on the other hand, on your chest, etc.
At least the heart rate monitor isn't on 24/7 with no option to turn it off like the Moto360. This is one of the watch's selling points, IMO. I couldn't care less if my watch has a heart rate monitor. But since you can't seem to buy a watch that doesn't have one, whether it gives accurate readings or not, at least I can just not use it and forget it's there. Useless feature anyway, even if it is working properly. When you're working strenuously your pulse increases, when you're resting it's decreased. What deference does it make if you know the precise rate?
I agree that the Wellness app seems to be more accurate than the Google Fit app. I still want to test out the RunKeeper app to see what it's interface and heartbeat recording is like. It took me a while but I found I get my best readings by resting my index finger on the bottom bezel below the watch... So far, it seems to be the most reliable way for me to get a reading.
Would you recommend to buy the watch if I am looking for a smartwatch?
Atomic Virus said:
Would you recommend to buy the watch if I am looking for a smartwatch?
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It's still a good choice, and I don't regret getting mine. If you want to spend less than $200, get the Asus ZenWatch or the Moto 360, depending on which shape you like. If you want to spend more, I think you should also consider the Sony Smartwatch 3, the LG G Watch Urbane and the Huawei Watch. Also, there will probably be a new Moto 360 out in the coming months.
---------- Post added at 12:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:38 PM ----------
panamakevin said:
I agree that the Wellness app seems to be more accurate than the Google Fit app. I still want to test out the RunKeeper app to see what it's interface and heartbeat recording is like. It took me a while but I found I get my best readings by resting my index finger on the bottom bezel below the watch... So far, it seems to be the most reliable way for me to get a reading.
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Click to collapse
I recently installed an app called Cardiograph, that I've found a lot easier to get a good reading with than with Wellness or Fit.
2 days ago when trying to get my heart rate, I get the rate the moment I put my fingers on the watch, of course the rates are incorrect and they are not shown on my phone!
Hello!
I was wondering if the Zenwatch sports tracking stuff is as bad as some reviews I read or if that has been fixed. I like the style so I will appreciate any comments from users that owned it for a while now.
Thanks!
The only sports-type things it has are heart rate and step counting. I'm not sure if the step counter even uses the watch, actually. I think it uses Google Fit on the phone. I don't really use the step counter, but use the activity timer from Fit instead. The heart rate sensor is finicky, and you're unlikely to get an accurate reading unless your fingers are just the right dampness. Although the heart rate sensors on a lot of devices are not very accurate, either. I have a difficult time getting a good reading from the one on my treadmill, for instance.
I think none of the available smartwatches are as good at fitness functions as some of the more dedicated devices. But for an Android Wear device, the ZenWatch is very nice, and I like it a lot.
The step counter uses the accelerator in the watch and works independently from a phone. It works about as well as any arm mounted pedometer. If you don't move your arms much when you walk it may not record all your steps. It may also record some arm movements as steps, but not often. The heart rate monitor is useless, but so is every other Android Wear watch heart rate monitor. This definitely isn't a fitness band.
Sony Smart Watch 3 Review
TLDR? Quick version here.
First Impressions: A small plain little box, clear plastic and the rather plain looking watch. It’s all quite an non-fancy affair, simple and nondescript. The watch is just like the box, plain and simple looking. Actually I like it in the flesh more than in photos, the matte black strap with the silver clasp and the black face. Mind you in photos the metal silver one looks considerably more fancy. I’ve seen it said that you should be able to buy the silver strap and transfer the watch face into it. That is something I certainly fancy the idea of.
Specifications: OS Android Wear, Display Resolution 320 x 320, Colors 16 bit, Diagonal Size 1.6", Transflective TFT LCD, Dimensions 36mm x 10mm x 51mm, Weight Watch Module 38g, Sport armband 36g, Battery 420mAh, Processor 1.2 GHz, Quad-core ARM® Cortex™ A7, Water and Dust Resistance IP68, Memory 4GB eMMC with 512 MB RAM, Ports & Connectors Micro USB, Connectivity Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi ready, Sensors Ambient Light, Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Gyro, GPS, Vibration Motor, Microphone
Okay that’s a lot of spec’s. so what bits of it matter? Well it’s pretty similar to most Android Wear watches. The RAM, the CPU, the storage space, the screen size and resolution are pretty much all the some as every other one. So why did I buy this one? Well that’s easy but unless you know about screen technologies you won’t have picked up what makes the Sony Smartwatch 3 different.
Accessories: Well the 3 comes in an assortment of coloured strap options. It also can come in metal and personally I think the metal one one looks freekin’ awesome. Sony did once say they were going to make the metal band available……… yeah they still haven’t and at this point I don’t see it coming. You can buy the rubber straps, they do black, white, luminous yellow or bright pink. Yet those straps seem to go for over £30. Errr no. Ebay also seems largely bereft of things, other than screen protectors. They also curiously do a universal holder thing. You put the watch facing into a rather unattractive black plastic holder and that then attaches to standard fitting watch straps. If it was metal and not black plastic I’d be all over that but as it stands, na, it’s pretty ugly.
Fit/Comfort: Excellent on both accounts. Now for charging the snap shut strap band thingy may be a pain in that it doesn’t separate but for use on the arm? Great stuff. Set to the size I wanted, hand goes in, snap the thing closed and voilà. I’m normally not wild about plastic/rubber straps as I find it traps sweat and you can get a bit of skin irritation. Though its easily cleaned and because the strap comes away from the electronic bit you can stick it under a running tap.
Screen: Some Android wear watches use AMOLED which only consumes power as it lights up individual pixels. So a mostly black screen will use relatively little power, a mostly white and it’ll eat much more. Then there is a normal LCD display. They work by shining a light behind the screen then the screen blocks out colours to make a picture. The whole screen is powered up no matter if you show a mostly black face or mostly white. The key similarity with both technologies is that they need to consume power to light up in order to be visible.
The Sony watch uses a transflective screen. If you don’t know what that means I’ll explain. An AMOLED screen is emissive, each pixel emits its own light. A normal LCD is a transmisive screen, allowing light to pass through the screen and it has to be bright enough to be visible, which is why LCD screens are pretty rubbish in the sunshine. A transflective is different. Transflective screens have a backlight just like a normal LCD but it also is reflective. That means with the back light (the power hungry backlight) is off you can still see what’s on the screen by utilising the ambient light of where you are. This makes is possible to permanently have the time showing on the display! Something that is kinda handy for a watch. It also means that in the brightest sunshine you can still read the screen too, in fact the brighter the environment the more light there is for it to reflect, just like an e-ink screen would. A feature I for one think rather useful in a watch.
Simply put this screen is what makes it a viable device to use in real, normal life.
UI: The user interface is the standard Android Wear one. Everything is a sequence of up/down to get to new cards. Then scrolling left to progressively go into that cards details. So the weather one, first card tells you the weather right now. The next card to the right tells the weather for the next series of hours then the next one gives you the option to open the app on your phone. The cards you have available changes based on what Google Now cards Google thinks are appropriate. Oh and of course any notifications you have outstanding. Personally I’d like the weather card to be always available. So I have to not sweep it away and sometimes you just do it without thinking.
It is actually a bit complex when you start adding in all the different notifications and different apps that add cards, you can over load yourself. You can fill it up and make it practically as complex to use as your phone is. Add in your own app drawer and everything, Wear Mini Launcher is so freekin’ awesome!!! Sure it’s not for everyone but if you want complexity and having every imaginable option in the world available to you then it’s just fantastic. I personally love it and the interface to all my apps it provides. However in many ways it’s not what you want for a watch and I understand that. It’s not for everyone and as is shown by the Iphone popularity, mind numbingly locked down and limited is a boon to many.
In short the UI can be as complicated as you like, though it can still be fairly simple if you want it that way but it require you to remember what commands you have available to you so it may not be for everyone.
Features: Erm anything and everything just about. In terms of what’s common in a smart watch the things it doesn’t have is Qi charging and more oddly, no heart Rate monitor function. Now given I have things that can do that, I’m aware just how not super useful that functionality is, they don’t monitor you continuously because it would destroy the battery so it’s only read when you tell it to. Sony for some reason, in might I add its very sporty looking watch, did not include it. The trade-off it seems is that it has built in GPS rather than simply relying on the phone (which may be in a pocket or at home) so the watch can chart your outdoors run itself. Yeah I live in Edinburgh and don’t run so it’s not such a boon to me.
The other lacking item, no Qi means that you have an awkwardly placed micro USB slot to charge it underneath a rubber flap. This is so awkward to use, I immediately hit up old ebay and got a right angle adapter for the damn thing. Seriously Sony what the F were you thinking? I know it does have a better water proof rating, IP68, which has been said is thanks to the rubber flap but I don’t see how Qi would have made that worse?
The thing also has not just Bluetooth but Wi-Fi too so….. what that means is you can use the watch without a phone. Stream Google Music directly to your Bluetooth headphones while on your run outside that the built in GPS can track for you. You can leave your gigantic phone at home. Though where you’re getting Wi-fi that you wouldn’t be wanting your phone with you anyway, yeah I don’t know. A gym that bans phones maybe?
Frankly, far and away the best “feature” on the 3 is that transflective screen. Words can’t express how useful it is over the highly pretty but battery destroying AMOLED on the 360. Personally having used both, I don’t think I’d buy a non transflective screened watch. Well e-ink maybe.
Build Quality: Very good. I have mixed thoughts on the rubbery strap, that may be because Sony swore the Silvery metal one would be coming separately and it yet has to. Still it’s nice so ignore my bitter grumble. Its everything you would just expect from something Sony stamped on it.
Usability: Well its really up to you. If you want it nice and simple you can keep it pretty simple. If you don’t then you can add it full of everything and have it tell you whatever you like. It really was a joy to use, I vastly preferred it over my Moto 360 and its retarded circularish screen. While the almost round screen looks great and watch like but the fact is square is more functionally useful. It just is better to use. Seriously, everything is made squareish, try imaging what a round monitor, round TV or round book would be to use. Square make it so easy to just swipe in or out across the screen. Round is awkward and frustrating. I really cannot emphasis enough how nice to use the Smart Watch 3 is. It’s so pleasant and easy, straight forward and really what I would hope all Android Wear things to be.
Battery: When it’s behaving, 2 days and maybe into a third depending on how much you use the thing. That’s what it’s like on a good days however, since the last update it got, I think that turned on the Wi-Fi direct thing the battery sometimes seem to just tear through the battery. I mean in half a day its gone. I don’t know what causes this battery abuse and thus I don’t have any way to avoid the circumstances that cause the battery destruction. Its entirely unpredictable and thus when it happens the first you may know of it is when you go to use the thing and it’s just dead. Very frustrating, VERY VERY VERY, get it fixed Sony, Google whoever is to blame.
N.B. So of course just after writing there was an update, seemingly it has cured the random battery drain issue so it’s back to being great. Still I’m not giving it weeks to time to test and confirm it’s cured so that’s why I’m leaving this as is.
Connectivity: It has Bluetooth® 4.0, NFC, Micro USB and Wi-Fi. It doesn’t specify the WiFi so I have taken it to be 802.11G. NFC doesn’t seem to do much but assist in pairing super easily. Though I suppose that if Google Pay is less utterly useless than Google Wallet was then maybe one day you might be able to pay for things with it. I however, would certainly not hold my breath on that one. (Frowny face at Google.) Otherwise Bluetooth worked just perfectly and without the faintest whiff of an issue. Paired easy, stayed connected, always reconnected easily and range was great.
Value: The metal one is currently going for about £185ish which is roughly what the Rubberbanded ones started at. They however have since plummeted to about £110. I look at the Smart Watch 3, at the £60 odd fit bit and my god, the 3 is vastly, vastly, vastly better and more feature filled. If you want it to be just a pedometer it’ll do that and act as a watch should and tell you the time. That’s already double what the Flex can. The other reason why this is super good value is that transflective screen. There is no way you can quite grasp how important that screen is. It stays visible not just in the blazing sunshine but it can be always on with negligible power consumption. You can glance at your arm and see the time!!!! Trust me these sound so stupid and trivial and they are too. They are right up until you use an Android Wear watch that has a normal type of emissive display. Just trust me on this.
Conclusion: The Smart Watch 3 isn’t a faultless device. That wonky battery issue is the most glaring thing but it’s only a software issue as it didn’t do it before. At present it seems cured however. The lack of Qi, well with the right angled adapter I bought it’s not so bad anymore and the rubber cover flap thing, well I’ve just gotten used to it. The positives waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than make up for it. That screen. That tranflective screen is the star feature of the 3. Sure when you first see it, it won’t wow you. It does look a little washed out in comparison to the stunning OLED one of the 360. It looks so lacking in colour and mildly greyed out. Ahhh but then you walk outside. You can see the 3 perfectly, it is perfectly clear somewhat like those of e-ink screens. The 360 in comparison may as well be a mirror attached to your arm.
So what about indoors then? It not like Edinburgh is blessed with endless days of brilliant sunshine. So the watch, on your arm, you flick it ever so slightly and glance down. With the 3 you can read the display and see the time, all the time. In theory the 360 can light up with a wrist flick but it’s not a subtle wrist flick or you can have it always, dimly lit. That destroys the battery like you would not believe. The transflective one on the 3 is the screen type that ALL Android Wear watched ought to use. Google needs to mandate its use. Yes it really is that good over normal display types.
The rest, well that’s really a question of if you want an Android Wear watch. I’d say you do if you have bothered to read this. It’s not something you will ever need but it’s so convenient glancing at your wrist rather than pulling out your ginganto phone just to see the time or to see who it was that just texted you. The little vibration on the wrist I found super helpful in actually noticing notifications too. That and telling the time was worth it for me. You? Well only you can answer that but if you have read this far, you clearly want one and the Smart Watch 3 is no question, THE Android Wear watch to get.
N.B. i did have photos but it seems to be a total arse to add them to XDA, that is why there is none showing.
Nice review. I believe that the usb charge option is great as i can charge it in most places. Nowadays microusb is everywhere. QI charging cannot even use the phone equivalent version so I need to carry the mobile one which is kind of irritating.
Nice review. I am new to the SW3 and currently have an iphone 5s so I'm using with the new iOS Android Wear (I'm hoping to change my phone to a OP2 soon) The functionality on iOS is currently very limited so I'm definitely not getting the most out the device but that aside I'm enjoying the experience.
Do you really thing NFC will not be able to be use for Android pay? I really hope it will.
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...
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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...
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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?
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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?
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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!
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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!