Category: Technology

Apple launches, buying advice and honest reviews from someone deep in the Apple ecosystem, with real UAE prices in AED.

Windows 11 Is Here… Well, Kinda!

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Microsoft's Introducing Windows 11 promotional image

They said Windows 10 was the final version of Windows, they said it would just be updates from here on out! But lo and behold – here’s a refreshed visual design of Windows being called the next generation of Windows .. read on to know more.

What’s new?

  • New Start Menu & Visual Changes to the interface
  • New Widgets Menu – with quick glance information
  • New Settings Menu – easier to use
  • New Snap Assist Tool – to easily position your windows into sections of the screen
  • New Microsoft Store & XBox Apps
  • Work in Progress updates:
    • Support for Android Apps
    • Support for Direct Storage for Games
    • Performance updates for Games
  • All New Snap Assist
  • All new Microsoft Store
  • All New Widgets
  • Snap Windows
  • Microsoft Teams used for SMS as well as Video, Audio and Text Messages

Should you update?

As tempting as it may be to update, I would recommend that you wait a few months for all the bugs to be smashed and for the teething issues in the interface and guts of the software to be sorted.

To summarize as of now though, there is not much in terms of new and noteworthy in the performance or the visual redesign.

If you have a 3 years or older desktop or laptop however, I would recommend to definitely hold as there are some compatibility software updates that need to be resolved. Even probably

The Details? Mostly good, some bad.

As much as the Windows team have tried to ensure that they do not copy MacOS, there are quite a few ideas taken straight from there. However, as soon as you click that start icon – which now is in the bottom center of the screen – you see that you are still using Windows.

  • Start Menu:
    • The center start menu now opens up to an app gallery where you can pin favorite apps right up to, it also features a search bar right up top with buttons to take you to all apps installed and also a button to get you to recommended i.e. recent files.
    • Plus the Shutdown, restart button and settings icon – all of which can be customized along with shifting start to the left similar to the old way.
    • You can also pin apps to the taskbar for easier access similar to Windows 10.
  • Visuals:
    • Rounded Corners, refreshed icons, emoji’s and overhauled + simplified look
  • Widgets:
    • Widgets now slide from the left side out and has some prebuilt widgets – however, something I rarely used (called tiles in Windows 10), and I don’t see the appeal, function or use of it still – time will tell.
    • Currently you can add the below, but no 3rd Party apps:
      • Outlook Calendar
      • To Do
      • Photos
      • Tips
      • Entertainment
      • Family Safety
      • Weather
      • Watchlist
      • Plus a newsfeed at the bottom
  • Settings Menu:
    • Easier to use and Navigate compared to before making it faster to change via the quick access to the left side of the window
    • Light Mode and Dark Mode Options + plus switching without reloading the window like before
    • You will also be able to switch on Auto HDR if you have a monitor that supports it
  • Snap Assist:
    • This is something they have copied from the Mac and improved upon in my opinion where the windows snap as before as well as you have snap layouts that fit your open windows into some useful preset options
  • Microsoft Teams and Messages are now one app:
    • They have updated Teams to now handle SMS messages so you can send and receive messages from the app on your desk
  • The Bad Stuff:
    • Cannot drag files into the task bar folders and apps as before
    • There are still barebones of Windows of the past still visible via the Command Prompt, Task Manager and some other windows some of which do not even switch on the Dark Mode switch
    • Only the primary monitor displays the easy access icons on the bottom right such as time, date, battery, bluetooth etc. The rest of the monitors do not.

Work in Progress updates !!

  • Performance Improvements:
    • There were supposed to be performance improvements with the introduction of Windows 11, however, as of now this doesn’t seem to have made any noticeable changes
  • Android Apps:
    • This is purely a workaround, but there will soon be an Amazon App Store that will have it’s own collection of Android Apps that you will be able to access via that store; how well these apps work and perform however is something that we need to wait and watch
  • Direct Storage Access:
    • Provided Games support it (which most don’t currently) the data can be loaded directly from the SSD via the GPU rather than the CPU which would result in much faster load times, which will have a significant boost incase you do not already have SSD’s

With all of this and more, hopefully Windows has a much better time going forward – keep in mind, every alternate version of Windows has been a disaster – Windows 8, Vista, ME; so this has a lot of history going against it.

Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do like and subscribe for more.

Cheers! 🙂

Tesla in the Middle East?

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Four Tesla cars, Model S, 3, X and Y, lined up on a mountain road

Have always been a techie at heart and one of the things I have been pondering on lately is a wish list item – A Tesla. I always push myself to have goals for fear of being bored by life in general – be it a skill, spiritual or materialistic. And now that my Mustang is about 5+ years old and I think about my next goal – my love of technology, cars and want for being sustainable – a tesla seems to check a lot of boxes for a worthy goal.

After a bit of research, here’s a summary of findings that you might find useful to either satiate your curiosity or if you, like me, are also pondering such things.

Tesla at a Glance : S3XY (Oct 21)

Tesla At A Glance, Data courtesy Tesla.com UAE, summarized by @robinbmac

Which one should you get?

  • Budget Conscious?
    • If you are budget conscious first and foremost, this car is probably not for you as even the cheapest of the lot is quite so very expensive. But if you still do want to get one, then I’d recommend sticking to the Model 3 or the Model Y.
      • The Model 3 if you are either single or have a small family and do not need to carry around too much when shopping.
      • The Model Y if you have a regular size family and also do need space when traveling or shopping. Waiting for a 7 seater model to be available in UAE however, which isn’t the case as of now.
  • Tech Savvy?
    • If you are Tech Savvy, any of these machines would actually do depending on the space you need for yourself or your family. It is completely stocked with tech from a mobile app, self-parking, sentry mode to other cool things. Maybe even spring some extra money for the full self-driving.
  • Traveler?
    • If you love to travel, then definitely consider the long range models of the car that you prefer as it would most definitely come in handy in the ‘long-run’ (get it, haha – sorry I had to).
  • Best of the Best?
    • If you only want the best of the best, you have to consider the Plaid versions seriously – why you ask?:
      • Quickest accelerating and highest torque
      • 3 High Performance Motors
      • Torque vectoring (Torque vectoring is a technology employed in automobile differentials that has the ability to vary the torque to each half-shaft with an electronic system. This method of power transfer has recently become popular in all-wheel drive vehicles.)

Other things to keep in mind?

  • Firstly, the Tesla isn’t cheap (even the cheapest of the lot) and to be able to use it regularly you definitely need to know when and where you can charge your car. So if you do not have a house where you can overnight charge or an area where you have multiple fast chargers you can access – this is not the car for you.
  • If you can wait, please consider that the deliveries take up to 2 quarters (4-6 months) on average; also check out the competition from Ford, Porsche and others. Tesla definitely is a tech company before anything else and they are learning how to manufacture cars and consider ranges etc., however, car companies producing electric cars have much more experience with what car owners expect. So expect a bit of a shock on how a car functions when buying from Tesla. One example of such a case is – when Tesla is approaching 0 km in distance to empty, consider fueling up asap as zero is actually zero and sometimes earlier; whereas a Ford Mustang Mach-E even at zero has some way to go before it stops fully.
  • If you have a place of your own, consider getting a Tesla Powerwall and also some Solar Panels – consider going fully green, this would be great for your bills (car & home) in the long run and the planet. 🙂

Go to Tesla.com to learn more and maybe order one for yourself if you are the impulsive type.

Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do like and subscribe for more.

Cheers! 🙂

The Surface That Could: Microsoft’s Big Surface Event

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Microsoft Surface devices lineup from the September 2021 event

The market is in such bad a state that it is currently only a monopoly that could aspire to break up another monopoly. Microsoft took a well deserved hiatus from mobile hardware to focus on the cloud but now that their cloud act is at the top of it’s game they have been focusing on the Mobile Products division with the help of Panos Panay. And so the Surface Strategy is back with a new line of up of products to tempt you away from the iOS or Android Monopolies that you are already a part of and these are the products they announced.

The Surface Duo 2

Yup, Duo 2’s the name and it isn’t Deja-Vu. The second iteration of the Surface Folding Phone – all improved with a curved center edge, a thinner and lighter form factor, a slimmer pen and a new camera line up. Better specifications to boot as well. A pure ‘workaholic’s’ & Multitasker’s delight in my opinion. The only thing I would consider to replace my iPhone but only during work hours and not anything else.

Link to Technical Specifications here

The Refreshed Surface Laptops Line-Up

Next up is the refreshed line-up of Laptops and at first glance all you see is that they have upped the specifications and not much else for all except the Surface Laptop Studio which apart from the specs also had a new form factor to go with it.

Surface Laptop Studio

The screen is quite an amazing achievement, it also folds from it’s center back position to lay flat over the entire body so you can use the pen that hides under it’s mouse pad to write, draw and more. However, an overall bulky device with a box underneath for ventilation via fans and vents. Unsure how this performs in the market with better value for money options that are more powerful.

Link to the Technical Specifications here

The rest of the devices are nothing to write too much about, we have the Surface Pro 8, which is probably the best of the lot for its power for form factor ratio and also the detachable keyboard with the hidden pen slot. If you need a windows laptop + tablet for portability and work – this is the device for you. Well worth the spend just for the portability alone. The upgrades on this are nothing more than the spec’s tho.

You also have the Surface Go 3 if you need a budget friendly device, however the sacrifices it makes ensures it isn’t a great value for money. For this price range there are definitely better deals from other manufacturers out there. An new iPad would be a much better value for money with lower cost in this case.

Oh and yes, just to tick the box of being environmentally conscious, they also released a mouse made of recycled ocean plastic. So there’s that. Awesome, I guess.

Would you recommend buying one?

At this time, the only one worth recommending is the Surface Pro 8 in case you are looking for a portable windows machine with the emphasis on portable. The Surface Duo 2 can also be recommended if your work productivity is front and center in your list of priorities especially if tied into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Apart from that the rest are not ready for prime time and do not justify the price for the value they deliver.

Hope you enjoyed the read. Do like and subscribe for more.

Cheers! 🙂

How Do We Perfect Perfection? Apple’s iPhone 13 Event

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Apple September 2021 event announcement graphic

So we just went through a whole week where we had anticipation before the event and then disappointment after, and this brought me to think over the weekend about why Apple took this route – and most of this might be glaringly obvious and some of it might not at all. But here’s my thoughts on why Apple had the product launch it did. Read on.

So .. What happened?

Apple launched iterative updates for all its products in a sense implying their products are quite perfect already and they could just get away with improving on the things that matter such as the display, camera and the battery – some would say this is the right way to go but as always there are also quite a few that disagree and call this a slowdown in the pace of innovation as compared to their Android competitors. Below summary details on the products launched and the updates made on these products:

  • iPhone 13 / 13 Mini / 13 Pro / 13 Pro Max – With improvements in the processor, camera and the battery life for the 13 & Mini + the additional telephoto camera and the 120 Hz Display for the Pro versions

  • iPad / iPad Mini – An updated standard iPad for a relatively cheap option with an Apple Pencil, an updated Mini that is just an iPad Air in a smaller form factor for those who prefer it

  • Apple Watch – A slightly bigger + brighter screen, more durable and faster charging (with a USB-C connector now)

  • Apple TV+ & Apple Fitness+ – New shows and seasons for the TV and new + better workouts for the Fitness App

Why would Apple do this?

So why does Apple think they can get away with only iteration and a lack of innovation. So many theories, such short attention span’s to contend with.

  • 5G – Let’s start with the biggest incentive of all to have an event in the first place, sell product+service. With carrier partnerships all across who want to promote their 5G networks and are ready to subsidize your old iPhones to give you new ones – there’s no better time than the present to launch a shiny new phone, iPad and Watch even if the updates are only iterative.

  • Why mess with perfection? – The phones and the ecosystem as they are, are pretty amazing and at the #1 charts across the world in Phone sales. So why take risks by putting in an innovation that might not be well received. Which is why it makes sense to just make the safest of updates to improve products that are already good.

  • The Supply Chain? – There is a robust supply chain that has parts sourced for the massive demand for Apple products worldwide. So it makes sense to stretch out the parts for more years which results in price optimization and more importantly profit optimization.

  • Legacy – There is a whole world of legacy, Apple approved accessories that have to pay Apple for the usage rights to be apple certified; all of which goes away then they switch away to more open technologies such as USB-C. There are also other devices in the eco system that still have to switch over such as the iPad and the AirPods. This creates a kind of lock in as well for the accessories ecosystem of Apple’s most popular product, the iPhone. Revenues for which it needs to find ways to compensate for.

Would you recommend buying one?

This is subjective and relatively straight forward – if you own one of these products from 2 to 3 + generations ago, this is an amazing upgrade to get and well worth the money. If however you have all the latest from last year – definitely do not spend and either spend it on something else you might need or save for next year.

What next?

There is of course innovation in Apple’s future, purely because the market forces would enforce innovation lest they perish similar to the likes of Nokia and Blackberry. What can and will they do next? Thoughts below:

  • Competition – Apple is currently a market leader despite the lack of innovation it seems to display. If you hear the experts discussing this you would mostly hear that Apple usually implements innovations after they have been tested and proven in the market, and they they innovate on top. There are innovations and technologies that are still in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd generations that still need to prove themselves, a few to name as below:
    • Foldable Screens
    • Underscreen Fingerprint Scanner
    • Underscreen Selfie Camera’s
    • USB-C for the iPhone’s
    • Stylus for the iPhone

  • Augmented Reality – One of the big focuses for Apple post the Services push (Apple TV+, Apple Fitness+) has been augmented reality. Current speculation is that this would result in a Mixed Reality Headset that incorporates both Virtual and Augmented Reality; however very little is known on the final product they plan to release as well as when they plan to release it. However, they have started working on this with the Lidar sensors added to the phone and AR apple such as Pokemon Go etc.

  • Apple Car – the edge of the rumor mill is always the Apple Car, speculation stating that Apple will eventually get into Tesla’s business using its design philosophy and computing chops. However, we are still to see proof on how this shakes out eventually since this isn’t something the company will take lightly and would want to refine and get approvals for before they roll a product out.

Looking forward to the next Apple Event for the MacBooks and who know’s what else which might happen in the October/November timeframe of the year.

Hope you enjoyed the read. Do like and subscribe for more.

Cheers! 🙂

Pictures courtesy Apple from the Apple Event on 15 Sep 21

What Is Cryptocurrency? (As in ‘Bitcoin’)

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A gold Bitcoin coin resting on a pile of coins

(The Original article is posted by me on LinkedIn on September, 2017: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-robin-machado/

Been curious about this myself for a while, did some research, and thought I’d do a knowledge share for all who would like to know more about this topic like me.

This is an article for all who have questions such as:

  • What is Crypto Currency? (Or ‘Bitcoin’ if you are more familiar with that)
  • What do I do with Crypto Currency?
  • What does the future hold for Crypto Currency?

While learning about it myself, I will do my best to answer these questions in as short and sweet a method as possible.

What is it?

Well, to put it simply, someone somewhere said I’ve had enough with these localized, government-controlled currencies that could really mess up sometimes and that it’s time to create a global currency that would work in a more meaningful, non-biased, and secure way. If you are one of the few that hasn’t faced such a challenge – congratulations; but if you are somewhat of a global citizen or even someone who travels and understand things like exchange rates (& Forex), you kind of understand how a currency that doesn’t get affected by ‘where’ you spend it has its benefits.

Pros:

  • Global,
  • Encrypted,
  • Self-monitored,
  • Open ledger (transparent)

Cons:

  • Still hasn’t taken off yet (so you can’t use it in most places),
  • prone to hackers (but so is banking),
  • prone to fluctuations (since it still has that new smell),
  • the world hasn’t finalized on one cryptocurrency .. so exchange rate between crypto’s might eventually be a problem (..something to think about)

By the way, that someone I mentioned before was a person or group named Satoshi Nakamoto, and they created Bitcoin in 2009 – some good Netflix documentaries on that if you are interested, such as Banking on Bitcoin. Since this is the first it gets the privilege of being considered primary, such as with Xerox.

Bitcoin – CryptoCurrency Fluctuations – Feb 2017 to Sep 2017

The value of Cryptocurrencies is certainly prone to fluctuations, value rapidly changing based on demand (& supply). Like all valuable materials, the overall supply is eventually limited i.e. production would gradually decrease. As for how this currency is supplied, for example, like Bitcoin, it’s via Bitcoin Miners – People who use special software to solve math problems and are issued a certain number of Bitcoins in exchange (still learning this side of things myself TBH).

What do you do with it?

Simply put it is a currency, so you can do with it what you would with a currency – buy, sell, trade. The only difference is, it isn’t widely accepted yet so there aren’t too many places to use it .. and more importantly, you can’t use it for the everyday requirement .. yet. It is rapidly gaining popularity though and could very well soon go mainstream, once a popular global standard eventually rises.

Another option that many are going for is to invest in it .. buy it, store it, forget about it for a couple of months or years. Many early investors seem to find that just doing that has helped them multiply their investment. Disclaimer here though, do your research before you invest in any cryptocurrency and especially research on how you plan to buy it and store it .. those need to be dependable too. Can reach out to me as well for help, will do the best I can. Ethereum, in case you haven’t heard of it, is a cryptocurrency that has by far the most gains due to being backed by major corporations such as Microsoft, Samsung, JPMorgan Chase, and others in what’s being called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Though when corporations get involved, things start going wrong in the long run; for now, it’s just a wait and watch.

There are multiple options to buy Cryptocurrencies, the most popular are app-based wallets such as Coinbase. There are multiple ways to bet for and against Cryptocurrencies too, such as IQ Option Europe. Once again, disclaimer here, do the research, evaluate your risks, and then start. Always start small, learn the ropes, and then you can gradually go bigger as you gain a better understanding of how things work. 

Where adoption of Cryptocurrency is high, there are ATMs being installed too. For example, in the US there are 1000’s ATMs installed in many states where they use a scanner for authenticating your identity, and then you can transact.

What does the future hold?

Everything has to get a lot worse before it gets better. What we are talking about here is the impact on the national and global currency-based economy. There is currently a massive system in place put forward by governments and financial institutions to manage currency as we know it .. the supply of it, credit rates, interest rates, exchange rates, and so on. This global unregulated cryptocurrency system evades all that for a person-to-person exchange like the barter system of the old days but is available globally via an app – which basically means that governments are no longer involved in regulating or manipulating. Also means that governments now need to find a way to be involved or be left out of the conversation altogether.

The sum it all up, keeping the financial crashes in mind, the cryptocurrency option seems like a better way to go but that’s mostly because we do not fully comprehend how much of the government and financial regulation system most of us actually depend on till this goes mainstream. Good governments however will find a way to adapt, bad governments will find a way to profit, all the institutions in between will rise, fall, change, and slowly things will fall in place to the new reality. All in all, cryptocurrencies are in fact a new reality that we are not fully aware of and we are learning on the go. We can probably have a great guess on what the future holds, but ultimately as the current times have taught us, anything is possible.

This article represents info based on my research and also my opinion on the subject.

Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed writing it, feel free to share, leave a comment, question, or otherwise. Thanks!