I just got the Nreal AR glasses dev kit. I’m going to skip unboxing and intro stuff since there are plenty of those on the web already. So this is a day 0 review, what I did as soon I got them. So lets jump right in.

First off, the glasses do not fit me properly. I had a chance to look at the Nreal glasses last year and knew this would an issue. The fix? Well since I have to wear glasses anyway, I fixed it with a few bread ties. Almost all engineering problems can be fixed with duct tape and bread ties.

Now that I can see clearly, I first started up the puck and tried the demo experiences. They are good. Again, plenty of reviews on the web so unless there is a particular question, I can say in general the colors are bright, rendering seems around 30-45 fps, FOV is good enough. Images do have some swim and jitter, but that is dependent on the environment. In a perfect setting, the image hold position pretty well, more challenging, less stability as one would expect. Rotation correction (timewarp or pLSR depending on who you talk to) is pretty good. I point this out because I assume all the LSR functions are on the phone as well, but its possible pLSR is done on the headset. The NrealTower app does not work for some reason, still trying to sort that out. However, I’m not that interested in those, instead I want to connect to my phone.

<caution: segway rant ahead> A LONG time ago, I went to visit ODG in SF to have a look at their AR glasses. I have a background in 3D graphics, VR, and computer graphics going back to 1995, so I immediately saw a problem with their approach. This is going to be a world of hurt because of the power/heat requirements. So I asked; hey, can I get a set of glasses with only camera and IMU support? I want to run everything on the phone. Got a look like; ‘Are you nuts? No.’ I left there disappointed, but convinced that a successful AR HMD needs to do two things; be very lightweight, and have lots of content. Connecting to the phone does both. Our phones are powerful have as much access to content as our PCs. If I can get that content on my glasses, that would be worth the price. Que in something called Samsung DeX, and now I can have desktop experience in AR! Full disclosure, I work at Samsung in R&D and got a really hacked version of DeX in working in VR and AR a few years ago so I have already experienced how cool this could be.

So back to the Nreal. ALMOST right out of the box, I connected the glasses to my Galaxy S10 (later Samsung Fold) and boom! I have HDMI. BTW I say almost because you need to hold down brightness up to get into 3D mode on the glasses. So once that happens, DeX!! I already have a travel set up with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse so I was up right out of the box. A limitation right now is the display is headlocked. This is fixable by setting up a virtual display and getting RGB images from the video buffer to the HMD after performing timewarp or pLSR. Or something like that. I’m sure they will figure it out sooner or later. Once they do that, then I can have two screens, DeX in the glasses and the normal phone display. I was pretty impressed I could have both running at the same time. No sure how long this will last from a power point of view, so I need to experiment with this more. So all and all, my experience in DeX was great. Images are bright and clear. Easy to read text and if you keep the brightness down, no eye strain.

On day zero I had a web meeting that I needed to attend. As an experiment, I login via the PC like normal, but instead of using the PC, I connected the glasses. Same thing, HDMI headlocked video, just on the phone. I was able to participate in a 1hr online meeting using just the glasses, and bluetooth mouse. I was sitting up on the bed fully relaxing, drinking tea and had no problems reading content on the power point slides. I could even reply to messages when I later added my bluetooth keyboard. Tying on the phone is a bit if a challenge with the Nreals being headlocked.

This event is pretty key for a zero day experience. I was able to use the glasses right out of the box. Later I watched the news via YouTube on the phone. The only thing that stopped me using the glasses even longer is the hack I have to attach to my glasses are not the best. Once this is sorted out, I can see using these for long conf calls so I can walk away from my desk now and again.

So to sum up, on day Zero I had access to via the phone to a desktop experience (DeX), web browsing, office docs, videos, a few games, chat, photos, etc.. I know what you are going to ask; then why not get a HDMI HMD viewer? Few reasons. Headlocked is still a limitation. To free up headlock we need 3 DOF, min. 6 DoF is better in my mind. Plus the are going to be times I will want to full AR experience. I do not want to buy a device that cannot support this.

BTW: Follow up to this post. function follows form: consumer AR use-cases

Now some questions I got since people found out I had this.

Q: did you find the cable an issue? No, not really. I have a usbC extension cable so I feel pretty free, but mostly I just place the phone where ever and its fine. My wish right now is for DeX phone UI to support keyboard in addition to mouse entry. So this is a Samsung issue.

Q: Does it get hot? yes, but the heat dissipation is top front, so I never really feel it.

Q: Does WebXR work? I read that its coming end of the year. I will try to get invited as an early tester.

Q: How is your experience comparing Hololens 2.0? I’ve said many time before, the hololens is the best example of AR you can get. V2.0 is better but not a massive jump. That being said, the CV on the hololens 1 is better then Nreal. The graphics feel about the same as far as brightness and ease on my eyes. (headset fit not withstanding). I do not think the Nreal will ever be as good as the HL in terms in CV, but it does not need to be. Two different products with two different customer segments.

Q: Does it feel heavy after long use? Hard to say. Longest I have used it is 1.5 hrs and both times I was either laying down and reclining, so the weight was a bit more off the nose then if I wore it standing. So more testing to do.

Q: How was reading text? Again it was headlocked so until they support at least 3DoF, I will hold back judgement, but while headlocked, I could read fine.

Q: Can you connect to a PC? Yes. you get pretty much the same experience as DeX. Same problem though, headlocked.

Q: How does it compare to Magic Leap, since they are both tethered? So quick answer, it was pretty much the same. I got used the Magic Leap tether pretty quickly and same with the Nreal. What is better about the Nreal is of course, I can plug it into various devices and I have an usbc extension and that gave me extra room. But from a user point of view. it was a non issue. Somewhat like wearing wired headphones, you figure out the best way to route the wire, then you forget about it. The only case where I can see the wire becoming an issue is if I was doing a high activity experience, like beat saber or something like that. And even then, I’m sure I could figure something out.

Q: How is DEX in AR? Did you not just read this post?!

Any other questions? Let me know and I’ll add them.

First you can finally boot directly into the desktop.  This is huge for me.  Right now there are two moves I have to make that are a total waste.  I have to first move the splash graphic out of the way so I can get to the login, then after logging in, I have to click on desktop. Sigh.  I’m hoping to find a way to shortcut the landing graphic, but at least with 8.1, I can go directly to the desktop top.  Much better.

The second thing is the return of the ‘Start’ button.  Its not as populated nor as flexible as the start button in Win7, but I expect that will improve as well.  Far better then the window-x option we have now.  Did you guys even know about that?  Also the search UI is suppose to flow better, but an issue I have still does not seem to be addressed; when I type in an app or file, I have manually move from category to category.  Sigh.  Although now they have added skydrive and email as part of the search.  Not sure how I feel about that.

I have read that the metro apps are getting better.  They are really half baked and anytime I accidentally go from desktop to one of these things, I’m immediately struck by just how limited the UI option are on them. Perhaps in a few more iterations they will be become as useful as the equivalent desktop app, but I’m not seeing it. There have been more improvements on the start screen, like more sizes for the chicklets, better filtering and a few other niceties, but honestly, I never use any of them, so I cannot say if this matters or not.

Also there is IE11.  I have lived without Internet Explorer for so long I do not even know the difference between the versions any more.  From what I have read, 11 is suppose to bring IE into the modern browser age, but I read that about IE 9 and 10 and yet they always fall short.  So I guess time will tell.

Bottom line, if you are already on windows 8, as soon as its released, and its free, go get it.  Else if you have not made the jump yet, there is nothing here to change your mind.

any questtions as usual twitter @ichuckydee

or FB @ www.Facebook.com/ichucky/dee

Max Solar Backpack (Black/Teal)

Recently I acquired a Sun-Plugged Max Solar Backpack. I have had solar powered devices before and never found them to be all that useful beyond anything novel. The Sun-Plugged backpack however has become a resource I use everyday now.

The battery is super light and with the tons of adapters, I can recharge my iphone, my android, or camera.  (Yea, I’m nothing if not armed with electrics.)

This  three compartment backpack features a waterproof, scratch resistant, high efficiency monocrystalline solar panel and acts as a mobile renewable energy power station designed to charge virtually all hand-held electronics. Surprisingly the removable solar cell’s weight is hardly noticeable. Given how fast my smart phone and iPod batteries die, the backpack is a life saver for this techie.

It comes with a variety of plug adapters, and any device that charges with a USB cable can plug directly into the super light-weight recyclable Lithium-ion solar battery.

With a nice look, padded back support, light-weight feel, and good solar battery, I easily give this backpack a 9 out of 10.

Sun-Plugged was founded in 2008 by a group in Monterey, California and has a variety of bags (tote, laptop, messenger) they offer that all have embedded rugged, lightweight, waterproof recyclable solar panels.

The specs on my Max Solar Backpack:

Price: $159.00

The solar panel produces 4.5 watts of power, so 1 hour in direct sun will power over 3 hours of iPod playtime or 1.5 hours of cell phone talk time.

Battery Specifications
Capacity: 5000mAh
Input: 5~10V/1A via Mini USB
Output Voltage/Current: 5.5V/500mA
Dimensions: 4″ x 2″ x 1/2″, 99 x 70 x 15mm
Weight: 5.64 oz, 160 g
Compatible Devices: most mobile phones, iPod/iPhone 2G/3G/3GS/4G, PSP, MP3/MP4, NDS, GPS, PDA, Etc.
Output: Standard USB
Indicator: On/OFF PWR LED Charge Light

Solar Panel Specifications
Power: 4.5 Watts
Type: Monocrystalline (9” x 5”, 23 x 13mm)
Weight: 10.5 g (3mm Alum/Plastic Substrate)
Cell Efficiency: 16%
Open Circuit Voltage (VoC): 8V
Peak Voltage (Vpm):7V
Peak Current (Ipm): 650mA

Bag Specifications
Dimensions: 19” x 14” x 6”, 48 x 36 x 17mm
Volume: 7.67 gallon / 29 liters
Materials: 600D Polyester, fully padded laptop sleeve (14”), high density foam padding on shoulders & back, 10 or 20 Gauge Zippers available

Charging Times
6-7 hrs direct sunlight for full battery pack charge
4-5 hrs direct sunlight for full cell phone charge
4-5 hrs direct sunlight for iPod & iPhone
4-7 hrs direct sunlight for low voltage digital camera

Rockmelt crashed the first time I launched the browser, which is always a bad way to start with a new program. I opened up the two webmail systems that I use and another tab in the same window for browsing. I sign in to Twitter three times and get the ever spinning circle. The Facebook integration is better, it is fairly robust, meaning I saw status messages.

My major complaint is performance since when I was running those 3 tabs, the browser froze and took my MacBook with it. I had to quit Rockmelt and restart the computer before I could type in to other services, like Seesmic Desktop or Safari. The second complaint I have is I was looking for people to invite and clicked on a few names on the side. I couldn’t tell who was already in the system and didn’t want to send duplicates to people who likely already had an invite from other friends. Wouldn’t you know, even without hitting the button that sends a message, just because I clicked on a Facebook friend’s name from the invite box meant that I ACTUALLY INVITED THEM. It also meant that I couldn’t remember who I invited because I THOUGHT I was just testing out the invite functionality so the system would prompt me for confirmation. I had to search through the list and look for the “Follow up” button to see who the lucky three were and then actually send messages. One person that I inadvertently invited would never even bother downloading this and I knew that. I had clicked on their name to see what the invite behavior of Rockmelt was for someone who I knew would not have been in the first wave of invites vs people I suspected were already in the system.

Bottom line,my assessment is it’s too early to see what the best practices are for making browsing social and it’s unclear if Rockmelt has it right. From the way they are handling invites, I think there’s a long way to go before the experience becomes one that I’d want to use every day. They do have a great icon though, I have to admit.

More to come later, once I restart my computer again after shutting down Rockmelt, which slowed everything to a crawl again.

So today I’m reviewing iShread.  In my previous post, I looked at Amplitube and was pretty impressed.  iShread is like Amplitube and at the same time, different.

First, lets have a look at the hardware.  iShred offers an all in one chord from Griffin Technology that you simply plug in your guitar into and then your head phones.  Pretty nice except when you want to run a line to your computer speakers or a small amp.  Not a big deal though.  However when you are playing just you, your guitar and your iphone, this is a way better design. The free version is pretty well set… built-in Amp Sim and three default effects: Buzz Kill noise filter, HK-2000 delay, and Q-36 flanger. Additional effects can be added through the built-in store. iShred LIVE includes a built in chromatic tuner, metronome, 48 preset slots to store sounds, and a music/loop player to help learn and perfect your art.

The app is suppose to support 4 effects at the same time, however, when I start to load it up I can feel a bit of lag.  Its not as bad on my ipad so I have to guess that if you have the iphone 4 you should be good to go, even the 3gs for that matter. I was running on my 3G and it was having some issues. Its recommended to do a reboot to clear the memory before trying this, however I used the mem clear from jailbreak but I did not do a deep clear, so I will have to try that again.  I also found that when I go from playing music from my music library that the app would crash on me as I started messing around with other settings.  Again, I did not see this on the ipad. Although I LOVE the fact that I can grab anything sitting in my library and play along right off the bat, I was annoyed that the volume control was for BOTH the music and the guitar.  They should have separate controls.

Also, you will notice that the user interface does not stick strictly to what a guitarist would normally see as Amplitube does, but instead is a bit more playful on how the effects are named and rendered.  Whats missing is the basic controls that you would expect on your amp.  Vol, tones, presence, gain, etc..  Also, you cannot change the amp type or cabinet.  Ah well.

Still, this is a pretty cool little app and well worth the free download to get yourself into the game. Give it try or at least look at the video below.

There have already been a number of virtual guitar amp and effects products for the iphone and ipad, and I’ve tried a few, but amplitube and ishread (ishread I will over in another post) stood out.  Now, if there is really good product I missed, please let me know. AmpKit by Peavy is not out yet.)

So back to Amplitube iRig. I have this both on my iphone3G and my iPad, I also have the recommended cable. I did play with it on my iphone3G and although I started to feel some lag as I added effects, it was not too bad.  The experience was far better on the ipad especially as I was doing fast scales.

The cable adapter is good. You use your own 1/4 cable to connect  to the adapter and then a 1/8 to hook up your headphones or as I like to do, connect to my computer speakers.

AmpliTube for iPad will be available in 2 versions: FREE and FULL.

The free version includes 3 stompboxes, 1 amp+cabinet, 2 microphones. More gear can be added to FREE version through an in-app purchase of a-la-carte models with stompboxes costing $2.99 / €2.39 each and amplifiers+cabinets for $4.99 / €3.99 each. AmpliTube FULL includes the entire collection of available gear with 11 stompboxes, 5 amps+cabinets and 2 microphones for $19.99 / €15.99.

I downloaded both the free and the full version and although the free version is more then useful, having the various cabinets to choose from was a big plus for me.  What I really liked is amp interface, although using it on the iphone was a bit tricky because of the limited screen size, but once you have the sound you like, then it does not really matter that much.

Here is the only thing I do not like. I cannot simply call an mp3 on my iphone/ipad and start playing with it. I have to instead load a music file by opening a browser on my computer on the same wifi as the iphone / ipad.  Its not the end of the world, but it would be nice if I could play right from my music library.

Guest post by @thunderberry –  Follow him!

Evernote has long been the swiss army knife of universal capture. Running on Windows, Mac, the Web, multiple smartphone platforms and of course the iPhone, this hybrid of application and service has undergone multiple revisions in its goal to help you ‘Remember Everything”. Add or edit any note on any platform and with a simple sync it becomes available everywhere else.

Prior to OS 3.0 on the iPhone, Evernote was a little restricted as to what you could capture. We’ve already touched upon how the lack of Copy and Paste on made clipping sections of web sites impossible, and the restrictive lack of macro function on the camera made snapping all those important business cards (or wine bottle labels) infeasible unless you were willing to make do with a blurry smudge or used a macro lens. All that has changed now with the release of Evernote for iPhone 3.0 and the advent of the new, snappier iPhone 3GS and update of 3.0. So what exactly has made Evernote go from cool to essential? Let’s take a quick look.

Perhaps one of the most significant changes, and one entirely down to the new iPhone 3GS, is the addition of a new macro capable camera. This one feature alone opens up a whole range of new applications for Evernote. For one it means that the iPhone becomes an important capture device for contact information on the go. That new business card you just received can be added to Evernote with a quick snap and synched back to their servers, where their advanced text recognition capabilities allow it to become searchable by content, time, AND location. No more need to actually KEEP those cards! Also, that great bottle of vino that you get in the restaurant? One snap and it’s there for the next time you’re in BevMo.

The new landscape view for notes also adds extra depth. Your notes are now presented in glorious widescreen in chornological order, scrolling with buttery smooth precision. Given the current love of lifestreaming, this time-orded view of the information that you capture feels both natural and accessible, ensuring that you can easily find that all essential gumbo recipe that you were looking for.

However, the real killer feature of Evernote is its extensive range of native clients, enabling notes started in one application to be almost instantly available on other platforms with a quick sync. On top of this, the cloud-based nature of evernote and its web service means that you will never be without some way of accessing or editing your information. To give an example of what this can enable, let’s look at how this proved useful for me the other day.

As an independent worker, I’m neither bound by the limitations of regular working hours, nor locations. Previously, if I had wanted to get any serious work done at a local coffee spot I would have had to drag my notebook (or netbook) down to the store, tether myself to the wall socket and then find an overpriced WiFi connection to get me onto the internet. With Evernote for iPhone 3.0 however, this whole process has become simplified and streamlined. I had started my day by adding some relevant web page clips to Evernote, which I then used in crafting a new article. Later in the day, when writers block struck and I needed a change of scene, I was able to start off again on the iPhone from exactly where I had left off on the Mac earlier. Half an hour later the text was done and I finished my coffee. On returning home I was able to copy the text on the Mac, submit, and voila, another thing to check off the list.

Now, we do need to be honest here and come clean that all is not perfect. On the iPhone, formatting is still very simple and lacks the richness seen in the desktop clients. Some features, such as being able to organize your notes into multiple notebooks, are a little hard to use. But in general, the latest iteration of Evernote for the iPhone has become and essential in my roster of applications. The folks at Evernote have put a lot of work into this release, and it shows. They’ve also been putting a lot of work into ensuring that Evernote is accessible by other applications on the iPhone, and so we can look forward to some interesting uses of the service in the not too distant future.

All in all the combination of Evernote for iPhone 3.0 and the new iPhone 3GS makes for killer productivity, and in my opinion this is something you can’t afford to be without.

ok, so I saw a few tweets about this and decided to give it a shot.  And I have to agree, this is pretty cool. Kinda like the wii in a way.  I like that I can curve the ball by twisting the iPhone towards the end of release. Now the only downside.  I can see someone perhaps having 1 too many letting the phone slip out of their hands and knock down other things then virtual pins.  Really need a strap or something like that.

Still, this is cool… and its free. A small detail, would have been cool to have a differnt sound for picking up 1 or 2 pins.  Perhaps on the next version. Soo… Go get it already.

SGN, the guys who make this app also made iGolf.  I may try that next.

BTW, took a few tried to get a screenshot with the pins flying.

Seems like everyone is getting iphones now a days including my brother.  At least around here.  An iphone is not for everyone and pretty soon I will post up a list of reasons NOT to get an iphone.. But this post is about something he just bought. Its a doc for the iphone with a remote control.

It seemed cool enough, except it did not come with a cable. Still, I placed my phone in there and it seems to be working.  I already have a clock radio that plays my iphone, but I could see wanting to connect it to my proper stereo system and be able to control it remotely.  So I did some shopping..   And this is what I found.

This system has usb, and av cables.  The cool bit is the remote control. It seems to charge via the cradle and it displays the sounds similar to the old ipod.  This should be interesting.

I just ordered it today.  I got it though ebay and its paid for in AUD.  I think it will be around $14 US when its all said and done.  I’ll blog as soon as it comes in.