Lock Up and Throw Away the Keys! (A Kevo 2nd Gen Review)

Building a smart home has become a recent obsession of mine. Anything other than builder's grade deadbolts is better. There are a ton of smart locks out there, from replacements, to upgrades that convert your existing lock to a smart one.

My list boiled down to two, the Schlage Connect, and the 2nd Generation Kevo. Although the Schlage has gotten better security reviews (Grade 1) vs the Kevo (Grade 2) what ultimately got me was the convenience of the Touch-To-Open feature of Kwikset's offering.

First up, installation. The Kevo is a breeze to install. Even for someone with my limited handyman experience. My only complaint is that the install instructions are online only. Which made it take longer for me since I had to keep referring to my phone and flipping pages. But realistically, if you've ever installed a regular deadbolt, this is hardly any different other than connecting the front and back with the cable.

Next, functionality. It's pretty awesome. Initially had issues but the most recent update seems to have addressed most of them. As long as you have your phone in your pocket (front works better than back, and women's bags are more reliable than men's pant pockets) just touch the side of the Kevo with any part of your body and it opens!

Why is this such a big deal? Over the keypad of the Schlage Connect, it is a lot faster to get in your home. People with physical disabilities will have an easier time. Specially with the key fob, which is an optional purchase [BOO!] is more reliable than the phone. Another scenario is when you have your hands full (of groceries for example) and being able to unlock your door with your elbow.

Wintertime can pose a problem with gloves. Capacitive gloves seem to work ok so those of you with gloves that are Smartphone compatible need not worry. But for those of us that use regular gloves, you can exhale onto the lock while simultaneously tapping it. For whatever reason, this worked for me. Another option which I have used is my nose. Hahahaha. Yes, my nose. But the risk of getting it stuck to the lock when the temp is well below freezing made me discover the exhaling method. But either way worked for me.

The most recent app update has also added one of the best features of the Kevo. UNLIMITED eKEYS!!! Originally shipped with only 2 eKeys and the option to purchase more for $2, the high cost of the Kevo made the purchase of virtual keys feel like a rip-off. Thankfully Kwikset changed this. There are 4 different types of eKeys, Owner, Admin, Anytime and Scheduled. The Owner key goes to the first person who registers the Kevo with their account. I think there can only be one Owner key. Then next option is the Admin key. These function just like the Owner keys and can give out eKeys to anyone as well. The third type is the Anytime key and this allows full access to the lock but doesn't allow the user to give out keys. The last type, the Scheduled key is great to give friends, relatives, guests, service providers, etc. It can be made to never expire but access is restricted to certain times only, or access anytime but has an expiration date, or limited access for both time and date. Very handy for rental places as well. No need to re-key. Which is another feature too but not as ground-breaking. The Kevo features Kwikset's SmartKey tech which allows end users to rekey their locks without a locksmith.

For you Nest users out there, Nest hasn't really been accurate doing the whole Auto-Away thing lately. Kevo works with Nest. Link your account and once you lock your door, a notification will pop-up asking if you;d like to set your Nest to Away mode. Not perfect but handy. The Kevo also works with the Ring doorbell if you purchase the Kevo Plus hub.

Android Wear users are in for a nice bonus as well, you can pair your watch with your Kevo app. Your watch is specifically paired to your phone, NOT the Kevo lock itself. How this works is that the Bluetooth authentication is duplicated on your watch, and has an expiry date if your phone loses contact with your watch for a couple of days. This is automatically renewed for as long as your watch connects to your phone frequently. It works as a precaution in case you lose your watch, in that the eKey stored in it automatically expires. Came in handy a few times when I had to run in the house to grab something and forgot my phone in the car.

The cons? It is expensive. Considering a Grade 1 traditional deadbolt can be had for $40 or so, $200+ for a deadbolt may not be the first on your smarthome shopping list. It's only a Grade 2 lock. Not too bad, but for that price would've been nice to have a Grade 1 rating. The remote unlocking is not possible without the additional purchase of the Kevo Plus hub which is another $100. Boo! Considering that the hub only works with the Kevo and can only do ONE thing, I think $100 is too much. It should've been part of the Kevo 2nd gen package or at most $40. I'm hoping the 2nd gen Wink hub will work with Kevo but that might not be the case if Kwikset is pushing for the $100 single-purpose hub. It can be temperamental. It's benefits far outweigh the glitches, but there are times when it takes a while to detect your phone. Holding your phone CLOSER will NOT work. The proximity sensor of the Kevo uses signal 'weakness' to detect whether the phone is outside or inside. Holding your phone closer will fool the lock into thinking the phone is inside and not allow entry. This happens maybe once every 2 weeks or so, and highly dependent on what I'm wearing. Winter coats will interfere with the signal enough that you may have to try a few times to unlock your door.

But despite all the shortcomings of this relatively new product, the Kevo is pretty handy. I've gotten confident enough that I no longer brings the physical key anymore. In fact, I haven't used a house key in the last 4 months! Now, if only Kwikset would lower the price of the Kevo Plus... HINT HINT!

Time for a change! (Huawei Watch review)

I've had my Moto 360 for quite a while now, and it was about time to upgrade. I loved the Moto 360 and it's round screen (in spite of the flat tire) so I was looking to upgrade to the newer version.

But being Android Wear based, opened up my options to many more brands and models. And a lot of them have gotten really good. I was never a fan of the rounded rectangular watches. I loved the square Sony Smartwatch but no one ever seemed to follow that monolithic design ethos. So back to the traditional watch look.

Not having the patience to wait for Google to release a watch (look how long it took them to release the Pixel) I decided to go for the Huawei Watch.

And am I happy that I did. The one thing that the Moto 360 really let me (and other users down with) was the dismal battery life. 20 hours was generous, 12 was more likely, 8 was realistic. It would last my work day, then I'd have to leave it to charge after that.

The Huawei Watch is probably one of the most non-tech looking smart watches out there. And that's why I love it. Very few people have noticed that I actually wear a smartwatch until they see a notification come in and only then do they realize it's a screen and not an analog watch. Good job Huawei!

For a piece of tech, they did go the extra mile to make it feel very premium. From the box to the finish, it will pass for an equivalently priced analog watch.

The screen is OLED and looks great. One of the main advantages of OLED on a smartwatch is that anything black on screen is not using up battery power. The disadvantage is that OLED screens do suffer from burn-in (as evident in a lot of display models) so Huawei does have a trick for this watch. In standby mode the watchface shifts a few pixels in random directions every few minutes. Not noticeable unless you're looking for it. Kind of like the screensavers of the old days.

The great thing about the Huawei... battery life. I can go almost a full 48 hours (ok maybe about 36) without charging. Which brings me to the neat but odd magnetic charger. It's not as nice as the Moto's induction charger, but it is magnetic. But it doesn't quite snap into place as well as it should. The magnet is strong but doesn't always line up automatically. Sometimes (not all the time) you'll have to wiggle the watch around a bit to get the contacts to line up properly. Another trick is to let the watch hover over the charger and let the charger snap up into the watch. This is a surer way to get the contacts to line up better. I wish they didn't have the charging cable permanently connected to the charger, so it would be easier to bring around. I decided to buy a second travel charger for ease of use.

The speakerphone is a neat Dick Tracy/Knight Rider function and works decently in moderately quiet environments BUT it will disable your car speakerphone since the watch speakerphone takes priority over the car speakerphone. So you may not want to leave that function enabled until Google allows this to be customized. Some have found apps that work well, I have not. So I don't use the speakerphone function regularly, but it is convenient and does work well.

Because of the speakerphone, this also lets the Huawei have customizable ringtones. There are a few default ones and with a couple of apps (no root needed) you can upload your own short sound files to your watch as well.

Another nice things about the Huawei watch is that it accepts standard watch straps. Make sure you get the newer ones with quick release pins as this makes it far more convenient to change the look of the watch to match your mood.

One thing I do miss from the Moto 360 is also the one thing that made people hate its screen. The ambient light sensor housed in the flat tire section of the screen. This isn't a deal breaker at all for the Huawei Watch but it would've been a nice feature to have.

All in all, I'm loving this watch more and more. And with Android Wear 2.0 coming up, it's just going to get better!

And There Was Light (Smart Lighting Review)

Automated lights have been around for a while. Smart lighting all started with simple timers, motion sensors, The Clapper®, and remote controlled plugs. But in recent years, the options and price have become more attractive to more people.

In this entry, I'll be comparing the two more popular brands for today's version of smart lighting. Germany's Osram (Sylvania in the US) Lightify (Now sold under Osram's Ledvance brand) and the Netherlands' Philips Hue.

Philips Hue was probably the first mainstream app-controlled lighting system on the market. Others had earlier attempts but none became as widespread as Hue. For good reason. The marketing and partnerships that Philips had for Hue was great. Not to mention the semi-open. Although the lights still require a Philips bridge but the bridge can link to many more apps and is IFTTT compatible. But Hue products were still quite expensive and there were not many alternatives that could compete with their features and product support.

Enter Osram. Osram has been in the lighting business for almost a century. So they are almost as experienced as Philips (founded 1891) when it comes to lighting. I still have Osram CFL bulbs from the early 90's that still work today which is a far cry from a lot of the newer non-LED offerings that barely last 3 years. Osram recently entered the smart-lighting scene with their Lightify line of products. In the US, they sell under the Osram-Sylvania brand. Now under the new Ledvance brand, they are giving Hue some very good competition.

Without going into a 3rd party controller like Wink or SmartThings, I will give a run down on the pros and cons of each system, which is better, and why you should start getting smart lighting systems.

First up, Philips Hue. Very mature app. Recently updated, the Hue app is polished and offers cute moods that can use colors from a users favorite photo. Did you like a particular beach photo that you took from a vacation? Upload it to the app and it will use the specific colors and hues from that photo to create a unique lighting scene that only you have. Setup is quite simple, just follow the instructions on the app and press the pair button on the hub to pair each Hue product you have. You group lights into rooms and set routines and you're all done. Lighting can be changed through the app (or widgets if you're on Android) and offer extremely smooth transitions from one color to the next. For shifting mood lighting, you can't get much better than Philips Hue. Lightify can only fade on/off when manually turning on lights from the app.

Hue offers basic bulb and LED strip replacements, and some unique lighting products like table orbs, and side table lighting lamps. The stylings are on the modern side so it may or may not go with your decor. If it doesn't you're pretty much limited to a regular E26/27 bulb choice or the LED strips. Going for about $35/bulb they are pricey. But if you don't need mood shifting colored lights, then they also have basic white bulbs for about $15.

Now for the new kid in town, Osram's Lightify. Slightly cheaper than Hue, Lightify is a very solid alternative to Hue. App is a bit more utilitarian but offers some things that the Hue app doesn't. Setup for Lightify was initially a pain. You have to scan the hub barcode on the app before it even allows you to sign up for an account. This doesn't sound like too much effort, until the app accesses the camera and has a tendency to distort the image. I had to rotate the hub in all directions before the QR Code scanner recognized the code. On occasion, if you lose internet connection and attempt to open the app it will reset and ask you to scan the QR code in again, which is a pain since it's at the bottom of the hub which is plugged into the wall. You'll have to unplug the hub to scan the code in. I took a picture of my hub and just save the image for future use. But... for all that, I actually expanded my Lightify system more than my Hue system. Why? Options.

Lightify offers way more bulb options than Hue does. Yes, Hue has cute lamps and all, but Lightify has more standard bulb replacements. Regular A types, PAR lights, garden spots, LED strips (in 2 foot increments so you don't waste anything by cutting the strip) and for 220V countries, even GU10 bulbs. Recently, Lightify even launched smart plugs, 2 and 4 button switches (they don't look as good as the Hue switch but they offer more control and programmability)

How does Lightify perform... almost as good as Hue. This is where the two differ slightly and may steer you to one product or the other. I initially thought that by the end of my review, I'd have a clear winner and I'd recommend one or the other. But without using a 3rd party hub, these two have distinct differences that may appeal to some but not others. I personally use both but for different tasks.

The main differences between Lightify and Hue are how the apps controls each system. Other than the basic off/on control, they both have automated features.

Hue's routines trigger particular scenes that you choose or program in. To customize a scene, you set each individual light or room to the setting you want. Then you save the scene (this can be an individual light, room, or whole house) essentially taking snapshot of how you want the lights to be for that scene. The routines trigger the scene at your specified time and day. This means that the lights stay on. To turn them off at a specific time, you must create a scene where all or some lights are off, then save that scene, then trigger it at a specified time as well.

Lightify schedules are different in that they function like scheduled timers. You set which lights/rooms/scenes you want to turn on at a specific time/day AND when they turn off. No need to create a new 'off' scene. The app also has a Vacation mode and TV simulation mode. The Vacation mode alters scheduled timings slightly to mimic an occupied house. For example, if you set your room light to turn on between 7pm and turn off at 11pm (for bedtime) while you're on vacation,  Lightify will turn on at 7:10pm one day, or 7:05 the next. It may turn it off at 8:00pm then back on at 8:30pm. There will be slight variances so that the light won't behave mechanically. I think that's a great feature that Hue doesn't have out of the box.

Why would the scheduling matter? It all depends on how you prefer to interact with your lights. Switching moods is much easier (and a lot prettier) on Hue. Lets say you want full brightness in the dining room for dinner, then later on, slowly fade to a dim after-dinner setting. Hue does this so much better. Since each routine is triggered separately, "Dinner lighting" at 7pm then "Mood lighting" at 8:30pm will trigger a very smooth fade from full brightness to dim at the specified time. Fading can be done instantly or over several minutes. Lightify on the other hand, can't do this. It will go from one scene to the next instantly. Depending on how drastic the scene change is, it can be jarring. Not to mention, scenes have to have on-off times so scenes have to have start-end times that are the same, or you'll end up in darkness. IFTTT is another thing all together, currently only Hue has an IFTTT channel. So if you're an IFTTT fan, Lightify is out.

Another difference is grouping. Lightify allows cross grouping. One bulb can be assigned to several groups if you choose to include it in different groups. Like a hallway light can be grouped with both the kitchen and living room so that when you turn off all kitchen lights, and turn on all living room lights, the hallway lights will still stay on if you want. Hue won't allow this and can be annoying if you want more meticulous control over groups of lights that cross over 2 different rooms. You can work around this with Hue's scenes but it's not as intuitive or as simple as Lightify's groups.

Finally, the fading of Philips is much better than Lightify. Earlier, I mentioned that Hue can transition from dark to light, scene to scene and color to color quite smoothly. Lightify can't. It will switch from scene to scene instantly. Even with Lightify's fade in/out (which only works when you manually switch the lights on/off) there's a point when dimming to off, it reaches about 10% brightness then it will just suddenly switch off. Same goes for turning it on, it will instantly go to 10% brightness, then fade to full. Almost all LED bulbs suffer from this (curse of their ultra efficiency) but Philips' fading is still a lot smoother. It won't allow dimming control below 10% but when switching the light off, it will gradually dim to off.

Both Lightify and Hue use the Zigbee protocol. Although they only work with their own respective hub as of their latest firmware update (You used to be able to control Lightify bulbs with the Hue bridge but no more) but the Zigbee alliance is releasing versin 3.0 which is supposed to unify all member products. This is a good thing since it may mean that you get the best of both worlds. The scheduling of Lightify and the smooth fade transitions of Hue. Can they co-exist? Yes they can. It's not a big deal to have both hubs and both apps. On Android, both offer widgets so creating a new screen on your phone with both widgets on it isn't inconvenient. And if opening 2 apps is really a big inconvenience, the option of getting a 3rd party hub like Wink will consolidate your smart home appliances into one app. One caveat though is that product specific functions still have to be controlled by the respective brands' hubs and apps prior to 3rd party control.

So which one would I recommend? It depends. For mood/colored lighting, I have to say Philips Hue. But for over-all home lighting without the fancy disco lighting effects, Lightify is my preferred option. Osram has to tweak their app to offer smoother scene transitions to really come out the clear winner. Philips has to come up with more standardized bulb replacements, not just funky lamps, and better grouping options.

*Update Jan 30, 2017* Osram (LEDvance) Lightify no longer works with Amazon's Echo (Alexa). The skill got crippled and has since been removed from Alexa's skill set. Osram is currently working on the issue but no word on when it will be restored. Boo!

**Update Jan 31, 2017** Amazon Alexa skill is back! Whether this is a stable fix or not, is yet to be seen. Will update in a week to report on stability. But as of now, everything works again!

Feathering The Nest. (A Nest 2nd Gen Review)

Ok, this is more about the Nest in general than the unit itself. Replacing an old, and poorly installed, Honeywell thermostat, I decided on the 2nd generation Nest unit over the current 3rd gen one. Why? Cost and features. Our furnace isn't the latest and greatest unit, and wouldn't really warrant any additional benefits from the 3rd gen Nest. Using a Nest display as a wall clock is also not appealing. The extra $50 didn't seem worth it for no real added benefit. (That $50 could go into a Nest Protect or Nest Cam)

For those still worried about compatibility and installation, you can take a photo of the current wiring of your thermostat, email it to Nest for evaluation before purchasing.

After ComEd's electricity rebate of $100, and Northshore Gas' $20 rebate... the $200 2nd Gen Nest totals only $80. So it was an easy choice.

Installation is extremely easy. As long as your current thermostat is wired properly, it takes about 15-20 min. with the only tool needed being the included screwdriver. Although a powered screwdriver will make things go faster.

So how is it living with the Nest? Quite good. One tip, is to create a new Gmail (or agree on a common Gmail) for your Nest account. This way, every household member that you'd like to have control can install and monitor the Nest from their phone. This also makes the Auto Away (the feature that tells the Nest that you're not home) work much more reliably since it's tied into your Google+ location as well.

For the first 3 weeks, the Nest was playing around with the furnace. By this, I mean that it would turn it on as needed but shut down after a few minutes. Then start up again. This made me initially think that the furnace or Nest was broken. But as the days went by, it learned how our furnace worked and how long it took to heat the house, and when to start heating up.

Granted it has been a mild winter this year, there have only been a couple of times when I've had to adjust the heat up and only for a few minutes.

The Auto Away feature is quite useful. You never have to worry about leaving your heat on, and even if you do, a quick check on the app allows you to switch off your heat in case it hadn't detected you weren't home. It gets it right about 85% of the time so far.

Savings? YMMV. If you keep your heat at 85ºF (30ºC) in the winter all the time, then you probably won't notice much savings. So far, we've been quite happy with a 68ºF (20ºC) setting for early am and early pm settings and 65ºF(18ºC) for most of the day. The weekly report shows our furnace on for about 2-3 hours a day total. Probably savings of a few minutes every day. It may not seem like much but the remote feature and learning function are worth it.

All in all, it's worth it. If $250 is too much for the current model, get the 2nd gen model. The smaller screen isn't that inconvenient and is $50 cheaper. Rebates bring the total cost of ownership under $100. It looks good, works well, and is the easiest connected thermostat to learn.

Time on Hand with The Moto 360

There have already been several 'first look' reviews on the Moto 360. I've had mine for several months now and have gone through several apps and updates. I think it's time for me to give a very in-depth real-world review on owning the Moto 360.

I had gotten my Moto 360 as a surprise advanced Christmas present from my wife last October. (I had been checking out the other Android Wear watches at the time and still preferred the 360 because of its design) Although this isn't my first SmartWatch, it is my favorite. I've had both Sony's SmartWatches in the past and both were excellent for my purposes. I had gotten rid of the first one, I still have the SW2. How different is the Moto 360? Quite a jump as it is running Android Wear, vs Sony's own OS.

If you're one of those that expect to cram your entire phablet's functions on your wrist, you have missed the whole point of smartwear. Skip ALL these products and just get an armband case for your phone.

My favorite part about the Moto 360 is the over-all sleekness of the watch. It's simple, clean, and classic. No fake diver bezel, no 'luxury' aspirations (let's be honest, no smartwatch at the moment will EVER replace a Rolex). It's a great watch that I can wear with almost anything (as long as you change the strap) without it looking out of place.

Battery life with the latest firmware (5.0.1) is 'ok'. It improved over the original one, but only by a few hours. However, this is also due to the increased usage. I have gotten as much as 2 days with minimal use. Prior to the update, my watch barely lasted 24 hours. But playing with your watch a lot will kill your battery in about 12 hours, regardless of firmware version. Hehehe.

There are a few things I would like to emphasize to potential smartwatch buyers. This will NOT replace your phone, nor will it duplicate all its functions. Try and minimize the use of any smartwatch to urgent notifications only. Not because it can't handle it, but this defeats its purpose completely if you're glancing at your watch every 5 mins.

I've had 3 generations of smartwatches, and 4 months with the Moto 360, and I fully appreciate how a smartwatch can augment (not replace) your phone.

The following features are common to Android Wear and can be downloaded to any Android Wear watch. These are not exclusive to the Moto 360, but these reflect how I use my Moto 360 on a daily basis.

First: Calls/SMS. This is probably the most important thing your watch can do. Notify you of a call, and the ability to reject it. This allows very discreet call screening without looking like a hunchback fiddling with your phone at all times. This holds true for SMS as well, some messages aren't worth replying to, and some aren't worth whipping out your phone for. I'll get to my favorite SMS app for Android Wear in a future article.

Second: Email. Aside from Gmails filters, my phone also has notification filters that read out incoming email so I'll know if its important enough to open right away. My Moto 360 even filters that out further by allowing me to delete email as they come in.

Third: Reminders. Some things aren't 'calendar' important. Android Wear syncs with Google Keep for little reminders. Very handy for grocery lists, weekly reminders, or location reminders (location reminders on Google Keep are already quite useful, made even better on Android Wear)

Fourth: Health tracking. Great side benefit. Works even when not connected to the phone, then syncs when in range. Takes heart rate samples throughout the day and charts your overall health profile. Google Fit works quite well, and even tracks your steps without the watch (it functions on both phone and watch together or independently)

Fifth: Device locating. Although not an über-fancy feature, it is probably one of the more practical functions of having a smartwatch. Being able to buzz your phone without having to have someone call it, or have your watch buzz you if you forget your phone, is one of the handiest apps you can have on your smartwatch.

All in all, the Moto 360 is a great smartwatch. Google Now's voice functions work really well with it, and makes setting timers, simple searching, and texting quite convenient. I do, however, have a several 'wishlist' items:

One, glove mode. So far, no smartwatch has the capability to function with winter gloves on. Sony's current Xperia line has a glove-mode that allows use of the phone without having to remove gloves, or buy 'touch capable' gloves.

Two, much better battery life. I don't mean 2-3 days, I mean 1 solid week. 2-3 days can probably be done with current tech and updated firmware, but 1 week would mean different screen (transreflective or more efficient LED backlighting) or better battery tech. Hoping that this will be possible within the next 2 generations. Another alternative is a solar panel built into the touchscreen, or a mechanical generator similar to Seiko's Kinetic.

Three, better environmental protection. IP67/68 ratings may be good enough for smartphones, but wristwatches are exposed to greater environmental conditions. The Moto 360 is IP67 rated, but it can only handle temperatures down to -10ºC/14ºF and no shock/mechanical IP rating. Considering that smartwatches are not 'formalwear', they should have basic 1m drop protection and operating temperature down to -20ºC/-4ºF. I've had to leave mine at home several times this past winter because I didn't want to risk damaging the screen in the cold.

Four, a speaker or some kind of audio feedback. Even a beep or chirp capability would be quite helpful if a full range speaker wouldn't be possible without taxing the battery or increasing the size of the watch. I don't really want to be able to take calls on my wrist, but alarms and notifications would be nice to hear.

I'm really happy with the Moto 360. Although Android Wear (and wearable tech in general) is still in its infancy, I feel it's steadily improving over time. Motorola has been quite good at maintaining the firmware and the abundance of great apps has made the 360 exceed my initial expectations for a current generation Smartwatch.

Big things come in small...er... Compact packages. A Sony Xperia Z1 Compact Review

I'm not a fan of the current trend of ever-growing smartphone screen sizes, aka "Phablets". Mainly because I feel they are a compromise from both sides. They are neither small enough to be convenient to carry around, nor are their screens large enough to enjoy surfing or media properly. I don't think manufacturers should stop making phones bigger, I just wish they'd offer smaller options that aren't based on ancient technology. Thankfully, Sony did just that with the Xperia Z1 Compact.

At 4.3", the Z1 Compact is not small. Unlike the older Xperia Mini or Mini Pro, the Z1 Compact is just that, a compact version of it's larger 5" sibling, the Z1. Both sport a 2.2GHz Quad-core CPU, 20 Megapixel Sony Exmor RS camera, 2GB RAM, 16GB on-board memory, LTE, and IP rating. The only difference being screen size. The Z1 has a Full HD (1920 x 1080) screen, while the Z1 Compact has an HD (1280 x 720) screen. In actual use, the slightly lower pixel density of the Z1 Compact is not noticeable and offers very good color rendition and media performance. For those that may be wondering, the back of the Compact is plastic. The Japanese version however, is glass. I'm not fond of cases at all. So to protect my phone, I immediately got matte protectors for the front and back. The matte screen protector does degrade screen quality slightly, but it also keep it fingerprint free, and reduces glare. The benefits, for me, outweighed the slight color degradation.

Performance of the Z1 Compact is quite exceptional. I've been told that it's even better than the Z1 due to the fact that both the CPU and GPU have fewer pixels to power. As nice as the stock Sony Home app is, I find the common Android layout quite cluttered, hence I use Smart Launcher 2 which allows me to clean up my home screen and significantly boost performance. This launcher has worked on my old X10 Mini Pro til my current Z1 Compact and makes it so much easier to navigate with one hand. On the Compact, it uses such little resources, the phone really blazes through everything even faster than stock.

Battery life on the Compact is great. Coming from the much older Xperia P, which gave me about 7-10 hours of use, the Compact gives me well over 24 hours under similar settings. I used to always have to charge my phone at least 2x a day with my normal use, the Compact leaves me with about 25% charge by the time I'm about to sleep. This is using Sony's Stamina Mode which I leave on all the time. Without it, my Xperia P would last about 5-6 hours, and the Compact would last about 18-20 hours. Disabling data (or switching to 2G only) increases standby time significantly on both my phones. So glad I no longer have to lug around my charger or a power bank!

Audio performance is great too. My preferred audio app is Power Amp primarily because it can crossfade tracks. But other than that, the built-in Walkman app is great. Very sleek and refined. The Clear Audio feature in the Settings really makes a difference in audio quality/clarity when using Bluetooth headsets. But if you're plugged in via the headphone jack into a stereo system, you may want to disable this for a purer sound experience. The speaker is located at the bottom of the phone. Which I think is brilliant. Although the grille makes it look like the speaker occupies the whole bottom of the phone, the actual speaker is only about a third of the grille on the left side. Why I prefer this position is because it allows you to place your phone in your pocket with the speaker facing up and keeps it unobstructed for calls and notifications. You will appreciate this when you keep your phone in your back pocket since it rings pretty loud in a crowded street or mall. I wouldn't really rate any built-in speaker for proper media playback but it has decent volume specially when xLoud and Clear Phase are used. Other than that, I always use external speakers or a headset.

The camera is fantastic. Low light performance is excellent and Superior Auto is getting better. It may be a 20 megapixel camera but this is only available in Manual mode with HDR disabled. HDR, Superior Auto, and the other features drop resolution down to 8MP which is more than decent but kinda disappointing. 3rd party plug-ins like 360 Panorama and the Augmented Reality apps (quite fun) are accessible directly from the camera app or as individual apps on your home screen. Quick-lauch (holding the camera button down to launch the camera) will only launch in Superior Auto mode.

So far so good. Although I wish they had made the Xperia Z1 Compact a bit narrower, I think this is an excellent choice for those that don't want to sacrifice performance for the sake of a more pocketable Android device.

Sony Smartwatch2 SW2 Update!

Sony's Smartwatch2 has just gotten a very good update! The new firmware tweaks existing apps, and offers a new watch face editor that allows drag and drop elements to layout your own display. Several different clocks, weather, date & notification widgets are available for you to position anywhere on the display.

A convenient "Tap twice to wake" feature is added, and responds to shaking your wrist as well. This basically turns on the backlight so you can see the time in low light conditions. It does NOT unlock the watch to enter the menu. You will still need to press the power button to access the apps.

A new calculator (VERY handy) is also present, and has a little Easter Egg hidden in it. On Sony's marketing material, the time displayed is 10:35. Enter 1035 on the calculator and press "=" and a little Snake game will now appear in the watch. :)

Head on over to Google Play and update your SmartWatch 2 app on your phone!

A Cradle Song...er... Review. The Sony Xperia Tablet Z Cradle Review

I'm a fan of official stands and cradles. I wish more manufacturers would at least offer them as official accessories.

Since I purchased my Xperia Tablet Z, I wanted a nice way to display it at home instead of just laying on a table with the charging cable dangling out. So I waited (and waited) for Sony PH to release it. But being as late as they are, I decided to get it from Amazon.com (although there are several gray market vendors that carry it now for about the same price)

Initial impression are good. I like the fact that the stand is fully adjustable, and not just a few select angles. Charging is much quicker and less prone to damaging the USB charging cover on the tablet itself. Although the charging port on the cradle is at an odd angle and location, I was expecting it to be facing the rear, instead it's hidden behind the stand and facing off to one side. Odd, but no big deal.

Guide rails are smooth and makes inserting the tablet into place very quick and easy. No issues or problems sliding it in. It also triggers a SmartConnect action as it is recognized as a Sony Smart Accessory so you can have it trigger an action upon docking. The default action is to launch the DayDream app which is like a screensaver.

Two shortcomings though, one is that there is NO CHARGER INCLUDED with the dock, as you are supposed to use your existing charger. Not that big a deal considering it isn't expensive, but it would've been nice to at least have a long micro USB cable included. Two, there is no audio/HDMI out. This would've added significant cost to the dock, but it would be a nice option. I hate having other cables connected and was hoping I could plug everything to the dock instead. I know there are Bluetooth and Miracast options but I do prefer hardwired connections when possible.

If you like displaying your tablet at home or at work, this is a very nice accessory. Charging speed is quite improved (even using your existing charger) and offers nice viewing angles for both typing text and watching videos.

Tablet War Z (Sony Xperia Tablet Z - First Impressions)

Sony seems to be on a roll the past year. With the release of their "Z" line it includes the following smartphones:

Z

ZL

ZR

ZU (Z Ultra - recently announced)

Their current flagship in their tablet line, the Xperia Tablet Z. An impressive piece of design. Now the specs are equally impressive, but the first thing that grabs you is the jet-black glossy screen. Something about it just draws you in. Reminiscent of Sony's Bravia TV line, it commands attention.

The next thing you notice is how thin the thing is. Now most of you, have read the past reviews as this tablet has been out in other countries for several weeks now. But it's something else when you actually hold it. It's THIN. Just as a point of reference, the current iPad is 9.4mm thick. The Xperia Tablet Z is 6.9mm thin. "It's about 27% thinner!" To paraphrase a certain Apple Design Chief w/ a British accent.

Not only has Sony managed to slice this tablet thinner than the rest, it gave it a very under appreciated feature. An IP water/dustproof rating! Which basically means you can get this thing wet and it won't complain. Up to 1m under fresh water for 30 min. Take note, that's FRESH water. Beach goers, the salt water won't damage the internal circuitry, but it will corrode the external contacts and may scratch the screen. If you happen to accidentally get your tablet wet with sea water, wash it down with fresh water ASAP.

***MAKE SURE ALL EXTERNAL COVERS ARE CLOSED PROPERLY***

I think the cover flaps are the most annoying part, but necessary to maintain the waterproof nature and have expansion slots (SIM, micro SD). But was a SIM tray really unnecessary?!?! WTF?!?!

This is one beautifully designed machine. What I like about both Apple and Sony is that they both pay attention to the overall design of their devices. Without looking like each other! Both the iPad and Tablet Z have a very Zen look, but are quite distinct from each other. I'd never mistake a Tablet Z for an iPad. (And vice versa)

In case you didn't notice from the photos, my UI doesn't look like Sony's UI. It's not. Although Sony does the least objectionable modifications to Android (Other manufacturers are just ruining Android with their horribly coded skins) it still causes slight lagging. I've been on Apex since my X10 Mini Pro days and have found it to be a very good launcher. Now, don't get me wrong, Sony's Home Launcher isn't bad. And it actually has a few advantages. The Walkman and Weather widgets of Sony don't work on anything else. So if you like those widgets, you may want to stick with Sony's UI instead. But I prefer designing my own UI layout, so I opt to use a 3rd party Home screen.

LTE will be dependent on your provider, but so far, it's pretty good. That will be for another review when I compare the local providers.

The screen is very nice. Viewing photos and videos is very pleasant. Contrast is very good and viewing angles are decent. Sound is moderately loud, has a gimmicky "Surround" mode which makes music and movie effects sound like their coming from outside the tablet (neat but weakens the audio, nice in a quiet room). Camera is quite good. Nothing extraordinary about it over other Sony Xperia Exmor cameras though. Video playback is nice and clear. The Full HD screen does make 1080p videos look amazing. The Mobile Bravia Engine 2 gives it a slight edge. (Nothing drastic, but enough to make videos look just a little bit better)

So, what are my initial impressions? This is one excellent tablet. It has the right balance of power and design. Quite in line with Sony's "OmniBalance" design ethos. This is a very good come back product for Sony. And worthy of the "Z" flagship designation. That's it for my initial review. I'll be going in depth with this tablet in the days to come. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more technology tips and news!

Flickr Gives Everyone 1TB for FREE!

Finally, a reason to keep your Yahoo! account alive!

Flickr is giving everyone 1TB of online photo space!

Head on over to www.flickr.com and sign up,

or sign in with your Yahoo account

(I can't believe mine is still active)

Sony SmartWatch Update

Sony's SmartWatch just got an update! The latest update cleans up the UI and adds new clocks to choose from!

I think this is long overdue. I use my SmartWatch quite often, and I prefer the look of an analog watch. The old clock stayed on, and drained the watch battery in less than a day. The battery-efficient digital watch would extend the battery life to 3-4 days, but I wasn't fond of the style.

The new clocks offer a good compromise, and my current setting is the Motion clock which turns the watch on when you flip it towards you, and shuts it off just a few seconds after.

Update it through Sony's SmartWatch app on your Android phone.

App Of The Day - Glympse

"WRU?"

"How do I get there?"

"Am I going the right way?"

"Where are we all meeting?"

Sound familiar? Usual messages we send or receive when meeting up with colleagues, friends, or family (or clingy girlfriends/spouses? hahahaha). But sometimes, it's not very safe or convenient to text or message a location. And some tracking services aren't very good, don't offer a lot of privacy, and worst of all require the creation of an account and everyone you want to give your location to, to sign up as well. So why bother with GPS tracking apps?

Well, there are some very valid reasons to allow certain people to track you. Safety, navigation, travel logs just to name a few. But you don't want to leave this open to the public, nor do you want certain people to track you anytime THEY want. Give them a glimpse of where you are, using Glympse!

This is an app designed to give your GPS location and movement to a specific person (or persons) for a specific amount of time.

In use, it's quite practical for out of town trips, and safety.

I'm part of a car club, and we frequently go on out of town trips. Meet up points are useful but sometimes, others may be late or just choose to follow. What happens if someone doesn't know the way? Sending a Glympse to that person allows the app to create a route to your location. No need to input a destination, just click on the link and a route to that person is calculated automatically.

Alternately, it will allow that person to send you their location, so you can track their movements and verify that they are going in the right direction or are on the right track. "Am I going the right way? Or did I already pass it?"

It's also quite useful for travel safety. Specially in unfamiliar areas, you may want to send a Glympse to a friend or relative so they will know exactly where you are should you need help or if it's critical for people to find you. Like if you're on a long road trip, and your car breaks down or need to be fetched, having sent a link to someone before you head out will make it easier for help to find you.

It's quite an efficient app as well, people you send your location to do not need to have the app, just an email address and web browser. If they have the app, it just allows more options, but isn't critical to receive your location. It doesn't drain your battery much, nor does it chew up that much data so don't worry so much about long trips.

Give it a try! Available for Android, iOS, WP7 or BB!

**Disclaimer, this blog does not take ANY responsibility for the impact this app will have on your relationships! Hahahaha! Use at your own risk!**

Keep the Gloves On!

Sony Xperia Sola users will get a cool new "Glove Mode" with their upcoming ICS update! Considering I tested out the REALLY EXPENSIVE Ralph Lauren Touch gloves which sucked... this is gonna be a welcome feature this coming winter!

Guard The Cloud! (Dropbox 2-Step Verification)

About a month ago, Dropbox, one of the larger cloud storage companies, confirmed that it was indeed hacked. They've now deployed a 2-Step Verification process before allowing any new devices or sessions to access your account. I highly recommend you activate it ASAP if you use their service!

Simply log into your Dropbox web account online

Go to Settings by clicking on your Account name on the upper right hand side of the website

Click on the Security tab

Then scroll down and enable the Two-Step Verification.

Follow the instructions.

Make sure you have your mobile phone handy since Dropbox will send you a verification code. Or if you have an Android or iOS device, you may use an authenticator app and scan the QR Code instead.

This may be a bit of an inconvenience, but it's much better than having your data compromised.

Rainy Monday App of the Day: iTyphoon

Due to the recent storm flooding in the Philippines, I'm posting a very helpful app that allows you to track incoming LPA (low pressure areas) and storms.

iTyphoon has a great interface showing both the weather report as well as a tracking map with the current and predicted path of the storm. iTyphoon is available for free on both Android and iOS. Head on over to Google Play for the Android version, and the App Store for the iOS version!

Typhoon2000.ph on the other hand, is a private website that consolidates links and reports from various weather sites and sources in one place. For more detailed reports, and satellite images, this is the place to visit.

PARTY(cle) TIME! (Higgs Boson News)

The scientific community is all excited about the most recent development in the search for the Higgs boson particle.

To celebrate this historic moment, I've collected a few links and videos related to the Higgs-boson particle.

Wikipedia on Higgs boson

Wikipedia on Peter Higgs

BBC News on the Higgs-boson-like particle discovery at LHC

Scientific American on Higgs boson and String Theory

Meanwhile, composer Domenico Vicinanza has written musical scores based on the data graph from CERN to come up with a musical piece on what quarks may sound like.

But not everyone is over-joyed.

Professor Stephen Hawking apparently lost a $100 bet on the discovery of the HBP. Tsk tsk tsk...

And of course, a final word on the Higgs boson from my favorite theoretical physicist, Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

Watch Out! (A Sony SmartWatch Review)

When you just absolutely need to have your Facebook & Twitter feed ASAP and taking out your phone from your pocket wastes too much time... This is the SmartWatch by Sony (Ericsson). SonyEricsson had 3 versions before this one. The first 2 versions were regular analog watches with small displays at the bottom that indicated incoming calls or texts. The 3rd generation, LiveView, had a color display and touch sensitive buttons (not a touchscreen).

The new incarnation is a bit more mature, and packs more features in a tiny display. In it's basic watch mode, it offers 3 time-keeping modes, Default Digital, Always-on Digital, and Always-on Analog. My preferred mode is the analog. I just feel it looks sleeker than the digital counterparts, but that's just me. Although the default version saves a lot of battery life, I'm not too fond of the look. You may download alternate clocks, but none of them replace the built-in ones, so they actually are apps that run parallel to the default clock. Until Sony allows addition clock replacements, I'll stick with their built-in ones for now. Battery life in this mode is approx 1.5 days.

Now onto the apps. Out of the box, nothing comes preinstalled, you have to first pair your phone with the watch. Quite an easy task. Just enter your Bluetooth settings on your Xperia phone, and search for a new device. Turn on the watch and the pairing automatically begins. To activate the watch however, your phone must be online as it will connect with the Google Play servers to update the watch software and search for compatible apps.

There are currently only a few apps out for the SmartWatch but it seems to be growing quite quickly for such a niche device. The essentials are provided for by Sony, mainly: Gmail, Calls, Calendar, Messages, Facebook, Twitter, & Weather. The other apps available are extensions for Google Maps, Universal IMs, Camera apps, and a few GPS ones.

I ended up installing so many apps, that the watch kept buzzing for every single thing I had on my phone. Trimming down to the most frequently needed alerts improves the effectivity of the SmartWatch all together. I've personally got mine down to just calls, SMS, only calendar events with reminders, and only a few people on Facebook. Everything else isn't as time-critical.

So far, I'm finding this little toy to be more useful than I had thought. I had bought it thinking it would just be a fun gimmick, but I'm actually liking the way it functions!

***March 14, 2013 Firmware update adds new clock faces!***