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HDR10 VS DOLBY VISION: TV buying guide 2017

2016-12-03T15:44:00.000+03:00

1. 4k A MUST!

In 2017 you have to buy a UHD TV no doubt, 1080p is now a thing of the past, move on, it has happened, that TV you bought 2 years ago and didn't think you would have to replace is now obsolete.

2. HDR Capabilities

The next thing you have to consider is HDR. HDR is the new tech term used by TV manufacturers to sell by confusing people. Personally I think its more measurable and practical compared to the 3D TV wave of 2013-2014 and confusing contrast ratio numbers. With HDR, there's actually a difference that can be observed. HDR (High Dynamic Range) on a TV means that you can distinguish better between different lighting and colour representations. Don't go out and buy a new TV just yet! Currently we have two major competing HDR standards, HDR10, supported by many manufacturers and Dolby Vision. There are two main differences between the two. The first is the number of bits used to represent colour i.e color depth. HDR10, as its name suggests uses 10 bits to represent colour. To put things into perspective, the more the bits, the higher the colour resolution. Resolution in this case referring to the level of differentiation among individual colours per pixel. More bits allow you to see the differentiation of colour to a higher scale. For instance, using a single bit to represent black, you get either black or white i.e 2 raised to the power of 1. Representing the same black colour with 10 bits means you can get 2 raised to 10 = 1024 levels of black (More like 1024 shades of Grey). HDR10 can thus represent a single color to 1024 levels per pixel while Dolby Vision can represent the same colour to 4096 levels.
The second major difference is how the different formats handle metadata. Metadata is simply data that describes other data, I know right? So Both HDR 10 and Dolby Vision have meta data but Dolby Vision represents it dynamically (i.e. an analog signal that continually varies frame by frame) while HDR10 represents it statically, i.e. the meta data is defined at the beginning of the frame to the end. This means that Dolby's implementation can better represent change in lighting/colour continuously compared to HDR 10. Well I am no eye doctor or scientist but theoretically, Dolby Visions implementation is better. Practically, I don't think anyone would be able to pick the two apart.
Personally, if I were to buy a TV set, I would lean more towards Dolby's implementation because its superior. However, I see no major problem with HDR10 either. This is because HDR10 is currently supported by all the big TV manufacturers i.e Sony, Samsung and LG. Moreover, I am quite sure that in two years, we will have HDR12, which will then use 12 bits to represent colour in addition to some other improvements.

There are other manufacturers trying to implement two other different HDR standards (sigh). Hopefully, we get a standard that serves the consumer and is able to perform exceptionally well.
The HDR standard is still evolving. Many manufacturers now support HDR 10 (I think simply because to implement Dolby Vision they would have to pay royalties). This means that most of the TVs that you can buy at the moment will most likely have HDR10 and a few will support both. If you can get one that supports both formats, the better for you.

Windows 10 build 10525

2015-08-19T00:32:00.000+03:00

Microsoft has kept its word and released a new preview build for insiders in the fast ring with revision number 10525. If you were not a part of the insider program and would like to join now you can do so. You can install this preview from windows update only if you have a valid license key or an upgrade from a valid windows 7/8/8.1 volume. Moreover, you have to opt into the program by going to “Settings, Update, Advanced Options-Get insider builds.”

The changes

Microsoft is reporting three major changes with the build, the ability to control more color options for the start, action center, task bar and title bars. Yes, you can finally change the color of the title bar phewks. Personally I didn’t like the plain white or grey title bars in windows 10 so that’s a welcome change right there.

The other major change with this build is a new memory management feature that seeks to make windows 10 more snappy. According to Microsoft, when the system is running low on memory, windows 10 will automatically compress unused “pages” instead of writing them to the disk. This is an advantage since fetching compressed data from RAM is way faster than fetching it from the disk even if you are on an SSD drive. This will also allow windows 10 to keep more applications in RAM.

Issues

Well this build is not without its issues, one I really have a problem with, the inability to use mobile hotspot. According to Microsoft, this build will not be able to use mobile hotspot internet because it will not resolve an IP address from your connection. Hopefully you can get around this by tethering with USB, but I am yet to download and test it out.

The second issue, though not major has to do with the Movies and TV app. The statement in part reads “an update to Movies and TV application from the store will be required to fix an issue with video playback.” Yeah, most people should be using VLC by now, if not download it. However, it’s still a nice app to have.

The last issue with the build is that optional language packs will not work. You can read the entire statement from Microsoft by following this link.

Final thoughts

If you ask me, those are pretty small bugs for the fast ring insiders. I will be testing this build today and tomorrow and another blog post will be up to explain any other changes that may be there but announced by Microsoft. I imagine performance should be improved, not that it isn’t with the current build-10240. For those curious, my system configuration is: Lenovo T420 core i5 2410M, 8gb of RAM and 1TB hard disk. Everything runs smoothly except for the occasional audio crackling issue and the receding task bar. The receding task bar fixes itself when the start menu is activated. Does anyone else experience this-the audio issue- or is it just me? Let me know in the comments below.

Safaricom set to launch The Box on the 8th

2015-05-06T02:01:00.001+03:00

Kenya is set to experience yet another first in the continent. Reports have surfaced online suggesting an imminent release from Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecommunications company, of a set top box appropriately named “The box”. The box will be a service from Safaricom offering high-speed internet, TV services and possibly voice services too. It is rumored to cost 4500 Kenyan shillings and may either be a subscription service or a one time purchase or both. The box is already generating a lot of tech buzz in Kenya ahead of its release 2 days from today.

A statement from Safaricom indicates that the main purpose of the box will be to deliver internet services to every home with a television set. Other unsubstantiated reports claim that Safaricom will be in partnership with Radio Africa Group for FTA TV while it concentrates on data services. This is not a surprise move given Safaricom is trying to diverse its revenue sources. Could we be looking at the next MPESA? Only time will tell.

This comes after rumors suggesting Safaricom had applied for a digital broadcasting license and permission to import set top boxes. These proceedings seem to confirm the said rumors. Safaricom has so far been a little secretive about the service, but we expect to hear more during its full year result for 2014/15 announcement. I could find little to no press coverage on the same. So far, this seems to be the only official picture from Safaricom.

We still don’t know much about the capabilities of the set top box but earlier leaks suggest it will be running android and will have WIFI capabilities. The set top box will support 4G-LTE for fast internet. However, we all know 4G is still a new concept in the county. The only places with 4G coverage are countable. Most of us, assuming we buy the set top box, will have to content with 3G speeds, which are not half as bad. With the right people, the right marketing and pricing, this is set to be a great success for Safaricom.

To be successful, Safaricom will have to greatly lower the cost of internet bundles. The current subscription model is unsustainable for video streaming. To put things into perspective, let’s use some math. Assuming HD content, say a 720p video of average size 80MB and 1GB data bundle, streaming this will get you about (1024/80) 12.8 videos. Assuming every video is an average of 3.5 minutes (music videos), you get 44.8 minutes of video watching. Using the same analogy, full HD content with an average size of 120MB will get you about 30 minutes and for 4K content, average size 500MB, you will be lucky to hit 7 minutes.

For a long time Kenyans have been treated to the chorus “internet prices will go be going down soon.” With the laying of the undersea fiber optic cables, I was optimistic, however time has shown that my optimism was misplaced. To reach more people, and to grow in the data sector, Safaricom will have to take some drastic action regarding internet bundle pricing. If Safaricom is serious about offering video on demand to Kenyans with the set top box, we are likely to see reasonable monthly subscriptions for the same.

The major customers for this service, I suppose, will be houses that by now have yet to acquire set top boxes and those that would like to have a stable internet connection in their homes either for work or entertainment purposes. The Kenyan market is slowly catching up with the internet TV trend. Consumers want to control what, how and when they consume TV content. It may just be the right time for introducing the service in the country. Indicators are good with local music videos finally starting to hit the 1million mark.

The driving force behind the purchase of the boxes will be the youth, people who are actively looking for a means to survive during this hard economic times. Most of them fresh graduates actively job hunting with a great need for the internet. If the box will launch with the current data bundle pricing in the country, it will most likely fail or take time to catch on. My suggestion is for Safaricom to offer the service bundled with a fixed monthly charge and a maximum download cap on the monthly data bundle, say 50GB to tame the ever cunning consumer.

Nonetheless, what Safaricom is set to unveil is not a completely new concept in the country. Zuku, a competing internet service provider has a service called Zuku fiber which offers high speed internet, telephony and TV services. All the three services are bundled into packages priced differently based on bandwidth offered and number of paid for TV channels. The major disadvantage with the Zuku service is that it relies on a network of fiber optic cables that the company is still laying down. Most of the country is yet to benefit from the service and this will continue to be the case until enough cable is laid down. On the other hand, Safaricom has a large mobile network coverage that it can leverage to reach many more customers. This gives it a major advantage over any other competing company with similar interests.

The pricing will be a little tricky for Safaricom, but if it’s something similar to what Zuku is offering, I will definitely be among the first customers to line up for “the box”. Conversely, if for some reason the service is priced at an unreasonable price (I consider anything higher than 5000 per month unreasonable) it will be a hard sale for Safaricom.

HDMI Sound Problems

2015-02-10T13:47:00.001+03:00

Problem Overview

You connect your HDMI cable and the sound still plays from your laptop. You try disconnecting and reconnecting but the problem persists

If you are like me and still rely a lot on your HDMI cable for movie watching on your tv, then probably you have run into this issue

If you are used to this set up then for some reason it fails, it becomes really frustrating. Recently, my windows 8 PC started misbehaving for no particular reason. Hours later and frustration mounting by the minute, I decided to look into this problem for everyone out there

Solution Number 1

Head over to the "Control Panel"-"Hardware and Sound", Under Sound, Go to "Manage audio Devices".

You should see the above window with your active audio devices, if your TV brand is listed, highlight it and choose the "Set default" option. Audio should start streaming to your TV

Solution Number 2

If you are like me and the above solution did not work for you, don't worry, I still have the ultimate solution to try. Another common issue is when your TV brand is not even listed in the audio devices page, or for some reason, HDMI audio displays as disconnected. Don't panic, this is a pretty common issue. As I write this, there are many internet forums that are still open and unsolved

Ultimate Solution

This solution applies to you if the above easy fix did not work for you. It should work with all the remaining problems associated with this issue

Steps

Get your processor details/ GPU details
- To do this, simply hit the windows key and type "dxdiag"
- Go to the display tab and note the name of your Intel Video Driver or your Procesor
Go to the Intel web page and search for your display drivers
Download the zipped version of the drivers suitable drivers based on your OS and platform i.e. 32 bit or 64 bit
Extract them to a suitable location on your computer
Right click on your computer (Windows 8-This Pc) icon and choose manage

Go to device manger, then "Sound, Video and Game Controllers "
Click on "Intel Display Audio" then choose update driver software
Scroll over to the folder that you unarchived your drivers and select it

Wait for the installation to complete, restart your machine and try

If for some reason the above doesn't work for you, describe your issue in as much detail as possible (you can include a screenshot) in the comments below. I will do my best to understand and try solve your problem

Why the Lumia 520 is still my primary device, even with a galaxy s4

2014-08-28T23:16:00.000+03:00

Disclaimer:

This is not a Lumia 520 vs galaxy s4 debate, Its simply a list of reasons why I tend to use the Lumia more than the galaxy s4. Its by no way intended to act as a comparison of the capabilities of either device. It is simply intended to provide insight on the individual strengths and weaknesses of the different platforms in use. This is based purely on my opinion and I respect all other divergent viewpoints. Now that we have got that out of the way, lets dive into the article.

Reason number 1. Battery life.

The number one reason I can't leave the house without my Lumia 520 is its incredible battery life. The 520 has such amazing battery life that I sometimes go for 2 days without a recharge under normal, constant use. On the other hand, with the galaxy s4, I get about 6 hours of non stop use. To say the battery life on the s4 is bad is an understatement. Having shipped with android 4.3, I was was wrong to think that the 4.4.2 kit Kat update would solve my problems. Battery life still sucks on the galaxy s4 even after the update. As I mentioned before, at best I get about 6 hours but to be fair, under really heavy use. Basically, any time I want to play a game, watch a movie or browse the internet I reach for the s4. I tend to utilize the processing power of the device to an extent that the battery seems inadequate. Moreover, I have read somewhere about a 3000mAH battery for the s4. This may extend the battery life by at least 2 hours.

Reason number 2. Office and One Note.

Microsoft did a very good job integrating office with windows phone 8.1. You get near desktop experience on your mobile phone and with one drive, everything syncs perfectly. I love using office and one note so much that the first draft of this blog post was written in one note.

I know android users will argue out that android has "drive" and "keep" which provide the same, if not better functionality. However, I find the experience on a Windows phone to be a little more polished. I am not saying "drive" is not a good product or that "Google Docs" is somehow inferior to Microsoft's offering (lets save that for the next blog post), all I am saying is that, I find the experience on my Lumia 520 more enjoyable and familiar.

Reason number 3.The Wordflow keyboard.

Inarguably, this is the best keyboard on a mobile device. I have used many android keyboards and one of my favorites is the Google keyboard. However, the keyboard on windows 8.1 is my number one choice. Its not a matter of android vs windows phone 8 but just a quick comparison. The keyboard is very responsive and at the same time provides a very intuitive formatting experience. Selecting a block of letters is comparatively easier on the WordFlow keyboard as compared to any other keyboard. The Google keyboard comes at a close number 2 and my third favorite virtual keyboard is the swiftkey.

Reason number 4. Overheating issues.

I am not sure if this is a software issue or a hardware issue. The Exynos octa core processor is definitely a beast and as thus its normal to expect some heat. However. The galaxy s5 uses a higher clocked snapdragon 801 (2.5ghz) and is definitely more powerful than the s4. To date, I have not heard of any major complaints about overheating on the s5 or other devices using the same processor as the s5 (HTC one m8 for example). However, some people reported less heat generation after updating to kit Kat while others complained of even more heat. Whether this can be solved by the update to 4.4.3 or 4.4.4 remains to be seen. I have not yet installed a custom rom on the device and thus I can't say for sure if things will get better with an update.

Reason number 5: Call quality

At this point most of you may be cursing me and calling me all sorts of names but honestly, I find the call quality on the Lumia 520 really good. If I had to rate the call quality on both devices, the Lumia would get a solid 9 out of 10 while the s4 would get a respectable 7.5. However, this can easily be solved by installing different modems on the s4 to get the best reception. On the other hand, not everyone who owns the s4 knows how to or even bothers knowing how to flash different modems on their device. Even those with the know how mostly only flash the rom and sometimes install different kernels to suit their needs. Therefore, the average user will be stuck with poor call quality till an over the air update arrives to fix their issue with am updated rom. This can take anything between 3 to 6 months which makes it a major disadvantage to a normal Sammy user.

Reason number 6: Internet explorer ( windows phone 8 version)

Internet explorer (the desktop version) is one of the most hated browsers out there. This is a surprise since Microsoft was one of the early players in the browser game them somehow, they lost it. To say the truth, I also dont use internet explorer (the pc version)

However, the mobile version of internet explorer is one of the most responsive and seamless browsing experience you will get on a mobile device. I know most of you are asking "What about chrome?" Well Chrome is good, but many a times I have found it a little too demanding on my ram and processor. Traditionally, Chrome is allowed a maximum of about 350mb of Ram to run. However, in order to get a smooth experience,you need to allocate it about 512mb of ram. Now for most of us with anything below 1gb of ram, that's a lot of memory to allow for a single app. However, most high end devices are able to compensate for in speed where they may lack in ram and thus those of you with the more powerful phones never notice a performance issue.

On the other hand, internet explorer, and generally windows phone 8.1 runs smoothly on just 512mb of RAM. This means that internet explorer uses as little as 100mb of Ram but still manages to play back videos and run scripts in browsers without any problem. The only limitation comes in the number of open and active tabs. I found out I couldn't open more than 5 tabs of internet explorer on the Lumia 520. I understand for Microsoft to ensure an overall good user experience,they had to make some restrictions (which is completely understandable-if you ask me :))

Reason 7: Charging

If you have ever used a smartphone then you will agree with me that battery life is one of the biggest problems that is still largely unsolved. For normal usage, our smartphones are barely able to last to the end of the day. Most of us rush home just to charge our phones. The reason why I love the Lumia 520 is that in under an hour, say 45 minutes, the battery will go from near zero to about 65%. On the other hand, the galaxy s4 will still be in its 20s which basically means you can't use it for more than 20 minutes without having to plug it back in. On the other hand, in less than an hour of charging,I can use the Lumia for about 2 hours before I have to charge it again. I know the comparison is unfair considering the very different hardware specs at play.

Reason number 8: It attracts less attention.

Living and working in a crowded city like Nairobi, one is always in constant danger from thieves and pickpockets. The moment you hold a galaxy s5 or s4 in your hand, you make yourself a target. I don't know why thieves in Nairobi love Samsung devices so much, I mean every other thug I meet wants to sell me an s4 or an s5, I have never been approached by any of them who wanted to sell me an iPhone or even a blackberry for that matter. Maybe it takes less effort to say s5 or s4 than it takes to say iPhone, or maybe its just something else altogether. However, with my Lumia 520, I attract less attention from the thieves.

This is not to say that given the chance they wouldn't want to steal my phone. As a matter of fact, as I was writing this blog post, one of them tried to snatch my precious Lumia from the window. You see, I was sitting next to a partially open window. Suddenly, seemingly out of thin air, some guy just runs over, quickly opens the window and tries to snatch my phone from my hands. Luckily for me, my senses were on high alert and the moment he opened the window, I held onto my phone tighter as I leaned further back into the vehicle. The poor bloke probably bruised his hand and his ego as he ran away into the streets just as fast as he had appeared.

Conclusion.

I would like to conclude by pointing out that the galaxy s4 is a very solid device. I have been able to find solutions to all of the above-mentioned issues (thanks to the great customization that android allows). The only major thing still bothering me is the battery life.

In sammys defense, the galaxy s4 is a beast of a phone I mean with a full HD 5 inch screen, an octa core processor, dual band wifi and a 42 mbps capable radio for GSM, the s4 no doubt requires a lot of power to run. Gone are the days when every little problem was credited to the bugs in android. Google has managed to refine the android experience to an almost equal experience as that of iOS and windows phone 8. I blame all the issues above on poor balance between hardware and software by sammy. Samsung tends to stack all manner of mostly useless features in their flagship devices that end up taking away from the user experience. On the other hand, there are those who love the little features that are bundled with touchwiz. In my opinion, if Samsung reduced on the bloatware that comes preinstalled on their devices, they will make their existing customers very happy and may just manage to steal some more from Apple. Currently I would say people are shifting to windows phone (mostly from Android, something that should greatly worry sammy).

Microsoft is releasing increasingly sophisticated and lovable phones coupled with a more mature software experience. If the current trend continues, Samsung may get a little of their market share taken up by Microsoft. So, between Windows phone 8 and android, which device would you go for if the hardware were similar? Consider the one m8 example ( same hardware specs, different platforms). I would still go for android since I am a root and rom install freak. On the other hand, Microsoft is not open source thus you can't expect the same from them.

The Different Display Technologies in the world explained, CRT vs Plasma vs LCD vs OLED

2014-06-11T02:25:00.000+03:00

CRT

I would like to start by stating here clearly that there are no LED tvs, yes, that 45 inch screen you bought with LED written all over it is actually an LCD screen. Currently, there are four main display technologies in use in the world, the famous CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), Plasma, LCD and OLED (Notice there’s no LED display technology. Do not confuse OLED and LED, the first is a true display technology in use while the latter is simply a back-lighting option in LCD screens)

CRT is the oldest of the display technologies which uses a Cathode Ray to illuminate a fluorescent screen. Basically, a cathode ray (fast moving electrons) is made to move very fast both vertically and horizontally at the same time, hitting a screen that illuminates (when hit by electrons) at such a rate that it creates a moving picture. The “kisogo”(you would think the entire English language would have a definite name for the back of your head but No!) you see on your CRT screens is made of the cathode, the deflecting coils and the required space (vacuum) needed to adequately accelerate and deflect the electrons towards the screen covered by a fluorescent material.

Plasma

Plasma display technology has also been around for quite some time. Many manufacturers have decided to focus on LCD mainly to create displays that use less power and are a bit thinner. However, Plasma display technology offers many advantages to both CRT and LED including; higher refresh rates, better colour reproduction, wider viewing angles etc. Plasma display technology utilizes the glowing properties of some gases when excited by an electric current. Essentially, a current is passed through a gas that lights up individual Red, Green and Blue phosphors in such a way that it creates a picture on the screen. To create an image, the video information (in form of an electric current from the camera) is passed through the gas to recreate the picture.

Therefore, plasma offers thinner displays compared to CRT. The two major disadvantages associated with Plasma are power consumption and a phenomena known as “burn in”. However, advancements in technology have made it possible to create more power efficient plasma screens which are also less prone to “burn in.”

LCD

LCD, which is the most common display technology uses liquid crystals (funny right, liquid crystals?? I didn’t like chemistry that much either but apparently I missed a class or two) RGB (Red Green and Blue ones) which block light to some extent when electricity is passed through them. In this case, the liquid crystals actually block light when electricity is passed through them, unlike the gases used in plasma.

Therefore, in order for us to see the picture created on the screen, we need a back-light that will light up the picture. This is where LED LCD tvs come in. The old LCD tvs use Cathode tubes for the backlight whereas the so called LED tvs use LEDs for the backlight. The reason why the LED tvs are so thin is because cathode tubes used for lighting are a bit bulkier than the LEDs. I won’t talk about the quality of light from LEDs and that from cathode tubes and why LEDs are replacing cathode tubes in tv technology, but one of the major reasons for this is power saving. LEDs are more power efficient and burn brighter and for longer producing less heat than Cathode tubes. This translates to a TV that uses less power, can be made brighter and lasts longer than its Cathode back-lit counterpart.

OLED

Lastly we have OLED display technology which is quickly picking up. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) as the acronym suggests uses an organic material that emits light when excited by electricity. OLED display technology can be described as an all in one display system with all of the advantages of the previous display technologies and very few disadvantages. Unlike LCD which requires a backlight, OLED screens provide their own lighting. To create colour, different types of organic films (RGB) are placed along the entire length of the screen. The higher the current applied to the organic material, the brighter it illuminates creating a picture on the screen. Therefore, to create a black scene, simply no current is directed towards the dark areas (this information is contained in the video signal from the camera).

OLED screens can be made very thin (thinner than the thinnest LCD LED screen you have seen) but on the flipside, cost a lot more. The thinness of OLED makes them easy to fold and unfold without compromising their physical properties making possible the production of foldable phone displays as well as curved OLED tvs.

High resolution audio, a scam or a necessity?

2013-12-15T00:10:00.000+03:00

Eleven months have quickly gone by and once again, we are in the festive season. Let me take this early opportunity to wish my readers a wonderful festive period. For tech enthusiasts like me, CES 2014 is only a few weeks away and I know you can’t wait to see what faster, thinner and more efficient ways tech companies have come up with to steal money from us.

I don’t know how many of you have heard of the term High Resolution Audio (HRA) but apparently, it’s the next big thing in the audio industry. The term High Resolution Audio refers to a new audio compression technology that seeks to provide better quality audio. Without going to the nitty-gritties, the tech seeks to improve the quality of sound from our digital music players by increasing the sampling rate and consequently the bit rate of audio signals from our digital audio players.

For you to better understand this, it’s good to have some background knowledge about the analog to digital conversion process. To put it simply, it’s the process of converting an analog signal into a digital signal. As we all know, audio is an analog signal and for it to be processed by digital devices, e.g. your smart phone, it needs to be presented in this manner (digital) to the phone.

The analog to digital conversion process works by sampling an analog signal at a constant rate, recording the value of the analog signal at each sampling instant and storing the number in binary form (you know the language of computers).

The binary information can then be stored on a storage device like a CD, DVD, and Flash Disk. The digital signal processing device, for example a phone must then be able to take the 1’s and 0’s presented to it and convert them back into the analog audio signal. This is achieved by the use of a DAC (digital to analog converter) which use encoding schemes like PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) to interpret the binary information into an accurate representation of the original analog audio signal.

The accuracy of the conversion from the DAC process depends majorly on the sampling rate of the analog audio signal. If a high sampling rate is used, the reproduced audio signal will almost be identical to the original signal. On the other hand, if the sampling rate is low, the reproduction won’t be as accurate. On the other hand, the higher the sampling rate, the more the number of bits required for the digitized audio signal and thus the bigger the space it will take.

So as to save on bandwidth and storage space, a compromise has to be reached between quality and size. MP3 compression has managed to provide this balance for quite some time now. CD audio quality provides better sound but with bigger audio files. Nevertheless, MP3 audio quality has proved to be quite adequate for daily usage thus its popularity to date.

MP3 audio compression is lossy which means that part of the information is lost during the compression process. This is what leads to its reduced size and relatively poor quality. Well poor is used sparingly in this case.

So why do we compress audio in the first place?

Well an audio signal is basically an analog signal. In order to store an analog signal, theoretically, we would require infinite bandwidth. Therefore, the compression process takes the analog audio signal, digitizes it and compresses it to save on storage space. The compression process itself involves the use of algorithms that for example, can represent 40 bits with about 10 bits. This is an example of lossy compression which MP3 encoding uses. In this compression method, part of the data is lost thus reduced quality but bandwidth and storage space is saved.

So what’s the difference between CD quality audio and Mp3 audio quality?

To put it in simple terms, mp3 encoding is lossy which leads to lower quality audio as compared to CD quality. Currently, CD quality audio offers one of the best audio quality at manageable sizes. When creating digital cd quality audio, the analog music signal is sampled 44,100 times in a second to create a digital file that can be processed by a digital signal processor like an MP3 player, phone, computer etc. The main difference between CD quality audio and mp3 audio comes from the compression algorithm used for mp3. The lossy algorithm leads to the loss of some bits that were obtained from the sampling stage of the DAC process. Consequently, this leads to a poorly reconstructed audio signal from the incomplete digital information that is used for the conversion back to analog.

What is High Resolution Audio?

High resolution audio seeks to produce higher quality audio, better than CD quality by either increasing the sampling rate i.e. higher than 44.1 KHz or by using a new compression method that loses as little information as possible. Sony is already producing devices which support this technology but I am yet to get more information about their methods.

Is HRA necessary?

Just like the eye has a limit to the number of pixels it can distinguish on a screen, the human ear also has a limit to the frequency range it can hear. For more information about that you can google the audible audio range for the human ear (20 Hz-20 kHz).

The sampling rate of 44.1 KHz was not a random guess by scientists. Mathematically, at this rate, the reproduced audio from the DAC process described earlier is almost identical to the original analog audio quality.

HRA seeks to employ a higher sampling rate than this to produce better sounding music players. The question is, will the difference be noticeable to the normal user? Will the audio quality be better to warrant the development of new hardware to decompress the higher bit rate audio quality? Will the devices be cheap enough to replace current DSP devices like mp3 players, smart phones etc.? To answer those questions, I need a HRA audio device and the best sound reproducing speakers/headphones.

All in all, it doesn’t hurt to have a device that can handle higher bit rate audio. Let’s wait for 2014 and see whether this technology will pick up or whether it will be a nonstarter, like plenoptic photography in 2013. What is plenoptic photography you ask? Well that’s a story covered in another part of this blog.

TECNO Phantom A Review

2013-07-15T11:13:00.001+03:00

First Impressions

The first thing one notices about the TECNO phantom A is its huge screen. It comes with a five inch 1280 by 720 screen which is a catch for those who love huge phones. The screen is sufficiently clear and sharp compared to similarly priced phones. However, on unlocking the phone, one notices considerable lagging which does not go away. Somehow after fitting this phone with a 1 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB of RAM, TECNO forgot to include a reasonable graphics processor. The phone barely manages to run android Jellybean 4.1.1. It lags in many places including navigation and launching applications. Just for comparison purposes, the galaxy S, a phone produced way back in 2010 with a 1 GHz single core processor and 512MB of RAM can comfortably run Jelly Bean, smoothly and with no lags. This means that the Phantom A lacks a good graphics processor to manage graphics intensive applications, including the OS (Jelly Bean). The next thing one notices about the phone is its size. The phone is 143.5mm long, 70.8mm wide and 9.1mm thick. At 9.1mm, it is quite a big phone considering major rivals in the field are in the 7mm range. Even so, this is not noticeable once one starts using the phone. The size difference only becomes obvious when it is held next to an iPhone 5 or a galaxy s3. Having said that, below is more information about other aspects of the phone.

Packaging

This phone comes in a rather big package as compared to other phones. It has one big box which encloses two smaller boxes one for the phone and the other for the power bank (a portable battery charger). The power bank, as described on the packaging, is a 2200mAh battery capable of charging many other devices via a USB port. It also has an LED for lighting purposes.

Physical Design

The phone is rectangular with rounded corners. The front has three capacitative touch buttons for settings, home and back respectively. Just below the settings button is a small opening for the mouthpiece and the top has the front facing camera and the groove for the earpiece. There are no physical buttons on the front screen. The left side of the phone has the volume rocker key and a dedicated camera button. The right side has only the power button and the top of the phone has a micro USB port and a 3.5mm Audio Jack. The back of the phone has the huge camera and an led right beside it. Finally, the speaker groove is located on the lower back of the phone.

Internals

The phone has 4GB internal memory and comes with an 8GB memory card. However, out of the 4GB, only about 2GB is available to the user. The SD card slot can hold up to a maximum of 32GB which gives it a maximum storage capacity of 36GB.

It runs on a 1 GHz dual core processor with 1 GB of RAM. It also has Bluetooth 3.0 and Wireless connectivity (a,b,g,n although this is not exclusively stated)

Camera

This phone has two cameras, a front facing camera and a back facing camera. The back camera is 8 mega pixels while no information is provided about the front facing camera (I am guessing its between 1.3-1.9 Mega pixels). The 8 mega pixel camera produces decent pictures but with considerable shutter delay. The camera should be at par with similar cameras, nevertheless, as previously mentioned, lagging is a big problem. The phone takes about 3 seconds to focus on an object which in my opinion, greatly affects the quality of the pictures taken. Just to put things in perspective, the pictures on this blog were taken by the 8 Mega pixel camera.

The back camera protrudes from the back cover which exposes it to a lot of harm. When the phone is placed on its back, the back facing camera supports the entire weight of the phone. This could have been a design oversight but it greatly affects the phone. At 9mm, it would not be such a good idea to include a protective casing for the back cover as this would only serve to make the phone bulkier.

The User Interface

The UI looks familiar and quite simple to use. The lock screen displays the time, date, battery level and the carrier label at the bottom. On unlocking the phone, one is met with a familiar android interface. The apps area arranged in the grid with the usual swipe to reveal more apps. This should not be an issue since android has many launchers out there that can be customized to meet a user’s needs.

Battery Life

The phone comes with a 2100mAH battery which should be sufficient for daily usage. I have only had this phone for 12 hours so I can’t say much about daily usage stats.

Connectivity

The usual WIFI, Bluetooth and GPS combo is available. Apart from that, this phone is a dual SIM. This should be good news for all of you out there who have more than one SIM card.

Final Words

The Tecno Phantom A is certainly a phone to consider for the price conscious buyer who wants the android experience on a huge screen. If one is looking for a phone to make calls, text and do some light web browsing, this is certainly the phone for you. On the other hand, if one wants a phone for gaming, heavy web browsing and installing a multitude of apps, it is advisable to consider other options. The major issue I encountered with the Phanton Tecno A is the lagging which I hope will be fixed in future iterations of the device. I recommend this phone to university students who are on a fixed budget but would still like to experience Android. Rating 3 out of 5 stars.

The Near Future of Mobile Phones (SAMSUNG)

2013-06-02T23:43:00.000+03:00

Now that, the galaxy s4 is out, and it is the fastest phone ever, I am left wondering what the future trend for mobile phones is going to be. Samsung has played out pretty much everything in the market, it has the biggest phones, the lightest phones, the fastest phones, the phone with the best camera on a mobile device and arguably phones with the best displays. This leaves other phone manufacturers with no option but to up their game and make phones that will at best, compete with Samsung flagship models. The fact that Samsung keeps upgrading their phones to unimaginable levels presents many advantages and some disadvantages too. The advantages are clear and truly welcome. No one minds having a phone with the best screen, 8 cores for unrivalled processing power and the best camera. The problem with this is that Samsung does not make it easy for their competitors and I am pressed to say, even themselves to survive in the industry. Thanks to the awesome Galaxy S4, it is now quite difficult to predict what the galaxy s5 will have in terms of hardware. Well this article seeks to examine the mobile phone industry a year from now, it offers a few insights on what to expect and what to forget about, what may be coming into the market soon and what may not be able to make it. Sit back, relax and get a glimpse into the future through my eyes.

Size

Phones have been getting bigger and bigger with time. I remember a time when a small phone was considered the most advanced, well truthfully, this is still true, the components have continued to shrink as two things increase in size, the screen and the battery. Therefore, it is true, small is still very much preferable over big in the tech world, but there are things that are just better of big like the screen and the battery. The screen has to be big so as to display more on a mobile device, and the battery has to be big so as to hold more juice to run the device. Therefore, the future of the mobile phone is still geared towards bigger screens and batteries. This is until technology evolves to the point where it is possible to project images in place of a fixed display for the screen and get alternative sources of power to replace lithium ion/ cadmium batteries. Samsung has managed to blur the line between a phone and a tablet, but in my opinion, 5 inches is the perfect size for a phone, anything bigger should be known by a different name (ISO should consider establishing a working definition of a mobile phone/cell phone to include the maximum and minimum dimensions)

Screen

Well the screen sector is pretty much covered by now. With phone manufacturers making displays with a PPI of 441, increasing this would not make much sense. The next frontier in mobile displays is tending towards 3D. I do not mean that people will have to buy 3D glasses to use their mobile phones, there is something known as no glasses 3D which will very soon find its way to mobile devices. This may happen as early as next year. Currently no glasses 3D is in its late stages of development, Dolby already has a TV set to display with this technology. I think it will be easier to roll out no glasses 3D for multiple screen sizes in no less than 5 months from now. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the PPI war is over, the industry is switching over to 3D mobile phones.

Processor

Well, I do not think we are going to see much of a change in this sector. This is because Samsung is already pushing too far with their Octa 8 processor. A mobile phone with 8 physical processor cores is certainly no joke. It means that other phone manufacturers will have to borrow the same from Samsung at which point Samsung will already have released something new. Samsung will always be at the forefront of technology. This is because it makes most of the components used in other mobile phone manufacturers including Apple.

Design

Samsung seems to have settled in this sector. Personally, I do not like the curved shape of the galaxy s3 and s4, I am a great fan of the shape on the galaxy s and s2. I hope the galaxy s5 will go back to triangle shaped phones which makes more sense to me and looks better. However, people do not seem to mind the curved shape, so I guess it is going to be here for a while.

Conclusion

Reading this article the best thing you can pick from it is that very soon, we are going to have no glasses 3D on mobile phones. All other internal and externals will most likely remain the same. Forget about PPI and megapixels, the in thing in the mobile phone industry, is going to be whether it's 3D enabled or not. Give it a year and let’s see whether I was right or wrong.

The Galaxy s4 Rumor Mill So far

2013-02-27T22:28:00.000+03:00

I would like to start by urging my fellow Kenyans to maintain peace during the forthcoming elections. The elections are here with us and the political mood in the country is at its highest. Nevertheless, we Kenyans expect to have a peaceful election as long as both the top candidates accept the outcome of the elections.

Politics aside, news is streaming in fast about the much anticipated galaxy s4. For most people this should be good news but indications and insider scoops are suggesting a rather different phone from what the initial rumors suggested. Below is the rumor breakdown and a brief overview of what to expect from the next android flagship device from Samsung.

No Super-Amoled?

I can proudly declare (whether it’s true or not) that I was among the first bloggers to propel rumors about the galaxy s4. Well it’s been almost three months but we all know that’s like 3 years in the Tech World. So as usual, the rumor mill about the upcoming galaxy device is still on but we still don’t have a clear picture of what the next galaxy device will look like. Popular all-about Samsung blog Sammoble recently published a piece indicating that Samsung may not be using a Super Amoled screen on the galaxy s4. Die hard Samsung fans will agree with me that the deep blacks and the wonderful color saturation we get from the Super Amoled screens are the best we have seen on a mobile phone’s screen. Some “haters” claim that the colors are not natural blah blah but who really cares, when the screen looks that vibrant, sharp that colorful, I wouldn’t really care about color reproduction and all the hullaballoo surrounding Super Amoled Screens. If the rumors are to be believed, this is really bad news for die-hard Samsung fans like me. We all associate a Samsung Galaxy phone with the Super Amoled screen. This means that anything to the contrary should not be considered a “galaxy” device and thus not befitting the galaxy branding.

I really hope these reports are untrue and that I am going to see a Full HD Super Amoled screen on the galaxy s4. I know production of this screens may be tricky since it’s a relatively new technology. But all the same, we are now able to produce Ultra HD OLED screens and I don’t see how Samsung can fail to produce a 5 inch Super Amoled Screen. So no Super Amoled on the next galaxy device would definitely be a let down by Samsung.

No Exynos 5 Octa?

I know you are all cursing and fussing by the title above but some reports indicate that the Galaxy s4 may not feature the Exynos 5 Octa Processor. Now this is really bad news for many out there since this was one of the selling points of this phone. The Exynos 5 Octa packs 8 cores clocked at….making it one of the best and most efficient RISC based processors out there. If the latest rumors are anything to go by, it means that the Galaxy s4 will not only not have a Super Amoled Screen, Sammy has also decided to switch the internals a little bit more. Samsung always use their own processors in their phones (EXYNOS) and the galaxy s4 was to spot the Exynos 5 octa, their latest processor which is also the fastest. Unfortunately, recent reports confirm that this may not be the case and Samsung may opt to use the Snapdragon processors.

To me, this doesn’t really matter, I mean, as long as the phone runs basic applications perfectly well, I wouldn’t mind lower bench mark scores. The major reason given for the change is that the Exynos 8-core beast had overheating issues. This may be true, or it may just be a rumor, we just have to wait and find out. Nevertheless, I think Samsung may still use the Exynos 5 Octa processor but on different carriers much like what it did with the international version of the Galaxy S3 and the US version. I can even go a step further and speculate that the international version of the Galaxy S4 may be the one with the Exynos processor while the US version may spot the Snapdragon processor.

Naming Convention

This has been around for a while about the naming convention of the phone. It is believed that the number 4 is associated with bad luck in Korea (you know like the number 13). So Samsung may change the name of the device a little to avoid the number 4 in the name of the next Samsung device. I tend to believe that Samsung may choose to ignore this and still name it the Galaxy s4. Any other name would just be awkward and may even affect the sales of the phone. In the business world branding matters a lot and this may force Samsung to use Galaxy s4 opposed to any other name. Truthfully, if the phone goes by any other name, it would make it awkward for me but may not really affect my buying decision. So as not to confuse its customers, Samsung may still go with Galaxy S4 as the name for the next Galaxy Device.

Unchanged Rumors<

We still believe that the Galaxy s4 will and must have a 13MP back facing camera. I stress that it must have a 13 MP camera since Sony (xperia Z), LG (Optimus G) and HTC (the latest HTC one) already have devices with 13MP cameras.

Release Date

We now know for sure that the Galaxy s4 will be released in March. I think this is majorly because other phone manufacturers like Sony and LG have already released similarly spec’d devices on the market and Samsung does not want to hold back. Earlier reports had put the release date somewhere in April but it’s now almost definite that we will witness the unveiling of the Galaxy s4 in March.

Final Words

I really hope Samsung does not abandon its Super Amoled Screens. To me, this is what gives Samsung the edge over other manufacturers.

The processor thing doesn’t really bother me. My Samsung Galaxy S is still Zippy and fast enough for basic applications and it’s not even a dual core. So that should not be a big issue for most buyers. I know we have some benchmark freaks who would like to own the fastest smartphone on the market but the truth of the matte is, most of the smartphones released from late 2010 are still fast enough for more than 80 percent of what we use our mobile phones for.

A 13 MP camera will be a good and welcome addition to the galaxy series. Some people claim that iPhones produce better pictures but really when you view pictures from a galaxy s3 and an iPhone 5, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. I think the pictures on the iPhone look really good on the iPhones “retina” display (as would anything else) but this has greatly changed with FullHD phones boasting a PPI 0f about 440.

The galaxy s4 is still one of the most anticipated phones of 2013 and it will surely outsell the galaxy s3. Many people will still opt for Samsung phones even though other phone manufactures have similar devices on the market. This will mostly be due to brand loyalty and resistance to change. Either way, if Samsung does not use the Super Amoled Screens on the galaxy S4, it may lose a few of its customers who might opt for devices like the new HTC one that in my opinion, bares close resemblance to the iPhone.

Personally, I am not as excited about the galaxy s4 as I was about the galaxy s3. This is majorly because, I have not got the pleasure of owning a galaxy S3 yet. So I will most likely skip the galaxy s4 and go directly to the galaxy s5 (if that will be its name).

This will be a major upgrade to those who will be coming from the galaxy s2 and I advise all those who own galaxy s2’s and more so those who own the original Samsung galaxy S’s to consider buying this phone. Those who own the galaxy s3 should just wait till 2014 to get the next installment of the device from Samsung. All in all, the galaxy s4 is going to be a really good phone, it may even end up being 2013’s best seller worldwide.

The Galaxy s4

2012-11-18T16:10:00.001+03:00

Since no one seems to be talking about phones anymore, I thought I should be the first to start the rumor mill about the galaxy s4. I like referring to it as the fourth generation Samsung galaxy device. It feels good, much like getting the first comment on a YouTube video that goes viral lol. The rumors are finally rolling in and seemingly in 2013, we might just see the phone that blows everyone away. The galaxy s4 will turn out to be Samsung’s best-selling phone and with the rumored specs, no other manufacturer will be able to compete. I know some iPhone lovers may want to disagree with me but all disdain aside, the galaxy s4 will generate the most debate online, much more than the iPhone 5S will be able to garner.

Samsung has managed to manufacture full HD super AMOLED screens at 4.99 inches which translates to a whopping 441 PPI (pixel s per inch). Comparing this to the retina display found on iPhones, it represents a more than 30% increase in pixel density. AMOLED which is an acronym for Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode, according to me, is the most fulfilling display technology. LCD has been around for a while and is considered more advanced than AMOLED. If you are familiar with super AMOLED screens you know how cool this screens look, I mean the color saturation is out of this world, the contrast ratio is the best to say the least. The only drawback when it comes to AMOLED screens is the brightness level, some people go a step further to complain that the colors don’t look natural blah blah. No matter what they say, AMOLED screens look way better than any LCD screen out there. With the release of full HD AMOLED screens, it means that the only good thing about LCD screens is that they can be made a bit brighter.

With this leap in technology, many people including me, hope to see this screen size fitted in the galaxy S3 form factor. This is possible with a little engineering. The engineers at Samsung, of which I hope to join some time, I am sure will be able to achieve this feat. The galaxy s4 will definitely have a 13 mega pixel camera, a quad core processor(probably a new architecture), 2 gigs of ram(maybe even 3), a full HD super AMOLED display (which will be the selling point) and a ton of other features. I don’t know how Samsung will choose to price this more than capable smartphone, but it will definitely be the phone to have. With more pixels than any human eye can distinguish, 2013, is the year that Samsung will take over the smartphone industry. I also hope to see OLED television sets. If I am not wrong, Samsung already have a 55inch OLED display television set which hopefully will go on sale in 2013. The next thing, which is just a proposal to Samsung, please manufacture 13-14-15 inch AMOLED screens with Full HD resolution which you can use on your laptops. I know it may be expensive to do so, but I am sure this is the way to go. For now, lets wait and see hoe much of this comes to pass.

The surface tablet, is it worth your money?

2012-10-22T22:14:00.000+03:00

With so many phones, tablets, and a ton of other similar devices out there, it is a tough time for the conscious consumer. The electronics sector is constantly shifting with a myriad of new devices such that lingua is being developed to describe devices like the galaxy note. The Note is now popularly referred to as a phablet, which is a clever connotation of the words phone and tablet. The question on many people’s minds is whether to buy a tablet or not, and if so, what’s the best tablet out there? To answer this question, we have to look at what the existing tablets have to offer and what new devices promise to offer. One of the upcoming and most talked about tablet in the tech world recently is the surface tablet. Just a few days after it was open for preorders in the US, the device sold out. So the question on everyone’s lips is, what sets apart the surface tablet from devices like the kindle fire tablet and the nexus 7 both of which are considered just as good if not better?

The biggest and most significant feature about the surface tablet is the software. With windows 8, the surface tablet is already miles ahead of the competition. This is because, with a device like an iPad, yes it’s flashy, looks good but what can you really do with an iPad? The same can be said about all the other tablets on the market. When it comes to functionality, all the tablets in the market are limited to browsing the internet, playing games, light office applications and mostly social networking. This can be attributed to the fact that the software in these devices is limited in terms of functionality. The truth is that, the software versions in these tablets are just not tailored for heavy daily usage. Both iOS and Android in these tablets focus on media consumption more than anything else. With Windows 8 preinstalled, the surface tablet literally shifts the ground in terms of functionality. Imagine a tablet with full office capability and a bunch of other mainstream software found on laptops like the adobe suite on what is considered a tablet. This means that one can then do so much more with the surface tablet than is currently possible. The surface tablet is not the most powerful tablet out there, heck, it’s not even the most pixeled tablet, the nexus 7 and the new iPad cover both grounds respectively. The surface tablet actually makes a difference in the software department.

With things like a Magnesium chassis, vapour deposition coating and display technology termed as ClearType HD display, the surface tablet is certainly a top contender in the design sector. The other impressive feature about the detachable keyboards is their method of attachment. The detachable keyboards are not only easy to attach, they are fun as well when the magnets snap in place. Still to do with the keyboards, these tablets are made in a way that whenever a keyboard of a certain color is attached, the color scheme of the theme changes to match that of the keyboard. If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.

The other feature that deserves mentioning is the back stand. I haven’t had the pleasure of holding this device in hand so I can’t say much about the ergonomic design. It seems like with the absence of spinning hard disks, Microsoft made a lot of use of magnets. Just like the keyboards, the stand is also held in place by magnets. It’s really helpful that Microsoft decided to include the keyboard as a standard peripheral for this device. This is because typing on the screen is really tedious and tiresome compared to the normal QWERTY keyboard people are used to.

To those worried about the price, the surface tablet is competitively priced, compared especially to its biggest competition the iPad. The stakes are certainly high and Microsoft had to come up with something to not only match the competition, but even go a step further. The Surface tablet will certainly give Apple a run for their money and I look forward to see future iterations of the device.

Its important to mention that the surface tablet comes in two versions, the pro version that comes with a core i5, and the ARM version that runs windows 8 made specifically for ARM devices. Those not familiar with ARM devices can read more on it on the post about ARM processors versus X86 processors here. For those who would rather stick to reading this post, the major difference among the two is in the way they handle instructions. The two use different formatted and different sized instructions and also different modes of processing the instructions. All in all, both the two versions run windows 8 and developers are currently working on many applications to run on the two platforms, especially the ARM device, ahead of its release on Friday.

Now this would be an unfair review if the different tablets on the market and those not yet released are left out. This is what brings me to Google chrome books. Chrome books are very similar to the surface tablet. The chrome book, albeit less powerful than the surface, can be used for word processing and internet browsing on a better scale than what the tablets on the market do offer. For those seeking a cheaper alternative to a laptop and mostly for business applications, a Google chrome book and the surface tablet would be the best choices. I would recommend these devices to students, but most of the students I know prefer devices that can play the latest games apart from being able to surf the internet.

Finally, to answer the question brought fought by the title, yes the surface tablet would be a good use of money. This is mostly because it can be used for virtually any processing needs most laptops provide not to mention a bunch of other goodies like detachable capacitative keyboards, micro USB compatibility and video output via HDMI or mini display port.

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Intel WIDI (Wireless Display Technology)

2012-07-02T22:14:00.004+03:00

Wireless Display Technology

This technology has been around for some time now. Intel first mentioned it at the CES 2010 show but, interestingly, much has not been said about it from then. Intel showed off what they could achieve with their second generation processors. With the introduction of third generation processors into the market, Intel WIDI is certainly headed for a refresh to settle some of the issues first experienced with the second generation processors. Intel WIDI is a new way to connect with your television at home wirelessly making the user experience more natural and mobile.

As usual, Apple got wind of this technology and quickly developed it as other manufacturers were still thinking about viability options. Currently, Apple’s air play is the most dominant wireless communication solution among electronics. It is a pity that two years down the line, this technology has not quite picked up. This can be attributed to the fact that, during its introduction, only a few people had Intel's second generation processors. At the moment, many laptops and other mobile devices spot this technology, and we also have devices with the third generation processors from Intel cropping up. So I thought this would be the best time to popularize what Intel intended for the mass market. We take a look at its requirements, advantages, disadvantages, main areas of use and room for growth.

What it is.

Intel is able to send video signals via wireless technology by encoding the signal into an Mpeg stream then transmitting this through Real Time Streaming Protocol. With Intel WIDI 1.0, a limited resolution of only up to 1366 by 768 could be supported by Intel WIDI 2.0 introduces the aspect of 5.1 surround sound, Full HD media playback and also support for playback of protected content.

Initially, one had to buy a separate adapter. This proved to be bulky and tiresome which necessitated the inclusion of the adapter in the television sets. The adapter either in the television set or in a separate set up box that picks up the signal transmitted by the laptop and converts it back to a digital signal. The adapter then converts this signal into the desirable signal encoding and transmits it either through HDMI or the normal AV cables found on many television sets. Currently, Apple dominates this sector with Air Play, is essentially streaming media content to television sets and other devices, without the use of any physical connections.

Wireless display technology seeks to replace the existing display standards such as VGA, HDMI, and Display Port etc. Wireless display technology by Intel requires, you guessed it, a supported wireless adapter, initially a separate set up box to connect to the television was required, but current trends in technology are embedding the technology directly into the television sets. Plans to embed the wireless adapter into the television sets should be out of experimental phase by now, and very soon, we might see the downfall of HDMI cables. As opposed to having a separate set-top box to communicate with the television, embedding the receiver into the television will go a long way into taking the technology to the masses. I see a trend with new television models having a sticker on them labeled “supports Intel WIDI” or “Intel WIDI compliant” or something close to that. The introduction of the technology did not quite pick up majorly due to the requirement of a separate converter box was to be purchased which not only adds on the cost of the whole set up, but also means more connections have to be made. Lastly, the fact that protected content could not be streamed using the technology could have contributed to the slow adaption of the technology.

Even, though, wireless technology has evolved over the years with many devices opting wireless connections, the display sector has been left behind for quite some time now. We have technologies like the S beam that allows people to share things seamlessly through wireless and Bluetooth not to mention other things. Wireless display is essentially a technology that comes inbuilt in the second generation processors from Intel. This, therefore, means that if your laptop does not have a second generation core from Intel, it clearly cannot do wireless display.

The thing about cables is that they limit the movement of a person confining them to a certain region that they can work from, with wireless display; a new world of freedom is unlocked. This is especially useful in a situation where someone would like to work in the comfort of their room while streaming a movie to the television for other people to watch. One can thus be typing away on his/ her machine while the kids enjoy multimedia content from the same device in another room.

The requirements for Intel WIDI as from 2010 include:

Second generation processors from Intel i.e. all sandy bridge CPU’s
Intel Wireless-N adapter/ Intel Centrino Wireless with MyWiFi technology
Intel HD graphics
Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium, Ultimate or Professional

What it can do

The technology could stream live video up to full HD resolutions with no problem whatsoever.

With many illegal sites carrying copyrighted material free for download, Intel had to do something to please Hollywood by introducing content security with Intel WIDI. This, therefore means that, protected content could not be viewed over Intel WIDI, this is until some hacker out there comes up with a way to bypass this and posts it on you tube. Recently, Intel added support for playing such protected content and also Blu-Ray content in a bid to win over the market and to spark off consumer interest.

What it can’t yet do

There was a noticeable lag in the movement of the mouse on the screen of the television with the first version of Intel WIDI on the second generation processors from Intel namely the sandy bridge CPU’S. With the introduction of Ivy Bridge into the market, I suspect Intel might have added a few enhancements since then.

The other thing is that the technology has a limited speed of operation which means that it would struggle to cope with gaming demands. The technology performs exceedingly well when it comes to streaming video up to full HD resolutions with no noticeable delay in the speech whatsoever. Whether it can be used for gaming has yet to be established, but I highly doubt this is currently possible.

Streaming video content over wireless technology also seemed to have a huge effect on the performance of the system. The encoding of the video to transmit over wireless turned out to be such a demanding task that the processor stays at a high of 50% and more when playing back full HD content. This is something that can be easily rectified through the use of a faster processor like a quad core like Intel Core i7.

The other issue encountered was the issue of network bandwidth. With this technology, the further you move from the television or the set up Box, the more the network utilization. This therefore means that you would essentially not be able to do anything else with your wireless connection. It is therefore recommended that one be within the same room while using Intel WIDI because even though the distance does not affect the quality, the wireless connection inherently becomes useless to other users. This, however, is not a problem when the wireless is only for the display and nothing else.

Pros

Wireless display technology intends to replace all the cables hanging from your laptop to your television. Standards like HDMI and thunderbolt are still with us and truthfully, they might stick a while for some time but the introduction of wireless display is a step in the right direction for consumers and a grave one for the companies coming up. As computer manufactures compete to come up with the thinnest ultra-books, space for including ports and other things like optical drives is running out. This therefore means that new technologies have to be developed to counter this trend and thus the introduction of wireless systems. The future of the computer world is tending towards devices with no hard connections but chiefly towards wireless communication with other peripherals making them more mobile and productive as compared to what they are now.

This technology is therefore best employed for watching movies at home or for presentation of a PowerPoint. Other advanced uses such as gaming will come later on as the technology matures to support greater speeds.

Prospects for growth

I see wireless display and other wireless related technology picking up and catching up in the next five years. As technology continues evolving and better processors and wireless adapters developed, a point will come when all communications between the computer and the other devices will be through wireless technology. This is the right step in the technological era where mobility and efficiency are currently the trends every technological company is trying to achieve. All we have to do is wait and hope for a better improved product from Intel Forecasting the release of Intel WIDI 2.0 with the third generation processors.

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All about resolution, well almost.

2012-06-09T00:51:00.001+03:00

I remember a time when buying a television set meant walking into a store and picking out the biggest screen on display. Back then, all one had to do was pick out the biggest set, nowadays, a myriad of other factors have to be considered before purchase. Thank God for technology and presently the task of purchasing a television set has never been more daunting. It is frustrating when in preparation for the purchase of that big screen TV and on getting to the store, a bunch of jargon is thrown at you leaving one more confused than when they came. This piece seeks to investigate the various terminologies out there relating to screen resolution to make it easy to a common persons understanding.

There was a time when digital television was the term heard everywhere. That time came and passed, and then there came the era of LCD versus LED. LCD technology is the mainstream technology currently in use in most of the television sets. On the other hand, all of the television sets being advertised as LED actually engage LCD technology. The difference is that, with LED sets, as opposed to LCD, is that in LED sets, Light Emitting Diodes are used to provide back-lighting whereas in the case of LCD, cathode technology is used. Since the Light Emitting Diodes are distributed more evenly, they allow for easier control of back-lighting. This is to say that only the LED s at specific places are lit when required. This is what gives LED sets an advantage over conventional LCD sets. Though providing a distinct advantage over traditional LCD in terms of contrast ratio and size, there’s considerably, no other benefit offered by a LED television set over an LCD one.

Then there came the era of 3D television sets. It is unfortunate that this technology did not quite pick up mainly because it is still not that refined yet. 3D technology is still in its developmental stages, and even though it is in the final stages, it is still quite far from completion. This, therefore, means that the television manufacturers out there had to come up with some other gist to make you buy their sets.

The thing that people consider the most before buying a television set is the screen size. This is to say that for any television set, the bigger the size the better. Well this is indeed true, but only to a small extend. Any serious television buyer out there knows that the best thing to consider when buying a television set is the resolution. Below is a description of the common available resolutions as applied to television sets.

480i/576 (Standard definition.)

This display employs 480 interlaced horizontal lines to display a picture on the screen. The term interlaced refers to the way the image is drawn on the screen. There are two ways in which the picture can be drawn on the screen, “interlasively” and “progressively”. The two are designated as a small letter i or p after the resolution number to describe the image. When a television set displays images using the interlaced method, it means that it displays a part of the image on the screen at a time then refreshes to display the remaining part of the image. Although this is done at high refresh rates that are ideally supposed to be indistinguishable to the human eye, most people agree that the image looks a little washy as compared to the progressive method of display. This thus brings us to the second method employed to display pictures which is the progressive technology. Unlike the interlaced technology where part of the image is displayed on the screen then the remainder displayed in the second phase, progressive technology draws the whole image at the same time. This, therefore, makes the image from a progressive picture appear sharper and more focused than an interlaced set.

480p/576p (Enhanced)

This display employs the same number of pixels as the interlaced version, but as aforementioned, is better since it displays the whole image on the screen at the same time. 480p is commonly used for DVD in NTSC format while 576p is commonly employed for PAL DVD formats. NTSC is an acronym for National Television System Committee which is a standard for the signal. PAL refers to Phase Alternative Line which is also a standard for signal broadcasting that displays 625 interlaced horizontal lines at 50 Hz.

720p-High Definition

This is the part where the term high definition starts applying is composed of 1280 pixels by 720 pixels giving it a pixel density of 921600. Depending on the size of the screen, the pixel density varies. It is good to note that there is no interlaced version to 720p resolution.

1080i/ 1080p resolution

This is the resolution commonly known as Full HD resolution. This resolution supports 1080 by 1920 resolutions giving it a pixel density of about 2073600. This is about 2.25 times the resolution density that of a 720p resolution. This is currently the highest resolution available for broadcast. It is not normally used due to the high amount of bandwidth required to transport the signal.

4K Resolution.

This is the next stage in the resolution war. As televisions get bigger and bigger, the issue of resolution keeps coming up. This is because the bigger the television, the higher the resolution so as to keep the pixel density as high as possible. This resolution has about 4000 by 2000 pixels giving it a pixel density of about 8000000. This is approximately 4 times the pixel density of 1080p resolution. I know you might be wondering whether this is necessary and whether this is required. The truth on the ground is that this resolution would wow you; the only problem is that there is no content available to test this resolution. It is going to take quite a while before content made for 4k resolution is available. This is not because it is difficult to do this; most people have 720p sets of resolution while a few have full HD sets. Convincing people to revert to 4k resolution sets is going to take a while and a lot of convincing. Personally, I would buy a 4k resolution set, not because 1080 p is not clear enough, mostly because I want to see whether there will be a distinction between Full HD and 4K resolution. All in all, the only need for 4k resolution is necessary only when a 55 inch and higher television is in use.

If you feel overwhelmed with that, the Japanese are experimenting with 8K resolution. That’s a story for another day folks

Conclusion.

All other terms you heat out there when it comes to resolution like HD ready, and all that are simply fabrications to help sell products. This is not to say they exist. In essence, when a manufacturer tells you their set is HD ready, what they mean is that, the television is can display Full HD content through down scaling to fit its native resolution. The problem with this is that a down scaled image is not in any way close to the image displayed by a full HD set.

The other question commonly asked is whether to buy a Full HD set or a 720p set. So am going to put it all out there once and for all. If you watch television like normal people do, which is about two meters away from the screen, then for any television set below 32 inches there would be no distinguishable difference between a Full HD set and a 720p set. The same can be said for either 4k or 8k resolution.

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IPv6 VS IPv4

2012-03-18T23:26:00.000+03:00

Some of my friends have been so excited about IPv6 mainly because they heard it was being rolled out in the university in a few months. I can understand the excitement, I mean, most of them are expecting incredible lightning internet speeds and there are rumours and murmurs going around that this is a complete overhaul of the network layer protocol.
Well the main reason why I decided to write on this is not because IPv6 is a new technology, its’ been around for some time, only that it has not been implemented fully yet and I also want to dispel some of the above rumours.
Well you have a reason to be excited about IPv6 because it’s going to bring a lot of improved security features to the table and also new ways to control data flow over an entire network making it a tad more efficient and well, faster but saying that it’s a new page in the network layer protocol is a complete lie. IPv6 is more of an evolution than it is an invention. IPv6 takes off from where IPv4 left off and builds on some of its greatest features and also improves on some of the mistakes.
We are all used to the normal IP addresses we give ourselves when setting up our networks I mean the 172.16.x.x or something like that. With the introduction of IPv6, this is the most notable change that people are going to notice. Instead of the normal 32bit address size we are all so fond of, we go to 128bits. This basically means more space for new machines as well as expanded addressing capabilities. The extra bits that are being added to this are basically for better flow control, some more security features, support for more options to be included later in case of anything through the use of extensions and simplification of the header format.
Header format in IP terms can be looked at as the contents page of a book. It contains all the information about the data it is carrying, where it is going, its length and where it is going to. Referring to my previous blog entry, one can look at an IPv4 header as X86 processors while the IPv6 header as an ARM based processor. This is to say that the IPv4 header contains so many details some of which are not necessarily helpful even though some people might disagree while the IPv6 header contains only the basic data required and it is kept to a standard size making it easier and faster to process, pretty much the same concept employed in the RISC architecture. This improvement I guess translates to a small boost in the speed of data flow over the entire network thus with IPv6, well when it’s fully implemented, one should see a slight increase in download speeds. I would like to clarify that it should be fully implemented for you to realize that slight boost in speed. Many organizations that have IPv6 don’t have it fully implemented but only runs in islands using IPv4 as the backbone.
IPv6 is also designed to run in a much more dynamic environment the only problem being that this results in a much more sophisticated operating environment thus slightly advanced equipment is required which also results in cost issues. I know most of us would like to be able to set up a functioning network with good speeds and little or no disruptions at all on a pocket friendly budget but the reality on the ground is different but then again if you want the best you must be willing to spent (that kinda rhymed, I like it lol). There are many companies out there providing networking equipment and support the most common being CISCO and I know for a fact that a CISCO switch/router is not easy to come by, unless you are a big company, and implementation of an IPV6 network would require purchasing of new switches, well not all and probably a new server too if you want to milk IPv6 for all its worth and see the benefits. Well implementation of IPv6 will take some time before we can be able to fully implement it. It is not possible to just switch over to it like it was done with IPv3 in 1983.
In case you were wondering what happened to IPv5, well, it exists only that it goes by a different name ST2 or Internet Streaming Protocol. In geeky terms, it allows applications to build multi destination simplex data streams for quality service. The major uses of IPv5 are in the multimedia industry and gaming industry. Well you know how you can play FIFA12 with someone in China or even in the same room over the internet. Programs like Skype also use it a lot to reserve bandwidth for real time video chatting over the internet. In summary we could say:
1. IPv6 is only an evolution of IPv4
2. IPv6 merely tends to improve IPv4
3. IPv6 introduces a change in the address increasing it from 32 bits to 128 bits in size
4. IPv6 works best in a dynamic environment with automatic configuration and discovery of new end stations
5. IPv6 requires a slightly sophisticated environment
6. IPv6 will run on Islands using IPv4 as the backbone
It will bring in new features such as:
1. Header format simplification
2. Improved support for extensions thus providing greater flexibility for introduction of new options
3. Flow labeling capability i.e. it will be possible to label packets of data belonging to particular “traffic flows”
4. Authentication and privacy capabilities. There will be added support for authentication, data integrity and optional data confidentiality through the extensions.
All in all, it’s a good step forward and I look forward to the day it will be fully implemented in the university to enjoy its benefits. Find us on Google+

ARM based processors VS X86 based processors

2012-02-19T11:33:00.006+03:00

I never thought a day would come when I would have to write this. Why then you may ask, am I doing it now. The main reason is that Intel is like a decade ahead of all other companies out there manufacturing chips. The other reason why I chose to write this article is due to the fact that we have a multitude of devices now running on ARM based processors with the RISC architecture compared to Intel’s high end processors which mainly use the CISC architecture. Lastly, rumors were flying around that Apple was considering using only ARM based processors on all their future devices, really?
ARM based devices have slowly found their way into our lives. To name just a few; the A5 chips used on the I-phone 4S and the I pad, the QUALCOMM or snapdragon processor in the Samsung Galaxy series among others. A brief comparison between the ARM processors and the X86 counterparts is outlined below

To get a better picture and a clear understanding of what I am talking about, it is good to give an example you can all relate to between an Intel processor and an ARM processor both being used in last year’s devices at the time of writing this article. Let’s compare the ARM5 processor being used by Apple and the Intel core i7. Well the results are out ant the two can simply not be likened at all, the A5 chip which has a 45nm and the sandy bridge 32nm cannot be put side to side. This is because the A5 chip can only be equated to a chip made by Intel almost 20yrs ago. This is the Pentium Pro line. Wow, we can both see the differences right? I mean try comparing the processing power of a Pentium Pro processor to that of a sandy bridge Intel core i7.
That being said though, we expect Intel to have a clear advantage over ARM based devices, the reality on the ground tells a different story. The thing with today’s market is that people don’t look at any one aspect of a device’s performance or appearance before purchasing it. Considering the raw numbers, we can see that 37 million I-Phones and 15 million I-Pads were sold by Apple in the last quarter of 2011this is a big difference compared to only 5.2 million Macs sold. It can be clearly seen that ARM based devices are outselling X86 based devices one to ten the main reason being that people are now at a higher rate than any other time buying mobile devices such as phones, PDA’s and tablets rather than mainstream laptops or high end machines for gaming. This leaves Intel with no choice but to come up with smaller more efficient processors to compete with the ARM based processors. I don’t know the main reason why Intel doesn’t already have them out yet because they have been around longer than their main competitors. I guess they were busy winning the speed race with AMD while other companies came up focusing on power management rather than sheer processing power.
Let’s now see what brings about the major differences in performance and size between these two different processors. ARM processors use the RISC architecture (Reduced Instruction Set Architecture) while X86 processors use the CISC design. The main difference between these two is that RISC as you probably might have guessed has shorter easier to decode instructions which are all of the same length thus greatly reducing the die size and also increasing the power efficiency of the processor as a whole. CISC systems on the other hand use single instructions that are of variable size making them a bit harder to decode as compared to the shorter better framed instructions being used in the ARM processors.
That being said though it should be noted that these two categories have greatly evolved over the years and we now have hybrid systems that have the advantage of being smaller in size and also execute instructions better than before.
Intel is known for its innovativeness and frankly, I hope to work with them some day. They have revolutionized the industry from year to year and sometime last year in May, they came up with the 3D tri-gate transistors. They claim these to be faster and somehow more efficient than their 2D counterparts. This 3D technology is what led to the production of the Ivy bridge processors that will feature this new technology. Ivy Bridge processors will be significantly smaller with the 22nm technology being used, will also feature the HD4000 GPU that is approximately 100% faster than the preceding Intel HD3000. Though this is a very major achievement, I should mention that the Ivy bridge processor will be just as fast as a similarly clocked sandy bridge processor but will consume much less power. The good news is that Ivy bridge is backward compatible to the Sandy bridge architecture and thus all those people out there with socket 1155 motherboards will have an option of upgrading their devices if they so wish. In 2013, Intel will then release the Haswell processors which will still be 22nm in size but have GPUs that are significantly faster than the Intel HD 4000. At the moment I can’t get my hands on the processing power info and whether they will be clocked at a higher frequency but they better be. Then in 2014, Intel will release the Broadwell processor (who comes up with these names?) that will go even a step further in reduction in the size. The Broadwell processors will be 14nm in size and I guess significantly faster than the preceding, also by then they should have figured out a way to make an integrated graphics card that should be able to compete with the likes of AMD’s and NVIDIA’s graphics cards though I highly doubt this is going to happen.
Anyway, only time will tell as we see what happens and have better devices on the market. At the moment though I can say ARM based devices are doing pretty well in the market and Intel has realized this and are trying to come up with smaller processors that are not only faster but very power efficient. I look forward to the day when my phone will be running on an Intel chip.

ARM based processors are only more efficient compared to their X86 counterparts due to the fact that they are usually clocked at a lower frequency thus at these low frequencies, they are made smaller and are at the same time more power efficient.
When one takes an Intel processor, clocks it at the same frequency as the ARM based processor then the two went head to head, the Intel processor will win on all the levels be it power management, speed, performance or overall efficiency. Find us on Google+

Mac vs PC/ PC vs MAC

2011-11-02T01:22:00.000+03:00

Well a lot has been said about this topic and I thought it was time I put in a little of what I thought to see if we can at least come to a common understanding or at least get the truth about all this. (The truth is out there…x files)
When I first heard of a Mac, well I guess I was in late primary school, I had seen it in the movie blank cheque but that doesn’t really count. I have been using PC’s most of my life and frankly, I don’t see a good reason for getting a Mac any time soon, unless that is they start making really good products that are really impressive not just in the design and make but also in the performance sector(that sounds a little not true now maybe…read on).
What Apple knows to do best is market their products, when it comes to marketing strategies, well we all have to give it to the late Steve Jobs for doing such a good job. The design team also does an impressive job, we all know for sure that an apple computer is one of those cool looking gadgets to have around but the question then arises, does everything add up really??
Well for most people (many people I know actually) want to own a Mac because they are “cool”, that’s true, Macs are cool, everyone knows that but today am not going to be looking at the physical description of the devices, I am going to compare these two devices based entirely on the components inside, when it comes to operating system performance and the aesthetic value, that’s going to be a story for another day.
Before we can make the products comparisons, it is also good to point out that Apples’ Steve knows the market he targets; mostly the youth. You all agree with me that young people like shiny things, there are many examples I can give many examples to support my theory if you want to argue:
1. Bling your favourite rapper likes to show off in music videos
2. Those shiny thingy’s girls wear around there eyes
3. Those shiny trousers I see people wearing everywhere(I don’t like these ones)
4. Supras are shiny right?
………
I could go on and on about this and the list would be endless but you didn’t come here for that now. Getting that out of the way, ask yourself why over 90% of Mac’s (and other devices from apple) are made of shiny Aluminum finish, why most Macs come with a standard glossy screen, do you get my drift here? Job’s knows that a Rose by any other name would still smell as sweet but he also knows that we all judge a book by its cover or better still some of us judge a book by its movie thus the good looking and sounding Ad’s they produce I mean, watching an Add made by Apple will make you want to get whatever they are talking about right away. A good example of what am talking about here is some Add I came to watch about the new i-Mac’s. Its common knowledge that any manufacturer out there can’t make a big screen…… by big am talking 26 inch….++screens without a high resolution (have you ever heard of a 42 inch screen with a 1024 by 768 resolution) that would be well, very stupid or just not clever at all. Well this guy (am not mentioning any names here) makes a big deal about the new Mac’s having a resolution that is well beyond full HD in such a way that you would think nothing like this has ever been done before. This guy makes something so obvious seem like well, a miracle.
Don’t get me wrong, am not saying that this guy is a liar, just that he is telling us something so obvious in an extraordinary way that it sounds fictious yet it’s true, and that’s what I call marketing. By making it look like such a big deal, you actually have to buy this new i-Mac and see for yourself, and that’s where they get you.
Most of you out there own PC’s and I don’t really have much to say about them only that there is a very huge collection to choose from when it comes to PC’s that what you buy actually depends on your user needs. We have all types of PC’S out there, from your basic internet browsing document editing machine to that monster machine with a quad core and two graphic cards connected in SLI (or more depending on the number of slots you have and also the cooling system) . When you want to buy a PC, you will be led by the money you have, your needs; availability is not an issue in this case. When you want to buy a Mac…most people are led by the marketing strategies that Apple employs and nothing else really (remember I have said many people).
When you want to buy a Mac, most people are led by their looks, the perception that Mac’s are for the few who can afford them (because they are more expensive, which is also true in many cases) and the security features of the operating system’s platform among other reasons.
My advice, when it comes to choice between Mac and PC, take your time to go through all the options available to you. If you want a machine that looks cool, that your friends will like and that will probably cost you more, then go for a Mac, if you want a machine with all the above options, then go for a high end PC but it might probably cost the same and even perform better than a Mac with the same price (but different configuration of course). You might think this is not true and that I really don’t like Mac’s but that’s not true at all. I really love Mac’s and will be glad to own one very soon when I can afford it but for the time being I am still happy to be a PC user not because the operating system is the easiest to use but for the mere reason that I get value for my money all other factors put into consideration.
Some comparisons between the new Mac Book Pro, a standard PC (Lenovo t520) and Hp envy15all are 15 inch systems but let’s see the differences for ourselves:

Summary
1. From the above comparisons, its clear what system to go for when you want a general machine for office work and some gaming on it too, go for the Lenovo.
2. If you want a media based machine and you don’t mind the heat generated go for the Mac Book Pro (this machines are known for getting very hot during running of CPU intensive tasks e.g. gaming)
3. The Hp comes in third since it has been beaten by both the Lenovo and the Mac over the processor, while it does incredibly well in the RAM sector but it has two major disadvantages and that is the price and also the heat generated, from the above it can be seen that the price is the same as the Mac Book Pro.
Remember, it is not always how the device looks, also consider the components durability, longevity and also expandability. Lenovo knows a thing or two about durability and longevity that the two companies could learn from. Have a great week ahead. My name is Musangi Meshack, and I approve this message. Note: All the information from the above table was collected from the corresponding sites, I actually assembled the device and checked out the price except for the Hp where I had to fish for the info, any errors are highly regretted; any additional info and comments will be highly appreciated. Find us on Google+

.net Framework Installation Errors in Windows 8

2011-10-06T23:07:00.000+03:00

As most of you are aware bby now, well windows 8 build 8102 developers build has been released for like 4 weeks now. Well I have the pleasure of informing you guys that I have been using it for quite some time now and what I can say is I have no regrets so far
Well the only problem that I encountered along the way was when it came to installing programs that run on the older 3.2 .net framework, well windows 8(code name) comes with 4.5 and I guess all the older versions are also included. This was quite a challenge to me and honestly I didn’t know what to do, I had to pick my brains a little harder in order to come up with the solution to this problem.
I know some of you may be asking what is this .net thingy???well in short layman terms what I can say about this framework is that it is a huge library that incorporates most of the programing languages out there and runs primarily in the windows environment. Most of the programs out there are probably compiled to run smoothly in the 3.5 library but windows 8 comes installed with 4.5, so what do you get when trying to install some of those older programs? Windows 8 will inform you that a software requires to make some changes to the system, tell you to connect to the windows update service to “download” a missing component to no avail. I put download in quotes because the process wont even start at all and you will be left waiting for a very long time till you will have to give up or stop using the developers build till you cool off.
Faced with this problem I had to come up with a solution quickly because I was getting really tired of waiting for Microsoft to provide the update online and so I had to do some research and good news guys, if you are facing the same problem, here is the simple solution in three easy steps. For which you will need: the original iso image or the burned disc from which you installed from (the image is preferred for reasons I will point out in a few moments)
An iso mounter preferably get power iso will do just fine and is only a few megabytes
Steps:
1. Run command prompt in the elevated mode
2. Mount the iso image using power iso or whichever program you are using/ if you don’t have the image then insert your disk in the system
3. Here comes the tricky part: cram the following command and type it exactly the way it appears in command prompt….or you could copy this and paste it into your system “dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /Source:g:\sources\sxs /LimitAccess” all you have to do is to replace the g with the letter that represents where your windows 8 is loaded
Wait for 3 minutes and it should tell you the whole thing was a success don’t worry if if tends to get stuck at 66.6% for some time
It will also take a little longer if you are running this from a disc so if you can mount the image and all should be fine
Well, I hope this helped most of you out there as it helped me a lot. Windows 8 is a fun OS to use due to some of the few new features included such as:
a) The new intelligent task manager (much like the one on android phones)
b) The new Metro UI,
c) The new cool new apps and games
d) The boot up times are splendid among other perks
Well, if you have any more issues with windows 8 or anything else concerning windows 8, holla at your boy and lets solve this together
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Windows 8

2011-09-13T21:46:00.001+03:00

Many are anticipating the arrival of Windows 8, the next installment from microsoft,
to say i am really waiting for this day would be an understatement., but do many of us really understand what the rolling out of windows 8 means?
First of all, there was the rumor abut windows 8 using files in the cloud that one would need an active internet connection before logging into the system so as to elliminate privacy. to say but just a few words, this was only but a rumour not saying this is far fetched as most of the computer games most people are buying nowadays are alaready implementing this idea just to name a few like Monday Night Combat among others that are mostly played online and one needs to always have an active internet connection to play this games not to say broadband speeds and the amount of traffic this creates.
the next thing to come out is this issue about SLAT. most people dont know what SLAT is and an alarmingly larger number dont even care about this. well just to shed a little light on the matter, SLAT is Second Level Adress Translation in full, well INTEL calls this technology EPT(Extened Page Tables) while AMD referes to this same technology as RVI(Rapid Virtulization Indexing). it is also good to note that Intel introduced this technology in the Nehalem processor family while AMD only recently introduced this technology in their third generation of Opteron processors.
That having being said, SLAT is mostly used to perform more memory management tools through VM by Hyper-V which significantly reduces the hypervisor CPU time thus increasing on efficiency.
Having said all that, here comes the BOMB, not all the processors out there support SLAT or whatever name you want to give it, well Windows 8 will bring in the issue of Hyper V, but in order for you to run Hyer V, your processor must support SLAT, well, dont worry my friends, this is why am here for you, if you want to know if your computer supports SLAT, hence Hyper V hence no problems with Windows 8 THEN

1. Download the following tool, let's call it SLAT checker but on more professional terms you can call it CoreInfo from the link "http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc835722"
2. Extract CoreInfo to the root of your C drive
3. Open an elevated command prompt(you can do this by typing cmd in the start menu then right clicking on the command prompt icon then choose run as administrator)
4. navigate to the C: drive using command prompt (I assume you all know how to do this by now, if not, inbox me on facebook, twitter or even on Google + and I will get back to you as soon as I can)
5. Run coreInfo by typing "coreinfo.exe -v" (dont worry about the V, it has a purpose so just do what i say)
6. On an intel processor, the results displayed should have an asterix in the EPT row while on an AMD processor you will see something like hyervisor supported or a dash next to it, then you know you are safe

Thanks for reading this weeks blog entry, my Name is Meshack Musangi, AND I APPROOVE THIS MSG. TILL NXT TIME, ADIOS
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