Logitech Ulitmate Ears 200vi and Android

After about a year of daily use on my bicycle ride to work the loose connection close to the jack began to really bother me. The jittering sound drove me nuts.
Eventually I decided to get a new pair of Ultimate Ears ... and they had to be cheap too [digitec.ch]



Ulitmate Ears 200vi - quick summary:
+  good overall build quality
+  soft and comfortable ear plugs
+  good price while providing mic
+  rigid cables,  means no cable tangle
+  button to pick and end calls (htc desire)
0  Sound quality is not splendid but acceptable, I miss some clearness.
0  Bass is unspectacular also.
-  cheap looking too (nooo really)
-  yup, I said so already: I'd love more bass

full specifications see Logitech site

>> I wanted cheap and got cheap, with acceptable sound quality. Solid, not more, not less
On 2nd thought I might opt for the 350vi instead.

The compatibility list on the ultimate ears website is completely useless. I'll test them for you on some Android devices and report here over time. (These headphones are wired in the CTIA standard.)

HTC Desire
sound works, mic works, only the remote's middle button is usable > one click for play/pause and to pick and end a call, long press the middle button to fast forward to the next song.

Google Nexus S
sound works, mic works, only the remote's middle button is usable

Google Nexus Galaxy
sound works, mic works, only the remote's middle button is usable

Google Nexus 4 lg
sound works, mic works, only the remote's middle button is usable


Sony Ericsson Arc 
completely not compatible with this phone, but that's bearable since Sony Ericsson offers a very good earphone collection themselves. Sony Ericsson Arc headphone jack is using the OMTP standard that isn't compatible to the CTIA wiring standard.

Sony Xperia S
hmmm - I first thought they are most likely to work since Sony promotes in their spec sheets that the new Sony phones will support CTIA wiring standard. Bought the phone, turns out that my ultimate ears totally don't work on Xperia S. No sound, no mic, no nothing.
Doesn't matter much because the earphones that came in the box have better sound quality.


HTC Wildfire S
(follows)

Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
sound works, mic works, only the remote's middle button is usable

check out CompHelperKid's review vid for some more details

YouTube Original resolution HQ38

While searching for a special soundtrack I stumbled accross a youtube video promoting the use of the "original quality" - these vids are still rare but make sense if the audio source was excellent and you're into great sound quality.

The original setting features either a 2k or a 4k video feed and cristal clear audio. Here are some example stats of what the stream packs in for you:

Name: Original  also HQ38
aka: 4k  or  4096p  or  2k, 2048p

Container: MP4
Video Codec: H.264(mpeg4 part 10)
Resolution: 4k - 4096x2304 (~xxxx kbps)  or  2k - 2048x1152 (min. 1570 kbps)
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Audio Codec: AAC 151+ kbps VBR, 44.1kHz stereo 

So far I only saw 2 channel audio feeds, what is actually fine with me, because I mainly feed the earphones only. The rest of the youtube codecs and how to record videos and extract audio is described here.

(interesting: transcoding with lame.exe delivers catastrophic results for the first 10s)

Winamp Green Color Tweaks

This is simply a repost of my old entry to test the visibility in the google index when it comes to searching for "Winamp Green" - last week I was surprised, that my pictures didn't show up in google's image index at all. (maybe because they're crap, but that's another story...)
Also tweaked some other SEO factors, like the image titles, the blog title, leaving out the deviantart sharing code and so forth. But most of all I think the difference will be whether the image is hosted at deviantart or at picasa (blogger's default).

[Update 23 January 2012: four months went by, exactly as expected both pictures are now in the top 10 when image-searching for Winamp Green. SEO is not so difficult after all - one just has to understand a few main principles. Number one to me?? ...post your content on sites that are owned by google like youtube, blogger, picasa. Keep your content clean and authentic.]

btw: Winamp Green Modern is still the color scheme I use all and every days :-)
Cheers.

 

head over to deviantart to learn, how to activate

the green color in your winamp

and the same for BigBento

Kanye West - Love Lockdown

totally off topic, totally old      ... I'm really wondering - how the heck can one not consider this video a real blast! I'm not asking - get out of here if you don't consider it a total blast hehe. Enjoy the performance.



Youtube is cool, you can't buy this song as is. Save the 720p video and extract the audio yourself. It's easy. Also check out these two cool remixes:

• xXMorshuXx's Love Lockdown (Dubstep Remix) - Crosby
• NicolasLettow's Love Lockdown dubstep remix

(while he doesn't behave weird during awards we might consider kanyewestfoundation.org - because just like him ... we all mature.)

rotten Amazon App Store

I often state that I don't like to read books, they are generally out dated and so forth. But I do read a lot - just everything that doesn't come in the form of books. Bro reads around 8 hours a day and makes a fortune from the gathered knowledge.

For real: this was today's best read, comes in two URLs - a company mainly developing for iOS, later also for Android and then checking on Amazon App Store. Well written and amazing: Amazon App Store Rotten To The Core. Then we have to read through this comment to get a more complete view.

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Android 4 - Nexus Rumors

[Update 19.10.11 Been really busy from 0600 through 2300 and ... missed all the great news of course. But then again, Android 4 seems to be even better than expected, so I'm happily looking forward to the upcoming hardware greatness, which will be announced in the coming weeks. What really bothers me, is that wife and kids are angry because of the long away time /]

(btw: i made above's pic - how about backlinking?)

Coming to you October 11th October 19th
livestream on youtube.com/android @ 10:00 HTK

Since the announcement we often get to read that the next Android release will be merging together the Android 2.x and tablet Android 3 branches to one release, handling all display resolutions with a Honeycomb style user interface (Update 19.09.11: YES it will - read through this dev post.)  . There's no official word on the naming of that next release - call it Android 4 - Android 2.4 with 2.6.35.7 Kernel - Ice Cream Sandwich - Android 3.4 - whatever. The next release is being told to bring new

• face recognition features
• better multitasking
• better video conferencing
• USB hosting
• new launcher / new UI
• a lot of goodies for developers!

Reading about all the next Nexus phone rumors? Man they are insane to say the least. I don't even want to name the sources, other than "the net"  ... it just doesn't make all to much sense at the moment. Altogether I belief that we're dealing with Android 2.4 rather than Android 4, we'll just have to wait and see.
Read for your amusement only and drool on. Android 4 stuff will be added here once the news condense in a more rational context.

Nexus 3 aka Nexus Prime promoting Android 4 - rumor summary as of june 2011

• display 720p - 4 inch  (1280*720)
• cpu Snapdragon 'krait' dual core, 1.2 to 1.5 GHz (or TI OMAP 4460)
• gpu? (integrated into OMAP is the PowerVR SGX540)
• 1 GB memory
• of course with NFC and the whole rest
• Hardware might come from LG > nexus 3 teasers like this one are wide spread
• if the hardware comes from Samsung then we might face a 4.65 inch Amoled display in a device called GT-i9250. 1280x720 | 5MP cam 

What does that mean to me?

• Wife's Arc is close to perfect. Great camera, perfect hdmi out, good design
• Samsung? I don't like how they clone the iphone over and over, hardware is superb though
• HTC Sensation reviews don't make me fully happy - camera and product design not adequate
• LG firmware still featuring some weird bugs, bad launcher
• Sony Ericsson and HTC released commitments to unlocked bootloaders
• ...still being very happy with my HTC Desire?
• hardly ever missing any Android functionality other than a really good camera?
• not being an OS Upgrade Junkie?

I would like to see a Sony Ericsson Arc successor, with dual core to support vast media options, front facing camera, edge to edge display and the next Android release in Q1 2012. (Nope I'm not talking about the ST18i). So I guess that I won't buy the next Nexus.
[Update 13.07.] I just checked for news about the Sony Ericsson Duo. Head over to IBT Tech section for a good roundup. In Japan it might be released as the Nozomi ...
[Update 31.08.] today Sony Ericsson announced the "Arc S" single core CPU with 1.4 GHz. I guess that's not the successor I'm wating for but certainly a great device.

announced 09. January 2012: the Xperia S. Quite neat. Probably my next phone. click here for an overview of the phone's specs. (yup, fm radio with rds is included)

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Samsung S24A450BW and S22A450BW

We are using Samsung Monitors for quite a while now. The overall experience we got for the money was always excellent. In June 2011 Samsung announced a new generation of monitors  > Series 4 business TFTs with LED backlight and 16:10 aspect ratio, models S24A450BW and S22A450BW.

images source: samsung.de

TFT/TN-Panel
1980*1200 S24A450BW
1680*1050 S22A450BW
very low switching times
matte panel, matte frame
 TCO5 certified | high adjustment flexibility
tilt -5° to +20° |  29W power usage
DVI-D, 15pin D-Sub (no hdmi, no display port)
full fact sheet (not yet avail in english)

The TN panel technology in use is very cheap because it's dominating the consumer market. IPS panels, S-PVA panels and so on offer better quality but usually lack fast response time. Lower production numbers and more sophisticated technology doubles prices in most cases.
So for most of us TN panels suffice. To avoid frustration, you should be aware of the downsides before ordering such a cheap monitor:

• colour mixing happens with only 6bit per RGB channel, resulting in less available colours. TN panel builders use "dithering" to reduce the noticeability of the resulting effects. Often people only notice the lack of colors when being told. See here for more information.
  
• limited viewing angles | but then again 97% of the time I sit in front of my comp alone - so I don't care about it. The colors remain enough stable to notice only very little color bleeding towards the edges.
• Samsung suckz when it comes to older products. After a year they often switch from the good initial panel to cheaper AU Optronics panels - without changing the product name! So don't wait to long a time once the product has been announced.
  

BTW: Personally I would opt for 16:10 aspect ratio - because you get some extra height for  the task bar and menus. Movies aren't released in 16:9 either! wut? you didn't know?  2.39:1 and 1.85:1

If you want to buy a bigger 27" monitor with higher resolution, then I suggest having a look at the Samsung SyncMaster S27A850D. see pictures below.
Specs: 2560 * 1440 (16:9), PLS Panel (similar to IPS), LED, no hdmi, cheap!

more pictures here

8 light minutes away

a star 8 light minutes away - huge erruption on june 7 2011
(explanation and zoomed in, see here )

also check: http://youtu.be/_N2PXdq_bWE?hd=1

good music

Bought Sony Ericsson Arc for Wife a month ago. Overall impression is superb, especially the HDMI connectivity works like a total charm! Enough Tech bla-bla

This post is meant to be about perfect media. Dubstep - indie music at it's best. Brought to your inner cores through your precious audio gear  [bro, other bro, me]

focus! distraction by the noise is fatal - the level of perfection is extremely high. Very hard to accomplish in arts. On par with my other favorites, ie Johnny Cash's interpretation of Hurt.  go on, assimilate your headphones and click play below...
manually select 720p!



Beyond the airlock by korejekt (aka bro Remo)
"commander, there is something outside of our ship." - "i heard the rumors. the spacewalkers all believe it's the Geist."
 


bullet proof (Foamo Dubstep Remix)  >>  480p!

http://youtu.be/wKriBNF_2tI?hd=1

Adele - Set Fire to everybody  > 720p

http://youtu.be/md1QECWVRHs?hd=1


Flight Facilities - Crave you (Adventure Club dubstep remix)

http://youtu.be/ZeaIvjoH1FY?hd=1


Jawnae - Welcome to Rock City > 720p

http://youtu.be/T6upfkC2g44?hd=1


Preview: More monsters & Sprites  >>  480p!

http://youtu.be/LhDmt2sntXE

the remix EP available on Beatport June 7 and iTunes June 21

Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites >>  360p!

http://youtu.be/WSeNSzJ2-Jw  

 13.8 Mio views since oct 2010 - krass

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in Asia

Haven't posted in a while because of a promotion I focused more on my job. Plus we're on vacation in Asia since almost a month. Once I'm back I will gather the important HTC Android facts and report whether we decided for or against the Sony Ericsson Arc. I also updated the Core i5 (1155) articles, because I learned that overclocking the new K-Models works much more sophisticated than I thought.

Uhm - actually I'm just posting, to show you these pictures taken yesterday:

 

some of you knew already...
always had a crush on Serena

Sony Ericsson Arc

Wife wants to replace her Sony Ericsson Satio because sometimes it just behaves really weird - every week it happens once that you can't pick calls or one can hardly hear her talking (crash related!), the symbian user interface also turned out to be very unintuitive etc.
From all devices her friends are using she likes Xperia X10 the most > for the simple reason, that its design is appealing! Via my HTC desire it's also clear, that Android  usability is fantastic. Requesting: good product design, multitouch and Android? We're currently looking forward to the recently announced Sony Ericsson Arc!

It also features:

• large screen | 4.2"
• respectable cam | 8MP backround illuminated sensor
• decent battery pack | 1500mAh
• hdmi out | all videos easily presentable on tv
• robust Gingerbread
• fm radio

 

the rest is nonsense geek stuff that doesn't bother her the least (for example two microphones which will provide noise canceling during phone calls). All together it seems to be a cool gadget, fusing tons of technical stuff with an appealing jacket...   let's see where it goes from here
Price @digitec is extreme! >> chf 799.- reasonable chf 569.-

more information can be found here:

more pictures: google image search
launch article at sony ericsson blog with commercial videos

technical specifications at sony ericsson / at GSM arena

hey this video seems cool to me - also spotted our bedroom tv in it LOL:

der PC fürs 2011

Früher als erwartet sind alle Komponenten bereits lieferbar. Es geht hier wie immer nicht um einen Büro PC, sondern ein Teil für anspruchsvolle Anwender, die viele Videos schneiden und transkodieren, 3d Szenen bauen, Audio Tracks erzeugen und ab und zu ein modernes Spiel in 1920x1200 mit allen Details "on" spielen. Im Hintergrund läuft dauernd Mail, Winamp und ein uploader. Wer das alles nicht macht, soll auf keinen Fall so viel Geld ausgeben! (siehe einleitende Artikel hier und hier)
[achtung: am 31.01. wurde öffentlich, dass alle bisher produzierten neuen 6er Intel-Chipsätze einen Produktionsfehler aufweisen (B2 stepping) > betrifft die Langlebigkeit der ersten 4 SATA Schnittstellen. Fehler kann nur durch einen Motherboardaustausch behoben werden. Die noch zu produzierenden neuen B3 steppings dürften anfang April im Verkauf ankommen. siehe hier]



Bemerkungen: starke Übertakter müssen die K-Modelle nehmen. Interessiert mich nicht, da beim extremen Übertakten i.d.R. Speedstep & deeper C-States etc. ausgeschaltet werden. Speedstep, die Schlaf- und Turbo-Modi sind ja aber genau die extremst hohe Ingenieurskunst die wir wollten...
Update 16.04.11 > anders als ich dachte, funktioniert der Übertaktungsmechanismus für LGA1155 Sockel CPUs anders als bei den bisherigen Intel Chipsätzen. Statt dem Frontside Bus Takt zu erhöhen wird der Multiplikator in Einerschritten erhöht. Der grosse Vorteil: alle CPU Stromspar- und Turbomechanismen funktionieren weiterhin. Das war bei den 1156er Boards nicht so. Demnach spricht einiges für die K-Modelle. also i5 2500K (nur CHF 10 Aufpreis).

Mehr als 4GB RAM will auch jeder, selber ein Game besitzen das mehr als 2 GB Ram alloziert? meistens Fehlanzeige. Ausnahmen sind Hosts von virtuellen Maschinen: die schlucken unter Umständen sehr viel Speicher. Bei mehr als 4GB wird Win64bit Pflicht. Ein Win32 Betriebssystem kann wegen sich überlappenden Adressbereichen typischerweise lediglich 3 bis 3.3 GB Speicher nutzen.

Wichtig: wer die in der CPU eingebaute GPU nutzen möchte, muss ein H67 oder ein Z68 Motherboard organisieren, nicht ein P67 wie wir. Aber mit den H67-Boards kann man die CPU nicht übertakten, nur den GPU-Kern (und das bringt nix). Wer ein K-Modell kauft und die CPU übertakten will, muss zurzeit ein P67 Board kaufen! Und was ist mit dem Z68 Chipsatz? Hier kann man Übertakten und gleichzeitig die interne GPU nutzen und hat noch zwei, drei zusätzliche Gimmicks wie z.B. SSD Caching. Ich lass die Finger davon - wenn schon, dann grad auf SSD setzen, die interne GPU nutzt eh absolut niemand von uns.
Schade: viele viele Nutzer klagen bei den neuen Chipsätzen über Probleme mit dem S3 Standby Modus. Meistens ist ein dokumentierter Intel Microcode PLL OV Fehler die Ursache.

Thema SSD: wer das Geld hat, soll sich eine fürs System-Laufwerk C: besorgen. Dann für die Datentresore eine 2TB Disk einbauen. Bitte keine 3TB Disk. Viele Applikationen stolpern noch über diese Diskgrösse. Generell wird der SSD Effekt überschätzt - Speed ist zwar enorm, mit dem Resultat, dass der PC noch länger auf die erste Tastatureingabe des Anwenders wartet - CPU und GPU wirken viel nachhaltiger. Was aber an SSD super ist: sie sind absolut geräuschlos!

Bei mir geht das anders: schnelle 1TB HD für aktive Daten, zweite langsame 5400er 1.5TB Disk für Sicherungen und Schrott. Die komplexe SSD-Technik ist kompliziert und noch jung - die zugehörigen Microcode-News aber sehr spannend! Selber hätte ich lange nichts anderes als Intel verbaut, die Konkurrenz ist langsam auch robust.

aktualisiert 11.09.2011
CPU, Intel Core i5 2500K - 199
Board, ASUS P8P67 - 139
(kein SLI, in-Chip GPU nicht nutzbar)
(Alternative: Z68)
RAM, Patriot 2x 4GB / 79
HD Samsung F3 1TB - 59

GPU, Nvidia GTX560 TI - 249

DVD Writer / irgendwas -  29
(schreibt eh niemand mehr DVDs - BluRay)
Case, any Case u like / just any / really any - 58
Power, Cooler Ma / oder - 100
-------------------------------
totals ~ CHF 912.-


+
Windows 7 home prem 64bit deutsch - 95
Windows 7 home prem 64bit english - 95
Display, Samsung BX2440 - 279
Display, Samsung new s24a450bw
CPU-Cooler, AC Freezer - 39
very nice Keyboard - 37
very nice 5star Mouse - 79
5star Mouse with same hardware but more buttons - 90

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Moderat - Rusty Nails

A few weeks back my bro invited me to an aphex twin gig in Bristol this march - I was like huh?  ... well uh - okay?



Up until today I had no clue what this is all about, he booked flights, rooms and bought many tickets. Then he sent me these URLs today and I'm TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY!!! Makes me think: if I can help my kids believe in only a very few things then I hope this includes:
work very hard and share - be authentic - learn to identify true beauty


Bloc weekend - the perfect teaser


vitalic - live at bloc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2dfGC1oziE

moderat - live at bloc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w0JSVGh3E0&feature=player_embedded




describing the next song, elefanti 400 on youtube put it like this:
"when the angel of immortality apparat, and the angel of infinity
modeselektor met, a new universe arised. it is? called Moderat and one of
their planets is called rusty nails. it is just godlike"

die Tiefsee

Sehen wir doch der Realität ins Auge. Wir wissen viel, aber noch immer sehr wenig...
Dieses Video hat mich wieder mal zum Staunen gebracht, da läuft in 1000m tiefe doch tatsächlich ein Fisch herum. Ja, er läuft. Einfach unglaublich.

http://www.3sat.de/page/?source=/nano/umwelt/150882/index.html

[Update Sep 2011: die Aufnahme stammt von 2002, möglicherweise vor den Küsten Tasmaniens. Abgebildet ist möglicherweise ein seltener Hand Fisch]
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Intel Core i5 Sandy Bridge

Update 15.01.11 > früher als erwartet sind z.B. bei Digitec schon alle CPUs und Motherboards lieferbar. Siehe auch den entsprechenden Einkaufstipp. / nicht vergessen: alle bis 25.01.11 produzierten H67 und P67 Chipsätze weisen einen Produktionsfehler auf. Fehlerfreie Produkte werden erst gegen Ende März erwartet.

Update 16.04.11 > anders als ich dachte, funktioniert der Übertaktungsmechanismus für LGA1155 Sockel CPUs anders als bei den bisherigen Intel Chipsätzen. Statt dem Frontside Bus Takt zu erhöhen wird der Multiplikator in Einerschritten erhöht. Der grosse Vorteil: alle CPU Stromspar- und Turbomechanismen funktionieren weiterhin. Das war bei den 1156 Boards nicht so. Demnach spricht einiges für die K-Modelle. also i5 2500K (nur CHF 10 Aufpreis)

Die NDAs sind abgelaufen, ab heute dürfen nun alle über die neuen Core i5 und Core i7 berichten was das Zeugs hält... Aber allzuviel müsst ihr dazu eigentlich nicht lesen gehen, denn für jene Gruppe von Usern welche diese Programme einsetzen gibt es keine Alternative!
Man kann quasi bedenkenlos zugreifen - einzig bei der Wahl des Motherboards wird es noch ein wenig spannend. In ein paar Stichworten zusammengefasst:

• CPU Sockel LGA1155  :-(
• neuer GPU Teil liefert noch immer nicht die Leistung einer $60 Grafikkarte :-(
• neuer zugehöriger Intel Chipsatz noch ohne USB 3.0, jedes Motherboard wird eine andere Lösung dieses "Problems" präsentieren
  
• erstaunlich mehr Speed > sehr hohe Taktraten, bei niedrigem Stromverbrauch (fast unglaublich)
• der bisher exzellent funktionierende Turbo Modus wurde noch verbessert (burst mode)
• die CPUs sind günstig > beste Preis/Leistung haben wohl Core i5 2400 & 2500
• Beispiel-Motherboard: Asus P8P67 > bereits unsere P7P55-Boards für die erste Core i5 Generation waren sensationel robust plus der zughörige Treiberservice bei Asus.com war die letzten 2 Jahre tip top. (die Austauschprogramme für die erste, schlechte Charge laufen sauber)
• NIC des Chipsatzes bietet nun Jumbo Frame Support (haha)

Hier gibt's eine gute kurzweilige Zusammenfassung: Heise  
mehr Links zu englischsprachigen Reviews folgen später
Core i5 GPU Performance (Techpowerup)
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