Bluetooth Parity

I've had Android 5.1 on my Nexus 5 for a while now (I was impatient and ended up flashing the OTA image once the links appeared on Android news sites) and I just realized I haven't blogged about an important improvement I discovered. The improvement in question is audio playback via Bluetooth. Now my Nexus works just as well as my iPhone does in my car, i.e. connects quickly and starts playback smoothly without any initial choppiness. Finally.

Phone/Watch Dilemma

Ok, I'm getting seriously tired of carrying two phones with me. I'd really like that one phone to be my iPhone 6 as it blows my Nexus 5 out of the water in both camera and battery departments and the travel card reader enabled by Android's less restricted NFC doesn't quite make up for those deficiencies.

The problem is that I'd still like to carry a smartwatch, so I'd need something that can pair with my iPhone. Pebbles would do that, but their appearance is somewhat too clunky for my taste. Another option would be for Google to release their rumored iOS compatibility for Android Wear soon. My wallet would like that as I could use my existing gear.

Oh well, maybe I'll wait for the Apple Watch reviews to get out before making any decisions. Even though the Apple Watch pricing is rather prohibitive, the UX advocate in me would appreciate how it will undeniably provide the best possible integration with the iPhone (OK, the playground isn't fair here as e.g. Pebble doesn't get similar access to the system). But once the reviews arrive, I know whether I should go and get myself a Pebble or cough up the money for the Apple Watch. The next couple of weeks would be a great time for Google to release the iOS support for Android Wear :)

Apple Watch? I think I'll pass, at least for now.

So, now we know more about the Apple Watch including its pricing, and especially the European prices are a little bit too high. Finland isn't getting the watch in the first round (all those who were surprised, please raise your hand now. Anyone?), but a quick look at the German Apple Store revealed that the model I was after (42mm Sport) sells for 449€, which is a little bit more than I was prepared to pay for a smartwatch. In addition, if anything's certain it's that the Finnish prices won't be lower than the German ones, but no one would be surprised if they were even higher.

Combine the price with some UX worries, and it seems more than likely that my G Watch will carry me at least to the gen 2 milestone, if not even further (possibly superseded by another Android Wear device).

The recent price increases (thanks, weak Euro!) for Apple laptops have also got me to consider if my next primary machine could be something else. They are nice machines for sure, but I can't bend over backwards to deal with diminishing upgradeability/repairability combined with ever-increasing prices.

This will be a familiar sight for a while

As you might guess, this means that Android 5.1 has been released: http://officialandroid.blogspot.fi/2015/03/android-51-unwrapping-new-lollipop.html

Yes, I do know that mashing that Check for Update button every now and then won't make the update appear any faster, but that doesn't stop me from doing that.

This also reveals one aspect where Google has some catching up to do. iOS 8.2 was also released today and I was running it within the first hour of availability. That's how it should be.

Oh well, I hope the update hits my Nexus 5 soon.

Android Wear to iOS? Hopefully.

I just stumbled on this rumor: Google Reportedly Preparing Android Wear for iPhone and iPad (MacRumors.com). I've seen a couple of other rumors about this dated a few months back, so this resurfacing gives me some hope about its validity. 

I sure hope that this turns out to be true as it would solve the dilemma I described in an earlier post in a rather cost efficient way, and I could easily wait out for the allegedly much improved Apple Watch revision 2.