Inside View

Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses First Impressions

by Bernie Goldbach in Clonmel

WE GOT TWO Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and I believe they are the best piece of tech I've purchased this year. Their design, audio performance, camera quality, and charging case deliver value for the €495 I spent to get the two sets of glasses. And I believe I will open new opportunities to spam friends with live streams before the end of the spring semester 2024.

I discovered a few things during the first two days of ownership.

TL;DR This is the time for you to consider wearing connected eyeglasses as you walk, run, and drive.

After Spending €3186 with @ThreeIreland #billshock

WE HAVE SPENT more than 3000 euro in data charges with Three Ireland to power two different iPad since 2010 but after being charged €689.91 for "out of allowance" usage, it's time to cut our losses.

Christmas Bill Shock h/t @klillington

I READ Karlin Lillington's byline in The Irish Times and she has shared several relevant consumer items about the costs and hazards of technology. Her cautionary note about the prospects of encountering bill shock related to mobile phone usage hit home in late November 2020 for me.

Calling Phones with Alexa is Child's Play

WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE (and without being prompted), Dylan (7) just called my mobile phone in Ireland by asking our Amazon Echo Dot in the kitchen. I didn't think Irish phone numbers were configured for that service.

But after a little cross-check, I realised the voice call was simply a five star VOIP service tucked inside my handset's Amazon Alexa app. This means anyone with an Amazon Echo device who has me in their contact list can ring my mobile phone. I'm fascinated by the quality of the call and the natural language that makes all of this so simple.

Computer on a Stick #chromebit

Asus Chromebit for EUR 95 available in July 2015

WE HAVE OLD television screens and PC monitors that would benefit from the Asus Chromebit.

The simple device turns any television with an HDMI slot into a low-end PC. The dongle is no larger than my highlighter pen and comes in three colours (not pink or purple). It uses Google's Chrome OS which means it comes with 2MB of RAM and 16 GB of SSD capability. [1]

The Chromebit dongle has a swiveling head, so it will have no problems plugging into awkward HDMI locations. Power comes from a relatively modest Rockchip processor. It has both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. And its USB 2.0 port means I could plug in a keyboard.

1. Richard Nieva -- "Google Pushes Chrome OS software, with or without Chromebooks" on CNET, March 31, 2015.

2. Google Chrome Blog -- "More Chromebooks, for Everyone", March 3, 2015.

One Dongle Five Devices Thirty Gigs

OUR HOME CONTINUES to pull its internet connectivity from a small O2 Hotshot dongle in a window (in the photo) facing masts two to six miles away. And the little dongle shares the data with a Kindle, a Chromebook, an iPhone, a Surface and a Lumia phone.

Lumia photo of O2 Hotshot at night.

Several other devices occasionally try to connect but the Huawei Hotshot limits itself to five devices. It works well, even after Three Ireland took over the provision of services.

Occasionally Losing WiFi Bluetooth #surface

Screenshot from #surface by @topgold.

NEARLY EVERY TIME my Microsoft Surface Pro 2 takes a Windows Update, the Surface loses its Marvell Wireless Adapter. I have a simple work-around.

Marcell Avastar Wireless Composite Device

Photo of Surface Pro 2 by @topgold.

I HAVE A RECURRING problem with the Microsoft Surface Pro 2--it loses its Marvell Avastar Wireless Composite Device nearly every time Windows 8.1 updates. I share some recovery techniques below the break.

We Couldn't Find Wireless Devices

Screenshot from my Microsoft Surface.

THE ONLY SNAG I have encountered after 70 days of using the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 as my primary laptop happened one day when "We couldn't find wireless devices on this PC". I knew I had a problem because both Bluetooth and WiFi functions were offline.

Solving the problem was very simple. I didn't have to ask Google for help, I just searched for the answer on my Surface. I explained what I did as part of an Audioboo.

A Surface Snag

 

Disappointed with 2G @O2irl Mifi

Photo of @topgold's O2 Hotshot snapped with Lumia.

[UPDATED 28 May below the break.]

FOR MORE THAN three years in County Tipperary, I used an O2 Hotshot to enjoy solid 3G service. But since early May, my service consistently downshifts to 2G after 10 minutes of use.

I need to figure out what has changed because when my connectivity rolls back to 2G, only my email works. I have become dependent upon multi-socket broadband while using a host of cloud services. Those critical services simply fail to work when the connection speed drops to 2G.