The Epic Android Thread - Page 35 - maemo.org

Capt'n Corrupt | # 341 | 2010-09-22, 12:42 | Report

Here's a post from PC World:
Five Reasons To Ignore the Galaxy Tab and get the iPad
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...html?tk=hp_new

I've included it to provide a counter-perspective on this incredibly biased (my fault, no less) Galaxy Tab thread!

There are some interesting points raised, but nothing that you've likely not heard. Of the credible points of comparison they list: screen-size, battery-life, and iCulture (the very mature iOS eco-system -- though they don't differentiate iPad apps from iPhone/iPod apps).

Rebski | # 342 | 2010-09-22, 13:52 | Report

There are elements of detail in the PCW piece that could be nitpicked and argued over but the crucial decision seems to me to be the personal choice of screen size.

For example last night I went to an event and I like to ebook read on the 1 hour each way train journey. My Streak, representing the limits of pocketability, was perfectly accommodated in my pockets. The Samsung Tab wouldn’t have been, at least I don’t call half out of my jeans rear pocket ‘accommodated’.
So to take the Tab I would have had to carry a bag of some sort. If I need to carry a bag then why would I restrict myself to a 7” screen? Why not have a 9.7” screen. Bigger screen equals better, right?

I can only speak for my experience with a 7” SmartQ and I would define that size as being at the limits of one hand holdability. This is very important in all sorts of situations including lying in bed on my side.

Admittedly the SmartQ is on the chunky side and may wrongly influence my judgement of the svelte iPad. Does anyone have experience of one handed use on the iPad as I am happy to be corrected?

Last edited by Rebski; 2010-09-22 at 16:22.

The Following User Says Thank You to Rebski For This Useful Post:
Capt'n Corrupt

Laughing Man | # 343 | 2010-09-22, 15:24 | Report

I don't own an iPad but I have tried to hold it with one hand while using it. It's doable but the weight and size starts to bother you for prolonged usage (say 30 minutes). That and you start to worry about dropping it.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Laughing Man For This Useful Post:
Capt'n Corrupt, danramos

Capt'n Corrupt | # 344 | 2010-09-22, 15:35 | Report

I think you're right on the money. It comes down to use-cases coupled with personal preference.

For example, I personally prefer to keep my pockets as vacant as possible, and would forego a wallet if I could get away with it (FWIW my wallet is very small, containing only 4 cards, and even so, is so much more than I'd like). That said, any device, be it a phone or a tablet typically goes in a bag of some sort, though I keep my bags small (yet poignantly masculine

). However, even given this constraint, I still prefer 7" to 10".

In-bed use is a major use-case for me, as is one-handed operation where the size and weight of the Galaxy Tab are preferable to the iPad. I use my tablet most in bed and in the kitchen where it's nice to pick up quickly to re-locate it, or quickly review recipe ingredients. Other than that, my tablet would be an auxiliary screen for my work terminal where I can reference APIs, look up other information, and take calls. Even in this case, I prefer less to more as I already have 2 large screens in front of me (my N810 works out really well in this regard).

I like to use my tablet when travelling as well, but like compact devices in general. That said, I prefer the size of a novel to a magazine when reading on-the-go (eg. waiting in the train station), I feel as though there's less things to juggle. I also like the quick pull-out-out-and-use capability of the Tab, which can easily fit in a bags outer pocket.

Another use-case is a DLNA controller for my home entertainment system, and I like small remotes. 7" seems really great in this regard.

It's a very personal preference and I can appreciate opinions on both sides. There are some use-cases where the iPad's 9.7" would be preferable to the Tab's 7" screen for me. For example, if I were using the device to play a multiplayer tablet game, or using the device as a picture frame, then 9.7" would be far better than the 7". However, the ratio of use-cases of 7" to 9.7" is very high, and thus the scale is tipped in the Tab's.

Of course, there are also other reasons why the Tab is preferred to the iPad for me, but zeroing in on the form-factor.... well, you get the gist!

I did enjoy hearing your current/planned use-cases! Anyone else care to share?

The Following User Says Thank You to Capt'n Corrupt For This Useful Post:
danramos

umberto_soprano | # 345 | 2010-09-22, 15:37 | Report

Originally Posted by Rebski View Post

So to take the Tab I would have had to carry a bag of some sort. If I need to carry a bag then why would I restrict myself to a 7” screen? Why not have a 9.7” screen. Bigger screen equals better, right?

There's a huge difference in having a 680g device in your bag and/or your hands versus having one of 380g only, it's almost weighting the half.

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to umberto_soprano For This Useful Post:
Capt'n Corrupt, danramos, nilchak

danramos | # 346 | 2010-09-22, 15:49 | Report

Originally Posted by Capt'n Corrupt View Post

Hmm... You could consider inotify which has been included in mainline linux kernels since 2.6.13. It basically monitors a FS for changes and has an API for these events.

Here's a script that a user copied that uses inotifywait (an inotify command intended for script use), that waits for a change to a directory tree, then fires a command (or commands):

Code:

 #!/bin/sh
       while inotifywait -e modify -t 120 /my/media/directory; do
         /etc/init.d/ushare reload
       done

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...39&postcount=3

And here's the inotifywait man page:
http://linux.die.net/man/1/inotifywait

Of course you'd have to install the requisite software, but this should help tremendously!

Here are install instructions:
http://wiki.github.com/rvoicilas/inotify-tools/

Yeah, a bummer. VLC doesn't seem to support DLNA, but perhaps I need to look deeper. It may be offered in some sort of a plugin.

I guess, uh... dnotify is the new inotify..

Originally Posted by

miles@unicron:~$ inotify --help
No command 'inotify' found, did you mean:
Command 'dnotify' from package 'dnotify' (universe)
inotify: command not found
miles@unicron:~$ apt-cache show dnotify
Package: dnotify
Priority: optional
Section: universe/utils
Installed-Size: 120
Maintainer: Ubuntu MOTU Developers <ubuntu-motu@lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Debian QA Group <packages@qa.debian.org>
Architecture: i386
Version: 0.18.0-2
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.8)
Filename: pool/universe/d/dnotify/dnotify_0.18.0-2_i386.deb
Size: 24796
MD5sum: 7ab465b4626a893dff1c93d996c47b22
SHA1: b11c89f49f9fe809e696cd58358f763105f26a7b
SHA256: 1126f2a86e7ddb4ac27c4f07dd872ddd86380b9d7251f78f16 fe75bb6be77174
Description: execute a command when the contents of a directory change
dnotify is a simple program based on Linux kernel 2.4.19+'s dnotify
API. dnotify can execute a specified command each time the content
of a specific directory changes. It is run from the command line and
takes two arguments: one or more directories to monitor and a command
to execute whenever a directory has changed. Options control what
events to trigger on: when a file was read in the directory, when one
was created, deleted and so on.
Bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug
Origin: Ubuntu

Anyway, I'm poking around at it now. Thanks again for pointing me in that direction!

The Following User Says Thank You to danramos For This Useful Post:
Capt'n Corrupt

nilchak | # 347 | 2010-09-22, 15:54 | Report

Originally Posted by Capt'n Corrupt View Post

Here's a post from PC World:
Five Reasons To Ignore the Galaxy Tab and get the iPad
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...html?tk=hp_new

I've included it to provide a counter-perspective on this incredibly biased (my fault, no less) Galaxy Tab thread!

There are some interesting points raised, but nothing that you've likely not heard. Of the credible points of comparison they list: screen-size, battery-life, and iCulture (the very mature iOS eco-system -- though they don't differentiate iPad apps from iPhone/iPod apps).

From my perspective I want my tablet to be my computer - my all in one device - which can consume as well as create content - unlike the iPad which is mainly a consumption device.

AND I want it to be a standalone device - not needing to be synced with another computer. THAT is a major fail of the iPAD otherwise I would have bough an iPad for all the other reasons maybe.

Would love to see what the Tab can really bring to the table (apart from what you have already shown us Capt).

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to nilchak For This Useful Post:
bergie, Capt'n Corrupt

Capt'n Corrupt | # 348 | 2010-09-22, 15:57 | Report

Hey Dan!

dnotify was obseleted by inotify! Using apt-get, you can install inotify using:
apt-get install inotify-tools

The rest is butter -- as they say

. I also updated the script in my last post to be a little more relevant to your needs!

Here's the wikipedia article mentioning the dnotify obsolescence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnotify

Let me know how it goes! I'm going to be implementing inotify for a different reason, but it is very interesting tech.

danramos | # 349 | 2010-09-22, 16:00 | Report

Originally Posted by Capt'n Corrupt View Post

Hey Dan!

dnotify was obseleted by inotify! Using apt-get, you can install inotify using:
apt-get install inotify-tools

The rest is butter -- as they say

. I also updated the script in my last post to be a little more relevant to your needs!

Here's the wikipedia article mentioning the dnotify obsolescence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnotify

Let me know how it goes! I'm going to be implementing inotify for a different reason, but it is very interesting tech.

I installed that too--I noticed it afterwards. Although.. it seems like dnotify simplified the whole script down to just:

Code:

dnotify -a /home/miles/shows -e sudo /etc/init.d/ushare reload

Not sure why they'd deprecate something THAT much more simpler and efficient.

Edit: Ahh.. read the article, that explains why it was deprecated.

I had assumed it was working the way inotify was working. Good show, Cap'n!

Last edited by danramos; 2010-09-22 at 16:03.

Capt'n Corrupt | # 350 | 2010-09-22, 16:09 | Report

Originally Posted by danramos View Post

I installed that too--I noticed it afterwards. Although.. it seems like dnotify simplified the whole script down to just:

Code:

dnotify -a /home/miles/shows -e sudo /etc/init.d/ushare reload

Not sure why they'd deprecate something THAT much more simpler and efficient.

Edit: Ahh.. read the article, that explains why it was deprecated.

I had assumed it was working th way inotify was working. Good show, Cap'n!

No problem!

inotify is pretty powerful stuff, though one-lined operation seems to be a no-show. Thankfully, the script is very simple, and the possibilities very large!

I will certainly be using it for my DLNA server.