converser.nz

Category: NZTekonverse -> Android

  • Apple vs Google vs Microsoft vs Samsung vs….etc etc etc…

    So I have listed the names of the world’s four biggest computer hardware / software vendors … or at least the best known, in various different ways. Apple and Microsoft have been the two leading providers of desktop operating systems for decades. Apple and Google are the two leading providers of mobile operating systems. Apple…

  • Galaxy A12: After Six Weeks

    So I have owned this phone now for six weeks. It has been one of the very few times I have bought a phone that was a completely new model, but it was offered on special at just the right time when I needed to replace my existing phone and had the right combination of…

  • Samsung Galaxy A12

    Well it’s time to get some posting underway for 2021 (other than rail maps) so here is a brief run down of a recent acquisition, a Samsung Galaxy A12 phone. This model was released late last year so there is relatively little information available for it on a lot of sites. The example mentioned here…

  • PineTab, PinePhone, PineBook

    Pine is a platform of multiple low cost devices, starting with a range of single board computers (things the size and functional level of a Raspberry Pi and in a similar sub-$100 price bracket), which has extended into a laptop, phone and tablet in the last couple of years. The distinguishing factor in the case…

  • Can The Covid Card Really Work?

    In these Covid-19 pandemic days in NZ and worldwide, the powers that be have had to come up with effective ways to be able to trace infected people’s personal contacts lest they also turn out to be infected with the virus. It is entirely natural that some sort of technological solution should be sought, and…

  • Privacy concerns about Big Data well-founded

    Since I wrote about escaping from Google’s walled garden on my Android phone, I have made some effort to further implement this on my desktops as well. Geoffrey A Fowler is a columnist in the Washington Post and he has written a number of articles about these privacy concerns about Google’s vast data mining efforts…

  • Escaping Google’s walled garden on handhelds [3]: Using Lineage OS – 1

    So last time I wrote about the installation experience for Lineage, now it is time to have a look at early impressions of using it. Along the way I discovered some stuff about the Nexus 5X. It turns out that it was first shipped with Android and the final official release of Android for it…

  • Escaping Google’s walled garden on handhelds [2]: Installing Lineage OS

    So after further investigation I decided Lineage OS would be the most straightforward means of getting my Nexus 5X off Google. This is quite a lengthy process that involves replacing the installed Google bloatware on the phone with the LineageOS installation images. LineageOS provides guides, which are pretty good except that like me, you can…

  • Escaping Google’s walled garden on handhelds [1]: Intro

    I’ve owned smartphones since 2012 when I was given one as part of a new employment role. It (HTC) was running Windows Phone 7. It was followed by a couple of Nokias running Windows Phone 8 (the later one since updated to 10) and then a low-end Motorola Moto E running Android 4. The next…

  • Ubuntu Touch may step in where Firefox OS finished….maybe?

    We certainly have a strong case for an alternative to Android because we should get a choice to be free of Google’s massive data collection infrastructure that is tracking everything we do and everywhere we go with our phones. Revelations for example that Android 8 screen scrapes every app in the system are mind boggling.…