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4 of the Best Lightweight Operating Systems for Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is a super-affordable single board computer that be can be used for a variety of different projects. Some of the most popular uses of the Raspberry Pi are to turn it into a dedicated media player with OSMC or a videogame emulation machine with RetroPie or Recalbox. Given the versatility of the Raspberry Pi, some have wondered if it could replace a traditional desktop computer. While the Raspberry Pi has significant hardware limitations, the following lightweight operating systems certainly think so. Note: The Raspberry Pi has a number of different models on the market. For the purposes of this article, we will… Read more

Casio PRO TREK WSD-F30 Android WearOS smartwatch review

REVIEW – Casio manufactures a wide range of electronic goods, from calculators to musical instruments. But I would argue, Casio is best known for their wrist watches…particularly their G-SHOCK line. For decades the G-SHOCK has been one of the goto watches for rugged dependability. A watch engineered to survive a march thru hell and back without batting an eye. Well, this review isn’t about any of Casio’s G-SHOCKs but on their PRO TREK WSD-F30, a modern smartwatch with much of the G-SHOCK’s DNA which is apparent the moment you lay eyes on it.

I am not going to be diving into WearOS in detail other than how well it works operating on this watch. Like the Apple Watch OS, Android’s WearOS is a pretty well-known quantity these days. That said, my focus will be on the watch hardware and noteworthy features this smartwatch brings to the table.

What is it?

The PRO TREK WSD-F30 is Casio’s latest flagship GPS enabled smartwatch engineered for the outdoor enthusiast. The PRO TREK WSD-F30 runs on Android’s smartwatch WearOS software, has a built-in compass/mapping/navigation/barometer/altimeter, and is hardened to MIL-STD-810G (United States military standard) survivability specifications.

What’s in the box?

  • Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 smartwatch
  • USB charging cord
  • Power plug

Hardware specs

  • 1.2-inch dual layer display, Color organic electroluminescence (EL) (390 × 390 pixels) + Monochrome LCD
  • Capacitive touch panel
  • Microphone
  • Vibration
  • Battery:Type: Lithium-ion battery
  • Charging time: Approximately 3 hours at room temperature
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 4.1 (Low Energy support)
  • Wi-Fi: IEEE802.11b/g/n
  • Memory & storage: 768 MB RAM, 4 GB internal storage
  • Charging method: Magnetic crimped charging terminal
  • Measuring unit: 1 degree
  • 5-bar (50-meter) water resistant
  • Environment performance: MIL-STD-810G (United States military standard issued by the U.S. Department of Defense)
  • Sensors: GPS, Pressure sensor, Accelerometer, Gyrometer, Magnetic sensor
  • INPUT: AC 100 V to 240 V 50 Hz/60 Hz
  • OUTPUT: 5.0 V
  • Charger cable: Length: Approximately 0.75 m (2.46 ft) Type: AC adaptor USB Type A
  • Operating temperature: -10℃ to 40℃ (14℉ to 104℉)
  • Crystal: Mineral glass (dirt resistant coating)
  • Approx. Size (Body H × W × D): 60.5 × 53.8 × 14.9 mm (2.4” × 2.1” × 0.6”)
  • Approx. Weight (including band): 83 g (2.9 oz)
  • Included accessories: Charger (AC adaptor), Special charger cable

TOOL Apps:

Compass:
  • Measurement range: 0° to 359°
  • Measurement unit: 1°
  • Continuous measurement duration: 1 minute
  • North Indication hand, Magnetic declination calibration, Bearing memory, Gradient calibration
Altimeter:
  • Measurement range: –700 to 10,000 m (–2,300 to 32,800 ft)
  • Measurement unit: 1 m (5 ft)
  • Measurement accuracy: within ±75 m (within ±250 ft) (When frequent manual calibration is performed)
  • Shortest measurement interval: 1 minute
  • Altitude graph: Past 24 hours
  • Manual altitude calibration, Auto altitude calibration using location information*2*3
Barometer:
  • Measurement range: 260 to 1,100 hPa (7.6 to 32.5 inHg) Measurement unit: 1 hPa (0.1 inHg) Measurement accuracy: within ±3 hPa (within ±0.1 inHg)
  • Atmospheric pressure tendency graph: Past 24 hours
  • Barometric pressure measurement interval: 1 minute
  • Manual barometric pressure calibration
Tide and Fishing:
  • Tide graph: Past 12 hours + Next 12 hours
  • Fishing time (Calculated according to current location, and moon hour angle and age.)
  • Sunrise/sunset: Sunrise/Sunset times (Current location sunrise/sunset) Sunrise/Sunset directions: Accuracy depends on compass

Design

As I mentioned, the PRO TREK WSD-F30 is Casio’s latest and greatest Android WearOS smartwatch engineered for the great outdoors. The F30 is Casio’s third generation flagship in the PRO TREK line. And even though this watch is massive and hardened against the elements, it does have a well thought out and refined design to it. The watch takes many design queues from the G-SHOCK line and is built to survive many epic adventures.

The fixed bezel is thick and raised well about the face of the watch to protect the WSD-F30’s screen from impacts. The capacitive touchscreen has a mineral glass exterior layer with a dirt resistant coating. Shame Casio did not use a sapphire crystal instead for added durability, strength, and scratch resistance.

The case is well made from metal and hard plastic. The build quality is good but the design of this watch is much more about ruggedness than polish and finish…definitely a tool watch. The right side of the F30 has the main physical controls (aka the buttons 😉 ). The buttons are large and easy to find and press. The upper (mapping) and lower (tools app) buttons have a nice knurled pattern with the center button having more of a bulls-eyed pattern. The buttons work fine but are a bit squishy when pressed vs having a definitive click to them.

The left side of the watch has the magnetic crimped charging terminal and atmospheric/magnetic sensors. To add to the F30’s rugged good looks, Casio uses stainless steel hexbolts and screws to hold the smartwatch together.

Here you can see the proprietary charging cable and magnetic crimped charging terminal.

The charging system works well though the cable does have a habit of popping off too easily. The back of the case is a large stainless steel plate held on by six screws.

The WSD-F30 has a dual-layer OLED/monochrome display. The monochrome display shows the time, power level, and either the day/date and your step count or sensor information (altitude, barometric pressure, and compass heading) while saving power by turning off the full color display. The 390 × 390 pixels OLED layer provides a vibrant viewing experience when using apps. The touchscreen’s clarity and responsiveness is excellent.

Outdoor Features

Casio includes a handful of very outdoor-centric functions on this smartwatch including: digital compass, mapping & navigation, altimeter, and barometer telemetry. And even though this watch can provide you your notifications, music, current news, etc…one of its main missions is help you navigate and survive when you’re getting back to nature, escaping the modern world. Even though the screen is pretty small, the mapping and navigation capabilities of the F30 are impressive with the ability to download offline maps, preset routes, and waypoints, backtrack, etc. Barometric pressure data lets you know of a potential change in the weather. And the usefulness of the compass and altimeter when you’re lost in the middle of nowhere are pretty obvious.

Just one thing is missing…

I would say the most glaring omission on the PRO TREK F30 is the lack of a built-in heart-rate sensor. For being such a get out and get moving, outdoor and explore smartwatch not having an HR sensor could definitely cause the fitness crowd to pause when considering the F30 as their next wearable purchase. With the likes of Apple, Polar and many others doubling down on accurate, always monitoring fitness, I think Casio probably should have added this function by the third generation of this watch. That said, the F30 does count your steps, monitor activities, and does include Google’s and other various fitness apps.

Setup

The Casio WSD-F30 is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. Setting up the F30 with my iPhone was quick and easy. Since I already had my Google WearOS app setup, getting the F30 talking to my iPhone didn’t take long at all. The app configures all my preferences, info, and music nearly seamlessly, though music transfer did take a bit of time.

Performance

Overall the performance of the WSD-F30 is surprisingly good. I have tried/reviewed more than my fair share of smartwatches and most, if not all, of the WearOS devices fell well short in the performance category (especially compared to the Apple Watch). The F30 is relatively responsive with less lag than previous WearOS devices, apps don’t crash, and the special features/tools actually work as advertised.

With its dual-layer display technology you can get one to two days of use out of the PRO TREK before needing to recharge it…pretty standard for today’s smartwatches. The F30 has an Extended Mode for when you don’t have power and need to stretch battery life for many days. Extended Mode does limit functionality but can be switched off when need be.

Comfort & Wearability

Even though the F30 is smaller than its predecessors, this watch is HUGE. The width is 54 mm with a lug-to-lug wingspan distance of over 60 mm. I typically wear 38 – 40 mm diameter watches with a lug-to-lug distance under 50 mm, so this watch does feel large and a bit cumbersome. Here you can see the watch on my 7 inch wrist and the lugs overhang the sides of my wrist. The F30’s dual layer display measures 1.2 inches with much of the watch’s overall diameter coming from the thick bezel.

The WSD-F30 is pretty thick as well. The watch sits 14.9 mm high on the wrist and does occasionally bump into things while moving through the world. Though at 83 g / 2.9 oz, the WSD-F30 feels light on the wrist especially when you consider its overall dimensions.

Here you can see the WSD-F30 compared to the 42mm Apple Watch, Polar Vantage V Pro, and Mobvoi TicWatch S2. The PRO TREK wears bigger than the other three though it is pretty comparable to the TicWatch in size.

The band is made from a black plasticky rubber material with a carbon fiber-like look on the exterior. The watchband is OK, definitely not my favorite, feeling more like plastic than rubber. The band wears fine but not nearly as comfortable as my Everest or RubberB watchbands or even the bands of my Apple and Polar watches.

The F30’s watch band has many notches for a precise/better fit as your wrist expands and constricts due to weather conditions and effort level.

A nice feature of the WSD-F30 band is that Casio uses a quick release spring bar system for easy tool-free removal/swapping of the wristband. Funny thing is, the tiny quick release slider is recessed into the band and after a minute or two I gave up trying to make it work with my fingernail. My spring bar tool made quick work of getting the band on & off of the watch. But in reality, if your fingernail wasn’t working a paperclip or toothpick would work just as well.

What I like

  • Well made rugged design
  • Solid build and material quality
  • Created for the outdoor enthusiast
  • Pretty responsive for an Android WearOS smartwatch
  • Feature rich
  • Offline navigation and compass
  • Good dual layer screen design
  • Decent battery life

What I’d change

  • Make it smaller
  • Lower the price
  • Watchband is too plasticky
  • Include a heart-rate sensor
  • Charging plug disconnects easily

In addition to the orange-red color I received, the PRO TREK WSD-F30 is also available in blue and black.

Final thoughts

Even though it is not perfect, I really like the PRO TREK WSD-F30 smartwatch. It is unapologetically big, bold, and engineered to weather whatever Mother Nature throws at it. Casio has done a good job combining the latest wearable technology and navigation/survival tools into a rugged, mil-spec watch. This smartwatch provides the outdoor enthusiast tools to get around the middle or nowhere with confidence. It would have been nice if the F30 had a built-in heart rate sensor but if I had to choose, I’d rather have a map and a compass than know my calories burned when lost out in the woods.

One more thing: the Gadgeteer Kid is heading off to college soon and will be attending the Colorado School of Mines, located in Golden. Along with studying engineering, he plans on embracing all that Colorado has to offer: skiing, hiking, rafting, etc. while he’s there. I can’t think of a better tech-tool to hand him as he walks out the door and heads off to God’s country.

Price: $549.99
Where to buy: Amazon or directly from Casio.com.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Casio.

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Casio PRO TREK WSD-F30 Android WearOS smartwatch review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 24, 2019 at 10:18 am.

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GL.iNet GL-X750 Spitz mini router review

MINI REVIEW – Firstly let me clarify, this is not a “Spitz Mini” review, it’s a Spitz  “mini review”. That being said, just like all the GL.iNet  range of products this is small, not your normal size router.  Why a mini review?  Because unlike a normal router, there’s a heap of different factors that will affect how well this unit will work for you including your country, your telco, etc.  That makes it really hard to say if this will work well because of the differing environments.  But if you’re looking at using a small LTE modem router the Spitz (GL-X750) is well worth a look.  Read on below the break:

So why do you need an LTE modem router? In Australia, the National Broadband Network (NBN) hasn’t quite met the expectations set for it (and let’s leave it there and not get into any sort of technology or political discussions 🙂 ).  People are putting in landline broadband solutions and finding them inadequate for even the most basic requirements.  Australia is ranked about 60th in the World at the moment in the broadband speed rankings. That’s not so good 🙁  That being said however we are ranked about 5th in the World for mobile broadband speeds. Many people are changing from fixed line to mobile broadband to attain better speeds for internet access especially as prices get cheaper for mobile broadband.

But that’s not the only reason you might want LTE mobile broadband internet. Some examples are:

  • Maybe you want a 4g backup line for when landline provider goes down
  • When you’re away from home  and don’t trust the free/public wifi
  • When you’re away from home and there’s no free/public WiFi
  • When the public/free WiFi is slow
  • If you are moving house a lot
  • When the family needs internet while you’re driving/touring in a vehicle

Like the other GL.iNet units I’ve reviewed, the X750 (Spitz) comes loaded with OpenWRT (with a neat little OEM wrapper on the front-end) and does all the WISP and router functions I’ve already covered so I’m not going to go over old ground and instead concentrate on the differences. Note that you could achieve the same solution using an LTE WiFi dongle attached to either the Slate or the Mango as I’ve discussed before in my previous reviews.

As I said in the beginning, the Spitz isn’t your normal size router at 115 x 74 x 22mm / 86g it’s still pretty small and can easily be thrown into your gadget bag. The Spitz comes with everything you need to get started.  A country-specific power supply, an ethernet cable, and a USB micro cable. On the front, there are 5 LEDs showing power, WAN connection, 2.4Ghz, and 5Ghz activity and LTE connection.  The Spitz is an AC750 WiFi router so supports both bands so all the advantages I mentioned in the Slate review hold if you just wanted to use this in a WiFi environment.

On the back are two removable antennas, they’re two 5DBi antennas for LTE not for WiFi; both the WiFi antenna are internal to the unit. If you wanted you could replace the antenna with different ones like higher gain or maybe directional rather than omnidirectional. There’s a reset switch, a 10/100 LAN and Wan port and a barrel power connector (12V/1.5A). So unlike the previous GL.iNet routers I’ve reviewed, it can’t be run off a normal USB power adapter or via your notebook/computers USB port. With the correct adapter/cable/power bank however you could run this off a powerbank or the cigarette lighter port in your car.

On the left is a USB 2.0 port for sharing a USB stick across your network.

Underneath a cover on the back is a micro sd-card slot and a slot for your mobile SIM card.

Sample image

The Spitz has a Mini PCIe slot underneath the bottom cover (user removable)  and currently, you can purchase with either a Cat 4 or Cat 6 Mini PCIe modem from Quectel. It can also use Mini PCIe LTE modems from other vendors as well as long as they’re “recognized” by OpenWRT).  In theory, the Cat 6 modem will give you better speeds as it supports better Carrier Aggregation.  Because each country and each telco uses different bands for the LTE broadband, there’s a number of different variations of the boards and you need to make sure you purchase the correct board for your country and telco when ordering.  They are user changeable as well if you needed multiple boards but you need to be willing to lose any warranty, use a screwdriver and one thing I really worry about is the delicate little uFL antenna connectors; you have to be VERY careful when removing and reclipping the antenna cables so as not to damage them.

The unit also allows for optional Bluetooth and Zigbee if you wanted to make this unit the “hub” for you IOT home automation system.

So here’s the sort of speeds I am typically getting using the X750 on the main telco (Telstra) available here in Australia. They’re known to have the best coverage and speeds (which comes at a price of course 🙂 ) .  That being said I’ve seen speeds from 24Mb to speeds up to about 190Mb depending on circumstances and yet, in many cases the 24MB is better than people are getting on their landlines.  My internet needs aren’t complicated, at most a couple of streams of Netflix or other streaming service at the same time, so even the lower speeds will do me.  Other telcos (there are 2 main other ones) I’ve tested so far peak at around 40Gb, still a good result and normally adequate for my needs. If I got really serious I could start sending AT commands to the modem and start locking it to bands and forcing carrier aggregation depending on which telco and which tower and which band and…….. to try and get the best possible connection but I really don’t have the time. These results are as it ships.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking at LTE mobile broadband for whatever reason, there’s a number of things you need to take into account:

  • Country
  • Telco
  • Bands supported
  • Distance from Tower
  • Bands supported on that tower
  • Congestion (traffic) on that tower
  • Tower coverage
  • The list goes on and on for factors that will affect your final throughput….

But if you’re looking for a small, flexible, well supported device, then the GL-X750/Spitz is well worth having a look at.  It’s flexible both as a normal router with potentially a 4G link as a backup for your home or business, or as a portable LTE modem solution when you’re out and about (and have the power to run it).  I am currently looking at building a house at the moment and knowing that there’s only Fibre to the Node (FTTN) available there I am seriously considering just using mobile broadband and the Spitz (GL-X750) will definitely be a part of my infrastructure if that happens and most likely even if mobile broadband isn’t the best option just as a standard router.

As mentioned though please do your research before you commit to one of these LTE modem units (whatever brand)  and ensure that the modem card you are purchasing suits the environment in which you’re going to use it. As the old IT adage goes;  YMMV 🙂

Price: From $119 (US) depending on the configuration
Where to buy: GL-iNet
Source: The sample for this review was supplied by GL.iNet.

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GL.iNet GL-X750 Spitz mini router review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 24, 2019 at 9:06 am.

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Nonda ZUS Smart Dash Cam review

REVIEW – I’ve reviewed quite a few different dash cams in the past. When the Nonda Smart Dash Cam review came along I saw that it was quite a bit different in form factor and jumped at the opportunity to review something a little different – and different it was!

What is it?

The Nonda Smart Dash Cam is a screenless dash cam. It records on its own, but you use your smartphone to configure its settings and, if desired, view the video.

What’s in the box?

List contents – you can remove this heading and section if it doesn’t apply to your review.

  • Dash cam
  • Micro-USB power cord, but no power adapter
  • Window mount film (2)
  • Extra mounting tape
  • Removal tool


Setup

First, you install and start the ZUS app. After six intro screens that advertise features, you’re brought to a screen that prompts you to sign in. You must either sign in with Facebook or create an account with an e-mail address.



Next, you have to add the camera to the app. After signing in you have to press the button on the camera once to turn on Wi-Fi mode. Then in your phone settings connect your phone Wi-Fi to the camera. Once connected you can add a device.



Design and features

The Nonda Smart Dash Cam has a design that is unlike most other dash cams in several ways. This unusual design has both benefits and drawbacks.

First, its mounting method is different in that instead of a suction cup and ball swivel mount, it uses a small window cling and a tape mount. The cylindrical body can rotate allowing vertical view adjustment, but there is no horizontal adjustment.

This mounting method provides a very sturdy mount but lacks the adjustability that some people may like. It also limits the mounting location to the area in the center of the window, near the rear-view mirror in order for the camera to point directly forward. The sturdy mount most likely won’t move during an impact like many of the ball type mounts can.

Secondly, the screenless design means that to make any changes to the settings you must first start the Wi-Fi mode, connect your phone’s Wi-Fi to the camera, then start the Nonda app. Once the app is connected, you tap “Dashboard” then select the camera which will show you the recorded clips. Once on that screen, you can access the camera settings.

There are a couple of benefits to this design that I could think of. 1) If you have teen drivers, they don’t have access to erase videos. 2) There’s no screen to distract you or others.

As for buttons and lights, there’s one button with an LED light in it. Pressing the button once turns on Wi-Fi mode, which is indicated by the LED blinking. It’s worthy to note that while in Wi-Fi mode that camera does not record, so you can’t just use your phone as a screen for that camera while driving. I did find the LED status light a but hard to see in the daytime, I would prefer it to be a little brighter.

The camera itself has a 140-degree view and records in 1080p. It has auto collision detection to automatically save files in the event of an impact. An SD card is not included. The camera settings include the ability to turn on and off sound recording (default is off), record length, time watermark, collision sensitivity, device date/time, battery discharge prevention, and SD card management.

The app for the Nonda Smart Dash Cam is called “ZUS Smart Driving Assistant” that connects to the camera and other optional Nonda smart devices for your car such as a backup camera, tire pressure monitors, vehicle health monitor, and more. The app is designed to work with those other devices, so the dash cam is not the primary focus of the app, making the viewing of video or getting to the camera settings a multi-step process. Without the other devices, you’ll tap something only to be presented with information about buying or connecting the other device.

The app opens to a “Timeline” view, which is basically a blog for Nonda’s website and ads for their stuff. This is quite annoying as I would rather have it open to the “Dashboard view” where it shows all of your devices. Once there you can tap on the dashcam to access the video and settings.

The app has a “Finder” feature that is supposed to locate your car, but when tapped it only prompts me to “Add a ZUS smart Device” – which I thought the dash cam was, but when I tap “Add a ZUS smart Device” it just takes me to the vehicle settings, which lists the devices, including the camera, but does not allow you to select one. The “Mileage” and “Safety” features work the same way, but the Safety feature is understandable because it requires a separate device. I contacted Nonda Customer Care via their in-app contact feature. Not only did they respond on a Sunday, but they also did so in about 20 minutes. Their response was: “The Finder feature will only work with the ZUS charger or ZUS smart vehicle monitor… The Smart Dash Cam is only a camera and does not have any other functions on the ZUS App.” – Well, so much for it being a “Smart Dash Cam”.



The app also notified me of a firmware update for the camera. The process to upgrade the camera firmware through the app was easy and had great instructions during the process.

There are a bunch of settings in the app for your vehicle information, however, these aren’t used for anything unless you install one of the other smart devices such as the Smart Vehicle Health Monitor.

Sample Video

The video from the Nonda Smart Dash Cam is as expected, a high-quality 1920×1080 video. The camera also saves a 640×360 version of the video, presumably to make smartphone playback quicker and/or easier to share.

What I like

  • Sturdy design
  • Large lens
  • Hides well behind the rear-view mirror

What I’d change

  • You shouldn’t have to create an account to use a dash cam
  • The app leaves you feeling like they’re just trying to sell you more stuff
  • There’s no way to manually save a recording from being overwritten
  • Better LED status light

Final thoughts

Although I could see this camera appealing to certain persons, I personally prefer a camera with a screen. It does not have the features of many other dashcams such as photo taking ability, or the ability to do a time-lapse video or monitor while the vehicle is parked. I also prefer the adjustability of the suction cup mounts. I think if you added the smart charger the app would feel much more useful with its parking monitoring and mileage log.

Price: $99.00
Where to buy: Nonda and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Nonda.

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Nonda ZUS Smart Dash Cam review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 24, 2019 at 8:00 am.

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Windows 10 Update Deliberately Breaks Unsecure Bluetooth Connections

Usually, when things break after a Windows update, it’s an unexpected problem that’s later fixed. We recently saw the October update problems that caused delays into November. If you recently updated your Windows device and noticed that some of your Bluetooth devices have stopped working, this is due to a deliberate decision by Microsoft for the sake of their OS security. Why Was this Done? The reasoning behind this is because people are using “insecure” Bluetooth devices on their computers. These devices are using keys known amongt hackers, and as such, can be easily broken into. Windows is trying to impede these attacks by… Read more