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How Mobile Linux Differs from Desktop Linux

Next year might be “the year of desktop Linux” in perpetuity, but mobile operating systems aren’t waiting around. They represent the fastest-growing of the Linux kernel, powering the vast majority of mobile devices. But how can the same kernel work on the desktop and a mobile system? Android doesn’t make much of a desktop operating system after all. The basic rules stay the same, but there are significant differences between mobile and desktop operating systems. Related: The History of Various Linux Distros What Is Mobile Linux? Mobile Linux is any mobile operating system based on the Linux kernel, which was first created by Linux… Read more

Brightech Owen Nightstand review

REVIEW – It’s back-to-school time, and folks are thinking about changing where they live, setting up dorm rooms, and generally getting ready to snuggle down and study. Having a cozy corner with a lamp and a place to sit your coffee/tea/adult beverage has been a necessity since students read by oil lamps and candles. Nowadays, however, having places to charge laptops, tablets, or phones are just as important. BrightTech has recently released a table they call Owen that incorporates a lamp, a wireless charger, and both a USB port and an AC plug. I was sent a sample to test and have been using it for a few weeks now.

What is it?

A wooden table 19” diameter and 23.5” high with a built in lamp, power ports, and a wireless charging area.

What’s in the box?

Everything you need except a power outlet!

  • Wooden tabletop 19” in diameter with charger, leg sockets, and lamp connection kit assembly
  • Top and bottom powder-coated rings for the shade
  • Collapsable shade cover
  • Two-piece prewired lamp with socket
  • Harp and wooden finial
  • Three solid wood legs with metal sockets installed

Design and features

When the box containing the Owen table arrived, I was sure it was something else. Even when I opened the outer box and saw the picture, I was sure there would be another box with the shade or something. When I opened it, I was amazed at the compact and complete packaging. All the pieces are cleanly finished, made of quality materials, and fit together on the first try. I think it took all of 15 minutes to unpack, take photos, and assemble.

Setup

Setup is pretty straightforward.

  • Screw in the legs to the pre-attached threaded studs.
  • Connect the two tubes of the lamp assembly (prewired).
  • Pass the wires through the hole in the table.
  • Tighten the threaded holder for the lamp. (See detail in picture above.)
  • Attach the power cable to the table’s electronic assembly. (See detail in picture below.)
  • Unroll the shade cover and click the two wire circles into the clips of the shade and press the Velcro seam together. (Shade clips shown in second picture below.)
  • Attach the harp to the two clips on the side of the socket and screw in the bulb.
  • Attach the shade to the harp with the included finial.
  • Place the table where want it and plug it into the wall.

Performance

The built-in wireless charger works really well. It’s not fiddly or touchy, like some disk chargers that let the phone slide off the sweet spot due to the vibrations of walking nearby. The switch for the light is tight and always works. The light from the bulb is a very white light, but the shade diffuses it well.


The AC and USB ports have a red light that glows when the unit is plugged in, which is really bright if you’re using this for a night table. I wish they would have mounted the plugs in the back or under the table so that light wasn’t always shining out and the ugly plugs didn’t show. Be aware, this table is not heavy-duty (Load limit is 2.5 pounds), so don’t pile it up with huge volumes.

What I like

  • Easy to assemble
  • Looks surprisingly good for a kit table
  • Everything you need is in the box

What I’d change

  • I wish the red power light wasn’t so bright or visible.
  • Plugs could be around back, rather than on the front.
  • The Velcro seam in the shade is really ugly.

Final thoughts

For what it is, it’s a really nice little piece of furniture for a casual room like a reading nook, dorm room, or man-cave. I would have liked to have something like this when I was grad school, rather than the whale oil lamps we used back then!

Price: $80.99, on sale for $79.99
Where to buy: BrightTech website
Source: The sample of this product was provided by BrightTech.

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Brightech Owen Nightstand review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 14, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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Lepow 15.6-inch USB-C portable display review

REVIEW – I switched from a huge 27″ iMac to a MacBook more than 7 years ago and although I still use an external monitor with it when I work in my office (Gadgeteer HQ), I sometimes wish for some extra screen real estate when I’m working away from home. One solution is to buy a bigger MacBook, but that’s not a solution I want to take. Another solution is a portable monitor like the Lepow USB-C display. Let’s check it out.

What is it?

The Lepow USB-C display is a 15.6-inch portable display that connects to laptops and mobile devices with a USB-C cable.

Hardware Specs

Screen size: 15.6 inch
Visual area: 344.16 x 194.59mm
Panel type: IPS
Dimensions: 368 x 225 x 8.8 mm
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920×1080
Display color: 16.7M
Color temperature: 6800K
Visual angle: H: 85/85Min V:85/85Min
Contrast ratio: 1000:1
Brightness: 300cd/m2
Output interface: 3.5mm headphone jack
Speaker: 1Wx2

What’s in the box?

  • Lepow USB-C monitor
  • Magnetic cover
  • Screen protector
  • USB-C to USB-C cable
  • HDMI to mini HDMI cable
  • USB-A to USB-C cable
  • User Guide

Design and features

The Lepow 15.6-inch USB-C portable display immediately reminded me of a supersized iPad Pro with an Apple smart cover. It’s designed like a slab/tablet, without a built-in stand. That’s what the case is for.

The display has slim bezels and a dark grey shell that holds a matte screen that unfortunately is not a touchscreen.

Both sides have ports and speaker vents. The left side has a mini HDMI port, the main USB-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The right side has another speaker vent, a power button, a roll key for menu selections, and a PD USB-C port.

The monitor does not have a built-in battery so it requires an outside power source. It can pull power from a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet, or you can connect a USB-C cable and an AC adapter to the USB-C PD port on the side and use that to power the monitor and charge the device (laptop, phone, etc.) connected to the other USB-C port on the opposite side of the monitor.

As mentioned above, the Lepow monitor does not have a built-in kickstand, but the included smart cover not only protects the screen when you’re not using the display, but it can fold into a stand.

The cover has grooves so you can customize the viewing angle and small magnets at the edges hold the cover to the monitor for ease of use.

Using the Lepow USB-C portable monitor with a laptop

I tested the Lepow monitor with my 2016 12in MacBook and my Huawei P30 Pro smartphone, both of which have a USB-C port for easy connection. The Lepow also has a mini HDMI port that you can use with the included mini HDMI to HDMI cable to connect the monitor to full-sized HDMI port.

One of the best things about the monitor is that it doesn’t require its own power source because it pulls the power it needs from the connected device. That means that you won’t need to carry a bulky power supply with you or need to be near a wall outlet to use the display because it powers on as soon as it’s connected to the laptop or phone.

By default, the monitor is in landscape orientation when connected to a macOS or Windows laptop.

However, you can go into the settings on the computer to rotate the display like you see above. The only problem is that when you physically rotate the Lepow USB-C monitor, the folding cover doesn’t make a very sturdy stand in that orientation. And even worse is the fact that there’s the cable sticking out of the top of the monitor when it’s in this orientation and the monitor will rest on the roll key which when pressed, will bring up the onscreen menu. All that said, it is doable in portrait orientation, just not very convenient compared to a traditional landscape orientation.

The monitor’s built-in speakers on both sides of the display are not impressive when it comes to volume or audio quality. Even at full volume, the audio is weak and definitely not loud enough if you’re using the monitor in a noisy environment.

Using the Lepow USB-C portable monitor with a smartphone or tablet

If you happen to own a smartphone or tablet that allows for video out though USB-C like the Huawei P30 Pro (shown above) or a Samsung Galaxy device, the Lepow monitor can turn your mobile device into a computer-like device with a full screen experience.

Depending on the device that you use, it really does feel like your phone becomes a computer. With the Huawei connected to the Lepow, it becomes a touch pad.

I tested the monitor with normal everyday activities like using it to surf my favorite sites, work in spreadsheets, work in documents, editing images using Photoshop, and watching videos. Note that I did not use the monitor for gaming as I don’t play games. But for all the tasks that I did try with the Lepow, it worked fine.

The colors are good, the image was clear and crisp, and viewing angles are decent. I’m not going to say that the Lepow is better than my BenQ 27inch monitor which has a resolution of 2560×1440, but the Lepow’s 1920×1080 resolution is perfectly adequate for its intended use as a portable companion monitor for travel or small workspaces.

One thing I did notice early in the review process was that the monitor defaults to 30% brightness and doesn’t save changes to the brightness setting or other settings. So even if the computer times out and the monitor goes idle, when you wake it back up, the Lepow screen’s brightness goes back down to 30%.

I also noticed that routing all the audio through the Lepow monitor’s built-in speakers was not a very good experience. Volume levels are low even with the volume setting cranked to the max.

What I like

  • No power adapter needed
  • Portable
  • Pass through power port

What I’d change

  • It would be nice if settings were saved between sessions
  • Volume through the built-in speakers is very weak

Final thoughts

There are 100’s of excellent full-sized monitors on the market but the selection of ultra-portable monitors is limited, especially monitors that only need a USB-C connection to work. No bulky AC adapter needed.

If you don’t mind that the monitor doesn’t save settings like brightness and volume, the Lepow 15.6-inch USB-C portable display has a lot going for it. It has a nice screen, with vivid colors, and crisp text. It’s portable enough to fit in a gear bag along with your laptop and it comes with a magnetic case that doubles as a stand.

Price: $169.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Lepow.

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Lepow 15.6-inch USB-C portable display review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 14, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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Enso gives traditional rings a silicone reboot

ARTICLE – I spend a lot of time gardening, exercising, traveling, and cleaning up after the people and puppy in my life. None of these are conducive to wearing a valuable ring on my finger, day in and day out.

Nearly 20 years ago, my husband and I purchased our wedding rings from a tiny shop in Valencia, Spain. Then 5 years ago, I inherited my mother-in-law’s beautiful anniversary band. While neither of these is especially valuable dollarwise, they’re irreplaceable and two of my most prized possessions.

After a few close calls where I almost lost them forever, I banished my rings to my jewelry box for special occasions only. Yet, I feel naked without them! And that’s when I found Enso silicone rings.

These simple, unobtrusive bands are flexible, comfortable, and actually look nice. Plus, I don’t have to stress about wearing them while swimming with my boys, scrubbing bathrooms or working out.

Enso rings come in three different widths (classic, halo and thin). They feature multiple textures and designs, like smooth, braided, pyramid, hammered, treaded, column, studded and feathered. Enso also offers dozens of colors, from metallics to birthstones, to the often sold-out “Inked” collaboration with Santa Cruz, featuring skateboard-inspired art.

The company offers an online sizing guide, an engraving option for $9.99, and recently introduced bracelets.

Enso silicone rings range from $11.99 to $39.99 and include a lifetime warranty for rips, tears and discoloration. Find them on the Enso website or Amazon.

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Enso gives traditional rings a silicone reboot originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 14, 2019 at 8:00 am.

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Spotify vs. Apple Music: Who Wins the Music War?

Both Spotify and Apple Music provide music streaming services with plenty of subscribers. While Apple always had a strong legacy in digital music with products like iPod and iTunes, it was Spotify that pioneered what we call today the “open music model” to counter piracy. Given that each has their own massive following, a head-to-head comparison between the two can seem rather pointless. But, in the end, most of us will only purchase one monthly subscription. Accordingly, to answer the question about whether you should go for Spotify or Apple Music, we will focus on the most common… Read more