Gigsky eSIM

I have used Gigsky’s eSIM product on an iPhone Max XS, and can truly say it works exactly as advertised.

 

This is truly a no-brainer if you travel and/or are time/convenience-conscious when travelling. This product isn’t for the “is this the absolute cheapest way to get cellular data overseas” crowd, or the “I’m overseas for weeks on end” crowd either; those crowds would be put of the roughly 50% premium on local rates that you’re paying, and the inability to make/receive calls on a local number.

 

But if neither of those things are important to you, its a winner!

 

iPhone XS Max

Another year, another iPhone. This time, the XS (Max). The biggest, best, yada yada iPhone Apple has ever made.

 

With the obligatory cheesy movie from Johnny Ive describing the amazing build process.

 

Except this one has one massive technical feature that does, indeed, make it different from the other iPhones. It supports eSIM, and amazingly, in China is available as a physical dual-SIM version.

 

While I did think about trying to get hold of the China physical dual-SIM version, I decided against it because I wasn’t sure what bloatware / backdoor was on the device thanks to the large Chinese market that Apple would be desperate to tap into.

 

So I got the local eSIM version from my carrier, and other than being bigger, I didn’t really notice much difference. Except when I travelled.

 

I managed to test the eSIM functionality using a company called Gigsky, in San Francisco, Thailand and Hong Kong. And other than paying a premium for the service from Gigsky, it worked perfectly and better than advertised! Buy the second data-only eSIM for the country you wish to use it, “download” it, and hey presto, 2nd SIM!

 

Coverage was adequate (not brilliant), and speeds were average to ok. But better than roaming rates, better than hunting for a local SIM and a device to carry it and infinitely more convenient to literally do nothing but switch your phone on! Awesome.

 

Punchline : if you travel, get an iPhone XS / XR. Otherwise, don’t waste your time and skip this version.

OnePlus 6

I’m a big fan of Android phones. I am currently the proud owner of a Samsung S9 and a Google Pixel XL2. Those have their pro’s and con’s;

 

S9

 

• High-end specifications
• Good camera
• Dual SIM (the version I ordered)
• Fiddly Touchwiz overlay
• Awkward form-factor (long but not wide)
• Great screen

 

Pixel XL2

 

• Always first with updates
• Super fast
• No bloat ware
• Pure Google Experience
• Large form factor (big, nice form factor)
• Iffy screen
• No dual-SIM

 

I’ve heard a lot of buzz about OnePlus, as the flagship-killer quality and build. Having played with the OnePlus 6 now for two weeks, I can honestly say I’ve now found a non-OEM Android phone that I really like.

 

• Great build quality
• Super-fast!
• Awesome screen
• I love the mechanical mute / change ringer state slider button
• Dual-SIM!
• Pure Android experience
• Almost anaemic in the lack of apps and software pre-installed on it

So far, loving it! Great device.

Samsung S9

So I was told to get a Samsung S9, because it is the latest and greatest from Samsung. I bought the dual-SIM version, to have some flexibility in the number and type of mobile connectivity (the idea being to use one for calling, and the other for mobile data).

 

Like my previous experiences with Samsung, its incredibly well built, and would work well if I didn’t have the privilege of having run stock Android. But, I have run stock Android, and the clumsy Google / Samsung app confusion, Samsung’s insistence on messing with the stock Android experience makes for a clumsy and frankly unnecessary irritation when trying to get things done.

 

And most of the gee whiz features, like the AREmoji, awesome camera, super-slow motion and the edge display are features I don’t use.

If you have access to a Pixel XL2, get that rather. I am also very intrigued by the Oneplus 6. Now that looks pretty interesting, and much better value for money.

 

If its your own money, better value to be had elsewhere.

VAST Networks

I am incredibly proud of the work my company, VAST Networks, has done. As the CTO, I am responsible for

1. Continuously rearchitecting the network to deliver robust and varied services
2. Deploying new hotspots
3. Exploring and finding more efficient, cheaper and/or more scalable ways of deploying new hotspots
4. Supporting and maintaining the hotspot locations
5. Developing and keeping current products and overall network health

 

Our work over 2.5 years has resulted in us winning the Best Wi-Fi Service Provider in the World 2017, and Most Affordable Service Provider in the World 2017 as recognised by Wi-Fi Now. We were also shortlisted for Best Wireless Infrastructure in the World by the WBA, which we lost to Cisco. Not bad company to keep if you’re going to lose.

 

However, what I am most amazed by is the lack of interest in our local market in our products and/or services, when we seem to be smashing the lights in almost every metric that counts;

• Page impressions
• Unique visitors
• Concurrent visitors
• Session lengths / durations and repeat custom
• Network throughput
• Captive portal load times
• Redundancy and resiliency of the network
• Different on-boarding methods

 

Why is it that South African media and mobile companies haven’t woken up and exploited the network that is already there ? I am also convinced that local media/press only advertise companies or recognise innovation in success from people who advertise with them. Pathetic behaviour and so much for the “impartial tech press”.

Apple iPhone X - revolutionary ?

I don’t think Apple makes a great phone. I don’t think Apple makes a great smartphone. Apple does make a reasonable phone, and a reasonably good smartphone. The combination is good enough for most people, and easy enough that they’re willing to live within the constraints in order to get something that “mostly works”.

Today, Android users fall into three categories;

1. They can’t afford an iPhone
2. They have a philosophical hatred of Apple, a philosophical love of absolute customisability, have some specific technical requirement that dictates Android or some gradient in between
3. They simply don’t know or care enough to make a decision of one platform over another

And for the most part, app developers have worked out that 1 and 2 exist, and so have solved the problem by building for 3. There isn’t an app that I use more than once a month that doesn’t exist in some shape or form on both platforms, with equal utility. I do occasionally (and hate the experience almost immediately) fire up Windows phone to see what that is doing, and on that platform you realise how close Android and iOS are in reality in terms of usable applications.

The iPhone X is a rather revolutionary take (as far as Apple goes) on design and UI; none of the reasons people don’t like Apple are eradicated. Those users who had decided / chosen Android actively over Apple won’t buy an X. But those users who simply don’t care, and can afford it, might and probably will. Is it revolutionary ? For Apple, yes. For the industry, not really.

Its physically well sized, sitting comfortably between what we today consider compact and large. This is the "large phone" from 5 years ago. The FaceID system actually works very well, and you get used to the gesture-based system replacing the missing home button.

I am really enjoying mine.

Google Pixel XL2 - evolutionary

I really liked the very natural shift from the Nexus line to the Google Pixel range. I really liked the Google Pixel XL, and thought it would be a hard act to follow up.

But Google had to as the annual relentless march of the device treadmill continues, and the Google Pixel XL2, despite the almost non-existent lack of changes in the physical appearance, have managed to do something that feels evolutionary and natural as a successor. The screen seems more natural to the eye, although that seems to have been rather controversial.

Its faster, the screen is better, the battery life seems longer, and there are just overall some nice software changes. The always-on nature of the screen is pretty awesome. The squeeze-to-summon Google Assistant is gimmicky, good for a single-show party trick. I admittedly haven’t used the camera much, being one of the highlights of the phone. Overall, a good device. Good enough to change from a Pixel XL ? Nope.

Apple iPhone 7+

I've been using an Apple iOS device as my daily driver phone for quite a while now. Initially, I felt quite limited doing so because Apple seemed to be so far behind on the customization and flexibility, but the app developers make it compelling because initially they tend to release first on Apple, if not exclusively.

In my last related post, I had a iPhone 6+. Like a lemming, I upgraded to the 6S+. The touted difference was the ability to push harder or softer on the screen to achieve a myriad of different actions based on how hard you pushed; not features I really use frankly, and I didn't really notice much of a difference other than the thing now being a lot heavier.

Like a faithful lemming, I've upgraded to the 7+. It does have a bunch of differences (color, faster, etc), but the two key ones for me (and the reasons its worth getting frankly) are;

• Its waterproof - I'm not a surfer, but knowing that I can get the thing wet and not stress / lose data is a big deal
• The second camera being used to create portraits with good bokeh and/or being able to zoom in quite closely is very useful on a daily basis

If you're debating getting one, don't debate too long. Apple has clearly reached the point where massive steps in innovation are not present. But, the incremental ones are not bad if you skip generations (i.e. buy, skip the next one, buy, skip the next one, buy)

Fibrehoods FTTH rocks!

I was a very happy user of Neotel's NeoBroadband fixed-LTE service, but at R2000 for a 10Mbit/s service, thought it was overpriced by at least 50%. Fibrehoods has come into my area, and I now have a 100Mbit/s service for exactly half of what the LTE service.

I cannot express how transformative FTTH is versus any other home connectivity medium. US users can equate to cable; all the characteristics that count are the same - stable service, low latency, little to no downtime, etc.

I am very happy with it!

Neotel Broadband

I thought after moving back from Cupertino and having Comcast’s 50MBps cable service that bandwidth pricing and availability in South Africa had improved. Pricing - yes. Availability - yes. Speed - no. 

 

I live in Rivonia, no more than 1km from Rivonia Road; a decent neighborhood in Johannesburg, no more than 6km from Sandton. I am covered by Telkom ADSL, who will happy take my money for a 10Mbps service, and deliver 2Mbps. So, I thought I’d try some wireless alternatives. LTE services were not available from MTN, Vodacom or Telkom, in spite of great offers of R650 (~$55) for unlimited LTE-A service.

 

A friend suggested I try Neotel’s Neobroadband service, an LTE consumer service. While expensive (R2000) per month for 10Mbps, I can truthfully say that its a reliable, consistent service that is uncapped and unshaped, and is technically true to its promise. Highly recommended, if not commercially quite steep.

Long term iPhone 6+ thoughts

I wrote about the iPhone 6+ earlier in the year; at the time, I wasn’t sure if I would like the device and would I actually return it because it was too big.

 

I’ve now been using the device basically since its launch, and have travelled a reasonable amount with it (South Africa, Dubai, US). In short, I think this is the best iOS phone experience you can have right now. I did try an iPhone 6 for a while, but it felt very much like an incremental upgrade to the 5S, as opposed to the 5S - 6+ upgrade.

 

If you’re considering it, go get one! You won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for an Android device, right now I’m a huge fan of the Motorola line (I’ve used the 1st gen X and G). But I only hear good things about the Z3 line from Sony.

Nexus 6

It was logical when Motorola was bought by Google that they would be heavily influenced (both entities) by design, and the pinnacle of that would be in the Nexus line. Rumors of the Nexus line being replaced seem to be on hold for now; we don’t see anything other than Nexus devices, and maybe Sudar Pichai is a bit busy and doesn’t have time to review this just yet.

 

It is indeed a pity that Googlerola as a corporate entity seems short-lived, as Motorola were then re-sold (to Lenovo), but the reasons seem fairly sound.

 

But enter the king and the fruits of this (brief) affair - the Nexus 6.

 

Google tends to use the Nexus line as a platform to explore their new ideas, and the overriding idea here seems to be expansive real estate. This device is big.

 

Its very well made; battery life seems decent for a screen this size, and its a pleasure to hold in the hand. Lollipop is a great update, and Material design is actually quite pleasing to the eye. I can say that the gap between iOS and Android is narrowing incredibly quickly. The differences between the two are starting to distill into how flexible, and crucially, predictable you want the experience to be. Android, as you’d expect, is like a teenager wanting to be flexible, free and able to change their look as they see fit, while iOS feels more like a 33 year old hipster trying to stay cool.

 

Both have their place, and I haven’t yet decided which of the two I prefer more. Thats why, as I have done for the last 5 years or so, I’ll carry both. And if you’re wondering which platform to have in your car, have both - buy a head unit from Parrot.

iPhone 6+ - and iOS 8.x

Yes. I bought one. Yes, you look like a tool using it. And yes, its big. And yes, it does’t fit nicely in your pocket.

 

But wow, is that screen awesome to work with. Its ungainly big. But that screen is awesome. Did I mention its so big ? What isn’t obvious (or what someone with any degree of honesty will tell you) is that the silly thing is easy to drop. Its so large, and the edges so rounded, that it can (literally) just slide out of your hand. Which I suspect is more than slightly intentional, because how else do you force people to upgrade quickly.

 

I have seen all the #bendgate comments; if you’re going to take an $850 phone and try and bend it, you’re an idiot who deserves a bent phone. And who puts a phone in their back pocket, sits on it and still expects it to be straight ? Grow up people.  

 

I did have this funny orientation bug happen to me, but I suspect thats rather due to the rubbish QA that obviously went into iOS 8.

 

Its big. And as someone pointed out, awesome when you’re using it. But painful when you’re not. Below is the 5, 6 and 6+. Go big or go home.

 

PS. The best feature of this phone is the amazing battery life! I get about 2 full days worth - very impressive.

Q4 2014 review - reality

I had mentioned previously that I was quite excited about the new technology we were going to see in Q4 2014. While we’re not through Q4, enough has happened that its worth summarising things thus far.

 

• The successors to the Moto X and G were released; other than bigger screens, very little else has changed. Understandable, but slightly underwhelming. The Moto360 broke out too, and its distinguishing feature is that its round, and needs to be charged every evening. Hmmm. Again, underwhelming. Am I the only one who doesn’t really get this smart watch category ?
• The Nexus 6, which looks like its being made by Motorola, hasn’t broken cover yet - but its tipped to be even bigger. Yikes!
• The new iPad’s haven’t broken ground, but the iPhone 6’s have, and all the rumours were basically correct. Bravo to Apple on the Apple Watch, rumours of which have been floating but no leaks until release date, which is very impressive. Not as impressive as the watch itself, IMHO. I don’t see the point. It will be the best of a pointless category.
• We had the iOS 8 reboot; and boy oh boy, are we still rebooting. It feels like a series of Microsoft Windows updates. Unreliable, buggy and borked several peoples devices (at least, 8.0.1 did)
• We’re still waiting for Intel to hurry up and release those Broadwell chips. Come on guys, lets hustle a bit. The buzz around the 14nm production process had better yield some damn good results in terms of battery life.

 

Overall, thoroughly underwhelming.

Q4 2014

The last quarter of 2014 (which we’re effectively heading into now) should be interesting from a technology perspective! Its weird, but you get the sense that manufacturers keep all their thunder for Q3/Q4 in order to capitalise on the Thanksgiving/December rush. I would have expected them to shift it earlier to let the market settle and allow smart buyers to plan (these things cumulatively are not cheap after all). But living in the US, I can now see that most of it is catering to the impulsive (and generally misinformed public), and no human impulse is quite so strong as the good feeling you get from perceived savings from a sale - even if its completely artificial. I am expecting to see;

• a follow up to the Moto X and Moto G, both really solid handsets which seem to indicate to me, along with the Moto360 smart watch at least, that Motorola’s mobility division got its groove back (before Google decided to flog them off to Lenovo - lets hope this wasn’t a few hit wonder rush). I doubt I’ll order either (simply because there is nothing wrong with the ones I have), but if you’re looking for a solid Android device, these are pretty awesome; well priced, decent specs and solid build quality! Also relatively unmolested from the manufacturer
• a Nexus 6 running the rebooted Android L. Loads of rumours, no facts. So not going to speculate
• the iPad Air 2, the iPad Mini with Retina 2 and two versions of the iPhone. Again, too many rumours so not going to speculate. To be honest, Apple’s announcements have become pretty stale in this arena and frankly uninspiring. I’m not expecting this to change with this slew; faster, more RAM (maybe) and bigger. Not inspiring
• an Apple Watch - for such a giant in the personal consumer electronics space to not have a wearable is insane; these rumours have been running for more than a year now, and given that all of their rivals have launched, the Cupertino behemoth would be insane to not deliver something to the market - but its going to have to be rather special for me to consider it (thats not to say it won’t sell millions; it will even if its garbage, because it’ll be the “best garbage you’ve ever seen”)
• reboots of the OS X and iOS for computing and mobile devices respectively
• Mass production of Broadwell-based Intel processors. Its time for a new notebook for me (run through the 3 year cycle), and its requiring all of my restraint to wait for the new processor architecture to hit Apple’s devices. Broadwell-based Retina 13” Pro, here we come. While I like the profile of an Air, it just simply does’t have the juice I would like, even though it only gets booted up when not at the office - and with the new architecture, it should comfortably whip the Air for battery life compared to what I’m using now

 

So overall, an exciting time!

Using Republic Wireless

I love the theory of using WiFi as a de facto bearer for voice telephony, with seamless integration and handover to a macro network. The promise of a voice telephony service that utilises WiFi locally, and cellular as a macro network service, is appealing; combined with seamless handover between the mediums and it sounds utopian. Costs should be lower, but more importantly, call quality and reliability should be higher; the carrier could offer SLA’s on calls made on a WiFi bearer, introduce features like HD voice and network core call recording relatively easily and make use of the ever increasing pool of latent capacity on networks, broadband or otherwise.

 

These sound like enterprise features. It sounds like this category is begging to be made. But until someone steps up to the challenge, we have to work with what is in-market right now; that is consumer-grade, and appeals to cost as the primary driver. And that is where Republic Wireless plays.

 

Its been hard to separate the three interwoven threads of the service; there is the Sprint-provided cellular service, the Moto G handset and the Republic Wireless MVNO service. Lets try though.

 

Moto G - This is an awesome device for its price point. The hardware is not the most top end, and it noticeably struggles if you push it even vaguely. The battery life is pretty decent (looks like I could get almost two days out of it), the screen is pretty good quality and overall it feels great in the hand. Other than those points, its a relatively new version of Android (4.4.2), and you can make it look, feel and behave exactly as you see fit.

 

Republic Wireless MVNO - The service experience of using Republic has been pretty awesome. I haven’t once resorted to phoning (good thing, because there is no number to phone), and the entire order and fulfilment process was carried out seamlessly, efficiently and electronically, including porting in a phone number from another carrier. I was kept constantly informed as per the order progress and status, as well as delivery. The user portal is mostly functional (giving you a list of in/out calls, and a bearer breakdown), but could do with some more functionality (like setting your forwards, being able to playback your voicemail, etc). It works though. I changed service plans from WiFi-only to WiFi and cellular in a matter of minutes through their pre-loaded application, a process that normally would require a phone call and three forms. Handover between WiFi and cellular is actually pretty good, and kudos to Republic for not loading the phone with tons of bloat. Its almost completely untouched.

  

Sprint - This is the least tested part of my experience thus far with Republic; but its also most evidently the annoying part. When on cellular, call setup times are long, call quality is not great, and successful call setup is average to poor. When using the phone this weekend, 2 out of 3 call setups in a mall failed. When the same recipient was called from another cellular service (AT&T) the call setup time was near instant (and they’re not on the same network) and all were successfully terminated / answered. I cannot comment on coverage, as I haven’t left San Francisco with it yet. Its not fair to comment on the data side of the service, as I chose the 3G service and not the fancy 4G service (rant : why do US carriers neglect or not bother with their 3G services and instead go full tilt with LTE deployment). Its also entirely possible that Republic chose a choked cellular data service to keep the price low. I therefore cannot comment on the data side.

 

From a costing perspective, this is available for easily half of T-Mobile’s rates, which themselves are, at minimum, 30% cheaper than “mainstream” options (AT&T and Verizon). If I was a consumer, and wanted cellular service, this would be a pretty easy de facto choice; save easily $50 per month, and support an exciting challenger (although it looks like the area is starting to hop up; check out FreedomPop). As a relatively heavy business user however, this doesn’t work as my primary option. Its let down by Sprint’s network. Pity.

Republic Wireless

I had all but forgotten about Republic Wireless, until upcoming travel plans made me realise that I needed to be able to reliably make WiFi calls. So I hopped onto their web site and ordered their entry level phone, a Motorola G. Guess what arrived today :-)

 

More comments about the experience, service and device next week. Now its the fun of setting up a new Android device.

Nexus 5

Android 4.4 (or KitKat), is a subtle pack of changes (which in the IT world is the equivalent of a Service Pack), that was too impactful to make it less than a point release, but in my mind not large enough for a version bump.

 

To highlight these changes, Google commissioned LG again to develop the Nexus 5. I didn’t have the previous generation (Nexus 4), so cannot make a direct comparison. I did have a Galaxy Nexus, which is effectively the Nexus 3. And from that device to this one, the significant changes are;

1. speed (smartphone processor technology is just moving in leaps and bounds) 
2. screen size (I used to think the Galaxy Nexus was big)
3. LTE support (not a huge deal for me, but a big deal that could improve according to some)

 

Unlike some other similarly sized devices I’ve physically handled, this device feels well balanced in the hand, is extremely light and pocketable. Battery life is still miserable, but understandable given the screen size. And for the price ($350), its a great deal.

 

I will always have a special place for Google and its Nexus line; this phone doesn’t disappoint.

iPad Air

As with my previous Apple product-related blog post, this update too can be summed up as another incremental update. It doesn’t have a better screen, its a little faster, battery life is the same and it doesn’t do anything significantly different from its predecessor (or even its predecessor).

 

The most revolutionary change in the iPad world was the inclusion of the Retina display - that was cool. And the change to a Lightning connector - really reduced the number of inventory parts required. Again, this is a humdrum update which you would be best to avoid completely if you had the iPad 4, or if you had someone to give your iPad 3 to in order to get homogeneity across connectors.

iPhone 5S

In a word, this review can be covered with one word; meh. Its the same form factor as the iPhone 5, except a bit faster, an integrated touch sensor and world-wide LTE band support.

 

To be honest, the band support is the only reason to change, and even then only if you plan to change continents (which I did). Or because someone gives you a stupid amount of money to trade in your old device (which they did). Otherwise, save your money.