New iPhone – you decide

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment
Actual photo taken with iPhone 5s. Image courtesy Apple.

Actual photo taken with iPhone 5s. Image courtesy Apple.

So the announcement has now come and gone for the new iPhones. Do you have a decision to make? Perhaps it’s already made, and come September 20 you will be lining up for a shiny or colourful new device. Alternatively, you may be completely underwhelmed by the latest offering from Apple, though I expect millions won’t be, and sales demand will be as strong as ever.

Why you should(n’t) buy a new iPhone

I always find articles with these titles somewhat bemusing. What? You don’t actually know whether you want or need a new phone? Granted, most of us do not need a new phone, we just want a new one. Fair enough, go buy it. Your money, spend it how you like. By all means read about features, improvements, options (now iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c) and the like, though I do not believe the decision should really be that hard.

For me, I am currently in a contract, though my wife will soon be out of hers (both iPhone 4s models currently). Occasionally we swap phones depending on who might want or perhaps be better suited to a newer model. This time? We are not really sure as yet – did someone not just say the decision shouldn’t be that hard? Correct, and it’s not, however until our preferred carrier releases their plans/pricing, we will reserve our decision.

My Considerations

iPhone 5c
Firstly, the iPhone 5c is not for me for two reasons. Though it is no doubt a great phone, having a coloured phone is not my preference. Secondly, the fact that I do not like the additional thickness of a case on my phone, precludes the option to change this by covering the colour with a case. Though in saying this, there is an option for white.

There we go, 50% of the new product range ruled out. One key point here is that Apple have made it quite clear they will not compete on price. The iPhone 5c is basically a colourful iPhone 5, and unsurprisingly will essentially retail at similar prices, particularly on a 2 year contract. The idea here is simple – this is Apple, we make quality products that are worth paying a little more for. Some thoughts on this philosophy and the experience of owning such a product can be found in an excellent article by Ben Thompson on his blog stratechery.

iPhone 5s
So in considering the iPhone 5s, where do we start. For some, such as Shawn Blanc, a few key features such as the Camera, TouchID, and M7 Coprocessor are key considerations, and the article is a concise overview of the rationale on why this is the case.

I have linked to Shawn’s article, as it contains many similarities to my current thinking on the new features, though I also consider the new A7 chip with 64 bit architecture to warrant a mention for me. I think it is worthwhile upgrading every few years to a faster processor (and this one sounds pretty quick), though I would not really consider my current iPhone 4s to be slow in any way. Also, any improvement in 3G/LTE connectivity is always welcome.

One point on the M7 “motion” coprocessor, which is a dedicated tiny chip separate from the main A7 processor. I recently wrote an article on the app Human, which tracks movement and overall activity through the iPhone’s built in motion and location tracking services. That app has been deleted from my phone. Overall performance was good, however it sucked the absolute life out of my battery. The M7 processor aims to change all that, as Apple states:

It’s designed specifically to measure motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass — a task that would normally fall to the A7 chip. But M7 is much more efficient at it. Now fitness apps that track physical activity can access that data from the M7 coprocessor without constantly engaging the A7 chip. So they require less battery power.

Thanks Apple. Problem solved.

Conclusion

Whether to upgrade or not is simply a matter of having a look at the new features that may be relevant to you, and comparing the price point at which they are offered (don’t forget that come September 18 and iOS 7, everything will look new anyway – and this is free). Do you want it? Can you afford to have it? Often the former question is easier to answer than the latter, but that is up to you.

A bit of further reading if you like:

Crop to Cup – Part 2

/ Pete Denison / 3 Comments
Coffee drying in the sun. Dolka Plantation Cos...

Coffee drying in the sun. Dolka Plantation Costa Rica (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Continued from Crop to Cup Part 1.

With the fermentation phase now complete, we move on to the drying phase of processing. You may remember from the first part of this series, coffee processing is broken up into the following stages, as described by both the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and my mother, who is very experienced and knowledgeable in these matters:

  1. Pulping
  2. Fermentation
  3. Drying
  4. Parchment removal (hulling)
  5. Roasting
  6. Grinding, strong and brewing

At the completion of Crop to Cup Part 1, we left the beans fermenting in water at stage 2 above. I was a little unsure of how long this may take (72 hours or up to a week), though armed with the knowledge this phase would be complete when the mucilage (slippery outer layer) was easily rubbed away. Daily testing was undertaken, until on day 7 (exactly as predicted by my mother), rubbing one of the beans between thumb and finger resulted in a slightly gritty/pebbly feel rather than a slippery one. Time then to move onto drying.

3. Drying
Once the beans have fermented for long enough, they are required to undergo a final wash and rinse, before being laid out on drying beds. In aid of passing down the coffee loving tradition to the next generation, my son was enlisted to rub off the mucilage, with repeated washes then performed to remove any remaining on the outside of the bean. Agitating the beans and replacing the water over three washes was sufficient to achieve this.

Washing

Looking back to our Department of Agriculture guide, the drying process is described as follows:

The beans should be spread out in a thin layer no more than 3 cm thick, stirred three times a day, and be protected from rainy weather. Drying in this way can take 5–30 days, depending on the seasonal weather pattern.

As you can see below, an initial drying of the beans was done on a small towel, before transfer to a drying rack to allow plenty of airflow around the beans. The rack is situated under cover to avoid any weather or dew, however sees the mid to late afternoon sun, which should assist with drying. Given the small crop I am processing, a single layer of beans was placed on the drying bed, with little chance of any mould formation (the reason for stirring daily), though I aim to ensure the beans is are turned regularly.

Drying

I hope you will join me in a couple of weeks for the next post in this series, where we will be up to removing the remaining parchment layer and roasting our crop!

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What’s Brewing #5 – Indonesian Aceh Gayo

/ Pete Denison / 1 Comment
Young boy in Guel dance, Gayo country, Aceh pr...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s nice to review a coffee produced “locally” here in the Asia-Pacific region. This Indonesian Aceh Gayo Gr1 Organic was originally roasted to go in my Three Bean blend (see What’s Brewing #4), however I was obviously keen to assess it as an origin in its own right. Living here in Australia, there are a number of smaller coffee producing countries in the region, however most of my experience has been with those originating in New Guinea. Lets see how this one stacks up.

(Right: Young boy in Guel dance, Gayo country, Aceh province, Sumatra, Indonesia)

The Whack

What: Indonesian Aceh Gayo Gr1 Organic

* Origin: Gayo Megah Berseri estate in the Central Aceh region of Sumatra
* Altitude: 1400–1600 metres
* Processing: Semi washed, sun dried
* Harvest: March 2013

How: Latte, Aeropress, V60

Assessment:
Dry Aroma – Probably best described as spicy/herby with floral notes, mingled with brown sugar

Latte – Does surprisingly well through milk. I would not say there is a lot of body, though definitely enough to give it some punch, carry through the chocolatey undertones and floral notes. Performed better than expected here.

Aeropress – Very well suited to this form of brewing, possibly even shading the V60 in allowing the herb and floral flavours to come to the fore. Made me think a little of dandelion. The only negative here is it probably lacks a little sweetness.

V60 – Smooth, very smooth. Shows more sweetness than the Aeropress however a little less of the herbal and floral notes. The medium body and a crisp finish make this a very enjoyable brew overall.

Conclusion; Know this:
Though assessed across the three methods above, you may note no Espresso. No conspiracy here, I have simply been playing with the V60 a little more (or a lot judging by the dwindling filters), having only purchased this a couple of weeks ago. I had high hopes for this variety given it is a “local”, and certainly was not disappointed. This is one of the best all rounders across the different brewing methods I have had in recent times, and would highly recommend this either on its own or in a [blend](What’s Brewing #4).

Overall rating: 4.5/5

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iFingerprint

/ Pete Denison / 2 Comments
English: Picture of a whorl fingerprint pattern

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do we really need a fingerprint sensor in the new iPhone?

Whether or not you believe the new iPhone(s) to be announced this week will actually have a fingerprint sensor is immaterial to this question. That decision has already been made at Apple HQ in Cupertino. My point is, what would we really use it for?

I have often thought about this, since the early rumours suggested the upcoming model would have this feature. Would a device with this type of technology really be more helpful, secure or efficient than one without?

Beyond the obvious secure unlocking of a device, where I do believe this would be extremely beneficial would be in some sort of partitioning of user accounts on an iPhone, or to secure certain applications that may contain sensitive information, whilst leaving the remainder of the device “open” as it were. I’m still not convinced how this would really work, however Craig Hockenberry has some thoughts on his blog, which provide a nice summary of what could occur should this feature be implemented on our iPhones, particularly with some form of iCloud integration. The article is worth reading if you are at all interested in this sort of thing.

I myself am not due for a phone upgrade this year, however my wife is, and I will be looking closely at whatever features appear on this new device once it is in our…ahem, her hands.

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Human for iPhone

/ Pete Denison / 1 Comment

Human4

Human is a recently released free app for iPhone that is designed to track and encourage users to achieve at least 30 minutes of physical activity or movement per day. It joins many other systems such as the Fitbit, Jawbone Up, Nike+ Fuelband, and apps like Runkeeper currently on the market, however the philosophy differs to these offerings. The overall philosophy behind Human is to provide simple, elegant and meaningful data about your daily activity entirely through your iPhone, with an emphasis on the health benefits of achieving at least 30 minutes of daily movement (The Daily 30).

Human was released in the App Store on August 31, with a further update on September 5, said to improve both movement detection/tracking and battery life – two critical features for the success of the app. Users of these types of products expect (and rightly so) accuracy of information without excessive drain on battery life. Having just activated my account, I have not yet had the chance to determine what impact the app has on battery life though it is something I will be monitoring. From the developers:

Human is a passive tracker, which means that the software runs in the background of your phone, and tracks your activity automatically. You don’t have to check-in, log, or record anything manually. We access your phone’s location services and sensors to achieve this. Our primary concern has always been tracking activities accurately without draining too much battery life.

Why Human?

My interest in Human came about as I spend the usual work week sitting at a computer (to the detriment of my overall health and productivity), however routinely walk when I get the chance, getting off the bus two stops early in the morning (after a 45–60 minute commute), with additional walks mid morning and at lunch time. I am keen to see how much of this incidental activity actually stacks up.

To do this, I require an app I do not have to think about, one that will provide accurate results, and equally as important, something that is visually interesting and thoughtfully designed. I have said this before and will say it again now and no doubt in the future, ugly apps have absolutely zero appeal to me, regardless of the feature set (though I acknowledge the eye of the beholder). Finally, I prefer not to wear any additional receiver on my wrist or anywhere else, so using my phone for the entire process also appeals to me.

Using Human

Once an account is set up, the app really is a set and forget system, though you are obviously required to have your phone with you for measurement to occur. Checking the app a few times today showed my progress towards the 30 minutes with an elegant dial, and upon tapping this, a timeline of activities so far (see below).

Human2

Activity is logged in various categories including walking, running, biking, and transport (vehicle etc). Upon reaching 30 minutes of activity in a day, users receive a push notification advising this has been achieved. This app is not filled with excessive statistical data, nor does it provide a timeline of all activity on launch – two positive features as far as I am concerned. If I’m after more specific details around an interval workout, I will continue to use Runkeeper, however as mentioned above, I am simply looking to assess my incidental activity over the course of the day. It doesn’t hurt to receive a pat on the back once you get there either:

Human3

The beauty of Human lies in its simplicity in both measuring your movement (which goes completely unnoticed, with nothing to wear, launch or log), as well as the flexibility in allowing input of various activities (30 minute gym workout for example) or changing those that may have been inaccurately tracked. For example, an 8 minute drive was today picked up as running, which was easily corrected, though may be worth keeping an eye on for accuracy. Reverting incorrectly assigned modes of movement is easily done, and does not require you to remember what the activity was, as it is visually represented on a map within the change screen. The usual sharing options to Facebook and Twitter are also available.

An article by The Verge compares the various systems currently available for tracking and measuring both overall activity and individual workouts, and other reviews of Human can be found at Techcrunch and again at The Verge.

I am looking forward over the coming weeks to see whether my intermittent walking affords the benefits I think they are, though regardless of whether I achieve “the daily 30”, they are certainly worth their ‘head clearing’ benefits. Given my son was with me today in achieving the daily 30, I wonder if we can claim 60 all up…

Human for iPhone is available free in the App Store now.

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