Steve Litchfield

One feature of the Android world over the last five years has been the reverse engineering of Google's first party Camera application, pre-installed in the company's Pixel devices. Popularly known as ' GCam ', the resulting application includes all the multi-frame tricks that Google developed for its Google Glass project, wherein an ostensibly terribly low end camera could produce good results. By combining results intelligently from many captured frames, noise is reduced, detail is enhanced, and so on. Available for free download in many places online, version by version, but start here , GCam can bring extra dimensions to low end camera modules in phones even today, though as the hardware has become better then the 'gap' between manufacturer and GCam results has become smaller and smaller. In my case, I was thinking about using a GCam port on my 2021 Microsoft  Surface Duo 2 , whose main camera is impressive for its size and considering that it's primarily...

(Lifted from one of my own reviews on AAM and kept here for safe-keeping and reference!) At its heart though, and simplifying slightly, 'Type C' is just a hardware standard - the mechanical jack, and pin layout. The hardware is rated up to 100Gb/s for data and up to 100W for power, though this of course depends on the implementation and quality of cabling used. Type C: is reversible, so works either way 'up' supports USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 Gen 2 standard protocols (a protocol is a set of rules for what happens when certain signals and voltages are seen on certain pins) supports third-party protocols in 'Alternate Mode' (see below), depending on the hardware involved allows devices to negotiate and choose an appropriate level (Volts, Amps) of power  ( Image from  Microchip )   VBUS (Voltage bus) and GND (Ground) are power lines, obviously. Of note is that VBUS isn't always carrying 5V - the USB protocols allow this to be negotiated upwards if n...

Yes, yes, the number of things you want to get done each day is legendary. And possibly growing. Work stuff, home stuff, family stuff. OK, for the first, you probably want a formal list and app and oversight, and so on. Making sure everything's done to a deadline. but for the others, home and family? Sometimes a list is just a little over the top. Plus you have to keep it up to date and that can be a hassle. So I have a compromise that I swear by. And it's very, very simple. A way to be more efficient without getting distracted in getting through your chores and tasks is to focus one step ahead. Here's how it works. While doing a specific job, you have the next one in mind too. And when you get round to that one, you have the one after that in mind. And so on. What this achieves is: You don't get distracted while doing the first task since you're aware of 'what's next' (yes, another West Wing reference!) Hopefully the next task has some commonality with...

I was reminded the other day of a saga from the early 1990s. I was the system manager of a microVAX 'mainframe' (with about 20 terminals around the office) in an engineering firm. And I did some programming to fill in the time, creating tools, but that's another story for another blog entry... Here's the set-up. We were moving offices, about ten miles, and it was up to me to arrange for all the IT equipment to be moved safely. I wanted to put the only fragile bits (mainly the microVAX itself, which was the size of a large suitcase) in my car, wrapped in a duvet, but was told I had to do things officially and the company would pay the experts, in this case DECMove (DEC was a computer company that made the microVAX). (archive snap of a microVAX, from ) So, I contacted DECMove and everything was booked in, at horrible cost (I think many thousands of pounds, in 1990's money, so tens of thousands today).  They arrived on time, I'd already disconnected everything (and...

(From my own post over at AAWP , but compacted, tweaked and preserved here for interest and posterity. Related articles still link back to AAWP, which is still online as I write this.) There's (or 'there was', looking back in 2023!) so much to like about Windows Phone in terms of hardware options, interface, and ecosystem, that you might be surprised, in hindsight, that it failed so badly - in relative terms, compared to Android and iOS. There's no one single reason for this - rather many reasons, with cumulative effect, over the best part of a decade. Here's my - rather damning - list. 1. Too late, too slow Microsoft and Symbian (along with Palm and Blackberry) were smartphone pioneers, of course. I still remember handling the first 'XDA' running Windows Mobile, and recognising that this was the future. That was in 2002, with 'large' touchscreen, a full five years before the iPhone was even announced. So there was momentum on Microsoft's side...

You may well be fairly happy with the audio output (speakers and headphones) on your existing Android phone. Or, like me, you may welcome an extra step up. Perhaps more bass/punch, clearer treble, or perhaps just a volume boost overall. Now, there have been various 'boost' utilities for Android in the past and they've been a bit patchy in how well they work. But Wavelet, discovered by Ted Salmon back in 2021, is a whole different kettle of fish, in that it works supremely well, with extra bass, clarity, and volume,   BUT has a very confusing interface. Which is why a brief tutorial is in order. The steps come from Ted in bullet point form, but expanded by me here and with screenshots, which will hopefully help. By the way, ignore the 'headphone specific' text in the app's title - it works perfectly well for speakers too. In fact, by definition, I'd say that it's really ONLY for speakers, since with headphones you've usually got plenty of natural i...

This was first published by me back in AAM days but I needed the functionality and couldn't for the life of me remember how it was accessed, so... here we go again! One of my favourite things a smartphone can do is help me go to sleep when my mind is whirling. Now, this isn't a new concept in smartphones, since there are third party applications for all mobile platforms that play, for example, the sound of rainfall, the ocean, a bubbling stream, and so on. The idea is to mask out other sounds that might distract you from sleep and it works really, really well. Bringing me to this simple 'how to', highlighting that Apple has (quietly)  added basic 'background sounds' into its latest iOS 15  - for free, and for everyone. Now there are some limitations - there are only three such sound streams (other than white noise), though doubtless more will follow in time. And there's no auto-shutoff, so the water sound effects will play until you, presumably, wake up. ...