Motorola Sholes: Here’s the Deal
Posted by Admin | Filed under Android
I have a confession to make: I love Android. I am also on the Verizon network, so I got really excited when I read that the Motorola Sholes is a rumored Android phone for Verizon Wireless — apparently slated for October of this year! If you want to read about detailed specs for the device, here is a link to the Engadget article.
There are a few things I’d like to discuss about this phone. First, this phone is supposedly going to be the first VZW Android phone. But, if you remember back in April, a different phone was said to be the first Verizon Android phone: the Motorola Calgary. Let’s compare the renders of the Sholes and the Calgary:
Motorola Sholes
Motorola Calgary
These two phones look very similar… Similar enough that they would compete against each other if both were sold to the public. Both feature slide-out keyboards, a large touch screen, and the Android OS. If Verizon is going to release both of these phones, the only way to target different audiences would be to make the Calgary less feature-filled and thus allow it to be cheap. I think that the Calgary is history, just as the Rush 2, Flash, and Inferno are history (at least, no has heard of them since last year — they seemed to have disappeared). I think the Calgary failed with its RAZR-like keyboard, which is just simply not appealing.
The second thing I’d like to talk about is the name: Sholes. This name is terrible, and I fully expect it to be branded as something else upon release. It’s easy to do a double-take and initially just read the ‘holes’ part of the name. ‘Holes’ is not something you want associated with a phone. Also, the name could come from the inventor of the typewriter and QWERTY keyboard, Christopher Sholes.
Since most people don’t know who the inventor of the keyboard is, I tend to think the name comes from some nerdy Motorola employee who had to come up with a codename.
The final thing to discuss is Verizon’s tendency to destroy potential in their phones by locking it down so users spend more money on Verizon’s services. They do have a history of this, but I don’t think it will be much of a problem for the Sholes. How much can they do to the Android OS? You will still be able to download and install apps from the Android store or the OS ceases to be Android. I can see Verizon putting their own apps made with Android on there, but you could just remove them and install your own apps. All in all I have no doubts that this will be the best Android phone to come to the market yet.
EDIT: Apparently the new phone may be named the Shules… Translation issue from the original Russian site?
Bliss — A Photoshop creation
Posted by Admin | Filed under Photoshop
I was browsing Photoshop tutorials, and I noticed an especially attractive image with 3D text and flowers blooming from beneath the text. I’d never messed with 3D text before, so I decided to follow the tutorial and make my own image. The tutorial can be found here.
Here is the result:
I think it turned out pretty well. I followed the tutorial pretty closely, and then I added some snow with a free brush I found here. I recommend you check out this tutorial — 3D text is fun to play around with!
DIY: Multi-touch box mini
Posted by Admin | Filed under DIY, Tutorials
This is a DIY project I did. It’s a multi touch device made from a webcam, a cardboard box, a piece of Plexiglas, lots of tape, and computer paper. I came across this video, which runs through the entire process, and spent a Saturday morning constructing it. I probably spent 4 hours total on building and configuring the pad.
Here is a video demo of the pad running off of my laptop.
[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evMHA5AJkfk w=425 h=344]
Here are some pictures I took of the device itself.