Products | The IT Nerd

Archive for the Products Category

Review: Bluewave Audio GET

Posted in Products with tags Bluewave Audio on October 18, 2017 by itnerd

Earlier this year, I got the iPhone 7 Plus. At the time, I said that I would have to live the dongle life on my next trip to listen to music. I did not anticipate a significant problem though. The Apple supplied Lightning to 3.5mm dongle that allowed me to plug in my RHA MA450 headsets sucks. And I mean that it really sucks. They do a horrible job of reproducing audio, even for non-audiophiles. What’s the fix for this? You could go with Lightning headphones. But there’s not a whole lot of them out there and they tend to be pricey if you want anything that has decent sound quality. Apple says to go wireless. Here’s my problem with that. I either have to buy W1 or Bluetooth headsets, or get a Bluetooth dongle of some sort to use my RHA headsets. The problem with the former is buying wireless headsets is not a cheap option. The problem with the latter is that when it comes to most Bluetooth dongles, the audio quality sucks almost as much as the Apple Lightning to 3.5mm dongle.

Fortunately, a Canadian startup called Bluewave Audio is out to give you a third option which is to use your existing headsets wirelessly via a device called the GET:

atCoj+PiTmm1HeVVxBm0pw

This is a Bluetooth 5.0 wireless audio adapter. Bluetooth 5.0? That’s not a misprint. It does support the latest version of Bluetooth so it’s ahead of the curve. It feels solid and well built. It has buttons to change tracks, a button to play/pause/answer and end calls along with turning the device on and off, and an analog volume control (which feels great by the way). There’s a clip that you can use to hang it off your clothing, or you can replace it with a bigger one to hang off your headphones of choice. I should also note that it has EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) support as well. But that’s not the only thing that it has going for it. For starters, it supports a wide range of audio codecs:

AAC
AptX-HD at 24 bit
AptX Low Latency
AptX
SBC
MP3

By “supports,” I mean that it processes those audio formats on the GET itself so that you get better sound quality. It has a built in microphone with cVc noise cancelling which from my testing works exceptionally well, a 3.5 mm jack to allow you to plug in the headsets of your choice, an insanely broad frequency response range of 20-20000Hz, a shockingly low signal to noise ratio of 96 dB, and up to 6 hours of battery life with a 2 hour recharge time. One added bonus on that front is that you can charge the GET and use it at the same time. Plus when plugged in to a power source, it will not use any battery power. You can read the full specs on the Bluewave website at your leisure. But you’re likely thinking if all of this is true. In particular, can this device really deliver top quality audio?

In short, YES.

The GET got subjected via my RHA MA450 headsets to the playlist that I use to test the audio systems in cars, wireless speakers and the like. It has a variety of music that will highlight the best or worst in whatever I am testing. If you’re interested, artists contained in this playlist include:

The Pet Shop Boys
Beth Orton
David Bowie
Röyksopp
Austra
Avicii

To my utter amazement, I have never heard any of this music sound this good. I was truly shocked about how good it all sounded as I was hearing details like drum reverb in songs that I have never heard before. I was also blown away in terms of how full bodied that this playlist sounded using the same headsets that I have been using for a while now. Clearly I wasn’t even close to maximizing the abilities of these headsets prior to the arrival of the GET in my test lab. As far as I am concerned, it delivers what it promises. And then some.

But I wanted to push the envelope. I gave the GET to my wife to try it with her iPhone 6 to see what her reaction to it was. She’s a perfect test subject as she’s a classically trained pianist who has taken several Royal Conservatory Of Music exams. Thus she has a great ear for what music sounds like. I’ll cut to the chase. What was supposed to be a single day test turned out to be four days, and she was reluctant to give it back to me on day four. But she did say two things. The first thing she mentioned is that she went the four days that she had it without having to recharge the GET. The second thing she said was that the sound quality was so good that it made her want to listen to music again. Clearly the GET impressed her as well.

Now the use case of not having to live the dongle life is not the only one that the GET addresses. You can use it with your home stereo for wireless audio, or use it in your car, or pair it to your computer. Anywhere you can plug in a 3.5 mm device to play audio, you can use the GET. One other note, there’s an app coming which will allow you to tweak options and update the device’s firmware. That I am looking forward to seeing as I am a bit of an “control enthusiast.”

The GET is in the process of starting to ship from the suburbs of Montreal where they’re assembled. MSRP is $129 USD, but it’s currently going for $99 on their website. If you’re sick of living the dongle life and you want outstanding audio wirelessly, you need to get your hands on the GET. The company has a money back guarantee. But I assure you that once you try it, you won’t be sending it back for a refund.

2 Comments »

Review: VMware Fusion 10

Posted in Products with tags VMWare on October 17, 2017 by itnerd

I’ve been a long time user of Parallels Desktop for Mac as it has been very good to me in terms of being able to run virtual machines on my Mac. But a long time ago, I did try VMware Fusion. I hadn’t really given it another thought until I was approached by VMware to give VMware Fusion 10 a try. Frankly, I’m glad that I did.

First of all, the graphics capabilities in VMware Fusion 10 are outstanding. You can attribute that to the addition of Metal support. This gives the VMware Fusion 10 a serious performance boost, along with increasing the accuracy of rendering and improving power efficiency. I felt this when playing Team Fortress 2 in Windows 10 as it was so good I almost forgot I was playing the game in a virtual machine. It was truly that good. I would imagine that you would get the same experience if you were running something that is graphics heavy such as a 3D modelling application. I’m going to also highlight something else on the graphics front which is the support for retina displays. Parallels Desktop supports retina displays. But it was done in a way that made the virtual machine unusable because the type was so small. Thus I ended up turning that feature off. No so in the case of VMware Fusion 10 where they have fully leveraged the retina display to make the virtual machine more than usable.

There’s support for operating systems including macOS 10.13 High Sierra and the fall updates for Windows 10 and Server 2016. But one trick that VMware Fusion 10 has is the ability to import virtual machines from Parallels Desktop which I utilized to review the product. The process worked fine though I had two hiccups. One was that once the import was complete, VMware Fusion 10 was unable to boot the virtual machine until I chose the virtual hard disk. The second hiccup was I had trouble getting sound to work in the virtual machine once it booted. It was apparently due to the lack of drivers. But if you’re starting from scratch, you can easily create a virtual machine or clone a desktop computer to a virtual machine via easy to understand wizards that walk you through the process. And when I say the words “easy to understand” I truly mean that they are extremely easy to understand.

If you want to get really nerdy, VMware supports features such as NVMe devices, UEFI Secure Boot, UEFI boot, and TPM chips. Why should you care about this stuff? In my case I care because I use virtual machines to replicate customer environments so that I can understand why they are having an issue, and come up with a fix for it. For example, during the testing of VMware Fusion 10, I was asked by a customer to try and help them to replicate an issue that involved Microsoft’s Bitlocker encryption. To replicate this issue properly required me to use the TPM chip that is found in many corporate class PCs. This is something that I would not have been able to do with any other virtualization product, and had I not had been testing VMWare Fusion 10 at the time, I would have to borrow one of their computers and set it up at home to perform this testing. Thus for the first time, I can now replicate environments accurately from a virtual hardware perspective as VMware Fusion 10 supports technologies like these. The kicker is that I didn’t have to use the pro version to get support for technologies like these.

VMware Fusion 10 is now available from vmware.com for $79 USD. The pro version which is more focused at enterprise users is $179. Fusion 8.5 users can upgrade to Fusion 10 Pro for only $119 and to Fusion 10 for $49 at the VMware online store. And those who purchase Fusion 8 or Fusion 8 Pro between August 22 and November 1 are eligible for an electronic upgrade to Fusion 10 or Fusion 10 Pro, respectively, at no additional cost. No action is required on your part, your licenses will automatically be upgraded in your MyVMware account manager. If you have the need to run virtual machines on your Mac, VMware Fusion 10 should be your first choice. In my case, I am giving serious thought to converting over because VMware is the new champ of virtual machine software on the Macintosh platform.

4 Comments »

Review: The Essential Phone & Essential 360 Camera

Posted in Products with tags Essential, Telus on October 16, 2017 by itnerd

If you’ve heard of Google, you’ve likely heard of Andy Rubin. He was the guy behind the Android operating system. That worked out well for him. For his next trick, he’s making a phone that runs Android. And it’s called the Essential Phone which is being carried by Telus exclusively in Canada. Here’s what you get under the hood:

5.71-inches, Quad-HD display, 2560 x 1312 resolution
8MP Front camera
13.1MP Dual rear camera
128GB storage
4GB RAM
Rear Fingerprint Sensor
Android 7.1
USB-C

First off, this phone feels solid. That’s due to a titanium frame and ceramic back. The flip side is that this phone is a fingerprint magnet. You’ll need to put it in a case if you want to keep it clean. Another point to make. this phone is neither dust proof or waterproof unlike the likes of the Apple iPhone 7 or Samsung Galaxy S8. Nor does it come out of the box with wireless charging. Oh yeah, the memory is non-expandable. Those could be fatal flaws for a smartphone these days. But strangely I can overlook all of that.

Now one thing that is different is the fact that it has a magnetic connector on the back with wireless data transfer. The first accessory that utilizes this is a 360 degree camera which I will get to in a bit. Then next that’s coming soon is a wireless dock that promises cordless charging to address the fact that it doesn’t have it at present.

Back to the phone. The star of the show is the Quad-HD screen which is in a word, stunning. Except for that cutout for the front facing camera that looks kind of weird. But seeing as the iPhone X has a similar cutout, is this a big deal? Likely not. I should note that Google apps like Maps work best with the cutout. However other apps from developers outside of Google are hit and miss. When it misses, there’s a black bar on the top of the screen. You are either going to love or hate that. In terms of the rest of the phone, it’s insanely minimalistic. Power and volume controls on the right. The SIM tray and USB-C connector are at the bottom which is where the only speaker is. In other words, there’s no stereo speakers. There’s also no headphone jack as well. But there’s a USB-C to 3.5″ adapter in the box if you wish to live the dongle life. If you don’t, there are many Bluetooth and the USB-C headphones for you listening pleasure. On the back is the fingerprint sensor. If that doesn’t minimalistic, I don’t know what does. Good thing the battery isn’t minimalistic as it will last almost two days of usage between charges.

The software is stock Android. And I do mean STOCK with the only non stock apps being the Camera app which is made by Essential and the Telus My Account app. That I love. So is the fact that the phone is quick and everything that I did to the phone couldn’t slow it down.

Speaking of the camera, I’ve got two cameras to cover off today. The stock camera is 13.1MP dual rear camera that’s capable of 4K video. To test this out, it required a trip to Pearson Airport in Toronto to get some shots of planes landing:

All these pictures were easy to take thanks to the simple yet effective camera app. There were no issues in quality. And in terms of video, here’s one shot on 4K:

Again, it was easy to get this video thanks to the easy use camera app. No issues here with the video.

Now onto the party trick that the Essential phone has which is the Essential 360 camera.

It attaches magnetically and it uses the smartphone to capture 360-degree stills and 4K video using the camera app. While it’s on your Essential phone, you can’t use the built in camera. It features two 12MP sensors, a pair of fisheye lenses, each with a 210-degree field of view. Now to be honest, going into this review, I have to admit that this camera seemed like a party trick to me. But maybe there’s a use case for it given these results, starting with this 360 degree video which you can interact by clicking and dragging the video. For best results, I’d recommend using the Chrome browser:

It’s an interesting feature is easy to use and works well. But I have to admit that I am still undecided if this is a feature that will set the Essential Phone apart from its competition. And I don’t think that the Essential Phone will appeal to everyone the way an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy will. But I suspect that it will find a market for those who want a powerful yet minimalistic phone that comes with stock Android and a few tricks up its sleeve. Telus is offering up the phone for $1050 outright, or up to $0 on a 2 year term. The Essential 360 Camera goes for $270. Check it out if you want a different sort of Android phone.

1 Comment »

Review: Nomad Universal Cable

Posted in Products with tags Nomad on October 13, 2017 by itnerd

I am in the midst of updating the kit that I travel with which (I hope) covers any problems that I face on the road. The idea of this kit is to have every cable and piece of software that I might need if I am on a business trip so that I can address minor or moderate issues on my own. One of the areas that I am looking at is cables because I don’t want to carry around a rats nest of cables as they’re just going to tangle. Which is why the Nomad Universal Cable caught my attention:

This is a cable that has three heads:

Lightning for Apple iDevices (and it’s MFI certified by the way)
Mini USB
USB-C

The logic is that this cable will work with any smartphone type that you might have. That way if your Android friends need a cable to charge their phone and you’re an iPhone user, you can help them out. In my case, the end of the cable that connects into the computer is USB-A. But those who need USB-C should know that Nomad has a USB-C version of this cable as well which also includes a USB-A connection.

The cable is overbuilt to allow it to survive anything. Specifically:

It is wrapped in a 500D Nylon woven in a ballistic weave pattern. This material was originally developed to protect military forces from shrapnel and bullets.
It has been lab tested to withstand over 10,000 flex cycles.
It has RF shielding to ensure that data transfers work 100% of the time.
It has a durable silicon rubber cable tie to allow you to wrap the cable up with no concerns about the cable tie breaking.

On top of all of that, I noted that the ends of the cable have no flex. That means that breaks at the ends of the cable, which is common for a lot of cables out there is a non issue. That explains why the company offers a 5 year warranty on their cables.

In my testing, the cable worked perfectly. Though I note that when you have to use the USB-C or Lightning head, you have to be careful to make sure that you’re popping it on correctly as those heads connect to the Micro USB connector on the cable, and it only fits one way. Other than that, it survived in my car which has a history of killing cables. If this cable can survive that environment, then it’s a winner. So much so that I bought two of them. One is the .3M version which will go into the kit that I spoke of earlier. That one goes for $30 USD. The other is the 1.5M version which will go into my car so that if a passenger needs a charge, I have them covered. That one goes for $35 USD. It’s a no-brainer to recommend if you want to ensure that you have a cable that you can use with any device.

3 Comments »

Review: EZOPower 6 Foot Braided Sleeve Sync & Charge Data Cable

Posted in Products with tags EZOPower on October 12, 2017 by itnerd

Today I am reviewing a pair of cables that I plan to use in the kit that I travel with which (I hope) covers any problems that I face on the road. They’re from a company called EZOPower and they are their 6 Foot Braided Sleeve Sync & Charge Data Cable. Here’s what they look like.

You will notice that they have a woven fabric coating. That’s there to make the cable tangle free and durable while still being flexible. It also gives it a feeling of quality as plastic cables tend to feel cheap. The cable is also stiff when compared to most cords these days. Stiff and braided cable means that this isn’t going to get tangled as easily as other cords and that is a real plus for me as cables have tendency to mysteriously end up tangled in my corner of the planet. The company has also added foil and braid shielding to reduce EMI/RFI interference. That way it ensures high-speed, error-free data transfer.

If I had a concern, it would be the strain relief which is this part of the cables:

The fact that the ends of the connectors aren’t that long is a concern as I have to wonder if they will hold up to the rigors that USB cables are exposed to. But to be fair, I haven’t had any problems thus far so maybe I am being overly paranoid.

I got two of these cables from Amazon. One was a USB to Micro USB and one as USB to Mini USB. The former was $6 CDN and the latter was $12 CDN. They also have USB-C and Lightning variants too, so you can likely find a cable that fits your needs and not spend a lot of money to get them.

1 Comment »

Review: Zus Smart Tire Safety Monitor [NOT RECOMMENDED]

Posted in Products with tags Nonda on October 11, 2017 by itnerd

Back in June, I became aware of a IndieGoGo campaign to bring a new tire pressure monitoring system to market. The company behind it was Nonda and I had previously reviewed a their Super Duty USB-A to Lightning Cable as well as the ZUS USB Charger And Car Finder. So I took a chance on funding the campaign on the first day with the promise that it would ship in August along with a free USB cable. Long story short, it took until October to arrive. But at least I got it and I now get the chance to review the ZUS Smart Tire Safety Monitor.

Now, before I get to the review, here’s why this product is different from most tire pressure monitoring systems. Most tire pressure monitoring systems, including ones that come as standard equipment on cars which only tell you when a tire is significantly down on air pressure. They have no way of telling you that you might have a slow leak which can allow you to address a potential tire issue much earlier. That’s important because a tire that is down on air pressure can become a safety hazard as tires in that state can blow out besides the fact that they will deflate over time. The ZUS Smart Tire Safety Monitor addresses this by monitoring tire pressure in real time as well as from an historical perspective to let you know if you have a tire related issue long before you’re stuck on the side of the road because you didn’t address it in time. Or worse. It also takes temperature into account as well to add to it’s ability to do its job accurately. All of this is driven by the ZUS app that is available for iOS and Android. One plus about using this app is that the one app will be used to drive Nonda’s growing connected car platform. Thus I can run the ZUS USB Car Charger And Car Finder and the Smart Tire Safety Monitor from the same app. And when other devices appear from the company, they’ll be supported in the same app.

Besides the above, there’s one additional reason why I wanted one of these. I don’t have a tire pressure monitoring system in my 2016 Hyundai Tucson. That’s because unlike the United States, there is no legal requirement in Canada to have such systems in cars. Thus I’ve wanted a system like this on that vehicle for peace of mind reasons.

Here’s what you get in the box:

You get four tire pressure sensors that replace the valve caps on your car and they read the pressure in real time. On the right is the receiver which has Bluetooth connectivity so that it can communicate with the sensors and with your phone. Inside the Installation Kit, you get this:

You get five bolts (one is a spare) to lock the sensors in place so that they don’t get stolen along with a wrench to tighten said bolts. You also get Velcro to secure the receiver in place in your car. There’s also a replacement cap for the sensor along with a gasket to ensure that water stays out of the sensor.

I used the Velcro to mount the receiver in an out of the way spot in my car in the center console:

You’ll notice the green lights. There are four of them on the receiver that indicate that the tire is fine. If a tire has an issue, they’ll not only change color but the receiver will sound an audible alert. That way you don’t have to rely on the ZUS app to let you know what the status is of your tires while you’re driving. You’ll also note the three white lights on the receiver which indicates that it is connected via Bluetooth. Finally, you’ll notice the USB port which allows you to charge your device. Thus you’re not giving anything up by using the Smart Tire Safety Monitor.

Now the sensors (which water and dust resistant and are IP67 rated by the way) come pre-labeled and the entire system is pre-configured at the factory. Thus setup is insanely easy:

Get the ZUS app on your phone.
Turn on your car.
Plug the receiver into a USB port.
Open the ZUS app, click add a device and follow the instructions to pair the receiver to the phone. Then make sure you keep the app open to enter the correct tire pressure for your car into the app.
Remove the stock valve covers from the valve stems on the tires.
Install the locking nuts on the valve stem and then the sensors. All the sensors are labeled as to which wheel they go on, so you need to pay attention to that. You have to screw the sensors in tight enough so that you can hear the sound of air coming out of the tire and then hearing it stop.
Done. Declare victory and have a beer.

The company promises that this will take ten minutes and it took me about that long to get all of the above done. In case you’re wondering what the sensor looks like on the wheel, here’s a picture:

It really doesn’t attract any attention in my case. Though I can see that a different rim design might have it sticking out, which in turn might attract some attention. Thus, your mileage may vary on this front. The sensors have a lithium battery that is user replaceable, and is rated to last a year.

Next up was to set the tire pressure. For the Hyundai Tucson that I drive, the cold tire pressure is 35 PSI. Now cold tire pressure is defined as the vehicle having been parked for three hours or more, or if the vehicle has been driven less than a mile (1.6 km) at a moderate speed. Now, when you fill your tires at a gas station, the air that you pump into them might be “hot”. Also the pressure reading that you get first thing in the morning when the air temperature is cooler may increase in the middle of the day when it is warmer or if you’ve driven a fair bit. Thus, what I do is I usually set my tire pressure to 37 PSI (or 2 PSI over what is recommended) which means that when the temperature drops, it should drop to 35 PSI. So, using a tire gauge that I trust, I did that and then I went out for a short drive. This is what the Tire Safety Monitor saw:

That’s pretty accurate. You can drill down on any tire to see the history of temperature and pressure changes:

You can also drill down further to see the “AccurateTemp” trend which keeps track of temperature changes to the tire. High temperatures could mean that the tire is about to fail:

I did have one oddity with the receiver. My original plan was plug it into the only USB port that the Tucson has and then plug my phone into the USB port. That turned out to be a problem as doing that caused all sorts or weird issues with the car’s infotainment system where it would randomly do things such as switch audio sources. Thus I ended up plugging it into the ZUS USB Car Charger And Car Finder to make that problem go away. Other than that, I had no issues during my testing.

The ZUS Smart Tire Safety Monitor will be generally available in October and goes for $129 USD and has a 12 month warranty. I would get this if your car doesn’t come with tire pressure monitoring, or you want tire pressure monitoring that is far more accurate and useful than what came with your car. Whatever your use case is, it’s easy to install and works well.

UPDATE: I have pulled my recommendation of this product due to the fact that this product was not designed to resist galvanic corrosion. As a result, two of the sensors became stuck on the valve stems which required me to have them cut off and replaced. More details here.

5 Comments »

Review: Rogers Smart Drive

Posted in Products with tags Rogers, ZTE on October 10, 2017 by itnerd

In the era of the Internet of Things, cars being connected to the Internet is something that has been around for a while. Examples of this include GM’s OnStar and Hyundai’s BlueLink. Both of these services allow you to do everything from track the location of your car, discover potential problems with your car, and even in the case of OnStar serve up Internet access. That’s great if you buy a new car with one of those services installed. But what if you already own a car and want some or all of these features? If that’s you, then Rogers would like to Introduce you to Rogers Smart Drive:

The device itself is made by smartphone company ZTE and it plugs into your car’s OBD II port to not only power itself, but to pull diagnostics and other information off the car’s computer system. More on that in a second.

There are two indicators that show that the device is being powered and it is connected to cellular service. Also, ZTE doesn’t hide the fact that they make the device.

On the side you get a slot for a SIM card as well as recessed reset button and a restart button should you need it.

Installation is trivially easy. Assuming that you are above ground and someplace that you can get a cell signal, here’s what you do:

Download either the iOS or Android version of the Smart Drive app
Set up an account for yourself using your mobile phone number with Vancouver based Mojio who provides the backend services for this device and writes the Smart Drive apps on behalf of ZTE and Rogers.
Install the SIM card into the device and enter the IMEI that is not only on the device itself, but on a card that is included in the package into the app. The app does have the ability to scan the barcode related to the IMEI using your smartphone’s camera, But that didn’t work for me on my iPhone 7 Plus. Thus I typed it in by hand.
Plug the device into your ODB II port in your car which is usually on the drivers side underneath the steering wheel.
Go for a 10 minute drive to finish setting up the device and leave it plugged in for at least a day so that the backup battery inside the device can charge.
Done. Declare victory and have a beer.

As an aside, this device can be used in multiple cars. That way you can use it while you travel, or if you have more than one car.

Once it’s installed, here’s what the device can do for you. The app will collect information from the device and track your car’s location in almost real time using the built in GPS sensor and monitor your driving habits. So if you have a habit of braking hard, accelerating hard from a stoplight, or exceeding the speed limit, this device will keep track of that.

I can see how this could be useful. For example, if you have teens who just got their license, you can monitor their driving habits to make sure that they don’t do anything stupid or dangerous. And if they do try to take the device out of the car to cover up their activities, you will get a notification that it was removed and the location that the removal of the device took place. Another use case is if you need to track your driving so that you can your business can pay for it, Smart Drive will take care of that by allowing you to export some or all of your driving history to an spreadsheet or to a PDF. Or you can simply use it to see if you can improve your driving. As you can see, I tend to be a bit of an aggressive driver and I should likely do something about that ~~because my wife who also has the Smart Drive app installed can see these results and that’s going to get me into trouble sooner or later~~.

You can ensure that your car stays where you parked it. Or, you can find it if you “forgot” where you parked.

One handy feature is that you can use the app to create a geofence around a specific area so that if it moves the car out of that area, you get an alert. So using the example of having a teenager at home who’s a new driver, you can create a geofence around your home so that if the car moves because your teen decides to have some fun with it, you get an alert and he or she is busted.

The device will capture diagnostic info from your car so you can make sure your car stays in good shape. These include anything that would cause a light such as a check engine light to pop up on your dash. If you look at the picture above, you can see that it is pulling info about how much gas I have in the tank, my battery status, and if I have any issues with the car. If I did have issues, I could click on that bar and get more detailed info about whatever issue the car has. Another handy feature is that the device has an accelerometer in it so that if someone shakes the car because they are trying to break into it, you’ll get an alert.

Finally, Smart Drive turns your car into a WiFi hotspot and connect up to 5 WiFi-capable devices. The device connects to the Internet via LTE. The device serves up a 802.11 b/g/n connection and apparently has Bluetooth as well. That way on long road trips, the kids can use their phones and tablets and not have to ask “are we there yet?” During my tests from the passenger seat of the car (because distracted driving isn’t cool), I had no issues using this feature in and around the Greater Toronto Area.

Now, during my testing all of this worked perfectly on the Android platform. However, on iOS there were some oddities that I noted. Here’s a few examples:

You have the ability inside the Smart Drive app to change the color of the car and the shape of the car. But trying to do that consistently crashed the iOS app. It however worked fine on Android.
The odometer reading inside the Smart Drive app would get erased from time to time from the iOS app. This did not happen on the Android platform.
The Android version of Smart Drive is the ability to pull up a maintenance schedule. That way you can look at the mileage of the vehicle and see what maintenance is due and schedule it accordingly. Plus there’s warranty information for the vehicle as well. The former is missing from the iOS version.

But here’s the good news. I reported these issues along with a few others to ZTE and they passed them along to the Mojio team. Via some back end changes and an upcoming iOS app update, a lot of these issues will be addressed shortly or have already been addressed. That tells me that both ZTE and Mojio are really trying to make sure the user experience is top shelf which inspires confidence.

While they’re at it, another thing that they could fix on both the iOS and Android version of Smart Drive is the fact that I got warnings that I exceeded the speed limit even though that notification was turned off. To fix that, I had to turn the notification on and set the threshold to 130 KM/h (as it’s pretty much impossible to drive a highway in the Toronto area at anything less than 120 KM/h in clear traffic. This despite the fact that the speed limit is typically 100 KM/h). That’s counter intuitive.

Another thing that I noted is that the device when plugged into the ODB II port isn’t exactly small and discreet. Here’s a picture of what it looks like inside my car:

IMG_0844 (1)

The reason why I am pointing this out is because the possibility for you to accidentally hit the device with your leg while driving exists. Especially if you drive a manual transmission and your left leg is working the clutch. That can get expensive as it might break the device or the ODB II port that it is plugged into. Plus it’s noticeable which means that it could be swiped or thrown out a window by a car thief who wouldn’t want this device tracking the location of the car he just stole (though I will again point out that it will generate an alert if the device is unplugged and show a location on a map to tell you where it was unplugged). Not to mention that it doesn’t exactly look like it belongs there. Perhaps ZTE might want to look at making the next version smaller and less noticeable so that it flies under the radar a bit more.

Back to the good stuff. I noted something that would be of interest if you live somewhere that has underground parking which cuts the device off from the cellular network. I noted that Smart Drive gracefully handled that situation by not only storing the details of the most recent drive and any events on the device, but it uploads it to the Smart Drive app within a minute or two after the device came back online. That was pretty cool.

Finally in terms of privacy and other concerns that you might have such as compatibility with your car. Rogers has provided an FAQ and a compatibility list for your perusal. The FAQ specifically provides a fair amount of information that should answer any questions that you might have. The FAQ is detailed and should address any privacy related questions that you might have.

Smart Drive from Rogers goes for $99 CAD on a two year term, or $200 CAD outright for the device, and it’s $15 a month to add to your Share Everything plan which is required to used the device. As an inducement, Rogers is offering 1GB of bonus data on top of whatever you have with your Share Everything plan for 12 months. I should note that ZTE has also partnered with Telus to bring this device and related backend services to their network under the Drive+ name with the same monthly pricing, 1GB inducement, and requirement for you to have a sharable data plan. But the device is $0 on a 2 year term. Either way, if you want to make your car one of those “things” on the Internet in the era of the Internet of Things, this is worth a look. From what I see here, there’s a lot of potential for this device to make your driving experience a whole lot better than it is right now without having to buy a new car to do it.

UPDATE: A Smart Drive app update for iOS was pushed out yesterday and it completely addresses any issues that I brought up in my initial review including feature parity with the Android version of the app. The app update brings iOS 11 support as well. The bottom line is that you should update to the new version of the Smart Drive app as soon as you can.

6 Comments »

Review: 2018 Mazda CX-3 GT AWD – Part 5

Posted in Products with tags Mazda on October 6, 2017 by itnerd

So I’ve come to the end of my week long review of the Mazda CX-3 GT AWD. Mazda has made some changes for the 2018 model year that have taken a sub-compact crossover that was one of the best options in a very crowded marketplace and made it better. One thing that I need to point out is the fact that Mazda’s Smart City Brake Support feature is now a standard feature. That means everyone has access to a key piece of safety technology. It also makes the CX-3 an even more compelling option in the sub-compact space.

My final fuel economy was 7.9 L/100KM’s which is pretty good given that the CX-3 has all-wheel drive. Plus if you take into account the changes that Mazda made to the suspension encourages you to drive in a more “spirited” manner which typically does not contribute to saving gas, you can upgrade this to being an outstanding result.

If you wanted to cross shop it, contenders would include the Nissan Juke and Qashqai, Chevy Trax and it’s corporate cousin the Buick Encore, the Jeep Renegade and corporate cousin the Fiat 500X, and Honda HR-V. Given that Mazda has a class above interior and a healthy amount of tech on board, you could also start to cross shop it against the Mercedes Benz GLA, Infiniti QX-50 and BMW X1 for good measure.

The 2018 Mazda CX-3 starts at just under $20,000, and goes up to $30,995 for the GT trim level that I tested this week. If you live in an urban environment and want a small versatile vehicle that is easy to park and maneuver in tight spaces, or you want to downsize to a vehicle that is “just right” in terms of size, you have to look at the Mazda CX-3. Mazda has upped this sub compact crossover’s game, and it is still a winner as far as I am concerned.

Review: 2018 Mazda CX-3 GT AWD – Part 4

Posted in Products with tags Mazda on October 5, 2017 by itnerd

Even though the 2018 Mazda CX-3 GT is a sub-compact crossover which means that you’re giving up some size, you don’t give up technology. Here’s what it comes with starting with the safety technology:

Blind Spot Monitoring: This system keeps an eye out for cars in your blind spots so that you don’t hit them when changing lanes. It also detects cars that are rapidly closing in on you from a distance.
Smart City Brake Support: Let’s say that you you do not react in time to a car that panic stops in front of you. This Mazda is capable of coming to a stop at low speeds, or slowing down to make the impact less severe. You can get more details on this system here. I should note that as of the 2018 model year, this is a standard feature which means that getting such a key safety feature won’t require you to go to the top of the food chain.
Lane Departure Warning System: If you cross over into another lane, this system will buzz you on either the right or the left side. The buzz really gets your attention I must say.
Rear Cross Traffic Alert: If you back out of a parking space in a busy shopping mall and you have limited visibility to your left and right, you’ll love this system as you will be warned of any cars that cross into your path.
Adaptive Front Lighting System and High Beam Control: This trim level comes with LED headlights with LED daytime running lights that look cool. The lighting can be set to automatic so that you never have to worry about turning the lights on and off. I found that the levels where the lights might turn on to be better than most cars that I’ve driven as on a dark overcast day, the lights would come on. That’s something that would not happen in a lot of cars in similar systems. The high beam control is a handy feature to have as it adds to your visibility on dark country roads. So is the fact that as you steer, the headlights allow you to “see” around corners.
You get anti-lock brakes, traction control, stability control, and electronic brake force distribution. Plus you get hill launch assist which keeps you from rolling backwards when you’re on a hill.
Finally, you get dual front air bags, dual front side air bags and dual side air curtains.

Now how about actually driving the CX-3? The GT trim level gives you a proximity key with push button start. Thus all you have to do is press a button on the driver’s door handle. Press it and the car will unlock. Get in, hit the start/stop button and drive away. One nice touch is that the start/stop button will light up with a green light if you press the brake pedal to start. That’s a nice touch to remind you to press the brake pedal to start the car. When you’ve reached your destination, press the start/stop button to turn off the car. Then get out of the car, close the door and walk away. You’ll hear two beeps. One after you close the door and one about 10 seconds later. When you hear both, the car is locked. You never need to pull out the key fob to do any of this. But the key fob does have the ability to lock and unlock the doors and it has the ever useful panic button. As an added bonus, it has a backup key inside the key fob should you need it.

While driving the CX-3 you get this handy piece of technology:

This is the Mazda Active Driving Display. Hit the ignition button and the Active Driving Display screen pivots up from its place in the dash. It provides drivers with vehicle speed, chosen cruise-control speed, information from the navigation system (including turn-by-turn directions, distance and lane guidance), speed limit signs, as well as the operational status of the Mazda’s active safety systems. All of this is within the line of sight of the driver. which means you never have to look away from the road. Once I tweaked my seat position as well as the position of the screen, I found it to be extremely useful. For 2018, this display is now in color.

Mazda Connect is on board the CX-3 with the combination of the 7″ touchscreen and the HMI (Human Machine Interface) Commander Switch. It gives the driver a easy to learn, easy to use infotainment system. I wrote about it in detail here, if you want to see what it has to offer. However, the one thing that I will say is that every person who sat in the CX-3 asked if it had Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. At present it doesn’t, but it is something that they have promised to do. Though no timetable exists for that at present.

The touchscreen also doubles as the screen for the backup camera. It was easy to manoeuvre into a space as its field of vision was very good. Though I will note that the actual camera is exposed to the elements.

The Mazda CX-3 has an 7 speaker Bose sound system that I have to admit that regardless where in the CX-3 I happened to be sitting, the sound was excellent as the highs and lows were perfect and the audio was well balanced. Everything from Austra to Wolf Saga sounded great. Phone calls were clear on both ends of the conversation as well. For those of you who still use CDs, there’s a CD drive as well which is unusual to see in a car these days.

The final part of this review will tie up some loose ends and I’ll give you my final verdict. Watch for it on Friday.

Review: 2018 Mazda CX-3 GT AWD – Part 3

Posted in Products with tags Mazda on October 4, 2017 by itnerd

Mazda has some impressive interiors and the 2018 CX-3 GT is no exception. Let’s start with the driver’s seat:

The seats are leather with a suede insert to keep you from sliding about. As long as you are 6 feet tall or less, you’ll have no problem finding a good driving position. I say that because if you are any taller, you might feel a bit cramped. The seats are heated and have memory settings for two drivers. It’s 10 way power adjustable as well.

The door has leather and suede inserts and some chrome accents around the door handle. Plus if you look closely…..

You’ll see some faux carbon fiber.

Audio in the CX-3 is provided by Bose.

Below the circular air vent are the buttons to defeat the various electronic overseers. You’ll also notice on the floor that there’s a dead pedal which is handy for long drives.

The steering wheel is heated, leather wrapped, and feels good in your hands. It also includes paddle shifters on the back and all the buttons you need to run the CX-3 on the front.

The gauge cluster is distinctive and easy to read in all lighting conditions.

The 7″ infotainment screen is on the dash and is readable in all lighting conditions. Below it is the hazard light button.

HVAC controls, switches for the heated seats and steering wheel, and a CD player along with two USB ports are present. There’s also a 3.5″ audio jack that you can’t see as the shifter is in the way.

Behind the shifter is the HMI commander switch for the infotainment system. Behind that are two cupholders. To the left is a leather wrapped handbrake.

The cupholders fit a Starbucks venti sized drink with no issue.

This is a cubby for change and other small items. Missing from this is an armrest with storage which makes storage of items inside the CX-3 along with somewhere to rest your right arm a bit of a challenge.

You get a decent sized glovebox.

A power moonroof lets the outside inside.

The back seats like the front ones are leather with suede inserts. You’re not going to fit three people back here unless they’re kids. But acting as the designated driver, I got two adults who were under 6 feet tall back here with no issue.

Even though this is a sub compact crossover, you get a lot of storage space in the back. And you can get more in a couple of ways….

First there’s storage under the floor which can be handy……

Second you can use the 60/40 folding rear seats to give you room for long items.

The CX-3 fit our grocery haul with no issue.

There’s a handle on the hatch to allow you to close the hatch and keep your hands clean.

In pretty much every way I can think of, this is an interior that fits the description of being on that is a class above. It’s well put together and no issues were observed. Visibility is good as well. The only thing is that this is a small crossover and anyone over six feet tall may have issues living with it. If that’s you, Mazda has a CX-5 that they’d like you to take a look at. But other than that, I can’t criticize the interior at all.

Tomorrow I will take a look at the technology in the vehicle. And there’s a lot of it for such a small crossover. Stay tuned!

The IT Nerd