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theinvinciblenoob · 6 years

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For such a tiny device, Palm’s got a heavy lift. On the face of it, the self-titled first product from the new startup with a familiar name isn’t too radical a departure from the smartphone set. In fact, the device resembles nothing more than a diminutive iPhone, right down to the camera placement on the rear.

But the new Palm wants you to rethink your relationship with your devices. When the product was first pitched to me, a few days before I finally saw it in person, a PR rep told me the device was something new. It wasn’t a smartphone, exactly, and not quite a wearable. It was, rather, something in-between.

Last year, IDC noted that phablets (screen sizes between 5.5 and seven inches) are set to overtake smaller smartphones by next year. The march toward ever-increasing screen size shows no sign of abating. But for all of the upside of more display real estate, the human body has yet to adapt to carrying around a 6+ inch device all day, every day.

The answer to this problem — like the answer to all tech problems — is, naturally, more technology.

Palm was created to be your phone away from phone. It’s the 3.3-inch device you carry around when you don’t have space for a phone that’s double the size — be it the gym or a trip to the corner store. It’s a device that slips snuggly into the change pocket of your jeans or straps comfortably to your arm when going for a run.

It brings more standard smartphone functionality to the table than a smartwatch, with a screen size that’s roughly double that of the largest Apple Watch. It’s a product for those who can’t quite be away from their smartphone for long enough to justify the cost of an LTE watch.

That’s already a pretty small sliver of the gadget-buying public. Add to that the $349 price tag, and Verizon exclusivity, and you’ve painted yourself into a fairly small niche here. Palm told me in a briefing that it has pretty modest expectations for this first generation, given how perfectly the stars have to align to make someone the ideal consumer. I do appreciate the candor, but wonder how sustainable such goals will ultimately be in the long run.

I’ve been carrying Palm around for a few days now, and reactions tend to follow a similar arc. It generally plays out something like this:

Hey, what’s that?

Oh, that’s adorable.

So, what’s the point?

It’s true, of course, that smartwatches got tripped up in that third bit for quite a while, especially before the Apple Watch came to market. But Palm, on top of its other concerns, now has a reasonably bullish smartwatch market with which to contend. The company has to eke out its market share in that roughly 3.4-inch crack of sunlight that sits between smartphones and smartwatches.

Palm started with this market in mind, an idea it took to TCL. The Chinese electronics giant was the one that first suggested licensing the Palm name. Unlike its deal with BlackBerry, however, TCL operates only as a manufacturing partner. The heavy lifting for hardware and UI design is being done in-house — and that’s a good thing. The Palm team employs a team of people whose resumes include companies like Frog Design, Google and Samsung. On a whole, the product has good product design.

The hardware is solid, and you can’t really argue with product design that’s essentially a shrunk-down iPhone. At 3.3 inches, the screen is a hair smaller than the first iPhone’s 3.5. Of course, smartphone design and component manufacturing have come a long way in the intervening decade. The current screen-to-body ratio means a device that can, as advertised, fit pretty comfortably in the palm of most hands.

Of course, the small body is going to come with certain sacrifices. We’ve already come to accept many of these on our smartwatches, though based on application and form factor, we generally have entirely different expectations with regards to what the product can and can’t do.

The Palm, on the other hand, is simply a small phone. And yet, there are things you either can’t do — or simply wouldn’t want to — with the product. Among the more surprising omissions here is the inclusion of one physical button (power). Palm has made the most of this by including shortcuts — you can tap twice to trigger the camera, for example. But the absence of a volume rocker is pretty glaring. When I needed to adjust it, I found myself clicking through several screens, into the settings. So much for convenience.

The display itself is 720p, which is going to be a tough transition, if you use a flagship device as your daily driver. The colors also look washed out when placed up against a pricier device. I wouldn’t recommend consuming much media beyond the occasional quick YouTube video.

Aside from the tiny screen, attempting to listen to music or talk on the phone will make you hyper conscious of the limitations of an 800mAh battery. On my first day with the device, I unplugged it at 7AM. By noon, it was dead, in spite of some fairly light usage.

I thought I would be able to eke out a little more time, but while scrolling through some news stories just before 12PM, the battery suddenly dropped from 10 percent to three and then down to one before shutting off. The upside of a small battery, however, is that the thing charges up pretty quickly. Using a standard USB charger, I was able to get the battery from 0 to 100 in around an hour.

Palm, of course, will tell you that the device is not intended to be a daily driver. Fair enough. And the company has included some “battery-saving tips.”

You can go to Settings > Users & accounts > Turn off “Automatically sync data.” This will prevent background syncing of apps, so they only refresh when you open them. Major battery benefit.

Use Life Mode. It’s great. If you are really anticipating calls or texts, use the Life Mode timer to temporarily suspend Life Mode.

Use battery saver in the quick-settings menu.

Disable apps you do not use in Settings > Apps.

Minimize notifications.

Disable vibrations.

Charge it while you use your big phone.

Helpful, perhaps, but not exactly the kind of inclusion that confirms the “all-day battery life” suggested in the press material. Tellingly, the phone suggests turning on “Life Mode” by default during set up. Ticking that box “helps you live in the moment and minimize digital distraction,” which is marketing speak for turning off notifications — something that have become a core piece of functionality for many smartwatch wearers.

[Left: Palm, Right: iPhone XS]

The camera, meanwhile, while resembling the layout of the XS, is a single 12-megapixel lens, with the second spot housing the flash. It’ll work in a pinch, but you’re going to want your main phone for most photos, particularly in low light.

The virtual home button also does a lot of heavy lifting. Tap the three white dots once, and you’ll go back a screen. Double tap and you go home. Hold it down and the task switcher pops up, showing you a carousel of all of the apps you have open. Swiping up from the lock screen, meanwhile, will pop up the Gesture Pad.

One of the more innovative software elements, the feature harkens back to the old PDA days. Use you finger to scribble a quick “S” and it will pop up Settings, Slack, Spotify and Sound. It’s a quick workaround that makes the most of limited screen real estate.

In fact, that’s the through line behind all of the design choices made to the UI here. Rather than stock Android, Palm does away with the desktop, instead defaulting to an App view. The design splits the difference between the Android app tray and the UI found on wearables like the Apple Watch.

It’s essentially a scrollable list of large icons that dynamically prioritize themselves based on use. You can also manually drag and drop them to your heart’s desire. This being a Verizon exclusive, there are a couple of pieces of VZW bloatware at the bottom, and it seems you can’t manually delete them, which harkens back to the bad old days of carrier partnerships.

A lot of these choices can ultimately be written off as missteps for a first-gen device. Certainly early adopters have come to anticipate questionable decisions from a new hardware startup. The hardware build is solid, and Palm’s made a lot of clever UI decisions to get around the limitations of a small screen.

The concept is compelling, perhaps, if viewed more as a modular display than a small phone, and some of the accessories play into that idea. Ultimately, however, the device never truly answers the question of why it needs to exist, or how it will fit into users’ lives outside of a few minutes during the day.

And while $349 is a fraction of the price of a flagship device from Apple or Samsung, Palm is asking users to spend that in addition to their regular phone (plus an added $10 a month to their Verizon bill). Justifying all of that is a big ask from a little phone.

Of course, I’m open to the possibility that maybe the new Palm simply isn’t for me. I’ll leave you with Lucy to mull over that possibility. She’s all ears:

via TechCrunch

#IFTTT #TechCrunch

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dante2568 · 7 years

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Last year Wahoo caused a bit of an upset in the GPS world releasing the Wahoo Elemnt to go head to head with the lead products from Garmin and Polar. For 2017 Wahoo has released a smaller version of the Element – the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, with a key selling feature that the unit has been tuned for aerodynamic performance, which is a pretty unique selling point

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt Review – An Aerodynamically focused GPS!

When Wahoo launched a fully fledged cycling GPS unit the very much when at the problem in their own way. Much the same way as they did with the original KICKR – looking at products already on the market, and building the product they as riders wanted themselves.

The major draw for the Wahoo Elemnt was the inclusion of top and side status lights, which give quickly glanceable information in a way that riders have not had before.

But the original Elemnt, isn’t the smallest of the GPS units on the market, so for 2017, Wahoo have produced a shrunken Elemnt – The Wahoo Elemnt Bolt. Essentially the larger Elemnt gubbins in a smaller, more slippery form factor – and that is something they have seriously focused on with the Bolt

DESIGN

The Wahoo Elemnt comes lovingly packaged as you would expect. The quality of the packaging feels much more akin to that of a high-end watch, or perfume, as is becoming the way with a lot of gadgets. On the full-size Wahoo Elemnt there are three mounts, as the Bolt has shrunk, so have the accessories with a stem/bar mount and the out front mount now only being included

Which I suppose is a good run down of what’s in the box. two mounts, charging cable, four industrial cable ties of the stem mount, dead tree manuals and an extra retaining screw

The original Elemnt, which while it is a great bit of kit, I think it would be difficult to be described as anything other than industrial. By comparison, the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, partially due to the aerodynamics, and partially from a visual perspective is a much smoother, more visually pleasing design.

Whilst the original Elemnt looked rather, brick like, compared to its competitors

The new Wahoo Elemnt stacks up well the visual stakes departments against other GPS devices on the market, with the Garmin 820 probably the closest competitor

Looking around the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, there is a quarter turn mount on the back…

Which looks surprisingly like a Garmin mount… But twisted by 90deg, and with just enough changes to the edges/wings as to avoid infringement. You could file the edges down slightly… But then the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt would sit at 90deg. Plus as well as voiding the warranty, it would pretty much ruin the aero profile that Wahoo have worked so hard on, which is evidenced when you put the Bolt onto the out front mountings

The out front mount really is what makes aero package on the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt

Conversely, if you are using a third party stem/mount or even the stem mounted fixing that aero sculpting is rendered void.

Realistically is this aero package designed for you and me? No, it is designed pro athletes and racers. This is confirmed by the presence of an “optional locking screw” that allows a team/rider to physically fix the Wahoo Bolt to a competitors bike for when putting their machine through the weigh in

Carrying on around the rest of the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt the charging micro USB port is hidden under a sky blue flap.

We have the power button on the top, which is also used to access the settings functions.

Up and down buttons, which are an improvement from the double rocker switch on the RIGHT of the unit on the original Elemnt. There are used to scroll through menus, and specifically, control the number of size of the data fields when you are out on a ride

Then at the bottom, three sizeable rubber buttons, changing depending on the mode. The middle button normally being the action/select button, with the LEFT a history/options button and the RIGHT next page/options button.

These buttons are a MASSIVE improvement from the original Elemnt, which was criticised on the button front. Now they have excellent responsiveness, nice and grippy, and just the right amount of travel and click so that you know they have been pressed.

The Screen

Speaking of design the screen is in the grand scheme of things a fairly straightforward affair, but you know what? It works, particularly when you are on a day light ride

Polar have in the past hit on this with the M430 watch and the M460 GPS. You don’t need a colourful display, what you need is readability.

Now the screen on the Bolt has been shrunk, which is something that the company can’t get away from, but the exceptionally intuitive approach to zooming in and out of the data on pages using the RIGHT sided buttons overcomes the screen real-estate issue with ease

With the original Elemnt, I found the back light a little bit lack lustre, which was quite evident in low light conditions

On the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, the backlight has been improved, and whilst the screen still isn’t a bright as some units, but you do get a very uniform illumination right across the display, and that eases my OCD!

One of the game changers from the original Elemnt launch was the side and top mounted LEDs, however on the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt that has now been reduced to just the top lights.

Without question, the LED’s remain the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt crowning glory. I’m actually surprised someone hasn’t come up with this before!

Using these LED’s to give you an idea of your performance is one of the best ways of getting riding data I have seen – VERY glanceable! As far as I’ve concerned the use of LED’s in this way is the killer feature on the Wahoo Elemnt, and have a roll in both navigation and Strava segments.

Specification

Device weight – 60 grams

Screen: 56mm – Black and White

Battery: 15hrs – pretty accurate

Water resistance: IPX7 (waterproof to 5f )

Sensor compatibility:

The standard HRM, Speed, Cadence, and Power

Muscle Oxygen sensors: BSXInsight and Moxy Muscle Oxygen Sensors

Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0, ANT+, WiFi

Other bits:

Shock proof

Text, Email and Phone alerts

Note this isn’t smart notifications,

Direct KICKR control

Turn By Turn navigation

Electronic Gear display:

Compatible with Shimano Dura Ace Di2, SRAM eTAP, FSA WE, and Campagnolo EPS, electronic shifting systems.

In some respects, I was a little surprised not to see a crash detection system built in, similar to the Garmin Edge 820, or the ICE Dot, however, I suppose the development of the Strava Beacon system has made that a less crucial feature for cycling GPS units now.

The system does have a Live Track portal using the Elemnt App,

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt User Manual

There is no downloadable PDF for the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, but Wahoo does have a setup and FAQ website here

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt Companion App

Available for Apple or Google

The LED’s mentioned before, like the rest of the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, are controlled/Setup from the Wahoo Elemnt App.

The app is paired to the phone by scanning the QR code displayed on the Bolt. This has to be one of the easiest ways of pairing a unit; I’m definitely very pro this approach moving to other companies and device. It is already used for trainer identification on Elite turbos

You can still use the Bolt without the app, adding sensors manually for example, but that is about it. Without the phone, you are not really going to be able to customise the Wahoo Elemnt at all.

You can customise the LED bar to displayed Speed, Power or HR averages. In addition, they will also provide other direct information about the ride, such as phone notifications, and directions.

Whilst the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt does carry over notifications from the bigger unit, they can be a little tricky to sort, I found it took several pairings to get the notifications to come over from my phone

But again, they are not smart, so you are limited to text, email and phone, but the Bolt can display special characters though 🙂

If you REALLY don’t want you sister sending you a million on one texts when she finds out that they will come through on your GPS, you can also yourself a little peace, without disrupting the connection, simply by using the do not disturb feature in the app

Using the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt

Once you have actually connected to the phone, you are able to add WiFi networks to the Elemnt so that it can download firmware updates, and your Strava segments on its own.

Basically, without a phone for setup, you lose all the fun stuff!

At this point – STEP AWAY FROM THE DEVICE. Wahoo is prodigious at tweaking and playing with their firmware, so it’s quite likely you’ll have a lot of updates to do.

Thankfully pairing your devices to the Elemnt Bolt is also very straight forward. Merely putting the Bolt near the device, search, and bingo up it comes

Once everything installed on the Wahoo Elemnt, you can tweak your data screens.

The order that you put things in on the phone is more than just their position, on the screen. You can position 9 data fields.

The lowest will be the first data point to drop off when you start to zoom in and similarly the top data field will be the one maintained.

Generally, Wahoo’s defaults, and the page/field system is deliciously simple – and well laid out, I didn’t really change many of the fields, but then common fields are common.

Connectivity

As we’ve already discussed the Bluetooth notifications work intermittently, but Wifi connectivity and the uploads of activities works without issue,

In terms of that, is also vital in order to transmit your ride up into the cloud so everyone can see it. The Wahoo Elemnt Bolt isn’t proud; it seems to connect to everyone rather than just themselves and Strava, which is a more common approach. Interestingly though Garmin has now been dropped from the list.

LiveTrack

Regarding further connectivity, you can share a ride with others, showing what you are doing at that particular time – but as mentioned there is no crash support

You share a link from the app, and your position is then broadcast from your phone during the ride

HOWEVER, this is exactly as it says, a live track. If you go to the same link at another point, it will not show you the data from that ride, but instead, exactly where you the device was last seen by GPS and communicated it’s position to Wahoo servers. The below picture was taken from the link I sent on the 29th of June but now shows my location on the 9th of August, as I’m wrapping up this review. So think about who you are sending your live track information to

Basically, you are better off using Strava Beacon!

Navigation/Ride with GP

On the above photo of “linked accounts”, you’ll see RideWithGPS – Wahoo currently doesn’t have an in-house mapping/navigation setup – even a year after launching the Elemnt, now the Bolt and a Mini on the way! Instead, Wahoo has opted to use routes download from either Strava or RideWithGPS

Let’s look at the RideWithGPS option

You have a huge pool of riders and routes, as the platform is device agnostic. However, it does mean without a phone and internet connection, you are not going to be loading any new routes.

To reiterate the HUGE pool of riders and route, there are 98,005 routes and rides within 50KM of my location in Warwick… now that is massive!

There is a RideWithGPS app of both iTunes and Android

Open the route, check it is one you want to try and sent it to Your Routes

Anything that is in your Routes section will then be copied to the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt when it next time you sync. On the Elemnt this had to be done over WiFi, but with the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, you are free to use your data allowance too!

You also have the option to create your own routes if you want. But you are not going to be able to easily set up routes whilst on the fly. Things are much better if you Bolt is near a computer

Once you’ve sorted your route on the site, check that your route has uploaded to the device before you head off – which you can do by hitting the Route button from the Map page. This will show you, and allow you to select routes stored on the GPS

Select your route, hit the central button, and you are good to go!

Using Navigation

The route you have selected on the map is not particularly clear when you are on the start navigation screen

Perhaps highlighting the route name on the start screen might be a good start?

When you approach a turn, the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt chimes, and flashes the top lights for each direction instruction

There is also the option to view to cue sheet to tell you where to go if you prefer to see a list of your directions before you set off

It should be noted, if you leave the course and go off piste…, you are largely on your own, as the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt will just beep and flash the lights at the top of the unit. What it won’t do is direct you back on course. This is one major difference with the higher Garmin offerings and the Wahoo GPS so far.

You can both quickly plan a route on the Garmin 820/1000 units themselves, but they can also get you back on track if you wrong. Which I’d actually think is more of a selling feature of the majority of riders rather than an aero shell?

Although in fairness, the Bolt does have point to point navigation via the app, you still need your phone, where as the Garmin’s can do that simply from the device. When I’m out for a ride, I normally like to leave my phone alone, which is one of the reasons I like GPS devices with the smart notifications, so I can continue to ignore it when it rings!

When you stop for a break, and the all important coffee and cake, if you are using a route loaded to the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, you can also view a little ride remaining summary, which is nice to plan how much cake you plan to take on!

Strava Live Segments

Frankly, the system using the LED features on the side of the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt works brilliantly. Plus the description on “let’s get started” in the Wahoo app really explains what is going on… apart from the fact all the pictures use the larger Elemnt, with the different LED arrangement

But it is one thing to show nice images of a function (on the wrong device), but that doesn’t actually give an indication of how well the Strava segments work in reality – rest assured, Wahoo have nailed the Strava Live Segments!

As you cycle round, you can see which of your starred segments you are closest to if you look on the Strava page

You will also get a pop up on your regular screen as you get close to a starred segment

As you cross the start line of a Strava Segment you get a big screen “GO!” and data fields so show your time, PR, and how far you are behind.

You can also change the page setup to show you the topography of your segment and where you are

At the end of a segment, you get a summary screen, if you want to pause, review and wipe the sweat off!!

Wahoo KICKR Integration

Obviously, with Wahoo’s break out product being the Wahoo KICKR, it makes sense that the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt retains the deep integration with their turbo trainer. This is one major advantage of having units designed to work together, connections and utility are just so simple.

You can perform all the admin functions for the KICKR directly from the sensor screen on the Bolt

From the KICKR screen directly, it is a case of press one button, and you can perform the calibration/spin down

With clear instructions on the screen for during the spin down – but to be fair, it is not really rocket science!

In order to connect the Wahoo KICKR to the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt so that you can USE the Bolt to control the KICKR, you must put the head unit into “indoor” mode, which is one press from the power button menu screen

Once connected, you have several options for using the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt with the KICKR trainer. Setting resistance level or percentage directly on the turbo, an ergo mode for if you are doing structured training, route simulation, which I find particularly useful if there is a course I’m looking to do, but it’s a long distance away and would like to try things out. Crucially we also have the option for third party apps to control the KICKR, such as Zwift, but to keep using the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt as a simple cycling head unit

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt Conclusion

Is the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt a game changer… possibly, and part of that comes simply down to price.

The Garmin 520 is priced at about £200, while the Garmin 820 sits at £260 – by comparison, the Wahoo Bolt is a VERY strong competitor for 820, and with a significant price saving. It would be a straight forward home run for the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt if the unit were able to do on device GPS routing,

Wahoo has come at the cycling GPS device from a different route, recognising that the most important thing, when you are doing 40kph down the road is not the highest pixel density colour screen, but glanceable information. The LEDs around the top of the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt still work brilliantly for communication, if on a slightly smaller scale.

Overall the Wahoo Elemnt Bolt is a great cycling GPS, and Wahoo are clearly trying to think differently and add real value to their GPS range, rather than just add spec sheet features, and on that point alone, other manufacturers should be very concerned!

Wahoo Elemnt Bolt GPS Review – An Aerodynamically focused GPS! Last year Wahoo caused a bit of an upset in the GPS world releasing the Wahoo Elemnt to go head to head with the lead products from Garmin and Polar.

#cycling #Cycling computer #GPS #Wahoo #wahoo Elemnt Bolt

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