Month: November 2013

Thankful for consumers

on November 27, 2013

This week in the US occur a pair of days that push in opposite directions—Thanksgiving and Black Friday. The former implores us to be thankful and the latter to consume. It seems like Black Friday is surpassing Thanksgiving in terms of importance, or at least media coverage.

I don’t particularly want to fight the Black Friday crowds, but I love reading all the ads. In them, I see all manner of consumer devices from smartphones to 4K TVs to computers to tablets. I see lots of cool devices I might want, but little help in choosing between them.

Which of the many Android smartphones will provide me with a better experience? Are any of the TVs really capable of browsing the Web or is that just a checkbox item? Is this notebook computer the best choice for creating the complex content my Web site needs? Which of these Windows 8.1 tablets will best let me manipulate my photos and videos?

I see consumers in need of tools like the XPRTs to help select products. Their ability to help uncover and understand the facts that differentiate products can be an important part of the buying process. For that, I’m thankful! My hope is that over the coming months, the next version of each of the XPRTs will make great strides in helping buyers make more informed decisions when choosing between products.

I’m also thankful to the community that makes the XPRTs possible. And, to the folks who work hard making the devices we all want to buy on Black Friday.

Finally, thanks to all of you who read this blog. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Bill

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Posted in Android, BenchmarkXPRT |

TouchXPRT 2014

By Eric Hale

on November 21, 2013

The code for TouchXPRT 2014 is pretty far along, and we plan to move into concentrated testing in the next week or so.

A lot of work has gone into the next version of TouchXPRT and it shows. We’re making changes to the content, including larger, higher resolution photos. The revised tests are not only more demanding than the current versions, but they also introduce new types of work. For example, the export to MP3 test now mixes several music tracks before exporting the result and the photo tests include merging the photos.

The tests are also more visual than before. You’ll see the photo merge, the music mixing, and so on. We’ve really tried to make the tests tell a story, and we think you’ll recognize the way you use your device when you see them.

We’re also fixing some issues on the UI side. TouchXPRT will include a proper results browser, and have an in-UI way to submit your results. Also, the Run all button, which is on the app bar, will be visible on the main screen.

I’ll have more to say over the coming weeks. We hope to have the community preview ready to go in December. You will definitely want to look at this one!

Eric

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Posted in BenchmarkXPRT, TouchXPRT |

It’s the same phone

By Eric Hale

on November 14, 2013

A friend of mine thought there was something wrong with her phone. The reason? Her WebXPRT score was a lot lower than the score we published on the WebXPRT Web site.

From the frequency with which she posts on Facebook, I guessed she had the Facebook app running on her phone. So I asked if she had installed any apps on her phone since she bought it. She said “a few,” and I suggested we try turning some of them off.

Sometimes “a few” means “a lot.”

Anyway, after we turned a bunch of the apps off, her score jumped to over 90 percent of the published score. That made her happy, but she wanted to know why the apps would affect her score because “it’s the same phone.” I asked if she would expect her car to get the same gas mileage if it were carrying a bunch of cinderblocks. “Of course not,” she said, quickly understanding the metaphor. Asking your phone to do other things during the test is going to put a drag on the system.

It’s important to remember that benchmarking can be a pretty specialized area. As the popularity of the XPRTs grows, they are being run more often by bright, well educated people who don’t understand benchmarking basics. For this reason, we’re putting a lot of effort into automating best practices where we can, and guiding people when necessary.

Have the XPRTs ever confused you? If so, e-mail us at benchmarkxprtsupport@principledtechnologies.com. We can use your input.

Eric

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Posted in WebXPRT |

Diversity

By Eric Hale

on November 7, 2013

Fall is beautiful in North Carolina. The temperature is dropping. The leaves are changing color, making the hills scarlet and orange. And, of course, the stores have been decorated for Christmas since Halloween.

As we head into the biggest shopping season of the year, it’s a great time to be getting XPRT results from the hottest devices. In the last few weeks, we’ve published results from

tablets such as the Apple iPad Air, Google Nexus 7 2, and both the Microsoft Surface 2 and Microsoft Surface Pro 2
phones such as the Apple iPhone 5c, Apple iPhone 5s, and LG G2
devices you might not have expected, such as the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX, Barnes and Noble Nook HD+, and NVIDIA Shield

The diversity of devices is nice to see. The results come from PT testing, the press, and benchmark users. Note that you don’t have to be a community member to submit results. The person who submitted the MobileXPRT Nook HD+ results was not a member. If you’ve tested something interesting, send the results on!

Eric

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Posted in BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, MobileXPRT, Performance testing on tablets, Touch-based computing, Touch-based devices, TouchXPRT, TouchXPRT results |

Month: November 2013

Thankful for consumers

TouchXPRT 2014

It’s the same phone

Diversity

Check out the other XPRTs: