BenchmarkXPRT Development Community Blog

WebXPRT 2015 source code is now available

on May 19, 2015

As of today, we are making the WebXPRT 2015 source code available to community members.

Download the WebXPRT 2015 source here (login required).

We’ll also post a link to the source on the WebXPRT tab in the Members Area. The source code package contains instructions for setting up a local installation of WebXPRT. However, please note that you must test using WebXPRT.com to get an official result.

If you want more information, please contact BenchmarkXPRTSupport@principledtechnologies.com.

We look forward to your feedback!

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Source code, WebXPRT 2015 |

What are the implications?

By Eric Hale

on May 14, 2015

It’s been a couple of weeks since the Microsoft Build 2015 conference. There was a lot of interesting news and we are still digesting what it means for the XPRTS, especially TouchXPRT.

Rebuilding TouchXPRT as a universal app has the potential to let it run on a much wider range of devices: PCs, tablets, phones, even the Xbox. This would give TouchXPRT the kind of versatility that we enjoy in the Android space with MobileXPRT and BatteryXPRT.

It’s a lot more complicated to sort out the implications of Microsoft Continuum, which allows you to use your phone as a computer by connecting it to a docking station. The features of your device and the way the apps behave can change based on the display available. Connect the phone to a docking station and it behaves like a desktop. It also means that the hardware and features available on a device could potentially change while you are testing the device. TouchXPRT would need to detect any such changes and respond appropriately.

That’s a lot to think about, and we’ve been experimenting. If you have any thoughts about Windows 10 and benchmarking, please let us know.

Eric

Posted in BatteryXPRT 2014 for Android, MobileXPRT, TouchXPRT, TouchXPRT release cycle, Windows 10 |

WebXPRT 2015 is here!

By Eric Hale

on May 8, 2015

Today, we’re releasing WebXPRT 2015, our benchmark for evaluating the performance of Web-enabled devices. The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community has been using a community preview for several weeks, but now that we’ve released the benchmark, anyone can run WebXPRT and publish results.

Run WebXPRT 2015

WebXPRT 2013 is still available here while people transition to WebXPRT 2015. We will provide plenty of notice before discontinuing WebXPRT 2013.

After trying out WebXPRT, please send your comments to BenchmarkXPRTsupport@principledtechnologies.com.

Posted in Automation, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Performance benchmarking, Performance of computing devices, Performance testing on tablets, WebXPRT, WebXPRT 2015 |

WebXPRT 2015

By Eric Hale

on May 7, 2015

Tomorrow we’ll be releasing WebXPRT 2015, with mirror site in Singapore to follow soon. We’ve been talking about it for a while and we’re delighted to finally make it available to the public.

As we’ve discussed over the past few weeks, the new WebXPRT is a big improvement over WebXPRT 2013. Some of the changes are

An improved UI. In addition to a cleaner, sleeker look, the UI now has a progress indicator and on-screen test descriptions. There is also a Simplified Chinese version of the UI.
Test automation. WebXPRT 2015 lets you automate testing, giving labs more flexibility and making it easier to test lots of devices.
New and improved tests. In addition to enhancing the existing tests, WebXPRT 2015 adds two new tests, Explore DNA Sequencing and Sales Graphs.

If you haven’t checked out the new WebXPRT, now is the time!

And remember the design document for the next generation of MobileXPRT should be out by the end of the month. If there are things you would like to see, it’s a great time to let us know.

Eric

Posted in Android, Automation, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, MobileXPRT, WebXPRT |

Looking at the data

By Eric Hale

on April 30, 2015

We’re planning the general release of WebXPRT 2015 for late next week. The testing is looking good and the response has been positive.

We’ve been looking at the hundreds of runs in the database for the community preview. As we’ve said before, we’ve been looking at the information from the JavaScript navigator object in the hope that we could improve the disclosure information from WebXPRT 2015. However, the information is not reliable enough for us to use it at this time. Hopefully, that will improve in the near future.

For now, we will continue to use the information from the user agent string. We’ve discussed the user agent string before. It does give us some information about the device, although not as much as we are able to gather in some of the XPRTs.

Looking at the data, the most common OS has been Windows. This may be in part because you needed to be logged in to run the CP. However, Android devices represented over a third of the runs, and Chrome OS represented about 25 percent of the runs. While we had healthy numbers of iOS devices, there were only a handful of Mac OSX runs. Chrome was the most common browser. Other browsers identified themselves as Safari, Firefox, Opera, and MS IE.

As you can see, the new WebXPRT continues the tradition that WebXPRT 2013 started of running everywhere. We can’t wait to make it available to general public!

Eric

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT development community, Community Preview, WebXPRT, WebXPRT 2013 release, WebXPRT 2015 |

The XPRTs at IDF15 Shenzhen

By Justin Greene

on April 23, 2015

We recently traveled to Shenzhen, China to anchor Principled Technologies’ booth in the IDF15 Shenzhen technology showcase. Over 60 companies set up displays to interact with approximately 2,000 attendees, and it was a great opportunity for us to connect with innovators in one of the fastest-growing technology hubs in the world.

We spent most of our time talking with people about the benefits of the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community, demonstrating the XPRTs on our display systems, and describing the scope and abilities of each XPRT. Many of the people we talked with showed great interest in the XPRTs’ commitment to developing easy-to-use benchmarks that measure performance and battery life while doing everyday tasks.

Of course, we also spent a good deal of free time exploring Shenzhen and nearby Hong Kong. If you ever get the opportunity to visit either of these dynamic cities, you won’t be disappointed!

The IDF15 Shenzhen technology showcase floor. Our booth is just to the right of the gray-and-white balloon. The booming Shenzhen skyline, including the soon-to-be-second-tallest building in the world.