Category: XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight

Ready for your closeup?

on June 9, 2016

On January 6, we announced the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight. We spotlighted the first device, a Google Pixel C, on February 8. Since then, we’ve spotlighted around 20 devices, and the list keeps growing with phones, tablets, Chromebooks, and laptops. The XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight has been a big success and is one of our most visited pages.

From the beginning, we’ve offered to spotlight your device for free, though we will need to keep the device to allow for retesting with future versions of the OS and benchmarks. Any device you contribute jumps to the head of the queue, and will be in the Spotlight the following week. We have a page for vendors with all the details.

As we continue to spotlight new devices, we are thinking about ways to allow you to compare their specs and XPRT results. We would love to hear your thoughts on what capabilities would be useful to you in those comparisons.

Looking forward to seeing your device in the spotlight soon!

Eric

Posted in Chromebooks, Laptops, Phones, Tablets, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight |

Personal preference

By Eric Hale

on May 19, 2016

I saw an interesting article recently, Here’s why I gave up my beloved Galaxy S7 for a boring old iPhone. It’s only been a few weeks since we featured the Samsung S7 in the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight, so of course I had to read it. The interesting thing is this guy really loved his Samsung S7, and even declared it “the best smartphone I’ve ever used.” He loved its VR capabilities, camera, and its look. He even prefers Android as an operating system.

So why would he give it up for an iPhone 6s Plus? Simply put, battery life. As a self-described heavy user, he found his Samsung S7 dying before 5 PM every day. The iPhone 6s Plus lasted much longer.

This is a good reminder that people have different priorities. Your priority could be having the fastest phone, the longest battery life, the best screen, or the broadest compatibility. This is why there is no such this as “the best device.”

This is why we are always asking for your input. Knowing your priorities helps the community build better tests!

Eric

Posted in Android, Battery life, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Phones, What makes a good benchmark?, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight |

There’s a lot going on!

By Eric Hale

on February 11, 2016

We recently released TouchXPRT 2016 CP3 to the community. Testing has been going well, so we are releasing TouchXPRT 2016 to the general public on Monday. Thanks to everyone who tried out the previews!

Back in December, we told you about Nebula Wolf, a game-based workload developed by students at North Carolina State University. Now we have a new video that talks about the project and why efforts such as this one matter for the XPRTs. It’s a gorgeous video. I think it’s one of our best!

We’ve also created a page that talks about the Nebula Wolf project. And, of course, the page has links for the community members to see the game in action and check out the source code. If you’re not a member, it’s easy to join!

Our next community outreach effort will be the XPRT Women Code-a-Thon March 12-13 in Seattle. It’s a great chance to contribute to the XPRTs, hang with other coders, and maybe even win some prize money!

Later this month, Mark will be at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. If you’d like to chat with him, just let us know.

Finally, the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight shines on the Google Pixel C this week.

That’s a lot, and there’s more to come!

Eric

Posted in Mobile World Congress, Nebula Wolf, North Carolina State University, TouchXPRT, TouchXPRT 2016, TouchXPRT development process, TouchXPRT release cycle, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight, XPRT Women Code-a-Thon |

The XPRT Women Code-a-Thon

By Eric Hale

on January 28, 2016

As Justin explained last week, we’ve resolved the issue we found with the TouchXPRT CP. I’m happy to say that the testing went well and that we released CP3 this week.

It’s been only three weeks since we announced the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight, and we already have another big announcement! Principled Technologies has joined with ChickTech Seattle to host the first ever XPRT Women Code-a-Thon! In this two-day event, participants will compete to create the best new candidate workload for WebXPRT or MobileXPRT. The workloads can’t duplicate existing workloads, so we are looking forward to seeing the new ideas.

Judges will study all the workloads and award prizes to the top three: $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place, and $1,000 for third place. Anyone interested can register here.

PT and the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community are committed to promoting the advancement of women in STEM, but we also win by doing good. As with the NCSU senior project, the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community will get some fresh perspectives and some new experimental test tools. Everyone wins!

So much has happened in 2016 and January isn’t even over yet. The year is off to a great start!

Eric

Posted in Benchmark metrics, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, MobileXPRT, Performance benchmarking, TouchXPRT, TouchXPRT 2016, WebXPRT, What makes a good benchmark?, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight, XPRT Women Code-a-Thon |

In the spotlight

By Eric Hale

on January 14, 2016

I’m happy to be back in North Carolina, but I had a really great time at CES. I talked to over a dozen companies about the XPRTs and the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight, and had some good conversations. Hopefully, some of these companies’ devices will be among the first ones we showcase when the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight goes live next month.

Of course, I saw some really great tech at CES! Amazing TVs and cars, magic mirrors, all kinds of drones, and the list goes on. Before the show, the Internet of Things was predicted to be big this year, and boy, was it! Smart refrigerators, door locks, and thermostats were just the beginning. Some of my favorite examples were the chopsticks and footbath—both Bluetooth enabled—and “the world’s first remote controlled game shoe.”

Clearly IoT is the Wild West of technology right now. We’re had some conversations about how the XPRTs might be able to help consumers navigate the chaos. However, with a class of products this diverse, there are a lot of issues to consider. If you have any thoughts about this, let us know!

Eric

Posted in CES, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, Internet of things, IoT, What makes a good benchmark?, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight |

CES day 1

By Eric Hale

on January 7, 2016

It’s Wednesday night as I’m writing this. CES started in earnest today, and I had a really great day. I saw a lot of cool technology. I really liked the TVs. As I tweeted earlier today, I’m not sure that real life looks that good! That being said, the Ferrari was probably my favorite.

I’m not yet convinced about having the family calendar on a tablet embedded in the refrigerator. However, several earnest people made a very good case for it.

This morning PT announced a new program called the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight. This is a new way for device vendors and manufacturers to share verified results with buyers around the world. I was happy to talk with a number of different vendors about it and about the XPRTs.

I’ve also met with some community members while I’ve been here. It’s always great to hear from the community, but there’s nothing like being able to sit and talk. The conversations raised some interesting issues, and I’ll be writing about them in future blog posts.

I’m really looking forward to the rest of the show!

Eric

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, CES, Collaborative benchmark development, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight |

Category: XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight

Ready for your closeup?

Personal preference

There’s a lot going on!

The XPRT Women Code-a-Thon

In the spotlight

CES day 1

Check out the other XPRTs: