Phillips PicoPix Max Projector Review

As I was travelling over the past year I was looking to pick up a small projector that would be easy enough to carry for a great movie viewing experience on the go. When I saw the Phillips PicoPix Max on Indiegogo it looked like the perfect fit, with full 1080p projection in a small size and in-built Android.

After a 2-month delay receiving the unit, I've now been using it for 5 months on a semi-regular basis. Phillips have shipped several software updates in this time, most recently the first major update (version 1.1). This felt like a good time to post some initial thoughts.

I'm viewing on a white 100" projector screen.

Positive Thoughts

• Build quality feels premium and although far from 'pocket-friendly' as advertised, it's small enough to fit in a bag. At 850g it's not much heavier than a large tablet.

• Picture quality is good even at 100" - the image looks crisp without any visible artefacts. Many '1080p' projectors on the market are actually upscaling from 720p - the PicoPix Max uses native 1080p and the difference is significant at this size.

• Brightness is impressive at normal mode, and great for night-time viewing. My flat is bright in daylight it's difficult to view before sunset - an increasing problem as the days have gotten longer.

• When I first got the projector the fan noise was too loud unless I dropped down to the dim eco-friendly mode, but this was addressed in the recent 1.1 patch. Now normal mode is suitably quiet for viewing and eco mode is silent.

Issues

• It's advertised as an Android projector, but this is unlike any Android device I've owned. Largely this is due to there being no Google Play services, so you won't find a Play Store or any Google apps like Chrome or Play Movies. YouTube requires use of a 3rd party app for authentication, which I didn't feel confident to put my Google creditendials into.

• App selection is poor, the in-built 'Aptoide Store' lists many apps that simply don't work, giving errors such as 'Play Services Required'. When I bought the projector I'd hoped to watch The Mandalorian on it, but Disney+ wasn't there. More recently I tried to watch Westworld season 3, but I couldn't get HBO. After trying many apps in Aptoide I've given up unless they are pre-installed, which limits you to Netflix and only a small handful of others.

• The cast support on the device is basic screen share and the device has no ChromeCast support. This is a real shame as it would have been one way of circumventing some of the issues mentioned above, but most apps can't be casted from my Android phone. Other non-Android devices have "ChromeCast Built-In", so I really hope this get's added in a software update.

• I ended up purchasing a ChromeCast dongle to stick in the back HDMI port, but sadly this surfaced another batch of problems. Bluetooth Audio is only supported though the on-board software, so it's impossible to use with dongles like the ChromeCast - I've had to start using an old-school 3.5mm headphone cable to connect to my bluetooth speaker.

• As most display features are handled at the software layer, over HDMI you don't get many of the advertised features like 4-Corner Keystone correction. As a result I have to awkwardly position my screen at an angle to get a correctly aligned picture.

• This is more of a nuisance but other software features are missing over HDMI, for example you can't see the current battery level without switching the Input mode back to Android.

Verdict

The PicoPix Max feels is a nice piece of hardware with over-engineered software that fails to meet some of my basic expectations from a projector. Without Play Services, Android feels like a bad fit for this sort of device and I think Phillips would have been better off focusing on the fundamentals like full feature support over HDMI.

As most of the issues are software-based, it's not impossible to imagine them being addressed with updates before this device hits retail. Receiving Google Play Services might be a stretch, but ChromeCast Built-In would be a great start and give users a way of accessing apps that aren't supported.

The PicoPix Max is an intriguing device that offers a glimpse to the future of portable projectors, but I couldn't recommend it in it's current form.

Papercuts 4.0

As well as updating Paste It to version 4.0, this week I will be releasing Papercuts 4.0, the first major update in over 4 years. Here's what's new:

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

Papercuts 4.0 will allow the keyboard shortcuts to be customised from chrome://extensions/shortcuts. To set keyboard shortcuts, head to the Notebook tab of the Options page and select a shortcut next to the note you wish to assign. If you see "Shortcut X" instead of a key code, you'll first need to go to the chrome://extensions/shortcuts page to set a key.

Due to a restriction in Chrome, the keyboard shortcuts are now limited to 4 notes (previously this was 9). If you require more shortcuts, consider installing Paste It as well, so you can effectively have up to 8 keys assigned in total.

Workaround for Unsupported Input Fields (e.g. Gmail)

As detailed on my previous post, Papercuts 4.0 offers a workaround for pasting on unsupported input fields, such as Gmail or Reddit, instead of silently failing.

Friendlier Permissions and Bug Fixes

When you install Papercuts for the first time you will no longer see a message about the extension reading the data on "all your data on the websites you visit". This was previously only used for the legacy keyboard shortcut method, which now uses a safe and supported Chrome API.

Papercuts 4.0 also contains a number of bug fixes, including some UI issues which caused a second scrollbar to display and the 'Rename Tab' button to be hidden off screen. Both the popup and options pages have received a bit of polish and clean up.

Papercuts can be installed for free from the Chrome Web Store, with the version 4.0 update coming within a few days pending approval from Google. I'm not planning on bringing Papercuts to the Edge Add-ons store, but the Chrome version can be installed on Edge.

Papercuts is both offered 100% free with no ads or paywalled features. Please show your support by leaving a review in the Chrome Web Store or sharing it with your friends.

Paste It 4.0

This week I will be releasing version 4.0 updates to both of my browser extensions, Paste It and Papercuts. Each features a number of new features that I hope you find useful, including a long-awaited workaround for sites like Gmail.

First off, here are the changes you'll find in Paste It 4.0, which offers further enhancements to the recently released 3.6 update.

Workaround for Unsupported Input Fields (e.g. Gmail)

One of the most commonly reported issues for both Paste It and Papercuts is that pasting was unsupported on some websites, particularly those that use rich text editing such as Gmail or Reddit. This has proven difficult to fix as it would require a deep understanding of how these sites operate, and their implementations could potentially change over time.

With the version 4.0 updates, I have implemented a workaround which will intelligently detect when the text does not paste successfully, in which case an option will appear to allow you to copy the text to the clipboard instead. From there you can paste your text using regular system commands such as Ctrl+V or the context menu.

Paste Text for 4 Different Keyboard Shortcuts

Another popularly requested feature for Paste It has been the ability to support more lines of text. With the new update, Paste It will support up to  3 alternate paste texts in addition to the primary text, which you can set from the "Alternate Paste Text" section of the Options page. By default these use Alt+Shift+V, Alt+B and Alt+Shift+B, all of which can be customized from chrome://extensions/shortcuts.

Note that Alternate Text can only be pasted from keyboard shortcuts - Chromium has a hard limit of one toolbar icon and one context menu entry per extension, so these methods will only support the primary text string. Some people have suggested  using a dropdown menu to allow these to be expanded, but I believe that would detract from the speed and simplicity of Paste It. I recommend looking to Papercuts if you wish to store and paste multiple notes.

Dyamic Keyboard Shortcuts and Better Mac Support

Paste It 4.0 also improves the recently added custom shortcut feature so that the Options page will now show the correct keyboard shortcut if you customise it. Additionally, on MacOS this will now display as "⌥+V" by default.

Paste It can be installed for free from the Chrome Web Store or Edge Add-ons store. The version 4.0 update will be available within a few days, pending approval from Google and Microsoft.

Paste It is offered 100% free with no ads or paywalled features. Please show your support by leaving a review in the Chrome Web Store, Edge Add-ons store or sharing it with your friends.

Paste It 3.6

Paste It is a browser extension I started work on in 2010 ago as lightweight alternative to my note keeping extension Papercuts, with the primary aim of being able to paste a single line of text - typically the user's email address - in the quickest and simplest way possible.

Over the past decade Paste It has found over 10,000 users on Chrome worldwide. This week I released Paste It 3.6, which brings a number of new features and improved support for Edge.

Friendlier Permissions

If you installed Paste It prior to this week, you may have seen a message that the extension could “read and change all your data on the websites you visit”. While this may have sounded a little scary, it was required so that the extension could add the neccessary code to each website to support keyboard shortcuts i.e. pasting text when the "Alt+V" key was held down.

With version 3.6, I've rewritten how the extension interprets keyboard commands using Chromium's in-built commands API. As this is a standard and safe method supported by Chromium, there won't be any warnings when you first install Paste It.

Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts

Paste It 3.6 also brings a commonly requested new feature - customizable keyboard shortcuts! If you don't want Alt+V to be the keyboard command, just open chrome://extensions/shortcuts to change it to anything you like. This could be useful if you have another app that's using the default command already.

I'm hoping to bring this update to Paste It's bigger brother Papercuts, though that will take a bit more work due to the more complicated nature of the extension supporting multiple keyboard shortcuts.

Other Tweaks

There are a few other tweaks in this version, such as a cleaner Options page with clearer usage instructions. I've improved feedback for some unsupported pages such as the Chrome Web Store or internal browser pages - if you try and use Paste It on these websites you will now get an alert instead of a silent failure.

Some sites such as Gmail will still fail silently - this is due to the complicated nature of their rich text input which has proven difficult to work around.

Improved Edge Support

While it was already possible to install Paste It on the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser, version 3.6 makes a few changes to the terminology used inside Edge to provide a more optimal experience.

Today I'm also pleased to announce that Paste It is now available in the Edge Add-ons section of the Microsoft Store. It works exactly the same as the Chrome Web Store version, but if you are using Edge I'd recommend installing via Microsoft's store to ensure future updates are downloaded automatically.

Paste It and Papercuts are both offered 100% free with no ads or paywalled features. Please show your support by leaving a review in the Chrome Web Store, Edge Add-ons store or sharing them with your friends.

Surface Book Thoughts

It's been two years since I purchased the Microsoft Surface Book, since then they've released a follow-up and various other iterations of the Surface line, but most of my thoughts on the device still remain valid. I agree with the good reviews the device has received, but having used it for this long, I still have feelings that Microsoft haven't quite hit the perfect form factor just yet.

By most standards it's an exceptionally well made device, with a great keyboard, touch-pad and screen. My only criticism is that the bezels are rather large compared to other laptops, another 1/2 inch of screen in the same form would go a long way. Battery life isn't the best, but notably this was improved on the newer model. Despite this being the first generation I find the performance excellent and the clean build of Windows runs smoothly.

I love being able to pop off the screen and use the laptop in different modes - the tablet (fully detached) is great for reading E-Books, presentation is perfect for movies, and studio works well for drawing with the Pen. While I use laptop mode 90% of the time, having these options is a major advantage compared to regular laptops.

The device's killer feature that sets it apart from other hybrid laptops is the detachable GPU, but in my experience this is also the device's biggest flaw. It's because of this that the detachment requires a software release, so you can't detach or replace it without turning the laptop on. Some apps won't let you detach without quitting them, which often affects the versatility of switching modes. It's also due to this that the laptop has it's controversial snake hinge design - while I don't mind the unique look, it makes the laptop bulky and less stable than a normal hinge.

Although it would be technically challenging to build, for me the perfect surface would ditch the GPU base and include a powerful integrated GPU in the tablet. The additional space in the base could cater for additional battery capacity, using clever software based tricks to enable a high-performance mode when attached, then reverting to a more battery-efficient mode when being used as a tablet.

Such a device might sound a lot like a regular Surface Pro with a keyboard cover, but for me that wouldn't meet the need of being a no-compromise laptop which doesn't limit screen size, battery life or port selection. I'd love to see a Surface Book 3 that addresses the flaws I've experienced, or perhaps a new class of device would be the answer.

Papercuts 3.2

It's been a while since I added new features to my note-keeping Papercuts extension for Chrome, but I've just pushed a new version 3.2 to add Note Exporting from the Options page.

There's a few caveats to be aware of - exporting will save notes in a raw JSON file format so you'll probably want to use a tool such as JSON viewer to read it. None of the metadata needed by Papercuts is saved, so there is no way to re-import notes - this feature may be added at a later date but I have no planned timeline currently.

Something that many users might not realize is that as Papercuts are saved as bookmark data, you can always export your bookmarks from Chrome and re-import them exactly as they were. This is still the recommended way of backing up Papercuts, but I hope the new Export feature proves useful for transferring notes to other services or just as peace of mind that they won't get lost if you lose your Chrome data.

Papercuts 3.2 also contains some polish to the settings/help pages and a jQuery update for potential performance improvements.

Nexus 6 Review

A couple of years ago I bought a Nexus 7 and one thing was immediately clear - Android is a much better experience on a larger device. Everything from navigating maps to browsing the web is easier, and playing games and videos is comfortable enough to want to do it by choice, not just when there's no alternatives.

The issue I had with the Nexus 7, and any tablet for that matter, is that the hassle of carrying, maintaining and charging a second device negates any benefits of the larger screen. Even 3 years ago, I'd thought that having a big screen in a small enough body to carry around and use as a phone would be the perfect device.

So buying the Nexus 6 was a no-brainer for me, not only increasing the screen size but delivering a pure Android experience in a more premium body than last years Nexus 5. The experience is just as good as using a Nexus 7, the size reduction is made up for by the 2X resolution and incredible front-facing speakers. Playing a game like Broken Sword would have been frustrating on 5" device, but here the experience is just as good as playing it on a full PC 15 years ago.

I'd been disappointed with the plastic, squarish build quality of the Nexus 5, but here Motorola have blown it away on every level. The metal edge makes it feel as solid as any all-metal phone I've tried, while the curved back and screen make it feel great to hold. If I had to nitpick, the bezel is slightly larger on the top than the bottom, giving it a slightly unbalanced feel, but if this was the only compromise to pull off a device that feels this good, then that's acceptable. All in all, Motorola have matched the quality of any other phone I've tried.

As well as running the latest version of Android Lollipop , the Nexus 6 has a couple of device-specific features that are worth mentioning. The first is always-on voice, so OK Google works when the screen is off. It sounds like a minor change, but revolutionizes how voice control works - I find it genuinely convenient to be able to ask questions like "What time is it?" from across the room.

The other new Lollipop feature here is ambient notifications, which lights up the screen when a message comes in or the phone is picked up. Android has needed this for a while, but sadly Google's implementation is nowhere near as useful as others such as Motorola's Active Display, and the motion sensor is hit and miss at best. More annoyingly, this feature comes at the coast of an LED light or Tap to Wake, which I feel would be more useful when combined with an app like Lightflow. I really hope Google fixes this and add in more options in a software update.

Coming from the Nexus 5, my benchmark for good battery life is fairly low, but the Nexus 6 still impresses me a lot, effortlessly managing 2 days without much use. When it's being used for longer times such as playing a game, that 2X screen burns the battery down in few hours, but this is quickly replenished with the amazing Quick Charge functionality that promises 50% of charge in 15 minutes. It's just as good in practice as promised, even getting to 70-80% battery life seems to take no time at all.

Along with a cutting-edge camera, the Nexus 6 leaves me wanting very little. There's room for some software improvements, especially a rethink of the new notifications and phablet-friendly UI tweaks to make the bigger screen more manageable. Overall the Nexus 6 is my favourite Nexus phone to date and easy to recommend if you prefer bigger Android devices.