Tech. Review: The Dyson Hot
Last year Dyson introduced the Air Multiplier, a super cool high-end bladeless fan. As you might remember, I thought it was awesome, in all sizes. The Dyson Hot sweetens the pot by making the multiplier an all year round temperature control device. I say “control” because unlike the original multipliers, you can set a desired…
Black Friday PlayBook Prices Confirmed? PlayBook This Season’s Kindle Fire Killer?
I was walking through my local Staples today and spent a few minutes playing with the demo unit for Amazon’s new Kindle Fire. Within a few minutes, a Staples employee came over and whispered that I should consider the BlackBerry PlayBook if I was looking for more of a “tablet” and less of a “reader.”…
Review: BlueAnt Embrace
BlueAnt, a company know for its bluetooth headsets, has taken a stab at full on over-the-ear stereo headphones with the BlueAnt Embrace. Surprisingly, for a company with “Blue” in its name, the headphones are wired-only–a sacrifice I don’t mind making in the name of better audio quality. So how did BlueAnt do on its maiden…
Jawbone Era; prettier, quieter and a whole lot more
The Jawbone Era is a solid update to an innovative product. The Era brings incremental but welcome updates to its core technology (e.g. noise-cancellation technology has been upgraded to Noise Assassin 3), updates to its existing Jawbone features list (e.g. streaming audio is now in HD, motion based controls), and a flashier exterior (e.g. the multi-layered…
Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones
It’s no secret that Bowers & Wikins (“B&W”), best known for their high-end loudspeakers used in music recording studios, makes some killer consumer speakers. I have previously gushed over both the Zeppelin Mini and the MM-1 on these berry-filled pages. But the C5s are B&W’s first foray into the field of consumer in-ear headphones. So, do the C5s…
BlackBerry Torch 9810 Review: a solid touchscreen phone that is distinctly Blackberry
As many of you know, this week RIM introduces 3 brand new Blackberrys all running the brand new Blackberry 7 operating system. The trio–the Bold 9930, Torch 9810 and Torch 9850–will likely constitute RIM’s flagship lineup until a QNX based operating system arrives sometime next year. The Torch 9810, an updated version of last…
BlackBerry Torch 9850 Review: a slate-like Blackberry with a unique character of its own
As many of you know, this week RIM introduces 3 brand new Blackberrys all running the brand new Blackberry 7 operating system. The trio–the Bold 9930, Torch 9810 and Torch 9850–will likely constitute RIM’s flagship lineup until a QNX based operating system arrives sometime next year. The Torch 9850, a re-polished and updated Blackberry…
External speakers: Getting quality sound out of small devices, a review of the Bowers & Wilkins MM1 and the Jawbone Jambox
Whatever device you have, chances are, your stock speakers are underpowered and underwhelming. Speaker quality simply isn’t a high priority on cutting edge devices because typical consumers value portability and size over sound quality and bass; and unlike a display, that can be made both high quality and small (think Retina display, Super AMOLED), speakers…