News

MusicPlayr Will Help You Discover Music

Late last year I heard about the MidemLab competition for promising music startups, which had finalists in the ‘music discovery’ category as follows: Music Discovery, Recommendation & Creation ChartsNow.mobi (UK) – mass market mobile music service MPme by Apsmart (UK) – curated internet radio musicplayr (Germany) – music discovery & blogging Navegas (Germany) – connecting the world of music tool Rexly (USA) – social discovery & recommendation Songs2See by Fraunhofer (Germany) – music game development SoshiGames (UK) – game-based social music discovery Twusic by LemonLab (Belgium) – Twitter music application Watzatsong (France) – crowdsourced music search engine WhoSampled (UK) –…


ZBoard, Like a Moped Only Way Cooler

  Remember that moped you thought was the coolest when you were 14? No? Well, pre-drivers license, the idea of motorized transportation in any form sounded way cool to a lot of us. That even went for mopeds, until we actually bought one. Well this is like the moped but is a whole lot cooler.


JumpFromPaper Makes Real Life Feel Like a Cartoon with Seriously Ridiculous Bags

I loved the way “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988) and “Cool World” (1992) mixed cartoon elements into a real-world backdrop. I enjoyed the same effect as a kid, watching older Disney movies such as Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Song of the South. There’s just something quirky and irresistible about imagining a world where cartoons can come to life; anything can happen! Evidently the minds behind JumpFromPaper feel the same. Created by Taipei-based design duo, Chay Su and Rika Lin, JumpFromPaper is a bag company that has produced a line of travel, camera, laptop and general gear bags which look like props from…


Mark of the Unicorn Introduces the MicroBook II Audio Interface

Mark of the Unicorn had one huge announcement that I already covered, the note that the upcoming Digital Performer 8 would support Windows 7 as well as Mac OS X. But now we learn that MOTU is also introducing a new version of the well-received MicroBook audio interface. MicroBook was released in 2010 and was straightforward in design – 1/4″ inputs and outputs giving you a 4-in/2-out audio interface for your computer that delivered excellent sound quality and performance. So hwo did MOTU up their game for the new version? It is now a 4-in/6-out, giving you mich more recording…


Make Your iPhone 4S Case mykase with Bodyguardz New Case Offering

Bodyguardz has come up with a great way to change-up and/or customize your iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S case in seconds. The mykase line offers a base case in black or white as well as interchangeable back plates that can reflect your mood or dress. They’ll even be rolling out an easy-to-use engine for making your own customized back plate. It is pretty ingenious and definitely worth a look. So here’s what Bodyguardz has to say about it. Three piece case with interchangeable sides, bottom and back. Base available in gloss white and matte black. Multiple colors and designs available…


Ubuntu’s HUD: A New Way to Use Your Linux Computer

Yesterday Ubuntu’s community manager, Jono Bacon put up a post calling for people to test their brand new idea for the Unity interface they currently use.  They call it HUD.  HUD will be included in the next relse of Ubuntu, version 12.04, code named “Precise Pangolin”. With HUD, you can do many different things like post to Twitter, Search your web history or find a drop down menu in Firefox or any other app.  You can do some of this even if you don’t have that app loaded.  Above is a video that shows you just what you can do…


Wait … Apple TV Is More Popular Than Roku?

There is always loads of data to mine in corporate earnings announcements, and yesterday’s Apple announcement is no different. Dan covered the highlights including iPhones, Macs, iPads and iPods … but I noticed a mention at GigaOM about AppleTV sales. Apparently AppleTV sold 1.4 million units during the last quarter. I really didn’t think too much about that because I am constantly reading about how more and more game consoles are serving as full-service home entertainment systems since they can run Netflix, Hulu and more. I also just assumed that Roku and other ‘set top boxes’ were dominating much like…


Appigo’s Notebooks for iPad, a Quick Look and Exclusive Interview

One of the companies that I got to know when I was writing for an iPhone review website was Appigo. Appigo released a task manager, ToDo shortly after the App Store went live and it has been a mainstay on my iOS devices ever since. Appigo is a small outfit that makes quality apps. They are relatively slow to release new products and, over the last few years have proven their commitment to quality and adding value to apps customers have already purchased. Some time after they released ToDo the company also released Appigo Notebook. It was a simple, easy…


Case-Mate Phantom First Impressions

I am hard on my phones. Really, really hard. Honestly, it is a miracle my iPhone is unscathed; by 4 months into owning my Droid it had gone down the stairs twice and out of my pocket multiple times. So far the iPhone has been lucky, but every time I slip it in my SPIbelt for a run or fiddle with it while walking the dog, I feel like I am tempting the smartphone destruction gods. So, as soon as Case-Mate’s Phantom arrived, fresh from Judie and Dan at CES, I slapped it on my phone. (Literally — I received it…


New Meme ‘2/10 Would Not Bang’ … C’mon, You Know Someone Like That! [NSFW-ish]

One of my best friends from childhood who ended up transferring into my college and joining my fraternity was excellent at finding a dozen reasons why ANY girl, no matter how wonderful or smart or funny or beautiful, was fatally flawed. So I laughed out loud when my older son shared this with us last night, and immediately my wife and I called out that same person’s name! Apparently this meme is becoming ‘a thing’, and over at Uproxx they have a slideshow of a number of beautiful women with tiny or imagined or potentially paranoid ‘flaws’ pointed out. Here…


Apple By the Numbers… Wow… Simply Wow.

In case you missed it, Apple is doing well. (Okay, ridiculously understated and then some.) Yes, Apple reported revenue of over $46 billion and saw its profit exceeded $13 billion for the quarter. That translates to $13.87 earnings per share. For comparison sake, at this time last year the company earned $26.74 billion, or $6.43 per share. Yeah, wow. ‘Nuff said. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was positive but also a bit understated in saying We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs,”. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products…


LaserLeap Technologies Wins Best Startup Challenge at Photonics West

Wow … we just jump from show to show to show … from CES to NAMM – and now Photonics West. Sure there isn’t all that much overlap, but each of these shows are rather interesting to me. I haven’t heard much specific technology news of interest from Photonics yet, but today we learned that LaserLeap Technologies has won the 2012 Biophotonics Start-up Challenge based on their new ‘transdermal drug delivery’ system. From Optics.org: [LaserLeap CEO] Serpa’s winning pitch detailed a proprietary laser device that has been developed to aid drug delivery through the skin. The pulsed laser is used…


Tired of Boxy Bluetooth Speakers? Check Out These Q-i-sound Speakers From iharmonix

The Q-i-sound Bluetooth speakers from Qmadix leave the square, boring speakers that are so common in the dust. Available in black or white, they have an unusual shape that is sure to grab attention. Each speaker has its own rechargeable lithium polymer battery that charges in 3 ½ hours and gives up to eight hours of playtime. Standby time is up to 10 days. As the company puts it Ultra portable speakers offer music lovers a great listening experience, as well as microphones for clear phone communication It is also worth nothing that, once paired the speakers can be separated…


Random Cool Video: Warm Leatherette

I have covered a lot of cool stuff introduced at the Winter NAMM show in the past week, with two prominent themes: analog synthesis and the iPad as the must-have studio tool. As someone who came into music long enough ago to appreciate WHY people ran to digital so quickly in the early 80’s, I also have always appreciated what the technology added to music. I have personally sought analog sounds through digitally controlled systems or sample-based synths … but there is nothing like the real thing, so it is great to see all of the advances in technology applied…


Kodak Files for Bankruptcy … an End to a Legendary Era in Photographic History

Image Courtesy of Daily Beast If you are over 30, there is no question that Kodak has touched your life in some way. Myself, I grew up with my father taking pictures on a Kodak camera which were developed as Kodak slides, shown on a Kodak projector, and so on. The first camera I used was an Instamatic, and the first one I remember buying myself was one of the pictured Disc cameras, and I still have disc negatives in photo pouches in my house. This week we learned that the legendary Rochester, NY based company has filed for bankruptcy…


Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter Speed Comparison with USB 2.0

We told you about Seagate’s new Thunderbolt adapters last week. Yes, we are finally seeing products come to market that take advantage of the speed increases offered by Thunderbolt. But how fast IS Thunderbolt? Sure you can see lab testing but that doesn’t necessarily tell you about using it at home or work. We shot a video of moving 2.5GB of data from a MacBook air to an external drive using both USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt. This is a normal use-scenario for something like this so the speeds you see here are what you might expect if you get one…


Google ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Tool – See For Yourself How A Monopoly Chooses For You

I have been very vocal recently about the nasty, dishonest, and disingenuous business practices Google has undertaken that would make their ‘don’t be evil’ and ‘open source’ things laughable … except that real people have been impacted, jobs lost, companies shuttered. In the latest bold move, Google has used their monopoly in search to make an assumption: since you are using Google for Search, everything you find MUST be somehow linked to Google or generate revenue for Google somehow. Yesterday an article by Danny Sullivan at SearchEngineLand shows a new tool developed by engineers from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter that…


Amazon Makes Good On Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

In my review of the ebook version of Fahrenheit 451 I was sharply critical of the massive amount of typos and mistakes in the text. It was suggested that I take my complaint to Amazon, which I did … but honestly never expected anything. It wasn’t the first time I had complained, but I had never heard anything back in the past. But last night I got a happy surprise – an email from Amazon’s Kindle Store that an update had been made to Fahrenheit 451, and I could download it from my account. So I headed to the link,…


Samsung Pokes at a Key iPhone Weakness in New Ad

If you were to ask a random group of smartphone users to name a feature that Android has that iOS is lacking, while you’d hear nonsense like ‘open’, you’d also hear one message loud and clear: turn-by-turn navigation with voice support. For me, this is one of three reasons I am still using Android (the others being physical keyboards and something work-specific). I use my Google Maps navigation everywhere and for everything – and it is awesome. I tried using the navigation built into pre-Mango Windows Phone 7 and it twice tried to tack on 30 minutes with inept guidance…


Nokia Gobbles Up Nearly Half of ‘2nd Gen’ Windows Phone Market Share!

Over the last week or so we have seen evidence that Windows Phone sales might be picking up … and in no small part thanks to Nokia! Sales of the Lumia 800 and 710 were reported at ~1.3 million for 2011 in spite of only having the phones for part of the fourth quarter. But that was enough to earn them 45% of all ‘second generation’ Windows Phone devices. HTC holds 40% of the market with their Radar and massive Titan devices (which Dan & Judie love), and Samsung has 12% with the Focus. The remaining 3% is split amongst…


One Good Earbud, One Brilliant Idea?

I have said many times that running with headphones in is not a good idea. It’s dangerous for multiple reasons; you can’t hear cars, animals, or people coming up behind you. Even with the music turned down you lose a sense of what’s around you. The common suggestion is usually to leave one earbud out, but then you’re stuck with a mono listening experience. That’s why One Good Earbud from Far End Gear is such a smart idea. From their website: One Good EarbudTM is the ideal way to safely listen to music, podcasts, audio books, and mobile calls while running,…