If you have an HTC One M8 on Verizon, here’s great news: the Android 4.4.3 “KitKat” update is out today, and it brings two excellent goodies with it! First, we’re finally getting Extreme Power Saving mode, designed to eke every drop out of a dying battery. Second, they’ve tweaked the lockscreen security app to prevent accidental resets!
I have a pretty great Pandora playlist curated for myself, and one of my favorites that comes up is Goldfinger’s cover of Nena’s “99 Red Balloons”. I like the original too, but my new favorite way to hear the song is definitely this very creative version using literal red balloons as instruments. This takes some serious creativity and talent!
I’ve wanted “The Ex” Voodoo Knife Holder set since I first saw the red one years ago, but … for whatever reason I held back, and now I’m glad I did. The original was made of plastic, and its blades were made in China. This Kickstarter project brings ‘The Ex’ to us in a solid metal stand with German blades.
We rarely let our one year old son play with our iPads. It’s not just that he’s little and tends to be rough on objects, it’s that he’s OBSESSED with Siri and loves pressing the home button over and over, rendering attempts to play games and watch videos impossible. However, it turns out there’s an easy solution-Guided Access in iOS!
We reviewed the Henge Docks Gravitas Lightning Dock and loved it. (Read the review.) It is, in fact, the dock that sits on the nightstand next to my bed. It is stylish, weighs enough to create a stable base for iOS devices, and works with various device adapters. Now it will even support the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+.
Michael Anderson asked a question on our back channel this morning about what we hoped to see with today’s Apple announcement at 10am PT. It’s fast approaching, and we all plan on watching together here. In the meantime, we thought it would be fun to post our predictions and see how many of them come true.
Spiderweb Software alternates between releasing games in the Avernum franchise and a different game. First it was Geneforge games, and more recently Avadon, his first iPad release. In 2011 he brought the original Avernum to the iPad, and modernized and revamped it along the way so it was worth replaying for everyone. This fall we get Avernum 2: Crystal Souls!
In the early 80s we saw great leaps in watch technology, and I loved my Casio calculator watch. Every few years a new technology comes (remember the Fossil PalmOS Watch?), but now it seems smartwatches are here to stay. There are many approaches, but for fitness enthusiasts Timex looks to have a great angle with their Ironman One GPS+.
One of the many things that Dan and I both agree upon is that the Sony Xperia Z2 is the best phone out now. It has an excellent camera, it’s lightning fast, it has expandable memory, and it is a factory unlocked world phone. IFA saw the introduction of the Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact, and the Z3 Tablet Compact.
Yes there are people waiting in line outside the Fifth Ave New York City Apple Store. No they are not regular customers. No they are not crazy people rabid to get their hands on the latest and coolest new iPhone 6 whose existence and release date has not yet been announced. So who are they – and why are they waiting outside in a line ?
Back in 2010 during an Apple press conference Steve Jobs famously said that “no one’s going to buy” a phone so big you can’t get your hand around it. At the time Jobs was referencing the early trend of bigger phones – namely the Samsung Galaxy Note. Looks likes jobs might have been wrong if a recent IDC forecast comes true.
In late 2013, Facebook began testing auto-play of videos in your news feeds. At first, this only impacted videos which you uploaded. Gradually, the feature has rolled out everywhere. Now users have found that auto-playing video from their news feeds could be consuming expensive mobile data. Here’s a quick tip on how to turn off auto-play and save data.
It’s not often that I attend a tech event and leave knowing that I’ve seen something that’s going to change the way I expect to use a device that I already own, but that’s what happened after the Samsung event today. The introduction of the Galaxy Note Edge was by far the highlight of my day, and I’m still wowed.
Are you an artist looking for “a nu start”? Skip the Skyping with your Phoenix advisor and head to ArrestedFanArt.com, where you can enter your design for the 4th season DVDS of “Arrested Development“. There’s a $1,000 prize plus your design on the DVD cover. But you only have until 9/16; sadly, you can’t wait for Cinqo de Quatro for this contest.
Most fitness watches share a common element – not GPS, or heart-rate, or step-tracking, or Bluetooth sync. They are pretty uniformly NOT fashion watches. They might work as ‘Geek Chic’, but no one will mistake them for a designer product. Wellograph hopes to change that, with the first wellness watch with a sapphire crystal display and a gorgeous design.
When I got my Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone I didn’t think much about the fact that it is a waterproof phone that can be submerged without the need for a special sealed case. But after Carly’s son dumped, and ruined, her wife Sarah’s iPhone 5C into the water twice I realized a waterproof smartphone is no small thing.
We’ve seen all the different smartwatches that tell their wearers when calls and emails come though, but most of them are bulky and pretty obvious. If you want smart, discreet notifications without giving up your favorite vintage wristwatch, then the MOTA SmartRing may work for you. Once paired, it notifies wearers of incoming calls, texts, calendar notifications, and emails.
I reviewed the Harman Kardon Esquire Bluetooth speaker a few weeks ago and was completely blown away by its build quality, feature set and, of course sound. It is a Bluetooth speaker that looks and feels more like jewelry than anything else. Now the company has announced a new speaker – the Harman Kardon Esquire Mini Bluetooth wireless speaker.
Players can now get two new Mario Kart 8 downloadable content packs for advance purchase at $7.99 each (or $11.99 for both). These DLC Packs offer a sizable chunk of content with the The Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8 (November) and Animal Crossing X Mario Kart 8 (May 2015).
Judie is headed to Berlin next week as Intel’s guest for IFA; while there, I’m sure she’s going to see a ton of great new kit. I for one am looking forward to reading her posts. Of all of the new products that will be announced, I think we’re both looking forward to the new Sony Xperia devices the most.
Just yesterday, Plantronics announced the availability of their new Plantronics BackBeat PRO Wireless, Noise Canceling Headphones. The latest audio offering from one of the best-known headset producers, the BackBeat PRO takes the company’s experience and know-how in a new direction. The $249.99 headphones are wireless, noise-canceling and comfortable. And that’s just the beginning of the tricks they offer.