I have a wide range of audio devices from which to choose. The one I use most? My Sonos system. (Check out our Setting Up Sonos video here.) Sonos has expanded their speaker offerings but the iOS and Android apps have remains mostly unchanged. Until now. New apps are on the way and they promise more music enjoyment than ever.
A press release recently came across the Gear Diary email transom announcing a new wine suitcase from Wineline that they call the VinGarde Valise. This prompted a discussion among our editors about who would possibly ever need a suitcase for their beverages. As usual, I had a real-life anecdote about something I did while traveling that proved the case for the case.
I’m a huge fan of AKG headphones. I reviewed the AKG K551 and continue to enjoy using them. When I saw the MSRP $699 AKG K712 Pro Headphones for just over $300 over on Massdrop, I jumped. They were still pricey, but you get what you pay for. These headphones are amazing. Here’s my first video look.
Google announced it has reduced pricing for supplemental storage for its Google Drive (As well as Gmail and Google+ Photos which both draw from the same storage bucket). Whereas the monthly fee for 100 GB used to be $4.99, the new price is $1.99/mo.
I’m a huge fan of Dropbox and make good use of my 150GB of cloud storage. Still, the fact that I have only 150 GB, have to pay for it, AND my files are on someone else’s server is a bit of a bummer. Connected Data’s Transporter may be the alternative; better still, it just got some great new features.
A rather unusual 911 call has been making the rounds of the Internet today. Apparently, a family in Oregon had a baby, and their cat was most displeased. The cat went on a reign of terror, scratching the baby and scaring the family so badly they locked themselves in the bedroom and called 911. To catch their angry cat.
As anticipated Apple just released iOS 7.1 for iPhone and iPad. This update includes several feature enhancements to Siri, iTunes Radio, Calendar as well as the new CarPlay feature which transfers your iOS display to compatible in-car displays. The download is a little over 200 mb in size for those who’ve stayed current on iOS 7. More details on the fixes and features below.
Babies not only require a ton of stuff, but they constantly rotate in and out of all that stuff. Just when you’ve mastered bottles, it’s time to move on to sippy cups. It’s a never ending parade of plastic pieces, but the Kickstarter project SipSnap hopes to make the transition easier with universal sippy cup covers!
Buffalo Wild Wings® (BW3) and NTN Buzztime are teaming up to give customers a deeper dining experience with seven-inch BEOND computer tablets. Guests of all ages will get the BW3 Buzztime BEOND tablet at their table by the end of 2015. This “all-in-one” interactive offering will eventually be coming to all North American BW3 restaurant locations and approximately 500 locations by the end of this year.
Because I know you all follow my posts like a kid following an ice cream truck, you’ll probably remember my review of the AL13 aluminum iPhone case by designed by m. Now, designed by m is back, funding on Kickstarter with its second version of the AL13. Designed by m boasts that the AL13 v2 will have ZERO signal loss.
Nuance has just announced a brand new version of Dragon Dictate. Nuance Dragon Dictate for Mac Version 4 offers voice recognition that is faster and more accurate than ever. In addition, Dragon Dictate includes powerful audio file transcription prowess. I’ve been using the new version of the voice recognition app for Mac for the last week, and I’m impressed.
Support scams have graduated to another level. If you use Skype, you’ve undoubtedly run across random scam messages which claimed you had a virus or other security issue. In some instances, a Skype call would claim to be Microsoft support; in both cases the goal was to get you to pay the scammer to fix a non-existent problem.
Apple announces CarPlay which makes extensive of their Siri voice control software to control your iPhone 5 (or higher) while driving. Available on select cars (initially Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz, Volvo, and Ferrari) in 2014, the system will allow hands-free control of your iPhone and important apps such as phone, music, maps, messages as well as select third-party apps.
First and Third Person shooter fans can enjoy a video game paradise with two new downloadable content (DLC) packs. First up, the Call of Duty®: Ghosts Onslaught DLC, already available on Xbox One and Xbox 360, releases for PC, PS4 and PS3. The available Season Pass offers a nice advantage for a price break where players get Onslaught and the upcoming Devastation, Invasion and Nemesis DLC packs.
rePLAY: Symphony of Heroes premieres in North America with a unique video game music concert series, executive produced by Jason Michael Paul. Specially chosen video game musical scores combine with professional theatrics, visuals and orchestral arrangements in this upcoming tour.The first show will take place at St. Petersburg’s Mahaffey Theater on April 19.
Oscar weekend 2014! Movies are one of my biggest media passions. Film have taught me so much and the Oscars are always an exciting time for me. Gravity is my pick for picture this year and is wonderfully mimicked in the above photo from artist Michael Breach (@baristart). Look for the rest of his great works to release here on Oscar Sunday in honor of the awards ceremony! One film always seems to win in all their nominations (The Matrix, Usual Suspects, Ed Wood, and the record-holder The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King). This year there will be two!… The Great…
In an email sent to users, multi-platform instant messaging application maker imo announced they will discontinue support for third-party networks and instead focus attention on their own communication platform. imo has applications which operate on iPhone , iPad. Android and the web. Prior to this change, they would allow users to connect to multiple messaging services.
Remember that crazy funny video featuring Jeff Gordon pretending to take an unsuspecting used car driver on a wild ride? For a little while some people thought it was real but it turned out to be a viral ad for Pepsi Max. One journalist in particular – Travis Okulskiski of Jalopnik – was particularly doubtful that the original was genuine.
The Google Now Launcher has been updated and is now available for all Nexus and Google Play Edition devices. From my perspective the advantage of this “stock” launcher is being able to swipe right to access Google Now cards that give you just the right information, at just the right time.
If you’re an OS X 10.9 user and have not done so – now is the time to hit the “Software Update..” button. Apple just pushed out release 10.9.2 which is a critical security update that patches a vulnerability which could allow a third party on a shared wired or wireless network to intercept your bits and bytes. Additional info via MacRumors
There is a large number of people excited about the Samsung Galaxy S5 recently announced at Mobile World Congress. With a new phone comes new cases and accessories. X-Doria has announced three cases and a screen protector. The products will be available from X-Doria’s Amazon Marketplace and for pre-order from the X-Doria website. Prices range from $24.99 to $29.99.