In yet another salvo of “Bring Your Own Device” price-matching Verizon customers who are on an Edge plan will now pay similar monthly amounts as if they were on a comparable AT&T plan (aka Next). Remember this only applies to Edge plan customers, which means you aren’t subject to a contract because you’ve paid full price for your phone .
Today Amazon announced Fire TV, a 1080p streaming set-top box. Fire TV is available for shipment starting today and sells for $99. Amazon is touting the voice search, Prime integration, and access to the most popular services as well as gaming. They also emphasize the ease of setting the system up, getting online and getting right to your favorite content!
I get such a ridiculous amount of email every day, and much of it I don’t even need or want to read. I use Gmail, so spam is largely kept under control, but subscriptions and email lists seem to constantly pile up; unsubscribing is not always successful. I’ve been trying Unroll.me for the past week, and I think it’s helping.
Last year Soundfreaq released a number of nicely priced Bluetooth speakers and docks with impressive features and excellent sound for the money. Now they have announced the availability of their newest speaker, the Soundfreaq Sound Rise. The Sound Rise is a modern take on the bedside alarm clock; it has all the features you want and then some.
I have been gushing about the quality look and feel of my new HTC One M8 for the last several days. It feels exactly like you’d expect a flagship phone to feel, with solid construction and beautiful cool metal exterior. A phone this nice needs quality protection, and our friends at Noreve have gorgeous leather offerings for the new One.
If you are one of those people who simply must see and have your phone with you at all times — you know who you are — then SNAP! may be the perfect mounting system for you. A universal female part clips into a universal male part, so the system will work with just about every mobile device!
Microsoft has today announced the launch of Office on iPad and Android tablets. Not only have they embraced a “mobile-first cloud-first” world, Microsoft has pushed tablet specific versions of their bread and butter Office apps to iPad and Android before their own Surface platform.
Small speakers like the Jawbone mini Jambox are designed to be taken along on your daily journeys. Protecting the speaker and carrying a few key accessories is important and our friends at Waterfield designs have a stylish new way for you to do just that. The Waterfield Designs CitySlicker for Jawbone Mini Jambox comes in two colors for just $49.
When we talk about a daily driver device, we’re referring to a smartphone that’s with us no matter where we go — our primary way of communicating with the world, our most favored device which, for now, just might come as close to the perfect device as possible.
I have a specific morning reading routine. While I eat breakfast, I quickly browse Feedly for news, and then I head to Television Without Pity to catch up on the television shows I never have time to watch. Replace Feedly with Google Reader, and that’s been my routine for 10 years. On April 4th, though, TWoP is shutting down!
The TAG Heuer MERIDIIST INFINITE phone being shown at Baselworld 2014 may be just another overpriced luxury phone of questionable smartness, but it has one trick up its sleeve that makes it pretty freaking cool — photovoltaic charging. In other words, due to Wysips Crystal Technology, the battery charges when the phone is exposed to light — sunlight or artificial(!!!).
V-MODA’s headphones have won us over in a big way. We reviewed and loved the V-MODA Remix-In-Ear, the V-MODA M-80 and the amazing V-MODA Crossfade M-100 over-the-ear headphones. Now the company has released their latest creation. The V-MODA XS offer a sleek, ergonomic and promise great V-MODA sound. They look, and we expect sound, fantastic.
I enjoy studying WWII as a history teacher and love hand crafted pens as a pen turner. A cool Kickstarter program is offering a chance to own a hand crafted pen made from the deck of the USS North Carolina. For as little as $45 you can own a piece of the historic ship. Check out Kickstarter to learn more.
What’s the worst part of wanting a cupcake at 2am? It’s a tough call; your options are usually limited to something in a plastic wrapper from Quick Check, plus you need to actually talk to another human being and admit you’re buying cupcakes in the middle of the night … unless you’re in NYC, where a 24-hour cupcake ATM is opening!
It is increasingly difficult to stand out in the world of portable audio. So many companies offer small Bluetooth speakers and a variety of headphones; to say the market is crowded is an understatement. Grain Audio accomplishes something very few upstart companies are able to do – they stand out, and they make impressive products.
HTC today unveiled the HTC One (M8) – an upgrade ( 5.0 inch screen vs prior 4.7 inch screen) front facing 5 mp camera – to their premium line of Android smartphones. Touting the continued use of metal housing and breakthrough antenna technology HTC introduces a phone with 90% metal (up from 70% in the prior version).
The iHealth BP5 Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor (electronic sphygmomanometer) measures your maximum (systolic) and a minimum (diastolic) blood pressure in a convenient system using a sleeved monitor shell device and free mobile phone app named iHealth MyVitals.
In June of last year we reviewed Sir Lancelot’s Armor. (Read it.) “The Holy Grail“, it is the first line of reusable screen protectors that are made from tempered bulletproof glass. With a rank of #9 on the Mohs scale of hardness — only a diamond ranks higher- it promises to keep your screen safe. And it is reusable.
Jabra is introducing a new phone system that gives you an assortment of different ways to connect. The new Jabra MOTION Office Bluetooth Headset System adds three different kinds of connectivity and a simple way to control it all. Based on the Jabra MOTION Bluetooth headset the system will be $380 when it arrives Q2. It puts Jabra to work.
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.