This post is completely and totally anecdotal but I thought it was worth sharing my experience thus far with iOS 5.1 and see if anyone else is seeing what I am seeing. I recently upgraded all of my iOS devices to Apple’s new iOS 5.1 operating system. While it isn’t as bad as the initial upgrade to iOS 2.0 (that operating system continually crashed and Apple scrambled to get out an update) this update has some significant issues that are appearing.
Apple is about to hold its March announcement. We will have the news as it comes in…
The other day we looked at one of two DBest speaker sets I have been using for the past week and a half. Here’s what DBest has to say about their products: The most important thing in music are not the lyrics, but the way of receiving. The way music is transferred determines how much we like our music. To be short: the better the quality of our speakers, the better we can enjoy music! DBest speakers provide premium sound quality that is considered the finest in the world. This way they can give you maximum pleasure listening to your…
Since getting my JawBone JamBox some months ago I’ve had a “thing” for small Bluetooth speakers. Most recently I’ve been using two offerings from DBest. Here’s what DBest has to say about their products: The most important thing in music are not the lyrics, but the way of recieving. The way music is transferred determines how much we like our music. To be short: the better the quality of our speakers, the better we can enjoy music! DBest speakers provide premium sound quality that is considered the finest in the world. This way they can give you maximum pleasure listening…
Grace Digital Audio’s Eco Terra Boombox lets you submerges yourself in music while also letting you submerge it in water. That’s right, it is 100% waterproof. The Eco Terra Boombox is shock resistant and waterproof and it even floats. IPX7 waterproof tested, the $149.99 Eco Terra Boombox is the perfect portable music solution for your iPod, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, mp3 player or any smartphone with a 3.5mm headphone jack. The internal waterproof casing houses your music player or smartphone, as well as some extra cash, credit cards, car key or driver’s license. The outside poly-carbonate shell with rubberized impact bumpers,…
We’re back with the next episode of Gear Chat. In today’s podcast we’ll talk about the Dell/Intel event Judie and I attended last week, Carly will talk eBooks, Mike talks gaming and music, and Thomas and I discuss a variety of topics including Android and iOS apps of the week.
When we were at CES, Dan couldn’t wait to show me the pre-release iFrogz Boost Near Field Audio Amplifying Speaker that he had scored, and to say I was impressed would be an understatement. This little box didn’t need to connect to a mobile phone to produce a much bigger sound; you could simply place any phone on the box, and it would pump up the volume so that it could actually be enjoyed! See what I mean in this video Dan shot … The iFrogz Boost speaker allows users to amplify their device’s sound by simply placing their smartphone, or other…
For many years, Android lovers have suffered. Apple’s iPhone and iPod had these wonderful speaker docks that allowed their owners to enjoy music without ear buds; plus many of those docks also included a remote that could be used to control the music from across the room. Finally Android users can breathe a sigh of relief, thanks to Digital Innovation’s new Speaker Dock for Android. I was lucky enough not just to receive one to review, but to also give feedback through its early development stage. Is it as good as some of the better iPhone docks? Let’s find out.
Sometimes it is the little things that make all the difference. That’s the case with the Bones Link II. Let me back up a bit. The other day I ordered a 16GB RAM upgrade from Crucial for my new iMac. At under $100 it was a great deal. When I went to check out I was offered the opportunity to buy the Bones Link II iPod/iPhone adapter at half price since I had purchased RAM. Normally it is $11.99 so at half that I figured why not and ordered one. The adapter is described this way … Here’s a great way to…
Most modern games come with some use of stereo sound, and games with higher budgets make use of Dolby Surround Sound to provide realistic experiences of being surrounded and FEELING the impact of what is going on around you. If you are using a pair of Apple earbuds in your gaming laptop … you are really missing out. I recently looked at another set of Dolby enhanced headphones, but to truly get the experience you needed entirely too many cables. Now we have a new headset from Plantronics that offers Dolby 7.1 surround … but only requires a USB connection!
Now far be it from me to tell a man (or a woman for that matter) how to use their BBQ grill. Like politics and religion, grilling is a topic where advice is rarely appreciated or even more rarely followed. I’m sure you’re great at cooking a steak over charcoal or gas, and I wouldn’t tell you to your face if I thought otherwise. A. because you’re feeding me and B. because you probably have fire and sharp BBQ tools within arm’s reach. Maybe you’re one of those people who can judge a steak’s doneness by comparing the surface of the…
Back in the ’70s and ’80s there used to be a series of commercials for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups that featured a person with a chocolate candy bar and another with an open container of peanut butter. The inevitable collision of the two oblivious eaters resulted in them exclaiming “You got your peanut butter in my chocolate!” and “You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!” resulting in the product slogan “Two great tastes that taste great together.” That’s what came to mind as I played with vlock (v. 5.1) from XVision. There are a number of clock apps available…
Each year when I check out the news from NAMM I look at cool new stuff as well as what is happening with companies I already known and love. Mackie Designs is one of those companies. For a long time they were a mixer-only company, and about 20 years ago when I was transitioning from trying to use my Tascam Portastudio as a pseudo-mixer into having a real home studio, the Mackie 1202 provided everything I need in a well made, high quality package at a budget price – and it is still going strong today for myself and my…
Judie and I had a chance to visit with Gear4 in their suite at the Wynn. We’ve seen some of the company’s products in the past, but I don’t think that either of us realized how extensive their portfolio is. And it is going to get even larger in 2012. Needless to say, we came away impressed. Here’s a rundown on the company and their current lineup … Gear4 wants to “make things that are simple, enhance your life and are a pleasure to use.” While all of that is highly subjective from what we saw they are doing everything…
Alesis is a company that came out of Rhode Island in the digital boom of the mid-80’s and after ups and downs continues to be a force of innovation in the music hardware arena. They have three cool new iPad-related products introduced at the Winter NAMM show worth highlighting. Alesis AmpDock •The first professional guitar processor to use your iPad or iPad 2 for signal processing •Works with GarageBand, AmpliTube, JamUp, and virtually any audio or CoreMIDI app •Includes a rugged pedalboard controller with program, effect, bypass, volume and continuous controls •Guitar Input 1 and switchable Mic/Line/Guitar Input 2; professional…
I stopped by the ifrogz booth during the first day of CES to see what new offerings they had. In recent years the company has been increasing its selection of ear and headphones and, this year, they are taking things a step further. I got to see their Boost speaker which, when it comes to market this spring will retail for under $40. The size of two or three iPhones stacked on top of one another, the Boost is an unusual item. The company uses the term “near field”: to describe the technology employed but. as Francis was quick to…
Android people have long been without a great speaker dock solution. Usually you ended up just plugging your phone into desktop speakers and pressing play on the phone. Remote control? No way. Gear Diary’s own Bryan lamented about this lack of accessories just a few weeks ago! Well at CES 2012, Digital Innovations has brought out their Universal Speaker dock for Android! Android users rejoice as you can pause and alter the volume of the music from across the room with a remote just like iPhone users have been able to do for quite some time now. What is even…
I recently reviewed the iMainGoXP by Portable Sound Labs, and found it to be an excellent solution for portable audio for my iPad and Kindle Fire. Now they are introducing a whole portable speaker line-up including some based on BlueTooth wireless communications! Here are some of what they are introducing at CES this week! PSL PipeLine: The device features a stellar base unit with two 2” subwoofers and two detachable speakers. For more sound “Drops” (separate PSL device) can be added, which can be synched to media device and carry sound throughout a home or provide killer surround sound. PSL…
My biggest personal tech find of 2011 has to be the Sonos home audio system. I got a review loaner and bought one within a day. I was that impressed with it and continue to love it. You can read the the initial review here and read the review of the new, smaller PLAY:3 here. During the inaugural Gear Fest last summer I had Carly film a quick walkthrough of setting the Sonos system up. It never made it into a post… until now.
I practically live on my MacBook Pro. All of my Gear Diary posts are done using it, most all of my internet browsing and I even use it full time at work instead of my supplied Windows machine. Some would say I love this computer since it is with me everywhere I go. There is one problem with the MacBook Pro. The speaker is terrible! It is too small and provides thin, weak audio quality. The machine is so beautiful, it is a shame that the audio quality is so poor. I have tried several options to improve the audio,…
Back in November we brought a pair of on-ear headphones to your attention that look great, sound good and don’t break the bank. At under $70 for each pair eskuché’s 33i and Control-i headphones are worth considering if you’ve been looking for a pair of on-ear headphones that include an in-line mic. We’ve had both of them here for the past few weeks and have used them to listen to a variety of music. In this lightening review we will take a quick look at both, give you some of the upsides and some of the potential downsides and then…