I recently reviewed iHome’s small Alexa-enabled bedside clock. Raina used it last night for the first time, and this morning reported that she considers it a “winner.” It is, however, a basic smart clock. If you want or need something with more bells and whistles, you can check out the iHome iAVS16 smart Bedside/Home Office Speaker System.
We recently reviewed a bedside clock from iHome that works with Google Assistant. It’s impressive but only if you are using Google Assistant as your smart assistant. For those of us deep into the Amazon Alexa ecosystem, there is the iHome iAV14. It may look like a traditional nightstand clock but, thanks to its “smarts,” it offers much more.
We’ve seen an explosion in the number of smart home products currently available. Some are standalone units. Others have speakers and/or touch screens. The iHome iGV1 falls somewhere in the middle. It’s a smart speaker with Google Assistant and a digital clock built-in. It’s great if you want to replace your beside clock with something a bit more powerful.
If you like the idea of having a smart assistant in your home — a device with an integrated speaker that can answer questions, play audio, and control your smarthome products — but you’d like an assistant that can do just a bit more, then the Lenovo Smart Display might be the perfect device for you.
A few weeks ago, a Google rep called my wife’s business to talk about how Google Suite could help her with her business. As part of the experiment, they wanted to ship her a free Google Home.
Smart speakers are only increasing in popularity and number, and one of the benefits of this explosion is that companies are adding more features and better sound quality to what was once a novelty item. Huawei is aiming to add all sorts of value with their new Huawei AI Cube powered by Alexa.
The summer might be winding down, but JBL and Harman are just heating up with a few announcements this week at IFA 2018 that everyone should be interested in.
At the Unveiled event today in NYC, Samsung did as expected and announced the new Galaxy Note9, but they also managed to throw in a couple of welcome surprises with the new Galaxy Watch and a sneak peek of the Galaxy Home. Let’s take a look at these new devices!
It’s not often that I see a device that brags on having a built-in CD and DVD player, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t times when I wish I had easy access to both. Take a look at the Radionovelli 4G Radio; it’s an FM, DAB, and internet radio with 4G connectivity, a 7″ screen, and more!
I’ve had a couple Amazon Echo Dots for about a year now. I thought they were great. Then this past Christmas, I picked up a couple Google Home Minis just because I wanted to check them out. Now Amazon’s Echo Dot has been pushed to a backup system as I think the Google Home system is so much better.
Sonos has seemingly put the final nail in the coffin for the extremely overpriced HomePod by announcing a deal that will get you not one, but TWO Sonos One speakers for the same $349 you would get for Apple’s latest speaker.
It’s a natural progression for the smart speaker market to go from speakers alone to adding screens. Mobile assistants are becoming an everyday part of our workflow, and being able to move from query to visual aid quickly, or from voice request to tv show, adds a whole new level of value.
Apple’s absence from the smart speaker market is being corrected in early February with the release of the HomePod, but it won’t improve their fortunes in that market. It isn’t because HomePod is too expensive, or too late to the market, it’s because HomePod is handicapped by Siri. Sweet, but painfully useless Siri.
When I reviewed the Ultimate Ears MEGABLAST a few weeks ago, I noted that Ultimate Ears is one of those rare companies who promise device updates and actually deliver! Well, they just proved my point by delivering voice control for Pandora. I already loved the MEGABLAST and I truly love knowing UE will keep making it better.
If you’ve been burdened with Amazon’s Echo ruining your home Decor, it’s time for you to upgrade to the Harman Kardon Allure Portable Digital Assistant Speaker.
How does JBL follow their popular JBL Xtreme portable Bluetooth speaker? By going bigger. And that’s exactly what they did with the XTREME 2, an even MORE powerful follow up to one of JBL’s most sold electronics in 2017.
For those of you who don’t remember “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”, one of the running gags involved a “secret word”. Basically, if anyone said the “secret word” everyone was supposed to scream. I would suggest playing that with CES 2018 and “digital assistant“, but we’d all lose our voices and our hearing within an hour.
Xoopar (pronounced Zoo-par) took to CES this year in Vegas to announce the launch of their signature XBoy Bluetooth speaker line, which is meant to help users find the joy in technology with a different approach and design from the industry standard blocky Bluetooth headphones.
Voice assistants on our phones, from Google to Alexa to Siri, have gone from novelties to key parts of our daily workflow. Up until now, with the exception of the Amazon Echo Show, they’ve been stuck solely on phones, tablets, and speakers. Lenovo is smashing everyone’s perception of a digital assistant with the Smart Display, which will quickly become the main hub of your home. The Smart display one-ups the Amazon Echo Show by offering larger screen options, and instead of Alexa, it’s focused on Google Assistant integration.
Como Audio is one of those brands where as soon as you hear the name, you know what’s to follow is some good news. Back at CES 2017, they stunned everyone with their Wi-FI Streaming and Internet device, and a year later the company has more to show us. The first of the two announcements by Como Audio is the Amico, which is a lighter speaker by the brand, that also allows users to listen from room to room anything they want, from podcasts, internet radio, media streams and even FM radio. See that’s what makes Como Audio special because…
2017 was a big year for SOLIS, who debuted a number of attractive, connected, and stellar-sounding speakers. From portable, smart Bluetooth speakers to gorgeous vacuum tube amplifiers, SOLIS has every audiophile covered. I had the pleasure of testing two of their offerings in my home and came away impressed. Read on to hear about the SO-3000 and the SO-8000.