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Posts Tagged ‘wired’

Millennials, Generation Y, Echo Boomers — there are 40 million of us in the workforce now, and we’ve got money to spend. On our friends, our families, and our first car purchases.

Chevrolet is keenly aware of this burgeoning automotive audience, and has zeroed in on the youth of today with its latest offering, the Chevy Sonic. The latest econo-compact from Chevrolet replaces the company’s old Aveo line, and follows hot on the heels of the über-successful, top-selling Cruze. The Chevy Sonic slots in with other sub-$20K subcompacts … [Read More...]

One of these things is not like the other

Media streamers like the Western Digital WD TV Live and Netgear NeoTV make just a little less sense than they did a couple of years ago. In those days, they were the perfect alternative to stuffing a home theater PC into your entertainment center. These days, you can get nearly all the same functionality from a new Blu-ray player or a Smart TV.

On the other hand, the latest incarnations of these two products cost less than a new Blu-ray player, and they’re several orders of magnitude cheaper than a new … [Read More...]

SmithsonMartin Emulator DVS DJ System

DJs are pretty boring to watch. (Editor’s note: Reviewer is a DJ, so back off, trolls.) The Emulator DVS changes that. Looking like something lifted from the nightclub in Tron: Legacy, it’s a giant dashboard for selecting and mixing tracks. Position the included 2,300-lumen projector on the shelf beneath the 42-inch infrared touchscreen and hook up a laptop: The glass bursts to life with throbbing neon buttons, sliders, and knobs. And because the screen is transparent, the audience can watch as you swipe, twist, and tap to keep the beats bumping.… [Read More...]

Now that barefoot running is a full-on craze — bolstered by a growing body of research suggesting the best way to run is the way our forebears did, sans shoes — retail shelves are stacked with minimalist running gear. Any company entering the market at this point will have to do something pretty darn different to stand out.

Portland, Oregon-based footwear company Skora is giving things a shot with its Form running shoe, which will be released mid-February. All the features required to qualify as a minimalist, barefoot-inspired shoe … [Read More...]

James Bond is a badass because he’s always prepared for whatever situation arises. The guy’s had gadgets for everything, from exploding keychains to to a stun-gun cigarette, along with just about anything you can imagine. That is, unless you imagine USB cufflinks that double as a Wi-Fi hotspot dongle in a pinch. Unlike most of James Bonds’ gadgets, Wi-Fi cufflinks actually exist.

Kudos to our friends at Engadget for turning us on to these things. Playing the part of Q, Brookstone has available polished silver oval Wi-Fi and 2GB USB combination cufflinks that allow you keep data on your person … [Read More...]

Motorola’s Droid Xyboard a slick, well-performing tablet that’s easy on the eyes. Too bad it has such a stupid name.

The Android device, which runs on Verizon’s 4G network and is available now in Verizon stores, is actually Motorola’s second shot at the tablet game. The Xyboard is the company’s follow-up to its pricey, not terribly popular Xoom tablet, which was released in February of 2011.

The design has been overhauled to match Motorola’s newest mobile hardware — the tablet has clipped corners like the Droid Razr. The Xyboard comes in both … [Read More...]

This is the year millions of owners of so-called feature phones — devices which handle little beyond voice calls, texts, and photos — will finally upgrade to true smartphones.

At least, that’s the hope of Microsoft and Nokia. The two tech giants have been floundering to get a foothold in the U.S. smartphone market ever since the iPhone launched in 2007. The two companies have partnered up to make a more cohesive play in the realm of touchscreens, apps, and streaming media, and this is their most accessible U.S.-bound device so far.

The Nokia Lumia 710 runs the latest version … [Read More...]

The jury is still out on Windows 7 tablets — and, at this point, it looks like it may never come in — but with the Series 7 Slate, Samsung at least gives this difficult niche the old college try.

Our last encounter with a Windows tablet dates back to March’s Viewsonic ViewPad 10, which disastrously attempted to combine Windows and Android in one device, dramatically failing at both. Here, Samsung is at least wise enough to pick … [Read More...]

Space heaters have always struck me as inherently — how shall I put it? — low-echelon devices. They seem best suited to college dorm rooms, along with Simpsons VHS tapes and a Costco-sized box of ramen noodles. Relying on one is maybe one small step above warming your cold-water flat with the gas oven.

In other words, the thought of a “Cadillac of space heaters” seems a bit of an oxymoron.

But the Dyson of space heaters?

Having tackled vacuum cleaners, hand dryers and artificial summer breezes, Dyson is once again taking a mundane home appliance to task.

Meet the … [Read More...]

At long last, a router to get excited about

It’s easy to become jaded when you review as much cutting-edge hardware as we do. We try not to be curmudgeons, but we do get grumpy when next-gen hardware fails to make a leap in performance—or worse, when it falls behind the gear it’s intended to supplant. So we’re happy to report that benchmarking Netgear’s new WNDR4500 left us grinning from ear to ear. This is the fastest router we’ve ever tested, and it’s packed with new features.

Netgear continues to brand its wireless routers with two different model numbers. The … [Read More...]

It really is the Sony Way. Take a product that’s been around for a while, soup it up, throw in every possible feature imaginable, and make it smaller and lighter than everyone else’s machine.

Then double the price.

Such is the state of Sony’s entry into the suddenly white-hot ultrabook space, a market experiencing a full-scale pile-on as a half dozen competitors all attempt to outdo the nearly three-year-old Apple MacBook Air.

If anyone’s going to best Apple at its own game, it’s probably going to be Sony, and for one reason: If you’re looking at sheer specs, Sony has … [Read More...]

Extra dimensions don’t come cheap. If you’ve dreamed of a Sam Worthington-shaped avatar running through your living room, you know that 3-D projectors — the few that are available — have price tags in the $3,000-and-up range. (You also know that Avatar has yet to see a public 3-D Blu-ray release, but that’s another story.)

Optoma’s HD33 brings 1080p 3-D home for a 2-D price. At $1,500, it costs less than many 3-D-ready TVs, which, incidentally, can’t produce images as large as 300 inches. That’s 25 feet, in case you’re math-challenged. Eat it, local Cineplex!

Actually, don’t shred your concession-stand … [Read More...]

Creative hedges its bets

Is Creative buying into the notion of the post-PC world? The Sound Blaster Recon3D is a powerful USB audio device based on Creative’s all-new Sound Core3D chip. But you can also connect the Recon3D to an Xbox 360, PS3, or even an Intel-based Mac. Creative tells us the Sound Core3D doesn’t boast the naked power of the company’s previous-generation audio processor, but that it is extremely efficient—it draws all the power it needs from a single USB port.

The Recon3D has an optical S/PDIF input, a 1/8-inch audio output to drive a pair of speakers or … [Read More...]

Let’s cut to the chase here. If you’re pondering buying the Acer Aspire S3, it’s because you desperately want an Apple MacBook Air but are too freaking cheap to pony up the $1,300 (minimum) for the 13-inch model.

The Aspire S3 is a glorious knock-off of the Air — stripped down to the basics and slashed to just $900. Is a 30 percent price cut a compelling enough reason to buy it over its inspiration? That’s debatable, but it’s at least worth a look.

The tale of the tape tells the story the best: The Acer Aspire S3 is almost … [Read More...]

The battle over the mainstream tablet market all but over, smart competitors are turning to a familiar tactic to attempt to compete with the iPad juggernaut: Slashing prices.

Bargain tablets are set to hit the market in droves — expect CES 2012 to be flooded with the things — as manufacturers race to hit that magic price point that drives so many consumer electronics devices, $200.

Velocity Micro — a brand better known for its ultra-pricey, high-end gaming rigs — is getting there. Its first tablet product, the 7-inch Cruz T301, was met with general disdain, and VM went back … [Read More...]

Civil liberties groups are up in arms today with the news that California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation that would have forced police to obtain a search warrant before searching the mobile phones of suspects upon their arrest. The veto means that for the time being, anyone arrested in California can be forced to submit to a search of their phone. These days, that essentially means handing over your entire life to officers.

Brown’s veto message says that due to the complicated issues involved, and the contradictory court decisions, he did not feel comfortable making a decision. Some have pointed to … [Read More...]

We don’t bring products into the Lab just to beat them up, so we almost didn’t bite when Genius pitched these speakers. We also try not to prejudge products, but we didn’t have high expectations for this 2.1-channel speaker system: It looks cheesier than a wedge of Vermont cheddar and sells online for less than 50 bucks. We were fully prepared for a craptastic audio experience. Wow, were we ever off base.

Corsair needn’t worry that Genius will bump its exceptionally good SP2500 speakers off our Best of the Best list—the SW-G2.1 1250 isn’t that good—but it is better than … [Read More...]