The Duracell Power Reserve line of portable chargers are rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries packaged in several sizes to provide additional power on the road for portable devices, from cell phones to media players to even some digital cameras. These...
The Microsoft Zune HD is a touchscreen media player with radio, wireless, Web browsing -- and downloadable applications which can take advantage of its 3.3" screen and graphics performance (see previous post). Microsoft recently released a set of new games...
The new Microsoft Zune HD media player has a bright 3.3-inch touchscreen OLED display, ready to tilt into landscape mode for showing16:9 widescreen videos (see previous post). And the "HD" in the name refers to the ability to store and...
Miccus makes wireless audio products for consumers, including the BlueBridge line of Bluetooth connectivity devices. But this post is about the simple and sleek Miccus ChargeBlock compact charger for Apple's iPods and iPhones that don't believe in removable batteries....
Why is it so hard to build portable electronic devices that use a standard power / data plug? After all the "U" in USB stands for Universal, and lots of products do fine with it -- Bluetooth headsets with micro...
The Verizon Wireless Droid smartphone from Motorola shipped today, featuring the new Google Android 2.0 updated mobile phone software platform. I've been working with the Droid for a week, and am definitely impressed. The phone, and the software, are solid...
Even with all the excitement about new mobile phones, the smartphone market has been relatively stable over the past year, according to new Q3 figures from Canalys. Even with the difficult economy, smartphones are still outperforming the overall mobile phone...
While Microsoft is making a major push with its Windows Mobile (now Windows Phone) platform to make it more "finger-friendly" (see previous post), it also has been developing a second and different mobile device platform -- the Zune portable...
The HTC Pure from AT&T is one of the first smartphones based on the new Windows Mobile 6.5, now renamed Windows Phone. The Pure is a compact handheld design, with most of the front taken up by the 3.2-inch...
Choosing a mobile mice for travel requires trading off size and comfort -- squeezing the bulk and weight versus fitting well in your hand for prolonged use (see previous post). But what if the bulk of the mouse could disappear...
It's interesting that we ended up interacting with computers by dragging a block around on a table. It just has turned out that sliding a mouse around is more comfortable than lifting up your arm to touch the screen, and...
There never have been so many options for shooting images, stills or in motion -- with digital cameras that shoot video, camcorders that shoot photos, and ubiquitous camera phones that shoot both. Yes, today's consumer digital cameras can capture video...
Another updated product at PhotoPlus is the Lensbaby line of special-effect lenses, now with swappable optics. The Lensbaby idea is a wonderful hack, in the positive sense of the word. It lets you achieve "selective focus" by mounting the lens...
The Joby Gorillapod line of flexible tripods was refreshed earlier this year, tweaking the original set of four models The Gorillapod Original is for holding compact digital cameras (up to 11 oz., $21), the Gorillapod SLR is for lightweight...
The bottom line from our mini-series on Bluetooth headsets is that noise-reduction technology is the real deal, pulling your outgoing voice from the surrounding ambient noise without significant distortion. The technology has improved, typically with dual microphones, dampening of wind...
Compared to some other sexy designs, the Jabra BT530 is a wonderfully straightforward headset, especially good for occasional use. It has dedicated single-use buttons, instead of requiring memorized multi-tap sequences. There's actually a separate power slide switch on the...
The Plantronics Discovery 975 Bluetooth headset is another interesting design approach from Plantronics, albeit not quite as different as the Voyager PRO (see previous post). The idea is to pack the electronics in a square-ish base unit, with the...
Pure Digital has had tremendous success with its Flip Video line of pocket camcorders. It turns out there is a place in the market between camera phones and more traditional digital camcorders -- these small, truly pocket-sized devices are...
Compared to the Aliph Jawbone (see previous post) and other in-ear Bluetooth headsets, the Plantronics Voyager PRO is a very different beast. It's an over-ear design, with the electronics in a pod that rests behind the ear, and a...
While some technologies may be over-hyped, the introduction of noise-reduction technology in Bluetooth headsets is the real deal. These headsets can work amazingly well with mobile phones, especially in noisy environments like on city streets or even when standing near...
Are you a laptop person, or a smartphone kind of person? Can you keep connected well enough on the small screen, or do you tend to lug a laptop around with you for the full experience? The laptop gives you...
Apple's iPod designs are beautiful objects, particularly the iPod nano -- so clean and slim and graceful, and in happy vivid colors. It's almost a shame to actually use your nano, and risk getting it roughed up or scratched from...
The differences between today's console gaming systems can be reduced to sound bites: the Microsoft Xbox 360 is for hardcore gamers, the Nintendo Wii is for casual fun, and the Sony PlayStation 3 is for games and media. But the...
If you're looking for a great holiday gift for students or travelers -- or actually anyone with a computer, then check out this season's crop of portable hard drives. Products like the new Verbatim InSight Portable USB Hard Drive are...
Mice are better without their tails -- Going wireless lets you get untether from your computer and get rid of those clumsy and tangled wires. Systems like the new Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX even support keyboards and multiple mice to...
Today's high-def camcorders and higher-res digital cameras require not only greater storage, especially for shooting in less-compressed RAW formats, but also faster performance, especially for burst-mode shooting of sequential images in fractions of a second. So even consumers can see...
The power of the Apple iPod brand starts with the lust-inducing designs -- slim, sleek, smooth -- and simple. The iPod line has avoided the feature check-list competition of other players, as Apple has continued to reject even useful features...
WiFi is great for letting you wirelessly connect to the Internet from your laptop -- as long as you are hanging in a coffee shop with a free WiFi hotspot, or within a wireless campus like a university or Bryant...
Roxio Creator 2010 shipped today (press release). This is Roxio’s flagship suite of digital media applications -- Roxio describes it as the top selling multimedia software suite, with over 350 million copies shipped worldwide. It's a deep collection, with...
USB drives allow you to carry lots of data in a ridiculously small package, and at a wonderfully small price -- up to 8 GB for under $30. But the real value is in all that data -- personal or...
Samsung is very serious about consumer electronics. It's no accident that you've been seeing more Samsung products in the stores, from mobile phones, to HDTV and home theatre, to cameras and camcorders, to computers and peripherals. At a press event...
Do you want to enhance video like on CSI, so you can read the writing on a shirt collar a block away in a camera phone video? Well not exactly, but more of this kind of technology from forensic video...
(with Brian Dixon) Altec Lansing has a long history in advanced audio and, as a division of Plantronics, has expanded its consumer electronics line to include home audio and home theatre, computer speakers, docking audio for portable devices, and a...
Pocket-size camcorders have become very popular -- so easy to carry and simple to use, so you can bring them along to capture spontaneous moments that wouldn't be possible with larger camcorders. You can find pocket camcorders for around $80...
(with Brian Dixon) Ultimate Ears designs custom in-ear monitor earphones for professional musicians with wildly different styles -- and claims to be used by 75% of the world's professional touring artists for live performance (see the gallery of Ear Art...
(with Brian Dixon) Crank it up! We like our music loud -- and when we use earphones out in public we need to turn it up even louder to drown out all the outside sound. But continuous exposure to loud...
Apple has announced and released an updated version of Final Cut Studio, with new versions of Final Cut Pro 7, Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 3, Color 1.5, and Compressor 3.5 (see press release). The price has dropped by $300...
You can carry your entire music collection on your iPod, or even on your mobile phone, and that's great when you want to put on earphones and enjoy by yourself. But what about letting other listen so you can share...
You love your iPod nano -- the style, the size, and especially the vibrant colors. You'd like to protect it from dirt and scratches, but don't like the idea of bulking it up with a traditional case and covering the...
Mini to micro -- It's not just skirts that shrink, it's also our now-indispensible electronic gadgets, continually being reduced in size so they can be with us wherever we go. But how small can this go? Displays and controls and...
Looking for memory cards for your flash-based camcorder? SanDisk has a helpful answer with the SanDisk Video HD SD/SDHC memory card product line -- explicitly rated by hours of video recording time, not just gigabytes of capacity. In the...
Imagine you are promoting a replacement format for DVD, to support delivery of high-definition video on optical discs -- and let's call this new format Blu-ray Disc (because it uses a sexy blue laser beam). Is this format just...
SanDisk continues to develop interesting ideas in USB "thumb" drives, building on the U3 smart technology that lets you run a variety of Windows software applications directly from a flash drive. The idea with U3 is that you can not...
Once you've finished shooting photos (and/or video) to your flash memory camera (or camcorder), you'd like to quickly upload them to your computer to view, edit, and share. This is where memory cards with higher maximum read/write speeds can shine...
SanDisk has just announced its latest 32 GB Extreme series SD Card, due in August with 32 GB capacity -- and running at up to 30 MB/sec. read and write data rates. Capacity is easy to get a handle...
If you're interested in getting a webcam and using software like Logitech Vid to chat with friends and family (see previous post), then Logitech has a nice selection to choose from. The Logitech QuickCam webcam line starts at $29, with...
The new smartphones are here -- the new Apple iPhone and Palm Pre are finally ready for action. The new Apple iPhone 3G S provides up to 2X performance improvement, plus several long-awaited features found in competitive products, including a...
Someday we will be able to get rid of our collections of data cables and card readers -- when all our devices are wireless. But until then, the Eye-Fi SD cards are a step in that direction by adding Wi-Fi...
Logitech has an extensive line of QuickCam Webcams for notebooks and desktop use, ranging from around $29 to $129, some with built-in mics, high-quality glass lenses, autofocus, and even motorized tracking. These are compatible with video instant messaging and calling...
The Pure Digital Flip Video line of pocket camcorders (see previous Flip posts) continues to demonstrate the attraction of small and easy-to-use devices for shooting video -- Flip Video models were ranked as the top two best-selling camcorders in the...
Got pics in your pocket? You don't need to carry snapshots in your wallet anymore, much less a photo album in your bag -- That's so last decade! Today's portable electronic devices can make great photo viewers, some with...
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a format that really seems to work -- Increasing display quality by moving audio/video interconnects for digital TVs from analog to digital, and collapsing 5 or more cables (red, green, blue, audio, left, audio right)...
Dell has updated its line of Inspiron Mini Netbooks, driving the starting price of the new Inspiron Mini 10v ("v" is for value) under $300. - The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with 8.9 inch display starts at 2.28 pounds and...
Netbook computers are coming along fast as a viable alternative to traditional notebooks -- significantly smaller, lighter, and less expensive (around 2 to 3 pounds, $300 to $500). Yes, they're underpowered and have less capacity, but they work fine...
My final example of LaCie's fun designs for accessories (see previous posts) are the LaCie Bus Powered USB Speakers, recently reduced to $29.99. These are stylish speakers for PC or Mac that conveniently plug in to your computer's USB port...
The march of progress in portable storage is creating interesting new problems -- Our growing collections of fingernail-sized memory cards with multi-gigabyte capacity challenge us to find convenient ways to access and carry all that digital data. LaCie continues to...
I've used LaCie external hard drives and storage devices for many years, based on functionality, performance, and a flair for design (see previous posts). That same emphasis on design comes though in LaCie's line of interesting and fun accessories. For...
The good news with digital cameras is that it's so easy to shoot lots of photos. The hard part is then accessing and sharing them -- hooking up the equipment and software to transfer your images to a computer, and...
Flip Video has just introduced its second generation Flip Ultra pocket camcorder, now available in both standard-definition and high-def versions. Flip has two pocket-sized camcorder models: the extra-tiny Mino (3.3 ounces, see previous posts), and the larger Ultra with...
There are clear differences in the basic philosophy behind the different smartphones on the market. All now are multi-purpose communications devices, PDAs, and media players -- with phone and e-mail connectivity, contacts and calendar synching, and music and video entertainment....
You probably have a digital camera for taking pictures at official events -- family gatherings, vacation trips -- but more and more we're using the camera in our mobile phones to shoot whenever the whim or the situation catches us....
The second theme from recent business announcements that suggest future directions for personal storage (see previous post) extends consumer storage from local disks to the network cloud. Both of the netbooks that I looked at for my recent presentation on...
As I was preparing my recent presentation on The Flash Storage Revolution (see previous post), there were a couple interesting business announcements that point the way to developing trends in personal storage -- from the very tangible and always-there flash...
Just when you thought USB drives couldn't get any smaller, new technology comes to the rescue with the Verbatim Store 'n’ Go Micro USB Drives, which offer up to 8 GB of storage in literally half the size of...
Internet radio services like Slacker and Pandora extend traditional broadcast radio in two ways: with customized channels and with enhanced playback (see previous post). You not only can choose from a wide range of pre-programmed "channels" with a wide variety...
The Pure Digital Flip line of pocket camcorders features an iPod-like approach to product design -- focus on the core essentials by stripping away nice-to-have features to drive a clean and minimal design (see previous posts). Like the iPods, the...
Apple describes its iTunes Store as the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store, with over 250 million TV episodes purchased and over 33 million movies purchased and rented. Its catalog features over 10 million songs, over...
USB flash drives have become ubiquitous, as you can now carry along multiple gigabytes of your digital data. But having all that data in a small package becomes a problem, as it's too easy to lose, and the pain of...
I'm running out of metaphors here, to describe the ever-shrinking size of tiny MP3 players. The original Apple iPod shuffle from 2005 was the exemplar of the "pack of gun" form factor (3.3 x 0.98 x 0.33 in., 0.78 oz.)....
The Monster Turbine Earphones, introduced earlier this year, are designed as "high-performance in-ear headphones," featuring "specially engineered drivers that deliver impeccable audiophile-quality sound." And priced at $149, they had better deliver, since they cost half again as much as...
Radio used to be about broadcast, and tuning in to one of your favorite local stations so you could choose the kind of music that you wanted to enjoy, depending on your mood -- maybe pulsing hard rock or calming...
The Pure Digital Flip has helped to popularize the idea of pocket camcorders -- small and light, easy to carry and simple to use -- and now even for shooting high-def video (see previous posts on the Flip, Kodak Zi6,...
As promised at CES (see previous post), the Eye-Fi Wi-Fi SD Memory card now can upload video clips as well as photos wirelessly from your digital camera to to your computer, or to a photo sharing site like Fickr...
The Kodak Zi6 HD Pocket Video Camera, is a bit chunkier than other pocket video camcorders, but it has a lot to recommend it -- including a larger 2.4" display, and the flexibility to shoot HD (1280 x 720)...
The Creative ZEN X-Fi is a step up from the ZEN Mosaic (see previous post) -- with a larger 2.5" color display, 320 x 240 pixels in landscape orientation. Yet it's still fits comfortably in a shirt pocket at...
The Creative ZEN line of media players is an interesting counterpoint to Apple's minimalist iPod line. Creative offers a smorgasbord of more features -- like FM radio, voice recording, speakers to share the clips with friends -- in a much...
Tired of cramming oversized power adaptor "bricks" into multi-outlet strips? The ezGear ezSpace UFO is an elegant solution -- with sloped sides to handle 6 power adapters, and with room to get your fingers in to plug and unplug devices...
Verbatim is not just a storage company anymore. You may know its CD, DVD, and tape media, or flash memory and USB drives, or portable and external hard drives, or associated storage accessories. But Verbatim also offers a variety of...
Today's earphones are all about isolating you from the outside world so you can enjoy your music. They nest in your ear canal to block the sound, and some even have active noise cancellation technology. But sometimes it's important to...
Verizon Wireless has announced its own Friends & Family plan -- a calling group of phone numbers that do not count against your plan minutes. These can be landline phones, or (gasp) wireless numbers on other carriers. The details:...
I write a lot about portable media players -- "MP3 players" for music and now video -- and how they are converging with mobile phones and smartphones, combining media and communications and Internet access and organizer features. But there's another...
Over the past year, SanDisk has simplified its Sansa line of flash-memory media players to three products, while adding the new slotMusic / slotRadio concept and products (see Sansa store). The result is three models with clean designs that are...
The Aliph New Jawbone Bluetooth headset continues to set the standard in noise reduction with its adaptive "Noise Shield" technology (see previous post). However, the trick to the Jawbone design is the Voice Activity Sensor -- a small nub...
The dirty little secret of notebook computers is that they run hot -- A cute little "laptop" sitting on your legs will also singe your skin, and a hefty "desktop replacement" notebook will crush your legs in the bargain. Ouch!...
How many different power adapters do you have for your portable devices? How many do you need to pack for a trip? There's been some movement to using standard (mini) USB connectors for power, but too many of our devices...
Solar power can be a nice solution for keeping small portable devices tanked up when on the go. But instead of trying to trickle charge your devices directly from a solar panel, a better solution is to combine the...
Netbook or notebook? Between the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project (see previous post), and products like the ASUS Eee PC, there's a new kind of Internet device in town -- the "netbook" -- a highly portable wireless-connected small form...
The unveiling of the Palm Pre phone at CES in January was big news, for good reason -- It's an interesting combination of new ideas in the design of a connected PDA phone. Of course, the announcement was just...
More and more of our lives have converged into our electronic devices -- MP3 players and smartphones, iPod and iPhone, BlackBerry and Palm. Yet these now-indispensible devices are rather fragile, just glass and plastic that is one drop away from...
Once of the most visible trends in this season's new camcorders coming out of the CES conference is the rapid adoption of the smarts from digital photo cameras into video camcorders. The new photo cameras try to be more fail-safe...
You can battle the elements, and take pictures of them at the same time, with the newly-announced Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TS1 Digital Camera -- a rugged camera that shoots 12.1 megapixel high-res stills and 1280 x 720 high-def video. With...
Joby -- the people behind the clever Gorillapod line of flexible tripods (see previous post) have come up with another inventive design. The Joby Zivio Boom Wireless Headset features a telescoping boom that extends the microphone much closer to your...
The Victorinox Swiss Army Knife people have had a fun time over the past few years extending from their core product of steel multi-tools into, believe or not, the digital world. The full line of Swiss Army pocket multi-tools, shown...
How comfortable are your earphones? The Apple iPod (and iPhone) earbuds are designed to hook just inside the ear. Other earphones use a design with a soft earpiece that fits into the ear canal. You may find one design to...
The new SanDisk slotMusic card format delivers music "albums" on microSD cards, ready to play on billions of mobile phones with microSD slots, and also free of copy protection so they can be transferred to PCs and other devices (see...
I'm not sure it's practical, but it sure is fun -- the LG Touch Watch Phone that brings Chester Gould's vision of the Dick Tracy 2-Way Wrist Radio to life. At CES, LG demoed a working prototype of the...
This holiday season saw ridiculously low pricing for memory cards and USB drives, with 16 GB SDHC cards now around $32, and even 32 GB cards coming into range. So now casual photographers can just keep on shooting, storing...
The Eye-Fi Wi-Fi SD Memory card is a standard SD memory card, with some extra magic: built-in Wi-Fi networking ($129, see previous post). Insert the Wi-Fi card in a digital camera, and when you take pictures at home it...
Sometimes it's just simple things that make sense, like the Innovelis BudFits -- over-the-ear adapters for Apple iPod and iPhone earbuds, available in several colors for around $9. Yes, the Apple earbuds work fine for casual listening. But, like...
We can all empathize with David Pogue's frustration in a recent blog post, after he discovered that some DVDs that he had burned less than four years ago were no longer readable, at least on some of his systems. And...
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