gadget news and reviews

CES 2010: Powermat (Preview) 2

Last November we published our in-depth review of the Powermat. We thought it was awesome, but it was expensive and wasn’t necessarily hassle free. Earlier this month during the Consumer Electronics Show, we met up with Powermat. They showed us their new lineup of products for 2010. With some new unique products, I’m quite confident that they’ll have a successful year. One of my personal favorites was a special wireless charging enabled battery that replaces the one currently in your phone. You’ll essentially be able to charge your phone with the mat without cords, sleeves, or any other accessories. That’s not all, they’ve got more in stock so keep reading for details.

The New Mats:
When we last reviewed the Powermat, they had two offerings: the “Home and Office” and a “Portable” version. While we didn’t particularly have an issues with the Mats, they came up with new ones anyways. The new Home and Office model is offered in three sizes: 1X, 2X, and 3X. They can charge one, two, and three devices, respectively. While I didn’t have the chance to spend too much time with the new model, it was noticeably sharper looking and slimmer. I felt that a single charger defeated the purpose of advertising a cable-free solution since a cable would need to go to the mat anyways. You could save some cash and just plug in a single device if that’s all you need to charge. However, the dual and triple Powermats make sense. Read More

Mozilla Weave, A Firefox Add-on 3

Mozilla Labs has developed a new add-on for Firefox called Weave. It syncs your Firefox history, open tabs, bookmarks, and more to the “cloud.” If you own multiple computers, and have Weave installed on them, then any changes to your browsing history, saved passwords, bookmarks, and even the tabs you had open will be reflected on all of them. Unfortunately it does not support syncing of add-ons, so your extensions, themes, and plugins will not be synced. Despite that, it’s still a great tool. Plus, since all the data is synced with the cloud, you can use Weave as a backup utility for Firefox as well. It’s especially handy in the case of a PC crash or when reinstalling an operating system. Read More

Shure SE115m+ Headset (Review) +

Shure’s new SE115m+ earphones are a slight upgrade to the SE115 model and are also quite similar to the SE110 earphones we previously reviewed. The new model is mainly set apart from its predecessors due to added support for compatibility with mobile devices. Specifically, the a new integrated 3-button remote now works with Apple’s iPhone and iPods. With a built-in microphone, the SE115m+’s make it easy to answer calls or even use voice commands. In terms of audio quality, this headset is a vast improvement to the ubiquitous white earbuds included with Apple iPods.

Shure SE115m+ Specifications:

• Speaker Type: Dynamic MicroSpeaker II
• Sensitivity (1mW): 105 dB SPL/mW
• Impedance (1kHz): 16
• Frequency Range: 22Hz – 17.5kHz
• Cable Length: 54 in
• Colors: Black, Red, Blue and Pink

The SE115m+ utilizes Shure’s second generation dynamic driver versus the balanced armature driver featured on the SE110, but both have the same state frequency range from 22 Hz to 17.5 kHz. As with any pair of Shure headphones, there’s plenty of included tips: a set of rubber and foam tips in small, medium, and large sizes. With the variety of tips included, it’s almost guaranteed that there’s a size to fit anyone. If you still can’t find your fit, Shure offers additional sleeves such as tri-flanges on their website. A tight and comfortable fit is important since it’s essential to retain sound isolation from external detriments. There’s a small cleaning tool to remove any ear wax or dirt that may have entered the headset. Keeping the inner tube that reaches the speaker clean helps deliver unobstructed audio. Compared to most Shure headsets which offer a modular cable that disconnects right before the ‘Y’ split, the SE115m+ is a single 54 inch cable. While some may not have an issue with it, I felt as though it’s a neat safety precaution that won’t damage the audio port on your device since it can de-attach easily with a forceful tug. A shorter cable is also handy especially if you’re connecting your iPhone or another device to an armband. Moving forwards, the only other item included in the packaging is a soft-case to protect your headphones and store those extra sleeves. Read More

Change Windows 7 Login Background +

Let’s admit it, Windows 7 has a pretty good looking login window. However, that won’t stop tweaks from figuring out ways to modify it. The setup usually requires messing with the system registry and messing with system files. Fortunately, Tweaks.com created an awesome little tool to solve the problem. You don’t even need to install it. Just download and run. So here’s what you do:

Program Method:

1. Download: ‘Logon Changer‘ (242K)
2. Launch the application
3. Click ‘Change Logon Screen’
4. Browse to the image you want
5. A preview of the logon screen appears

And that’s it. It’s that easy. The tool automatically re-sizes and makes the image you provided look right. There’s no further hacks needed. If you ever want to revert back to the original image provided by Microsoft, just launch the Tweaks.com program again. There’s a one-click “Revert to Default Logon Screen” button. Press it and everything should be back to normal. Enjoy!

Links: Tweaks.com Post

Best of YouTube 2009 1

It’s been a long and difficult year, from the worsening economic crisis, Michael Jackson’s death, swine flu, and the Tiger Woods media blitz. Despite that, YouTube kept us entertained. If you’ve been on the ‘internets’, you’ve probably seen all the videos below. But we’ve rounded up the most popular videos and search terms on YouTube for the year according to the owners Google.

Most Watched Videos (Global):

1. Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent (120+ million views)
2. David After Dentist (37+ million views)
3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance (33+ million views)
4. New Moon Movie Trailer (31+ million views)
5. Evian Roller Babies (27+ million views)

Most Watched Music Videos (Global):

1. Pitbull “I Know You Want Me” (82+ million views)
2. Miley Cyrus “The Climb” (64+ million views)
3. Miley Cyrus “Party in the U.S.A.” (54+ million views)
4. The Lonely Island “I’m On a Boat” (48+ million views)
5. Keri Hilson “Knock You Down” (35+ million views)

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Holiday Gift Guide: PC Games +

Best Overall Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the sequel to the popular game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It’s been one of the most talked about games this year. After having already sold over 4.7 million copies on opening day and over 9 million copies in the first 5 days, it’s broken just about all sales records for video games.

Buy: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
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Holiday Gift Guide: Xbox 360 Games +

Best Overall Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the sequel to the popular game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. MW2 is one of the most talked about games of the year. Having sold over 4.7 million copies on opening day and over 9 million copies in the first 5 days, it’s broken all sales records for video games.

Buy: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

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Holiday Gift Guide: PlayStation 3 Games +

Best Overall Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the sequel to one of the most popular PlayStation 3 games, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Uncharted 2 is a 3rd person shooter following fortune hunter Nathan Drake. Uncharted 2 has top notch graphics and overall a must have game. It’s one of top games on Metacritic.

Buy: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

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Square – Mobile Payment System +

Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey (@Jack) just founded a new company called Square. It’s a new innovative way that lets people authorize, accept, and process credit card payments through their mobile devices with an inexpensive accessory. At launch, the Square service will be compatible with the iPhone and devices running the Android operating system. Square requires two different components to function. The first is an application that will be available for your phone. The second component is, what should be, a fairly inexpensive device that plugs into the headphone jack.

After swiping your card, authorizing the payment for the correct amount, signing the transaction using the touchscreen, Square will instantly send you a receipt via email or text message (see image on right). If you setup a Square payer account, you can speed up and secure payments through photo recognition. In addition, Square tracks repeat customers, so it can easily offer rewards to them. You’ll no longer have to carry those punch cards around with you.

The Square service won’t have any contracts, monthly fees, or hidden costs. They will even donate a penny after every transaction to a cause of your choice. Square hasn’t mentioned the cost per transaction, but this could definitively be a hit if the number is low. This would be a great way to accept payments from a buyer through Craigslist when you meet with them. If this goes well, it can easily become an easy way for both small business and average customers to accept credit card transactions on the go.

Our Senior Editor, Sahas Katta, just heard back from Jack Dorsey. We will be getting access to this service fairly soon and should be able to publish a review prior to an official launch.

Links: SquareUp.com

IronKey S200 (Review) +

About two years ago, Skatter Tech reviewed the original IronKey. At the time it was one of the most secure flash drives available to consumers. We recently received an updated model, the IronKey Model S200. Although it may have gone under-noticed by the media, it has some new elements to offer including more security and storage space. And for those of you that don’t know about the IronKey, it’s just like any other flash drive, however it hardware encrypts your data and self-destructs if someone with an incorrect password attempts to use it. When we say self-destruct, we mean it. It doesn’t just use a gimmick to lockup, the innards are destroyed and the device will be rendered entirely useless. It’s not for everyone, but if you carry sensitive information on you, this is an excellent product.

Main Features:

• Military-Grade Encryption
• Stealth Browsing with Firefox
• Built-in Password Manager
• Rugged and Waterproof Device
• Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux
• 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB models

Security Features:
The IronKey is like most flash drives, just plug it in and copy data over. However unlike typical devices, any stored data is encrypted with IronKey’s Cryptochip technology. If you’re a computer security whiz, then you’ll be impressed to hear that it meets Level 3 of the Federal Process Information Standardization 140 (FIPS). The IronKey isn’t just limited to software encryption either, it also uses a 256-bit AES hardware encryption. That means that for the most part, unless you’re working for the NSA or are a hardcore hacker, any data on this device will be unreadable without the right password.

IronKey even takes extra precautions. All the software needed to run the IronKey is stored on-board the flash memory. No data is left over on a host computer’s hard drive or RAM. With an on-screen virtual keyboard, the device is immune to key-loggers. To prevent brute force dictionary attacks, if there are over 10 concurrent incorrect attempts to login, it self-destructs. It won’t explode into pieces, but the insides will become destroyed. It won’t be readable, writable, or usable ever again.

The unit is now also made from a single piece of metal, making it quite durable. The original model was slightly more flimsy with a rear plate. The unit has also passed military-grade waterproof testing. (Electromagnetic shielding too!) And just like the original model, if someone were to pry the unit open to extract the flash memory chip, it will detect their presence and self-destruct upon contact.

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