Saturday, March 31, 2012

iPad gets a cushy pillow

There are loads of iPad apps to keep young children entertained, but do you really want those little hands gripping your precious hardware? The Cushpad will reduce some of that anxiety.

The Cushpad ($35 at thecushpad.com) is a wedge-shaped pillow built to hold and protect an iPad in an upright position — horizontal or vertical — on almost any surface.

The iPad is slipped behind rolls of padded fabric that hold it more firmly than little fingers. Fidgety kids don’t have to hold the tablet or balance it on their laps. And once the little darlings are asleep, adults can use the Cushpad to watch movies in bed.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

New Orbs boost desktop audio

Orb Audio's home theater system matches a subwoofer with an array of small spherical speakers that are done up in stylish finishes, like black gloss or antiqued copper. Now Orb has expanded its product line to include package designed for a wider range of devices including computers, gaming consoles, digital audio players and secondary TVs, like the one in a game room or bedroom.

The Orb Booster package starts with a mini amplifier and a pair of Mod 1 speakers for about $400. Upgrade options include Mod2 speakers (double Orbs), a subwoofer (Orb has four models starting at $138) and a variety of speaker finishes, including one called Hammered Earth.

The booster amp is a no-frills black box that's slightly larger than a paperback book. There's an on-off switch, volume buttons, and a small remote, but not much else, like tone or balance controls. 

The amp's best feature is its ability to handle multiple audio sources. The backside has four input jacks, two for standard red-and-white audio cables and two for stereo pin plugs. If you want to connect a TV, a computer, an Xbox and an iPod, the Orb's got you covered.

And the sound? The little globes do their usual job of delivering higher frequencies with clarity and precision. That's welcome help for compressed MP3 music files and the dialog on movie soundtracks. The subwoofer will go to work in the basement on movies and games that have rich bass lines.

I tried the booster with a variety of inputs, including a tablet computer, iPod and a mobile phone and heard significantly better sound than what I get from a sound dock or amplified computer speakers.

The orbs aren't sold in stores, so the company lets you try them out at home for 30 days if you pay the shipping cost. Details are on the Orb website.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Book helps teens build games for mobiles

I still remember how proud and excited I was after I saw a simple program I had written run on my Apple ][ computer. I discovered that programming is not black magic and that it can be fun and rewarding.

Author Clayton Crooks captures that spirit in his book iPhone Game Development for Teens. It a project-based guide for beginners who want to create the next hit mobile game or just learn skills that could prove useful in the future.

The popularity of gaming on the iPhone and other mobile platforms has opened a new avenue for individual programmers. While most console games written for the Xbox or PS3 are created by buildings full of coders while many mobile games are written by a single person. And the iTunes App store provides an easy way to market and promote the game.

Crooks’ book covers topics such as graphics and sound effects. And while it’s aimed at the iOS platform, the tools and concepts apply to other platforms as well. The book can be ordered online at Amazon.


Friday, March 16, 2012

New devices help mind your health

The FIT monitor from BodyMedia
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, health and fitness gadgets shared space in the convention halls with new computers, phones and TVs. Companies like BodyMedia and Striiv are making devices that not only track your heart rate and other health measures, some of them also deliver incentives to skip dessert or go for a walk.

For example, BodyMedia's FIT is an armband that tracks calories burned and other data during your daily activities, whether you're walking up a flight of stairs or doing a full workout at the gym. The collected data can be viewed on a small optional display and downloaded to a personal computer.

And the Striiv system comes with another way to get you and your loved ones off the sofa. You know how organized runs and walks raise money for charity? The Striiv is a personal walkathon built into its $99 pedometer that you can carry on a keychain, belt loop or in your pocket. Walk 18,000 steps and a corporate philanthropist will pay for a day's clean drinking water for a child in Bolivia or preserve a segment of the rain forest in Tanzania.

Get details on other devices, like tyhe Wi-Fi Body Scale from Withings, in my column at MyWell-Being.com.




Thursday, March 8, 2012

Big sound from the little Foxl

Compared to most portable speakers, the Foxl V2 speaker from Soundmatters is a big step up in both sound and price.

The Foxl's sound comes from a pair of small dome speakers mounted behind rigid steel grille. Soundmatters calls them "Twoofers" because they handle both the bass and treble frequencies. If you want more bass, the unit has an output jack to connect to a subwoofer.

When the Foxl is cranked up, you could easily mistake it's sound for a much larger bookshelf stereo or boom box. Yet it's small enough to easily carry in your pocket or computer bag.

Soundmatters says the speaker's battery will last for about eight hours and can be recharged from a wall outlet or an USB connection.

The standard Foxl costs about $150 at soundmatters.com. A Bluetooth version that also works as a speakerphone costs about $200. 

Saturday, March 3, 2012

X-Mini is a ball of sound

The affordable X-Mini speakers are about the size of a billiard ball. Give the top a twist and the two ends separate, connected by a bit of flexible tubing that becomes a sound chamber.

Connect the attached audio cable to your music source and you are rewarded with surprisingly rich sound. The X-Mini easily outperforms many of the low-priced sound docks and portable speakers that I've tested.

The little orb is powered by a rechargeable battery that gets refueled through a USB cable. The speaker has its own volume control and an output jack that lets you daisy-chain several X-Minis if you want a bigger bang.

The X-Mini comes with a USB cable and a travel pouch. Amazon.com sells the speaker in several color options for about $25. For $40 you can get a stereo version or one that plays music from a memory card.

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