Technology For You: 12/01/2007

Customizeable Jabra Bluetooth Headset

Everything nowadays is all about being unique, having your own personal style when it comes to your personal electronic gadgets. But when you’re in the market for a Bluetooth headset, you’ve had the choice between boring, boring and more boring.

Now, you actually have a choice. Jabra has come out with the Jabra BT160 headset

which features not one, not two but thirty-three different cover designs included in with the headset package. If that weren’t enough for you, Jabra has given you the ability to design your own Jabra BT160 headset, even being able to use your own uploaded design.

On the technical side of things, you have 8 hours of talk time or 110 hours of standby time to get you through most days of use.
Microphone type: 6mm omni-directional

Battery type: Rechargeable lithium polymer.
Supported special features:

Answer/end call

dial*

Last number re-dial*

Reject call*

Call waiting alert tone*

* Subject to phone and/or network type
Bluetooth compliance:

Bluetooth version 1.2 specifications

Supported Bluetooth profiles:

Bluetooth headset and hands-free profiles

Operating range: Up to 10 metres (30 feet)

Talk time: Up to 8 hours (subject to phone)

Stand-by time: Up to 110 hours

Charging time: Approximately 2 hours

Weight: 16 g (0.56oz.)

Dimensions: L6.3cm (21/2”) x W2.6cm (1”) x D1.2cm (1/2”)

Materials: Primarily thermoplastic polyurethane and polycarbonate plastics

The sturdiest flash card from I-O Data

I-O Data Company considers that the information on your flash-card should be kept as safe as it is possible.. And impossible. That is why their new invention is HDMC - a sturdy 16 GB flash card.

At first, it is waterproof. Then, it is steady to falls and different kinds of blows. And the third point is that low temperatures don't influence the flash at all.

I don't know if it is really important, but nothing happens to it if it is at the depth up to 1 meter in the water, but no more than half an hour. Can you imagine that while testing it was thrown from 1.2 meter height and even frozen? The results of the tests were brilliant. But there is an interesting question: are they testing all the flash cards that way? If not, can we turn the card back if something happens to it after our tests?

Unfortunately, I can't really answer the question what this flash card was created for. Maybe for businessmen, whose information is often very important, but in that case the company had forgotten that the flash card can be simply lost or stolen! In that case they should add there a signalling. Why not?

Anyway, I don’t see much of a need for such a sturdy flash-card. It was done for selected people. They can take it with them almost everywhere: while diving, mountaineering and bailing out!

But the idea is nice and progressing, it looks like it is a flash card of a new generation.

Lipstick walkman

Without a doubt, a girl's purse is the most enigmatic thing ever seen on Earth. It includes everything, beginning from a lip-gloss, continuing with a perfume and ending with a pair of cute warm pink socks for any eventuality.

Do you wonder if there is a whole world in this bag? Not yet. One thing still missing is the new lipstick walkman. This gadget is for those who adore music but still need some space left in the purse, God knows for what. It surely leans towards the female population due to its glossy body.

The NW E013, weights mere 2.8grams and has a size of a lipstick tube
. It is available in black, violet, blue, gold and of course pink, so there is no trouble in associating it with any of those hundreds and hundreds of bags.

Has a bright LCD display, a full color three-line screen, allowing an easy navigation.

In a few words, it represents 1GB storage space for MP3, WMA, AAC, ATRAC encoded 700 tracks, which may be copied over from a PC. Thanks to its built-in battery, the walkman plays music for 30 hours on a single charge.

The player's 2.0 USB may be revealed just by flipping up its cap. It has a clear stereo and a clear bass sound enhancement system that makes a superb quality sound.

Be yourself and don't change your habits.

AudioEngine A2 Speaker Review

October 24th, 2007

It really is true!

What’s that you say? I can’t hear you over the AudioEngine A2s!

I said the ‘Audioengine A2’s are a clear representation of good things do come in small sizes’.

I won’t dispute that the price tag ($199) is a little steep for a pair of computer or book shelf speakers, but where can you find Kevlar, a glossy finish, and self powered for that price. Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised by AudioEngine’s packaging job. They took it a step further and placed the necessary cords in suede like bags (see pics). They also provided the headphone-to-headphone cord in two different lengths - which in my experience is the least likely of cords one would have lieing around - although I noticed that the headphone jacks aren’t iPhone compatible (errr - more upset with Apple). Ok moving on…

Performance

The AudioEngine A2’s deliver some top notch sound. The timbre quality is almost there, but simply lack the final finish because of their small size. Put it up to any ‘tower speaker’ and judge them on a sliding scale and they’re sure to compete, if not beat. The bass ports on these things are super slim and can literally blow your hair back (check out the below video). I ran the A2’s off my Macbook - figured why not since they’re intended for computers and iPods - and cranked the volume to max. With my iTunes and computer at max volume I did manage to achieve some minute distortion in the highs, but was once again pleasantly surprised with how well they held out. The bass held tight but couldn’t hit the low-lows you’d experience from a dedicated subwoofer (no surprise there considering the speakers frequency range).

Design

These things are rock solid. The glossy finish and sans grill look is killer. As a result they’ll fit in with the professor’s bookshelf or on the dorm room desk lined with beer cans. The slim bass ports are a nice touch, and reduce speaker size all the while maintaining sound quality. Kevlar ain’t so bad either. This insures long lasting woofers that shouldn’t blow for ‘time to come’.
Conclusion

I gotta give it to AudioEngine. They’ve built a solid pair that rock out some top notch sound quality at l-o-u-d. The buzzing in the power pack/converter (not in the speakers/audio) was a little disconcerting, but hopefully an isolated incident and not a representation of poor grounding (not sure exactly how this would work but in my experience this is the case). The lack of the USB plug (aka iPod/iPhone) hookup is a little annoying, but considering the other options available (RCA or headphone) I really can’t make a good case. I am gonna have to mark the AudioEngine A2’s with a ‘buy’!

Update: The buzzing in the power supply seems to have subsided. I spoke with the founder of AudioEngine and they’ve sold hundreds without a reported problem. I am going to write it off as an isolated incident.