Archives for June 2016

Sub $200 HP Chromebook Android app friendly boasts 12.5 hr battery

Chromebook G5HP is rebooting its 11-inch Chromebook, announcing a newer sleeker stylish laptop that offers an optional touchscreen, all-day battery life and designed to be Android app friendly.

The new model the HP Chromebook 11 G5 will come with a totally redesigned chassis. It’s thinner, has narrower display bezels and at only 2.51lb. (non-touchscreen model), it’s over 10% lighter than its predecessor, making it ideal for an ultra-mobile road warrior.

It will have an 11.6″ (1366 x 768) display and will be available with or without a touchscreen. The standard screen will feature anti-glare and the touchscreen model is made with Corning Gorilla Glass.

Expect battery life will vary slightly with the different screens – 12.5 hours and 11 hours respectively. Read full post at CanoeTech Blog.

Cel-Fi PRO boosts your cell signal at home

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A dropped cellphone call can be a real annoyance, but even worse might be an interrupted data transfer due to poor LTE, 4G or 3G coverage. And while we may be at the mercy of whatever location we’re at, there is something we can do about improving our voice and data coverage at home by using a plug and play smart signal booster like the Cel-Fi PRO Smart Signal Booster by Nextivity.

Five Minute Install

The beauty is it’s a solution that consists of just two wireless AC powered boxes – a Network Unit (Sender) and a Coverage Unit (Receiver) and you don’t have to climb up on your roof or install antennas nor do you need to schedule a technician to get it up and running. It takes about five minutes.

Basically, how it works is you place the Network Unit (NU) at a location in your home where you have the strongest signal, which I would suspect for most is likely by a window. Having four bars of signal is ideal, but the booster will work with as little as one. Then, place the Coverage Unit (CU) where the signal is weakest but close enough to the Network unit so they can talk to each other. It will likely be somewhere in the middle of your house. Of course the building’s materials will affect the signal. Read full Review at Canoe Tech Blog.

BoostCube is an iClever little 4-port charger

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The iClever BoostCube 4-port is a smart 40W/8A USB wall charger whose claim to fame is that it can up charge to four USB devices simultaneously at full power from a single plug. At 2.45” x 2.45” x 1.12” it has a small and sleek form factor with a nice quality finish that’s about the same width and about 1/2” bigger than an iPad charger but smaller than a MacBook AC charging block.

iClever BoostCube features SmartID. This means it can recognize the type of device plugged into it and deliver up to the full 2A per plug and charge the likes of the iPad Pro, iPhone 6S Plus, Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5 and others at the same rate as their original chargers but up to four at a time. Read full review at Canoe_Tech Blog.

Treat dad to gadgets this Father’s Day

Microsoft-Sculpt-Ergonomic-EDMONTON, Alta. June 17, 2016/ Troy Media/ – Looking for the right gadget for Dad on Father’s Day? If so, here are a few ideas that will certainly put a smile on his face.

If Dad spends a lot of time in front of his keyboard and likes to stay comfortable, the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Wireless Desktop may be something he’ll enjoy. It consists of an all-wireless ergonomic keyboard with a cushioned palm rest, a multifunction ergo-mouse and a separate numeric keypad.

Unlike a typical keyboard, this one offers a domed design and arc style split key set which allows Dad to keep his wrists and forearms in a very natural and relaxing position.

The mouse has a nice ergo shape to keep Dad’s wrists from getting tired. It also has a four-way scroll wheel, so Dad can navigate left and right, up and down. It has a Back button and Windows button to quickly get to the start screen without moving the cursor. Read full article at Troy Media.

Family purchase Father’s Day gift ideas

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It’s always fun yet sometimes challenging trying to pick out a gift for the Dad who likes gadgets, as there are so many to choose from. Here are a just a few ideas of some of the newer, perhaps a little more buy-as-a-family type gadgets and gifts to hit the market for you to choose from.

Kindle Oasis

For starters, the Kindle Oasis, the newest Kindle e-book offering seems to have been made with Dad in mind. It’s thinner, lighter and shorter yet a tad wider than previous models.

Like other models, it has a 6″ display e-Ink display and 300 ppi (pixels-per-inch) resolution found on most models and is enhanced with the use of 10 LEDs for even better page readability. In addition to a touch screen this model also has two physical page turning buttons and a larger frame area on one side so Dads with larger hands can easily grip it in one hand.

And it doesn’t matter if he’s right or left handed as Kindle will automatically adjust the page’s orientation to suit the hand. Read more…at Canoe Tech Blog.

Toastcaster 67 Ummo App: Your Harvard Developed Personalized Speech Coach

UmmoTeamPhotoCrop[27:46] Ummo App is your personalized speech coach & crutch-word finder developed at Harvard University. Greg speaks with two of its developers from Dehli, India and the Bay Area in California, Anshul Bhagi and Sam Li who tell us what the app’s about; how they developed it and how IBM’s Watson plays a role.

They also tell us how you can use it to analyze and improve your speaking skills and share how Boston Toastmasters have been involved and what the future has in store for the app.  You can find more Toastcaster Podcasts at Toastcaster.com or iTunes.

Free wake-up service fit for the Queen

WakeUpDialerScreenNot everyone has a cellphone, a computer or even an alarm clock, so when our long-retired Aunt called to find a wake-up call service for 2:55AM MDT to watch the Queen’s 90th Birthday celebration, she mentioned that she had heard there was an on-line service that could do the job. I too thought there must be one or even an app for that.

No Time to Lose

With less than six-hours of available shut-eye for dear old Aunt, I quickly started a little digging and noticed there were a number of services. Some ask you to set up an account; others offered a one-time free call, a few more freebies if you signed in and of course a charge behind that. Read Full Post at Canoe Tech Blog.

G4TV: Star Wars and other tech inspired Father’s Day gift ideas

 

BB-8Father’s Day is just around the corner and picking the right gift can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. So here are a few gadget gift ideas that might pique your interest and help you find the special one for that special Dad.
BB-8 App-Enabled Droid

For the ultimate Star Wars Dad and at the risk of sounding cliché, the Sphero BB-8 App-Enabled Droid just might be the one he’s looking for. More than just a toy, it’s a Bluetooth BLE enabled interactive robot with an adaptive personality that evolves the more you play with it to give Dad virtually endless fun. It even listens and responds to voice commands like “Look Around,” “Wake up” and “Watch out” and like a pet BB-8 perks up when you talk to it. Order him around or even send him out on patrol and BB-8 will explore by itself.  Read Full Post at G4TV Canada.

 

IK Multimedia releases Lurssen Mastering Console for iPhone

Lurssen Mastering Console for iPhone - The first pro-audio mastering app for iPhoneIK Multimedia has announced the release of Lurssen Mastering Console, the first iPhone mastering app that lets musicians master their mixes with a model of the console and settings used by the engineers at Lurssen Mastering, Inc., in Los Angeles, California. Lurssen Mastering Console is a totally unique approach to audio mastering that incorporates the Lurssen “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” philosophy by recreating not only the gear chain used but the interactions and influence the processors have on other gear in the chain during the mastering process. Lurssen Mastering Console is available as a universal iPhone/iPad app and it is also available separately for Mac/PC.

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Jabra unveils Halo Smart Wireless earphones

JabraAccording to a survey commissioned by Jabra, almost 80% of respondents offered that they would prefer to have a single set of headphones for both calls and music, but often found call quality lacked on those devices designed for music. So Jabra came up with their Jabra Halo Smart wireless headphones that give both voice and call, top priority.

The Halo Smart is a rubberized in-ear headphone that wraps around behind the neck. To enhance call quality, they incorporated a high-end mic with integrated wind noise protection. In addition, to make sure you don’t miss a call they added subtle vibrations in the neckband of the unit to alert you when the phone rings. Read More at CanoeTech Blog.