Read more… at CANOE TECH BLOG
FlipBelt does away with armbands and fanny packs
October 31, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Review: Fluance Fi30 Bluetooth Wood Speaker System
October 29, 2014 by · 1 Comment
I’ve become so used to seeing speakers that are housed in cabinets made with plastic and metal that I almost forgot about speakers that come in wood grained cabinetry just like the ones I got so used to during my formative years. So I was pleasantly surprised when I had an opportunity to test drive one that reminded me of days gone by.
Fluance, a North American based direct-to-market speaker brand, has combined the best of yesterday and today with their high-performance Fi30 speaker system. It features wireless audio streaming via Bluetooth powered by aptX enhanced audio technology incorporated into a solid audio grade MDF wood cabinet.
Although it is wireless, it’s fairly hefty and not really designed to be portable, measuring 16.5″ x 5.5″ x 5.5″ and weighs a whopping 8.3 pounds. There’s no battery option as it runs purely on AC and the kind of device that would not seem out of place on a wall unit or mantle.
Under the hood it has two 3-inch woven glass fibre composite drivers with butyl rubber surrounds. There is no separate bass speaker, but in the rear you’ll find two respectably tuned bass ports that give you just about that you just the right amount of resonance without the need for a subwoofer. READ FULL REVIEW at G4TV Canada
Satechi LightMate lights charges and breaks glass
October 27, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
It’s not quite a mini Star Wars Lightsaber, but the Satechi LightMate, a 4-in-1 flashlight, emergency light, glass breaker and portable USB charger that can possibly save you in a time of need. And unlike the immortalized Hollywood prop, LightMate is a real product, solidly built – made from an aluminum steel alloy that the company says can withstand the weight of an average sized car.
The flashlight features fairly bright LEDs, putting out 220 lumens that can be seen, even in daylight. You can select from three different brightness levels – 100%, 50%, 15% as well as two emergency modes – strobe and SOS modes which cause the LEDs to flash in two different patterns.
Using it as a flashlight makes it idea for directional lighting to light up the way, but it also comes with a white screw-in light diffuser for area lighting, like for reading a map in the dark. Read more… at Canoe Tech Blog
FoxL Dash 7 speaker offers big bass in a tiny bar
October 22, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
A speaker designed by the legendary audio designer Dr. Guenther Godehard a former NASA scientist and former nuclear physicist would need to be somehow out of this world. Now it’s not something you would use out in space, but space is the operative word as it can deliver big sound and takes up little space. It’s called the FoxL Dash 7 Portable Speaker by Soundmatters and it’s designed for the discerning audiophile.
The Dash 7 is a small yet powerful, almost flat like a candy bar wireless speaker or perhaps more appropriately, a sound bar. It’s Bluetooth enabled, so you can use it wirelessly, but your can also use its 3.5mm input for direct connect. It’s also configured with a echo/noise cancelling microphone so you can utilize your phone functions while listening to your tunes. Read more…… at CANOE TECH BLOG
World’s smallest battery pack jumpstarts your car and your phone
October 15, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
You can never have enough battery power for your gadgets but to be able to have a small compact lightweight device, that can also jumpstart your car in the rare case you need to do so and usually at the most inopportune time, is an incredible bonus. That’s what JUMPR by Juno Power is designed to do in a form factor that’s not much bigger than a couple of iPhone 6’s stacked on top of each other.
“We all know what it feels like to get caught with a dead car battery; you could be stuck waiting around for hours for a tow truck or friend to arrive. The JUMPR is a simple to use solution that gets you back on the road in minutes,” says Juno Power CEO, Dennis Lee.
Under its hood, pardon the pun, is a 6000mAH lithium polymer battery with a 12 Volt 150-300 AMP output designed to jumpstart a dead car battery. It has a two-pronged proprietary input to connect the positive and negative jumper cables as well as a 12V volt connector, which allows you to recharge with through your car’s cigarette lighter.
Read more…At Canoe Tech Blog
HUB-IT Sync and Charge review & giveaway
October 8, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Wouldn’t it be cool to have one device that can sync and charge up to seven devices regardless as to what type of connection they actually have? Well you can, with the new HUB-IT, an all-in-one sync and charge station from Eggtronic.
Designed by a former Maserati employee, HUB-IT is a funky desktop device (6.7” x 6.7” x 1.3”) that combines the aesthetics of Italian flair with USB 3.0 technology. And it actually looks like a hub in the traditional sense of the word, because you can connect your devices from all four sides of its perimeter. It has seven ports including three USB 3.0 super-speed ports and four cartridge connectors (Apple Lightning, Apple 30-pin, micro USB or mini USB connector) – a different one on each side. Each is fitted with about a 10” retractable cable which you can simply pull on to expand the cable and when it reaches a little tension at the end, simply let go and will spring back into place. There is also an LED indicator next to each port that displays its charging status. Read more… and enter the GIVEAWAY at CANOE TECH BLOG
Runtastic Orbit fitness activity and sleep tracker review
October 6, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
I spend a significant amount of time in front of some form of screen and probably not enough time at the gym, doing things that keep me in shape like walking which I strive to do at least three to five times per week. Now depending on whom you talk to, it can take 21 days, 40 days or somewhere in between to form a habit. Whatever that number is for you, having a device able to be with you 24/7 is a probably a good way to start. So I jumped at the opportunity to test-drive the new Runtastic Orbit, a real-time activity, fitness and sleep tracker.
Austria-based Runtastic is not a newcomer to the tracking game; they already have a whack of other apps on the market like Runtastic Road Bike, Pedometer and Wintersports. However, this is their first foray into providing their own complete hardware and software solution. The heart of the Orbit comes in the form an interestingly shaped waterproof module. It’s designed to slip into one of the two wristbands provided or a clip you can attach to your belt or wear on a lanyard around your neck. Read more…At Canoe Tech Blog
Drobo launches world’s highest capacity portable storage array
October 3, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Storage arrays are something you’d probably expect to find in a server room but with technology being so portable these days, it would make sense for someone to come up with a storage solution for people on the go. So Connected Data the creator of the Drobo line of start smart storage solutions has unveiled the new Drobo Mini 8TB Bundle, the industry’s first portable protected storage solution.
The new bundle features four hot-swappable 2.5” drive bays that come factory preloaded with four 2TB Samsung Spinpoint M9T drives which are only 9.5mm thick. The system is configured with Connected Data’s BeyondRAID technology that allows the restoration of data in the event that one or two drives fail simultaneously. Read more…at Canoe Tech Blog
Rapoo ultra-slim wireless keyboard has built-in touchpad
October 1, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
As the battle of the on-screen keyboards continue, we’re still seeing more of the smaller touch-feely tactile keyboards coming to market as people use them as alternatives to full-sized keyboards for computers, media player and smart TV remote controls. And one such keyboard is the Rapoo E2700 Ultra-slim Wireless Multimedia keyboard with Touchpad.
At 10″ long x 3 1/4″ deep, only 1/4″ thin and weighing a mere 186 grams, it’s lighter, smaller and thinner than most keyboards including Apple’s Wireless Keyboard (approx 11″ x 5″). It has a minimalist design, denoted by the lack of a bezel around its perimeter and no LEDs. Read more… At Canoe Tech Blog
Syncable-Duo 2-in-1 microUSB/Lightning cable solution
September 26, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Cables are considered accessories and rarely take the limelight in the gadget arena. You usually expect them to be either included with the device or an add-on that you have to buy. The truth is people take notice of them only when they really need them, can’t find them or if they don’t work. Others say, “Who needs cables when everything’s wireless?” Funny thing though, most wireless devices today still require cables to charge them. Universal inductive charging across all devices is still little ways away.
So that’s my little preamble for the Syncable-Duo Charge and Sync Cable by TYLT. It’s a 2-in-1 microUSB/Lightning solution. And like the name says, it’s both a charging and syncing cable for USB devices like smartphones and tablets. The neat thing about this cable is that it basically combines two cables into one.
Read more…AT Canoe Tech Blog
