Hands On — Page 10

IK Multimedia iRig Pro DUO offers dual channel midi interface

January 20, 2016 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

A portable MIDI interface is pretty handy to have particularly when you’re on the road, so if you’re doing an impromptu performance or a live recording session and have both a guitar and a mic, you might be out of luck, unless you either have two interfaces or the iRig Pro DUO – the latest portable MIDI interface from IK Multimedia that features two channels.

This new dual-channel gadget is a follow-up to the original single channel iRig Pro, we looked at here at CanoeTech Blog back in mid-2013. Not only does it double your channels, it’s been enhanced with additional features not found on its predecessor.

It won’t surprise you that it’s a little bigger, but still pretty small. At only 5″x 2.95″x 1.46″ it more or less fits in the palm of your hand and amazingly compact for what’s packed under the hood. Read Full Review at Canoe Tech Blog

Filed Under: accessories, Audio, Canoe Technology, GadgetGreg, Going Mobile, Hands On, New Product, Product review · Tagged With: Audio, Midi Interface, music, product review

Satechi Ventie car vent mount for your smartphone

January 3, 2016 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

When you hear Ventie, the first thing that comes to mind is a mega cup of Starbucks coffee. But this Ventie has a slightly different spelling and has nothing to do with the caffeine fix; what it can do is make your smartphone hands-free by giving you the option to easily mount it to the air vent in your car.

The Ventie Mount by Satechi is a clever little accessory. It has a spring-loaded head designed to grip any smartphone that measures between two and three and one-half inches wide. It could also be rotated to accommodate a number of GPS models or even your smartphone if you prefer to orient it in landscape mode.

In fact, the grip head is mounted using a ball-and-socket joint and swivel arm system giving you some decent flexibility in positioning the mount to give you the optimal viewing angle from your driver’s seat. Read more…at Canoe Tech Blog.

Filed Under: accessories, Canoe Technology, GadgetGreg, Going Mobile, Hands On, New Product, Review · Tagged With: accessories, Gadgets, New product, product review, travel

Review: Latest Kindle Paperwhite right for you?

December 22, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

As an avid iPad user, I never thought I’d ever have a need for an e-reader until I actually spent some time with one. I love books, all kinds of books, physical print books and e-books and when I need to read the latter, I always have an iPad or iPhone within arms reach. But after spending some time reviewing the newest Kindle Paperwhite, I realize it doesn’t have to be one or the other; this e-reader can certainly find a home alongside your favourite tablet.

For those familiar with the Kindle Paperwhite, the revamped 2015 model, replaces the original 2013 offering. Physically, the changes are hardly noticeable. The new incarnation still features a 6-inch greyscale display with e-ink, but it’s now 300 ppi (pixels per inch), up from 212 ppi with a resolution of 1430 x 1080, twice the number of pixels than before. They’ve also doubled the storage memory to 4GB. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Books, Canoe Technology, GadgetGreg, Hands On, Product review, Review · Tagged With: Books, e-books, e-readers, Gadgets, gift idea, Kindle, reading

Personal quiet sound amplifier helps you hear better

December 18, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

As we get older things like your hearing start to deteriorate, especially if you worked in a noisy environment or went to too many “WHO” concerts without wearing proper hearing protection. To help out in these times Etymotic Research developed The BEAN – Quiet Sound Amplifier; it’s not a hearing aid that corrects hearing loss, but rather a personal sound amplification device that requires no prescription.

The company’s literature likens the BEAN “to wearing store-bought reading glasses that you only need to use part of the time.” Read Full Review at CanoeTech Blog.

Filed Under: accessories, Canoe Technology, GadgetGreg, Hands On, Product review · Tagged With: health, hearing, lifestyle, product review, sound

FlashXpress double infrared heating toaster oven

December 17, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

For a gadget enthusiastic household who might be in the market for a new Toaster Oven, the Panasonic FlashXpress Toaster Oven might be a good one to add to the list. No, it doesn’t send notifications to your smart watch when your toast is ready, but it does offer double infrared heating (i.e. dual quartz and ceramic elements so it heats up fast, and efficiently gets your food to your plate.

Hi-Tech holiday headphone roundup

December 10, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

Not all headphones are created equal so if you’re looking for some really hi-tech headphones to pop under the tree this year, then here are a few ideas that you just might find sound pretty good – pardon the pun.

Mo-Fi Powered Hi-Fi Headphones

To start off, for the devout gamer, musician or the discerning audiophile, the Blue Mo-Fi Powered Hi-Fi Headphones with built-in amplifier marries todays hi-tech with tried and true old-school technology.

At first glance they look like they would be right at home as part of a Transformer, but the robotic like look is purposeful; the formed ear cups, the multi-hinged design and adjustable headband allows the headphones to be adjusted for any head or comfort level while staying completely parallel so you block outside sound and hear the music as you are supposed to.

In fact, there’s no digital signal processing on this puppy. It has a built-in 240mW amplifier and it’s totally analog, baby! It also has three bass modes to choose from, so you can decide between passive, active or enhanced bass. Read about all Holiday Hi-Tech Headphones at Canoe Tech Blog.

Filed Under: accessories, Canoe Technology, GadgetGreg, Going Mobile, Hands On · Tagged With: Audio, gift, headphones, music

Review: iRig Mic Lav monitoring lavalier mic

December 5, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

IK Multimedia’s tagline is “Musicians First,” but many of their offerings including their iRig Mic line of high quality microphones are also suitable for presenters, podcasters and videographers. But one selection missing from their line-up, until now was a lav (lavalier) mic. Keeping with their naming tradition, it’s called the iRig Mic Lav. Beyond a clip-on, this latest offering gives you the capability of monitoring what’s passing through it, as well as chain two mics together and simultaneously record to one device.

Dual-Purpose Jack

At first, it looks like your typical clip-on mic with a foam wind/pop shield, but look further down the cable and you see a dual-purpose connector that ports both a 3.5mm male and female connectors. The male goes to your recording device. The female serves two purposes depending on which selection you make to the toggle switch. Selecting the headphones option enables the monitoring option. Plug in a set of headphones or earbuds and you know that you are actually getting a recording. Toggle the switch, plug in another lav mic and now you can record two people and even monitor through the 2nd port. Read full review at Canoe Tech Blog.

Filed Under: accessories, Audio, Canoe Technology, GadgetGreg, Hands On, New Product, Product review, Review, sound · Tagged With: accessories, Audio, microphone, product review

Bracketron TruSportPak with LED Safety Light & Smart VU

December 4, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

The New Bracketron TruSportPak is a clever solution that not only houses your smartphone when you’re on the go it also offers fun, practical and safety features.

Now that’s a good thing given that most of us never leave home without our mobile devices. But when we head out for a jog or walk we typically don’t have a lot of extra places to carry things. There are wristbands and fanny packs but most of them are either passé or not necessarily practical particularly with today’s super-sized devices.

Water Resistant, Clear Window

That’s where the Bracketron TruSportPak with LED Safety Light & Smart VU makes sense. It’s a pleated buckle-style weather resistant waist pack made from durable and stretchy Lycra, so you have room for your phone, but also your keys, a little cash, a few credit cards and even your earbuds. Read Greg’s Full Review at G4TV Canada.

Filed Under: accessories, G4 TechTV Canada, GadgetGreg, Hands On, New Product, Product review · Tagged With: accessories, fitness, gift idea, New product, product review

NETGEAR AirCard instant mobile hotspot for 15

November 22, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

If you’re frequently on the road and travel with a lot of gadgets or with a family who needs Internet access and Wi-Fi is not always around, then the NETGEAR AirCard 785S 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot might just be a viable solution.

The AirCard 785S is an ultra-portable device, about the size of a smart phone measuring 4.3” x 2.7” x 0.6” and weighing only 127g. It connects to the TELUS LTE/4G network through a micro SIM, which in turn allows up to 15 wireless devices to securely share the data connection and giving them all 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity. Read Full Review…at Canoe Tech Blog.

Filed Under: accessories, Canoe Technology, Hands On, Internet, Product review · Tagged With: hotspot, Internet, product review, wireless

Phiaton BT-110 funky square bluetooth earbuds

November 14, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

bt110-man Every time I come across a new set of earbuds or headphones I always hear from the vendors that theirs are a little bit different. Taking the opportunity to test drive the new Phiaton BT-110 wireless compact sport Bluetooth earbuds, I have to admit that these do fit that description.

First of all, looking at them, they seem to be something you’d find as an implant on an episode of Star Trek. Rather than the typical round bodies you find on most earbuds, these are actually rectangular so they sort of cover part of your ear.

To make sure you have a good fit, you get three sets of Vulcan-style silicon ear wings, featuring their aptly named RightFit+ technology and four sizes of traditional silicon tips. Read more…at Canoe Tech Blog.