GadgetGreg.com & GadgetGuy.ca

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

IK unveils Miroslav Philharmonik 2 for Mac/PC

December 17, 2015 by Announcements · Leave a Comment

IK Multimedia has announced that Miroslav Philharmonik 2 for Mac and PC is now shipping. Made in conjunction with master musician, jazz legend and sampling luminary Miroslav Vitous, Miroslav Philharmonik 2 is an emotionally charged orchestral workstation that takes the groundbreaking virtual instrument used on countless classical productions, film scores and pop hits to new levels of expressiveness and realism. It provides over 2,700 instruments with over 55 GB of samples with beautiful new sounds recorded in stunning high-resolution at the prestigious Czech National Symphony Orchestra Studios in Prague.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Announcements · Tagged With: Announcments, Audio, music

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.

Winter Inspired Holiday Headphones

December 15, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

Let’s face it, we take our music seriously and take it everywhere – rain, shine or even in the dead of cold. So with the holiday season right around the corner here are a few winter inspired holiday headphone gift ideas, ideal for keeping the tunes streaming and some to take and make calls when the temperature drops below zero.

Wireless Earwarmers

At first glance, the 180s Earwarmers look like simple earmuffs, but under that insulated poly-spandex shell with polyester lining is a Bluetooth enabled set of wireless headphones, so you’re just as likely to find them in a place that sells gadgets as one that offers outdoor wear.

They don’t have a lot of bells and whistles but they also don’t add a lot of bulk to your winter attire. But don’t let that fool you. Under the padding are high definition speakers plus they are Siri and Google Now friendly so your hands can keep more time in their mitts. They are also designed to sit behind your head than over the top so you could call them “toque-compatible”. The headband is adjustable plus they fold down for quick storage. SEE FULL POST at G4TV Canada.

Filed Under: accessories, G4 TechTV Canada, GadgetGreg, Signs of the Times · Tagged With: accessories, Canada, gift ideas, headphones, winter

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

Apple releases Swift to the world as Open Source

December 3, 2015 by Announcements · Leave a Comment

Developer Contributions Will Help Make Swift Even Better and Available on More Platforms

TORONTO, Ontario — December 3, 2015 — Apple today announced that its Swift programming language is now open source. As an open source language, the broad community of talented developers — from app developers to educational institutions to enterprises — can contribute to new Swift features and optimizations and help bring Swift to new computing platforms. Introduced in 2014, Swift is the fastest growing programming language in history and combines the performance and efficiency of compiled languages with the simplicity and interactivity of popular scripting languages.* Apple today also launched the Swift.org website with detailed information about Swift open source, including technical documentation, community resources and links to download the Swift source code.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Announcements, Apple, GadgetGreg · Tagged With: annoucement, Apple

ShiftWear: Customized Sneakers with Built-in Screen

December 1, 2015 by Greg Gazin · Leave a Comment

If you get tired of your desktop image or screen saver, you can easily change it, so why can’t the same be true for your runners? Well, with Shiftwear, soon you can. In fact, the company says that if you can display it on your screen, you can display it on your runners allowing you to customize your runners to match your attire and for any occasion.

So how do they do it? Well the runner acts like a wireless external monitor, but instead of an image being transmitted to your TV, it’s basically sent to your ShiftWear runner that features a built-in flexible display.

Runners certainly wear out faster than screens. So to help them last longer the soles are coated with a layer of Kevlar Fibre, the same stuff found in bullet-proof vests. They’ve even managed to make them waterproof, too. The runners will have a built-in eco-friendly battery and with its own Walk-N-Charge Technology, you’ll always have power.

There will be three models; the Shiftwear L1 Classic, Shiftwear M1 Classic and the hi-top Shiftwear H1 Classic.

The company launched an Indiegogo Campaign to raise $25,000 U.S. to finish their prototype and move the products into mass production. They’ve already raised over $86,000 U.S. and are at almost 350% of their target with three weeks still to go.

If you’re interested in a pair, the campaign prices, pardon the pun, run $150, $250 and $350 respectively for the L1, M1 and H1. All prices are in USD and are 50% of what they will eventually retail for.

Filed Under: GadgetGreg, In the news, Signs of the Times · Tagged With: indiegogo, Runners