Installing Raspbian on your Raspberry Pi means you’ll find Minecraft Pi in the Games section. Minecraft Pi is a bare-bones version of the popular survival game designed to help teach users various programming languages. Sure, it’s fun, but it’s not the Minecraft game we’ve come to know and love. As with all things Raspberry Pi, …
Read More »OtterBox’s Universe Case System is set to shake up the iPhone accessories market, one snap at a time
Now playing: Watch this: OtterBox Universe case system: It’s a whole new world… 1:34 On the surface, OtterBox’s new Universe Case System looks a lot like some of its other iPhone cases. But Universe is special. Designed to work with a host of new accessories from partner companies — everything from credit card readers to camera lenses to memory expansion …
Read More »7 helpful ways to use Google Now on Tap
Among the new features announced with the current version of Android last year was Google Now on Tap, an extension of Google Now and Google search to practically every possible screen on your smartphone. While the feature was received with quite a bit of fanfare, it’s not always as practical as Google would have you believe. It’s very hit or …
Read More »Allo, Duo, Google Messenger, Hangouts. Google has three ‘messenger’ apps too many
One killer messenger app. That’s all you need. Not the four that Google seems to think you do. At Google I/O, the Internet giant’s annual conference for developers, Google unwrapped two new, very distinct messenger apps that will work on iOS and Android phones “this summer.” There’s Allo, for messages and emojis, and Duo for videoconferencing. This is already on …
Read More »Buy a Galaxy S7, get a free TV at Best Buy
If you are in the market for a phone AND a TV, Best Buy might have a deal for you. Customers who buy or lease a Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge at the retailer will also get a free 32-inch Samsung Smart HDTV, Best Buy said Sunday. For another $250, buyers can upgrade to a 48-inch Samsung Smart HDTV. …
Read More »The Motorola Razr might be making a comeback
Now playing: Watch this: Summer return of the Razr? Teaser video gets nostalgic… 1:24 Think back to the halcyon days of 2004. Gamers were levelling up in the brand new World of Warcraft. Google had just released a platform called Gmail (invitation only, naturally). Facebook was connecting people for the first time. And you probably took calls on your Motorola …
Read More »Inside Project Ara, Google’s Lego
Now playing: Watch this: Project Ara: Google’s vision for the future of the smartphone 2:59 Rafa Camargo is playing ping-pong. Thirty minutes ago, he placed the world’s most interesting smartphone into his jacket pocket. Now that jacket and its precious contents are lying on the floor. Right under my nose. Camargo is the lead engineer on Project Ara, Google’s attempt …
Read More »3 terrific Bowers & Wilkins monitor speakers
In the midst of writing my Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3 review I heard another, similarly sized B&W speaker, the CM6 S2 and really liked the sound. The CM6 S2 sells for around one-third the price of the 805 D3, so I wondered how the two speakers would compare. Then I remembered we had a pair of B&W’s 685 S2 …
Read More »I’m ready to ditch the iPhone for Android N (and I want Apple to show me why I shouldn’t)
You never forget your first. For me, it happened when I was in college. I fell in love with the iPhone. Up until then, I’d rely on cheap, ugly, brick-like cell phones. After all, the only thing I needed my phone to do was dial and hold a battery charge. Even upgrading to a slimmed-down flip phone like Motorola’s Razr …
Read More »Cell phone ringtones get classy makeover on the piano
We all have our favorite ringtone set on our phones to notify us when that all-too-important call needs our attention. For some of us, though, many famous phone ringtones are annoying reminders of when our co-workers, family members or roommates forget to turn off their phones and end up interrupting recitals, meetings, church sermons, jury duty or weddings. Related stories …
Read More »Lusting after high
First things first: unlike other audio components, you wear headphones. They’re in intimate contact with your ears, hair and head. That might be a deal-breaker for some folks considering used headphones, and I understand. Some will no doubt be put off by hygienic concerns, but others won’t. Do you ever put on headphones in record stores or museums? I do, …
Read More »New ‘Star Trek Beyond’ trailer shows the Enterprise attacked and its crew scattered
New aliens? Check. Strange new worlds? Check. Capt. Kirk and his crew of the USS Enterprise in great peril? Check. Scotty wisecracking at the worst possible moment? Check. The second trailer for “Star Trek Beyond” has all this and more. Related stories First ‘Star Trek Beyond’ trailer shows the crew trapped ‘Star Trek Beyond’ cast delivers touching tribute to Leonard …
Read More »Opening door sounds like screaming R2
When you’re a geek, sometimes it’s easy to stumble on Star Wars in the most common of places. Whether it’s a cabinet door that sounds like Chewbacca or an elevator that sounds like a TIE fighter, it seems that doors often produce the same kind of audio effects we’ve come to love in Star Wars. This door in an unknown …
Read More »How Samsung plans to be the next Bowers and Wilkins
Now playing: Watch this: Samsung’s audio lab: peek behind the double-blind curtain 1:33 “Have you heard of the TMZ?” asks Allan Devantier, the head of Samsung’s new audio lab in Los Angeles. “Do you know what it stands for?” “It’s Thirty Mile Zone. See those buildings?” Devantier follows up, pointing out of the window. “They were built within the TMZ …
Read More »EgyptAir honors missing flight on social media
As investigators continue to search the Mediterranean for wreckage from a missing EgyptAir aircraft, the airline added dark banners to its Twitter and Facebook accounts to mourn the flight and its victims. Against a background of grey clouds on both social media sites is the flight number, MS804. The airline also switched its normal blue and white logo to one …
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