The AC000 OneBoard Pro is a smart keyboard powered by Android or Windows. Aloysius Low/CNET SHANGHAI — As manufacturers turn almost every device into something smart and connected, Beijing-based AC000 has come up with a smart keyboard that actually makes sense — a self-contained computer that can run either Windows or Android operating systems. While …
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Sooall Next DNA eBike turns calories into battery life
Charge your batteries while burning fat with Sooall’s exercise bike. Aloysius Low/CNET SHANGHAI — China-based Sooall has served up an interesting spin on the exercise bike with the Next DNA eBike at the inaugural CES Asia. Its name might be a mouthful and inexplicably include a DNA reference, but if you’re thinking ‘eBike’ means electric, you’re wrong. At least in …
Read More »How to take tilt
Ben Thomas Tilt-shift photos make the world look miniature, almost as if you are looking at a diorama. Traditionally, to achieve these photos you need to manipulate perspective and depth of field with a dedicated tilt-shift lens and dSLR. However, the miniature effect can be mimicked using tools like Photoshop, or even a smartphone. Ben Thomas is a photographer who …
Read More »Want cheaper wireless service? Patience is a virtue
The US wireless market is on the cusp of big changes and competitive clashes. Those, in turn, could lead to lower prices and better deals for you. At least that’s how I hope things will play out over the next few years. From Google’s Project Fi experiment to build a hybrid Wi-Fi/cellular network, to rumblings about someone finally making use …
Read More »Etsy may face ‘Handmade’ rival from Amazon
Uh-oh, Etsy. Amazon may have a Handmade challenge for you. Screenshot by CNET A decade into its run on the Web, the crafts marketplace Etsy may soon face its biggest challenge yet. E-commerce titan Amazon has been putting out feelers to sellers on Etsy, pointing them to an online form thanking them for their interest in “Handmade at Amazon.” They’re …
Read More »Quick tip: Get video on demand with Twitch for Android
Nicole Cozma/CNET Twitch is now offering video-on-demand (VOD) service to users of their mobile apps. However, if you’re using the Android version, you actually need to do more than just receive an update from the Google Play store. The Official Twitch Blog notes that the company has addressed security vulnerabilities in their mobile app. As a result, if you’d like …
Read More »The sweet
ZMF Blackwood headphones ZMF I met ZMF’s Zach Mehrbach at a local Head-Fi headphone club meeting a while back, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I’d review one of his headphones. The time has come today, and it’s his flagship, the Blackwood. The solid blackwood ear cups, actually African Blackwood, are gorgeous, and when …
Read More »What’s the best speaker or headphone you ever heard?
Abyss AB-1266 headphones (left), Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy speaker (right) Steve Guttenberg/CNET Before we get going on this, let’s think about what the “best” speaker or headphone means — is it the most exciting, realistic, accurate, musical? Or just the one you can’t stop thinking about? As a reviewer, I think about this stuff all the time, but in my writing …
Read More »Speak, toy! Welcome to the age of chatting with your teddy bear
At Elemental Path’s office with co-founder JP Benini and a prototype of his company’s talking dinosaur. Sarah Tew/CNET Sitting in his company’s small Midtown Manhattan office, JP Benini speaks casually into his smartphone. “Hello!” Suddenly, a fluorescent-green plastic dinosaur sitting on the table in front of him springs to life. “Hi JP, what’s up?” it says in a gravelly cartoonish …
Read More »Keeping tabs on upcoming tablets
The steady flow of new tablets shows no signs of slowing down. Xiomara Blanco/CNET Tablets have come a long way, baby, and the flood of portable devices isn’t slowing down anytime soon. With new, speedy processors, razor-sharp HD screens, and ample apps for working or playing hard, tablets are the gadgets PDAs always wished they were. Competition in the tablet …
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