Recently Filed in Portables

There are a slew of apps that can give your iPhone or iPod touch the smarts to operate entertainment components. With most of these apps you’ll need to plug your components into a box that can convert the WiFi signals of the mobile device into infrared signals that the A/V equipment can understand. Some programming of your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad might be required, as well. i-Got-it Corp. (www.i-got-it.com) aims to simplify the setup process with a new accessory that plugs into your i-Product… View this story
Portables • Remote Controls • Product News

Consumers who want an iPad better get ready to camp outside their local Best Buy. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, says that in addition to Apple retail stores, the iPad will be available from “partners like Best Buy.” According to AppleInsider, Cook’s announcement Tuesday in San Francisco “suggests AT&T stores could also offer iPad sales, though Cook didn’t specifically mention [AT&T].” AT&T stores do sell the iPhone. Apple launched Wi-Fi/3G models of the iPad priced between $499 and $899. The iPad, which will be… View this story
Portables • Gadgets • Product News

Crestron, seemingly the first control manufacturer to do so, has unveiled a home automation app for Apple’s iPad. Just like its iPhone and iPod touch app, the iPad app “transforms the Apple iPad into a full Crestron touchpanel.” The iPad App will use 3G, 3GS or Wi-Fi to communicate with the Crestron system and control lighting, shades, room temperatures and more. “Crestron is committed to offering great solutions for integrating Apple products into the home, school and office,” says Vincent Bruno, Crestron director of marketing.… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Touchpanels and Keypads • Portables • Product News

Since Apple unveiled its iPad, custom electronics professionals have had questions, especially to what could be a potentially major application of the new device. Will the 9.7-inch screen tablet impact home automation? Will it benefit Savant, an Apple Proprietary Solutions Provider, which already leverages Apple’s popularity with its Rosie control app? Savant’s responses: yes and yes. “When we look back on this two years from now, we’re going to say this was a watershed event, not just for Savant but for the industry in general,”… View this story
Portables • Web Services • Info and Answers

Samsung plans to make a tablet PC to compete with Apple’s iPad, according to J.K. Shin, president of Samsung’s mobile-communications division, Bloomberg reports. Apple’s tablet computer “will create a new market and new demand,” Shin revealed at a press conference yesterday in Barcelona, Spain. “We will respond.” Samsung provides the processor that powers the iPad, but there’s no conflict of interest: “At the same time, they [Apple] are our customer and we are the supplier of components to them,” Shin says. “This is normal, we… View this story
Portables • Gadgets • Product News

These aren’t your father’s Olympics anymore. For one thing, if you miss any of this year’s Winter Olympics action, chances are you can find what you’re looking for by going to NBC’s Olympics website and watching live and recorded footage, some in high-def, right on your computer (or feed it to a TV or projection display). Of course, finding videos and information in this current generation of Olympics coverage is easier than ever. That includes applications to help you follow things on your mobile devices.… View this story
Portables • Web Services • Sports • Info and Answers • Slideshows

The popularity of Apple’s iPad may have peaked as CEO Steve Jobs was making the much-hyped product introduction on January 27, 2010. The number of consumers interested in buying an iPad fell 50 percent after January 27, according to study by Retrevo. Between January 16 and January 20, 26 percent of surveyed consumers said they have heard of the iPad but are not interested in buying one. Between January 27 and February 3, that figure grew to 52 percent. During the pre-introduction period, 49 percent… View this story
Portables • Gadgets • Product News

It walks and talks like an iPod touch — only it has a much larger screen, which will entice you to do more with it. At least that seems to be the hopes of Apple and Steve Jobs, who announced the much-anticipated iPad Tablet today in San Francisco. The iPad, which features a capacitive 9.7-inch touchscreen, will be available in prices ranging from $499 to $829 depending on storage size and Wi-Fi/3G wireless networking capability. The 16-, 32- and 64-GB models with built in Wi-Fi… View this story
Portables • Gadgets • Product News

Where is home technology headed? We saw some great innovations—many in the TV world—at the recent CES 2010 show. We also talked to some of our friends who make a living as custom electronics professionals (CE pros) to get their take on what’s big for 2010. Systems that can help homeowners curb their energy use are hot; so are multiscreen video walls and housewide high-def. The popularity and use of these technologies are no where near pervasive, but we’ve certainly seen a paradigm shift as… View this story
Flat Panel • Portables • Voice Recognition • Product News

Holiday travel time is creeping up on us. If you’re flying across the country to visit grandma, the last thing you want is to be jammed in the middle seat of the back row with nothing to do. Most airlines have some kind of in-seat video. But if your luck is anything like mine, you’ll have the one seat that’s broken.  You can minimize the risk of holiday travel boredom with the Archos 605 WiFi (refurbished) Media Player for just $79.99 with free shipping from… View this story
AV Components • Portables • WiFi • Deals • Product News

Share my weight loss goals with all my Twitter friends? I think not. A start-up company called Withings, however, thinks the idea might catch on. Figures it’s a French firm (We all know “French Women Don’t Get Fat”). Its product, a Wi-Fi connected bathroom scale ($159), records your body weight, lean and fat mass, and calculated body mass index (BMI) to a secure web page, your iPhone and (gasp) your Twitter account. I’ve had a hard enough time losing those last five pounds as it… View this story
Portables • Gadgets • Product News

Recently I jumped at the opportunity to review the Kanto Zed iPod dock because its size — 11.2 inches wide, x 5.5 wide inches high x 5.5 inches deep and just about six pounds — puts it in an ideal class. It’s the sort of desktop solution being sought by a relative of mine. She runs a small medical treatment office and needs some sound to fill her one-room workspace. I liked that the Zed came in a solid wood cabinet, giving it a classy… View this story
Docks & Cradles • Portables • Product News