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  • New VIZIO Home Theater Sound System Lineup Includes Dolby Atmos Support and Other Features

    New VIZIO Home Theater Sound System Lineup Includes Dolby Atmos Support and Other Features

    VIZIO revealed their new 2018 Home Theater Sound Systems with Dolby Atmos support. These new sound bars also feature other smart home features powered by Google.

    Sound System Configurations

    The new sound bars come in three configurations: a 46” 5.1.4 sound bar, a 46” 3.1.2 sound bar and a 36” 5.1.2 sound bar. They have also added a new 36” 2.1 sound bar with built-in dual subwoofers.

    Dolby Atmos 5.1.4

    This immersive cinema sound experience features a total of 10-channels. This is a 5-channel sound bar with up-firing speakers to bounce sound off the ceiling. It also features two rear surround speakers with 2 up-firing speakers and a wireless subwoofer.

    Dolby Atmos 3.1.2

    Another great cinema experience with a total of 6-channels. The sound bar features 3-channels with 2 up-firing speakers. Like the 5.1.4, the system features two rear surround speakers and a wireless subwoofer. However, the rear surround speakers in this set to not include up-firing speakers.

    Dolby Atmos 5.1.2

    Splitting the difference between the previous two offerings is the 5.1.2 system. It features the same sound bat as the 5.1.4, with 5-channels and 2 up-firing speakers. The rear surround speakers are the same as the 3.1.2 set with no up-firing speakers. And of course, the wireless subwoofer is included.

    Smart Features

    Chromecast and Bluetooth support means that you can stream your favorite artists and apps directly to the sound bar. Just connect your phone or tablet and you have an instant audio entertainment center! You can also stream over Wi-Fi.

    Another new feature is the ability for your VIZIO sound bar to work with Google Assistant. This means that you can use your voice to control the sound bar.

    New 2.1 Sound Bar

    For those needing something more compact, the 2.1 sound bar has you covered! You’ll get to experience a sound bar with 2 built-in subwoofers to ensure that your cinematic experience gets that deep bass it deserves.

  • Tech Throwback: Nokia N-Gage

    Tech Throwback: Nokia N-Gage

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today I’ve got my hands on the old Nokia N-Gage

     

     

    Around 2000, gamers increasingly carried both mobile phones and handheld game consoles. Nokia spotted an opportunity to combine these devices into one unit. Nokia announced in November 2002 that they would develop the N-Gage, a device that integrated these two devices. Instead of using cables, multiplayer gaming was accomplished with Bluetooth or the Internet (via the N-Gage Arena service). The N-Gage also included MP3 and Real Audio/Video playback and PDA-like features into the system.

     

    The original phone’s taco-shaped design was considered clumsy: to insert a game, users had to remove the phone’s plastic cover and remove the battery compartment as the game slot was next to it. Another clumsy feature was the speaker and microphone being located on the side edge of the phone. This often resulted in many describing it as talking into a “taco phone” or “Sidetalking”, or simply that they had one very large ear, because the user held the edge of the phone against the cheek in order to talk into it. Usual for a phone, but unusually for a game system, it had a screen taller than it was wide, with a size of 2.1′ and resolution of 176 X 208, giving an aspect ratio of 11:13; most televisions and portable game screens were 4:3.

    We all thought the N-Gage would define the mobile gaming market: a device that can serve as a mobile game platform, a tri-band GSM phone, an MP3 player, an FM tuner, an e-mail client, and a personal information manager. Unfortunately, several design flaws severely limited the device’s usefulness, and t the N-Gage went down in history as a poorly implemented great idea.

     

    Hands On 15 years Later

    The original lithium battery on this device has failed but i was able to find a fresh replacement at a pretty reasonable price on eBay. It powers up just like you remember all Nokias did, it has that heavy toy feel as well. I got approximately 6 hours of game time and a few hours of music time. When I spent 5 hours playing games and listening to music, however, the battery died shortly after.

    Its Got Games

    The main purpose for this was to open up the mobile gaming market. We were all dieing to play video games where ever we went in the early century but their just wasn’t the options. Game boys and Sega had games but for a young adult wanted more those were for kids. I’ve been able to locate a copy of Civilization II ans Spider-man 2 and have been playing them all day. The N-Gage is the first place I played Civilization and started a long hobby over many tech devices since. Snake, some Xmen game and a few Tom Clancy games where available as well. Im sure as you all remember the games all came on a MMC card. I tried to condense all the games to one larger card but have been unsuccessful. Playing games on the N-Gage is kinda difficult, mostly because the buttons designed for a phone, are not well-suited for gaming.

     

    The Final Thought

    It was a leap forward, this was the device that got people thinking my phone can do more, it can be more then just a phone. The PDA functions and bluetooth synchronization lead to a big main stream increase in data being held on a phone. Before this I would only keep 40 or so contacts in my Nokia phones because they wouldn’t transfer from phone to phone. You have to re enter them all over again. I enjoyed my few hours with the phone but finished through everything it offered in a few hours and could imagine needing to revisit it again.

  • Top 10 Cars With the Best Mileage in 2018

    Top 10 Cars With the Best Mileage in 2018

    Whether you want to save some money or save the environment, a gas saving car is something that interests many people. There are even cars on today’s market that are hybrids that you can plug in and run on electricity. Below is a list compiled of ten cars with the best mileage today.

     

    10) 2018 Kia Niro FE – 52 mpg city/49 mpg highway/50 mpg combo

    This Kia is subcompact SUV with a great deal of cargo space. It has many extra technology features and is one of the most efficient on the market. The Kia Niro FE is a hybrid vehicle, meaning you can use gasoline and plug it in to charge.

     

    9) 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid LE 51 mpg city/53 mpg highway/52 mpg combo

    This hybrid Camry is one of the most powerful hybrids available on today’s market. Combined, the gasoline and electric puts out a 208 horsepower. A great addition to this car, it has a safety feature to warn of potential collisions and pedestrians, called Toyota Safety Sense.

     

    8) 2018 Toyota Prius Eco 58 mpg city/53 mpg highway/56 mpg combo

    This pick is completely gasoline run, and it has one of the best fuel economies. The safety score reigns high, as it also has the Toyota Safety Sense and other safety features. The score for this vehicle overall is great with almost a 9/10.

     

    7) 2018 Hyundai Ioniq Blue 57 mpg city/59 mpg highway/58 mpg combo

    Another top choice that is a great hybrid, it gets almost sixty miles per gallon just based off gasoline. That is insane! The price is an amazing one for a hybrid vehicle, if you are wanting something that is not going to break the bank, here is your best bet.

     

    6) 2018 Kia Optima PHEV 103 mpg-e/40 mpg combo

    Without using any gasoline, the Optima can travel up to 29 miles using electricity. This car is high-quality and has an amazing sound system. You can even hook up your phone to the car to the 10-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system.

     

    5) 2018 Kia Niro PHEV 105 mpg-e/46 mpg combo

    The crossover body style of this vehicle allows for more cargo space! This hybrid allows up to 26 miles of electric range. You are able to use Kia’s UVO eco infotainment system to do things like set up to charge your vehicle and even to heat the steering wheel!

     

    4) 2018 Chevrolet Volt 106 mpg-e/42 mpg combo

    One of the first vehicles to come out with a hybrid system, it has a perfect safety score of 10/10. You can’t beat the 53 miles this car runs solely on electricity. It is packed full of great features, the Chevy’s Teen Driver system being a unique one.

     

    3) 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV 110 mpg-e/42 mpg combo

    Honda is a very popular pick for a car, this hybrid can travel 47 miles just on electricity. The gasoline engine is strong with an amazing 212 horsepower. This car has many safety features like the LaneWatch camera and an adaptive cruise control.

     

    2) 2018 Hyundai Ioniq PHEV 119 mpg-e/52 mpg combo

    This version of the Ioniq has a more high class look to it yet has great cargo space. It is also a lot more economical than you may think; it can travel up to 29 miles alone on just electricity.

     

    1) 2018 Toyota Prius Prime 133 mpg-e/54 mpg combo

    Last, but not least, this car is the best pick of all hybrid vehicles. It has two electric motors and can run on that electric for up to 25 miles. Between charging this car and filling up on gas, the Prius Prime will last 640 miles! Other ways to help get the most of your miles in this car are to use the Entune Prime App to adjust the climate control.

  • Passwords Are Soon Going the Way of the Blockbuster

    Passwords Are Soon Going the Way of the Blockbuster

    Passwords, I cant remember, I try to develop a system to keep track. I have tried to use the same one for everything, then a variation, I tried to use the same word and change the last number. I spend half of my life resetting passwords. Well good news everybody, the password may soon be a thing of the past, yesterdays problem, and something ill write a tech throwback about in 15 years. A welcomed goodbye and welcome to biometric ID.

     

    Announced in a press release today (April 10) by the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the new Web Authentication (WebAuthn) standard will let users move to biometric logins or verification via a USB security key.

    The new standard aims to lure users away from current password-based systems, which leave users open to phishing attacks and other ways of abusing stolen login credentials.

    The press release notes that “Google, Microsoft and Mozilla have committed to supporting the WebAuthn standard in their flagship browsers and have started implementation for Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS and Android platforms.”A development status page for WebAuthn in Chrome shows that it is slated to be enabled by default in version 67, two major releases from the current version 65. The standard is already supported by Firefox, and Edge will be gaining support in the coming months.

    Login via USB security keys is already widely supported for products such as the Yubikey by major websites such as Facebook, Google and Bank of America

    Face ID and Apple

    Apple has already embraced this and has been implementing it slowly for several years, it started with the finger print sensor in the iPhone 5s. Now the iPhone X and FaceId are taking it to the next level. I havent entered a password on my iPhone X since I got it in November. It even remembers passwords from years ago before I started using the fingerprint reader for my password Chain.

    Face ID is enabled through a TrueDepth front-facing camera on the iPhone X, which has multiple components. A Dot Projector projects more than 30,000 invisible dots onto your face to map its structure.

    The dot map is then read by an infrared camera and the structure of your face is relayed to the A11 Bionic chip in the iPhone X and transformed into a mathematical model. The A11 chip then compares your facial structure to the facial scan stored in the iPhone X during the setup process.

     

    The Final Thought

    Biometric Identification is the path to the future, we have seen it in every future set movie we have ever watched. The time is coming and we are making great progress to it. Apple alone has this nearly set with FaceID, adopt it in to multiple devices in a year or two and its set. Im glad to see all the big tech establishments embracing this and setting a standard for biometric ID. See you in the funny papers, Passwords.

  • Wireless Earbuds: the Best 3 to Choose From

    Wireless Earbuds: the Best 3 to Choose From

    Wireless earbuds are the new way of listening to music and talking on the phone. All thanks to bluetooth, you simply can connect your earbuds to your phone and you’re set to use them! You can’t beat the cost for what these earbuds can do, so let’s look at the top three best on the market!

     

    Phiaton BT 100 NC

    If you’re looking for a great pair of earbuds to use for long periods of time, these are the best of the best. The charge is phenomenal which lasts for 7.5-12 hours, and you can even use them while they are charging! These earbuds are great to use at the gym because they are water and sweat resistant. If you decide you do not want to use the bluetooth feature, you can always use the cord that is included and plug it up to your headphone jack. The sound is great, noise cancelling is decent, and phone calls are amazing with these earbuds. Overall, these are the top pick of wireless earbuds!

    Samsung Level U Pro

    For these earbuds, you have to have a Samsung phone. The sound is not as great as some wireless earbuds, high notes may make your ears ring. But if you have a Samsung or Android phone or tablet, you can get the Samsung Level app and you can adjust the treble to help with this. The comfort of the collar is great and there are magnets that can attach the earbuds when not in use. To reactivate the earbuds to work, you simply separate them and your phone call or music will resume. Battery life is great with these earbuds, lasting at nine hours, and you can use these while they are charging as well.

    BeatsX

    If you’re an Apple user, these are a great pick for you! They are on the pricey side, but if you are not a fan of a bulky collar, these just might be for you. These earbuds can coil up pretty small, making them easily more portable. The great thing about these, which is super beneficial to Apple users, is it contains a W1 Bluetooth chip. The battery life is roughly eight hours, but these will not charge while in use. The sounds is great with these earbuds, minus the occasional extra loud bass. Phone calls work well enough, but will probably pick up more background noise than some wireless earbuds.

  • The Genesis Essentia Takes the Cake.

    The Genesis Essentia Takes the Cake.

    NEW YORK—The New York International Auto Show was chalk full when it came to concept cars. Jaguars debuted the anticipated I-Pace and Hyundai’s Kona Electric vehicles created quite the buzz. But the star of the show was the jaw dropping, strictly protoype car, Genesis Essentia.

    The Essentials.

    The Essentia has a lightweight carbon-fiber body and a multi-motor electric powertrain engine. The grille is an “evolution of the Genesis Crest” and the clear hood allows for an glitsy and impressive view of the pushrod suspension. It gets “quad lights,” similar to what Genesis premiered on the Air outlets behind the front wheels reduce drag. The sleek body matches the extremely slim, borderline dangerous head and tail lamps. The body’s perfectly ergonomic frame almost completely eliminates undercarriage turbulence. “Slim lights are difficult because it’s hard to get them bright enough with the given surface area,” a designer stated, “But this will be a Genesis signature, driven by tech.” He alluded to the fact that South Korea has become a world leader in LED technology, adding to the cultural DNA of the car.

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    The super futuristic-looking interior features an oversized and almost panoramic display stretching the length of the dash and hand sewn seats that match the interior doors and footwell. That main widescreen in front of the driver is operated by a central rotary controller. Genesis commented on all the expected technology that comes with the car and it’s pretty impressive…vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity, pairs with smarthomes, features voice recognition, etc.. According to the car designers, “The last thing we want to do is create a retro design, even though we talked about which cars meant a lot to us, and the Cobra Daytona Coupe as well as the Ferrari Lusso came into the discussion, but modernism is just as important, plus we use unique design solutions that make this a modern car,” Selipanov told Ars. “We’ve recently launched concept cars here at NY, so we decided to show something even more special and inspirational indicating strong brand direction. We also had the idea this should be an electric GT, but overall, our guiding theme of athletic elegance would be foremost.”

     

    The Summary.

    Even though the Genesis Essentia is likely to stay the prototype car of our dreams, the design efforts made will not be in vein. These prototypes often set precedents and create so much influence on mainstream car manufactures. I hope to see it’s impressive designs and features resounding through companies for years to come.

     

  • Tech Throwback: The Newton

    Tech Throwback: The Newton

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today I’m powering up the old Apple Newton..

     

    Give Me The Back Story

    The Newton is a series of personal digital assistants, PDAs as i like to call them, But that term wasent used and adopted till years after the Newton. It was developed and marketed by Apple Computer, Inc. An early device in the PDA category – the Newton originated the term “personal digital assistant” – it was the first to feature handwriting recognition. Apple started developing the platform in 1987 and shipped the first devices in 1993. Production officially ended on February 27, 1998. Newton devices run on a proprietary operating system, Newton OS; examples include Apple’s MessagePad series and the eMate 300, and other companies also released devices running on Newton OS. Most Newton devices were based on the ARM 610 RISC processor and all featured handwriting-based input.

    The Newton was considered innovative at its debut, but it suffered from its high price and problems with the handwriting recognition element, its most anticipated feature. The handwriting software was barely ready by 1993 and its tendency to misread characters was widely derided in the media. I my hands on one the first time when I was 12, almost 35 years later im ready to dive back in.

     

    Powering this up, shocked it still works. picked this working newton off eBay, with the flash card and assured it would turn on for $150. Yes its abit much for the actual functionality but that is not why I bought it. The Nice this is it runs off of AAA batteries, got to change them pretty frequently and you lose all your data each time they die but I’m able to pick them up at any store so the device will never die completely.

    Its pretty bulky I cant fathom how at the time they thought this was compact enough to carry around. its is a little over an inch thick and 7 inchs tall. Meanwhile I complain my phablet is to big.

    What’s This One Do

    It literally does nothing and I can barley see the green screen, its only functions are a contacts applications and a notepad,  a calendar,  calculator, currency converter and a timezone map. All the things I use on a daily bases, would be completely useless with out, and take for granted on a daily bases.  I do remember being able to get software application for it on a 3.5 floppy disk though.

    You can get up to a 4mb flash memory card for storage to prevent the battery erasing issue, a 4 mb card would store about 200 note, 250 contacts, 500 calendar events.  I do have to note that the flash memory seriously slowed down the processing power. So about 3 weeks worth of info for me.

    As much as I’ m laughing at this technological failure, it truly was ground breaking and revolutionary. We would see viable tech like it for almost 10 years and even still they hadn’t made much advancement on it. It really was ahead of its time and paved the way for the iPhone that would be released 20 years later. It was the first affordable device to compute handwriting, the first pocket touch screen, we still weren’t seeing full sized touch screen and wouldn’t for many years.  I think the commercial failure of this device dragged technology back a decade and had it been a corporate success who know where we would be today.

     

    The Final Thought

    Its magically revolutionary and fantastically simple. Its is the true prototype of our world today, it set the table for us and we ignored it. If Apple could have just crammed in a beeper, we could have had a primitive text messaging device. Im keeping it and will put a back up of info on it just in case of a tech apocalypse.

     

  • Google’s Wear OS Watch Previewed.

    Google’s Wear OS Watch Previewed.

    Weeks after Google changed the name from Android Wear to Wear Os, a developer preview for Wear OS is out. One of the major changes that the preview brings to Android wearables is it’s efforts to preserve battery life. Until now, Wear OS, had no battery consumption patterns or give the user ability to manual preserve the battery. However, that’s all soon to change with the upcoming update.

    Image result for google wear os

    The New News.

    Google unveiled the first preview of its new Wear OS wearables which is set to replace the Android Wear brand mentioned earlier this month. Along with preserving device battery life, the re-brand also brings the software in line with the new functions of Android P, the newest update to Google’s MOS, coming in later 2018. Other major changes include restricted Wi-Fi while the watch is not connected to any Bluetooth device. The new update also features Limited background activity along with Low-power mode. With the Wear OS, the background activity of apps will be restricted. In its developers’ blog, Google explains, “To improve power, apps will no longer be allowed to run in the background unless the watch is on the charger.” This is all an effort to increase and extend the battery life a little longer.

    Image result for google wear os

    Having cell/data connection or Bluetooth switched on over extended period can also lower the battery on smartwatches. After the new update, Wear OS will automatically turn off Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellular connection when users are not wearing the smartwatch. The watch is programmed to know when it is not being worn by the consumer and will automatically shutdown after a short period. Google has not specified the exact time lapse before the feature kicks in, but we can probably assume within a few minutes or less.  The Wear OS will restrict smartwatches from immediately switching on WiFi connection after Bluetooth is switched off by users. It will connect to WiFi only if users want to or when it is being charged. This is actually a great little feature to further assist the lazy consumer or the one who forgets to be attentive to such things.

    The Summary.

    Google will release the finalized version of the Wear OS in the fourth quarter of 2018 and hopefully all the kinks and issues can be resolved by then. Im interested to see exactly how user friendly can get the software. Who knows, could be a real home run for the company on this ambitious new endeavor.

  • 3 Reasons to Update your iPad and 3 Reason to Not

    3 Reasons to Update your iPad and 3 Reason to Not

    So we have all heard and see the reviews of the new iPad. its great, its a new ipad, we get it.  The real question is should you update yours, its it the viable option for anyone looking for a good tablet at a reasonable price? Here are the 3 reason you want the new iPad and the 3 reason you don’t really need it.

     

         

    1. The Processor, A11

    Apple has updated teh processor in its new 9.7 inch ipad. The  A10 Fusion chip inside the new iPad provides a lot of horsepower for multitasking, playing games and running augmented-reality apps. Power for the slew of Augmented reality games and apps coming out is a necessity. This will be big and an ipad or mobile phone with out the power will be a liability. This reason alone makes this iPad a need. If you’re going to be editing video with the iPad, you’ll be glad to know it can churn through clips with ease. It transcoded a 4K clip in just 57 seconds. need

         2. Apple Pencil makes a big difference

    The Apple Pencil is a worthwhile accessory for taking notes, drawing or marking up documents. It provides remarkable precision without lag, as well as both tilt sensitivity and pressure sensitivity. All of Apple’s iWork apps have been updated to support the Apple Pencil, including Pages, which has a handy new Smart Annotation feature. Its only $99 for schools.

     

         3. Camera And Battery

    The 8-megapixel camera on the back of the 9.7-inch iPad captures sharper-looking photos and smooth 1080p video, which makes it a valuable tool for anyone working on multimedia projects. The Battery has been vastly improves to  lasted just over 10 hours.

     

     

    So why would I pass on this less expensive iPad? There are some things you should consider, its not all gravy with the new iPad.

    1. The Design

    its the same old, same old looking iPad. No real physical improvements in 3 years now. its not thinner, lighter or more elegant. They even stuck with the home button instead on making the iPhone X jump in design. pass.

     

    2. All the New Accessories

    Toys, gadgets, features and functions all come with a hefty price. The pencil alone is $99, add in the keyboard and iPad Smart Cover you are adding another $150. The $299 price has us all excited but here they come with the add-ons. You’re gonna get add-ons. Oh yeah and the Keyboard wont even work with the new iPad… pass

    3 The Display

    Another big miss on the new iPad is the display. We are stuck with the same LED, it would have made all the sense to go to an OLED like the iPhone X. Instead they just left it alone, no enhancement to the screen at all.  pass..

     

    The Final Thought

    I love the power, I probably wont use the pen.. I mean its cheap enough but Im not rushing to pick one up. I’m just not moved and I need to be moved.

  • Space Grey Accessories are Available Now From Apple

    Space Grey Accessories are Available Now From Apple

    Previously Apple issues its black out accessories options only with the top of the line iMac Pro. As stunning as they are the space gray Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse that debuted alongside the iMac Pro couldn’t be purchased separately. Well for all of us bored with the elegant white the day has finally come.

    The added charge for the darker color of each device is $20, putting both the Magic Keyboard and Trackpad at $149 compared to their usual $129 price. The Magic Mouse is $99 (regularly $79 in white). All of the space gray products are shipping this week and will likely arrive in your local Apple store in standalone form very soon, as well.

    This may seem trivial but options are options and us mac boys take what we can get for our small slivers of customization. Apple has likely just made its aesthetic-obsessed Mac fans very, very happy, with the wireless Magic Mouse 2, Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 in its Space Gray color going up for sale on their own. Although I would bet big that they will sell out fairly quickly

    Im sure you remember the sales posting on eBay, with this space grey set going to for up to $1000 in some bids. Id like to think that all those people that purchased those aftermarket are kicking them selves now, but we all know money isnt that much a thing to some of them.

    On a down note the company’s wireless keyboard is still silver-only. Come on Apple, really? I guess Apples attitude is best reflected in an old Rolling Stones song. You cant always get what you want, but if you try some times you can get the space grey Trackpad you need.