Tag: Bluetooth

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Reviews

Reviews: Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless On-Ear Headphones

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Product Breakdown

  • Presentation:                  4   out of    5
  • Innovation:                      3   out of     5
  • Usability:                          4   out of     5
  • Comfort:                           7   out of   10
  • Design:                            15   out of   15
  • Quality:                           14   out of   15
  • Value:                               18   out of   20
  • Performance:               22   out of   25
  • Total:                                87   out of 100

Design and Comfort

The Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless headphones are elegant and understated making them perfect for everyday use. I bought my first pair of Bowers & Wilkins P5 headphones over five years ago and I still have them today. I’m an audiophile by trade, but can’t bear to lug around my bulky planar-magnetic headphones to and from work. My P5s have always been great because they slip right into my backpack, and are able to take a beating.

Continue reading “Reviews: Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless On-Ear Headphones”
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News Opinion

Why Apple Trashed the Headphone Jack, and Whether It Was a Good Idea

On September 7th, 2016, we all suffered a great loss. On this day, Apple announced their iPhone 7 would not have a headphone jack, which is one of the most universally used analog audio connectors. The headphone jack was a great utility, and it will be forever missed. And because it’s riddance was announced by Apple, we can almost confirm that it will never be seen again, as its absence will be popularized by the massive corporation. Following their announcement, there was much confusion as to why Apple would do something so seemingly horrendous, alongside the belittlement of Phil Schiller for his whole self-proclaimed “courage” rant. To fully understand their decision, we must first look at what the headphone jack is, and where it came from.

Keep reading! >> “Why Apple Trashed the Headphone Jack, and Whether It Was a Good Idea”
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News

What’s inside the iPhone 4S?

After the launch, on October 14, many people now have the iPhone 4S. What’s inside the iPhone 4S? Well, for starters, the iPhone 4S has a major performance upgrade with the Dual-core A5 chip, instead of the A4 chip used in the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S now has Siri as a built-in assistant and a 8 megapixel camera. It also records video with 1080p 30 fps (frames per second). It uses Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and now uses Bluetooth 4.0.

iFixit decided to disassemble the iPhone 4S and take a closer look to what’s inside the iPhone 4S. With a first look, they noted that the SIM card slot is back. After having a deeper look, they find that the iPhone 4S’ battery has an extra .05 WHrs comapred to the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S has an extra hour of talk time compared to the iPhone 4 on the 3G network. The iPhone 4S has the same amount of talk time in the 2G network,  but 100 hours less of standby time, most likely because of the Dual-Core A5 chip consumes more energy.

For a more in-depth look into what’s exactly inside the iPhone 4S, check out iFixit’s iPhone 4S Teardown.

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions.

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News

AT&T Cracking Down on Jailbreak Tethering

What is tethering? Well, tethering with your iPhone is using your iPhone as a modem for other devices to connect to the internet. Tethering allows you to use your iPhone as a means for Internet access, through WiFi, USB, or Bluetooth. There are many people who jailbreak their iPhone and use it for tethering. One of the most popular jailbreaking apps is MyWi. MyWi allows you to bypass AT&T’s DataPro plan check and enable you to tether independently. Running jailbreaking apps such as MyWi gives you the chance to use your iPhone as a hotspot for other devices to connect to the internet. It appears AT&T has noticed that people are jailbreaking their iPhone devices and are tethering without AT&T’s permission. AT&T has been sending this letter to customers who are suspected of tethering without permission:

Dear [Name of Account Holder],

We’ve noticed your service plan may need updating.

Many AT&T customers use their smartphones as a broadband connection for other devices, like laptops, netbooks or other smartphones— a practice commonly known as tethering. Tethering can be an efficient way for our customers to enjoy the benefits of AT&T’s mobile broadband network and use more than one device to stay in touch with important people and information. To take advantage of this feature, we require that in addition to a data plan, you also have a tethering plan.
Our records show that you use this capability, but are not subscribed to our tethering plan.

If you would like to continue tethering, please log into your account online at www.wireless.att.com, or call us at 1-888-860-6789 Monday — Friday, 7 a.m. — 9 p.m. CST or Saturday, 8 a.m. — 7 p.m. CST, by March 27, 2011 to sign up for DataPro 4GB for Smartphone Tethering. Here are details on the plan:

DataPro 4GB for Smartphone Tethering
– $45 per month (this gives you 4GB in total, combining both your smartphone data plan for $25 and the tethering feature, $20)
– $10 per each additional GB thereafter, added automatically as needed
– Mobile Hotspot capabilities are included for compatible Smartphones

If we don’t hear from you, we’ll plan to automatically enroll you into DataPro 4GB after March 27, 2011. The new plan — whether you sign up on your own or we automatically enroll you — will replace your current smartphone data plan, including if you are on an unlimited data plan.

If you discontinue tethering, no changes to your current plan will be required.

It’s easy to track your usage throughout the month so there are no bill surprises. For example, we send you free text messages when you reach 65, 90, and 100 percent of your plan’s threshold. If you would like to monitor your account more closely, go to www.att.com/dataplans to learn about other ways to track your data usage.

As a reminder, our smartphone data plans also include unlimited usage of Wi-Fi at no additional charge. AT&T smartphone customers can use Wi-Fi at home or on-the-go at any one of our more than 23,000 U.S. hotspots already included in your data plan.

Thank you for bringing your account up to date. We appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve your mobile broadband needs.

Sincerely,

AT&T

Please update your data plan by March 27, 2011 if you intend to continue tethering

To learn more and update your plan, visit att.com/dataplans

Reach us for assistance during business hours: Monday — Friday 7 a.m. — 9 p.m. CST Saturday 8 a.m. — 7 p.m. CST at 1-888-860-6789

If you are suspected of tethering without permission, you are most likely going to receive this email letter. If you receive this email, you should contact AT&T immediately. If you decide to discontinue tethering without permission, you will not be penalized. If you decide to continue to tether, you will have to enroll into DataPro 4GB.

AT&T is really cracking down on those who are jailbreaking and tethering without permission. Many people will definitely be disappointed that they can no longer tether without having to pay for the DataPro 4GB.

Feel free to leave questions or comments below.

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News

Which iOS features should be on the Mac OS X?

Which iOS features would you want on your Mac? Touch screen definitely sounds like a fun feature for the Mac. Wouldn’t it be cool to change your Mac into a touch screen like an iPhone and change it back? There are rumors that Apple is planning to make an iMac with a screen that pivots into a horizontal touch mode. It sounds like it will be a combination of a Mac and an iPad. It sounds like they should call it a MacBook touch or something like that. Combining the features of both would be really cool because the touch screen is what attracts many users to iOS devices. There are also many other features that would be great for Mac OS X.

Virtual iPhone dashboard widgets could be a possible feature for Mac OS X. Your Mac would have a screen that looks similar to an iPhones, with wallpaper, apps, and etc. It would be easy to organize your programs and it would make use of all the free space on your desktop. When you look at your Mac desktop, it looks very empty and spacious, but your iOS devices have different pages of apps. Some may prefer to have this feature offered on their Mac. It should be an optional feature.

What else does your iOS device do that your Mac doesn’t? Your iOS device has the option to alert you automatically if you receive an email, even if your device is on sleep mode. Wouldn’t it be smart to give that feature to your Mac? The idea of having your Mac alert you that you have received a new email while the Mac is on sleep mode is fairly simple. Apple should definitely allow people to use that feature and for those that don’t want to, turn it off.

Have you ever noticed that when you play music off your iPod touch or your iPhone, it is simple and organized, but when you play music off iTunes, it can look pretty cluttered? Don’t you think it is time that Apple made an iPod app or Music app on your computer that may be simpler and more organized then your iTunes? I think so. Also, my iTunes can be really slow, so I think having an iPod app might help.

When you are outside, you take out your iPhone and can surf the internet from wherever if you have 3G, right? If you are lost, you can just check your GPS on your iPhone too and find directions. There are many people that also take their MacBook everywhere, so shouldn’t they have the same features as an iPhone? Should there be 3G for the MacBook? I think that 3G should be made available for MacBook users, especially when it is made available for the iPad.

Another feature that iOS devices have is that many iOS apps have notifications that are provided by third-party software. It notifies you if there is new information and other important news. Apple should definitely provide a feature that provides notifications for your apps on your Mac too.

When you go on an airplane, you can click Airplane Mode on your iOS device. But can your Mac do that? Not that I know of. If Apple adds that feature, that will be really helpful to those that travel a lot with their MacBooks. You should definitely add that feature on so people don’t have to manually turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth separately.

Your iOS device has iBooks and Game Center, but your Mac still doesn’t have either of them. It is about time that Apple provides iBooks as a feature. If I wanted to read a book on my Mac, rather then my small iPhone, I would really want that feature. Game Center should also be a feature for Mac OS X. People get pretty competitive with gaming on the iPhone and iPod touch. It’s time for the competition to get started on the Mac.

All and all, I figure that Mac OS X definitely needs an upgrade. Why does iOS have so many features that Mac OS X doesn’t have? It’s not because it isn’t useful on the Mac, so it’s probably about time for Apple to improve Mac OS X. Once Mac OS X gets more features such as an iPod app and touch screen, I can’t wait to use my Mac.

What do you think?

[Source 1] [Source 2]