Hasta La Gadget!

Kubxlab today announced the launch of Earshots portable speakers for mobile devices. The speakers are available for purchase now from Kubxlab’s website. Earshots are said to offer high-quality stereo sound despite the fact that they are roughly the size of a shot glass, 35x33mm to be precise. The speaker system can connect to laptops, mobile phones, tablets, portable gaming devices and other gadgets through a standard 3.5mm stereo cable.

The Earshots portable stereo system consists of two speakers housed by high quality aluminum. It can be bought in red and silver finishes. Power is provided by a rechargeable battery, the USB cable shipped with the speakers charges both of them simultaneously for over five hours of playback. Portability is certainly one major selling point of Earshots. Apart from its shot glass like dimensions, the speaker system weighs roughly 40 grams. Earshots stereo speakers are available for purchase right now through Kubxlab’s website. They cost $49.95.

Earshots Portable Stereo Speakers Launched original content from Ubergizmo.

This September, Apple’s expected to flip the switch on iTunes Radio, the music service announced at WWDC in June. But how exactly will Cupertino fund its pricey new streaming venture? Ads, and lots of them — according to AdAge, Apple will serve up an audio advertisement every 15 minutes, while video ads will play every hour, and only at times that users are likely to be looking at the display, such as right after hitting play or jumping to a new song. McDonald’s, Nissan, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble are all on board as launch advertisers, with each deal bringing many millions of dollars in revenue. Only free users will have to deal with frequent disturbances, however. Users paying $25 per year for an iTunes Match subscription will have ad-free access to Radio, letting them stream tunes continuously without interruption.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Apple

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Source: AdAge

(Credit: Geoffrey Morrison/CNET)

The old adage in TV retail is that the brightest TV sells. This, in a historical context, makes a lot of sense: the brightest TV caught your eye, seemed “better,” and got your hard-earned ducats.

But these days all TVs are bright. And just because one TV is brighter than another, it doesn’t mean it’s “better.”

Heresy, this may seem, but there is some logic behind it. TVs have gotten brighter and brighter over the years. As flat panels developed, the average brightness of your average TV went from “meh” to “ow.” Enough so that some people have even noticed their eyes got sore after watching TV.

An analogy can be made with cars. The Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce has a top speed of 214 mph. The Porsche 911 GT3 has a top speed of 195. Does that make the Lambo a “better” car? Faster, in this limited metric, certainly. But better? TVs, like cars, are more than one single number. Both of these cars are fast. All of today’s TVs (well, the ones you’d want to buy) are bright. So to figure out what’s best requires digging a little deeper.

More important factors Brightness/light output is nothing without contrast ratio. Contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest a TV can be, and the darkest. TVs with a low contrast ratio, … [Read more]

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It’s safe to say Google took the world by surprise when it introduced its Project Loon. But, some were disappointed that it was done so far away from home — at least at first. Now, the company has announced that it’s ready to more openly test out the high-flying internet service in California, with research flights due to take place around The Golden State’s Central Valley. Google says it’s seeking people in the area “who are willing to have a Loon internet antenna installed on their house or small business building to help test the strength of the Loon internet connection.” For those interested in helping out the cause (and why not!), you’ll need to fill out the survey located at the source below — the Project Loon team notes that those selected to participate will be contacted directly.

Filed under: Misc, Internet, Google

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Source: Project Loon (Google+)

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

At the Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany, today, Sony announced that its PlayStation 4 game console would be arriving November 15 in North America, followed by a European launch date of November 29.

The company said the console would launch in 32 countries overall in time for the holiday season, but didn’t specify any other dates worldwide. Sony also mentioned that 1,000,000 preorders have been placed already.

As previously revealed, the PS4 will cost $399. Check out our hands-on PS4 first take for more information on the console.

Microsoft’s competing Xbox One console first arrives in November for $499.99.

Complete coverage of Gamescom is available at our sister site GameSpot.

[Read more]

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