Hasta La Gadget!

Remember when you needed a phone line and a dial-up modem to get online? Heck, I was using modems to connect to services like Compuserve and Prodigy before anyone even knew what the Internet was. One of the most annoying things about dial-up modems was that stupid squealing sound they made when you were trying to connect. Especially when you accidentally picked up the phone and had to listen to that incessant noise. Now, thanks to ThinkGeek, you can recreate those sounds whenever you feel like it.

That’s right, the box shown here isn’t a modem, but it’s a machine that makes modem sounds. You can simply press any button and relive the sounds of days gone by, including the dialing and ringer sounds, or you can use multiple buttons to play screechy, unappealing music with it.

Bonus points if you recognize that piece of music at the end there. Yes, that’s the closing theme to Buckaroo Banzai. Wow, I’m really dating myself now. Trust me, if you never saw that movie, you must Netflix it tonight.

While I suppose there’s some nostalgic value to the Music Modem, I think I’d quickly tire of its sounds – just like I did back in the 1980s and early 1990s. But if you really must make these noises, you can grab the Music Modem from ThinkGeek for $29.99(USD). Personally, I’m waiting for a device that sounds like the cassette tapes that software used to come on. Oh, that’s called a cassette player with a speaker.

It takes more than just overwhelmingly humongous visuals to create the immersive "IMAX Experience" that moviegoers have come to expect. The film’s soundtrack plays an equally vital role. Here’s an in-depth look at how IMAX engineers develop and deliver a sound big enough to match the on-screen action.

Read more…

Records are meant to be broken, otherwise there would be no aspiration left for the human race to continue moving forward. Well, on the iTunes Store, a brand new record was created with the release of BEYONCÉ, as this album saw a sales figure of 828,773 units in a matter of just three days. This also happens to pick up the Best First Week Album Sales and has ended up as the Number One album across 104 countries, now how about that for a stellar performance?

What are some of the other feats that BEYONCÉ managed to achieve? For starters, it also broke the US first week album sales record with 617,213 sold, and has proven itself to be a global success for sure. BEYONCÉ happens to be the fifth solo studio album from Beyoncé, and it was released worldwide as an exclusive on the iTunes Store last Friday. I guess with such a stellar sales performance, superstitious folks might not look at Friday the 13th with such consternation any more. Apart from that, BEYONCÉ is the artist’s first visual album, where it boasts of 14 new songs and 17 visually stunning, provocative videos that were shot worldwide prior to the album’s release. Have you purchased her album already? [Press Release]

BEYONCÉ Breaks iTunes Store Records original content from Ubergizmo.

Audio-technica has announced a new set of noise-cancelling headphones called the ATH-ANC70. These headphones are designed with active noise cancellation technology to help eliminate outside sounds and allow you to focus more on your music. The headphones are designed to be lightweight and comfortable to wear. Audio-technica says that the active noise cancellation technology can […]

When Sonos asked us what kind of objects or places we would associate their Sonos:Play1 WiFi speaker with (read our hands-on with the Play:1), a rush of ideas came to mind. It’s not easy to choose since the Sonos is a very compact speaker that can be used to stream music directly from the local network or web services in any place that has a WiFi connection. That said, life is about making choice and here what stuck with us:

First, it’s the devices! After all, the Sonos:Play 1 is meant to be controlled by a smart device such as a smartphone (like the iPhone 5S) or a tablet (such as this Android LG Pad 8.3) or a computer not unlike this Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro that can also turn into a 13” tablet.

Once we are firmly in control of what we listen, the second thing that stuck in our minds was “comfort”. Whether it is at the office, during a sunny afternoon lounge moment, or while reading a book, we believe that sound quality is best appreciated in a cushy and calm environment. This doesn’t mean that we’re not up for a good party – but there is a difference between noise and music.

What Do We Associate The Sonos Play:1 With? [Promoted] original content from Ubergizmo.