Aug 10
On my first day of film school lighting class, the instructor zinged a few power cables across the concrete floor, then asked us to coil them up. We all did it wrong.
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Jul 10
The timelapse of an untouched pair of headphones pretty much goes exactly like this comic. You set them aside totally mindful of the cables, carefully keeping them from each other. You ignore them until you need them again. And then when you pick them up, they’re a tangled mess. Every. Single. Time.
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Jun 28
If you wear headphones, your pocket is too full. It’s already got your phone in it, and then, to keep it from flopping useless against your thigh all day, you’ve stuffed the remainder of your overlong headphone cable in there as well, maybe rolled up neatly or wrapped around the phone, but most likely just jammed in like a handful of shoelaces. This isn’t really ideal. It’s also highly fixable.
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May 13
Sure, we own dozens of micro-USB cables, but we don’t always have one with us when we need to charge up smartphones, cameras, e-readers and countless other devices. That’s why we’re happy to get behind this wallet-sized cable, coined ChargeCard. We had a chance to check out the Apple dock connector flavor in March, and now the Kickstarter-backed company is shipping its micro-USB version, supporting power and data transfer with just about any USB-equipped gadget. Micro-USB seems to be the accepted standard these days, so the $25 ChargeCard is a reasonable investment. It is indeed thin and light enough to fit comfortably in your wallet, but it will add some heft, and may be an unwelcome addition to already packed vessels.
The device includes a fixed micro-USB connector and a pop-out flexible cable to plug into your computer or another power source. Unfortunately, the cable is not designed to be reversed, so depending on how it fits into your smartphone, the handset may need to face down. We experienced this issue with a MacBook Air and Samsung Galaxy Note II — you can force the flexible cable to twist into the necessary position, but it appears to cause quite a bit of tension, and our ChargeCard was visibly damaged after just a few minutes of use. Otherwise, our quick test went off without a hitch, and you shouldn’t expect to run into any problems, assuming your smartphone’s orientation is a non-issue. The card has already begun shipping — if you backed the project on Kickstarter, expect your ChargeCard to arrive this week. If you haven’t placed a pre-order, you can pick one up at the source link below.
Gallery: Micro-USB ChargeCard hands-on
Filed under: Peripherals
Source: ChargeCard, ChargeCard (Kickstarter)
Apr 08
WikiLeaks has just released its biggest ever stash of formerly confidential information. Referred to as the “Kissinger Cables”, they include 1.7 million diplomatic records from between 1973 and 1976. More »
Feb 28
When we first saw Eastern Collective’s super snazzy cloth iPhone cables, we lusted after them but didn’t buy any because they were about to become outdated by the Lightning adapter. Now? We’re buying as many as we can because the swirly cloth is covering both lightning cables and micro USB cables. More »
Feb 14
Taking a page from its Thunderbolt cable book, Apple has released a shorter Lightning-to-USB cable that measures just 0.5 meters long. Aimed at those who only need a couple feet of cable to charge their devices, this shorter offering will still set you back the same $19 that the 1-meter Lightning cable costs.
While it’s odd to see no price different between the two cables with different lengths, it provides users another option if they’re seeking out less cable clutter. This shorter cable is half the length of the regular Lightning cable that ships with newer iOS devices. Of course, while a shorter cable could be handy in some situations, we personally don’t see the problem with just wrapping up your normal Lightning cable in order to make it shorter.
Nevertheless, if you’re after a shorter cable, similar to the Thunderbolt offerings, Apple has you set. Furthermore, the company also updated its in-ear headphones with a redesigned mic switch to make it match the design Apple’s recently-released EarPods. The in-ear headphones will still cost you $79, and there doesn’t seem to be any changes to the headphones themselves.
While Apple is known for holding special events when announcing updates to their product line, it’s also not rare for them to quietly make changes and update their products without telling anyone for the most part. Case in point: the company recently updated its MacBook Pro and Air lineup yesterday, stuffing in faster components and cutting the price down a bit.
[via MacRumors]
Apple releases shorter 0.5-meter Lightning cable for $19 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Feb 12
Accessories are a dime a dozen nowadays, and only clever ones usually make it through. The Smarter Stand is back, only this time it’s for the iPhone. We’ve talked about the Smarter Stand for iPad in past, and now the company is back on Kickstarter attempting to raise funds for an iPhone version, but this one is a little different.
The Smarter Stand for iPhone is essentially a stand and a cable wrapper in one. It has forks at both ends that make it easy to wrap earbuds around, and one end has a notch for the earbud cable to slide into. Not only does that notch keep your earbuds from unraveling, but it also acts as the pivot point to adjust the angle of the stand.
The stand also comes with an outer extension on one side that keeps your iPhone propped up. Plus, it works with or without a case, and it can even act as a stand at the same time that it acts as an earbud wrapper. The notch has the headphone jack sticking out, so you can easily just plug your earbuds into your iPhone (for that pivot point), and then rest the phone on the stand. However, if you want sound to come out of the phone’s speakers, you just simply unplug the earbuds part way.
So far, the Smarter Stand has raised almost $12,000 with their goal being $15,000. The project still has 58 days to go at the time of this writing, so the stand is very well on its way to getting funded. The best part is, the Smarter Stand for iPhone is only $12, which we’re definitely surprised by even if it’s just a small piece of plastic. Most minimalistic stands can cost over $20, so this is definitely on the cheaper end.
Smarter Stand for iPhone doubles as a cable wrapper is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Feb 06
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.
We can all agree that technology is pretty cool. It allows us to communicate with one another, entertain ourselves, meet new people, learn new things and even find love and health. We love to discover new technologies, see it do amazing things and get a glimpse of the future. We, the early adopters, are pioneers, beta testers and happy to be first in line. This is all good.
But despite our hammering, our pleas and our shouts from the tops of the greatest blogs we know, some bad things just don’t change. When I say “bad things,” I’m talking about two annoying little facts of technology that, in my opinion, don’t need to be so painful. These are things we can and should fix.
Perhaps we’re not heard loudly enough, or perhaps the technology isn’t there to fix what we want, or maybe the manufacturers have better things to do. Whatever it is, let’s list those things out here, perhaps so that some engineer or product designer will read this and think, “Why, yes… Yes. I should fix this.”
Filed under: Misc, Peripherals, Software
Feb 01
The Internet connects us all, but it’s easy to take for granted what a crazy accomplishment that is. After all, plenty of us live on different land-masses. We’ve got to get that sweet, sweet Internet across the deep blue sea somehow, and these are the underwater ‘net pipes that get the job done. More »
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