There have been a flood of new wireless Bluetooth speakers in the past two years, but Jawbone’s Jambox line remains one of the best-known. The Big Jambox is a three pound, take-anywhere speaker with a pretty attractive design. Plus, it continues to get better through software—last week, a firmware update added an unheard of two more hours of battery life. Giz alum Mat Honan reviewed the Big Jambox last May, and really liked it. From the (hilarious) review: More »
The iPod Shuffle isn’t like other iPods that Apple sells. It has no screen, it has no Lightning connector, and it’s tiny. It finds its raison d’être through subtraction, not addition. That’s good design. Because there’s no screen, battery life is excellent and it’s nearly indestructible. Gym rats adore it. Sure, there’s a pretty small iPod Nano for $100 more that comes with Nike+, an FM radio, and a full color screen, but you lose out on the unadorned simplicity of the iPod Shuffle. More »
The Dodocase is one of the best looking tablet cases available. Basically, a Dodocase makes your tablet look like a leather-bound book. They are made in the United States. You can get them in various colors for various devices. Some people like the twee aesthetic; others don’t. Personally, I think they’re quite handsome. More »
Best Buy, Walmart, and (to a lesser extent) Macmall are currently running notable sales on the third-generation iPad and iPad Mini. Some are interpreting these concurrent promotions as evidence that new iPads are on their way. More »
Although the technology behind wireless headphones is still improving, that’s no reason to skip the current options if you know you want Bluetooth headphones. Some of them are pretty good. Last year Giz alum Adrian Covert tried a bunch of major Bluetooth headphones and liked the Phillipe Starck-designed Parrot Zik the best. From the review: More »
Earlier today I found out it’s totally gauche to post more than two selfies in a month. But here’s one loophole—if you’re taking the photos with a self-timer, they’re not selfies anymore, they’re self-portraits. Bordering on art. Totally acceptable. Post as many as you want. But to take a really stellar self-portrait, you need a sturdy tripod. More »
Mirrorless cameras fall into a tricky pricing valley. At $600, which is a common MSRP, they’re in direct competition with starter DSLRs, which remain the best kind of camera to buy if you’re seriously learning photography. But they’re also feeling pressure from the low end—sure, photos taken with APS-C sensors look great when they’re blown up, but for most web uses they end up being overkill. The fact remains, though, that the right mirrorless camera can produce slick images, and the Sony NEX-F3 does just that. Mario Aguilar reviewed it last June and found a lot to like: More »
The Boxee Box came out in November 2010, which is eons ago in gadget time. Since then, there has been a new Apple TV, two new flagship Rokus, and even a new Boxee. The king of the streamer world is now the $100 Roku 3. Still—this absurdly shaped open-source streamer has quite the following, and that’s because it’s the last major set top box to embrace a maximalist, open philosophy: wanna plug in a hard drive and play some Xvid files? Sure! Channels for MLB.tv, or Netflix or Youtube? Got ’em. Hey, want to catch some over-the-air television? You can do that with a $50 dongle. More »
Although Seiko was founded in the 19th century, it wasn’t until the 1960 that they started challenging Swiss watchmakers with mass-produced mechanical timepieces. Sure, they weren’t as elegant as some handmade watches, but they were much less expensive, and they were pretty damn nice in their own right. Leading Seiko’s offensive were a slew of nice automatic diving watches, and the modern Monster model is part of that line. More »
Adobe Photoshop CS6 is the industry-standard image editing software. It’s a verb. For some projects — say, making unbelievable hi-res versions of scenes from Metroid — there’s no substitute. But like most professional software, it’s crazy expensive. More »
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