Hasta La Gadget!

Pure is on a mission, and that’s to steal the streaming music crown from industry heavyweights Sonos. The strategy to do that is make Pure Jongo cheap, undercutting Sonos’ premium price tag with a range of affordable wireless speakers and WiFi music adapters at up to a third of the price of a Sonos box. And, just as you’d expect, there’s on-demand playlists and internet radio from iPad, iPhone, and Android remote control apps.

There are three hardware parts to the Jongo system, kicking off with the Pure Jongo S340B speaker with an RRP of $229. It includes both WiFi and Bluetooth – for whole-home streaming – as well as more direct playback from a nearby phone or tablet, and surround audio with five speakers and individual amps spread around the body of the speaker.

Pure Jongo official video:

Multiple audio profiles can be toggled through with a dedicated button on the back, and there’s a choice of mono or stereo playback. Unlike Sonos’ PLAY range, the Jongo S340B can be used away from a power socket, thanks to a rechargeable battery pack good for up to 10hrs use.

The Pure Jongo T640B is a more beefy version, with 100W pushed through 5-inch full-range drive units and dual-concentric tweeters. It can be fitted on a stand in portrait or landscape orientation, or wall mounted, though doesn’t have a battery. No word on pricing at this stage.

Pure Jongo live:

Finally, there’s the $129 Jongo A140B, a HiFi adapter with no onboard speaker, to bridge the Jongo system to an existing stereo. It has both WiFi and Bluetooth like the others, plus a 24-bit DAC, optical and coaxial digital outputs, and dual phono analog outputs. Again, no word on pricing.

For software, Pure uses its new Pure Connected app, available for Android and iOS. It streams from Pure Music, the company’s own Spotify rival, and can send different music to each Jongo speaker, or synchronize to all of the speakers. It also features an Explorer section for finding new content.

The Pure Jongo S340B will arrive in Q1 2013, with a choice of optional speaker grills at $29.99 apiece. The other components will land in the first half of 2013. The new Pure Connect app will arrive in Q1 2013.

Pure Jongo hands-on: Sonos on a budget is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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TVs and robotic vacuums aren’t the only Smart-branded devices Samsung will be showing off at this year’s CES. We just met with the company here in NYC to take a look at its newest entrant into the camera game, dubbed the NX300. No, it’s not Android-equipped, but this 20.3-megapixel APS-C shooter stands as its new flagship mirrorless model, boasting a key gimmick feature of 3D capability for stills and videos (up to 1080p at 60fps) thanks to a new DRIMe IV processor.

Getting the usual numbers aside, you’ll be able to harness an ISO range of 100 to 25600, a maximum shutter speed of 1,6000 and a top speed of 8.6fps for JPG bursts. On back, you’ll find a 3.31-inch, 768 dot AMOLED touch-display, and a d-pad-esque section with five buttons for manual control. Lastly, there’s a dedicated mode dial on the top, along with a full-size hot shoe mount. This shooter is also WiFi-enabled like previous cameras in the range, allowing you to share content wirelessly and giving you access to apps, like a remote viewfinder that works with iOS and Android devices.

Having a new NX that can handle 3D naturally calls for a lens that can shoot it, and a 2D/3D-capable f/1.8 45mm lens was also shown to us — a “world-first,” according to Sammy. While you won’t be able to shoot in 3D with older NX cameras (we’re told they don’t have the processing power), it’ll still work as regular 2D lens if you’re interested in its focal perspective. We spent a few fleeting moments with an engineering sample of the camera in-hand, so join us past the break for more.

Continue reading Samsung unveils 3D-capable NX300 mirrorless camera and 45mm f/1.8 2D/3D lens ahead of CES (eyes-on)

Filed under: Cameras, Samsung

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Yesterday, we told you about StickNFind, a nifty electronic sticker that lets you locate anything you tack it to, and MeterPlug, the smartphone-compatible power monitor with cost estimates and realtime consumption readouts. Now, the folks that brought you those Bluetooth-enabled tools have a new connected toy to share. It’s called BluTracker — a “StickNFind on steroids,” according to its creator. Both devices are tasked with sending location information to a smartphone app, but BluTracker adds GPS and a whole lot of power, offering a range of 2,500 feet or more outdoors, or a few hundred feet if you end up with some walls in between you and the compact rechargeable device. Inside the water-resistant housing, you’ll find a Bluetooth module that “uses WiFi chips” to boost the range, along with GPS for providing realtime location information and a battery that can reportedly keep the device powered for at least two months.

This isn’t a tracking device in the traditional sense — while it provides location info, it doesn’t retain coordinates, so you can’t pop this on a vehicle to see where your kids really go after school. It will help you find your dog that’s wandered a bit too far from the front yard, though, assuming he’s still within a half mile or so (like walls, trees can get in the way of the signal, too). An onboard motion sensor can trigger an alert on your smartphone, letting you know that whatever you’ve tagged is on the move, so that bicycle thief won’t get far before you’re on the trail. We tested the device indoors — located near a window, it picked up a GPS signal easily, and transmitted its location to a map within the iOS app even as we walked 100 or so feet away, past several walls. That figure may not be terribly impressive, but we didn’t exactly push the BluTracker to its limits during a quick Manhattan office demo. The device just hit Indiegogo with a $69 “pre-order” price and an estimated April ship date, and it’ll likely retail for just shy of $90. Check it out now in the video after the break, then hit up the source link to get your name on the list.

Continue reading BluTracker lets you locate your stuff within 2,500 feet, we go hands-on (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Mobile

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Source: BluTracker (Indiegogo)

If there’s one constant in this world, it’s that the cost of energy continues to climb, be it household electric or good ole petrol. We can’t help you with the latter today, but we have found a pretty slick tool for keeping tabs on electricity consumption. Now, before you head down to the comments section or send your angry emails letting us know, we’re fully aware that power monitoring solutions have been around for some time now. MeterPlug isn’t your run-of-the-mill device, though. This solution is relatively inexpensive (it’ll retail for about $60), very compact (it plays nicely with other plugs in your power strip), and with the included Android and iOS apps, it’s quite powerful as well. The device will be available with US, UK or European plugs, and slips between your existing cord and an ordinary socket. Then, you pair it with your smartphone and you’re good to go.

Once connected, MeterPlug uses your handset’s GPS to find electricity rates for your location, then displays your current usage in watts and cost — during our hands-on in NYC, a connected MacBook Pro pulled about 60 watts of power at a cost of $0.01 per hour. Connect a TV or household appliance though and you might just be surprised about how much you’re spending on each gadget. Naturally, there’s also a few tools to conserve energy. A simple (and responsive) power toggle lets you turn your device on and off using a smartphone, a proximity sensor cuts off power when you leave the room (and pops it back on when you arrive), and a feature called Vampire Power Shield keeps track of your gadget’s typical consumption, then pulls the plug when you flip your television or Xbox to standby mode, potentially saving you a fair amount of money each year. The plug module and app worked very well during our test, as you’ll see in the video after the break. Then, head over to the source link to submit your pre-order on Indiegogo.

Continue reading MeterPlug Bluetooth power monitor tracks usage, sends stats to your smartphone (hands-on video)

Filed under: Household, Peripherals, Mobile

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Source: MeterPlug (Indiegogo)

This is no ordinary Galaxy Nexus. Instead of Android, it’s running a very different Linux-based OS — the long-awaited mobile version of Ubuntu — which comes with a new UI adapted for smaller screens. We’ve played with the phone briefly and we’ll have a proper hands-on video for you shortly, but in the meantime there are a few salient features to report. First and foremost, the UI relies heavily on edge swipes instead of buttons — much like Windows 8 on a tablet or indeed other mobile OS’s like MeeGo, although here each swipe has its own Ubuntu-esque functions. Beyond that, the icons along the top have some interesting features, which will be explained after the break. We’re also told that voice control is in attendance, and that an app store is in the works, with a mix of both web apps and native apps — with the latter type being able to make better use of the hardware.

Speaking of hardware, here’s where you might get a twinge of disappointment: there are no immediate plans for actual Ubuntu phones, and no carriers have been signed up yet. Any new phone built for Android with at least a dual Cortex-A9 cores, a gig of RAM and 800 x 400 resolution could run this OS, should a manufacturer see merit in installing Ubuntu instead, and high spec 720p, quad-core phones should do wonders with it. Meanwhile, rather like Ubuntu for Android, this is still an idea looking for a device — but as ideas go, our initial impression is that it looks like a bright one, especially if you dig Linux and open source. We’re told the Galaxy Nexus-compatible build will be available for download within the next few weeks, and Mark Shuttleworth is optimistic that actual devices will ship sometime in early 2014 — which is quite a ways away. For now, check out the press release, gallery and publicity video after the break.

Update: Our hands-on video with the Benevolent Dictator himself is now live!

Continue reading Canonical announces Ubuntu for smartphones, we go hands-on (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

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