A quick look around the internet shows mixed reviews for AT&T’s wireless service. Many customer’s complain of lack of good customer service, expensive monthly plans, and narrow service areas. Other vehemently praise the mobile phone service company for their Rollover Minutes plan, exclusive partnership with Apple’s iPhone, and their extensive service network (hmm…I guess it depends on where you live. It is generally advised to look at service areas before buying a service so that you don’t buy in and get screwed out of it. I’m just saying…) Essentially, every company has their weaknesses and their strengths. Thanks to two great announcments this week, it looks like AT&T might get a little stronger.
iPhone Service Plan. Rumors started making their way around earlier this week about a possible $10 monthly cut on iPhone data [click to continue...]
The LIVIO stereo is one of the first of many products to eventually come out, making the internet more than just a thing to be accessed via a computer. Perhaps the first device to do so was the telephone via VIOP – but telephones are boring. Everyone has a phone. Bring on something new, and something a bit more innovative. LIVIO did.
The LIVIO stereo is Pandora in a box. Pandora is a self-proclaimed “music genome project”. Essentially, it associates bands and music artist based upon genre and likeness to produce [click to continue...]
…I wouldn’t count on it just yet, although the Sony OLED Walkman is a super-sweet piece of tech. Back in the early days of techsplosive.com I whipped up a little post for the Sony OLED TV and told you all just how awesome it was and how perfectly detailed the picture would be. The OLED was made so that your eyes would stay glued to it. Sony struck again by bringing their super-hot OLED technology to their “walkman” (Sony’s line of portable music devices…a.k.a. mp3 players?) [click to continue...]
The new Kodak ESP Printer series was debuted on the Celebrity Apprentice 2008 show, and has now ramped up their efforts to get the word out about their new and revolutionary “money saving” line of printers. [click to continue...]
During Accessory Week, I will be highlighting and rating different accessories for tech products and gadgets that we use evey day. If I miss a cool accessory that you think should have been featured, feel free to share via comment.
Hand-held gadgets and other portable tech devices are not the only pieces of technology that are open for accessorizing. Electronics for the home are very accessorizable, however doing so generally results in a much higher cost – yet the advantages of accessorizing home electronics are great, as you will see from the great TV accessories below.
SlingBox. SlingBox is the latest and greatest in TV accessory technology. The SlingBox lets users broadcast their cable or satellite television service from home over the internet so that they can watch it remotely on any computer or laptop from anywhere in the world. This TV accessory lets you check in on your favorite shows or sporting events with your laptop or computer at work, or any other place away from your home TV. For those of you absorbed in your mobile phone – the SlingBox will also broadcast to that, and is implementing iPhone broadcasting in the near future. [click to continue...]
Welcome to April at Techsplosive.com! The first full week in April is always a refreshing one. April means that snow and cold weather are on their way out for good, and that the warm weather and green trees are on their way in for a while. To kick-off this week, I have decided to officially make the first week of April – Accessory Week.During Accessory Week, I will be highlighting and rating different accessories for tech products and gadgets that we use evey day. If I miss a cool accessory that you think should have been featured, feel free to share via comment.
The creation of the iPod spawned a whole new side industry for protective products. The functionality of the protective accessories was mixed with novelty and style to form an all around desirable product to go along with the original piece. With the advent of the iPhone, it was understood that protective yet stylish accessories would come along to match it. Check ‘em out.
iPhone RainCoats. These silicon iPhone covers are simple in both form and color. Their thin rubber layer acts as a simple barrier between the iPhone and the world. While it will protect against scratches, it has less of a resistance to protection against drops, and other things that may cause dents or crush the device. However, for the low price of $0.01 from Amazon.com these iPhone rubbers make them much less expensive than real ones, and a no-brainer to buy if you are looking for simple protection. [click to continue...]
Finally, a super tough laptop for the super tough person – or the extreme klutz. The Itronix GD8000 is perhaps the most rugged notebook ever produced. The design tells all, letting the user know that the GD8000 is ready for action.
General Dynamic’s latest rugged offering boasts of military grade toughness, and a dramatically increased feature set. Taking about the same size and shape of a small briefcase, the GD8000 is easily toted wherever the terrestrial needs to go. The screen offers a [click to continue...]
Because Tecshplosive.com had already reviewed podcasts and personal digital recorders, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight a great piece of audio recording and editing software called Audacity. Audio recording and editing software spans a wide spectrum of prices and capabilites. Audacity is a free software containing basic and intermediate features, depending on the user’s capability and familiarity with the software.
For the basic podcaster or amateur musician, Audacity is the perfect recording option. Audacity offers an unlimited amount of track recording and layering. Audacity’s tracking capabilites are completely versatile as well. While the default view goes by the half second, Audacity allows users to zoom in on the track and take notice of all of the wave and frequency variance. This zooming capability allows the “producer” [click to continue...]
Back in the late 1990′s the precursor to the Palm Pilot appeared on the scene. Little black devices that looked like ultra small laptops appeared in the bags and briefcases of the professional workforce. These little things were used to keep time, schedules, and memos. A few years later the Palm company emerged onto the scene with a touchscreen version which could be held in the palm of one hand, while the other hand used a stylus to input data. Behold the life of the PDA!
PDA’s were a valiant attempt at lifestyle organization. PDAs were also made to sync to PCs so that information, appointments, and memos would hopefully not be missed. However, the PDA fell short. Handheld computing can only last so long in a world where technology evolves faster than BestBuy can sell it. Not long after the release of the PDA, BlackBerry gave it a slam by integrating the features of the PDA into a mobile phone. Palm was forced to follow suit, and thus the SmartPhone was born. Almost anyone who has a BlackBerry,Palm Treo (be on the lookout for the new Palm Pre!), or iPhone wonders how they ever lived life without it – just ask President Obama. So the question is, just how “lifestyle-ish” are SmartPhones? [click to continue...]
With the launch of the Amazon Kindle 2 coming on February 24th, it seemed appropriate to evaluate the first version of the Kindle, and look ahead to the lifestyle compatibility of the Kindle 2. For years, books and newspapers only existed in hard copy format. They were physical, tangible items. Audio books changed that somewhat, and PDA’s put books into a portable and digital format. However, Amazon.com’s innovators took digital books and written media to a level far beyond the PDA.
The Amazon Kindle is a handheld electronic device that allows users to read downloaded books and newspapers from a screen. WiFi capabilities allow the Kindle to recieve the newspaper and magazine updates daily, as well as download books on demand. The Kindle user is also able to read blogs via RSS feeds transported via WiFi. The Kindle 2 will be smaller than the original Kindle, and will look much like an oversized iPod (showing off a metal back). From early press pictures, the Kindle 2 will be about the width of a pencil. The Kindle 2 will still sport a full keypad, and retain the same scrolling and option buttons as the original Kindle. It is a possibility that the Kindle 2 will also be showing off a set of small speakers. The new Kindle 2 will be released for sale to the public on February 24th, for a reported price of $359. [click to continue...]
A quick look around the internet shows mixed reviews for AT&T’s wireless service. Many customer’s complain of lack of good customer service, expensive monthly plans, and narrow service areas. Other vehemently praise the mobile phone service company for their Rollover Minutes plan, exclusive partnership with Apple’s iPhone, and their extensive service network (hmm…I guess it depends on where you live. It is generally advised to look at service areas before buying a service so that you don’t buy in and get screwed out of it. I’m just saying…) Essentially, every company has their weaknesses and their strengths. Thanks to two great announcments this week, it looks like AT&T might get a little stronger.
The LIVIO stereo is one of the first of many products to eventually come out, making the internet more than just a thing to be accessed via a computer. Perhaps the first device to do so was the telephone via VIOP – but telephones are boring. Everyone has a phone. Bring on something new, and something a bit more innovative. LIVIO did.
…I wouldn’t count on it just yet, although the Sony OLED Walkman is a super-sweet piece of tech. Back in the early days of techsplosive.com I whipped up a little post for the 
accessorizing. Electronics for the home are very accessorizable, however doing so generally results in a much higher cost – yet the advantages of accessorizing home electronics are great, as you will see from the great TV accessories below.
Because Tecshplosive.com had already reviewed podcasts and personal digital recorders, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight a great piece of audio recording and editing software called Audacity. Audio recording and editing software spans a wide spectrum of prices and capabilites. Audacity is a free software containing basic and intermediate features, depending on the user’s capability and familiarity with the software.
Back in the late 1990′s the precursor to the Palm Pilot appeared on the scene. Little black devices that looked like ultra small laptops appeared in the bags and briefcases of the professional workforce. These little things were used to keep time, schedules, and memos. A few years later the Palm company emerged onto the scene with a touchscreen version which could be held in the palm of one hand, while the other hand used a stylus to input data. Behold the life of the PDA!
