Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker
Well built, small and powerful, so why doesn’t the new Bose SoundLink Mobile Speaker quite work?
Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 28 September 2011
How much smaller, lighter and cheaper? The SoundLink measures 244 x 130 x 48mm and weighs 1.3Kg verses the SoundDock’s 307 x 175 x 103mm and 2.37Kg. It is also £90 less expensive. It’s a positive start and seems to fill a hole in Bose’s product range. So what do you get? Bose is typically hush hush about the technology inside the SoundLink giving no performance specs whatsoever.
Copyright for all reviews, editorials and features on this site belong to their respective publishers. All samples published on this website are via prior agreement with those publishers and serve to act as a portfolio and centralised location for all my work. Contact me at gordon@gordonkelly.com should you wish to commission me or supply review samples, press releases or arrange meetings.
Has Facebook Just Changed the Internet?
September 26, 2011 by Gordon
Filed under Features & Editorials
Radical new features introduced at the company’s F8 annual conference could have far reaching affects.
Has Facebook Just Changed the Internet?
- By Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 24 September 2011
The world’s largest social network has just undergone two of the biggest changes in its history and they may alter the way we use the Internet forever…
On Thursday evening Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg used the company’s F8 annual conference to announce new multimedia, app and gaming integration. Deals with the likes of Spotify, Netflix, Zynga, the Guardian and Washing Post are fundamentally changing Facebook from a content link to a supplier. As these services are linked through Facebook rather than hosted on the site (for example, you still need to install the Spotify client) the social network remains an indirect supplier, but much like a cinema is supplied by a film studio it remains a supplier nonetheless.
Vitally Facebook also becomes a content destination and, with Zuckerberg announcing half a billion people had recently visited the site in just 24 hours, potentially the world’s most powerful promoter and distributor. Spotify immediately illustrated this, following the Facebook deal it announced free, unlimited music streaming for six months in the US (its newest and Facebook’s biggest market). If 800m active users (50 per cent of which log into Facebook in any given day) are going to have the Spotify brand suddenly thrust upon them then Spotify is rightly determined to take advantage.
Facebook has not revealed who is paying who with these multimedia tie-ins, but all parties look set to benefit. More to the point, however, it is Facebook which holds the power. Its multimedia partners have significant rivals, Facebook does not and as these companies fight to agree deals with Facebook revenue cuts should mean whichever way it plays out, Facebook wins. It gets better for Zuckerberg too now the site has turned profiles into ‘lives’… Continue Reading
Exclusive: Vuzix Wrap 1200 Video Eyewear review
Video glasses may be our future, but I investigate whether they are ready to be our present…
Exclusive: Vuzix Wrap 1200 Video Eyewear review
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 20 September 2011
In almost every Science Fiction film there is a moment where the lead puts on some glasses which enhance the world around them. The concept appeals to little kid in all of us, that we may somehow see things better than everyone else without their knowledge. Furthermore in a world increasingly dominated by small screens, where visibility is traded against portability, the need for our devices to present information in a more easily digestible format is growing. All of which pains me to say: we’re not quite there yet…
The latest attempt to make our Sci-Fi dreams reality comes from Vuzix. The company has pedigree having made video eyewear for 14 years and is currently under contract with DARPA to develop its next generation of military heads up displays. In the meantime it has launched the ‘Wrap 1200′ for consumers which it hopes will be the launch point for taking video eyewear into the mainstream.
On paper the specs are certainly impressive. Vuzix boasts the Wrap 1200 gives wearers the impression of watching a 75in screen from 3m away, the standard living room viewing distance. It can display in 16:9 widescreen and good old 4:3 aspect ratios, is both 2D and 3D compatible, has an onscreen menu system and twin 852 x 480 pixel panels for each eye. The Wrap 1200 works with virtually any device featuring video out such as smartphones, iPhones, iPods, portable DVD players, tablets and games consoles.
Crucially, unlike many previous video glasses, the Wrap 1200 is also fully adjustable. The company’s ‘AccuTilt’ display technology allows users to independently tweak left and right eye focus and match their own IPD (Interpupillary Distance or eye separation) for optimum placement in front of each eye (much like binoculars). Furthermore there is an adjustable hypoallergenic nosepiece which enables the Wrap 1200 to be worn over glasses and noise-isolating earphones are included, though you can plug in your own if you prefer. It sounds good, but the first doubts creep in when you open the box. Continue Reading
Copyright for all reviews, editorials and features on this site belong to their respective publishers. All samples published on this website are via prior agreement with those publishers and serve to act as a portfolio and centralised location for all my work. Contact me at gordon@gordonkelly.com should you wish to commission me or supply review samples, press releases or arrange meetings.
Reimagining Microsoft: The Risks & Rewards of Windows 8
September 17, 2011 by Gordon
Filed under Features & Editorials
Could Microsoft leap to the forefront of innovation after being pushed into a corner?
Reimagining Microsoft: The Risks & Rewards of Windows 8
- By Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 17 September 2011
As for the desperation, this is equally clear. While the company is unlikely to ever relinquish its grip on the PC market it has grown increasingly fearful of Apple’s declarations of a Post-PC Era and a future based on mobile software filtering down. Windows Phone remains in its infancy and iPads dominate 73 per cent of the tablet space which Windows 8 tries so desperately to appease. Meanwhile Android’s open hardware policy out Microsoft’s Microsoft and Google outmanoeuvres Microsoft online.
The rewards of Windows 8 could change this. CONTINUE READING
Copyright for all reviews, editorials and features on this site belong to their respective publishers. All samples published on this website are via prior agreement with those publishers and serve to act as a portfolio and centralised location for all my work. Contact me at gordon@gordonkelly.com should you wish to commission me or supply review samples, press releases or arrange meetings.
Updated: Orange Monte Carlo (ZTE Skate)
Update: My review of the Monte Carlo for Wired is also now live and can be found here.
The Orange San Francisco was the smartphone bargain of the year… until now.
Orange Monte Carlo (ZTE Skate)
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 14 September 2011
Yahoo! The Google That Never Was
September 12, 2011 by Gordon
Filed under Features & Editorials
After another CEO’s head rolls I look at where it all went wrong for Yahoo!
Yahoo! The Google That Never Was
- By Gordon Kelly (for TrustedReviews)
- 10 September 2011
In response activist investor Daniel Loeb bought a 5.1per cent stake in Yahoo! yesterday, but instead of siding with Bartz he argued the chairman and three other members should resign for hiring her in the first place and not firing her sooner. Don’t feel too sorry for Bartz though. In her first year she netted a potential $47.2m and her severance payment could be in excess of $10m for her 2 1/2 years in charge. The fact these figures will likely be heavily reduced because they are tied to long term stock options only makes them more damning. It didn’t have to be that way.
BBC Focus Ultimate Gadget Guide 2011
September 8, 2011 by Gordon
Filed under Features & Editorials
Each year I write a number of features for the BBC Focus Ultimate Gadget Guide. Released for the run up to Christmas it features 119 pages detailing the latest and greatest gadgets and trends for mainstream consumers.
My articles include tablet and superphone (dual core smartphone) group tests, plus a look at the eBook revolution and the best laptops currently on sale. I was kindly given extracts from some of these features which you can see below – click them to enlarge. There are download links to PDFs of these extracts.
The Ultimate Gadget Guide 2011 is on sale now for just £4.99 including P&P. Click here to purchase a copy.
Synology DiskStation DS211j
‘Exciting’ is not usually associated with networked attached storage, but it is now Synology has bought a full featured NAS to a truly mainstream price point.
Synology DiskStation DS211j
- Reviewed by Gordon Kelly
- 07 September 2011
According to recent stats 35 per cent of users have never backed up their computer and of those that do the majority backup less than once per year. The most elegant solution is network attached storage, but cost and complexity mean it has yet to scale down to mainstream consumers. This could be about to change…
The Synology DiskStation DS211j is the baby brother to the excellent Synology DiskStation DS411j and it brings with it two significant changes: a reduced form factor supporting two hard drives not four and a 40 per cent price drop. The knock on effect is the DS211j, at just 161x88x218mm and 1Kg (excl. drives), is more convenient to store and its £150 RRP will turn heads.
One look at its spec sheet should firm up that interest. The DS211j packs the same horsepower (1.2GHz Marvell Kirwood CPU, 128MB DDR2 RAM) as the larger DS411j along with support for JBOD, RAID 0 and RAID 1 arrays plus iSCSI support. It also matches up with one front and two rear USB ports which can be used to add further storage, backup specific content to thumb drives or share a printer across a network. These ports support some WiFi dongles so you can ditch the cables.
For those who do wish to cable up the DS211j supports the now mandatory Gigabit Ethernet and should appeal to multimedia fans being DLNA and UPnP compliant. iTunes Server is built in too along with ‘Audio Station’ for streaming Internet radio stations or iPod playback (withoptional USB speakers) and ‘Download Station’ functions as a BitTorrent, FTP, HTTP, eMule and NZB (Usenet) download client without needing a PC. CONTINUE READING
2011: The Year Everyone Copied Apple
September 5, 2011 by Gordon
Filed under Features & Editorials
Technology advances at a breakneck pace, but true innovation has never been more lacking.
2011: The Year Everyone Copied Apple
- By Gordon Kelly
- 03 September 2011
From 2006 to 2010 Apple ran its famous Get a Mac ad campaign. Actors differed from country to country, but the premise was always the same: a casually dressed ‘cool’ guy pretends to be a Mac and mocks his unfashionably dressed colleague who claims to be a PC. In 2008 Microsoft responded with its I’m a PC commercials to celebrate the diversity of its users and, by extension, the diversity of Windows computers. Whether or not consumers were impressed, it is now clear Microsoft’s hardware partners were not.
In 2011 a different message now rings loud and clear: “I’m a Mac copy”. The trend started in 2009 when HP released the Envy 15, but as IFA 2011 draws to a close it is clear the theme has not been innovation, but duplication.
Ultrabooks and tablets have been the stand out categories from this year’s Berlin tech show. The former is a term coined by Intel representing ultra thin, affordable and powerful laptops. Intel enforces strict style, size, weight, component and pricing guidelines on manufacturers who wish to qualify for some of the CPU’s giant’s $300m subsidies. The result: every model announced – the Acer Aspire S3, Toshiba Portege Z830, Asus UX21 and Lenovo IdeaPad U300s - without exception, look exactly like the MacBook Air.
Don’t feel sorry for manufacturers though, even without Intel’s incentives they are still at it. At IFA Samsung launched the 15in Series 7 which is a clone of the MacBook Pro. The main rival to Ultrabooks will be tablets. This sector is even more desperate to pay homage to Apple, having written off the form factor until the Cupertino giant took another stab at it. Now they all want back in, but despite increasingly impressive hardware the public have yet to be tempted. Right now the world’s second largest selling tablet is discontinued. 21 months on from the announcement of the first iPad there can be few greater embarrassments. CONTINUE READING
Bose Companion 20
This 2.0 speaker setup is one of the first Bose products I’ve seen that actually lives up to its billing.
Bose Companion 20
OVERALL 9 /10
- Value
-
7/10
- Usability
-
10/10
- Features
-
6/10
- Design
-
8/10
Features
- 2.0 speaker arrangement
- Wired volume/line in/headphone pod
- Auto standby for power saving
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Powerful, bassy sound
- Convenient wired remote
- Stylish design
Cons
- Quite expensive
- Possibly a bit too bassy
- No bass/treble control
If you look back over the years Bose has had a tough time on TrustedReviews and has never received a recommended award. The reasons are generally twofold; they tend to be overpriced and yet underperform sonically. Well now we have a Bose product we like, a lot.
The Bose Companion 20 is something all too rare from the company: a new product. The famed Bose SoundDock Portable, for example, was released way back in 2007 and yet it remains largely unchanged while many of the competition is refreshed every 12-18 months. Bose may well choose to keep the Companion 20 unchanged for many moons, but as it stands we benefit from the company’s latest technical innovations and as such, in August 2011, it is a joy.
As the name hints (but doesn’t fully explain), the Companion 20 is a 2.0 speaker system, the familiar pitch being: there is no need for a separate sub woofer. Given the task at hand the speakers are fairly compact measuring just 219 x 119 x 89mm and weighing 1.13Kg each. They also couldn’t be simpler with no bass or treble adjustment and all operations confined to a simple ‘control pod’ that houses a touch sensitive power/mute button, second auxiliary input and headphone jack.
All told first impressions are positive. Build quality is excellent. The metal front grill and rear look good while Bose has steered away from the dreaded piano black to use more dust phobic matt finishes on the top of the speakers and around the control pod. The touch sensitive response of the pod’s surface (the entire metal top) is also excellent instantly turning the speakers on or off, a status illustrated by a white power indicator. The volume ring also oozes quality, feeling smooth but with a slight sense of inertia. CONTINUE READING