Apple iPad Air vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) vs. ASUS Transformer Pad TF701T

Apple has just lifted the curtains off its latest iPad Air. It’s thinner, lighter, and more powerful than its predecessor and it’s undoubtedly the best iPad yet, but that’s not surprising anyone. What’s more interesting besides the slate itself is how it compares to the competition.

We are talking the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) and the ASUS Transformer Pad TF701T – the most potent Android tablets available to date. Those beasts both sport 10.1″ displays of 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution.

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Braven 850 Bluetooth wireless speaker review

The Braven 850 is the Utah-based manufacturer’s most capable wireless speaker to date. With a body made of machined aluminum and chock full of extra features, the speaker looks well-equipped to compete for a chunk of today’s ultra-competitive market for wireless portable speakers.

With the market for wireless speakers experiencing massive growth over the past couple of years,

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition hands-on

The refreshed Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 slate joined our review queue a while ago. We have the Wi-Fi-only model, which is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 5420 Octa chipset.

The tablet runs the latest commercially available Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s latest TouchWiz customizations on top

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‘Headless’ for iOS and Android game review

One of the most fun category of games on the mobile platform is endless runners. While these may be deemed too simple on consoles or on the PC, their minimal control system makes them ideal for the touchscreen-based devices, not to mention they have proven to be enormously addictive and great for quick playthroughs when you have some time to spare.

Some great examples would be the many variations of Temple Run, Canabalt, Jetpack Joyride and several other games

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‘The Cave’ for iOS game review

The Cave is a new puzzle game by the creator of the critically acclaimed Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island games. The game was first released on consoles and PC and was later ported over to iOS with optimizations for the touchscreen.

The Cave features seven different characters, each with a unique ability and you play with three at any time and solve puzzles using their individual skills, often used simultaneously.

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Griffin WoodTones over-ear headphones review

The Griffin WoodTones over-ear headphones as their name suggests, are made from the increasingly popular these days natural wood. The accessories powerhouse has aimed to combine the fashionable look of the headset with top-notch ergonomics, capable sound, and affordable price tag.

I’ve experienced in-ear headphones on a couple of occasions in the past and found them to have pleasantly characterful sound profiles. Read on to find out how the much bigger Griffin WoodTones fare as a daily driver!

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Lenovo P780 review

Lenovo has been one of the biggest gainers in the smartphone market over the past couple of years. The company even did devices like the K900 and Vibe Z, showing that it’s not out of its depth in the high-end market.

Yet it’s smartphones like the recently announced P780 that Lenovo is strongest at producing. The handset brings four 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 cores along with PowerVR SGX544 GPU on a MTK6589 chipset along with a whopping 4,000mAh battery aiming to become one of the longest lasting smartphones on the market.

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‘Cat on a Diet’ for iOS game review

We all like to see console-quality games on the mobile platform. But while these games look great in demos, they often don’t play very well on a touchscreen due to the lack of physical controls. I have personally been more fond of simple, casual games on mobile that manage to be fun without being too heavy on graphics and employ a simple control scheme that takes advantage of a touchscreen rather than be crippled by it.

Cat on a Diet on a diet is a new casual title from Chillingo, the people who brought us games like Cut the Rope in the past.

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‘Angry Birds Star Wars II’ for iOS, Android, Windows Phone game review

Angry Birds Star Wars II’ for iOS, Android, Windows Phone game review

The original Angry Birds Star Wars hit the app stores last year in November and came as a breath of fresh air. Although an Angry Birds game at heart, the game featured brand new birds modeled after Star Wars characters and had their own unique new powers that made the game more exciting than what you’d expect from an Angry Birds game.

Now, Rovio is back with a sequel, with the aptly named Angry Birds Star Wars II that is based on the prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies, and once again features several new characters and environments in dozens of new levels. But after four years and several similar games, is flinging birds at pigs still going to be entertaining? Let’s find out.

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DODOcase Color Block cover for 2013 Nexus 7 hands-on

Following the successful treatment it gave the original, DODOcase launched its line of locally handcrafted covers for the 2013 ASUS Nexus 7. The San-Francisco based designer and maker of bookbound cases has an entire collection on offer for the second generation of the most popular slate in the Android realm.

I managed to spend some quality time with the DODOcase Color Block for the new Nexus 7. Inspired by the artist journals from the past, the cover offers a fresh take with a classic twist on the tablet case concept.

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Here’s how the iPhone 5c is Apple’s cunning move to boost the iPhone 5s sales

After rumors made it abundantly clear that Apple will be delivering yet another S refresh to its flagship this year, rather than a proper upgrade, yesterday’s event become all about the iPhone 5c for me. I was quite excited to see Apple leave its comfort zone and do a smartphone that’s quite different from anything they have done so far.

As it turns out, though, the modest only upgrade that is the iPhone 5s, was only the second biggest disappointment of the night, with the iPhone 5c turning out to be the most notable consumer-stabbing, sales-serving excuse of a product. I know those are some strong words, which is why I waited with this article to see if the bitter taste in my mouth will go away, but sadly it didn’t.

Let’s get something out of the way first – the iPhone 5c is a pretty good smartphone. It’s fresh looking and adequately powered to be a decent mid-ranger, plus its camera has proved to be good enough for the last-year’s flagship. So how bad can it be?

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Apple iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c start a family war, the HTC One interferes

The Apple iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are now official, which makes this the first occasion when we get two iPhones at ones. It was only logical then that we’ll pit them against each other and see who’s who in the new family. The HTC One is also here – firstly, because it couldn’t make it to our other specs shootout, and secondly, because we need a handset to put the two new Apple smartphones in perspective.

This HTC One and the iPhone 5s share a premium aluminum build, but that is where their similarities mostly end. Apple has refused to take the big screen approach with the iPhone 5s, but that’s not really the point of the ‘s’ in its name, is it?

The Taiwanese took the “UltraPixel” approach for their camera and Apple obviously thought there’s some reason behind this, as the iPhone 5s 8MP camera is now updated with a larger sensor that flaunts 1.5µm pixels. In comparison, the pixel size of the HTC One 4MP UltraPixel camera is 2µm.

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Apple iPhone 5s faces the LG G2 and Samsung Galaxy S4 in a specs shootout

Apple has just revealed its iPhone 5s flagship smartphone and it’s everything that rumors made us expect, really. The company hasn’t redesigned the smartphone, but has made plenty of changes on the inside.

But is it enough? That’s what we will be finding out in the following comparison table. The main rivals of the iPhone 5S come from Korea and they’re the LG G2 and Samsung Galaxy S4. Let’s see what Apple has done with the iPhone 5s in an attempt to stop its melting user base jump over to the Android camp.

Android can boast that the smartphones it runs on now push the 3GB RAM barrier and the eight-core CPUs. Apple has opted for its in-house built A7 chip with a dual-core CPU, but of the 64-bit variety. In a usual Apple fashion, we won’t know the details until at least a couple of days go by.

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Phiaton Bridge MS500 over-ear headphones review

The Phiaton Bridge MS500 headphones are the manufacturer’s most capable and luxurious offering to date. Crafted from materials such as perforated leather and machined aluminum, the headset packs fashion-forward looks to go with aspirations to take on the established heavy hitters on the market.

I’ve walked out impressed out of my last two encounters with Phiaton products. The MS500 however has entered a whole new, ultra-competitive market segment, currently dominated by the likes of Beats Audio’s latest Studio headset, as well as the hordes of other offerings fighting to chip away from its market share. Read on to find out how the latest Phiaton creation fares as a daily driver!

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Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 for AT&T hands-on

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 made its way officially to the United States, so we managed to spend some quality time with the market-specific version of the phablet. The gigantic handset is offered by AT&T for $149.99 with a two-year commitment.

Sold under the model name SGH-I527, the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 for AT&T sports the same hardware as its internationally available GT-I9200 sibling. The highlights include Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC with 1.7GHz dual-core Krait CPU, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in memory, microSD card slot, and 8MP camera. Of course, the massive 6.3” 720p SC-LCD display is heading the entire show – it is simply impossible to be left unnoticed.

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Apple iPhone 5c arrives at the office, the hands-on video is inside

Today Apple iPhone 5c arrived at our office and as the tradition goes, we unboxed it in front of our camera and took a quick tour around its UI.

The iPhone 5c comes in a brand new colorful and plastic shell, but its internals are identical to the already discontinued iPhone 5. The battery capacity is the only thing that got bumped by a hair.

Apple iPhone 5c comes running iOS 7 out of the box, but there are no new hardware features inside. The novelties are reserved for the 5s flagship.

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Nikon announces AW1 mirrorless camera, the world’s first waterproof shooter with interchangeable lenses

Nikon announces AW1 mirrorless camera, the world’s first waterproof shooter with interchangeable lenses

Nikon has officially unveiled the world’s first waterproof camera with an interchangeable lenses, the AW1. The mirrorless camera is complimented with two new waterproof, shockproof and freeze proof lenses – the Nikkor AW 11-27.5mm and the Nikkor AW 10mm f/2.8.

The 11-27.5mm lens is the more versatile option with its 2.5x zoom range, while the wide angle 10mm lens due to its wider aperture offers shallow depth of field and higher shutter speeds in low-lighting conditions.

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