Accessories Archive

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Philips Fidelio Speakers For Android Devices Review [Video]

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When it comes to Android accessories, I’ve always been all about the wireless speakers. I love ‘em. For me, they’re the greatest things since sliced bread. In my quest for finding the best wireless speakers money (on a tight budget) can buy, I came across the Philips Fidelio line of Bluetooth wireless speakers, tailored made specifically for Android devices.

Before I even opened the speakers, I thought I’d walk you guys through my first time — from start to finish –  taking you through the unboxing, software, initial impressions and at the end, some areas of improvement, in my review of the Fidelio wireless speakers from Philips.

I actually received 2 versions of the speakers; a smaller bedside clock/dock (AS111), and the medium sized AS351. Not reviewed was the larger sized AS851. Both the AS111 and AS351 feature an adjustable micro USB dock that can be moved and fined tuned to dock a variety of Android devices, be it a phone or tablet. The dock really acts as nothing more than a charger for when listening to tunes and the audio connection is all done via Bluetooth. Both speakers had solid construction with a high-quality feel to them — something important form any electronics device. Although, technically, all these speakers are compatible with any Bluetooth device and even non-Android devices with micro USB ports (BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, etc.), the speakers gain added functionality when used with the optional Fidelio Android app.

Software

Philips has an Android application in the Market that when installed to your device, brings hassle-free plug-and-play functionality that will auto-launch the application, activate Bluetooth and pair the device with the speaker simply by doing nothing more than docking it. This is great for older folks or girl-friends who don’t exactly know how to jump into their device’s settings configure their Bluetooth. The application also features a few custom alarm clock functions, internet radio stations, and (after downloading another application) music player all in one easy to find place. Firmware updates for the speakers will provided using the Fidelio application as well. While the Fidelio app sounds great in theory, in my experience with it, I found it a little too buggy to keep on my device, turning on Bluetooth (and not turning if off) even when I was away from the speakers and plugged my phone into a standard charger. While minor, it was a nuisance and hopefully something Philips will address in a future update.

AS111

The smaller AS111 bedside dock packed a surprising amount of features with it’s LED clock and mood lighting along the bottom. This made it seem like the better value of the two, especially when you factor in the surprising audio quality and volume output from this little guy. The video may not demonstrate this very well (thanks to my camera’s auto-volume leveling), but the AS111 was able to push out enough volume to where it could actually become uncomfortable for the listener and to me — that’s a very good thing. Definitely more than your standard squawk-box, the AS111 exceeding my expectations from a bedside clock/dock.

AS351

The AS351 has 2 goals in mind: to deliver more power than the bedside dock — which it fully accomplishes this thanks to 10W of output, and improve sound quality — which is vastly improved thanks to its “dynamic bass boost” for deeper “wub wubs on teh dubstepz.” The AS351 also offers a wider variety of connections in the back, in case you wanted to plug in a non-micro USB device using the included AUX cable (sound freaks will tell you this will drastically improve sound quality). If you’ve ever put your device near a speaker, I’m sure you’ve heard your phone’s data transmissions picking up on the speakers but that was never a problem with the AS351′s “special shielding technology” keeping the speaker interference free.

Conclusion

Overall, I’d give Philips high marks when it comes to their Fidelio line of wireless speakers. I’ll admit, when I went into this review, I really wasn’t expecting much (long time lover of the Jawbone Jambox) but was pleasantly (as you can see from the video) surprised. It’s not everyday you’ll find speaker docks suited specifically with the Android user in mind and even if you decided to forgo the dock altogether, just as a stand-alone Bluetooth speaker for any device, the Fidelio line shines with excellent sound quality and a compact design. As I mentioned in the video review, my only complaint was the lack of rechargeable battery for taking on-the-go, but I guess they had to leave room for improvement in future models. If you’ve got a family of Android devices, or need something for the work place, I’d say look no further. Both the AS111 and AS351 are an instant buys.

[Amazon: $66 Philips Fidelio AS111 Clock/Dock | $108 Philips Fidelio AS351 Medium Speaker Dock]

 

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ThinkGeek’s $24 iCade 8-Bitty Bluetooth Controller Attempts to Bring Nostalgia to Gamers

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ThinkGeek, one of my favorite geek apparel and accessories site, has announced that they will soon be coming to market with a Bluetooth Controller for mobile devices, including Android phones and tablets. It’s being called the iCade 8-Bitty and, as its name suggests, it gives a nod to those of you who appreciate old-school gaming.

You’re presented with an NES-style rectangular controller that has four face buttons, two shoulder buttons and a directional pad, as well as your standard start and select buttons. The controller already works with many games in the Android market and ThinkGeek will have an open development platform for developers who want to add support for it. All of it is coming later this year for $24. [ThinkGeek via PCMag]

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Google May Soon Open A Retail Store In Dublin

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If you’ve ever cruised through Google’s online store, you’d know that it’s a veritable treasure trove of Google/Android/Chrome branded goodies with everything from dog bowls, to cookie jars. Well, a filing found today by Bloomberg hints at the possibility that Google could be opening up their own brick-and-mortar retail store near it’s European headquarters in Dublin Ireland.

I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Why doesn’t Google open up a store like this in their homeland of the good ‘ol U-S-of-A?” Well, they have. Unbeknownst to me — and I’m sure many of our readers — apparently, there is a Google store and in California no less. But before you start booking your plane tickets, unfortunately, it’s not open to the public. Yup, my dreams were crushed as well.

In the planning application for the Dublin store, Google said that this time it would, in fact, be open to the public and sell various “Google merch.” The more interesting part is that the store would be approximately 1,323 square feet and feature a restaurant, as well as staff swimming pool, which, in context, doesn’t sound so crazy if you’ve ever looked into how well Google treats their employees.

This wouldn’t be the first time Google has toyed around with the retail store idea. Back in October, they opened up Chrome Zone, a small retail area for Chromebooks inside of Dixons in London. With recent news of Google’s home entertainment system and recent Motorola buy, Google may some real tech to sell in these stores and not just, you know — Google branded baby bibs.

Thanks, Andrew!

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Google May Soon Open A Retail Store In Dublin

This image has no alt text

If you’ve ever cruised through Google’s online store, you’d know that it’s a veritable treasure trove of Google/Android/Chrome branded goodies with everything from dog bowls, to cookie jars. Well, a filing found today by Bloomberg hints at the possibility that Google could be opening up their own brick-and-mortar retail store near it’s European headquarters in Dublin Ireland.

I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Why doesn’t Google open up a store like this in their homeland of the good ‘ol U-S-of-A?” Well, they have. Unbeknownst to me — and I’m sure many of our readers — apparently, there is a Google store and in California no less. But before you start booking your plane tickets, unfortunately, it’s not open to the public. Yup, my dreams were crushed as well.

In the planning application for the Dublin store, Google said that this time it would, in fact, be open to the public and sell various “Google merch.” The more interesting part is that the store would be approximately 1,323 square feet and feature a restaurant, as well as staff swimming pool, which, in context, doesn’t sound so crazy if you’ve ever looked into how well Google treats their employees.

This wouldn’t be the first time Google has toyed around with the retail store idea. Back in October, they opened up Chrome Zone, a small retail area for Chromebooks inside of Dixons in London. With recent news of Google’s home entertainment system and recent Motorola buy, Google may some real tech to sell in these stores and not just, you know — Google branded baby bibs.

Thanks, Andrew!

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Google Plans To Introduce Own Branded Wireless Home Entertainment System In The Coming Months

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You may remember during last year’s Google I/O when Google showed off their vision for a fully connected living room, better known as “Android@Home.” That was all the way back in May, and if you’re wondering why you haven’t heard any news or rumblings from the Google camp, you wouldn’t be alone. Developers too, have been receiving the same silent treatment without so much as a peep from the boys at Google. But after some new developments reported from the Wall Street Journal, we may now know why.

Google has been busy developing their very own wireless home-entertainment system — also known as Project Tungsten — to be marketed under big G’s own brand and will launch later this year. I know, it sounds a little far fetched seeing how Google normally likes to stay holed up in their cloud with their software and internet services, but it almost makes sense. Smartphones, televisions and now an entertainment hub — all connected to each other –  providing a seamless, wireless experience for the consumer. Crazy, you say? Like a fox.

While it’s possible Google could be working closely with a manufacturer behind the scenes (much the same way as they do with Nexus devices) it’s not typical Google behavior to announce a new product without several partners lined up. Only question now is who exactly will be introducing this product from Google. Sony? Bose? Samsung?

(Fast forward to 9:50)

The glowing box seen in the video will act as a hub for all of Google’s cloud services transmitting everything wirelessly to speakers located around your home. Android@Home will take Apple’s AirPlay head-on and this news comes only one day after it was revealed Google would be taking on Apple’s iCloud with their own cloud drive storage service. The gloves have come off, folks! Better grab your popcorn.

[WSJ | Via ComputerWorld]

 

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Rumor: Google Developing HUD-Enabled Android-based Glasses, Said to be Coming Soon

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This is quite the interesting rumor. 9to5Google is reporting that Google is definitely working on previously-rumored HUD-enabled glasses. Think “Terminator” or “RoboCop” for an idea of what the HUD might look like.

The photo below is said to be close to what these Google glasses look like. It’s a pair of Oakleys THUMP MP3 glasses. Take those, apply steroids and you have what the source of this story is reporting.

The pair of glasses will apparently use the same transparent display technology that we saw Samsung and others show off at CES 2012. One lens will display everything to ensure your vision is not entirely clouded by whatever it is you’ll be looking at. The device will apparently use head gestures to navigate the operating system, which we hear is Android-based.

We’re sure Android will be heavily adapted for something of this nature but it’s unsure to what extent. I imagine reading email, text messages, social network updates and receiving phone calls will be some of the main functions featured on this so-called device. Imagine being able to see who’s trying to contact you without ever having to reach for your phone.

Imagine being able to take a call or respond to a text message without having to reach for your phone, too. Put a couple of microphones and a set of earphones like those seen above and you’ve got one of the coolest phones or phone accessories ever.

The device will reportedly house a camera, as well. We’re not sure what the primary use for it will be but it would be great to have a head camera to capture moments through my eyes. That camera will apparently be accompanied by a flash so we can at least assume still shots will be a possibility.

All of this is said to be in the works and to be unveiled soon, though it’s not yet known how Google will handle a launch. Since this product isn’t something that most people would keep their eye on (no pun intended) it could be a mistake for Google to mass produce these for retail. Instead, 9to5 suggests they’ll make them available through a program similar to the CR-48 Chromebook trials.

I would personally love to have something like this. I wear prescription glasses but I wouldn’t mind throwing these on over those for the functionality alone, as silly as it may look. If anything, just owning it would be enough to appease my geeky needs.

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MotoACTV update makes it a bit better, but is it worth your bucks?

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The smartwatch market is a bit tricky. Despite the fact that it has great potential, manufacturers have not quite hit the target with such devices. Motorola is one of the most notable players in the smartwatch market, with its MOTOACTV. And Motorola has just updated this bad boy, making it a bit more efficient.

After connecting the MOTOACTV, users will be prompted to an update. New features include longer battery life, a battery status bar, the ability to lock the screen, enhanced auto-pause and auto-run and the ability to repeat a planned workout (even if previously started).

It seems like Motorola will have to do much more to make this product more desirable, though. Even though it is one of the most popular smart watches out there, it lacks much functionality. Developers have even resorted to hacking it and installing a Honeycomb launcher on it.

Granted, Honeycomb does not work or look great on a 1.6-inch screen. But this just displays how badly users want a better experience with it. With competitors like the Sony Smart Watch and the WIMM One, among others, it is time Motorola gets to work. Especially if they plan to keep their price, which is not necessarily the most affordable, starting at $250 (Price has recently gone down to about $206 on Amazon).

Check out the press release for more details and let us know what you think. Are you a MOTOACTV user? Let us know how the update is treating you! Also, what do you guys think would make this device more enticing?

Full Press Release

[Via Droid-Life]

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Jawbone Coming Out With BIG JAMBOX?

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We’ve covered the Jawbone JAMBOX extensively on this site through contests, reviews and more so we were excited to learn that Jawbone may soon be introducing a new JAWBONE unit to the masses.

It’ll apparently be called the BIG JAMBOX and, as its name applies, will be bigger than its original counterpart. Alongside that, it’ll have longer battery life and will come with a wall plug, a 60 foot  USB cable and a 3.5mm audio cable. It will have a Bluetooth range of 33 feet.

This information was revealed via an FCC filing and pairing information gathered from that with earlier rumors. The device can be found on Amazon but its listing is largely empty, giving us little more than a name and the specs mentioned above, as well as the following dimensions: 10.1 x 3.2 x 3.7 inches ; 2.7 pounds.

We’re not sure what exactly to expect out of the BIG JAMBOX when it comes to audio quality but we imagine it will be able to produce better sound with its bigger speakers. Due to its size the unit should be able to push out a wider range of audio. The original already sounded good so even if audio quality were the same we’d be OK with it. Amazon is offering you to sign up to be notified of the device’s availability here (Graphite Hex) and here (Red Dot). [Wireless Goodness via Android Police]

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Jawbone Coming Out With BIG JAMBOX?

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We’ve covered the Jawbone JAMBOX extensively on this site through contests, reviews and more so we were excited to learn that Jawbone may soon be introducing a new JAWBONE unit to the masses.

It’ll apparently be called the BIG JAMBOX and, as its name applies, will be bigger than its original counterpart. Alongside that, it’ll have longer battery life and will come with a wall plug, a 60 inch USB cable and a 3.5mm audio cable. It will have a Bluetooth range of 33 feet.

This information was revealed via an FCC filing and pairing information gathered from that with earlier rumors. The device can be found on Amazon but its listing is largely empty, giving us little more than a name and the specs mentioned above, as well as the following dimensions: 10.1 x 3.2 x 3.7 inches ; 2.7 pounds.

We’re not sure what exactly to expect out of the BIG JAMBOX when it comes to audio quality but we imagine it will be able to produce better sound with its bigger speakers. Due to its size the unit should be able to push out a wider range of audio. The original already sounded good so even if audio quality were the same we’d be OK with it. Amazon is offering you to sign up to be notified of the device’s availability here (Graphite Hex) and here (Red Dot). [Wireless Goodness via Android Police]

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Xappr Turns Your Smartphone Into An Augmented Reality First Person Shooter

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Laser tag is fun. But seriously, who has all that equipment or… you know, friends for that matter? Well, one such company is looking to bring laser tag into the 21st century with their new smartphone peripheral called Xappr. Simply attach your Android device into the gun and whether you’re playing solo or multiplayer with real live friends using their soon to be released augmented reality app, ATK, you can be sure you’ll be the talk of the town. Just careful running down your streets gunning down virtual zombies, I hear the po-po’s have a hair trigger these days.

Already up for pre-order, the full sized Xappr will begin shipping June for the low price of $30. Maybe you can even score the Micro-Xappr also coming soon if you want to get the Mrs. involved. Anyone thinking of picking one up?

[Xappr | Via Gizmodo]