General Gaming Article |
- Jabra Freeway Bluetooth Speakerphone Review
- Patent Reform Signed into Law
- Sony Alpha NEX-5N Camera Ruins Audio with Clicking Defect
- Google Flipboard Competitor to be Dubbed "Propeller"
- Fan For Life: 115 Glorious Gaming Tattoos
- Cool Site of the Week: DocumentaryHeaven
- Should Intel Buy SandForce?
- Samsung Epic 4G Touch (Galaxy S II) Now Available on Sprint
- Verizon Update for Galaxy Tab 10.1 Addresses Your 4G LTE Woes
- Portal Goes Free for PC and Mac, but You Have to Act Fast
| Jabra Freeway Bluetooth Speakerphone Review Posted: 16 Sep 2011 04:32 PM PDT Life in the fast lane Negative press associated with the practice operating a cell phone while driving—which is not only dangerous, but also illegal in many jurisdictions—has spurred a sales boom in the Bluetooth headset market. But many drivers refuse to wear a headset, either because they find the device uncomfortable or inconvenient. And that, in turn, has created a niche market for solutions such as the Jabra Freeway, an in-car Bluetooth speakerphone that can be paired with up to eight devices (although only two can be active at once). The whole point of using a hands-free device is to help prevent distracted driving. To that end, the Freeway requires very little tactile interaction to use. You can answer and initiate calls using only voice commands, and the device will announce the name of an incoming call, so you never need to look at your phone's display. Voice alerts keep you informed of power and connection status, as well as battery level. The Freeway will even turn itself off when you leave your car, and turn itself back on when you return—further reducing any need for interaction while preserving its own battery life. The battery is good for about 14 hours of talk time and 20 days on standby; Jabra recommends monthly recharges, which takes about two hours using the provided USB cable and car charger.
Although the Jabra Freeway Bluetooth speakerphone is designed to be controlled with voice commands, it's not devoid of buttons. The Freeway attaches to your car's visor with a metal clip, and is outfitted with two omnidirectional microphones and a software-based digital signal processor. The DSP does a very capable job of filtering background noise, so the person on the other end of your call hears just your voice. The speakerphone supports the Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP), which is great if your car stereo doesn't have an aux input and you'd like to stream tunes, podcasts, or GPS directions from your phone. You can play the audio on the Freeway's own three speakers, which deliver impressive sound for their size, or you can relay it to your car stereo via an FM transmitter. There are a couple of downsides to buying a Bluetooth speakerphone as an alternative to a headset. You could buy a top-shelf Bluetooth headset for less than the $130 Jabra expects to fetch for its Freeway, and speakerphones like this are pretty much limited to in-car use (although we suppose you could operate it on a desktop if you really wanted to). But if you spend a lot of time in your car and on the phone, the Jabra Freeway is a great solution.
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| Posted: 16 Sep 2011 02:58 PM PDT
The law will allow the patent office to set fees for patent submissions, and retain that money to hire additional reviewers. The added staff should be able to move the backlog of hundreds of thousands of patents the office currently has. The law also moves the US patent system to a "first-to-file" policy. That means a patent will go to the first person to file it, not the first to create a product. The last part of the America Invents Act could be the most important. Third-parties are now welcome to dispute a patent before it is approved. This will be handled internally in the patent office. It will be considerably cheaper than litigating the issue once a patent is issued and considered valid by the courts. So the new law won't prevent broad software patents per se, but it will at least offer innovators the opportunity to challenge shady filings. |
| Sony Alpha NEX-5N Camera Ruins Audio with Clicking Defect Posted: 16 Sep 2011 02:38 PM PDT
Engadget tracked the problem down to the camera body itself. So this has nothing to do with the lens or anything external. There just appears to be something not quite tamped down inside the device. According to reports, this happens in all NEX-5N units. Sony has unofficially confirmed the issue to Engadget, but the company has not come out with an official statement. By using an eternal mic to capture audio, the clicking issue can be avoided for the time being. This simply moves the audio capture away from the body where the clicking originates. Anyone considering the $350 camera would do well to hold off on buying until Sony has had its say. |
| Google Flipboard Competitor to be Dubbed "Propeller" Posted: 16 Sep 2011 02:20 PM PDT
The app will preform the same basic function as Flipboard, Zite, and AOL Editions by organizing news and reformatting it for a tablet interface. Sources that have seen the early versions of the app have called it "mind-blowing good." It's not clear what sort or social integration the product will have, but Google+ is for sure. Facebook and Google have been at odds, but it's not out of the question that Propeller could include Facebook Connect. The app is being developed for both Android and the iPad. Obviously, there is no release date available at this time. Do you thing Google can take out Flipboard? Image via Mark Richards |
| Fan For Life: 115 Glorious Gaming Tattoos Posted: 16 Sep 2011 12:05 PM PDT A few months ago, we highlighted some of the best PC-related ink we could find, which turned into quite the project because it turns out there are a lot of people willing to tattoo themselves with binary code or an Android. However, while researching that piece we realized that there are a considerably larger number of people who are willing to sport video game related ink, which, really makes sense because games have a larger variety of artistic content than, say, software code being a visual medium and all. We found a vertible boatload of people who chose to make their love of Mario, Nintendo, Portal, or Pac-man really permanent. So, join us as we pay homage to the games that we all love and cherish by highlighting some of the best game-related tattoos we could find. |
| Cool Site of the Week: DocumentaryHeaven Posted: 16 Sep 2011 11:13 AM PDT
Offering up more than 1600 high quality documentary televisions shows and feature length films from around the interwebz, DocumentaryHeaven has been in operation since 2009 and shows no signs of slowing down. While 1600+ videos is a pretty respectable number, none of them would be worth their bandwidth if the content wasn't capable of keeping your attention. Fortunately, the majority of Documentary Heaven's offerings are top notch. Visitors to the site will no doubt also be thrilled to find that not only is the video quality typically high, but so the calibre and variety of what's on offer. The site's stable of documentaries is broken down into 49 different categories, making it a cinch to browse for something that appeals to you.
In the mood for a bit of travel? Why not take a trip with Stephen Fry In America? Looking for a bit of hot human-on-computer action? Kasparov Versus Deep Thought should be just the ticket. Without a doubt, DocumentaryHeaven's got it going on. Be sure to check back every Friday for another edition of Maximum PC's Cool Site of the Week.
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| Posted: 16 Sep 2011 11:06 AM PDT
Fudzilla says its Santa Clara sources are suggesting Intel is interested in acquiring SandForce outright, provided the price is right. And that right there is the reason why the deal will probably never materialize. Back before OCZ went out and scooped up Indilinx, Fudzilla asked the memory maker if there was any interest in buying SandForce, especially since so many of OCZ's SSDs use SandForce controllers. As the story goes, OCZ dismissed the idea after hearing SandForce's asking price and decided it made better sense to continuing licensing controllers. And then OCZ went out and bought Indilinx. Now Intel is at the same crossroads as OCZ was once at. Should Intel make a bid for SandForce, license the company's controllers, or keep forging ahead with its own controllers? We don't know which direction Intel will take, but given that SandForce is all over the place right now, we don't imagine the company is all that eager to sell out for anything less than a king's ransom. Image Credit: SandForce |
| Samsung Epic 4G Touch (Galaxy S II) Now Available on Sprint Posted: 16 Sep 2011 10:44 AM PDT
Underneath the hood you'll find a 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos processor and 1GB of RAM. It's also equipped with an 8MP rear-facing camera, 2MP front-facing camera, 16GB of built-in storage, a microSD card for up to 32GB more storage, and various other features you've come to expect from a high-end Android device, including Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) running the show. As the name implies, there's a 4G radio inside to help take full advantage of Sprint's unlimited data plan, provided you live in a WiMAX coverage area. Pricing for the Epic 4G Touch is $200 with a 2-year service agreement, or $500 outright. Image Credit: Sprint |
| Verizon Update for Galaxy Tab 10.1 Addresses Your 4G LTE Woes Posted: 16 Sep 2011 09:34 AM PDT
Verizon's OTA update promises "enhanced data connectivity," which we read to mean it should fix any 4G LTE connection plauging your device. That's it for the big fixes, and everything else is focused on squashing minor bugs, including a handful related to email and Web browsing, and a few ho-hum feature enhancements like adding the 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) information to the "About Tablet" menu. Read more about the update here. Image Credit: Verizon |
| Portal Goes Free for PC and Mac, but You Have to Act Fast Posted: 16 Sep 2011 09:12 AM PDT
From now until September 20, 2011, you can download Portal from Steam absolutely free, no strings attached. Grab it by then and you'll discover why it was such a popular title, assuming you don't already own it. The limited-time giveaway is Valve's way of bringing attention to its Learn with Portals initiative. "When we heard the buzz surrounding the new role video games are playing in education, we had to throw our hat in the ring. Today, innovative educators are finding ways to incorporate Portal and Portal 2 into their classrooms—helping teach physics and critical-thinking skills. It's eye-opening to see how video games can be used in amazing and unexpected ways to help educate our next generation," Valve states on its new Learn with Portals website. Again, the offer stands until next Tuesday, and who knows when or if it will go free again (it's happened before). Rather than risk it, just click here from your PC or Mac. |
In a rare example of bipartisanship, the US Congress passed a patent reform bill, and President Obama has just 
Sony's new Alpha NEX-5N takes great-looking stills and vibrant 1080p/60fps video, but many users have reported the audio is driving them bonkers. It seems that when the camera is moved, even slightly, it produces 
Flipboard set nerd hearts aflutter when it brought a magazine-like experience to news feeds on the iPad. Google apparently tried to buy the feisty young start up last year, but was rebuffed. Well, now the Big G is reportedly building its own Flipboard competitor called 
With subscription services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, downloadable content from iTunes and Amazon, and freebies from Crackle or YouTube It's getting harder to justify paying for cable. For those of us who prefer our time in front of the tube stimulate, rather than rot our brains, 
We didn't come up with that question out of the blue, and we only started wondering about the logistics of such a move after hearing rumors that Intel and SandForce are fast becoming pals. According to news and rumor site Fudzilla, Intel is at the very least seriously considering outfitting some of its high-end solid state drives with SandForce controllers, which would be just another notch -- albeit a very big on -- on SandForce's belt. But that's not all Intel is thinking about.
Samsung's Galaxy S II smartphone is finally available for purchase in the U.S. It goes by the name "Epic 4G Touch," which is the name attached to Sprint's version of the second coming of the popular Galaxy S, and it features some big (literally) specs, starting with a generously sized 4.52-inch Super AMOLED display.
A new over-the-air (OTA) update for the 4G LTE version of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet for Verizon might be just the thing you need to curb your cussing and keep your extra dollars out of the swear jar, but only if you're experiencing high-speed connectivity issues. If you're swearing up a storm for another reason, this update will do nothing to patch your potty mouth.
We love free things, and we like them even more when they're awesome. Those two don't go hand-in-hand nearly enough, but for a short while, they both apply to Portal, a single-player first person puzzle platformer that was | You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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