06
May
jamboxyo

Deal Alert: Jawbone's BIG Jambox Available On Amazon For $249.99 (That's $50.00 Off)

Posted by in Accessories, Deals

We first heard about the Jambox's larger sibling, the BIG Jambox, just over a year ago. At the time, it promised to be bigger (of course) and better than the original, offering a bigger battery, a wall power adapter, and "unbelievable sound". If reviews are to be believed, the Jambox managed to deliver good sound and power, while maintaining the unique design language of its smaller counterpart.

If you're in the market for a Bluetooth speaker, the BIG Jambox is a decent choice, and Amazon's sweetened the prospect by putting the device on sale for $249.99, down $50 from its usual $299.99 price.

08
Jan
boombot

Scosche Announces the boomBOTTLE – A Weatherproof, Water Bottle-Sized Wireless Sound System For Your Bike

Posted by in Android OS, News

Describing it as "a wireless omnidirectional outdoor speaker," Scosche today unveiled the boomBOTTLE – a wireless speaker for your bike that's roughly the shape and size of an average water bottle.

Powered by Bluetooth, the boomBOTTLE fits in your bike's water bottle holster and promises "rich, deep" audio courtesy of dual 40mm drivers in each unit. The device also has an integrated passive subwoofer with a ported enclosure.

27
Dec
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[Deal Alert] Grace Digital's ECO X Terra Waterproof Boombox On Amazon For $50 (That's $100 Off)

Posted by in Android OS, Deals

If you've been searching for a way to safely play your Android phone's music library in the rain or at the beach, Amazon's got a deal for you. Grace Digital's ECO X Terra (orange only) is available for just $50 shipped, which is a notable $100 discount over its original price.

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If you're wondering how the ECO X Terra works, it's simple – just cram your Android-powered phone (or "any mp3 player") into the center compartment, and enjoy your tunes. Grace Digital boasts, by the way, that the boombox's center compartment can accommodate the "largest Android phone" with a case, as well as keys, credit cards, and other sundries.

30
Jul
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Going Indie: The Story Of Independent Android Game Development From Concept To Completion

Posted by in Android OS, Applications, Development, Games, Interviews
Last Updated: July 31st, 2012

One of the great things about Android's ecosystem is the number of indie developers who are able to enter the market successfully, providing a great product and inspiring would-be developers to join in. For many though, Android development in general is a mysterious topic. How an app or game goes from an idea to an entry in the Play Store is unknown, but (thankfully) not unknowable.

Of course, considering how major development studios bring apps to life doesn't require too much thought – major companies like EA, Disney, or Rockstar have no problem hiring designers and developers to crank out and maintain polished apps.

26
Jun
beatit

Beats Me: Why HTC's "Amazing Sound" On The International One X Isn't Amazing At All - Even By The Numbers

Posted by in Editorials, HTC, News, One X (Endeavor)

HTC's marketing of Beats Audio on its One Series handsets has rapidly become a joke among critics and internet commentators alike. And that's probably putting it nicely. The fact that the entirety of the Beats "enhancements" found on aforementioned phones has been zipped up and packaged to flash on any Android 2.3+ handset has, at least in the collective minds of the internet, exposed the Beats partnership for what it is: equalization software and a fancy logo.

hugebeets

I've used all of HTC's One Series products aside from the One V; that is to say, the One X, XL (AT&T One X), and S.

20
Dec
RIMGA0318_1306x979

Review: AKG K 830 BT Bluetooth Headphones Get High Marks For Controls And Comfort, But A2DP Is Still A Compromise On Sound

Posted by in Other Reviews

I've been on a bit of a headphone kick lately, and have tried out a number of sets from various manufacturers. The only on-ear headphones I've tried during this time, though, have been AKG's K 830 BT's, the company's only high fidelity Bluetooth headphones. Bluetooth headphones remain a relatively young technology, and have been growing steadily as more and more computers and smartphones adopt the A2DP Bluetooth audio transmission standard.

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The 830 BT's are a very comfortable pair of headphones with some nicely designed (if plasticky) on-ear controls (track skip, volume, answer call, play/pause). But like all Bluetooth headphones, they suffer from diminished audio quality when compared to their corded counterparts, particularly at high volume and high frequencies.

10
Oct
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Preview And Download: Leaked Galaxy Nexus/Nexus Prime Ice Cream Sandwich Audio Files, Including Brand New Alarms

Posted by in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

The Ice Cream Sandwich leaks are continuing today with P3Droid's dump of the audio files found in the next Nexus' Ice Cream Sandwich innards.

From what I can tell, most of them aren't unique until we get to the alarms - a few of them are brand new based on my Google searches:

  • Fermium.ogg [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
  • Hassium.ogg [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
  • Neptunium.ogg [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
  • Nobelium.ogg [Audio clip: view full post to listen]

The alarm sounds are quite futuristic and magical, instantly reminding me of Tron. Considering Honeycomb already started in this direction and ICS' theme is also Tron-like blue, I think we'll be hearing and seeing a lot more audio and visuals in a similar style.

26
Aug
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Download: The Official Droid Bionic Boot Animation

Posted by in Bionic, Development, Motorola, News

The elusive Droid Bionic is finally within weeks of release (it should drop September 8th for $299.99), but if you want to pretend you already have one for a moment or if your current boot animation is not a gorgeous fiery bionic eye (is such a thing even possible?), then download this official Droid Bionic boot animation and sound. It won't grow you an extra arm, but it will make you the coolest chap in town (not really).

Update: I've dropped the frames into GIMP and created an animated gif version. It's too big to embed on this page but if you want to see it, click here.

10
Aug
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HTC Confirms Partnership With Beats By Dr. Dre - Expect Devices With Beats Technology Starting Fall 2011 [Video]

Posted by in HTC, News

Earlier today, HTC sent a jolt of electricity through our tired bodies when their PR agency told us an exciting tale of important announcements scheduled to be delivered by Peter Chou himself (that's HTC's CEO) tomorrow morning.

Bootloader unlocking, exciting new phones and tablets, hoverboards - all of these thoughts started rapidly running through our minds, but like kids who couldn't wait until Christmas to unwrap their presents, the company first spilled the beans to AllThingsD, then followed up mere hours later with full details. Way to ruin a surprise, guys (oh, and the presents kind of suck).

In a deal estimated to be worth around $300 million, HTC and Beats By Dr.

12
Nov
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Audiogalaxy Vs Subsonic - Fight! What's Your Favorite Android Music Streaming App? [Reviews, Poll]

Posted by in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews
Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

In our last week's poll, we asked you your thoughts on the best overall Android music player, and over 1500 of you responded, clearly putting PowerAMP ahead of the competition, followed by Winamp. PowerAMP released the full version shortly after and still occupies the #1 spot for playing local music in my book.

However, rightfully so, some of you noted that there are some players out there specializing on remote media streaming, and by that I don't mean Shoutcast streams - I mean streaming your own music collections. Google's music service may one day supposedly join the party, as we saw demoed at Google I/O earlier this year, but right now, that solution does not yet exist.

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