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The SOEN Transit Bluetooth speaker is designed to be the very best speaker of its kind. Measuring just 32 cubic inches, it's intended to be taken anywhere, and it exudes class in packaging, accessories, design, features, convenience and sound. However, design constraints place limits on performance. ______________________ In this review, I'll be working from a…

As a “perk” for MacTech attendees, the non-profit organization, New Starship, setup a full replica of the Enterprise NCC-1701-D bridge from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was a great addition to the conference, and I put together a photo gallery so you could see it, too. According to New Starship Founder and CEO Huston…

The xRobot Power Bank from RavPower is a 6000 mAh external battery with a few extra features. It includes a USB port, a built-in 30-pin connector, a built-in micro USB connector, and a built-in standard USB connector. xRobot Power Bank These built-in extras should be a boon to frequent travelers. Unfortunately, it does not include a…

IHS announced the results of its teardown analysis on Apple's new iPad Air, and the research firm believes the new devices comes with even better margins than previous iPad models. The company said the bill of materials for the base iPad Air model comes to US$274, 13.3 percent less than the $316 BOM on the…

Samsung's efforts to derail the retrial case for damages in the patent infringement fight it lost to Apple still aren't paying off with the latest blow coming from Judge Lucy Koh refusing to accept the electronics maker's suggested Jury verdict form for next week's trial. Instead, Judge Koh when with Apple's proposal which was much…

Apple's long awaited updates for its Mac iWork apps are finally out, and one of the big new features they bring to the table are substantially better compatibility with their iOS counterparts. The tradeoff is that Mac users lose some functionality to gain that compatibility, and for Pages '09 users it may not be worth…

Microsoft's Office suite is better and more capable than Apple's iWork productivity suite. There's no doubt about that. The interesting thing, however, is that it won't matter. Even though Microsoft would like to convince us otherwise, the better product will lose.   ____________________ When I think about what makes an iPad the quintessential modern tablet,…

iOS Engineering vice president Henri Lamiraux has retired from Apple, and instead of being pushed out the door “to spend more time with his family,” it looks like that's what he's actually going to do. Mr. Lamiraux is retiring and had planned on making iOS 7 his last project before turning in his executive washroom…

Delta first to gain FAA approval for iPad use below 10,000 feet Following a months-long investigation into whether or not handheld electronics like iPads, iPhones and Kindle ebook readers, posed a risk to avionics during takeoff and landing, the FAA concluded that there wasn't any reason to block people from using the devices. The announcement…

Apple customers who purchased the first generation iPad with 3G connectivity have started receiving notifications that they're eligible for a US$40 payment and a $20 discount on their current iPad data plan. The notifications are part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit that claimed participants were hit with a bait-and-switch when the unlimited…

Early in October Adobe revealed that nearly 3 million user accounts had been compromised by hackers and some personal information may have been taken. Now company is revising that number and saying the actual number of hacked accounts is 38 million. Adobe ID hack jumps up to 38 million accounts Adobe's initial report said that…

The Los Altos Historical Commission voted unanimously on Monday to designate the childhood home of Steve Jobs an “historic resource.” The house, whose garage famously saw the birth of Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple, Inc.), will now be preserved. According to The San Jose Mercury News, the designation means that the house will be subject…

There's one phrase from Apple's conference call with analysts on Tuesday that has resonated with me, and that was when CEO Tim Cook talked about the importance of customers being able to “access the entire ecosystem” with Apple's products. As with everything that Tim Cook says, those words were very considered and deliberate, but I…

Samsung has found a new way to make U.S. Judges angry by improperly acquiring confidential Apple and Nokia licensing agreements, and now the company is taking its act on the road by getting on the bad side of Australian Judges for doing exactly the same thing. The electronics maker is compounding the problem by failing…

The news that Angela Ahrendts has left Burberry to become Apple's Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores really reverberated around tech and fashion circles in London and the wider UK. While some question the decision of a clearly ambitious businesswoman to move from being CEO to being a senior VP, she is taking…

Taiwan has fined Samsung TWD10 million (that's New Taiwan dollars, or US$340,131) for mounting a fake campaign to praise Samsung's Android devices and criticize unspecified in article comments and forums. Phys.org reported that Taiwan's Federal Trade Commission began an investigation of Samsung in April and concluded the South Korean giant paid people to talk up…

New versions of iLife and iWork were announced at Apple’s media event earlier this week, and in typical Apple style, updates to additional apps were quietly pushed as well. In particular Aperture was updated with some new features and support for Mavericks for users who had purchased it as a “boxed” version as well as…

Carl Icahn Carl Icahn let the world know that he sent a letter to Tim Cook, and oh yeah, he just happened to also mention that the contents of that letter will be revealed on Thursday (tomorrow) on a brand new site he's launching that same day. That's pretty clever, if you're into that sort…

Twitter is apparently considering shutting down its #music app only six months after launching it for the iPhone. #music let users share what they were listening to with other Twitter users, although it looks like no one has really been using the feature. Twitter ready to give #music the ax The #music service launched in…

Auction Team Breker announced on Thursday that it will be auctioning the 46th Apple I computer made, making it one from the first batch of 50 units manufactured for The Byte Shop in 1976. The motherboard was signed by Steve Wozniak, and it comes with the original box, the original Apple software on casette, and…

Judge Denise Cote has assigned former Assistant US Attorney and Justice Department Inspector General Michael Bromwich with the task of monitoring Apple as part of the five-year injunction she hit the Mac, iPhone, and iPad maker with in an ebook price fixing case. Mr. Bromwich will watch over Apple's business practices for two years, but…

Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley sees the just released iPhone 5s and the still unannounced fifth generation iPad as big sellers for Apple and is raising his target price for the company's stock from US$560 up to $580. He also expects an iPhone deal with China Mobile will give Apple another boost. Michael Walkley raised…

Judge Lucy Koh had harsh words for Samsung and its involvement in sharing confidential information about Apple's contracts with Nokia and very likely could impose sanctions on the company and its legal firm for their actions. Judge Koh called the leaking of the documents improper and Samsung's attempts to coverup what happened inexcusable. Samsung's courtroom…

Chrisann Brennan, Steve Jobs's first serious girlfriend and the mother of oldest daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, has penned a memoir titled The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Life with Steve Jobs (Amazon). As the name suggests, it's about her life with and memories of Steve Jobs during his late teens and early 20s…