Technologies

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]TechnoBuffalo’s Top 10 gadgets of the year[/shadow]

[spoil]We see a lot of tech come through our office throughout the year, mostly phones, some laptops. But we also get to play with a lot of cool gadgets, too. From new set-top boxes, to drones, to smartwatches, 2015 was a big year for new gadgets and devices. If you got a nice lump of dough from aunt Esther over the holidays, here are some gadgets worth considering.

[shadow=blue]Amazon Echo[/shadow]

I’ve never seen something so universally beloved among tech critics. Even early on, people lauded the Echo for its capabilities as an assistant, and the amazing convenience it provides. And it’s getting better all the time, too, with frequent updates that make the Echo even more powerful. I love being able to set a timer, ask for traffic updates, and get news with just my voice. The Echo might not provide instant gratification the way a phone does, but the experience adds up as you use it over time. It’s something I’m happy to have and use in my home every day.

[shadow=blue]Amazon Fire[/shadow]

At $50, Amazon’s 7-inch Fire tablet is surprisingly nimble. It’s not the most powerful device on the market, and the battery is kind of awful. But, for the price, you get direct access to Amazon’s immense online emporium—and the thing is built like a tank. Rather than give your kid an iPad, save some money and get a Fire. I’ve been using mine to play games and read books, and for that purpose the Fire does an admirable job. It makes you wonder why you’d ever part with the $800 needed to purchase an iPad Pro.

[shadow=blue]Google OnHub[/shadow]

Routers can be ugly and complicated. Google’s OnHub lineup is designed to change that. We reviewed the TP-LINK OnHub earlier this year, and loved its easy setup. Not only that, but it sports an antenna design that will ensure those dead zones in your home are a thing of the past. Pair it up with Google’s OnHub app, and you’ll have control over network name and password, and you can even give priority to devices for a certain period of time. Sure, other routers have had these features for years, but OnHub makes the experience much less complex.

[shadow=blue]Chromecast 2015[/shadow]

If you’re not ready to step up to a full-fledged set-top box, the Chromecast is a terrific alternative. Just plug it into the back of your TV, and you’ll be able to cast stuff from your computers and mobile devices. It’s a great way to watch YouTube videos on the big screen, and it also works with apps like Netflix. And with 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi support, you’ll get an uninterrupted, smooth stream. For just $35, the Chromecast is a great addition to any setup.

Our phone of the year, and the best overall Android device we’ve ever seen. For just $449, buyers get a gorgeous screen, amazing camera, and excellent battery life. Oh, and the aluminum build is wonderful, if a little slippery. It also sports the latest version of Android, a fingerprint sensor, and USB-C, which means the Nexus 6P should last you into the future and beyond.

[shadow=blue]Surface Book/Surface Pro 4[/shadow]

Need a computer that’s mobile and still has plenty of power? You won’t find that with Apple’s MacBook. Rather, Microsoft has been the unlikely source of some of the most inspired PC designs in recent years, and the Redmond company really knocked it out of the park with its Surface Book/Surface Pro 4 combo. It’s very clear the Surface Book is still a work in progress, but the Pro 4 is fully formed and ready to impress. And with Windows 10 finally out, these devices are the best way to experience Microsoft’s exciting new future.

[shadow=blue]DJI Osmo[/shadow]

Budding filmmakers will appreciate what the DJI Osmo is trying to accomplish. In a package no bigger than a baby bottle, the Osmo provides users with incredibly stable video without any complicated equipment. Just link up your phone, hit a few buttons, and you’ll be getting smooth video in no time. As a secondary film camera, the Osmo makes for a great option, especially with moving shots. But it could make more of an impact in the vlogging community, which is all the rage these days. It’s a little pricey, but the quality and ease of use is well worth the price of admission.

[shadow=blue]Jaybird X2[/shadow]

Price, comfort and sound. Three things you look for in a pair of headphones, and the Jaybird X2 Sport Wireless Bluetooth headphones offers all three in spades. OK, at $149, they’re a little pricier than most, but they offer terrific sound quality, and they’re very comfortable. Don’t just take my word for it, see what Mark had to say about the X2’s in his headphone roundup.

[shadow=blue]Boosted board[/shadow]

Boosted Boards have been around for a while now, born out of the Kickstarter ether. But the company’s products didn’t start getting popular until late last year/early this year after releasing new single and dual models. A few TechnoBuffalo staffers bought the dual drive models about a month back, and they’ve quickly become one of our favorite modes of transportation. But be careful: these things are fast, so ride at your own peril. They’re quite pricey, too, but fun as heck, and something you’ll get frequent use out of as you ride around town.

[shadow=blue]GoPro Session[/shadow]

GoPro devices have long been lauded for their durability and video quality. But design has never been a strong suit. With the GoPro Session, you get an ultra portable and ultra cheap device that’s perfect for your outdoor vacations. It’s waterproof right out of the box, easy to use, and the perfect device if you’re looking to step foot into the action cam market.[/spoil]

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]11 cool features and other things you can do with the new Apple TV[/shadow]

Apple unveiled an all-new Apple TV with an all-new remote during its iPhone 6S September event. It glossed over some really interesting features for the new set-top box when it was revealed however, so we have created this feature to tell you about a few of them.
The new Apple TV is now available to buy, starting at ?129 in the UK and $149 in the US and it comes with a fresh operating system, sleek interface, and voice-command functionality, to name a few things.
With that in mind, and to help you better understand what else is awesome about the latest version of Apple's set-top box, we've dug through all the details and rounded up 11 of the coolest features.
https://youtu.be/wGe66lSeSXg
New iOS-based operating system: tvOS
We can't delve into Apple TV features without first addressing one major change: Apple has added a new operating system to its set-top box. The new software offers an interface that's pretty similar to the old interface, though Apple has cleaned it up and replaced the black background with white.
Apple is calling its new operating system "tvOS". It is based on iOS, with various modifications added, such as support for the new remote. Beyond the interface, core aspects of tvOS include voice search through Siri, universal search across apps, a full-fledged app store, support for gaming, and more.
But we'll delve into those features some more in just a bit...

[shadow=blue]New apps: Use apps built just for the new Apple TV[/shadow]The new Apple TV is all about apps, thanks to the new Apple TV App Store, which Apple wants developers to make exclusive tvOS-based apps and games for.
Gilt Groupe's CEO, Michelle Peluso, showed off the new Gilt app designed specifically for Apple TV during the unveiling of the device. She showed how you can scroll or swipe with the new remote to navigate through the Glit app.
Buy-now buttons appear on carousel views and product pages, for instance, and so with a simple press of the new remote, you can buy stuff. Netflix, Hulu, and HBO have also released new apps for tvOS.
iTunes Movies has been redesigned as well, while the Apple Music app will soon deliver Beats 1 radio.

[shadow=blue]New remote: touchpad, motion-sensitive, Siri, etc[/shadow]
The Apple TV has a new remote with motion-sensing capabilities. It's a slim controller decked out with a touchpad and buttons for menu, home, volume, and Siri. The dual mics for Siri are located at the top, while the black touchpad is cloaked in glass and clicks (much like the MacBook's trackpad).
You'll also notice a small IR port for issuing volume commands to your TV. And at the bottom, there's a Lightning port for charging the remote's battery (supposed to last three months on a single charge). Although you won't find a power button, it can turn new TVs on/off if they have HDMI CEC.
The remote also connects to Apple TV over Bluetooth 4.0, so there's no need to point it at the box.

Flip it sideways: New remote doubles as a controller
So, the touchpad lets you navigate through the new interface by sliding your finger across its surface, but as if that wasn't enough, you can turn the remote sideways to turn it into a controller for gaming.
The remote has built-in accelerometer and gyroscope sensors, meaning it acts like a Wii controller.
Apple
screenshot_2015-09-09_19.05.57_1024
Touch away: Swipe down on the remote to cue up info
The Apple TV comes with a new remote, and we noted below how you can use it to rewind or skip forward, but did you know it can also cue up information?
A downward swipe on the trackpad will bring up details on what you're watching.
Apple
Screen Shot 2015-09-09 at 5.34.17 PM
Gaming with friends: They can join with their iPhones
We've already told you the Apple TV lets you play games using the new remote. But if your friends don't have a remote, don't worry. Up to four players can join a game with their iPhones or iPod touches. Apple told Pocket-lint after the event that the new Apple TV will support third-party gamepads as well.
During our hands-on, we had a look at the SteelSeries Nimbus controller, which can be used to control one player, while the remote, your iPhone, or iPad can be used to control other players.

Universal voice search: Ask Siri to fetch you a movie
Apple TV comes with support for Siri, bringing voice-controlled, smart search to the set-top box.
All results are sorted by popularity, and when you ask Siri to find a movie, TV show, or song, she'll search not only iTunes, but also Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, and HBO. You can also conduct searches by actors and genres. You can say, for instance, "Show me Bond movies" or "Just the ones with Sean Connery."
This is where things get clever. Apple has quietly included something Google previously described as conversational search. So, you can have a conversation with Siri in order to narrow your choices.
Skip around: Ask Siri to jump forward or backward
Siri won't just fetch stuff for you; she'll also scrub for you. She can move whatever you're watching forward or backward. All you have to say is: "Siri, skip back 15 seconds" or "What did he/she say again?" But if you don't want to use Siri for that, you can also click and slide on the new remote to scrub.

Digital assistant: Ask Siri to check the weather, etc
Let's not forget that Siri is a digital assistant first and foremost, and that's no different with the Apple TV. She can pull up weather reports or answer your questions, and she'll display all answers and results along the bottom of your display. If you want that in full-screen, swipe up on the remote.

[shadow=blue]Stream from iPhone: Play 4K videos, but in 1080p[/shadow]
The new iPhones are capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps, and you'll of course be able to play them on your television through Apple TV, but because the new box doesn't support 4K, all videos will be downgraded to 1080p.

[shadow=blue]Smart home galore: tvOS is integrated with HomeKit[/shadow]
It's been rumoured that the new Apple TV would launch with support for HomeKit - Apple's framework that is meant to simplify the current state of home automation. Apple was dodgy when asked directly if it included such integration, though it said HomeKit is in the tvOS SDK for developers.
So, theoretically, developers could one day make apps for HomeKit-enabled devices that deliver notification through Apple TV. You might also be able to control those devices using Siri. But that's all just speculation for now.

 

[artim]

[shadow=blue]Promoted: Yamaha MusicCast bundles of joy[/shadow]

Three MusicCast bundles from Yamaha. Three ways to make the most of your movies and music. And three ways to save money
Many wireless multiroom systems are closed shops. You buy the speakers, and the rest of your kit becomes redundant. Yamaha’s MusicCast range lets you bring all your hi-fi stuff to the party.

Anything you plug into it can be beamed to any other MusicCast speaker – any CD player, any turntable, anything with an output. Every MusicCast component is a Bluetooth transmitter too, so you can wirelessly stream music to your existing Bluetooth devices. The best part? All the products mix-and-match – so your system can grow as you want it to. And you can control it all from your smartphone with the free MusicCast Controller app for iOS and Android.

Want to get started? Yamaha has put together some great packages to kick-start your listening. They’ll save you money over the individual products, too…

Trio package

The YSP-1600 soundbar features Yamaha’s Digital Sound Projector tech for 5.1-channel surround-sound without the speaker-clutter, while the compact WX-030 speaker brings quality audio – and instant listening – to any room. The stylish ISX-80 Restio speaker can be wall-mounted for a touch of extra style.

Duo package

If you’re more about music than movies, the Duo package – with the WX-030 and Restio speakers – is the one to go for. They’re both compatible with Spotify Connect, Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay, and both can handle high-res material up to 24-bit/192kHz… so fire up your digital music collection and get listening.

Duett package

Want to watch a movie in more than one room? You can send audio from anything connected to the soundbar – including TVs, set-top boxes, consoles and more – to the other speaker in another room. And, of course, you can use them separately with Spotify, Bluetooth, network audio and more.

Click here for more information about the full range of Yamaha MusicCast compatible products.

 

[Administrator]

Pioneer XDP-100R hands on
We take a first look at Pioneer's MQA-ready high-resolution music player, which has a 4.7in screen, runs on Android OS, and supports 24-bit/384kHz and DSD 11.2MHz music files. Tested at ?500

The Pioneer XDP-100R is the company's first high-resolution portable music player. It's also the world's first hi-res player to support MQA technology (Master Quality Authenticated), which promises high-resolution music in a more efficient and convenient file package.

The ?500 player's file support is extensive, and it comes loaded with plenty of music streaming apps, including Tidal - which is also due to start streaming MQA hi-res files in 2016.

We got hold of a fresh new sample of the XDP-100R...
[shadow=blue]Build and design[/shadow]
It's a big and chunky device. The metal chassis is sturdy and we can't find any fault with the finish, which gives it an air of high quality. Considering the angular design, the edges are thankfully smooth to touch.

Next to the more slimline Astell & Kern and Sony Walkman models (even the hefty Acoustic Research M2), the Pioneer looks a bit too blocky. It's quite wide, so those with smaller hands may not find it easy to grip. On the other hand, it's not as heavy as you'd expect from the bulky design.
There are some design choices we like, though. There's minimal branding, with just a small Pioneer logo at the back and "High-Resolution Audio Player" discreetly stamped on the brushed aluminum front panel, leaving the XDP-100R looking clean and neat.

Our review sample is all black, but you can also get the XDP-100R in silver for the same price.

The control buttons on the right side are nicely milled, and we like that the two microSD card slots are labelled. Apart from the left edge jutting out to accommodate the volume wheel, there's virtually no bezel distracting you from the screen.

We're not too keen on the bumpers on either end, though. The top bit is there to protect the 3.5mm headphone plug, and if you want to hook it to your belt or bag with a carabiner. We wouldn't - it's an expensive hi-res player, and we're starting to wonder if we can simply screw that top hook off.

The bottom bracket seems to be protecting the micro USB charging port and the built-in speakers, but we don't think it's needed. Flagship smartphones don't feel the need for the extra protection, and we're surprised that this robust Pioneer does.

We wonder again if it can be taken off. We'll report back in the full review.

[shadow=blue]Screen[/shadow]

The XDP-100R has a 4.7in LCD screen (the same size as an Apple iPhone 6S) with a 1280 x 720 resolution. Album artwork is colourfully displayed when playing music, and a decent contrast means that the sharp white text is legible against dark backgrounds.

Running on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, the device feels smooth and speedy to use. However, we suspect part of the smooth performance is down to it not being filled with a lot of data or apps - we'll see if the excellent performance is maintained when we store more music on it.

A useful widget for the Pioneer's own music player lets you control playback from the home screen, as well as see the file format and sampling rate. You can also choose to use the line out option to plug into a hi-fi system, or pick the 'stand-alone mode' option - which cuts off all Bluetooth, wi-fi and display options to use the XDP-100R purely as an audio device. Does this have an effect on sound quality? We'll find out in the full test.

[shadow=blue]Specs and features[/shadow]

The Pioneer's features list is where things get interesting.

The MQA compatibility is the headline act, except the XDP-100R isn't ready to support the new file format just yet. A firmware update to support MQA will be released in early 2016 - so we have that bit longer to wait and try the new technology.

Still, the XDP-100R is a feature-packed hi-res player in its own right. It has extensive file support - from standard MP3s to 24-bit/384kHz FLAC, WAV and AIFF files. It even does DSD 11.2MHz - also known as 'quadruple-DSD', or four times the resolution of SACD. Blimey!

The player comes with plenty of goodies, too. Pioneer has its own music player, which is filled with useful features such as a drop-down menu that displays the file format, size and sampling rate of each song file - so you know exactly what you're listening to.

In our initial use, we really like Pioneer's own music app. It's slick and neat despite containing so much information. It displays album artwork as the background, the text is easy to read, and the folders are all logically arranged. It's a nice alternative to Google's own music player.

There are also plenty of sound settings, such as upsampling to 192kHz, digital filters, bass boosts, gain and realtime DSD conversion. We'll be trying them all out once we load the player with our music.

Other apps that come pre-loaded are Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz and the Onkyo Music app. The last one gives you access to Onkyo Music's online shop for hi-res (and other) music.

Out of the box, the on board storage is a mild 32GB. But there are two microSD card slots. Which means you can expand your storage up to 432GB, with 200GB max for each slot. That's a lot of portable storage for your lossless library.

And lastly, the XDP-100R has a claimed battery life of 16 hours on 24-bit/96kHz playback. That will vary depending on how much you use it (and if you use multiple apps on it), but we'll find out if the Pioneer player lasts more than a day or two in our full review.

[shadow=blue]Performance[/shadow]

Our sample of the XDP-100R came with a few FLAC songs on it (none of them MQA, sadly). With Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Daft Punk and Charles Mingus available in various file sizes, we start listening.

We get an impression of clear, full-bodied notes and a snappy rhythm. Benjamin Clementine's vocals on Nemesis in standard CD-quality sound solid and detailed, and the Pioneer does a good job of conveying the dynamic peaks and troughs.

There's decent weight underpinning the song, with piano notes clunking solidly. It sounds spacious, too.

Switch to Metallica's Enter Sandman (WAV, 96kHz), and the attacking drums and angry guitars appear to have plenty of muscle and wallop to them.

We look forward to loading the Pioneer with our collection of test tracks for the full review.



[shadow=blue]Initial verdict[/shadow]

The Pioneer XDP-100R is the latest addition to the rise of portable hi-res music players, with the added feature of MQA file support. However, with the MQA update not ready until the new year, it's not quite there yet.

Still, the XDP-100R is a hi-res player in its own right, and the extensive file support, expandable storage and price will appeal to many. We're not sure if the design will be for everyone, though.

But it will all come down to its sonic performance. How will the XDP-100R shape up against our Award-winning Astell & Kern AK Jr, its main rival at ?400?

We'll find out after we put the Pioneer XDP-100R through its paces in our full review.

 

[artim]

[shadow=blue]Turntable trio take the spoils at the Awards 2015[/shadow]

Thanks to they vinyl revival, there's never been a better time to buy a turntable. And, whether you're looking to buy your first deck or upgrade an existing entry-level model, our Award-winners have you covered...
The three best turntables of 2015 are all repeat winners, with Pro-Ject, Rega and Clearaudio all picking up where they left off in 2014. Thanks to each deck's blend of brilliant sound quality and excellent value, rival turntables have struggled to make an impression.
Our Product of the Year for a fifth consecutive year is the outstanding Rega RP3/Elys2. We’re still to come across a deck at this price that’s as easy to set up or that sounds as good. Rega has made a couple of tweaks to its turntable in recent years and the company hasn't looked back.

Those improvements have allowed it fend off its closest rivals year after year - who's to say the RP3 couldn't be back in 2016?

The Pro-ject Essential II is still without doubt our favourite budget deck, and the best option for vinyl virgins. We love its plug’n’playability, as well as the equipment you get for such a low price. It’s still as entertaining as ever and delivers a great sense of scale and composure.

Finally, the Clearaudio Concept also retains its Best Buy Award. Its simplicity is still as charming as ever and the minimalist styling highly desirable. The level of sound quality on offer is still way above anything else at this price too, which makes the Concept one of the best turntables currently on sale.

 

[artim]

[shadow=blue]Awards 2015: The best CD players and transports[/shadow]

There's a twist for 2015, with CD transports appearing alongside stand-alone CD players for the first time in What Hi-Fi? Awards history...
With four separate Awards in the CD players and transports category, and prices ranging from ?280 to ?1050, our Product of the Year is the Cyrus CDi.

The CDi is a special player in the true Cyrus tradition. It continues to be the best we have heard anywhere near this price, and for that reason, it retains its Product of the Year title for another 12 months.

Our favourite budget CD player will also be familiar to readers: this is the third time in a row that the excellent Marantz CD6005 has won this Award.

The CD6005 is a superb product, with an aura of class. Its sonic presentation marries refinement and drama superbly, and has an understanding of the heart of the music.

Marantz’s domination is little short of miraculous. A year on, there’s still nothing at this price to better the CD6005 - it's simply the best budget CD player on the market.

A CD transport concentrates on reading the information held on a compact disc without expending effort in turning that digital signal into an analogue output, unlike a CD player. All you need to do is add (or already own) an external DAC.

The theory goes that using separate pieces of hi-fi kit to do individual jobs will provide a superior sound, and this is certainly the case with our winner in the Best CD budget transport category, the Cambridge Audio CXC.

This is a nicely made piece of equipment, and it looks and feels worth every penny of the ?300 you’ll pay for it.

Cyrus scooped its second win in the Best CD transport over ?500 category with its CD t, the latest addition to Cyrus’s long line of highly accomplished products.

Going straight to the top of its class, the Cyrus CD t delivers a fine performance that’s difficult to criticise at this price, demonstrating impressive accuracy, speed and precision without ever sounding clinical.

The Cyrus CD t is an exceptionally talented transport. Yes, you’ll need to add a good stand-alone DAC, but the CD t is worth the trouble. As well as offering an effortless, musical listen, the level of transparency, clarity and insight is unrivalled at this price.

 

[artim]

[shadow=blue]ASUS And Gigabyte Reportedly Planning To Launch VR Devices[/shadow]

Virtual reality has become much more popular over the last couple of years, Samsung’s Gear VR has done an incredible job of bringing this technology to the mainstream, and with multiple new VR headsets coming in 2016 from the likes of Sony, Oculus, HTC and others one can only imagine how big VR is going to be in the years to come. Taiwan-based ASUS and Gigabyte seem to have grasped that which is why they’re believed to be planning to launch virtual reality devices.
Citing supply chain makers based in China, Digitimes reports that ASUS is planning to launch a wearable virtual reality device which will be used with its gaming notebooks. Gigabyte Technology is also said to be developing something similar in collaboration with VR company 3Glasses.
It’s believed that notebook brand vendors will increasingly turn towards virtual reality in the coming year in which notebook shipments are expected to remain weak. VR is perceived as many as a main hardware development direction for gaming notebooks.
Both companies mentioned in this report have not yet confirmed their VR plans but it’s claimed that they’re going to release their virtual reality devices in the first half of next year.
If that really is the case then customers will certainly have a lot to choose from since companies like Oculus and HTC are also expected to release their virtual reality headsets in the first half of 2016.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Now TV vs Sky+HD vs Sky Q: Which Sky package is right for you?[/shadow]

Sky announced its new entertainment service - Sky Q - at the end of November 2015. The service will join the broadcaster's current options at the beginning of 2016, bringing a more fluid and seamless experience than the current offering. The question is, will it be the right choice for you?
There are currently two ways to get access to Sky's content. You either go down the Now TV route, or you opt for the Sky+HD route and pick a bundle that suits you. When Sky Q launches next year, followed by the UHD service later in the year, there will be four options available to choose from if you want Sky's content.
This feature explains the differences between Now TV, Sky+HD, Sky Q and Sky Q Silver to help you decide which Sky option best suits your needs. Read on to find out which Sky package is right for you.
Now TV
Now TV is the cheapest way to access Sky's content and it is aimed at those who are unable to have regular Sky, perhaps due to lack of satellite or budget. It's an online streaming service that offers access to live TV channels, as well as on demand services. The Now TV box itself costs a one-off ?14.99 and you will need internet access so take that into account, but it is worth noting that Now TV is also available on Chromecast, PS4, PS3, YouView and others so you don't need to buy a separate box if you have any of the compatible devices.
Rather than a yearly contract like Sky+HD, Now TV has what it calls Now TV Passes that allow you to pay monthly for services. There is an Entertainment Pass for ?6.99 a month, a Movies Pass for ?9.99 a month and three Sports Passes from ?6.99 and you can choose the ones you want and when.
The Entertainment Pass delivers a month's access to over 250 Sky Box Sets and 13 live channels that aren't available on Freeview including Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, MTC and Comedy Central. Movies offers a month's access to over 1000 movies on demand including up to 16 new Sky Movies premieres each month. Sports is split into a day pass for ?6.99, a week pass for ?10.99 and a month pass for ?31.99, all of which offer access to the seven Sky Sports channels. You can add a pass and take it away on a month-by-month basis, so add movies just for December for example.
Sky+HD
Sky+HD is the current Sky TV offering but it will be the middle and probably the cheaper option when Sky Q launches in 2016. There are two Sky+HD boxes available - the standard 500GB box and the 2TB box - and there are several bundles available, all at various price points.
The TV bundles start at ?20 a month and creep up to ?75.75 a month, depending on which you choose. It goes without saying, the more you pay, the more channels you get but there are a number of standard features across all the bundles.
With each TV bundle, you get one standard Sky+HD box for free that will allow you to pause, rewind and record live TV. The box comes with built-in Wi-Fi and you'll have access to plenty of Catch Up TV channels including BBC iPlayer, All 4 and ITV hub.
Users will also get the Sky Service app, Sky+ app and Sky Go, the latter of which allows you to watch Sky on up to two devices wherever you are over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G. Other features include Sky Atlantic access with shows including Game of Thrones, and Smart Series Link that remembers the series you have recorded in the past for any future series.
The 1TB box will store an average of 185 hours of standard definition content and it will cost ?199 per extra box. The 2TB box offers storage for up to 1180 hours of standard definition content but it's a little pricier and it doesn't come as standard, nor is the first box entirely free. The first 2TB box has an upfront cost of ?49, while buying a second would cost ?249.
When it comes to the different bundles, there aren't great deal of extras when it comes to features as the price variation is about the channels offered instead. The Original Bundle, which is the ?20 option, doesn't offer access to over 300 Sky Box Sets like the other bundles do however.
The final option within Sky+HD is Multiscreen. This is where you pay an additional ?11.25 per month on top of whichever bundle you have chosen to watch Sky in more than one room. The first Sky Multiscreen box is free and it will be the standard 1TB option again, but you will also get Sky Go Extra, which would normally cost ?5 a month. Basically, if you pay for Sky Go Extra on top of your bundle but you don't have Multiscreen, you'd only be paying an extra ?6.25 per month for an extra box and the ability to watch Sky in bed.
Sky Go Extra allows you to download content and watch it offline, which you can do on up to four devices, including Xbox One now, rather than the two offered with Sky Go.
It is worth noting none of the bundles or boxes within Sky+HD support 4K or offer any 4K channels. You'll need to look a little further down this feature to Sky Q Silver for that.
Sky Q
Sky Q is the latest service from the broadcaster and it will be available at the beginning of 2016, although pricing has yet to be announced. It has been described as a "premium" TV service so expect it to be pricier than the Sky+HD options above.
Like Sky+HD, there are two set-top boxes but there is more variation than just storage when it comes to the Sky Q service. In this section, we are focusing on Sky Q, while the next section will talk about Sky Q Silver.
Sky Q has eight tuners and 1TB of storage, which Sky claims will offer space to store up to 150 hours of recorded HD content. It is Full HD compatible and it allows users to simultaneously record three channels, while watching a fourth, and there is support for watching on one tablet and one Sky Q Mini box too.
The Sky Q Mini box connects to the main Sky Q box via Wi-Fi or Powerline networking and it allows you to view Sky content in other rooms. It is essentially the new Multiscreen, allowing you to view live or recorded content, as well as watch catch-up and on demand services in whichever room you have put a Mini box into, in addition to your main room. Along with watching in other rooms, you'll also be able to pause and resume in another room, which is what Sky is calling Fluid Viewing.
A new app called Sky Q Sync will allow you to record a film or TV series and transfer the content to your tablet. It seems like this will be similar to what you can do with the current Sky Go Extra but everything will be more seamless.
Sky Q also comes with a more intelligent interface than you'll find on Sky+HD or Now TV, with a more image-led service like you'd find on YouView. The home page has categories including Top Picks, Box Sets, Recordings, TV Guide on the left, with images on the right. There is also a section called My Q that brings in shows you didn't get a chance to finish watching, the latest episode from one of your favourite series and other recommendations. Third Party apps will also be present in a side bar including VeVo and YouTube.
Sky Q Silver
Sky Q Silver offers a similar experience to Sky Q when it comes to the user interface and features such as Fluid Viewing, but it has one main difference: Ultra HD TV compatibility. The Sky Q Silver set-top box is 4K-ready for when the Sky Ultra HD service launches a little later in 2016. The regular Sky Q box doesn't offer this.
There are 12 tuners inside the Sky Q Silver box and 2TB of storage, which should allow for up to 350 hours of recorded HD content. The Sky Q Silver box will enable users to record four channels simultaneously, while watching a fifth and it also supports two tablets and two Sky Q Mini boxes, with all devices capable of viewing different content at the same time.
In addition to all the features mentioned already, the Sky Q service, which includes both set-top boxes will come with a new touch remote that connects via Bluetooth so you can hide your Sky Q box out of sight. There is also something called the Sky Q Hub which is a new router for Sky Broadband that integrates Powerline networking, allowing you to use your mains wiring to connect your Sky Q devices together rather than using Wi-Fi. You can use Wi-Fi instead though.
Each Sky Q box can also act as a Wi-Fi hotspot for your Sky Broadband but as you might have guessed, you'll need to make sure you have Sky Broadband for this to be an option. You don't however need Sky as your internet provider for any of Sky's TV services to work as standard, just for the hotspot feature.
Conclusion
So which Sky TV service is right for you? Well, this very much depends on your budget and whether you have access to a satellite dish because if you don't, your only option is Now TV.
Now TV is great for anyone who wants access to Sky's content including Box Sets but doesn't have a huge amount of cash to splash. Ignoring the cost of internet, you could get Sky Entertainment and Sky Movies for ?16.98 a month.
A similar package with Sky+HD would set you back ?53 a month, but you do of course get the ability to pause and record live TV, along with a few more channels and other features.
Sky Q is the most exciting of all three services, as you might expect given that it is new, but it will come at a price and until we know that price, it's difficult to conclude whether it will be worth it. Sky Q looks like it will offer the most seamless and user friendly experience, allowing you to pick up and drop shows and movies as you move around your home but "premium" never comes cheap. If you want 4K content however, then Sky Q Silver is your only option.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Forget about vinyl, here come the portable CD and tape players[/shadow]

Vinyl revival? Pah. Set your watch back 30 years because Groov-e wants to bring back portable CD and cassette tape players.
If your interest in vinyl hasn't been revived in recent years, then how about dusting off your casette tapes instead?

Portable music might mean downloads and streaming for most of us in 2016 but Groov-e is hoping its range of affordable 'retro' products will have you pining for the portable CD and cassette experience. Yes, really.

There are three new models, two portable CD players and a tape machine, priced from ?18 to ?35. (And they join a surprisingly large number of similar products that are still on sale.)

The basic Groov-e Personal CD Player supports CD, CD-R and CD-RW discs and costs just ?25. It comes in red, black, blue or silver finishes and is supplied with earphones (sadly not in the style of the vintage Walkmans of old). Don't forget you'll need your own batteries.
If listening to CDs on your commute leaves you longing for your digital files, Groov-e will be only too happy to sell you an upgraded portable CD player complete with a 99-song MP3 player and an FM radio. And it's just ?10 more.

Worried about the reliability of listening to CDs on the move? Worry not: both players come with "anti-skip protection", which we all know means your CDs will almost never skip...

But if you really want to go full retro - and, let's be honest, don’t care much for sound quality - then Groov-e’s Personal Cassette Player & Recorder (!) is for you. For ?18 of your pocket money the player comes with a built-in FM radio and a clip-on attachment for your belt. And what a look that would be.

Convinced? The Groov-e retro players are on sale now on Amazon.

If that's got you feeling nostalgic, then you might enjoy our look back at this What Hi-Fi? cassette tape player Group Test from 1981...

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]CableCard could finally get a card-less replacement[/shadow]
Cable lobby fights plan that could boost competition, kill cable box rental fees.

What if, instead of renting a set-top box from your cable company, you could get all your TV channels and online video services delivered to a single device that you only pay for once?

The Federal Communications Commission could make it happen, consumer advocacy groups say. "An open set-top box market is a key component of freeing consumers from unnecessary monthly rental fees, and it would enable them to more easily access online video content right alongside their subscription TV programming," the groups said in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler yesterday. The letter was written by Common Cause, Demand Progress, Free Press, Fight for the Future, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute, and Public Knowledge.

Replacing CableCard

The CableCard standard created nearly 20 years ago was supposed to make the set-top box industry competitive. And it has succeeded to an extent, letting cable subscribers use TiVo boxes and other devices. But the FCC long ago admitted that CableCard had only limited success. About 99 percent of customers still rent set-top boxes directly from their providers and pay an average of $231.82 a year in rental fees, US senators found in a survey of TV providers last year.

Consumer advocacy groups say that set-top boxes like the Roku or Apple TV, or even game consoles and smart TVs, could replace the cable box for many Americans if pay-TV providers like Comcast, DirecTV, and Verizon adopt a new standard that doesn't require a physical CableCard.
A CableCard "provides the security component that ensures people only can access the channels they pay for," Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer explained in a blog post last August. But CableCards have problems that have restricted their use mostly to enthusiasts rather than ordinary consumers.

"The technical problems include how a CableCARD cannot send signals upstream to the cable provider by itself, making things like video-on-demand impossible. The logistical problems include inventory management—not all CableCards are the same, CableCards can be put into an unusable state—not to mention the fact that, being physical items, they provide a pretext for the cable company to charge a rental fee," Bergmayer wrote.

Congress in December 2014 ordered the FCC to create a working group of technical experts to find a "software-based downloadable security system" that would essentially provide the functionality of CableCards without physical cards. The new standard is supposed to be technology- and platform-neutral. At the same time, Congress ended a rule that required cable operators to include CableCards in their own set-top boxes.

The FCC's newly formed Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee (DSTAC) issued a final report in August that contained two proposals for a software-based downloadable security system: one written by Public Knowledge and another written by Comcast.

The two visions

The Public Knowledge proposal said that pay-TV operators should implement network security and access control "in the cloud," and that security could be handled by "a well-defined, widely used link protection mechanism such as DTCP-IP."

Under this proposal, "Third-party devices would have access to the video content that users pay for, and would be able to offer their own user interfaces and sets of features (e.g., recording, ad-skipping)," Bergmayer wrote in his blog post. The third-party devices would be able to present pay-TV content from cable companies, telcos, and satellite providers right alongside online video content from providers like Netflix.

Public Knowledge, Google, TiVo, Vizio, and a few other groups created the Consumer Video Choice Coalition (CVCC) to promote this idea. In December 2015, the CVCC says it met with FCC staff to demonstrate a "competitive navigation device" that used "off-the-shelf equipment and open standards" to display video from different pay-TV providers.

Meanwhile, the proposal supported by Comcast and other cable companies would involve pay-TV operators building their own apps for third-party devices, while relying on the security APIs in HTML5.

"The downloadable 'apps' approach enables consumers to watch content from Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs) and Online Video Distributors (OVDs) on an array of customer-owned and TV-attached devices, including iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, game stations, PCs and Macs, Smart TVs, Kindle Fire, and Roku," pay-TV operators wrote.

The companies argued that because consumers can access pay-TV content on a "wide and growing array of retail devices," there is no need for a technology mandate such as the one pushed by consumer advocacy groups.

Cable lobby fights back

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), a cable lobby group, told the FCC last week that the CVCC proposal "would require re-architecting much of the MVPDs’ infrastructure, from back-office systems, to headends, uplinks, and central offices, delivery platforms, network equipment, content servers, and security components, as well as creating and deploying new devices for the home."

The NCTA said that the CVCC idea "requires consumers to lease a new government-mandated box from their MVPD in order to serve retail devices." (CVCC disputed this in one of its own filings, saying that "No separate device is necessary unless the operator prefers to provide one." Public Knowledge told Ars that cable companies could either provide new hardware or update the software on existing cable modems or set-top boxes in order to deliver pay-TV content to third-party devices.)

The NCTA also argued that open access to pay-TV content would let builders of third-party devices make TV service worse. Device makers could "rearrange, exile, or drop channels and overlay ads and drop apps and interactive elements that are parts of MVPD service," the group wrote.

"It would allow tech companies like Google to take content, slice and dice and re-purpose it in any way it wants, collect and monetize customer viewing data without Title VI privacy safeguards, and create an entirely new video service without negotiating or paying for it," the cable lobby said.

Bergmayer argued that the cable industry proposal "relegates third-party devices to the role of dumb terminals for cable apps," preventing device makers from creating user interfaces that are better than the ones cable companies provide.

No action yet

The consumer advocacy groups want the FCC to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking soon so it can develop rules by the end of this year, Bergmayer said. But there will be a fight. Cable companies "have all sorts of ideas that they think would be interfered with if people had competitive choice," he said.

The FCC hasn't said how it will rule or when it will make a decision. An FCC spokesperson declined comment when contacted by Ars today.

No rule changes being contemplated would prevent cable companies from building better services and user interfaces on their own set-top boxes. But consumers could have a wider choice if the FCC does what consumer advocacy groups are requesting.

"The intensity with which cable hates this idea is very hard to underestimate," Bergmayer said. "But nevertheless, I think it would be a huge benefit to consumers and competition."

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Defense Department seeks to bring back anti-ballistic missile lasers—on drones[/shadow]

The YAL-1 Airborne Laser platform showed lasers could blow up missiles during boost phase. But it was way too big, too expensive, and had to get too close to launch sites. Drones could solve all three problems, the Missile Defense Agency's chief believes.
The Missile Defense Agency is giving a second look at the idea of airborne lasers as a defense against ballistic missiles. But this time, instead of using giant chemical lasers carried by enormous crewed aircraft, the MDA is hoping that solid-state lasers will soon be up to the job—and that they will be able to be carried by drones.

Over a decade ago, the US Air Force mounted a megawatt laser on a 747 as part of an effort to develop a flying weapon to shoot down ballistic missiles as they launch. The Airborne Laser Laboratory (ABL) had several successful tests, but then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates cancelled the program in 2011 because of both its expense and impracticality.

"The reality is that you would need a laser something like 20 to 30 times more powerful than the chemical laser in the plane right now to be able to get any distance from the launch site to fire," Gates said in a House Appropriations committee hearing in 2009. To shoot down an Iranian ballistic missile, he argued, "the ABL would have to orbit inside the borders of Iran in order to be able to try and use its laser to shoot down that missile in the boost phase. And if you were to operationalize, this you would be looking at 10 to 20 747s, at a billion and a half dollars apiece, and $100 million a year to operate. And there's nobody in uniform that I know who believes that this is a workable concept."

But now MDA Director Vice Admiral James Syring is convinced that laser technology has improved enough to be up to the challenge—particularly if it's mounted on something a lot cheaper to fly than a 747. On January 19, Defense One reports, Syring said at an event at the Center of Strategic and International Studies, "We have significantly ramped up our program in terms of investment and talking about more of what else needs to be done to mature this capability."

Syring said that MDA's plan is to see how much more reliable and capable laser technology gets over the next three years and then build a long-range, high-altitude drone around a laser weapon. The drones, conceivably using stealth technology, would be able to stay on watch for long periods of time without being detected and at altitudes that stay out of range of air defenses.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Sony’s new portable projector puts an 80-inch display anywhere[/shadow]

This small, white box might look like a set-top box, but it’s actually a new laser diode projector from Sony. One that can project an 80-inch screen anywhere you want it to.
The LSX-P1 is part of Sony’s Life Space UX line. It’s about five inches square and three inches thick, and it weighs around two pounds. Despite its small size, Sony managed to pack in a pair of speakers and a lithium battery that can keep the projector powered for around two hours. The LSX-P1 pumps out video and images at 100 lumens, which is decent for a projector this portable.
https://youtu.be/EfevYQWIqgM
It’s good for more than just watching movies in dark rooms and putting on a lunchtime presentation in a cramped booth at a restaurant. Check their official press release (Google Translate link) , and you’ll see that Sony thinks that the LSX-P1 is a fantastic way to install some fake windows in your house. It can also double as a really expensive wall clock — that also displays the current weather. Not exactly the most exciting uses, but this is still a very cool, portable unit.
There are other battery-powered projectors out there that output twice as many lumens, but the LSX-P1 offers an excellent mix of high resolution (1366 x 768), decent brightness, and a throw ratio that allows it to project a massive image from around two feet away. It also offers built-in Bluetooth LE and 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi connectivity.
Sony is asking around $800 for it, which is a little on the steep side. Then again, most of the cheaper projectors like this can’t match its 1366 x 768 resolution.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Samsung 65KS9500[/shadow]
hands on
We got a first look at Samsung’s new flagship 4K SUHD set at CES 2016, which will be marketed as the KS9000 in the UK.

We’re more used to manufacturers unveiling whole ranges of TVs at CES, but Samsung broke with tradition this year and gave its whole TV focus to a single set, in the form of its flagship KS9500.

A curved, 4K HDR set, it’s the company’s first official Quantum Dot display and comes with a improved user interface and IoT smarts. Read on for our first impressions.

[shadow=blue]Design[/shadow]

Samsung hasn’t been shy in its support for curved screens and so it’s no surprise that its flagship set features a gently curved design.

While we’re still not convinced on any viewing benefits from a curved set, there’s no doubt that they look nice, and the KS9500 certainly cuts a striking shape.

This is helped by the fact that Samsung has managed to do away with the bezel here, telling us that the very, very slim border around the screen is actually the frame that holds the display.

It’s not just the front view that’s been considered though – Samsung has implemented what it’s calling a “360-degree design”, so there are no visible screws on the front or back.

Instead, the back panel has a smooth, unblemished finish, with all ports once again situated in Samsung’s separate One Connect box. The single connection between the box and the TV and power input are hidden behind a removable panel.

It’ll be available in 49, 55, 65 and 78in screen sizes.

[shadow=blue]Picture[/shadow]

The KS9500 is the first Samsung TV to be officially labelled up as using Quantum Dot colour technology, even though its 2015 Nano Crystal tech was basically just that.

Why it’s decided to do this after pushing the Nano Crystal message so hard is a little unclear – Samsung says there are some small differences between the two, but it seems that ultimately it was a case of changing the name to help make things clearer for consumers.

The panel in the KS9500 is a 4K, 10-bit display with support for HDR. It’s an edge lit set, which is somewhat strange for a flagship TV, but with a peak brightness of 1000 nits, it’s capable of brightness levels we’d usually expect from a direct-lit picture.

This helps to increase the contrast levels between the light and dark in pictures, plus makes the screen punchy no matter the lighting levels in the room.

This is supported by Samsung’s Ultra Black technology, which aims to reduce glare and reflections. Even on the very bright show floor, it managed to do a reasonable job at keeping them at bay, particularly when compared with its 2015 sets.

Picture quality on the whole looked very impressive indeed. We saw a range of demo clips of various bright objects and scenarios, and pictures looked sharp, vibrant and full of detail.

The colour palette appeared a little on the warm side – a red stiletto that was being filmed and displayed on the screen was a touch overdone for our more neutral tastes, though we’re not sure what picture processing technology could have been having a negative effect.

HDR content was as impressive as ever, giving more depth to images and offering up improved detail in the dark and light areas of a scene.

A video taken from the inside of a holiday home and looking out of a window was able to highlight both the vibrancy of the fabrics inside while still showing detail and depth to the clouds in the sky.

A video of waves crashing on to a beach was able to pick out subtlety and texture in the spray, where a non-HDR set looked much flatter, and unable to display the same nuances.

We’d want to wait until to we get the set into our testing rooms before we pass much more of a critical opinion on it, but from our short time with the set, it certainly seems Samsung is set to build on its successes of 2015.

[shadow=blue]User interface[/shadow]

With its 2016 TVs, Samsung has introduced an improved Smart Hub, which aims to deliver a simpler, much more streamlined approach in getting you to your content quicker.

A bar appears along the bottom without interrupting what you’re watching, which allows you to flick between channels, on demand content, sources and settings in one place.

There’s a two-tier design, so when you have something highlighted, you’ll get a second window above it with suggested content.

Depending on what you have selected, this could be favourite channels, sources or settings based on usage, and in the case of on-demand content, suggested programs to watch. These appear right within Samsung’s UI, without the need to launch a separate app (though this depends on the service provider allowing this).

Samsung also has a new feature called Smart Control, which will automatically recognise any hardware connected to the TV over HDMI and set it up for you, allowing you to control it using the Samsung Smart Remote included in the box.

For example, it will allow you to navigate around your Xbox menu, and even control your set top box guide (though we only saw this demonstrated with American services, we understand UK services are still TBC).

Samsung says Smart Control should work with a large majority of external hardware, but that it’s working on the compatibility of more all the time.

Finally, Samsung has built in Internet of Things hub technology on the KS9500, and all of its 2016 SUHD TVs. This allows you to use your TV to control over 200 SmartThings devices, from light bulbs to door bells, plus you can set 'routines' for things to happen automatically at certain times of the day or with certain behaviour.

The whole interface certainly looks as slick as we’ve come to expect from Samsung, with the new functionality really looking like a good addition to the experience and ease of use.

[shadow=blue]First impressions[/shadow]
From our short time with Samsung’s KS9500, it certainly looks to tick all the boxes of a flagship TV, while aiming to follow on from all the manufacturer achieved last year. With a combination of great picture quality and slick usability, we can’t wait to take a closer look.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Business news: HSBC app, Sky TV, Apple, Tabl and Revolut[/shadow]
HSBC is trialling a new smartphone app that tells users when they are spending too much on coffee, takeaways or drinking in the pub.

The app, dubbed HSBC Nudge, analyses users’ current account data to identify trends in their spending habits and sends them regular messages to make them aware of the consequences that it will have on their finances.

As an example, a message will appear on screen from the app when a user withdraws more money than usual from an ATM, if they spend more than the national average on takeaways or if they have not checked their balance for a prolonged period of time.

Raman Bhatia, head of digital at HSBC, said that the bank developed the app to help its customers make better, more effective use of their money and meet their long-term financial goals.

The “nudge theory” concept from behavioural economics argues that positive and indirect suggestions or “nudges” can influence decision-making.

Bhatia said that after the two-month trial the app could be offered to the bank’s wider customer base.

Acquisitions brighten picture for Sky
PAY TV giant Sky has shrugged off the loss of European Champions League football to rival BT with first-half revenues expected to be up 31.7 per cent to ?5.7billion.

Revenues have been boosted by the acquisition of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland, as well as the “solid” growth in new subscribers and the number of existing customers taking on additional services.

Analysts believe that Sky will report a pre-tax profit of ?638.8million for the six-month period ending December 31, 2015.

Last year the firm posted first-half profit of ?1.2billion, which included one-off gains of ?788million from the disposal of its stakes in National Geographic and ITV.

Shore Capital analyst Roddy Davidson said: “We are positive on Sky’s business model and expect top line progress to be fuelled by a combination of growth in existing and new customers, connected boxes, complementary non-subscription services and the potential within the German and Italian markets.”

Last week Sky, which is home to hit TV shows such as Game Of Thrones and True Detective, struck an exclusive long-term deal with CBS, giving it the European rights to hit series such as Billions and The Affair.

Apple iPhone sales at record levels
APPLE is set to unveil record first-quarter revenues of $76.5billion (?53.6billion) on Tuesday, thanks to strong Christmas sales of its flagship iPhone.

Despite fears that sales of the iconic smartphone, which accounts for the majority of the technology group’s revenues, are starting to peak, Wall Street analysts believe that Apple sold enough iPhones during the three months to December 31 to surpass the record 74.5million units sold last year.

The firm is also expected to announce that its pre-tax profits were flat at $24.4billion (?17.1billion).

Apple enjoyed a record 2015 in terms of both profitability and sales and investors will be keen to see to what extent the launch of its latest devices, the iPhone 6s, the iPhone 6s Plus and the iPad Pro, has translated into increased sales.

Apple said its App Store had enjoyed record Christmas and New Year sales of $1.1billion (?770million).

Overseas expansion is on the Tabl
TABL, the events website that matches chefs and supper clubs with restaurants, pubs and caf?s that have unused space, is set to expand across the country over the next six months.

Chief executive Kimberly Hurd said that once it has national coverage, she will look at overseas expansion.

It is currently based in the South-east.

Tabl is gaining popularity among chefs and restaurateurs as they can test new concepts by opening pop-up restaurants first without much risk.

__________________________________________________________________________
Currency firm looks for funds
REVOLUT, the fast-growing provider of currency cards offering free transactions, is looking at raising funds from investors to accelerate its expansion.

Founded last summer by former Lehman Brothers trader Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut already has 81,000 users in 150 countries.

It says that its customers have made transactions that top ?140million, saving them more than ?10million in “unnecessary” fees.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Oswalds Mill Audio Imperia is a $280,000 horn speaker[/shadow]


If conventional speakers, with their drivers and grilles, just don’t cut it anymore, then take a look at OMA's Imperia, which uses horns to propel sound to your ears.
Described as “the ultimate speaker from OMA”, the Imperia uses a four-way horn design, with a vertical array of conical horns. And it looks pretty crazy.

OMA claims to be the only company using conical horns with straight edges, as it believes they don’t “deform the spherical wave of sound created by the horn”.

The horns cover frequencies from 100Hz to 20kHz, while two rear-mounted subwoofer horns, using a 21in neodymium woofer, take care of low end frequencies from 20Hz to 100Hz.

The two wooden horns are made from solid Pennsylvania Black Walnut, Cherry or Ash wood, and the midrange uses a Cogent DS1428 field coil compression driver.

For the high frequencies, OMA has cast a horn from an aluminium alloy and the outboard crossover network is connected to the speaker via solid slate patchboard.

The price for the ultimate speaker? You can nab a pair of these horned speakers now for $280,000.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Headphones That Could Make You Happy[/shadow]

The Nervana headphones aim to stimulate the vagus nerve externally and currently are retailing for $279.
A Florida-based startup wants your music to make you even happier. Called Nervana, the company has created a pair of headphones with a patent-pending vagus nerve stimulation generator. That generator syncs music to an electrical signal that aims to trigger the release of dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter. The result is supposed to be an intense buzz of happiness that can be felt for hours after turning off this "lifestyle and wellness device."


As you've no doubt guessed, the headphones (it's actually a pair of patented ear buds and a generator) work by stimulating the vagus nerve, nicknamed the "neural superhighway." The nerve runs from the brainstem, through the neck, and down into the abdomen, where it connects with most of the major organs.
https://youtu.be/rsySEbLA00g
The idea of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is nothing new. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its medical use in 1997, and more than 100,000 patients have undergone the surgery. In traditional VNS, a silver-dollar-sized generator is implanted under the skin below the collarbone, with wires tunneled up the patient's neck to wrap around the left branch of the vagus nerve. It sends electrical pulses to the nerve every few minutes, and in some cases patients have a special magnet that they can use to manually trigger stimulation, too.

VNS has been used successfully to treat epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression, and it's being studied as a treatment option for rheumatoid arthritis, heart failure, diabetes and intractable hiccups.

Nervana's setup doesn't require surgery. The headphones takes advantage of the fact that the vagus nerve runs very close to the skin by the ear and places the source of the stimulation in the left earbud. It's a much less expensive and intrusive way to stimulate the vagus nerve. According to the Mayo Clinic, noninvasive VNS systems like this are already cleared to treat epilepsy, depression and pain in Europe.


The company says it has tested its device on hundreds of adults and recommends two Nervana sessions of 15-45 minutes twice daily. It's important to note again that this is a lifestyle and wellness device, not a medical one. In case you're worried that the product won't work for you, which is entirely possible, you can return it within 14 days.


Along with syncing up the stimulation with your own music library, the headphones feature an 'ambient' mode, which will allow users to sync their stim to music at festivals or to whatever noises happen to be around you at the time (that's one way to make work meetings a bit more interesting).


In addition to providing a legal way for listeners to get a buzz at music festival, the company is hoping its technology can be used by research organizations that otherwise can't afford to experiment with VNS.

Nervana CEO Ami Brannon says she's particularly excited about one project that the company has started to pursue: "There's a possibility of working with veterans who have come back with PTSD. We're really excited about … [being] able to help people in general, but especially our veterans."


The company's Indiegogo campaign has raised $512,200, or 683 percent of its $75,000 flexible goal, and is slated to close in five days. The headphones currently are available for $279 and will ship out by June.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Cyrus One amplifier to return at "most affordable price ever"[/shadow]

Cyrus will be releasing a new, feature-packed Cyrus One amplifier at the High End Show in Munich later this month.
The new Cyrus One is an update to the classic amplifier which helped launched the company back in 1984. Set to make its debut at High End, the new model features aptX Bluetooth streaming, a phono stage for connecting to a turntable and a headphone amplifier.

What's more, it looks like it will be relatively affordable, promising to showcase the company "at its most affordable price ever".

Information on the High End website reveals a few details about the feature-packed amp, while the Cyrus Audio Twitter account has shared a teaser image, presumably of the new model, with the tagline, "Harder, faster, better, stronger".
The Cyrus One will deliver 2 x 100-watts of power and features Class D amplification. There's an AB headphone amplifier, a MM phono stage, four line level inputs and a set of pre-outs.

The new One aims to celebrate more than 33 years of Cyrus products, taking design cues from the original but bringing it bang up to date when it comes to the specifiactions.

And, interestingly, it looks like it will be the most affordable Cyrus amplifier yet, presumably coming in under the ?699 Cyrus 6a.

Picture via hifidatabase.com
The original Cyrus One/1 was released in 1984, a year after the formation of Cyrus Audio, and, alongside the Cyrus Two, was the first product the company released.

The classic amp will be instantly recognisable to anyone who has set eyes on any Cyrus electronics over the years, so we'd expect the new model to stick to a similar design. Although following the launch of the excellent, if exotically-designed, Cyrus Lyric, we're prepared to be

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Apple launches water-resistant iPhone 7, kills the headphone jack[/shadow]

Having scooped its own launch event with a premature tweet, Apple has today officially launched the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus - and there's no 3.5mm headphone jack.
Promising, unsurprisingly, to be "the best iPhone that we have ever created", the iPhone 7 claims ten key new features, including a new design, new home button and IP76 water and dust resistance.

The iPhone 7 comes in new colours for Apple, including a new jet black finish, and is designed with a high-gloss, seamless unibody design, glass, aluminium and stainless steel.

The new iPhone 7 home button is 'customisable', with force sensitive control and new, more responsive taptic feedback, which can be programmed by third party apps.

There's a new Retina HD display for the new iPhones, promising to be 25 per cent brighter, adheres to the wide colour gamut cinema P3 standard and has a 3D Touch layer.

Apple also confirmed the removal of the headphone jack, focusing instead on the Lightning connection for audio.

The new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will come with bundled new Lightning EarPods, as well as an adaptor for connecting 3.5mm headphones. Also new were the AirPods - Apple's completely wireless earphones.

The AirPods will cost ?159, the Lightning EarPods will be ?29 when sold separately, and the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone adaptor will cost ?9.

And for the first time there are stereo speakers on an iPhone, promising twice the volume.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus cameras get a big update too, with new optical image stabilisation, a wider aperture lens and a new 12-megapixel wide colour capture sensor. Faster, more energy efficient, the iPhone 7 camera sports a Quad LED true tone flash.

iPhone 7 Plus adds a 12-megapixel telephoto camera, allowing you to use both cameras to capture images. Both phones have 7-megapixel FaceTime HD cameras.

There's a new Apple A10 Fusion Chip - "the most powerful chip ever in a phone" - that promises to run twice as fast as the iPhone 6, while using less power.

There are new finishes, too, an anodised matte black and a jet black.

In a strange turn of events, Apple's official Twitter account sent out a tweet went at the start of the event, before Tim Cook, Apple CEO, had announced the new iPhone 7.

As well as a water-resistant body, the tweet - now deleted - appeared to show that Apple has indeed removed the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Apple also confirmed the new iPhone 7 has stereo speakers, new cameras and a "longer battery".

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available in silver, gold, rose gold and the new black finish in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB models starting at ?599. The new jet black finish will be offered exclusively on the 128GB and 256GB models.

The iPhone 7 will be available from 16th September.

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Philips 32-inch Monitor Feature Packed for $450[/shadow]
The new Philips Crystalclear BDM3270QP2 32-inch monitor features 2560?1440 resolution with DisplayPort, HDMI, and Dual link DVI connectivity for $450. The feature packed display includes MultiView technology, which enables active dual connect to view multiple devices like a PC and Notebook side-by-side simultaneously. You can also watch live sports from your set-top box or follow breaking news feeds on one side of the screen, all while browsing the Internet from your notebook or while working on your latest blog post on the other side of the display.

A Philips AMVA LED panel uses an advanced multi-domain vertical alignment technology to give you super-high static contrast ratios for extra vivid and bright images. While standard office applications are handled with ease, it is especially suitable for photos, web-browsing, films, gaming and demanding graphical applications. Its optimized pixel management technology gives you 178/178 degree extra wide viewing angle, resulting in crisp images even in 90-degree pivot mode. The 10-bit display delivers rich color depth with 1.074 billion colors and 12-bit internal processing for recreating smooth, natural colors without gradations and color banding.

The display comes with Philips Flicker-Free technology to regulate brightness, a SmartErgoBase for ergonomic adjustments, built-in stereo speakers, and a low bezel-to-table height for maximum reading comfort. Two USB 3.0 inputs deliver super speedy data transfers with a 5.0 gbit/s transfer rate and two USB 2.0 inputs are ideal for low speed peripherals. Finally, an integrated MHL port allows users to connect compatible phones and tablets directly to the monitor to mirror content to the widescreen display while charging the mobile device at the same time.

Price and Availability
The Philips Crystalclear Quad HD 2560 x 1440 32-inch display is now available for $449 at Amazon.com.

SPECIFICATION BDM3270QP2
LCD panel type AMVA LCD
Backlight type W-LED system
Panel Size 32 inch
Aspect ratio 16:9
Optimum resolution 2560 x 1440 @ 60Hz
Response time (typical) 4 ms (Grey to Grey)
Brightness (typical) 250 cd/m?
SmartContrast 50M:1
Contrast Ratio 3000:1
Viewing angle 178? (H)/178? (V)@ C/R > 10
Display colors 10-bit ColorColor support 1.07 billion colors
MHL 1080P @ 60 Hz
Signal Input VGA (Analog)
Display Port
MHL-HDMI (Digital, HDCP)
DVI-Dual Link (digital, HDCP)
Audio In/Out PC audio-in, headphone out
Built-in speakers 3W x 2
Power supply Built-in, 100-240VAC, 50-60Hz
Color Black
Finish Texture

 

[Administrator]

[shadow=blue]Review: Better GPU and 4K screen make the XPS 15 a MacBook Pro for PC users[/shadow]
Review: Quad-core CPUs, a GTX 1050 GPU, and 32GB RAM will please power users.

PC companies are striving to make their 13-inch laptops ever thinner and lighter, a trend that has been good for our shoulders and backs but not as good for performance. Luckily, 15-inch laptops are there to serve as a counterweight, offering not just quad-core processors but increasingly powerful and desktop-like graphics chips.

Dell’s XPS 15, much like Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro, attempts to straddle the line between svelte and powerful. It’s not the smallest or most powerful laptop, but last year’s model struck a good balance between size and speed even if the best configurations were on the expensive side. This year’s version doesn’t change a lot, but a new more power-efficient GPU, a Kaby Lake CPU upgrade, and a fingerprint reader all make it worth reconsidering anyway.
This iteration of the XPS 15 design is just over a year old, and Dell hasn’t messed with it much. The laptop is essentially a blown-up version of the thin-bezeled XPS 13 that the company released to glowing reviews in 2015. The slim border around the top and sides of the screen looks pretty cool and also helps Dell reduce the laptop’s footprint, fitting a 15-inch screen into something slimmer and lighter than a 13-inch laptop might have been five or six years ago.

Like all the modern XPS designs, Dell uses aluminum for the lid and the bottom of the laptop, combined with a pleasant-feeling (but oil-capturing) soft-touch palm rest and keyboard tray. Add a solid backlit keyboard and a Microsoft Precision Touchpad, and you have pretty much completed the recipe.

Dell offers two 15.6-inch display options with the XPS 15: a base 1080p IPS screen with no touch support and a 4K touchscreen. Our review unit uses the latter, and it’s a gorgeous panel (although it could really use an anti-glare coating). It’s high-resolution and tack-sharp, yes, but it also supports the Adobe RGB color gamut instead of the more common (and limited) sRGB. Apple is accomplishing something similar with the DCI-P3 panels it has been using in recent Macs, iPads, and iPhones, though the two color spaces have different strengths. Apple’s P3 space covers more reds, yellows, magentas, and some green tones, but Adobe RGB has an edge when it comes to blues and greenish-blues.

The nice thing is that Dell also ships an app called PremierColor with the XPS 15. By default, its "Vibrant" setting covers not just the Adobe RGB gamut, but also the P3 gamut. If you need to work in a specific color space, it allows for easy switching between Adobe RGB, P3, and sRGB. If you think you can use a wide-gamut screen, the XPS 15 should serve you well. The 1080p screen will probably be OK, too, based on the panels that Dell normally uses in the XPS machines, but that’s a bit on the low-resolution side for a modern laptop of this size.
Look and feel

SPECS AT A GLANCE: 2017 DELL XPS 15 (AS REVIEWED)
SCREEN 15.6-inch 4K IPS touchscreen with Adobe RGB support
OS Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
CPU Quad-core 2.8 GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Intel Core i7-7700HQ
RAM 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 (user-upgradeable to 32GB)
GPU Intel HD Graphics 630/Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5 RAM
HDD 512GB PCIe SSD (upgradeable up to 1TB)
NETWORKING Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1
PORTS 1x Thunderbolt 3, 2x USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4, SD reader, headphone jack
SIZE 14.06" x 9.27" x 0.45-0.66" (357 x 235 x 11-17mm)
WEIGHT 4.5 pounds (2kg)
BATTERY 97WHr
WARRANTY One year
STARTING PRICE $999.99
PRICE AS REVIEWED $2,074.99
OTHER PERKS 720p webcam, backlit keyboard, Microsoft Precision Touchpad, fingerprint sensor

The weight of the laptop differs based on the configuration you go with. Cheaper models with 1080p displays use a 56WHr battery; they also usually pair a 32GB sold-state boot drive with a 2.5-inch spinning HDD to expand the amount of available storage. Those versions weigh four pounds, in line with Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro. More expensive XPS 15 configurations with 4K screens go all-in on PCI Express SSDs and fill the space saved from the 2.5-inch drive with more battery. Those 97WHr versions weigh 4.5 pounds, though they have exactly the same dimensions otherwise.
Below the screen is the XPS series’ trademark, weirdly positioned webcam that shoots straight up your nose (women have also pointed out to me that it’s positioned at chest level), an oddity we’ve never liked but which is necessitated by the narrow top bezel. And positioned below the keyboard and to the right of the trackpad is a ($25, optional) static Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint reader. It’s a nice addition that addresses one of our minor complaints about the original XPS 15 and ticks one of the boxes on our list of requirements for high-end laptops in 2017.

Speaking of that list, the XPS 13 also includes a single USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port on its right side. This port isn’t used for charging—the adapter that comes with it is rated for 130W, and the fact that the USB Power Delivery spec only goes up to 100W might explain why, and, unfortunately, you can’t charge the laptop with a USB-C charger even if you have one. The port does open the door to high-speed storage and external GPU connections, though, in addition to 10Gbps USB 3.1 gen 2 and DisplayPort output via USB-C Alternate Mode.

The laptop otherwise offers a small but respectable array of ports: two USB 3.0, one on each side; a full-size HDMI port; a full-size SD card reader; and a headphone jack. A lock slot and battery indicator button round things out.
If you want to read more about how we feel about the XPS 15’s design and the general look and feel of the lineup, you can check out our original review of the XPS 15, plus reviews of the XPS 13 and the XPS 13 2-in-1. Our general verdict remains the same as ever: it has a weirdly placed webcam and it’s hard to completely clean the palm rest of oil from your hands, but Dell has constructed a very nice laptop overall. It checks most of the premium PC boxes, and it has a distinctive look that doesn’t immediately look like a clone of a laptop from Apple or anyone else.

Software

Just the briefest of notes on the XPS 15's software loadout, which is Windows 10 Home by default but can become Windows 10 Pro with a $50 upgrade: entry-level PCs are the ones most heavily subsidized by crapware, and as a premium consumer PC, the XPS 15 keeps it to a minimum. You’ve got a McAfee subscription that’s easily removed, a 20GB Dropbox storage offer, a Microsoft Office demo, and a shotgun blast of Dell utilities and driver files (including Nvidia’s whole GeForce Experience deal).

The aforementioned Dell PremierColor app is probably the most interesting of the Dell software, followed closely by the Dell Update utility, which promises the prompt download and installation of new BIOS and driver downloads from Dell. An 11GB recovery partition takes a chunk out of your usable space, but, as always, you can reclaim it in favor of using Windows 10’s built-in recovery options if you want those gigabytes back.

Listing image by Andrew Cunningham


[shadow=blue]Performance[/shadow]

The new XPS 15 uses either dual- or quad-core Intel Kaby Lake processors, either Intel’s HD 630 integrated GPU or an Nvidia GTX 1050 with 4GB of GDDR5 RAM, PCI Express SSDs (occasionally backed by 2.5-inch HDDs), and anywhere between 8GB and 32GB of DDR4 RAM spread out across two RAM slots. Yes, unlike most other compact laptops available these days, Dell actually does let you swap out your own RAM in these things if you want an upgrade.

Our review unit included the top-of-the-line Core i7-7700HQ CPU, the Nvidia GPU, the 512GB SSD (256GB and 1TB are also options, if you can pay for them), and 16GB of RAM, which should be more than enough computing power for most. All else being equal, I’d have preferred Intel’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips to the Killer-branded Qualcomm version used here—it’s harder to get the latest drivers, and there’s a Microsoft-branded Bluetooth mouse I absolutely couldn’t get to pair to the XPS 15 no matter what I tried—but most Bluetooth accessories seemed fine, and I never had Wi-Fi troubles to speak of.

We’ve compared the XPS 15 to the XPS 13 2-in-1 and the Surface Book with the Performance Base attached, to give you some idea of how it stacks up to thin-and-light and relatively beefy dual-core systems. We’ve also compared it to Dell’s own Alienware 13 R3 and HP’s 17-inch Omen laptop. Alienware and Omen are Dell’s and HP’s dedicated gaming brands, and as such those laptops make different tradeoffs. They’re a whole lot heavier and chunkier, and the 17-inch Omen is a whole lot bigger. But they give you higher-end GPU options, the benefits of which are readily visible in the majority of benchmarks.

The CPU charts show the XPS 15 pulling way ahead of the dual-core laptops and mostly keeping pace with the quad-core CPUs in the other laptops. There is one exception, though—the Cinebench multi-core CPU benchmark score is a fair bit lower than the one for the Alienware laptop, even though both use identical processors. The Cinebench test runs for longer and is a bit heavier than the Geekbench test, which suggests that Dell does have to throttle the XPS 15’s processor more aggressively under sustained workloads to keep heat under control. The Alienware machine is much thicker and has more robust cooling, which gives the processor more room to breathe.

The tests also demonstrate the clear lines drawn between integrated GPUs and dedicated GPUs, between older dedicated GPUs and modern ones, and between modern midrange GPUs and modern high-end GPUs. Both the XPS 15’s GTX 1050 GPU and the Surface Book’s GTX 965M GPU are far and away better than Intel’s integrated graphics. And the GTX 1050 is decidedly faster than the GTX 965M—usually by around 20 or 30 percent depending on the test, which speaks to the strength of Nvidia’s Pascal architecture. We don’t have an XPS 15 to run our new benchmark suite on, but the tests from last year’s review that do overlap suggest that the 1050 would best the old XPS 15’s GTX 960M by even more, usually between 30 and 40 percent.

I loaded up some games on the XPS to see what those scores meant in real-world terms. If you’re playing pretty old games like Portal 2, playing in 4K with all the settings turned all the way up is actually possible. But for more modern games like Fallout 4, you’d do best to turn the resolution down to 1080p, and Medium or High settings will guarantee you the best framerates. I don’t have VR hardware on hand to test with, but unfortunately we already know that you generally want a GTX 1060 or better, not a 1050, to achieve playable framerates in most games.

The charts show why. The GTX 1060 in the Alienware laptop is easily twice as fast as the 1050 in many tests, and the beefier GTX 1070 in the HP Omen does better still. If you’re hoping for a VR-ready 15-inch gaming laptop, the Razer Blade is a better choice, since it offers quad-core CPUs and a GTX 1060 in a package that’s not too much larger than the XPS 15.

This leaves the XPS 15 in an odd position. It’s not really a “gaming laptop,” but you also won’t be able to find a game that won’t run on it if you’re cool with turning some settings down. It’s not a good fit for someone who will primarily uses their laptop for gaming, but it’s great if you want to be able to play games sometimes, and you also want to avoid the chunky designs and execrable glowing red-and-green accents of most stereotypical “gamer” laptops.

One final thing to note: the XPS 15's normal fan noise level is fine, and when you're doing most general productivity tasks you won’t notice more than a quiet whirr even if you’re in an otherwise silent room. But if you’re playing a game, those fans spin up like jet engines, easily drowning out the audio from the speakers. You’ll want to put some good headphones in, and you’ll want to make sure you aren’t blocking the fan vents as you play.

The 512GB PCIe SSD in the XPS is a solid performer, easily smacking down the other systems in both read and write performance. The 256GB model may have lower write performance, as smaller SSDs often do, but, in any case, you’re getting a nice, fast drive.

[shadow=blue]Battery life[/shadow]

Battery life feels like the XPS 15’s biggest compromise, at least if you’re using the one with the 4K screen and comparing it to most 13-inch Ultrabooks. Dell promises “up to 19.5 hours of productivity,” but that number was calculated using the model with the largest battery and the 1080p screen. At just under 10 hours, our 4K model fell well short of that. And it’s a pretty light test—based on my real-world usage, I’d knock two or three more hours off of that figure for active mixed use.

The XPS does manage to stay head and shoulders above the pure gaming laptops represented here, though. It outlasts the Alienware laptop by a couple of hours and runs for nearly twice as long as the hulking HP Omen. Put a light-but-continuous load on the CPU and GPU, as our WebGL test does, and the XPS 15 sinks down to their level, though (and the Alienware actually outlasts it).

Pricing and configurations

The XPS 15 starts at $1,000, which sounds pretty good until you start looking at all the different configuration options; the bottom tiers are all missing various bits and pieces that make the laptop worthwhile. The $1,000 version, for instance, offers a 32GB SSD boot drive but primarily relies on a 500GB 7200RPM hard disk for storage, only uses a dual-core i3-7100H CPU, and is stuck with integrated graphics and a 56WHr battery (though with a 1080p screen, a dual-core CPU, and integrated graphics, its battery life might be fine anyway).

The $1,250 version still sticks with a 1080p screen and a hybrid SSD/HDD setup (just with a 1TB HDD instead of 500GB), but it adds a quad-core i5-7300HQ CPU and the GTX 1050 GPU and represents a respectable bare minimum if you’re primarily concerned with getting the best performance for your buck; if you’re unhappy with the 8GB of RAM you at least have the option to upgrade it yourself whenever you want. The main sticking point is the continued use of the 56WHr battery, which isn’t a great fit for the more powerful components. The $1,450 version steps up to a Core i7-7700HQ CPU and is the cheapest model to use a pure SSD (256GB PCIe in this case), but the battery complaint stands.

The $1,650 version is a good sweet spot. You step down to the i5-7300HQ processor, but you keep everything else, and you add the 4K touchscreen and the larger 97WHr battery; if you’re cool upgrading your own RAM from the included 8GB, this one is probably the best balance of price and performance. You can step back down to the 1080p non-touch screen and add the i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and the 512GB SSD for $1,750; the 4K screen is a $300 add-on for this config. Or you can re-add the 4K screen and a 1TB SSD for $2,250 and get a fully loaded config with 32GB of RAM straight from the factory for $2,549 (the market rate for 32GB of laptop DDR4 across two 16GB DIMMs starts around $200, for reference).

The fingerprint reader isn’t standard on any model, but you can add it to any model for a $25 upcharge.

In short, the XPS 15 is less expensive than Apple’s flagship laptop by a considerable margin, but that doesn’t mean it’s “cheap.” Costs escalate quickly as you add upgrades, and, the way Dell sells the systems, it’s usually not possible to prioritize some upgrades over others; you pick one of Dell’s pre-configured offerings or you walk away. I would recommend that most Ars readers get the $1,650 model and then add whatever RAM you need after the fact, but you'll have to make that decision for yourself.

[shadow=blue]A well-balanced system[/shadow]

You could read the XPS 15 one of two ways. On the one hand, it feels like a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none laptop. Its performance is good, but there are definitely other laptops that are more credible for high-end gaming and VR. Its battery life is OK for its size and for the performance it offers, but it’s far below that of 13-inch thin-and-light Ultrabooks, including the XPS 13 family. While it’s reasonably thin and light for a laptop of its size, we’re still talking about 4 or 4.5 pounds of laptop here, something you won’t necessarily want to sling over your shoulder all day, every day. Battery life is OK but a far cry from “all day,” even with the added weight of the 97WHr version. And the top-end configs can get costly.

On the other hand, the XPS feels greater than the sum of its parts. It offers excellent CPU performance, and its GPU is more than beefy enough for workstation tasks and 1080p-ish gaming. PCI Express SSDs are a must in any modern high-end system, and both the port selection and support for 32GB of RAM should please power users exasperated by the more common 16GB cap in other laptops (including Apple’s latest MacBook Pros). Its battery will last you through most domestic flights and the bulk of an eight-hour workday. The 4K screen is stunning. And all of this fits into a package that will, with some effort, squeeze into many 13-inch messenger bags.

This year’s model isn’t a huge change from last year’s, but the improved performance-per-watt of Nvidia’s GTX 1000-series GPUs plus the addition of the fingerprint reader help it keep its appeal. It’s not the best laptop for everything, but it’s also not bad at anything, and there’s something to be said for that.

The good

Quad-core CPUs and a respectable dedicated GPU make this laptop well-suited to just about any laptop workload.
Distinctive design and solid construction.
Fairly small and light for its screen size and specs.
Gorgeous 4K panel with Adobe RGB support.
PCIe SSDs.
Thunderbolt 3/USB-C backed up by a good selection of other ports.
Good keyboard, Precision Touchpad.
For $25, the Windows Hello fingerprint reader is a must-have upgrade.
Up to 32GB of RAM, and it's user-upgradeable to boot.
The bad

Weird webcam placement.
Lots of glare from the glossy screen.
Palmrest soaks up oil and smudges.
VR and modern 4K gaming are out of reach.
Some indications of CPU throttling under heavy load.
Upgrades drive the $1,000 base price up quickly.
The ugly

Battery life of the 4K model is tolerable, not great.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/03/dells-new-xps-15-isnt-the-best-at-everything-but-its-not-bad-at-anything/