Kensington USB 3.0 adaptor multi Display adaptor

Have a need to attach more monitors to your USB 3.0-equipped Mac, but don’t want to use a Thunderbolt, Mini DisplayPort, or HDMI port? Kensington may have just the thing for you — the Universal Multi-Display Adapter (US$79.99 MSRP), AKA the USB 3.0 Multi-Display Adapter.

Previously this device was available only for PCs, but new drivers available from DisplayLink make the adapter compatible with any Mac running OS X Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion. Essentially what the adapter does is makes one of your USB 3.0 ports available to drive a monitor or projector. It’s a small (2″ x 3.5″ x .68″) black box with a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 input on one end and a female DVI connector on the other end. That’s a bit unfortunate, since many monitors are also equipped with a female DVI connector so you’ll need to buy another adapter. LIkewise, the included DVI to VGA adapter is relatively useless — although it plugs right into the Multi-Display Adapter, it has a female connector on the open end, once again requiring a male to male adapter cable to connect to many VGA ports.

Since the Mac software is relatively new, you need to download and install it prior to running the device. It takes up only about 16 MB of storage, and requires a reboot. After installing the software, I was able to find a male-to-male VGA cable, so I plugged one end into the 17-inch ViewSonic monitor I use with my MacBook Pro with Retina display, the other into the DVI to VGA adapter, and then plugged that into the Multi-Display Adapter. Next, the USB cable was plugged into the MacBook Pro, and the screen came right up at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (also known as 1080p). The adapter will support resolutions on an external device of up to 2048 x 1152. As you’d expect, the Adapter is bus-powered and requires no external power.
I previously had some issues when testing a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter when connecting a MacBook Air to a PC projector, so I thought I’d try the projector with this adapter (in most cases, I’ll actually just use an HDMI cable to go straight from the MBP to the projector). Once again, the adapter worked like a champ, allowing me to drive the projector flawlessly from the MacBook Pro.

Considering the variety of video output modes that are available on most modern Macs — HDMI, Thunderbolt, and Mini DisplayPort — you might not need to have a USB 3.0-based adapter to add a monitor to your setup. However, it’s nice to know that the option exists, and that the price tag on this adapter isn’t too bad — it was selling on Amazon today for $20 off the MSRP.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a way to hook up a DVI or VGA monitor to a Mac through USB 3.0, the Kensington Universal Multi-Display Adapter is a bus-powered alternative that may fit your needs.

Positive

Provides a way to connect a monitor, projector, or other display to your USB 3.0-equipped Mac without using a Thunderbolt, Mini DIsplay Port, or HDMI port
Can also be used with Windows PCs
DVI / VGA out works with a lot of monitors and projectors
Price isn’t too high at retail, although generic adapters (Monoprice, etc…) might be less available for less
Cons

Female out on both adapter and the DVI/VGA adapter is annoying; need to use a male by male cable (not included) to plug into most monitors and projectors.

Transforma-ti telefonul intr-un laptop cu Casetop

So we’ve all been hearing about the upcoming Android powered laptops, but what if you could just turn your phone into a laptop, like the Asus Padfone allows you to turn it into a tablet? Not gonna happen? Well that’s where you’re wrong. Lividesign has released their concept which allows you to slot your phone into the dock and turn it into a laptop.

The Casetop connects via MHL, HDMI or microUSB, depending on what you have available. It’s large screen only has a 720p resolution so far, but they’re hoping to get that up to 1080p by launch. Still, we can get 1080p resolution on phones now, so don’t expect to be wowed by the display. With an estimated price point of $250, it’s pretty cheap, although still $50 more than a fully fledged Chromebook. And of course, that $250 doesn’t include the phone, which you also need to power this thing. Still, they claim it’s more convenient than a normal laptop, and is easier to share since anyone can just plug in their phones. And almost all smartphones will work with the Casetop as it claims compatibility with the iPhone, Blackberry 10 and of course Android. A full keyboard will be useful for tasks and they say the desktop versions of Chrome and Firefox are supported to take advantage of the bigger screen. You’ll be able to use your phone as a sort of mouse to control the device, since the display isn’t actually a touchscreen, although they will add that too if they get enough funding.

EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN

If aliens ever land and say, “Take us to your single-GPU leader,” you’ll have to find a GTX Titan that’s available for a viewing. The Titan is without a doubt the fastest single-GPU card available today, but it’s not the fastest single video card, as that distinction still belongs to dual-GPU behemoths such as the Asus Ares II and the Nvidia GTX 690. A lot of people don’t enjoy messing with SLI and CrossFireX, though, and for them the Titan offers the highest level of performance possible at this time without any dual-card shenanigans. It also brings some new technology to the table, has a smaller form factor and lower TDP than the GTX 690, and includes heavily revamped tuning software designed for quiet operation, making it one of the most well-rounded and impressive GPU packages we’ve encountered in recent memory.

The Titan has existed for more than a year in the supercomputer world in the form of the Telsa K20X, which costs around $5,000. It’s Nvidia’s Big Kepler GPU, meaning it’s the most powerful implementation of the company’s current architecture, and for context it’s almost double everything compared to a GTX 680 GPU. It has twice the transistors, almost double the CUDA cores, triple the frame buffer, a wider memory bus, better double-precision performance for compute, and totally revamped tuning software. Given its massive parallelism and size the card runs at a much slower clock speed than a GTX 680, however, moving along at 836MHz compared to the 680′s 1,006MHz clock speed. It’s a half-inch longer than the GTX 680, but is a worthy successor to the flagship cards we tested last year, as it offers a sizable performance increase over all of them, dual-GPU cards excluded, of course.

In terms of new technology, its tuning software now lets you dictate a maximum temperature for the card, which helps keep it totally silent at all times. Out of the box it’s set to 80 C but you can nudge it up to 95 C if you’re feeling saucy; the card can handle it. You can also over-volt the Titan, which is a first for a “stock” card from Nvidia. The GeForce GTX logo is now controlled by software, too, so you can make it breathe and tweak its brightness level. It will supposedly also let you “overclock” your display’s refresh rate, allowing you to bypass VSync to achieve higher frame rates.

In testing, we saw the Titan reign supreme over its single-GPU competitors, but it could not topple the Ares II, Radeon 7990 Devil 13, or GTX 690 cards. It’s also not as fast as dual-card SLI and CrossFireX configurations, which isn’t surprising, but the Titan is close to them despite using only one GPU, which is quite impressive. It also requires exactly half the power requirements, needing just one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCIe connector. Overall it’s a good 10-15 percent faster than the GTX 680, which is great and all, but not for double the price.

In the end, the main goal of the Titan is twofold: to provide a kick-ass GPU to fit inside the increasingly popular SFF rigs, and to convincingly take the single-GPU crown back from AMD’s HD 7970 GHz edition. On both of these fronts it’s definitely Mission Accomplished, which can mean only one thing: It’s your move, AMD!

Server mobil Getac’s X500

Pardon the crude visual, but we have a hunch Getac’s X500 Rugged Server carries around a spare Ultrabook in its bag just in case the restroom runs out of toilet paper. Technically it’s a mobile system in that it resembles a laptop form factor, but it’s a also a beastly looking rig. Of course it’s not intended for mere mortals who spend the day looking over expense reports, but we’d still love to whip one of these out at a board meeting and let it crash down on the table with a thud.

The X500 is a briefcase-sized system that Getac says can be deloyed virtually anywhere and anytime, whether you’re chasing tornados and need to crunch wind data on the spot or doing other in-the-field work.

A quick look at the specs reveals a 15.6-inch display that’s viewable in sunlight, Intel Core i7 820QM processor, 16GB of RAM, GeForce GT 330M graphics, 500GB SATA storage, dual GbE LAN ports, three USB 2.0 ports, a single USB/eSATA combo port, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and various other odds and ends.
There’s also a RAID controller board that supports up to five five shock-protected drives that can be accessed or swapped through one of two quick-access doors. Beyond the hardware, this thing is certified to military specifications for operation in extreme conditions, Getac says.

Moga Pro Controller

Positive
Extremely flexible with optional HID mode. Doesn’t need a third-party driver to work with mappable non-Moga games. Very comfortable. Responsive.

Negative
No iOS support.

Bottom Line
With a great feel, tons of flexibility, and a new HID mode, the Moga Pro Controller is the best mobile gaming controller yet.

Mobile gaming has a big problem: touch screens. Dedicated gaming devices like the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony PlayStation Vita offer up physical controls for playing games. With smartphones and tablets need you to rub your thumbs all over their screens. The Android-focused Moga Pocket Controller impressed us by offering both a solid selection of compatible games through its own store, and a third-party driver that lets you use the controller with any game that can map buttons.

NEC cu tastatura qwerty si sistem os Android

Smartphones with physical QWERTY keyboards are a dying breed, especially the ones with portrait keyboards. Despite that, AT&T appears to be planning on releasing the NEC Terrain to the masses, which is a candy bar style phone, complete with an unspecified Android version and a physical keyboard. It’s not exactly a visually appealing device, and there’s no official specs for it, but I could definitely see it as a cheap gateway phone for old Blackberry holdouts. (Believe it or not, they still exist)

Casti RHA MA-350

One of the first things we typically do with our new smartphones is toss aside the headphones that come bundled in the box. As good as they are, we’d rather spend a few more bucks for something a little nicer. And, while not many of us can afford to drop $100 or more on a set of headphones or earbuds, we often find that $40-$60 is a good price point. It’s here where you’ll find a wide variety of accessories to choose from, many from brands we’ve come to love. Such is the case with the RHA MA-350 earphones.
Built of aircraft grade aluminium, these stylish headphones surprised us with the sound and overall value. Without getting too deep into specifics we would have been happy paying another $20 or so for the MA-350′s.

You’ll find plenty of bass and crisp, clean highs in the earphones and the soft, silicone tips feel great in ear. Noise isolation helps drown out your background chatter and sound however it’s not perfect. If you’re looking to get true noise cancellation without turning volume levels up you’ll need to look elsewhere. With that said, these work wonderful on bicycle rides, on the beach, or on the daily commute to work. These worked very well on our phone and laptop when used on cross-country flights.

We found the MA-350‘s to be very comfortable in extended use; the three sizes of tips fit just about any ear we tried without slippage. The braided cord kept us from tangling or getting twisted up however we did detect, on occasion, a buzz or vibrating sound when bumping against them. This wan’t a persistent problem and we’ve seen this on more expensive models.

Drivers 10mm Mylar
Frequency range 16-22,000Hz
Impedance 16ohms
Sensitivity 103dB
Rated/max power 3/10mW
Weight 11g
Cable 1.2m Fabric braided
Connections 3.5mm Gold plated
In terms of build quality we get the sense that these earphones are in it for the duration. We didn’t see anything that looked like it was going to fall apart or weaken with age. A carrying pouch comes with the earphones and keeps them protected and away from the elements (or the curious hands of children). Speaking of the long haul, we really liked that these came with a 3-year warranty.

Auris bluetooth receiver

If you’re a long time iPod and iPhone user, you probably have an old speaker dock laying around from the pre-iPhone 5 days. While you could use your iPhone 5 with your old dock using a 30-pin to Lightning adapter, having unnecessary cables running around your desk, nightstand or bookshelf can be annoying. However, if you don’t mind losing out on the charging functionality of your dock, you can add the Auris to your dock.

The Auris is Bluetooth receiver for all 30-pin and 3.5mm audio jack speakers. The device itself features Bluetooth capabilities that let you wirelessly stream music from your iPhone using AirPlay. The device can also be used with Android, Windows Phone, and other Bluetooth 4.0 enabled portable devices. The Auris can remember 8 devices at once and has a range of approximately 33-feet.

The device itself is pretty small and looks to be roughly the size of a 6th-generation iPod Nano. Once connected, just tap the power button, pair your device, and start jammin’ to your favorite tunes wirelessly.

The Auris is a former Kickstarter project that raised just under $132,000 with over 2,900 backers. You can purchase an Auris right now for $49.99 via Amazon.com. It’s available in both black and white, so it’s sure to match your speaker dock and iOS device color. If you’d like to order two Auris Bluetooth Receivers, the company is running a deal that gives you two adapters for $89.98.

ASUS MeMO Pad de 7 inch

ASUS has officially released its budget-friendly 7 -inch MeMO Pad in the US, and it costs just $149.99. The ME172V-A1 comes in dark grey, white and pink and offers an option if you don’t want to shell out $200 for the Nexus 7. The release of this budget tablet continues a trend that the consumer electronics marketplace is loving; electronics being sold at a great price with some great specs.

Not so long ago, if you picked up a budget device such as a smartphone or tablet, you would get nothing of value at all; low-end specs and little value for money. While the ASUS MeMO Pad doesn’t boast the specs as the Nexus 7, it certainly does give something to ponder on coming in $50 cheaper than its cousin. The tablet is powered by a single-core 1GHz VIA WM8950 processor, 1 GB RAM and has a 1024×600, 169 PPI 10 finger multi-touch screen. Unlike the Nexus 7, it has an SDCard slot, so the 16GB of storage can be increased and comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. The tablets can be picked up at Gamestop, Amazon and other retailers.

If picking one of these budget-friendly tablets is in your future, be sure to protect it. There are already some really nice Asus MeMO pad cases that are available that will provide the protection you need without hurting your wallet.

Sistem audio NYNE NH-5000

Positive
Attractive, solid-feeling design. Punchy bass response. Gets pretty loud for its size. Supports wireless Bluetooth stereo in addition to its iOS dock.

Negative
Distorts heavily on deep bass tracks at high volumes. Limited remote control. Older 30-pin docking connector. Docking station doesn’t retract. Strange EQ settings.

Bottom Line
The flexible NYNE NH-5000 speaker dock offers iOS docking and wireless Bluetooth audio at a nice price, but it has some design flaws and sound quality is only average.

NYNE’s latest iPod speaker dock, the NH-5000 ($229.95 list) offers an interesting combination of a 30-pin docking connector and wireless Bluetooth capability. That means it works with older Apple devices docked, and newer Android or iOS devices over Bluetooth.