If you’re looking for another alternative to sharing media content and making free phone calls over WiFi, you might want to check out Sidecar for Android and iOS. The recently released app allows users a plethora of sharing options as long as all recepients have the app installed. If you try to make a call to someone who doesn’t yet have the app, it will send them a text message asking them to check out the app. Features of Sidecar include
There are those faithful who will never surrender their little white Apple earbuds. To them we say: Wear proudly. But for the rest, for those who don’t want to deal with sub-par sound, earbuds flopping around and having to hunt for foam covers, come with us — and we’ll show you a world of possibilities.
A large proportion of iPhone 4S adopters have been hit by an issue on the new device that randomly mutes their audio when they make a call. Their recipient appears to pickup — or the call goes to voicemail — but they do not hear anything.
If you’re one of these users and you’re hoping for a fix in Apple’s upcoming iOS 5.1 software update, then you may be disappointed. According to developers already testing the release, it does not address this particular issue.
Carrier IQ CEO Larry Lenhart and vice president of marketing Andrew Coward have revealed in an interview that despite the company’s assurance that no personal data is recorded by its software, a “bug” did unintentionally collect users’ text messages. What it does collect intentionally — particularly for the Federal Bureau of Investigation — is yet to be clarified, with the FBI refusing to disclose this information.
Many headsets promise a headset utopia, making smartphone users’ heads fill with visions of commanding their world with a simple voice command.
The Plantronics Marque M155 ($60) and the Motorola HX550 ($60) both make similar promises, with the HX550’s packaging going as far as to promise a “complete hands-free solution.” Both headsets offer liberation from holding the phone, but how do these midrange ‘sets match up to the marketing promises — or the abilities of their more expensive siblings?
Ever faced with one of those situations where you need to give out your phone number, but you feel a bit iffy about doing it? RingShuffle is a free app that’s ideal to have on your iPhone for exactly those occasions.
Almost all mic-equipped canalphones that can be had for about $100 use moving-coil drivers to produce sound, as is the case with all the previous IEMs in this review series. But the Ultimate Ears 600vi ($120) are different — this set employs a single tiny armature in each ear. Armatures generally allow for a more neutral sound with better definition than their moving-coil brethren, and that’s exactly the case with the 600vi. In fact, this set uses pretty much the same excellent drivers as in the now-discontinued, $180 SuperFi 5vi we reviewed early last year.
And yes, apart from the V-Moda Vibrato, the 600vi is $20 more than the other earphones in this review series — but we think the extra Jackson is worth it.
Maybe you’re not going to buy a pair of earphones based on the way they look; maybe you’d rather spend your moolah on a pair that came with exquisite performance. What if you could have both? In spades? Here you go: With their deep, bone-tingling bass and blue-blood looks and manners, the Klipsch Image S4i earphones ($100) is the Prince…of Spades.
I always feel like I should be wearing diamond-studded sunglasses, walking around in a silk bathrobe or drinking Cristal from actual Bohemian crystal whenever I sink a pair of V-Moda’s babies into my ears. This doesn’t have anything neccessarily to do with how they sound, but rather because V-Moda has a knack for creating earphones with exotic looks and a luxurious feel to them that also appeal to the other senses. And so it goes with the V-Moda Vibrato Remote earphones ($130).
The JayBird Freedom JF3 ($99) Bluetooth wireless headphones are a successful attempt to build upon a paramount technological concept: take something good and make it great — or in this case, take a good pair of IEM headphones and ditch the cord. It’s like a musical bris without the rabbi — or the baby.
![Music For The Masses: Budget Earphone Shootout [Review, Shootout]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/budget-earphones-2.jpg "budget-earphones-2")
A large proportion of iPhone 4S adopters have been hit by an issue on the new device that randomly mutes their audio when they make a call. Their recipient appears to pickup — or the call goes to voicemail — but they do not hear anything.
![Midrange Bluetooth Headset Faceoff: Motorola HX550, Plantronics M155 Marque [Review, Faceoff]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/hx550-m155-cover.jpg "hx550-m155-cover")
![Hide From Creeps With RingShuffle’s Extra Phone Number [Daily Freebie]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ringshuffle.jpg "ringshuffle")
![Ultimate Ears 600vi: The Champ [Review, $100 IEM Week]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ue-600vi-cover-1.jpg "ue-600vi-cover-1")
![Klipsch Image S4i Earphones: The Prince [Review, $100 IEM Week]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/klipsch-image-s4i-cover-1.jpg "klipsch-image-s4i-cover-1")
![V-Moda Vibrato Remote Earphones: The Rockstar [Review, $100 IEM Week]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/vmoda-vibrato-remote-cover-2.jpg "vmoda-vibrato-remote-cover-2")
![JayBird Freedom JF3 Bluetooth Earphones Fly Great, But They’re No Songbirds [Review]](http://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/jaybird-freedom-cover.jpg "jaybird-freedom-cover")
