David Snow - page 131

In gift-giving season, sometimes you get something you already have or something that isn’t quite what you wanted. So, if you can exchange the item for something you truly covet — like a killer pair of Apple AirPods or Beats earbuds — you probably should.

But how do you choose between earbuds made by Apple and earbuds made by Apple subsidiary Beats by Dre? We’ve laid out the specs for four popular sets of buds, below, pitting AirPods Pro against Beats Fit Pro and the new AirPods (3rd gen) against Beats Studio Buds. But all the specs listed in each chart are the same, so it’s not difficult to compare and contrast all four.

A new, red-and-gold, limited-edition design for Beats Studio Buds will celebrate the Lunar New Year in China and other countries — the Year of the Tiger — Apple said on Monday.

This follows a recent release of another predominately red, limited-edition design in collaboration with the men’s fashion store Union we wrote about earlier in December.

Apple reportedly hired Meta’s AR communications chief recently, a move that fits with Cupertino’s long-rumored plan to launch an augmented reality/virtual reality headset.

Observers expect Apple to unveil its mixed-reality headset sometime in 2022. And, according to Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, Apple is forming a team to handle the hardware’s launch and marketing. Part of this appears to be the hiring of Andrea Schubert, chief of communications and public relations for AR at Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook.

If you’re an avid gamer, or maybe just an aspiring one, it pays to know which displays and accessories will best serve your needs. Not just any display, input device and headset will keep up with today’s graphically rich games. The dual M1 Mac and Sony PlayStation 5 computer setup we look at today demonstrates some good choices you might consider.

Redditor smhppp uses an M1 Mac mini for personal uses, an M1 MacBook Air for work and a Sony PS5 for gaming. They showed their setup in a post entitled, “Current setup, spec in comments for those interested.” It’s one of those one-vertical-and-one horizontal-display setups so many people are trying lately.

It’s Christmas Eve, and all we want for the holiday is a Porsche 911. It could be a gleaming new one, with a base price of a mere $99,200. It could be super-cool vintage one. Or it could even be a Lego one like the one featured in today’s MacBook Pro and iPad Pro-driven setup.

OK, given our paltry income, who are we kidding — we’d even take a die-cast 911, like the Matchbox cars of our youth.

Sometimes when you’re trawling the interwebs for cool computer setups, you learn a lot not just from the person bragging about their gear in a social media post, but also from the folks admiring or lambasting it. Such is the case with today’s iPad Pro and Dell widescreen setup.

Its owner and other folks push the importance of adding a good webcam and good lighting for successful videoconferencing. And other folks make a compelling case for adding a subwoofer to paired HomePod minis if you want any bass at all in your music.

This GaN2 charger post is presented by Journey, a brand of Alogic.

These days, you really don’t have to live with slow chargers for your iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro and other devices. That’s because gallium nitride (GaN) technology makes it possible to pack components into small spaces, resulting in tiny but powerful charging gadgets like the Journey 30W USB-C Mini Charger.

It’s fast. It’ll charge almost anything. And because it’s one of the smallest chargers you can get, you can take it anywhere. Even better, Journey’s current promotion offers the little powerhouse for 30% off with the code BLACK30.

Australia-based Røde Microphones rolled out a host of free updates to its Røde Central app, making its popular Wireless Go II Dual Channel Wireless Microphone System more capable and easier to use in a variety of ways.

Last week a crowdfunding campaign launched for the new BusKill USB kill cord. It’s a dead man’s switch for laptops designed to protect your data by locking or even wiping your computer if someone snatches it away from you while you’re using it.

BusKill is designed for journalists, activists, crypto traders and travelers, the company said. Though it seems it could come in handy for anyone at risk of losing a laptop via smash-and-grab tactics.

China-based audio specialist Edifier said Monday its new MP230 Bluetooth speaker — a CES 2022 Innovation Award Honoree — is now shipping. For a hundred bucks, the portable stereo acoustic speakers come in a wood frame that would not look out of place in your grandfather’s den. Yet you can take your tunes outside, too.

Marking the 60th anniversary of the James Bond movie franchise, Apple TV+ plans to release a documentary film entitled The Sound of 007 in October 2022. It will celebrate the music of the Bond films, from Dr. No with Sean Connery in 1962 to Daniel Craig’s last romp as the man from MI6 in 2021, No Time to Die.

The soon-to-launch Schlage Encode Plus smart lock could be the first to support Apple Home Key, according to various leaked documents. And, in another “first,” the smart lock looks likely to offer Thread support for HomeKit.

HomeKit Authority reported on the Schlage Encode Plus recently, citing a since-removed Home Depot listing, Schlage’s own installation guide as well as a Federal Communications Commission filing.

OK, so no 2021 award for Most Fastidious Cable Management, mentioned in this article’s headline, exists — at least not around here. But if it did, we might hand it to the person behind today’s setup.

It centers on a 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro and a 32-inch LG 4K display. And it keeps cable clutter to an extreme minimum.

If you look up “11.11” in the Slang Dictionary, it says, “If it’s 11:11, make a wish! Some people believe 11:11 is a magic number or lucky time of day, good for making a wish … or reaching cosmic enlightenment.” Well, if something’s enlightened, or at least en-whitened, it’s today’s Mac mini-based setup.

It’s all there in black and white, really, with “11.11” writ large on the dual displays — probably via the Fliqlo screensaver, though it could be a clock app — and Nintendo gaming consoles aplenty.

Sonnet Technologies rolled out its new Echo 5 Thunderbolt 4 Hub on Tuesday to enable Mac and iPad Pro users — or anyone with a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port on their machine — to expand their connectivity to peripherals like displays, input devices and storage. And it offers a robust 85W of charging power.

When you get a computer or tablet and it has fewer ports than you’d like, hubs like this one can come in handy.

Accessory-maker mophie launched three new portable batteries in its powerstation go rugged series Wednesday. Each one is capable of charging mobile devices, powering lights and more during a power outage, or even jump-starting a car if necessary.

“The addition of rugged to our existing powerstation go lineup gives customers another option for power while on-the-go,” said Gavin Slevin, managing director of mophie parent company Zagg International, in a press release. “We are excited to equip users with another multifunctional and affordable portable power option for peace of mind while on the road.”

A new international whodunit is coming to Apple TV+. It’s Suspicion, a limited series starring Uma Thurman and Noah Emmerich. The streaming service said the show debuts with two episodes on February 4, 2022.

I think it was a Kickstarter campaign that first drew my attention to the Yobybo X-Boat Pro noise-cancelling earbuds, “the first open-casing true wireless stereo headphones with LDAC,” the company said, referring to Sony’s hi-res codec. Well, while the sleek “open” case is super-cool and the buds’ sound is vibrant, some earbuds just aren’t for everyone.

Earlier this year, accessories maven Nomad made its popular Base Station Mini wireless charger — suitable for juicing up one iPhone — MagSafe-comptible. Now it has added magnets to another popular product, the Nomad Base Station Hub, which can top off up to four devices at once.

Cyber Acoustics launched its new USB speaker bar with an integrated monitor mount on Tuesday. Perched on your display, it offers well-projected audio while helping to keep your desktop clutter-free.

SpotCam recently unveiled its new SpotCam Pano 2, a smart, 5-megapixel cloud security AI camera with free, full-time, continuous cloud recording to make sure you always have your footage. The company, founded in Taiwan in 2013, said it’s the only camera brand to offer that.

With its launch Monday of the Creative Cloud Express mobile and web app, Adobe bundles tools from its Creative Cloud Suite and Acrobat PDF into a simple platform amateurs can use to create a variety of projects. The app means to make it simple to make social media posts, promotional posters, invitations, videos and more.

Totallee’s new Hybrid MagSafe cases for iPhone 13 bring to mind the company’s usual “barely-there,” brand-free aesthetic. But these thin cases are a little more sturdy than some of the company’s other ultra-thin products.

One of the questions you see most in the comments sections of posts about computer setups on social media is: Where did you get that wallpaper? To many folks, the setup may be fine and dandy, but what they really care about is not so much the fancy hardware, but the imagery on the display that they might easily get for themselves.

Today’s setup is a prime example. It made us look back at 10 great wallpaper sources we’ve come across, below. That’s 11, actually, including today’s subject.

Anker is out with yet another charging accessory, this time the Anker 333 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station. It’s another convenient means by which to power up your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch all in one place.