Turtle Beach Ear Force DPX21

Say hello to the iPad generation

I’m at my in-laws for this Eid this year and the first thing I notice in a room full of grand kids is that the ratio of iPad to children is almost 1:1. We are looking at the iPad generation growing right in front of us. Is that a good thing? Yes and No.

The advantages of an iPad as an educational tool are almost limitless. Stories and books come alive and allow much a much more interactive experience for kids than the boring black and white papers on which I grew on. For get young kids- even college students are having their text books converted to the iPad which will make it so much easier for them to carry their bags.

The most fascinating thing about the iPad is how easy it is to use. I remember people wanting to attend computer classes to learn how to use PCs but give them an iPad and you have them zipping through them in no time. Maybe thats why kids love it- it just comes to you naturally.

Other than the educational use, the iPad is also an extremely entertaining and media-centric device. My kids love playing Cut the Rope or Angry Birds on it along streaming their cartoons from our home network. There are plenty of other apps available for it that can keep them occupied during a long car journey.

The downside is that whatever time is spent on the iPad is not spent on running around or other physical activity. But then, my wife and I make sure that their iPad time is restricted to an hour or so per day. Just like we restrict other activities.

Like the iPhone changed the Smartphone market, the iPad will change the computing platform. It might be a bit restrictive for the tech savvy user at the moment, but remember, the initial iPhone didn’t allow you to add any applications other than what was built-in. When these kids grow up, they won’t settle for something as primitive as a keyboard and mouse.

HTC Sense UI 3.5 gets caught on video

Arguably, HTC makes the best UI for Android devices and the as-of-yet unannounced v3.5 takes things a little further. As you will see from the video below, the four icon row at the bottom is replaced by two circular buttons on either side and the weather app has been nicely polished up as well. The device which this new version of Sense is running on is presumably the HTC Bliss.

Du offering all TV channels for free during Eid; Etisalat offers most

Du is offering all 360 TV channels for all Du Home TV subscribers during Eid holidays, irrespective of package.

Etisalat has a similar offer for all of their home customers, but they’re a bit selective on their end with only eLife Triple Play customers having access to “most” TV channels. Check out their press release below for detailed info.

Abu Dhabi, 28 August 2011 – Etisalat today announced a family entertainment treat for its eLife Triple Play customers, by opening most of its Premium TV Channels for free viewing during the Eid holiday. 

During the upcoming EID holidays, eLife Triple Play customers will be able to enjoy Premium TV packages at no cost. The free viewing will include High Definition (HD) channels as well as popular Premium channels from  OSN, Abu Dhabi Media (with English Premier League match telecasts), Pehla, Firstnet, ART, TFC, ZEE Family, UTV, NDTV, Times Group and many more quality entertainment options for families.    

Commenting on this initiative, Mr. Rashed Majed Al Abbbar, Vice President, Home Products at Etisalat. said: “We are delighted to offer this special festive gift for our customers, who can now enjoy premium television content of their choice, at no cost. This initiative is a small gesture from us to gift our loyal subscribers and to share the joy of the festive season with them.”

 “Etisalat offers eLife TV services through its fibre optic network. eLife is a leading source for regional entertainment in the UAE to offer over 300 TV channels in 21 languages, ranging from sports to movies, from documentaries to music and kid’s channels in addition to 30 high definition premium channels. The comprehensive entertainment offerings include 15 Premium TV packages from all the major TV providers like OSN, ART, Pehla, Firstnet, TFC, Pinoy Plus, Abu Dhabi Media, Al Jazeera and many more, in addition to the Choice Basic packages.

ASUS Matrix GTX 580 Platinum

In this review we will look at some of the unique features that separate the ASUS Matrix GTX 580 Platinum graphics card from a reference card and how can users utilize those features. This card retails for $529.99, which is only 20 dollars more than the DirectCU II card and about 70 dollars more than a reference card, which retails for about 459.99.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=2110&pageID=10913

Battle of the SATA 3.0 Controllers

Link: http://techgage.com/article/battle_of_the_sata_30_controllers/

Quote: With newer SSDs now coming well within 10% of maxing out a SATA 3.0 port, it’s important to make sure that your motherboard is properly equipped to handle such drives if planning to buy one. In our testing, while AMD’s and Intel’s solutions offered superb performance, Marvell’s leaved a bit (or a lot) to be desired.

Corsair Hydro Series H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler Review

“Up until I had reviewed the Hydro Series H80, I saw these all-in-one coolers to be really niche, and simply trendy. I can’t deny the clean looks of a water loop cooling a processor, but up till now, they just didn’t have the capacity to handle some of the higher TDP processors without some form of modifications made to the units as they were shipped. Usually it involves possibly lapping the cold plate, figuring out a way to add washers for more head pressure, or swapping out the fans so that the mind numbing noise that is associated with these coolers doesn’t drive you nuts while you are trying to game. Being spoiled early by Noctua, I got accustomed to having a near silent working environment, and even the slightest roar of a fan will make me look for another solution.

What you are about to see here in this review is something I wasn’t too sure I would be able to show you at this point in the all-in-one cooling segments development. That is the simple fact where finally glitz and glamour are add-ons to a cooler that is more than capable of handling even the hottest of processors! – Where it used to be the fact that the unit has fan controls, or LED lighting, or even a way to read system information via your desktop, these were all things that used to sell coolers that while performing well, cost too much to really recommend them, especially if you were to compare them to a custom built water loop. Today I am pleased to show you Corsair’s latest submission to our testing, the Hydro Series H100.”

For more information, please visit – http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4257/corsair_hydro_series_h100_extreme_performance_liquid_cpu_cooler_review/index.html

Genius SP-HF2020 Hi-Fi Digital Wooden Speakers Review

“Okay, I’m not going to lie, when Bob asked me to review a set of Genius speakers I was quite skeptical. Let’s just be nice and say Genius doesn’t have the best reputation for producing/selling the best quality speakers. Hell, Genius isn’t that many letters away from ‘generic’ and the fact that Apple employees are also called ‘Genius’s’ (I HATE APPLE) gave these speakers a sour taste before I even saw the box. I did a bit of research on these speakers after seeing the un-boxing video a week or so ago on the ThinkComputers website and I was surpris ingly impressed. The company’s website claims “Genius brings all serious listeners a new set of speakers, SP-HF2020, to experience magnificent sound.” Let’s see how accurate that statement is and if my first impression holds true.”

http://www.thinkcomputers.org/genius-sp-hf2020-hi-fi-digital-wooden-speakers-review/

Samsung accidentally confirms Nexus Prime

The Google Nexus branded phones have not had as much of an impact on the smartphone market as Google would have liked. Thing is, that apart from being the first handsets on the market to get the latest OS updates and releases from Google directly, the Nexus smartphones haven’t offered anything else in the growing market of Android phones. The Nexus One was overshadowed by the HTC Desire and the Nexus S was completely obliterated by Samsung’s own Galaxy S II.

While a lot of people were favoring Motorola or LG to be the next Nexus handset manufacturer (Nexus One made by HTC and Nexus S coming from Samsung), Samsung has gone ahead and unwittingly confirmed that they are making the 3rd Nexus handset when they sent a Cease & Desist letter to geek.com so that they don’t leak out any information on the phone.

As you can see from the image above, Samsung have clearly named the 3rd generation of Nexus phones to be called the Nexus Prime. While actual specs and availablilty will undoubtedly be confirmed during IFA in Berlin next week, don’t be surprised if the specs on Nexus Prime seem close to the Galaxy S II LTE. Currently we’re expecting the Nexus Prime to come with the same dual-core 1.5GHz Exynos processor as Samsung’s Galaxy S II LTE, with a 4.5″ Super AMOLED screen. Most likely the Nexus Prime will also be running the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS.

We’ll keep you updated as more on the Nexus Prime unfolds.

Win a Sennheiser CXC 700

Engineered for discerning business travellers and frequent flyers, these premium ear canal phones feature the latest incarnation of Sennheiser’s active noise cancelling technology – NoiseGard / digital – which identifies and reduces even more unwanted ambient noise. Moreover, its tri-mode design allows you to select from three different digital noise cancellation modes based on different acoustic environments.

Thanks to Sennheiser, we have their new Sennheiser CXC 700 headphones to give away.

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