With the Monster brand name, people have two things in mind: great quality and great (as in, not really) price. And the Clarity HD Model One speakers certainly live up to that legacy.

As the name suggests, the Clarity HD Model One were designed for clear sound reproduction across all spectrums, with the idea to make any genre sound good. Apart from great acoustics, though, Monster also designed the Clarity HD Model One to have easy connectivity with a myriad of personal and professional audio devices, as well as ease of use.

So let’s start things off with the packaging and see what we get inside the box. Apart from the two speakers, there are two power cables with different socket pins. The power brick is built inside the right speaker itself, so all you need is one thin wire plugged into an electrical outlet. The left speaker draws power and audio source from the right one, so there’s a thick DIN cable that’s roughly 15 feet long.

Then there are 5 iPod, iPod Touch and iPhone compatible brackets that allow you to connect your choice of iOS device easily on top of the right speaker. Finally we have the miniscule remote control which is mostly useful for just powering on/off the Model One, apart from volume control. The playback controls only come into effect when you have an iOS device connected to it, though.

The bookshelf sized Model One measures 16 x 9 inches, and weighs about 5 kgs each. However, the speakers actually felt lighter than that, thanks to the perfectly placed inlay handles on top. Apart from just requiring two cables, the handles make the Clarity HD Model One the most portable bookshelf speakers on the market.

Now as far as connectivity and controls go, the Model One have it all covered. As mentioned earlier, the top of the right speaker has the Apple connector dock, which is used to connect any iPod and iPhone for music playback. The power and main volume control are just in front of the Apple dock.

Behind the right speaker we find the majority of connection ports. There’s a standard 3.5mm input jack, a pair of stereo RCA inputs, and finally ¼” TRS connectors to directly plug in your musical instruments.

Move to the top and you’ll see the port for the optional Streamcast Bluetooth adapter, which has a built-in AAC decoder and is aptX compliant as well. While not available for sale right now, the Streamcast Bluetooth adapter will allow superior Bluetooth audio playback from devices up to 30ft away.

Just above the wireless adapter is the High Frequency dial which allows us to switch the 1-inch dome tweeters’ response from -2db to neutral to +2db. For the most part I was happy with just the neutral setup, but for movie watching I would recommend -2db as the high frequencies don’t interfere with vocal tracks.

What sets the Logitech apart, however, is that it can quickly ‘switch over’ from being a desktop headset using wireless connectivity, to a Bluetooth headset, which can then be paired with a smartphone or a tablet device. But is it a ‘one headset to rule them all’ then?

Design
Call me spoiled, but I find the Logitech h800 extremely bland and boring. In fact, its appearance is quite deceptive, and can be taken as one of the knock-off brands if not for the properly spelled ‘Logitech’ sticker on the sides.

That’s not to say it does not serve its purpose. The Logitech holds all of its controls on the right ear cup, with the volume rockers, play/pause and the microphone mute button embedded on the center. The inner right-edge has a switcher that changes the headset’s connectivity from wireless and Bluetooth, and a slider to change sound tracks if you are using a media player. The controls might seem crammed but they are quite evenly spaced out and are intuitive to use. If you have used similar headsets before, you shouldn’t have much problem adapting to the Logitech’s ways.

The Logitech h800 also have found a very innovative place to hide the microphone, which is straight under the right ear cup. While we still prefer the Steelseries’ hide-it-inside-the-earcup way of doing it, the Logitech design is functional and works quite well. Unfortunately, the microphone does not auto-mute when it’s shoved back up, the lack of which can be potentially dangerous if you happen to forget to do it yourself. So thread carefully, you must.

Comfort
I usually find the on-the-ear design to be painfully uncomfortable. The ear-cups lay flat on your ear, and the padding has to be just sturdy and soft enough to not hurt. The Roccat Kulo and the Asus HS-W1 failed in doing so and I had little hope from the Logitech h800 to be any more comfortable. It certainly didn’t look to be, at least.

The Logitech are comfortable, surprisingly. It doesn’t claim to have the softest, highest-quality premium padding. It just uses basic foam material on its cans and the headband, and I have to say, it fits in snugly. It does heat up after a while, but that’s normal given that headsets don’t float in the air. Yet.

Performance
The Logitech h800 switches between wireless and Bluetooth connectivity quite smoothly, allowing you to ping-pong between your PC and your music player easily. There is a bit of a delay between picking up connections, but that can be chalked up to a limitation of the technology than the headset itself.

The h800 is a general purpose headset and provides adequate power and performance for its purpose. For music, the headset is quite loud and clear, but lacks the fulfilling, wholesome punch that premium sound drivers provide. My test tacks consisted of various Hindi movie songs, ranging from mild-rock to full-on bhangra to what can be best described as ‘masala-pop’ music. The sound felt compressed and hollow, with the treble falling flat on most occasions. The bass was muddy and sometimes overly done, giving more hollowness to the soundscape.

For gaming, I tried it on two experts – Counter Strike 1.6 and Modern Warfare 3. Here, too, it felt weak, with many effects being ‘left out’ or ‘buried’ under the more prominent ones. It provided decent positioning feedback in Counter Strike, however. Not ‘surround’ by any means, but did the job just fine defining between left and right, which was good enough for my experienced fingers.

Conclusion
For appox. AED 380, the Logitech h800 are a decent buy, especially since it can negate the need to have multiple devices for your music player and your PC. It does lack power but is adequate enough to be a portable solution that is sturdy and can last a good number of hours before it needs a recharge.

Celebrity branded headphones are nothing new, with Dr. Dre’s Beats Audio headphones being one of the most popular example.  Recently, the Marley Family announced a line of headphones inspired by the legendary artist’s vision of “One World, One Love”. As such, the headphones are designed with recyclable materials, and proceeds from the sale of all Marley’s products go to the 1Love.org charity. Of course, special attention is also paid to the sound quality as well.

Now let’s get down and dirty with the Positive Vibration on-ear headphones. The first thing you’ll notice about the Positive Vibration is how colorful it looks, a really standout design from the plethora of headphones out there.

You can see a lot of Reggae and Jamaican influence in the design aesthetics, with the colorful cloth headband and braided cable. There’s a lot of vibrancy (no pun intended) to the headphones; they feel special in that easy-going, focused on simple music kind of way.

Looking more closely, or at least when handling it, the Positive Vibration feels very stiff; as if all these materials were simply glued together without secondary thought to comfort. The only adjustments you can make are the earcups which can be extended up or down on metal clips. There are no indents, so you’ll always end up guessing the right length at which the headphones fit on your head. The earcups themselves are foldable, so that they can be easily transported in the supplied pouch.

Each of the earcups is connected using a visible springy coil in colorful orange, further adding to the unique appeal of the Positive Vibration. The braided cable itself is fairly thick and straight, making it one of the least tangle-able cables I have seen on headphones. The 3.5mm gold plated jack itself has a very low profile, making it excellent for connecting to smartphones that have their audio out jack at strange angles.

Bluetooth headsets are quite cheap and widely available nowadays, but they don’t seem to be very popular as you would expect in this part of the world. However, Jabra’s new Supreme headset might help tip the scales in favor of safer driving. The Supreme comes in a box with the headset readily on display, and despite its bulky looks it is quite light. The reason why it’s so bulky is probably due to all the technology thrown into headset, and it certainly is one of the most advanced I’ve ever used. Taken from the Jabra website the Supreme comes with the features listed below:

• Active Noise Cancellation technology removes ambient noise for the user wearing the headset
• Noise Blackout™ 3.0 dual microphone technology
• HD Voice* technology for superior sound quality
• Voice Control and Voice Guidance for hands-free operation
• Multiuse™ – Connects to 2 Bluetooth devices simultaneously
• Streams media with A2DP.
• Interchangable soft ear cushions for all-day comfort

The contents of the box include the headset itself, manuals, a wall charger, a microUSB cable, a car charger, 1 extra ear gel which is shaped differently to the default one for a better fit, and a larger ear hook for a better fit for those with larger ears. The ear hooks themselves can be worn for both left and right ears. While I liked the bundle I have a huge issue with the provided wall charger, it’s too short! It’s almost comical really; if I connected this to an actual wall socket the headset would be left hanging by the cable. The microUSB cable itself is short as well which can also be an issue when using the included car charger. On the whole those are the only real gripes I have with the bundle.

Turning the headset on is very simple, you extend the arm (the long stick thingy) and you will hear a female voice telling you it’s “on”. Initially it will start in pairing mode and will give you instructions on how to pair your headset to your phone. The instructions are quite clear but generalized. It expects you to know how to activate your Bluetooth and how to search for the headset. Once your phone finds it, you will either be asked to enter the headset’s passcode (which is 0000) or it will automatically connect. It will tell you that it is connected and subsequently whenever you turn your phone’s Bluetooth on and have authorized the headset to connect automatically, that same female voice will tell you so.

2012 has the potential to become one of the best years for Apple fans. With the amount of products refreshes as well as one possible new device, there are plenty of reason for iFans to work hard and save up some cash for these devices this year:

iPad 3

Apple usually refreshes the iPad in the first quarter of the year and hopefully, this year should be no different. From what the rumor-mill is suggesting, the new iPad should have a retina display giving it the same gorgeous screen that the iPhone 4 sports. To power that high of a resolution, you also need some serious hardware so a quad-core equipped iPad doesn’t sound too out of place. Cameras should also be hopefully updated considering the number of people that actually take pictures from their iPad and how bad they currently are. Other than these visible changes, Apple will probably add Bluetooth 4.0 for low power connectivity with other expected devices.

MacBook Air & MacBook Pro

Intel is launching their Ivy bridge CPU in April so it’s a given that Apple will update their notebooks. However, the question is whether we will see a 15″ version of the Air or the MacBook Pro line slimmed down. With this new generation of CPUs, the graphics horsepower would have improved enough for the Air to start competing with the Pro so Apple will need to decide which direction to take. Remember, Steve Jobs stated that the Air is the future design direction for Apple laptops and the army of wanna-bes in the form of Ultrabooks certainly suggests that Apple will make its move.

iOS 6

Towards the summer, Apple will hold it’s annual event detailing the future of their new mobile OS. I honestly don’t know what they will show but with iOS breaking away the requirement for a computer to activate it, my guess is that Apple will try and make their new devices more computer-like. At the top of my wish list sits an accessible file system that could hopefully allow us to add attachments of any kind to email without jail breaking the device. Also, the UI of iOS is getting a bit old and now that Google has hired the WebOS design guru Matias Duarte, it might be time for Apple to show what they have been working on.

iPhone 5

Wth no change in the form factor, The iPhone 4S didn’t create much of a stir on the Internet on the design front. However, this year should be different and Apple is expected to change the design of the iPhone. Will it sport a bigger screen or do away with the home button is anybody’s guess, but do expect to see a new iPhone that also looks new this time around.

iTV

If introduced, the iTV will be the product that the tech industry will talk most about this year. My guess is that Apple will heavily involve Siri- you will probaly be able to tell your iTV to bring up an episode of Lost when Locke opens the hatch instead of remembering episode number. Or telling it to get details of the comedian/politician that is on your screen at that time. There is plenty of potential with what Apple can possibly do with iTV.

New iPods

Last and certainly not the least, we should be expecting new iPods especially since we didn’t see any new models in 2011. While the iPod touch will probably be something between an iPhone 4s and iPhone 5, what I am really interested in is the new Nano. Using the low powered Bluetooth 4.0 the Nano could easily beome the Siri enabled device on your wrist that communicates with your iPhone or iPad and get things done. It could become the window to your other, more powerful iDevice.

So there you have it- a list of potential devices that Apple might be releasing this year. What do you think? Is there one that you don’t agree with or one that you think I might have missed out on?

Summers are usually very long in the UAE and thus, everyone tries to be as creative as they can to make the most of outdoors during the few “winter” months. I too, came up with an idea when I moved into my villa last year which has some garden space- to set up an outdoor theatre. While this idea is more for folks that have a bit of a backyard, I see no reason for it not working with people with rather large balconies that some of the older buildings in the UAE sport. So grab some popcorn while I detail the components I selected, why I selected them, and what you can expect as an end result.

In order to build a list of components, I had to take into consideration the extremely humid weather conditions in the UAE that last pretty much all year long. What this means is that you cannot leave most electronic devices outdoors- unless they are specifically certified for outdoor usage. Thus, portability became a part of the planning process. In total, I chose four components, three of which are required while the fourth one is up to you to decide upon.

The first thing you need is a projector and considering that you’ll be using it outdoors, you would want one that has a high Lumens rating so the brightly lit sky during a full moon doesn’t take too much away from your experience. To project, you also need a good screen, however, you can easily use your boundary wall to project upon, so the screen isn’t necessarily required. With the picture all set, you need a sound system- something that is quick and easy to setup and sounds decent. Finally, you need a media streamer to connect to your projector and sound system to feed movies or TV shows to.

With Sennheiser headphones, you know that if nothing else, good quality sound is assured. The new HD 239 stereo headphones come with the quintessential Sennheiser high quality audio, with a surprising amount of detail to aesthetics, but it also has its flaws.

From the outset, the Sennheiser HD 239 looks like a pair of really high quality headphones, with an elegant combination of shiny metal and chocolate brown plastic bits. The earpads and the top headrest are made of comfortable black cushion. I would have preferred leather cushioning rather than cloth, especially for the price, but I guess comfort was the foremost priority for Sennheiser with the HD 239.

And this is where I’d like to continue with the HD 239, that these are literally the most comfortable supra-aural (on-the-ear) headphones I have used to date.  The fact that I wear glasses usually means that supra-aural headphones push so much on my ears that they eventually start aching because of all the pressure between the cushions and my glasses. Normally I can’t wear supra-aural headphones for more than 20 to 30 minutes, which is why I stick with circum-aural (over-the-ear) headphones, but the Sennheiser HD 239 are different.

It all comes down to a very simple and properly thought out design: the earpads have large cushions which are very flexible near the edges, while the center remains thicker so it is pressed alongside the ear canal properly. The second important factor is that each of the two earpieces can turn inwards at an angle of roughly 20° which makes the HD 239 even more adaptable to the size and shape of your ear. With these two design elements combined I can wear the Sennheiser HD 239 for hours at a time without feeling any discomfort.

You see, the 7XB is a console exclusive to the Xbox 360, and as Microsoft would like to have its exclusives, it’s a stingy one at that. The headset are meant for the fraggers, screamers and pre-puberty crowd of the Xbox Live. It’s mic has its soul dedicated to the holy cause of the $50-a-year subscribers, and hence, renders its services incompatible with everything else – PS3 or PC. For a thousand bucks, I would expect the world and the kitchen soap, but not on this one.

Design & Comfort
The 7XB is a feel-good headset. You do actually feel good while you hold them in your hands. It’s got a certain satisfying form and feature that is inviting without overdoing the razzle-dazzle with cheap shiny plastic. In fact, it doesn’t have any of it at all, which is good for the fingerprint OCD’ers.

The 50mm drivers are well fortified with plush high quality leather and soft foam material. They sit well on the ears on the first go, and are largely comfortable. Having them on is like taking a flight in an aeroplane every time – it creates a suction effect that blocks your ears as well air-tightens the surroundings to (literally) mute away every sound around you. Pwning newbs in Call of Duty is more important than listening to your nagging wife.

However, the effect is sort of annoying after a while. I found myself repeatedly lifting the cups to let air escape – like a cooker. It creates unnecessary tension that does start to hurt a bit. The tight headband doesn’t help much, either, too, and makes the headset uncomfortable after 30mins. I did, however, found the ‘perfect position’ (ahem), although hey, I shouldn’t be worrying about that in the first place.

Being wire-less, all the buttons and controllers are stashed away on the right cup. You have your plus and minus volume rockers starting from the upper left edge, with the power button, ExactSND and Live Mix buttons at the bottom right (more on these later). The buttons, except for the ExactSND which has a bump on it, are hard to distinguish. In the heat of things, you are left confused which is which for the most part, though you do get used to it.

And again, being wire-less, the 7XB uses two AAA batteries for juice. It’s been about 7-8 hours and the headset are still going strong. It probably lasts around the 20 hour mark, which is pretty damn good for a light user like me (not because I use speakers, I just don’t get the time…/rant). For heavy users that game 6 hours a day, yeah you will need to buy a whole month’s stock to get through. The 7XB does not charge them back, so it’s either you changing the battery or buy your own recharger. For it’s price, this is quite a baffling overlook from Steelseries.

Apple has started rolling Black Friday sale banners in various countries for their online store. Currently the advertisement is only showing up on the UK, Australian and Italian stores. Ironically US has yet to see the banner on their store since Black Friday is traditionally an American holiday, following the day after Thanksgiving Day.

Usually Black Friday deals cause massive rush both physically in stores and virtually on website servers, often loading them to the point of being taken down. Historically Apple has had modest sales for Black Friday, with $101 (AED 380) off iMacs and MacBooks last year. We could see similar price cuts this year as well, with offers available on the entire product range as well as other third party accessories.

Given the number of countries getting the Black Friday deals, it stands to reason that the UAE store will also be getting the Black Friday offers on 25th November, especially given the fact that our store was opened recently, a little sale wouldn’t hurt at all.

Today Parrot launched two new products for the UAE market: the DIA digital photo frame designed by NoDesign and the extremely limited edition ‘Ancient Gold’ Zikmu speakers designed by Phillipe Starck.

The ‘Ancient Gold’ speakers are completely handmade, and only 20 of these will be made for the whole world. 3 of these units will made available for the UAE market. We have already reviewed the Zikmu speakers earlier this, and you can see that they are one of the most impressive wireless speakers in the market. The ‘Ancient Gold’ version of the Zikmu add another layer of exclusivity to these already stylish set of speakers. And given their limited nature, it was surprising to know that they will be sold for just AED 8,000, considering the regular Zikmu speakers are sold for AED 6,900.

Next up we have the DIA digital photo frame designed by the award winning Jean-Louis Frechin of NoDesign. The DIA was designed with the old school Kodak Ektachrome in mind, whereby the images are displayed on a opaque layer of glass, illuminated by a bright light behind it. This presentation gives the images a very deep field effect where the images seem to be popping out, but not like a 3D image.

The 10.4″ digital frame has a very elegant white design, with tactile buttons and a trackball on the top. Connectivity via USB, Bluetooth and WiFi is very easy, as is the Mover Lite app, using which images on your iPhone can be transferred to the DIA. One can even link a dedicated email account, using which images taken anywhere around the world can be automatically transferred to the DIA, enabling you to share photos with your family wherever you are in the world.

The DIA will available in the market by the end of this month, with retail price expected to be around AED 2,000.  In the meanwhile you can check out the video below to get a better understanding of the product.