Friday, May 16, 2014

Feeling techish tonight!

DataWind's UbiSlate 7Ci (datawind.com) is billed as the world's first $38 tablet. The 7-inch Android tablet lets you read e-books, watch videos, play games, browse the Web and pick up e-mail. It has integrated Wi-Fi, plus there's an adaptor in the box to snap in a WAN stick for cellular connectivity, if desired (3G only). Powered by a Cortex A9 processor (comparable to a first-generation iPad), the UbiSlate 7Ci also has 512MB of RAM (system memory) and 4GB of storage, but it's expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card. The screen isn't spectacular at 800 x 480 resolution, nor is the battery life (three hours between charges), but at $38 and a ton of bundled apps, it's certainly at the right price.
iHOME iBT16 CUBE SPEAKER
Sometimes you just don't feel like wearing headphones. iHome's iBT16 Cube ($29.99; ihomeaudio.com) is a tiny wireless speaker that lets you stream music, podcasts or audiobooks from your nearby Bluetooth-enabled smartphone, tablet, laptop or media play (such as an iPod touch). Available in several colors (gray, blue, pink, green, black and purple), these cube-shaped speakers have a rubberized finish, an integrated rechargeable Lithium-ion battery and a 3.5mm audio jack (cable included).
ROCKI PLAY
Turn any speaker into a Wi-Fi-enabled one, so you can listen to your music untethered. That's the premise behind the Kickstarter-funded Rocki Play ($49.99; myrocki.com). Simply connect this small gadget to the audio input of any speaker system (cables included) and you can then use your phone to play music wirelessly. Similar to Wi-Fi-enabled speakers that cost much more (such as Sonos), you can use the free Rocki app (iOS/Android) to search and select any song, control volume and playback and select which Rocki Play-enabled speaker to stream to (the app also supports HTML5, therefore you can also use a Web browser on a PC or Mac to play music).
VERBATIM FOLDABLE BLUETOOTH KEYBOARD
Don't like typing much on your smartphone or tablet? The Verbatim Foldable Wireless Keyboard ($44.99; verbatim.com) is ideal for long-form typing on virtually any Bluetooth-enabled touch-screen smartphone or tablet. As the name suggests, this full-size QWERTY keyboard folds up to half its size and slips into a matching black case for when you're on the go. When you want to type some notes, write a long e-mail or type an essay or sales report, simply open it up, turn it on and prop up your device with an optional pull-out stand. Because Bluetooth is a universal standard, it works with all four mobile platforms: Apple iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.

No comments:

Post a Comment