If you listen to technology podcasts regularly, you’ve by now likely heard of eyewear company Warby Parker. The New York based startup, launched in 2010, has recently started advertising on many tech podcasts and bills itself as an affordable and easy way to purchase eyeglasses and sunglasses via the Internet. As a (literally) nearsighted nerd, I was intrigued when I heard about the company on The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab podcast, and so I decided to give it a…
When Apple released its 2013 updates to the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule Wi-Fi routers in June, the company added support for the latest and fastest wireless standard, 802.11ac. Our first look at the 802.11ac AirPort Extreme showed very promising performance, with speeds nearing 550 megabits per second in some scenarios, a result that was nearly five times faster than the preceding 802.11n standard. But Apple was not the first to the next-gen Wi-Fi game. Although 802.11ac won’t be finalized…
Update: In addition to the AirPort Extreme tests, below, we now also have performance benchmarks comparing the AirPort to other 802.11ac-class routers from Belkin, Netgear, and Linksys. After our initial AirPort Extreme and MacBook Air demonstrated hardware problems, we waited several days to obtain replacements, which have finally arrived. While we still have much more planned in terms of reviewing the new AirPort Extreme, we wanted to get you some preliminary bandwidth numbers as quickly as possible, so here are our…
Television tuner products for personal computers have come a long way over the past 15 years or so. What began as complicated add-on cards with temperamental single tuners evolved to plug-and-play USB products and finally to whole-house networked solutions. These products promise consumers the ability to watch and record cable (and sometimes over-the-air) television without the fees and restrictive user experiences of cable company-provided set-top boxes. Many companies inhabit the TV tuner market, but perhaps the most innovative is Ceton.…
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iPads are inherently portable devices; thin and light, they allow users to get work done and consume content almost anywhere. But iPads are also very useful in more stationary setups. Apps enable users to use the iPad as a secondary display for their Mac or PC, and the wide variety of iOS applications can make the iPad a great desktop companion for keeping tabs on email, weather, stocks, or virtually any other bit of information. It is toward this second…
The built-in speakers in Apple’s laptops and all-in-one Macs have never been bad but, as the company moves towards thinner and thinner designs, the sound quality has never been great either. There’s only so much that audio processing can do to enhance small, shallow speaker drivers. While Mac owners have always had the option of using a set of external speakers or quality headphones, neither are a perfect solution. External speakers can be bulky and require several additional cables -…
Professional and amateur photographers alike have long been faced with the fact that the speed of flash memory cards has outpaced the commonly available means of copying the data contained on those cards to their computers. Until only recently, Secure Digital (SD) or CompactFlash (CF) card readers were primarily based on USB 2.0 or FireWire interfaces. Now, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt-based options have reached consumers at reasonable prices, and today we’ll take a look at one: the $17.99 Anker Uspeed…
Just like some people can barely draw a stick figure, or sing “Happy Birthday” without causing a scene, I can’t cook. I just can’t. I simply don’t possess the level of analysis, creativity, and decision-making that allow chefs and kitchen masters to work their craft. That said, after spending some time with a new app and my iPad, now even I can make decent meals. I’m talking about the Nom Nom Paleo app for iOS. Launched last year by Michelle…
Years after it was first announced and several delays later, the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock has finally launched. The multi-function dock promises to both expand a Mac’s capabilities as well as facilitate easy docking on a clean desk. We’ve spent the last few days putting the device through its paces to see if it was worth the wait. Box Contents One of the first things you’ll notice about the Thunderbolt Express Dock is its surprisingly large box. Although the product’s…
In an ironic twist, software piracy may have actually saved a game, at least indirectly. After reading about the humorous trap that indie game developer Greenheart Games set for those attempting to pirate its first game, Game Dev Tycoon, I knew I had to try the game out. I had this desire to try the game not because I felt sorry for developer Patrick Klug, but because the game actually sounded entertaining, and I likely would have never heard of…