Archive for the 'Reviews' Category

House Music

The Sonos System will be music to your ears
 
The Sonos Multi-Room Music System lets you enjoy digital music at home wherever you roam. All you need is a high-speed Internet connection, a home network router, and about 15 minutes of your time.
It’s rare to find electronic devices as simple to set up as the Sonos [...]

Amazon’s wonderful terrible amazing awful Kindle

I finally got my hands on a Kindle. Here’s what I like about it — and what needs to be fixed.

The Kindle is amazing and awful, grand and terrible. It’s a groundbreaking device that’s in need of an overhaul. I like it and it annoys me all at the same time. Have I made that [...]

Gadgets With the Write Stuff

A handful of tools attempt to turn the humble ink pen into a digital recording device–with varying degrees of success.
(This post originally appeared in PC World magazine.)

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed a terrible case of CRS (can’t remember stuff). I can’t tell you how many times my lovely but increasingly frustrated wife has informed [...]

ID Theft Protection: Who Can You Trust?

New online services offer to protect you from identity theft, and some claim to help you undo damage after it happens. But when we tested the services, we found that many fall short.
(This story originally appeared in the June 2008 issue of PC World magazine.)
by Dan Tynan
You can’t open a newspaper or a browser without [...]

Review: Chumby — The Internet’s in the Bag

(My review of the Chumby finally posted on PCworld.com. And here it is again.)
by Dan Tynan
Until now, most Internet appliances have been too hobbled (3Com’s Audrey), too limited (the Ambient Weather Beacon), or just too weird (the Nabaztag rabbit). But the clock-radio-size Chumby might actually find a home on your bedside.
The Chumby’s 3.5-inch color touch [...]

Review: ECirkit.com — a Dog in Wolf’s Clothing

This social network sees itself as a home for bikers, babes, and body art, but it’s strictly for dorks and dilettantes.
(An edited version of this entry originally appeared on PCworld.com)
by Dan Tynan
eCirkit bills itself as a social network for “artists, speed- and thrill-seekers, non-conformists, [and] extremophiles [sic] of every variety.” It’s extreme all right – [...]

Review: Acoustic Research ARRU449 Universal Wi-Fi Remote

This pricey remote is innovative, but it’s not without flaws.
(This story originally appeared on PCworld.com)

by Dan Tynan
Forget world peace or love sweet love. What the world really needs now is a simple, easy-to-program universal remote. Acoustics Research’s ARRU449 Universal Wi-Fi Remote comes closer than most.
What’s different about this $399 handheld is Wi-Fi. The ARRU449 can [...]

Review: iRobot Roomba 560

VACUUM PACKED
The latest in digital devices is part room cleaner, part robotic buddy.
(This article originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of US Airways Magazine.)

by Dan Tynan
iRobot’s Roomba is more than a vacuum cleaner: It’s a cultural phenomenon. More than two million have been sold since it was introduced five years ago, making it [...]