Sony vs. Apple

With open office spaces becoming more popular, focus and quiet can be problematic. Headphones or earbuds are increasingly in use at the workplace. Picking the right pair of wireless headphones is not an easy choice when there are so many options to choose from. Some say Sony’s WF-1000XM3 will be Apple’s top rival when they are launched in August. But before we compare the two pairs, we need to talk a bit about Apple’s original Airpods and the updated version, the Airpods 2, that was recently released. Apple Airpods 2 Everyone was anticipating Apple to release the Airpods 2, a new version of the Airpods that would be waterproof and noise-cancelling. But in reality, Apple’s new Airpods are an improved version of the originals. Updates include an upgraded H1 chip and wireless charging. The new chip means you can use a $40 Qi-compatible charging mat to power the case rather than using a cable. The company said that H1 chip improves pairing connectivity and battery life. It also allows for a new “Hey Siri” voice activation feature which allows users to control volume and swap songs through voice commands. Airpods 2 are advertised to provide users with 50 percent more hands-free talk time, according to Apple. When exactly will the company release its newest version of the earbuds? Rumor has it they will land at the end of the year, or early in 2020. Sony WF-1000XM3 Sony’s new earbuds features an updated HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1e, which cancels out ambient sound. Pretty useful when you’re in the subway and don’t want to be disturbed. The newest Sony earbuds also offer two microphones on each earbud that improve noise-canceling and also enhances voice quality on phone calls. WF-1000XM3’s case is slightly bigger than the...

Furniture with Charge

In today’s world, our homes, desks, cars, are filled with cables, adapters, outlets and battery packs designed for our ever increasing number of smartphones, wearable tech and, of course, the Internet of Things. Some have noticed the opportunity and began exploring a new industry that’s expected to boom in the next few years—the wireless charging indus try or inductive charging. An innovative way this is playing out is wireless charging furniture. Wireless Charging Collection from Ikea Last spring, Ikea decided it’s time to untangle the web so it launched its line of wireless charging furniture; that was a moment when a future of effortless device-charging seemed reachable, even though all those lamps and side tables would still need to be plugged in or that some phones, including iPhones, need a special case in order to pair with the Qi wireless charging technology built into the furniture pieces. “With the help of our wireless chargers, we make charging easy, fun and convenient, by turning furniture into charging spots. We enable convenient charging throughout the home, designed for your personal needs. At the same time, we make homes more beautiful by minimizing the use of cords. Nobody likes cords, yet everyone wants a fully functional home. With our wireless chargers, it’s possible to have both,” said Björn Block, IKEA range manager for lighting and wireless charging at the launch of their wireless charging collection. The collection has items that range from $9.99 (the Romma cord management box) to $119 (the VARV floor lamp). It’s simple, minimalist and very Ikea; it consists of charging pads, desk lamps, bedside tables and a special pad that users can install in any piece of wood furniture they already own (and don’t mind doing the drilling themselves). The charging pads are basically a cross in the middle of a circle that’s about two inches in diameter that use the Qi wireless standard. The majority of phone manufacturers support the Qi standard with the notable exception of Apple. Thus, for iPhones, Ikea came up with the Vitahult cases which include a Qi adaptor. It’s a bulky, unflattering case that feels as if it’s made of the same cheap plastic, but it gets the work done. On the other hand, the lamps and pads are actually quite good-looking. Bottom line: if your phone support Qi wireless charging and you like Ikea’s collection, go for it. If you’re an iPhone owner, you might want to wait for a better option. Curvilux Smart Furniture Argentina-based Curvilux recently launched its first product on Indiegogo—the Curvilux nightstand. It’s a clean-lined piece of furniture that features not only the built-in wireless charging and USB ports, but also boasts integrated speakers, two programmable lighting systems, motion and temperature sensors, smart home integration capabilities and a drawer you can unlock with your phone. It comes with an app that enables users to program lighting to set up a simulated sunrise alarm clock. Moreover, it can charge up to three devices at once through the wireless and USB chargers incorporated. The $50,000 crowdfunding campaign has been successful and met the funding goal which means that the nightstands will begin shipping in November 2016. FurniQi from Fonesalesman The London-based company specializes in standalone wireless charging pads, but it’s also developing FurniQi, a line of simple furniture pieces with built-in Qi wireless charging technology. The first in the range is a side table made of Mao Zhu Bamboo. The design is simple, with just a ring on the surface to indicate where the device should be placed to charge. “Marking our entry into the world of furniture, we have put a lot of thought into the table’s design and usability,” Bavan Palasanthiran, founder of Fonesalesman, said in a press release. “The FurniQi side table is incredibly easy to assemble taking a mere 60 seconds from opening up the box to having a complete table ready to charge your...

Project Fi

Google is already Internet Service Provider and pay-TV operator. Now, it’s starting its adventure as mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Frankly, it was about time to be able to Google a phone call. The long-awaited cell phone service – Project Fi is finally here. For now, the product can be considered an experiment; Even more so considering that it will be available only to people using Google’s flagship phone, the Nexus 6. This choice doesn’t only limit its reach, but also doesn’t make Google a serious competitor to Verizon, AT&T, and other wireless service providers. The service offers the same basic functionality as traditional wireless carriers: voice, text, and Internet access – but at a lower price than many of the plans out there. It can be called an attempt to combine cellular calls and VoIP calls (like those offered by Skype) into one phone number and service. “Wherever you’re connected to Wi-Fi — whether that’s at home, your favorite coffee shop or your Batcave — you can talk and text like you normally do,” wrote Nick Fox, Google’s vice president of communications products, in a blog post. “If you leave an area of Wi-Fi coverage, your call will seamlessly transition from Wi-Fi to cell networks so your conversation doesn’t skip a beat.” Project Fi is designed to be able to switch between different high-speed wireless networks operated by Sprint and T-Mobile, choosing the stronger one in any given area. Moreover, phones on Project Fi will switch from cellular networks to Wi-Fi networks when available to place calls or access the Internet without using the customer’s data plans. The service will also bounce around between devices, allowing users to talk and text on smartphones, tablets and laptops. Google won’t be building its own cell phone...

Cosmos Browser

In urban North America, we likely take it for granted that LTE and 3G services will be available for our communication convenience. But in some parts of the U.S. and the world, where fast, ubiquitous networks aren’t available, effortless wireless Internet connectivity is simply a dream. Such cities or rural areas might be in for a surprise from Cosmos, a new browser that’s currently in the works. This concept sounds pretty crazy – a way to surf the web using SMS text messages. The project is still under development, but should the idea work, its implications could be huge. The Cosmos Browser is an Android web browser that uses SMS text messages to retrieve the web content displayed in a stripped-down layout. Its creators describe how it works: “After a person inputs a URL, our app texts our Twilio number which forwards the URL as a POST request to our Node.JS backend. The backend takes the URL, gets the HTML source of the website, minifies it, gets rid of the css, JavaScript, and images, GZIP compresses it, encodes it in Base64, and sends the data as a series of SMSs. The phone receives this stream at a rate of 3 messages per second, orders them, decompresses them, and displays the content.” In other words, once the message reaches the Cosmos backend, the page is retrieved and stripped down to bare elements. Afterwards, these are sent to the user as text messages, enabling to be read with just SMS access. The compression and decompression of the messages is done by the Cosmos browser to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted. Once the page is fully loaded, the SMSs are deleted, and your inbox is uncluttered. The team behind the project is...

Wi-Fi Calling

Wi-Fi Calling has never been a priority for carriers with good cellular service. However, following the recent announcement that iPhones will support Wi-Fi Calling through iOS8, and that T-Mobile is already on board, the rest of the carriers have somewhat been forced to rethink their plans for this service. The terminology might be confusing, what does Wi-Fi Calling mean exactly? This nifty sounding technology uses your home Wi-Fi to make calls and send texts over the internet. It allows cellular packets from your phone to be transferred to your carrier over the internet, and reintroduces them into the cellular network, much like beaming over the air. It differs from Google Hangouts and Skype – these let you talk to other people by using call forwarding or some internet-based interface – Wi-Fi Calling allows you to use your actual carrier phone number over the internet. It differs from VoIP technology which lets you use an internet-connected phone just as you’d use a landline, transferring your voice over the internet to the switched telephone network – the Wi-Fi Calling technology drops the cell towers path, connecting your voice to your mobile carrier’s network using the internet. One of the advantages of this system is that it can help you conserve plan minutes and texts, as the calls that are made over Wi-Fi don’t count against your plan. Moreover, it enables you to make calls using your phone number even when your network cuts out or when you’re outside your coverage area. Wi-Fi Calling is not a new idea – smaller providers like Republic Wireless have been offering the service for quite some time – but Apple’s announcement may be forcing everyone by emphasizing the technology and launching it before the rest are ready to go. At...

Beacons

If your property was developed before 2000, it wasn’t built with cellphone and Wi-Fi reception in mind. The location, building materials, and sometimes the building’s design can hinder signals. Today’s renters won’t tolerate glacial-speed connectivity and inconsistent service. Beacons could help improve resident satisfaction, retention, and give you new ways to communicate with tenants. Beacons are the latest technology for any property that wants to improve cellphone reception and Wi-Fi availability. The small devices can be plugged into a wall or set on any surface. Their low-energy usage and low-cost makes them easy to add to any unit. Beacons use Bluetooth connection to send signals to devices such as smartphones and tablets, so there are no wires or tedious setup required. Basically, beacons can be used to amplify your wireless services.  Offering them with your units could be a huge selling point for renters, particularly Millennial. There is a growing trend of Americans and Canadians who are ditching cable in exchange for Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming video services; some switch to save hundreds of dollars on their bills each year. Residents won’t be pleased if they feel coerced into a cable contract because they can’t stream shows at home. Tenants of all ages will appreciate faster speeds and more consistent service. It’s vital to their life’s work, in many cases. An increasing number of professionals work from home at least one day a week or more. Even those who aren’t remote employees are expected to have always-on connectivity, staying on top of their game by working evenings and weekends. If the internet is down or slow, their work will suffer and they’re likely to look elsewhere when it’s time to renew the lease. Owners may also toy with the idea of using beacons...

High Speed Chase

Austin, Texas is already famous. It is home to the major multimedia festival South by Southwest, a great music and arts scene, and fabulous queso. And now that Google and AT&T have decided to go head-to-head to deliver Austin super-duper fast Internet connectivity, it might be time to change the slogan “Keep Austin Weird” to “Keep Austin Wired.” This week, AT&T announced that Austin will be the next city to benefit from the wonders of Google Fiber, which offers online access at speeds 100 times faster than what most of us are used to. How fast is one gigabit per second? Fast enough that you could download a 2GB file in a few seconds, rather than a few hours.  Kansas City was the first market to feel the magic. Fiber was rolled out there in late 2012, prompting the growth of new businesses, much media attention, and happy/lucky Internet users. Google’s statement on why Austin was chosen for Fiber: “It’s a mecca for creativity and entrepreneurialism, with thriving artistic and tech communities, as well as the University of Texas and its new medical research hospital,” said Milo Medin, VP of access services for Google Fiber, on Google’s blog. “We’re sure these folks will do amazing things with gigabit access, and we feel very privileged to have been welcomed to their community.” Google plans to be live with Fiber in Austin by summer 2014. The very same day Austin’s selection as the next Fiber city was announced; AT&T announced it would bring its Project VIP effort to Austin, too. Project VIP is a broadband expansion effort, supported by advanced fiber optic infrastructure, that also promises speeds of 1 GBPS. The nationwide effort entails AT&T spending $14 billion over the next three years to enhance its...