iPad

Since my recent trip to London, I've shared many travel tips. But this time I'm going to just let the following images speak for themselves. They come from the technology section of the upscale department store Harrod's. Look not only at the beauty of the crystals, diamonds, and gold plating, but at the prices associated with them. Keep in mind, a gold-plated iPhone 5s covered in diamonds becomes obsolete just as quickly as your basic model at AT&T or T-Mobile.

If you're a music lover or an iOS gamer, you already get this, but it's hard to appreciate the full scope and flavor of our media when relying solely on our iOS device's speakers. Even if the extent of your media consumption on your iPhone or iPad (or laptop or desktop) doesn't stray beyond watching movies and videos, you'll have to admit, the in-built speakers these gadgets come with don't necessarily broadcast the most stellar audio. For crystal clear, pristine sound reproduction we have to look to the world of headphones and external speakers. With that in mind I'm always on the lookout for great headphones and speakers to share with iPhone Lifers. This week we'll be taking a look at Skullcandy’s Crusher over-ear headphones ($99.99).

The wireless speaker market is completely saturated, so its hard to know where to start when looking for a quality, yet affordable option that is rises above the sea of cheap Bluetooth speakers. I have listened to a metric ton of them, and the gold standard for streaming and quality to me is Sonos, but their products are not cheap, and do not include a simpler Bluetooth option. Nyne has a uniquely shaped line of Bluetooth 4.0 speakerphone devices that give the solid sound quality that approaches the Sonos level, but without the price (and WiFi fuss.)

While AT&T currently has the fastest wireless data speeds in Maine, and possibly the country, there are some serious limitations.  Most significant for me is the coverage which quickly drops from 4G to EDGE to nothing once you leave Southern Maine.  T-Mobile on the other hand has great coverage, even well off the beaten path, but as we all know currently has spotty data coverage.  This brought me to consider that, T-Mobile is building out its Long Term Evolution LTE services and even Maine is primed to be getting in on LTE speed, soon, possibly in the next couple of months.

There are a good many rugged, heavy-duty, protective cases on the market for our iDevices, and over the years I've tried out most of them. Again and again I am reminded that case maker Lifeproof consistently produces the most reliable, high-quality all-purpose protective case you can find. Not only do they manufacture some of the best waterproof iDevice cases on the market, they manage to do so while keeping their case designs in line with the Jobsian vision of a sleek, low-profile, and elegantly beautiful pocket computing device. Allowing full functionality and interactivity with your iDevice, the Lifeproof cases are, simply put, what the iPhone and iPad would look like, if Jobs had designed them to be shock proof, dirt proof, and liquid proof. No more, no less. Lifeproof just released their long anticipated line of cases for the iPad Air as well as the iPad mini. Continue reading to find out how these new cases deliver on their promise to provide total protection for life on the go.

Big iPhone and iPad aftermarket items like cases and speakers garner considerable attention, but sometimes the small innovations can have a big impact. This entry takes a look at ChargerLeash and Might Mic S, two recently released accessories for the iOS platform that are worthy of closer examination.

Let me start by saying, not all freemium games are bad. There are some notable titles that don't intentionally extort dollars from gamers. Freemium games rely on what has been referred to as the "friction point," the point in which a game has limited your progress and you either have to wait for your energy to recharge, pay more money to continue, or proceed to grind away at a lower, less challenging level while scraping credits together to gain a more competitive edge. The challenge for many freemium game developers is walking that line between frustrating the gamer enough that they are willing to throw down real-world money to advance and not frustrating the gamer so much that they put the game down and don't come back. Distimo released an interesting report in March 2013 showing just how profitable it is for developers to walk this line.

The CES show floor this year was chock full of wondrous gear that will enhance your person or home. But to get a glimpse behind the curtain, you need to go off the beaten path, which usually leads me to a stop at Imagination Technologies. Though they downplay some of their A-list tech customers (like, for example, Apple), they always bring superb demonstrations of their latest core IP (like their Pure wireless speakers). Without some of that secret sauce, it is safe to say truly innovative consumer electronics is a tougher proposition. This year they did not disappoint, showing off some dazzling home-connected and wearable tech SoC prototype implementations that are surely destined to be found in much of our future gear.

There were too many cool audio whatevers at CES to name in a single post, but will give it a feeble shot. I admit I did not get to even a smidgin of the great tech demonstrations out there at the 2014 CES in Las Vegas. The show is just too massive. We walked for miles and miles to bring you at least a glimpse of some great stuff, but alas there was much we probably missed. Here is a round-up of some new audio products worthy of note from iHome, Zagg, Velodyne, Pioneer, Nyne, and more, all coming in 2014!