MartinLogan introduces Reference In-Ear
Headphones

post from Ubergizmo on 16 July 2012 01:28:25 PM. © Ubergizmo

MartinLogan has just introduced their Reference In-Ear Headphones that is said to be inspired by the sonic clarity and detail of their legendary electrostatic speakers. The new name for this in-ear headphones? It is known as the Mikros 70, where it is also touted to deliver a private MartinLogan listening room regardless of where you are. Offering superb ambient noise isolation that is said to preserve the subtle nuances of recorded sound, I guess only those who listen to it will be able to tell by their own ears whether it is worth the money invested on each pair.

Shipping at the end of this month onwards, the Mikros 70 will retail for $149.95 a pop, and will boast high quality materials, drivers, and an obsessive attention to detail. The body itself is made out of black anodized solid aluminum, where it has been sealed with metallic hyperblack end caps in order to isolate ambient noise. Not only that, it will also feature a 90-degree gold-plated plug, tangle-reducing cable slider, and durable black rubberized cord.

All purchases will come with a range of ear tips (3 sizes of bulb tips and 2 sizes of flange tips) to deliver a comfortable, snug fit that isolates up to 97.8% of ambient noise.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Ultimate Ears' Personal Reference Monitors are fully customizable in-ear monitors, V-MODA Crossfade M-80 White Pearl brings style and substance together,

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es/

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Comcast purchases Microsofts 50% stake in
MSNBC.com

post from Ubergizmo on 16 July 2012 01:20:44 PM. © Ubergizmo

Comcast is reported to have shelled out a cool $300 million to own Microsoft’s 50% stake in MSNBC.com, and this bit of news does not come across as a surprise since Comcast Corp. is the parent company of NBC, where this particular bit of purchase would mean that Comcast is now able to assume full control of the news website. This particular deal signals the end of slightly more than one and a half decade’s joint venture between Microsoft and NBCUniversal.

Jennifer Sizemore, editor-in-chief of NBCNews.com, mentioned in a letter, “Today we’re taking on a new name – NBCNews.com. While our name is changing, our commitment is not. The ties are deep, and untangling them will take at least two years.” I wonder whether the quality and experience of the website will change for the better in any way, or will everything remain status quo for the end user?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Halo 4 Xbox 360 now available for pre-order, Microsoft's SwordFight project lets you duel with your phones,

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om/

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Sprint launches 4G LTE in 15 markets instead of 5

post from Ubergizmo on 16 July 2012 01:17:47 PM. © Ubergizmo

Sprint’s latest flagship device, the HTC Ev0 4G LTE, was released without a 4G LTE network in place, that is until today. Sprint’s 4G LTE network made its debut today and it came out of the gates with a bang. It has gone live in 15 markets today as opposed to the 5 markets that were previously announced.

Known as Network Vision, the high speed network will roll out in and around the following areas: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, San Antonio and Waco. Bob Azzi, senior vice president-Network, Sprint, made the following comment on the network: “This new network is performing extremely well and customers should find it consistent, reliable and really fast.?

Sprint plans to continue building its 4G LTE network in the second half of 2012 and plans to have it near complete by 2013. If you live in one of these areas, let us know how the service is and if it is up to expectations.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sprint to ship HTC Evo 4G LTE this coming Thursday, Sprint?s HTC EVO 4G LTE Pre-orders Officially Started,

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5/

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Sony delivers Xperia S, Xperia P and Xperia U
smartphones to the US

post from Ubergizmo on 16 July 2012 01:17:19 PM. © Ubergizmo

At long last, Sony Mobile Communications has delivered their Xperia NXT range of smartphones to the US, coming in the form of the Xperia S, Xperia P and Xperia U. The rest of the world has more or less gotten a good look at them for some time now, with happy owners of the respective smartphones, so to see these devices arrive Stateside is a relief to all you who have been waiting for the longest time.

We have covered the details of these handsets in the past, and just to get a better idea on pricing and colors which they come in, read on. All of the handsets with the prices quoted here might sound far higher than what you are normally used to, but that is because they are not subsidized in any way, coming in an unlocked form factor so that you need not get tied down to any long term contract.

The Xperia S will come in black or white shades at $559.99, while the Xperia P is more affordable at $479.99, where you can choose from silver, red or black colors. The cheapest model of the lot? The black or white Xperia U.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Top 10 CES Gadgets, Sony Xperia P comes in a pretty pink shade now,

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rtphones-to-the-us/

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80% of Chinas households can afford a smartphone
by 2017

post from Ubergizmo on 16 July 2012 01:12:20 PM. © Ubergizmo

Statistics do not lie, but then again, they can be interpreted in their very own way. Here we are with word that China?s growing middle-class alongside the availability of cheaper and more affordable smartphones might eventually result in 80% of China’s households being able to own a smartphone by the time the year 2017 arrives. We are talking at over a billion smartphones here considering China’s population by then, at least according to research2guidance estimates.

80% of China?s population by then will belong to a middle-class household range, and when you couple that with continuous increases in household purchasing power and a surge in 1,000 Yuan handsets by major local players, then such an “achievement” is certainly very realistic. China has been the world?s largest mobile market for some time now, and in the first quarter of the year, China was the first country in the world to hit one billion mobile subscribers, clearly overtaking the US by a considerable margin.

Basically, if you are into business, tapping into the vast market in China is the way to go if you want to increase your coffers.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Dell to create Baidu Yi smartphones, Altek Leo A14 smartphone has a 14 megapixel camera,

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Wii U Pro Controller specially designed to secure
Call of Duty

post from Ubergizmo on 16 July 2012 01:08:19 PM. © Ubergizmo

Necessity is the mother of all invention, and I guess the saying holds true for Nintendo with the creation of the Wii U Pro Controller for the upcoming Wii U for the simple fact that they needed to have a conventional controller as part of their line up, otherwise Activision threatened the Japanese game maker that their titles will not make a beeline for the upcoming console. This bit of information was relayed by Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, where he also added, “I don?t get it. I think that essentially this is a solution in search of a problem. I mean, somebody had an idea – ‘let’s make the controller a tablet’ – and there aren’t many games that are going to take advantage of that. Activision never said anything to me, but I know that [for] big games like Call Of Duty they said, ‘No, we’re not putting it on there if you don’t give us a conventional controller’. So they gave in.”

It makes perfect sense to bend over considering the popularity of the Call of Duty franchise in the video gaming world. After all, having the best hardware in the world means nothing if there is no relevant software to help push sales.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nintendo CEO claims Wii U graphics "capabilities" are "close" to PS4 and Xbox 8. Here's Why, Wii U Online will not charge fees to gamers, says Nintendo,

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e-call-of-duty/

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Beyond Point And Shoot by Darrell Young

post from GadgetSpeak - Member reviews, blogs and forums on 16 July 2012 01:05:53 PM. © GadgetSpeak - Member reviews, blogs and forums

Beyond Point-and-Shoot which is subtitled ?Learning to use a digital SLR or interchangeable-lens camera? is a very useful book that provides a large amount of useful photographic information without assuming that the reader has any previous knowledge. In[...]

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Intel Series 330 SSD reaches 240GB and dips below
$1/GB

Intel has just announced that it is introducing a new 240GB version of its Series 330 solid state drive (SDD). At the same time, the company is lowering the maximum suggested price (MRSP) on previous models in the 330 Series, but also the 520 Series and 320 Series.

The new Series 330 240GB will come at $194 MRSP, but we’ll have to see if online prices get lower than this. With this offering, Intel breaks the $1/GB barrier, just like the industry predicted last year, and we expect pretty much every SSD manufacturer to get there by year’s end.

The good news is that this is not over. Moore’s law dictates that prices will continue to plunge, while capacity rises. In the meantime, expect more and more computers to use SSD drives to accelerate file access and as it stands, this is still one of the best upgrade that a computer can get. Don’t miss our Intel SSD 320 Series review.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Intel SSD 330 Series Announced, Intel SSD 910 is PCI-based and impressive,

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w-1gb/

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Comcast Pays Microsoft Reported $300 Million Own
All of MSNBC.com

Details are not official, but Comcast has purchased Microsoft's 50% stake in MSNBC.com. MSNBC.com was founded in the mid-90s was one of the first major corporate websites online in the news market....

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Facebook CEO says adapting to mobile devices is
the companys biggest challenge

Being the CEO and founder of a billion-dollar company is a daunting task. Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is saying that his hardest job as of the moment is adapting to mobile devices. In an interview at the Allen & Co.?s conference in Sun Valley, Zuckerberg said that integrating Facebook’s features to mobile devices is hard because the user experience on mobile devices is much different than on desktops. Apparently the social networking giant is counting on generating revenues from advertising via its mobile service to maintain its dominance in the market.

According to Bloomberg, Facebook is reportedly developing location-based features that will allow marketers to target users with more relevant pitches. “Concerns about slowing growth have driven down Facebook?s shares 19 percent since they began trading in May. The stock fell less than 1 percent to $30.72 at the close today in New York,” Bloomberg writes. Zuckerberg mentioned that the latest Facebook IPO isn’t the biggest change in his life (at least for now), but added that getting married was an even bigger change.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Facebook F8 Keynote - Live 10am PT, Facebook is not shutting down,