Minibyte »

• Tech tools: Aftershokz

  January 24, 2012 @ 9:28 am | by Ciara O'Brien

  Headphones that use “bone conduction” sound more like instruments of torture than something you’d willingly strap to your head. But apparently it’s technology that’s been in use by special ops for some time.

  (more…)

• If you missed it…

  @ 9:23 am | by Ciara O'Brien

  … coverage of CES can be found here:

  Show time for electronics as record numbers exhibit at CES

  Organisers dismiss ‘game over’ talk as rivals grow

  Irish firms attracted by show’s X-factor

  Tired of updating Facebook? A robot rabbit could be the solution . . .

• CES!

  January 9, 2012 @ 11:16 pm | by Ciara O'Brien

  It’s January, which means one thing: the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And luckily for me, I get to go.

  

  

  I’ve already done the most important thing after getting off the plane: heading to In-n-Out Burger for the first double double of the trip (possibly the best burger you’ll ever get that doesn’t cost the best part of €20).

  

  And today, we’ve seen Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Intel show off their vision of the future – or the next 12 months at least.

  Next up is Sony, and from tomorrow we get to hit the show floor to get out hands on all the new gadgets that have been announced.

  So stay tuned – there’ll be some updates in the coming days. And if you’re on Twitter, I’m occasionally tweeting from @ciaraobrien, whenever I can get a decent internet connection. Which, despite this being a tech conference, is harder than you’d think.

• CES: Dunking your phone

  January 13, 2011 @ 10:19 pm | by Ciara O'Brien

  Ever felt the need to take your iPhone for a dip? I may be surgically attached to my phone, but I don’t think even I would go this far. Besides the fact that I don’t really swim (I drown better) it’s putting a lot of trust in some plastic and seals.

  

  There are practical aspects to the DryCase, of course. Now you can take your delicate electronics to the beach, out fishing or skiing without worrying that it will get wet. And we all know water means death to electronics.

  Still, it also removes a cast iron excuse for being out of contact. Your choice.

• CES: Avatar for Kinect

  January 7, 2011 @ 5:44 pm | by Ciara O'Brien

  Microsoft unveiled the latest function for Kinect – an avatar that mimics how your face moves. Not impressed? Take a look at the video.

  

  Avatar Kinect is a chat function that tracks your facial expressions, how your mouth moves, even if you raise your eyebrows. It will be interesting to see how this works for everyone else, and where else Kinect will go.

  Avatar Kinect is a free service for Xbox Live Gold members, and is coming this spring.

• Vegas!

  January 6, 2011 @ 6:03 pm | by Ciara O'Brien

  

  It’s that time of year again. The Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas today, and I’ve been sent over to cover it. Which pretty much means I play with gadgets for the next few days and report back.

  Tough job.

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• Sony postpones GT5 launch

  January 13, 2010 @ 9:42 am | by Ciara O'Brien

  Those of you looking forward to getting your hands on Gran Turismo 5 may be slightly disappointed to learn that Sony has postponed the launch in the Japan.

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• CES kicks off

  January 8, 2010 @ 12:23 am | by Ciara O'Brien

  For those of you who don’t know, the Consumer Electronics Show is kicking off in Las Vegas today. John Collins is selflessly taking one for the team and has flown out to Vegas to cover it for the newspaper. He’s also blogging on the Current Account business blog elsewhere on this site.

  I’m sure he’s hating every single minute of it. (more…)