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Bluetooth speakers are so ubiquitous that, to be honest, my eyes have a tendency to glaze over at the mention of yet another one. The Soundcast VG1, however, caught my attention because its earlier – and more expensive – Melody speaker got rave reviews. The VG1 looked, on paper, to be the holy grail of highly-portable outdoor speakers, claiming good sound quality, decent volume, long battery-life and true IP67 waterproofing at a relatively affordable $150....

This holster case from Toronto-based LD West seems completely ridiculous at first glance, but it starts to make a lot more sense when you realize your oversized iPhone 6 or 6 Plus might no longer fit in your pants pocket. Strapping my phone to my side with what looks like an over-the-shoulder gun holster doesn’t exactly vibe with my usually minimalistic approach to iPhone cases. But it turns out the product is much more than just the gimmick I thought it was....

[SPOILERS for those not caught up on Riverdale ahead.] - The CW’s Riverdale has managed to subvert viewer expectations at practically every opportunity up until this point. Bringing a dark, Twin Peaks-esque spin on the traditionally wholesome Archie comic books, Riverdale has been met with practically universal praise from both critics and fans alike. Only four episodes in and it’s already being hailed as one of the best new shows of 2017, and to its credit, Riverdale hasn’t done much to warrant a decrease in excitement either....

Syfy officially grants a series order to Resident Alien, a comic book adaptation starring Firefly’s Alan Tudyk as the titular extraterrestrial. There are certain questions that keep much of humanity eternally wondering. Where does one go after death? Why do bad things happen to good people? How many times can Hollywood remake a movie before people stop going to see it? All kidding aside, another big question is whether or not humanity is alone in the universe, or if other intelligent life exists somewhere out there....

Up until recently, Thunderbolt 2 docks could mostly be described as “seen one, seen them all.” I’ve continued to like the idea of docks that fuse Thunderbolt 2, USB 3.0, and other peripherals together in a single Thunderbolt-to-Mac connection, but the docks I’ve seen from Belkin, Elgato, and Kanex are so similar in looks and features that they’d be hard to tell apart in a lineup. CalDigit’s dock looked very different from the rest, but functioned almost exactly the same....

None more so than smart locks, which can often be locked or unlocked easily through an app and alert owners if any problems arise. They’re also known to be handy for vacation rental hosts as a way to let people into homes remotely. This review deals with such a smart lock you install on your front door, along with a different kind that secures a cabinet inside your home. Keep reading to find out if these two very different smart locks are worth it....

I reviewed the Brydge Keyboard for the iPad Air/Air 2 back in March. At the time, I found it hard to choose between this and the ClamCase Pro, and for a while switched between them. However, the Brydge won the battle in the end, becoming my daily driver for my iPad Air 2. Brydge has two models for the smaller iPad, one for the iPad mini 1/2/3 and a second version coming out next month for the iPad mini 4....

Unless you pick the matte black versions, which look like most of the other iPhone 6 and 6 Plus battery cases I’ve tested, you’ll quickly be wowed by how premium Mophie’s newest Juice Packs feel in your hand. Glossy white plastic Apple accessories may have become passe years ago, but Mophie somehow got the look and feel just right — better, even, than the “unapologetically plastic” iPhone 5c. The reason for that luxe feel?...

But while most of us expect our smart speakers or the apps on our phones to gather data, we may not put much thought into other smart devices we use. After all, how much data can a smart thermostat, robovac or smart plug gather on you? To buy or not to buy: Hot tech products that put your privacy at risk Well, if we’re talking about smart vacuums, it turns out that the answer is a lot....

I first read about RockMelt in my newspaper. No, not in an RSS feed–in my dead tree version of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, via an AP story announcing “Internet pioneer backs new way to surf.” The fact that I read about a new way to surf in the old media raised a flag for me. It meant either A) this revolution would be so freaking huge that the AP would be the one giving it heavy coverage (rather than say, TechCrunch or Arstechnica) or B) this was mainstream news targeted at a non-geeky mainstream audience....

However, the tech giant Apple’s technology seems to be much smarter! It was last Tuesday that the tech giant Apple launched the powerful iPhone X, which stands out for bringing a new authentication system that ensures maximum security, Face ID. What is Face ID? Face ID is a new way to unlock and authenticate securely and is even more comfortable than Touch ID. With Face ID, the iPhone X only unlocks if you look directly at it and is set to ignore photos or masks....

Then you had the clamshell-shaped phones, starting with the Motorola StarTAC in 1996 and culminating with the most popular ever released, the Motorola RAZR from 2004. While you might think flip phones mostly disappeared with the emergence of touchscreen smartphones, they’ve slowly started making a comeback in the form of flexible screen devices from Samsung and others. There’s another that just hit the market from a brand you might not expect: Cat, the flagship brand of construction and mining equipment company Caterpillar....

I’ve long considered Lutron Caseta the most elegant and user-friendly HomeKit lighting solution. Lutron makes the wall switch smart and works with standard dimmable bulbs; other solutions put the smarts in the bulbs then require remotes on the walls and never turning off the wall switch. Lutron’s newly released Fan Speed Control is the perfect complement to the existing line of dimmer light switches. Fan Speed Control works with the same Lutron bridge which supports Apple HomeKit smart home control, making the new wall switches the best way to retrofit existing ceiling fans with Home app and Siri control....

BUKcase creates handmade cases for Apple products. Each of their products is made-to-order by local master bookbinders in Manchester, England, who use local materials and traditional machinery. Each product comes with a unique personal ID number and a birthday. To make its products more unique, BUKcase even offer custom engraving options. Since appearing on the television show Dragons’ Den, (the British version of Shark Tank), the company has had tremendous sales growth despite the lack of funding....

XOLO 8X-1000 is the company’s first ever phone to carry the Hive UI. This is XOLO’s effort to differentiate from other OEMs through its own Android UI overlay. This is the first time an Indian company has gone this route. Does it hamper the user experience of the phone or does it help it work better? Let’s find out in our Xolo 8X-1000 review. Design & Build XOLO 8X-1000 doesn’t carry the run-of-the-mill design we usually see from local manufacturers....

A report from The Information claims that Qualcomm is going to layoff thousands of its employees at its Q3 FY15 earnings conference scheduled for July 22. The company is expected to cut around 4,000 jobs in a bid to reduce its costs. This move likely stems from the fact that the chip maker’s revenue for Q3 will be lower than it had even anticipated for. The failure of the Snapdragon 810 in the high-end segment this year has hit Qualcomm negatively this year....

Verily it is the season of devices which deliver dollops of superb performance at relatively low prices. We have already seen the Moto G and the Lumia 630 do just that, pretty much redefining what we can expect from a sub USD 200-225 device. And now, Asus has thrown the ZenFone 5 into the same ring – claiming to deliver excellent performance at an even lower price (Rs 9,999, or USD 167 approximately)....

As a happy owner of a Promise Pegasus3 R6 external RAID enclosure, I was excited to try the new Promise Pegasus R4i internal RAID MPX Module, a unit that’s been specifically designed for the Mac Pro. The Promise Pegasus R4i is a four-drive hardware RAID array that can easily slide into your Mac Pro thanks to its MPX form factor. Adding the R4i to your Mac Pro instantly gives you a ton of on-board storage via four 8TB drives set up by default in a RAID 5 configuration....

Reviews of Samsung’s newest Galaxy S21 Ultra flagship have hit today, with reviewers pitting the new 6.8-inch device against Apple’s current iPhone 12 lineup. Reviewers say that while the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra features a more ergonomic finish, the iPhone 12 lineup still has a leg up in certain areas. Before we get into the iPhone 12 comparisons, be sure to check out our colleagues over at 9to5Google, who have also spent some time with the latest Galaxy S21 flagship devices....

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has brought the Star Wars saga to a close - and killed off many characters along the way. After two relatively safe installments in the forms of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, Disney chose to go big for the final movie of the sequel trilogy. And, with higher stakes, come more casualties. Some deaths we thought would happen, but others left us completely taken aback....