Republishing in full not allowed without permission.. Source: bhatt.id.au/blog/

Bluetooth earpieces come in many shapes, sizes and colours, most of which leave you looking like a lame call-centre operative who has wandered into the street to carry on a conversation. In this respect the Jabra Stone 2 really stands out.

With its unique shape and charging mechanism, it’s the first of its kind that I felt comfortable using while walking around in public. Indeed I was surprised at the number of times people asked what it was, so they could buy one. One person even said “you look like a West Wing operative”. One aspect that helps is that it has a black colour and my hair is black so that means it stands out much less than a colourful or shiny Bluetooth ear piece.

I write short articles as well as long feature “explainer” articles on topics including: Google Android Smartphones and Tablets, National Broadband Network (NBN), Space, Civil & Military Aviation, Ebooks and the Publishing Industry, Electric cars, Technology augmenting human capabilities etc for Geare Magazine. The editor of GEARE has kindly permitted me to post articles here after the magazine issue the article was printed in has passed its shelf life. I have added updates where new information is relevant.

The ‘Stone’ itself is the small recharger unit into which the minimalist curved earpiece neatly slots; the Stone itself can be charged from USB so it will deliver up to eight hours recharge on the move. Part of the Stone 2’s trademark curve hooks around your earlobe, and I successfully paired it with the several phones we tried, enjoying excellent performance in both directions.

It achieved conversational cut-through while walking along busy Sydney streets with lots of ambient noise, even staying clear both ways at a very noisy election night event. Some reviewers in the USA have complained about average audio quality, but I suspect this is largely mobile carrier related. For example my testing showed audio quality to be significantly better with mobile phones on the Telstra NextG network than on Optus or Vodafone.

So far so good. But how about voice command, one of the hardest things for any product to get right. The Stone 2 was indeed less than perfect here. Voice commands for ‘answer’ and ‘ignore’ only worked sometimes – it was more reliable to press the earpiece to do this. But voice status updates such as “battery level high/low” and “incoming call from 0412345678” were reliable.

Battery life was often frustrating. It’s quoted at two hours talk-time without a recharge but I reckon it’s about an hour and a half tops. This means you need to take the charger Stone with you – and won’t be able to use the earpiece for 20 minutes each time you need that rejuice of charge. Standby talk-time (including Stone recharges) is quoted as up to 15 days. Left-handed people are also out of luck, because the earpiece is unavoidably asymmetric – it’s designed to be used only in the right ear.

If the trends mentioned in my Augmented Humanity story continue, perhaps the Jabra Stone 5 or 6 might recharge directly from the electricity generated by your body.

Battery life and voice commands aside, the Stone 2 distinguishes itself on both operation and design – a cool Bluetooth earpiece that performs well. The Jabra Stone 2 retails for between $100-$150. At time of writing Techbuy sells the Jabra Stone 2 for $102.10.

Note that the Stone 2 review unit was provided for review by Jabra to me as well as lots of other journalists who cover the smartphone/mobile device area.

This article was originally published in GEARE Magazine issue #66. It is “digitally reprinted” here with permission from the editor. I have added updates where new information is relevant.

Visit the Rambling Thoughts Blog regularly to read articles about Technology, Personal Finance, TV Shows, Politics, Environment, Books and more

Republishing in full not allowed without permission.. Source: bhatt.id.au/blog/

Earlier this year I decided I was sick of the low quality of my cheap PC speakers when listening to podcasts and digital radio broadcasts as well as the weak sound from my TV speakers when watching digital TV, DVDs and Blurays.

HiFi Speakers are an area where my technology journalist knowledge is weak so I asked some friends who are audio specialists and both surprised me by recommending the Epoz Aktimate Mini Active Stereo HiFi iPod/MP3 Player Speakers.

To be honest I hadn’t heard of Epoz before but it turned out that they’re an Australian company who make very well respected speakers.

I don’t own an iPod because I use my Android phone as an MP3 player but luckily Epoz have designed for that. All I do is connect my Android phone to the Aktimate Mini AUX input and it’s charger cable to the handy USB charging port at the back of the speakers so it doesn’t go flat if I use it for a few hours.

Price

Don’t be fooled into thinking the Aktimate Mini speakers are overpriced like I initially was because of their description as an iPod dock. For one thing they are far better built than your average iPod dock and while iPod integration is certainly a feature of the speakers it’s not the defining point because these speakers are perfect for what I need: playing high quality audio from podcasts, MP3′s, digital radio, DVD/Bluray movies/TV shows while only being 30cm high so they don’t take up lots of space in my apartment.

The quoted prices for the Aktimate Mini at different shops varies wildly between $500 to over $800, have a good look around and do plenty of Google searches and you’ll be able to find a price close to the lower end. I chose glossy red for my speakers but they also come in glossy black or white at the same price.

Epoz Aktimate Mini Specifications

All the detailed specifications are at the Epoz website but I want to point the basics out:

• Active bookshelf speakers: because one speaker is active and the other a slave you don’t need an amplifier.
• Power Output: 40 W
• Inputs: 1 Pair Stereo RCA sockets, 1 3.5 mm jack, iPod dock
• Outputs: 1 pair RCA sockets (unfiltered) for connection to sub-woofer or to daisy-chain AktiMate speakers. Plus Video output (suitable only for iPods to generation 5 / Nano generation 2)
• Connections: USB for charging purposes only
• Size: 300 x 185 x 210 mm
• Weight: 12 Kgs

Audio Expert Reviews of Aktimate Mini Active Stereo HiFi iPod/MP3 Player Speakers

Consider the youth of today heading off to college. Computer, iPod, AktiMates, and they’re done. Consider the cluttered office with no room to shelve a whole hi-fi system – iPod, AktiMates, and you’re done. And you can’t even call them a small-room solution – they’re powerful enough to pump party levels in a fairly large space (here perhaps the subwoofer option might add useful support). We enjoyed them best at near-field distance, either side of our computer.

We are lost to find a criticism here – only that the dock looks a tiny bit silly sticking out of such a nicely-finished speaker, and that certain remote-control combinations caused our iPod nano to reboot. But for this performance we’re happy to get used to that. This is simply a blinder of a product.
- Jez Ford GEARE Magazine

The AktiMate Mini is a well-built and attractive stereo iPod dock. If you like to hear intricate details in your music and don’t much care for bombast then the Mini is one of the best sounding docks for the price. Add a decent subwoofer, give it some room and it will also double as a decent “party box” as well.
- Ty Pendlebury CNET Australia

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Republishing in full not allowed without permission.. Source: bhatt.id.au/blog/

DAB+ Digital Radio broadcast over the airwaves has come a long way since the official launch in mid 2009. DAB+ digital radio has totally changed my listening habits, my top 3 most listened to radio stations (SBS Chill, SBS 6 BBC World Service Relay and KOFFEE) are all digital-only radio stations. SBS Chill and KOFFEE play chillout music which I like to keep on in the background and no other analog radio station had ever played much of this music before.

According to a press release from Commercial Radio Australia in March 2011:

There are nearly 700,000 people listening to digital radio in an average week, in the five state metropolitan capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and 406,012 digital radios in the market as of March 2011.

Radio broadcasters continue to launch new digital-only services with up to 20 new DAB+ only stations on air in each market, plus an additional 13 short-term or pop-up stations. There are now more than 80 different digital radio models on sale in Australia, across 700 retail outlets plus online stores. The average sales price has fallen to AUD$105.

• Time spent listening to radio via DAB+ digital radio devices is 11 hours and 11 minutes each week, up by two hours and 55 minutes since Survey #1, 2010.
• Time spent listening to radio via a DAB+ digital radio has overtaken listening to radio on the internet by 2 to 1 (TSL on internet 5 hours & 11 minutes).
• 78% of those surveyed were aware of digital radio, up from 63% at the beginning of 2010.
• 87 % of people who own a digital radio would recommend it to a friend.
• Digital radio uptake in Australian households conservatively estimated at around 16% by 2014

I had a chat about the State of Play of Digital Radio in Australia with Trevor Long – Business Affairs Manager at SBS Australia who is excited about new radio model features like being able to view an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and record digital radio to an SD card on the Grundig Replay Radio as well as the image slideshow display on the Grundig Trio Radio.

Trevor is in charge of SBS digital radio stations including: SBS 1 and SBS 2 (traditional SBS foreign language content), SBS Chill, SBS PopAsia and SBS 6 (which usually plays a relay of BBC World Service but is switched to big events at certain times of year eg: Eurovision, big soccer tournaments).

Neerav Bhatt: How you see the State of the Australian DAB+ market relative to launch in August 2009?

Trevor Long: The market continues to go from strength to strength, with new stations created, new pop-ups (temporary special event radio stations) regularly and most importantly the evolution of new feature packed radios and lower prices across the board – all good for listeners.

Neerav Bhatt: What are the audience numbers and feedback like for SBS Digital Radio DAB+ stations? Are any particularly popular or growing the SBS audience in a new direction?

Trevor Long: Our two Digital only stations, SBS Chill and SBS PopAsia are a remarkable success for stations without the marketing or core audience base of the commercials.

SBS PopAsia now includes a live two hour program from 5pm every weekday featuring a PopAsia countdown and audience interaction from Phone, Email, Facebook, Twitter and Ustream Streaming. This is an innovation in radio, and we’re extremely pleased with both the sound of the station and the show, as well as the audience reaction.

SBS Chill continues to drive enthusiastic audience responses both on Facebook and on the SBS Chill website – We’re motivated by the continued great response for a station that really has had no promotion other than on the screen of your Digital radio!

Neerav Bhatt: What are your thoughts on DAB+ slideshow, DAB+ radios that can record to SD card/USB drive etc?

We are particularly excited about the DAB+ Slideshow receivers on the market. The iRiver B30 was the first, and a great handheld unit, while the PURE Sensia really set itself apart for its design and features.

The recent Grundig Trio is a great addition to this lineup and we’re looking forward to more and more of these as the industry evolves. Of course, Listeners and Manufacturers alike both need a good content offering there to make it worthwhile – we’re pleased with our current trials on SBS Chill which feature Artist Information, Latest News and also Internal Advertising opportunities – and we’ll be working with our software providers to ensure we continue to offer the latest here, including animated slideshow very soon.

It is great to see some receivers with SD slot recording too, for a format like SBS 1 and 2, which is hourly appointment based programming it’s an important feature, however we believe the use of EPG (Currently being broadcast on Sydney DAB+ by ABC and SBS) is the most important feature yet for our listeners. With the potential to miss just 5 or 10 minutes of your Language program on SBS Radio, EPG might very soon allow a ‘PVR’ for your Radio concept meaning our listeners can programme their radios to receive and record their favourite programs at any time.

Neerav Bhatt: Is the lack of cars which get sold factory direct with DAB+ radios built-in the main factor really holding back DAB+ take off in Australia?

Trevor Long: It’s certainly a key driver in the future of DAB+ – Ford’s recent announcement supporting DAB in their UK market vehicles is a great step forward, joining the many European nations doing likewise in the coming years.

It is only a matter of time, however it is understandable in a country of this size that some understanding of the future regional landscape be clear before a commitment is made. We hope this will come very soon – meanwhile, with the availability of Single DIN (Interchangable) DAB+ radios in the market now, those with older cars can in fact join the revolution now by putting a DAB+ radio in their car.

EDITOR NOTE: BMW Australia is the first manufacturer in Australia to offer built-in car Digital Radio DAB+ as an option, with availability on 5 Series and 7 Series from May 2011, and the new 6 Series upon launch.

Australias commercial radio industry has shown how keen it is for digital radio to be a standard car feature by making an offer “to car manufacturers of bonus commercial radio airtime for manufacturers that integrate DAB+ technology into their vehicles”.

Which Digital Radio Should You Buy?

I’ve reviewed quite a few digital radios and suggest the following:

Portable In Pocket – OXX Digital Pocket

Portable/Budget – OXX Digital Vantage

Budget with EPG and Recording – Grundig Replay

Budget All in One – KOGAN Deluxe (Wi-Fi DAB+ Digital Internet Radio With Iphone Dock)

Colour Touchscreen All in One – Grundig Trio

Premium High End – Grundig Trio, PURE EVOKE-2S or PURE AVANTI Flow

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Republishing in full not allowed without permission.. Source: bhatt.id.au/blog/

If you spend your work hours staring at a computer screen, your eyes may be too tired to read a book after hours. But that doesn’t mean you have to be bored during the commute to and from work. Audible recently launched a free Audible Android app to simplify access to the world’s largest selection of digital audiobooks (over 85,000 titles), from the fascinating true-life story ‘Confessions of an Economic Hitman’ to futuristic science fiction like ‘The Diamond Age’.

When people talk about ebooks, the natural tendency is to discuss eInk devices like the Amazon Kindle and Borders Kobo or Tablet devices like the Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab which have iBooks/Amazon/Kobo eBook apps on them. Don’t forget digital audio books because they’re also a type of eBook. Audible also has apps for iPhone, iPod, Blackberry and some GPS devices as well as Android.

I write short articles as well as long feature “explainer” articles on topics including: Google Android Smartphones and Tablets, National Broadband Network (NBN), Space, Civil & Military Aviation, Ebooks and the Publishing Industry, Electric cars, Technology augmenting human capabilities etc for Geare Magazine. The editor of GEARE has kindly permitted me to post articles here after the magazine issue the article was printed in has passed its shelf life. I have added updates where new information is relevant.

Once you purchase books on the Audible website simply update your Audible library on your Android phone to download the new books (I strongly recommend doing this over Wi-Fi as lengthy audio books can be sizable files).

The bookmarking system will keep track of where you left off listening to each book and resume from that point when you start playing again. If someone calls you while you’re listening to an Audible audio book it will smoothly pause and let the phone ring so you can answer the call without any issues.

Audible often has introductory offers running – search online for promotional codes (or try offer code TWIT2), courtesy of the This Week in Tech podcast for a free trial period including credits to download two free audible books which you can keep even if you cancel the trial.

I used the TWIT2 trial code to listen to these 2 books and found the user experience was quite enjoyable:

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

“Economic hit men,” John Perkins writes, “are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder.”

John Perkins should know – he was an economic hit man. His job was to convince countries that are strategically important to the U.S. – from Indonesia to Panama – to accept enormous loans for infrastructure development, and to make sure that the lucrative projects were contracted to U. S. corporations. Saddled with huge debts, these countries came under the control of the United States government, World Bank and other U.S.-dominated aid agencies that acted like loan sharks – dictating repayment terms and bullying foreign governments into submission.

This extraordinary real-life tale exposes international intrigue, corruption, and little-known government and corporate activities that have dire consequences for American democracy and the world

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.

In Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson took science fiction to dazzling new levels. Now, in The Diamond Age, he delivers another stunning tale. Set in twenty-first century Shanghai, it is the story of what happens when a state-of-the-art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. Her life-and the entire future of humanity-is about to be decoded and reprogrammed….

“[Stephenson] has gotten even better. The Diamond Age Envisions the next century as brilliantly as snow crash did the day after tomorrow.” – Newsweek

“Snow Crash drew its manic energy from the cyberpunkish conceit that anything is possible in virtual reality; in The Diamond Age the wonders of cyberspace pale before the even more dazzling powers of nanotechnology.” – New York Times Book Review

A portion of this article was originally published in GEARE Magazine issue #64. It is “digitally reprinted” here with permission from the editor. I have added updates where new information is relevant.

Visit the Rambling Thoughts Blog regularly to read articles about Technology, Personal Finance, TV Shows, Politics, Environment, Books and more