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     A lot of people underestimate the impact that sound has on the Home Theatre experience. A decent sound bar can be a big step up from TV sound, while a surround sound system can take it up yet another level. In fact, once you have a good surround system, I can guarantee you will never turn back—it is noticeably that much better. At the heart of any surround sound system is the receiver, and the better the receiver the more impact your entertainment system will create.

A smartwatch that lives up to expectations was elusive for decades, but in the past few years technology has begun to catch up to the dream. The commercial success of pioneers like the Pebble helped bring smartwatches to the mainstream in 2014, Samsung’s commitment to the devices resulted in multiple generations of Gear smartwatches in a single year and Android Wear ushered in the era of round-faced models like the Moto 360. 2015 looks to be even better as app stores take off, manufacturers tweak their designs and the Apple Watch arrives.

One of the most confusing aspects of buying a laptop is the processor, or CPU. It’s not difficult to figure out which CPU a laptop has—in fact, processor specs are one of a laptop’s primary bragging points. But what does it all mean? Is AMD better than Intel? What’s a core and what’s the difference between having two (dual-core) four (quad-core) or six (hexa-core)? How can one Intel Core i5 CPU be so much faster than another Intel Core i5 CPU? The answers to these vexing questions and more as I outline what laptop buyers should know about processors.

Why stay couped up inside when there’s so much adventure waiting in the great outdoors for you? Here, I’ll give some tips for your next outdoor adventure with the family, including some essential tech gear to bring along with you.

The Misfit Flash is now poised to be even more than your fitness companion – an announcement from Misfit HQ today has taken the Misfit Flash out of the realm of simple and effective fitness tracker and placed it squarely into the category of smarthome accessory, because now you’ll now be able to use the Smart button face on the Misfit Flash to interact with some of your favourite apps and smart hardware.

It’s not actually a black-and-white question. There are many different variations of keyboard action and it gets down to a personal preference question.   Being armed with what to expect is going to get you a good way down the road to a decision.

A decade ago, I probably wouldn’t have recommended digital pianos to anyone looking to purchase one for learning the instrument. These days, given the advances in technology and relative prices, I’d say they’re something that one needs to seriously consider. They’re a great option for the modern family who want to start learning and enjoying the instrument.    

Wrapping up my overview of the big names in routers, the final instalment in the series is Netgear. The US-based company has a long history of manufacturing telecommunications gear (it was once a division of Canada’s Nortel Networks) and has an extensive line of wireless routers, Wi-Fi extenders and adapters for the home and small business market. You probably know it best for the Nighthawk series of blistering fast AC routers.

Post-CES 2015, we have a lot to absorb about what we can do to our homes. Smarthome gadgets are coming out at a rapid pace, and with many manufacturers now working together to allow you run their devices on the same apps, it’s good to get in tune with just how you can turn your every day home into a smart one.