Review

I’ve spent several weeks now with HTC’s Nexus 9 tablet. That’s a bit longer than a typical reviews, but with all the hype surrounding this device, I wanted to take the time to really run it through its paces. There are also questions surrounding the Nexus 9, primarily whether its unusual size should be considered a plus or a minus. Again, I wanted to spend time with it before coming to any snap decisions. Read my review to get the full scoop but here’s one spoiler: the Nexus 9 did make my best tablets of 2014 list. 

Last year’s Moto X was a surprise hit, winning praise for its attractive design, nearly pure Android UI and excellent value proposition. This year’s follow-up Moto X is much more than a spec-bumped version 2. The new Moto X is significantly bigger, much more powerful and gains new features, while retaining much of the appeal of the original. I just wrapped up a week with the 2014 Moto X and I’ll be sorry to see it go.

Smartwatches and wearables have been a hot category this year. It seems like everyone is making one, but this early in the game it’s tough to get things just right. Motorola’s Moto 360 has been one of the most hotly anticipated devices of the season because it’s one of the first out of the gate to tackle two challenges head on: it’s round like a traditional wristwatch, and with Android Wear it has an operating system built from the ground up for wearables. I’ve been spending some quality time with a Moto 360 and this is what I think about the latest must-have high tech accessory.

Many people I know have mentioned their fear of break-ins or theft—especially my friends with rental homes. But there’s not much they can do outside of placing a broomstick in the sliding door, or hoping the deadbolts on their doors hold: they’re not allowed to have an alarm installed. Nor would they want to permanently install a device in a place in which they will only be residing temporarily. There’s a great solution to this problem now! The iSmartAlarm is a portable, yet powerful device that acts as a great theft deterrent using nothing more than a couple portable pieces of hardware, your wireless network and your smartphones.  I just had a chance to test it so click below to check out my review

There are many wireless audio options out there, like Sonos, Airplay, Bose Soundtouch, Dennon HEOS, and many more. But they all require connecting up to “their” system using an app on “their” devices. But if you already have a good stereo system that sounds great and simply want to wirelessly play music on it the Mass Fidelity Relay may be just the ticket! Here’s why.

14 year old Hiro (Ryan Potter) is a brilliant teenager who only wants to use his talent in robot fighting, until his brother, Tadashi (Daniel Henney) convinces him to join him at a “nerd school”. After a devastating event, Hiro takes on Tadashi’s project, Baymax (Scott Adsit), a health-caring robot and makes a few tweaks in order to fight the villain behind the devastating event along with his friends.   

            The MyGica ATV1200 is also called Dual Core Android TV box, and will turn your TV into a multifunctional smart TV. It is a media player, an Internet browser, a video and photo viewer, a game player, and a music player. I had a chance to test one out and run it through a few paces and here is what I found.

Eurocom is a well known manufacturer of high performance gaming laptops. I’ve had the opportunity to test several of the company’s models in the past and they always impress. This time, I have a Eurocom Armadillo, something different. It’s a thin ultra-portable with a touchscreen display and long battery life—something different for a gaming laptop. Read on to see what I thought of the Armadillo.

  Vizio, the latest newcomer to Canada, at least as far as TV home entertainment goes, has a great lineup of Smart TVs. I recently got to test out the their top of the line M Series 42” LED HDTV. Vizio’s price point for their TVs is lower than their competitors for the same feature set, so I wondered how they really compare. I was very favourably impressed…

When it comes to home and small office Wi-Fi networking, speed has always been important. But optimization is increasing becoming an even bigger deal. The Linksys ac3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi router is the latest model from this leader in wireless networking and this one combines speed with optimization, making it ideal for congested networks.