2012
Review of the Etymotic HF3 in ear monitor headphone
Over the last 15 years, I've spent a considerable amount of time living in airports and airplanes. Because of this, I am always searching for the next gadget or technology that will make my trip easier or more enjoyable. The first gadget that most travelers buy is a quality pair of noise canceling headphones. My first active noise canceling headphones were to Sennheiser PCX-250 then I graduated to one of the first Bose Quiet Comfort's . Although these devices performed extremely well, they had some negative factors that motivated me to look elsewhere.
Google providing better voice search than SIRI on IOS
The sultan of Search (aka Google) announced that it will update its IOS [universal] search application to enclude an enhanced voice search function. Google claims IOS performance will be on par with that of Jelly Bean voice search. Google expects Apple to approve the new version in the next couple of days. In the meantime, pour yourself another hot chocolate, get close to the warmth of your screen and check out this video demonstration. Update on 2012-08-11 04:22 by Edward N Kiledjian The updated version is live on iTunes if you want to try it.
Bloomberg claims IBM may buy RIM's enterprise business
Bloomberg is reporting that IBM may bid for Research In Motion's (RIM) enterprise service business including its network infrastructure, Blackberry Internet Service, Blackberry Enterprise Service, device to device encryption, network compression and more. "IBM made an informal approach about possibly acquiring the division, which operates a network of secure servers used to support its BlackBerry devices, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private." This is an interesting departure from Samsung that has had to repeat its position that it is not interested in anything RIM has to offer.
Counterfeit electronics being sold on eBay
My most recent articles have been product reviews and a question I received from 2 readers was related to buying some of these items from online auction sites (eBay being the 800 lb. gorilla). The readers wanted to know : Is it was “safe” to buy higher end electronics on eBay Having spent some time in Asia, I have seen firsthand similar looking replicas made available in the open market. Sure you can find fake sportswear, sunglasses and DVDs but you can also find very convincing Mophie branded battery packs, headphones and even electronics (smartphones, music players, etc).
Review of the FIIO L3 Line Out Dock cable for the iPhone
July 24, I wrote an article entitled “DO I NEED AN AMPLIFIER FOR MY HEADPHONES?” , if you are at all interested in good sound, I recommend you read it. In it I explain that most audio devices are built with cheaper built in headphone amplifiers to reduce device cost and I explain the benefits of a headphone amplifier (headphone amp). The one question is how to connect the headphone amp to your device? This article concentrates on connecting them to iDevices (particularly to an iPhone 4 or 4s).
What is LTE and do you need it?
As a business professional, you want the fastest most reliable wireless connectivity available and have likely heard of LTE. But what is LTE? Is there “read” and “fake” LTE? Is this something you should be looking for? These are some of the questions I will try to answer in this article. LTE is the acronym for Long Term Evolution (whose actual full technical name is 3GPP Long Term Evolution for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.) As the name implies, LTE is an ongoing evolutionary standard whose goal is to continuously improve.
Iphone 5 and mini iPad to be released September 12
Most tech blogs have been filled with wild speculation about when Apple would be releasing the next iPhone and possibly the iPad mini. After having read dozens of different dates, most pundits have now settles on September 12 as the magical date Apple will shine the light of its new devices on its followers. It seems the deal was sealed when iMore chose this date. For those that don't know, iMore seems to have an uncanny ability to determine accurate release dates for Apple products so the market tends to believe them.
Site refuses to delete my account
All of my accounts (username/password) are stored in LastPass and every quarter, I browse the and identify the accounts I no longer find useful. Using the built in account management features of most sites, I can delete my account myself and in some rare cases, I have to send a customer service email asking for the deletion. DVOR.com was one such site which had originally interested me but that I found "less interesting" after a while and wanted to delete my account.
I have more Facebook friends than you
The most common Facebook question people ask is how many friends does the typical Facebook user have? is 6 degrees of separation real The latest statistics I was able to find where published in November 2011 and provides some interesting insight I wanted to share with my community. I have friends Examining the 721 million active Facebook users (on November 2011), they had built 69 billion friendship relationships amongst them. Beyond the amazing numbers, the researchers discovered that users are actually much closer to each other than the “6 degrees of separation” and that gap is shrinking as the social network grows larger.
Real world test and review of the Monster Turbine In Ear headphone
This is a quick review of the Monster Turbine In Ear Monitor headphone. Like them or hate them, most people know the Monster brand. I have always thought their cables are extremely overpriced so I had glossed over testing their Turbine IEM headphones. But since they are so popular, I thought it was time I get them a fair shake and here it is. Build They are called Turbine because they kind of look like jet engines (or at least that is my guess).
Skype is spying on your instant messages
A couple of weeks ago, a group of hackers accused Skype (now owned by Microsoft) of changing its underlying architecture to make eavesdropping easier. It is still unknown if Skype/Microsoft can intercept your voice calls but reading their privacy policy, it is clearly written that they can and do comb through instant messages (which is stores for 30 or more when permitted by law) sent via the Skype service. The reason voice interception is unknown is the use of a common legal term called “includes but is not limited to” which means they list some services they monitor but reserve the right to monitor others.
Do I need an amplifier for my headphones?
Most of us listen to music while on the go through headphones and some type of portable music player (smartphone, music player, etc). In order to keep component costs low and extent battery life, most of these devices have very small built-in underpowered amplifiers. These small mediocre amps are acceptable when using the cheap $1 manufacturer provided headphones but the minute you step up to something a little more sophisticated, you start losing clarify degraded audio definition and detail higher noise poor channel separation Just a couple of years ago, headphone amps where the exclusive domain of professionals and demanding audiophiles.
Real world test and review of the Bose QuietComfort 15 (QC15)
Having spent a good chunk of my time in airplanes, I am always looking for the next great invention that will make my travelling life a little easier or more pleasant. Noise reducing headphones and In Ear Monitors fit into the second category by reducing the annoyance of that crying child in the next row or the constant annoying low hum of the airplanes engines. I have a tried a tone of different earphones that I will be reviewing in future write-ups but this one is dedicated to the Bose QuietComfort 15 earphones.
Lenovo CEO distributes his $3M bonus to employees
Most tech company CEOs are accustomed to receiving large multimillion dollar salaries just for showing up to work. In extreme cases, some CEOs have received huge paydays while their company tittered on the brink of bankruptcy and employees faced huge layoffs. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Yang Yanqing, CEO of the very successful Lenovo, decided to breakup his $3M supplemental performance bonus into 10,000 small chunks and award it to his lower level employees (line workers, assistants, etc).
Jelly bean safest version of Android yet
Ars Technica is reporting that Google’s new mobile Operating System, Jelly Bean, is the safest version of the Android OS thus far. This new version is the first time Google has implemented address space layout randomization protection which randomizes memory allocations for library, stack, heap and OS data structures. Combine ASLR with data execution prevention and this protects users from memory corruption exploitations. Apple IOS has had these features implemented ASLR and DEP for at leat 16 months. Apple also uses code signing to prevent unauthorized code from running.
Is Google killing SEO and organic search rankings?
Ask 10 people how Google makes the bulk of its money and you can be forgiven for thinking they are in the software business. The reality is the majority of Google’s golden egg comes from paid advertising and research from the online advertising consulting company WordStream shows a worrying trend: Google is flooding organic search with sponsored results. This finding is highlighted when you start looking at the statistics Wordstream highlights. 64.6% of high value commercial search term traffic is directed to sponsored links, compared to 35.
Microsoft Windows 8 will be released October 26 2012
Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows division, finally announced that The next major version of the Windows operating system will be released on October 26 2012. Read More
Kiledjian.com is PR Friendly
Kiledjian.com is the personal blog of an experienced business professional with a true love for technology and useful gear. I love to test new products and share my experiences with my readers. This can be a fantastic way for your company to reach a targeted and educated group of professionals. All reviews include a link to your website, will contain your contact information along with all of the product qualifications. Products will not be returned and some may be given away through contests.
Samsung accuses LG employees of theft
The Associated Press is reporting that 11 people have been charged with Intellectual Property theft from Samsung related to its advanced OLED TV technology from Samsung. 6 of those people have been identified as LG employees. LG has officially denied these claims but Samsung is sticking to its guns and claiming “systematically stole its display technology and poached Samsung employees.” A good reminder to business managers to evaluate their Intellectual Property protection systems and risk management frameworks.
Rogers offers incredibly attractive 6GB Plan
Summer data plan promos are nothing new but this new one from Rogers is unique and interesting. The new temporary summer plan includes 6GB of monthly data, 200 minutes of local calling, unlimiting text messaging, free evening calling and Unlimited Canada-wide MY10 calling. This plan includes access to Rogers' LTE network. It is impossible to build this plan a la carte. The next closes self-built plan would cost over $73. This deal expires August 8th so check it out now.