Bluetooth Portable Speakers: what is the best?

In recent years, the Bluetooth speakers are fashionable. Easily transportable , with autonomy for several hours and often a lot better than a smartphone, they have gradually replaced the iPod docks.

The first advantage of pregnant Bluetooth on the dock is the fact of not having to connect the audio source to the speaker.Your smartphone or tablet can remain in your pocket or bag and play music all the same, provided you stay five or ten meters from the enclosure. Another advantage, the Bluetooth speakers are universal , unlike, for example AirPlay speakers. Thus, you can send your music from an Android device, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and even from a laptop or desktop as it is equipped for Bluetooth.

In this market more important, some brands more or less confidential paved the way, but other firms specializing in the audio consumer begin to enter the race. How to make sense of things? What are the speakers that are worth? Design, ease of use, sound quality, how to make the right choice? 

Read More

Gmail now displays the default image

On his blog dedicated to Gmail , Google announced Thursday a new default for mail received from users. The images will now be displayed by default, contrary to the practice hitherto observed.

Until now, when you receive an email in your Gmail box , the images were included by default invisible. You had to click on a text "display images" or "always display images from sender" for access. However, Google announced that display images in emails is now the default for all Gmail users on the browser version of its webmail service as its mobile applications. It is nevertheless possible to avoid using too much mobile data, for example, to configure Gmail to not display images by default, in service settings.

The original images were hidden by default in order to avoid displaying images that can be a source of security problems on your device or computer. The images displayed in the emails are indeed directly hosted on third-party servers, not verified by Google. Now, pictures are stored copy on Google's servers to ensure their safety.

In addition to security measures, the new default setting should allow marketing companies to better target their readers. Indeed, as pointed out the site Ars Technica , "Gmail no longer hide the remote images. This means that unless users change their default settings, it will be possible for senders to see when a message sent to a Gmail address was opened " . Indeed, so far, so that companies know if an email as a newsletter was read, it was necessary to send an acknowledgment or the recipient chooses to display images. From the moment the images are opened by default, they know that the mails are read once they have been opened if they use the remote image protocol.

Read More

GTA San Andreas available on iOS, Android soon

One year after Vice City, Rockstar adapts a third part of his saga Grand Theft Auto on iOS. Last episode released on the previous-generation consoles (PS2 and Xbox), San Andreas is now available on the Apple App Store price of 5.99 euros. It will arrive in a week on Android and Windows Phone. For the occasion, Rockstar has given him a youthful look. Released in 2004 on PlayStation 2 is still the only GTA to offer a playground multi cities. County of San Andreas Los Santos and account (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco) and Las Venturas (Las Vegas), three very different and bordered by the countryside and desert places. All of these environments have been touched by Rockstar teams to smooth textures and improved lighting for their transition to high definition. The characters are not left out as they also benefit from a graphical facelift.Finally, the color palette has been extended for an optimal.

New features

This is a game day revived the controversial editor invites us to (re) discover on iOS . Side functionality, GTA San Andreas supports MPT. Thus, via an online backup service, you can start a game on an iPhone and continue it on an iPad. The game also proposes to use a personal playlist.To do this, he must appoint a playlist "GTASA" in the Music application 's iOS . It is she who will be played on the radio "track" of the game A feature that was previously available only on the PC version of San Andreas. Finally, those who railed against the touch controls in GTA III and EpisodeVice City when they leave on mobile will be happy to learn that this third installment is compatible with iOS controllers, namely Powershell Controller Logitech and Power Ace Moga, among others.specify that GTA San Andreas been optimized for the iPhone 5, 5s, 5c and iPad 4, Air and Mini Retina. On older devices, it is possible to observe some slowdowns. In addition, it is compatible only from iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 5G and iPad 2. 

Read More

Spotify launch a free mobile streaming service

According to the American press, Spotify announce December 11th service music streaming free on mobile. Until now, it had only one offer at $ 9.99.

Soon in Spotify mobile streaming free?  REUTERS / Sean Gardner

Spotify launch a free service of mobile music streaming 11 December, according to the Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch . So far the mobile service was only available to subscribers to plan at $ 9.99 per month. Free streaming supported by advertising, was only available on PC.

Spotify has 6 million paying subscribers a total of 20 million users.

The free service will allow mobile not unlimited listening , except in the webradio mode or playlists already made.

Spotify recently unveiled reverse the amounts to beneficiaries (record labels ...) by listening: between 0.006 and 0.0084 dollars. In 2013, the music platform announcement of $ 500 million in royalties.

Spedidam, who fights for better remuneration of performers on the Internet, has released a statement saying that artists touched 0.0001 per euro listening streaming free.

Read More

Blu Life Pro: 5 inch HD smartphone is thinner than a pencil

Blu Life Pro (Photo: Blu Products)

The Blu Life Pro of California manufacturer Blu is 6.9 millimeter flat and according to the manufacturer, the thinnest 5-inch HD smartphone in the world. First, it is only available in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil, and costs 300 U.S. dollars, the equivalent of about 220 euros.

High quality front camera

For the relatively low price, the contract-free cell phone using the latest smartphones: Equipped with a 5-inch HD display and a quad-core processor , which offers Life Pro is a 12-megapixel camera with LED flash and auto focus, with the full HD movies (1080p, 30 frames per second) can be rotated. In addition, a 5-megapixel front camera is included (in contrast, offers the Galaxy S4 only a 2-megapixel front camera). The operating system is Android 4.2. The ultra-thin smartphone (thinner than a pencil) offers 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory.

Scratch resistant display

Despite its slim exterior, the IPS screen of your smartphone to be scratch resistant. For the power supply a battery 2500 mAh, which should be sufficient for more than 17 days and in talk mode for 12 hours in stand-by mode provides.

Video: Blu Life Pro

Read More

Iconbit SmartWatch Callisto 100

The company has 100 Iconbit presented with the Calliso a Smart Watch, which can be pre-ordered now and mid-December 2013, available commercially. The purchase price for the innovative wristwatch amounts to 199 euros. The operating system is Google Android 4.2.2 was installed and the clock, a dual-core processor was installed with 1.2 GHz clock frequency. The processor is supported by 1 GB of RAM memory. The internal flash memory is 4 GB and can be expanded with a microSD card up to 32 gigabytes.

The watch supports communication standards UMTS, WLAN, GPRS and EDGE. The manufacturer has integrated a 3 megapixel digital camera for simple photos in the clock. Operation is via the 1.54-inch multi-touch TFT display that offers a resolution of 240 * 240 pixels. SmartWatch is completed by the Functions FM radio, Bluetooth, GPS, G-sensor and a speakerphone. As a gift for Christmas the Iconbit SmartWatch Callisto 100 can be recommended.

Read More

Apple worth half a trillion dollars

The U.S. technology company Apple can point to a record and that the stock market value was on Friday to 500 billion U.S. dollars. At the beginning the company had reached this value before. The share price had amounted on Friday at 550.33 U.S. dollars but was still far away from the highs of last year. In September 2012, the stock price had climbed to more than 700 U.S. dollars.

The company is under intense pressure by its shareholders, mainly because the billionaire Carl Icahn calls a multi-billion share buyback program. The company has free cash of more than 100 billion U.S. dollars, and this money should be the requirements fully distributed to the shareholders. The innovation is obviously no longer the focus but enhances the increase in stock market value. Two years ago, Apple founder Steve Jobs had died, and since that loss Apple has a noticeable loss of innovative momentum. Only new improved Apple iPhone or Apple iPad coming to the market while it used over and over again were surprises in the products.

Read More