Review: $80 Logitech Mini Boombox – the diminutive wireless speaker with huge sound and battery
Last month, I put the full-sized Logitech Boombox up against the Jawbone Jambox in a $150 Bluetooth Speaker battle. I liked both devices but they both had seperate strengths and weaknesses and were best suited to different tasks. For instance, I liked the portability of the Jambox, its speakerphone capability, and charging via USB. I liked the sound and simplicity of the Logitech Boombox but didn’t like the proprietary AC adapter.
After the review, Logitech got ahold of me and told me that if I liked the Jambox and the Boombox, they made a product that I would love called the Mini Boombox. Unlike Logitech’s full-size Bluetooth speakers, the Mini charges via Mini-USB, can fit in the palm of your hand (or cargo pants pockets) and can act as a speakerphone for an iPhone. This one retails for $100 but can be found for $79.99 at both Amazon (w/$30 of MP3s) and Best Buy.
How does it stack up against the two $150 Bluetooth speakers mentioned above?
NPD: Include iPad and Apple doubles nearest competitor in Mobile PC share, iPad now 63 percent of tablet market
Tim Cook likes to refer to the iPad as “the poster child of the post PC world” and often brags about how it is leading the pack. According to new numbers out today from research firm NDP, if you account for the iPad (13.6 million units during the quarter), Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has maintained its position as the leader in mobile PC sales with 17.2 million units shipped during Q1. Apple beat out its nearest competitor HP by a solid 8.3 million units, which makes it the leader by far.
As for the area of key growth, NDP backs up Cook’s recent claims that China is a key emerging market. According to the study, China accounted overall for 13 percent of mobile PCs shipped during the quarter. In related China news, a new study reported Apple doubled its device market share in China during Q1. Of course, this is due in part to the launch of the iPhone 4S with the fighting bustling crowds. However, Samsung still leads in the country by roughly 2.8 million devices shipped.
Apple already announced its Q2 earnings, where the company revealed it shipped 11.8 million iPads. It will be interesting to see how Apple fairs against the competition during Q2. But, right now, it looks like the others do not have a shot. Apple also led in tablets shipped, with a 62 percent marketshare during Q1:
The Telegraph interviews Apple lead designer Jonathan Ive, officially knighted today in Britain [video]
Being the senior vice president of industrial design at Apple, Jonathan Ive has played a key role over the years getting Apple products to be the best designed out there. While Ive was out of Cupertino and in his native homeland of Britain, The Daily Telegraph snagged a lengthy interview getting some insight into one of the most influential designers today. Like Steve Jobs, Ive said his inspiration for design work came from his father.
“My father was a very good craftsman. He made furniture, he made silverware and he had an incredible gift in terms of how you can make something yourself.”
Ive is currently in Britain to receive his knighthood for his stunning design work and contributions, so I guess we should really be calling him Sir Jonathan Ive. Ive even recently credited his homeland as inspiration for his work: “I am keenly aware that I benefit from a wonderful tradition in the U.K. of designing and making.”
The Telegraph’s interview also has a great look on Apple’s path to success, as explained by Ive himself.
“We try to develop products that seem somehow inevitable. That leave you with the sense that that’s the only possible solution that makes sense,” he explains. “Our products are tools and we don’t want design to get in the way. We’re trying to bring simplicity and clarity, we’re trying to order the products.
Check out the rest of the interview on The Daily Telegraph >>
Update: BBC reported that Sir Jonathan Ive has officially been knighted today. The Princess Royal knighting him is on video below.
Foxconn reportedly investing $210M in new Apple production line
According to a report from the China Daily, Foxconn is looking to invest $210 million in a new Apple production line that will be based in Huai’an city, China, according to the office of Taiwan Affairs today. The plant is expected to be relatively big in size, covering 40,000 square meters, with plans to hire 35,800 workers. However, it looks to be smaller than Foxconn’s other plants. When it comes to how much the plant plans to produce, the output from the plant is expected to be between $949 million to $1.1 billion yearly, according to the report.
It is not clear which Apple products are expected to be built in the plant, but construction will begin in October of this year, perhaps ruling out possibility of the factory producing the sixth-generation iPhone that is rumored to go into production in June. Manufacturing for the new iPhone will most likely take place in Foxconn’s main Shenzhen plant, where upwards of 200,000 workers currently work. Foxconn also opened a new plant in Brazil and a larger plant in Zhengzhou just last year.
Samsung chief says company looking to resolve differences with Apple ahead of court rendezvous, options include cross-licensing deal
CommentBloomberg reiterates: Apple to unveil new, thinner MacBook Pro at WWDC
Mockup: New, thinner MacBook Pro on the left. Current model on the right.
Our Senior Editor Mark Gurman exclusively brought you details about Apple’s new 15-inch MacBook Pro this morning that the company is currently readying to be unveiled. According to our trusted sources, the new MacBook Pro features an ultra-thin design, a “jaw-dropping” Retina Display, and super-fast USB 3. Confirming our report from this morning, Bloomberg reported that Apple will announce the new MacBook Pro at this year’s WWDC set to begin June 11 at the Moscone West conference center in California.
Bloomberg also suggested Apple would announce the release date for Apple’s next operating system, Mountain Lion, due in “late summer.” Mountain Lion brings many features from iOS like a Notification Center, heavy iCloud integration, Messages, and a new feature called “Gatekeeper.” It is now available as a beta to those apart of Apple’s Developer Center.
This is most likely a controlled leak by Apple—something Apple’s PR is known for. Notice that on Friday, when we published our exclusive that outlined Apple’s new Maps technology, which will début in iOS 6, both TechCrunch and AllThingsD confirmed our report—rather quickly too. Furthermore, The Verge and ABC News also confirmed what we said this morning: the new MacBook Pro will feature NVIDIA graphics to power the Retina display. It would not surprise us if this were a controlled leak.
With the announcement of iOS and new MacBook Pros, this year’s WWDC is sure to be crazy. We are looking forward to the festivities kicking off June 11, and you bet we will cover the event obsessively and in full force.
Samsung announces Galaxy S III with S Voice and a bunch of other iOS features
Samsung announced the Galaxy S III today at the Unpacked event in London. Apple’s biggest competitor in the smartphone space, and the only other manufacture making any significant profit, showed off the upgraded 4.8-inch 720P SuperAMOLED display device that now weighs 133 grams among other minor spec improvements.
A few of the features shown off were S-Voice, which is like Siri, Scan and Match for Music (iTunes Match), and Airplay-like “AllShare Cast” for streaming content to your HDTV through the AppleTV-like AllShare Cast Dongle. Samsung also named its iPod nano-like music player ”Pebble,” which bears a resemblance to the iOS Kickstarter watch that goes by the same name.
One cool new thing is a face recognition photo app. It lets you instantly send pictures to your friends that it recognizes in your pictures. The S III also has a pop-up player, which is sort of an app version of picture-in-picture that allows you to watch a movie while you switch around to other applications.
Initial reviews seem a little luke-warm on the device. Most call it an incremental update from the S II with new features that also brought some new flaws.
Oh, and Phil Schiller will not like this news: Flipboard for Android is debuting on the S III.
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