I’ve been reading (yes, I do that on occasion) a lot about the BlackBerry PlayBook. Initially, I figured that the PlayBook was an obligational follow-in to the market share that the iPad has gained. I, along with the rest of the world, was thinking that the BlackBerry Playbook was far too late.

photo credit: joren.degroof

However, I’ve been re-thinking. I’ve been reading (alright, so I’m a book worm) Positioning, by Al Ries and Jack Trout, and I noticed something: although the iPad was the first tablet to break into the masses (relatively — I hear the term iPad more often than I hear tablet on campus), I think that it’s not too late for the Playbook to position itself as “the first Professional Tablet.”

Interestingly, RIM and QNX boasted of the PlayBook’s multimedia and gaming functions, but Mike Lazaridis also described the tablet as “an amplified view of what’s already on your BlackBerry.” [Emphasis added]

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/27/rim-introduces-playbook-the-blackberry-tablet/

Now I’m trusting Engadget pretty carefully here, but I see a fracture in their strategy — do professionals care about gaming? Can you really see that?

Your boss (we’ll call him Larry): “Tell me a bit about this PlayBook. Mm, fascinating…it has 1080p output and it can connect to my BlackBerry…but scratch all that, can it play Tetris? Oh, it doesn’t have 3D acceleration? I need to pay for games? Well that’s a dealbreaker, no go.”

photo credit: ???? ???????

Neither can I. But I’ll tell you what does matter — the PlayBook has Flash capabilities to view certain previews of advertisements (featuring your company), or how the PlayBook has 3G connectivity (and if it doesn’t, it really should — 4G if anything). These specs are getting more important to the business company, especially to all sorts of professionals where every second counts.

It’s got a good name (PlayBook is much more reasonable than the iPad), and a good potential position. All RIM has to do now is put their resources into marketing it properly and enhancing the technology to better serve their Professional customers. Don’t boast about gaming, don’t talk about movies, don’t talk about music. Address slideshows, instant communication, reliability, service, and all sorts of other things a Professional would want. If I could figure that minor piece of it out, I have no doubt the folks over at RIM can as well.

You might have just bought (or are looking into buying) those swirly Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs. (Shame on you if you haven’t already! Just kidding, of course.) They are supposed to last around ten times longer than an ordinary incandescent lightbulb, and because they don’t use heat to produce light, they are all the more efficient.

photo credit: Velo Steve

This is good for the environment. This is good for your wallet. And it means you don’t have to go through the work of throwing out as many bulbs! But, you may notice them dying, or having some bizarre quirks. Here are some tips to make them as normal as possible.

After you first install your CFL bulb, make sure you keep it on for at least twenty minutes. I would explain it, but I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be technically correct, and I hate geeks pointing these trivial things out: leaving it on for twenty minutes allows the ions in the gas to charge fully. This means that subsequently, you won’t have to wait to have the lightbulb charge to full power.

Secondly, on-off cycles kill CFL bulbs — so leave them on for at least fifteen minutes! This might seem counter-intuitive, but they’re super-efficient anyway — keeping them on for another extra ten minutes won’t cost you as much as replacing the bulb! (These bulbs are quite heavy on the wallet initially, but they do pay themselves off — if you can make them last.)

So make them last! Enjoy your CFL bulbs.

A couple of days ago, I was listening to music in the shower (California Gurls! Omg!) as per usual, because — let’s be honest, I like to sing along and pretend that I’m a rock star. I’ll admit it. It’s a pleasure of mine (I don’t even feel too guilty, truth be told). A bit later, I had my dad tell me that he was worried about my hearing, because there have been a lot of news reports about how iPods and loud music can result in hearing loss.

photo credit: seanmcmenemy

Now I’m not an old guy, I’m almost 19. I’ve never seriously considered losing my hearing, but the thought of it is quite dreadful. Also, after watch the UFC 116 pre-show last night and seeing Brock Lesnar come to the recognition that his body had failed him once (he had holes in his stomach, as he put it — I’m not really sure what happened, I was only half-paying attention until that point), I realized that if a dude like him could have holes in his stomach then I could probably, very easily, lose my hearing if I kept listening to music too loudly.

I’m not an anti-iPod guy; in fact, ever since I lost my iPod Nano 4G a month ago, I’ve been quite saddened and adjusting to a life of no-Pod. (I’ve been trying to live in silence while walking, seems a bit more natural and I pay more attention to things, like cars and whatnot…can be important sometimes.)

So I decided to Google it, and apparently the safe threshold is at around 80-85 decibels for earbuds. For more information, here’s an ABC News report: http://abcnews.go.com/health/video/health-insurance-premiums-jump-10977894&tab=9482931&section=1206835&playlist=1363742

I think that I’m going to do without an iPod for a while, but it is dead useful at a gym certainly, or in the shower, or on really long walks. The report indicated that volume and duration are the biggest criteria; thus, I think one change I will recommend is listening only to really high-volume songs when you have no choice. (Trust me, concerts and clubs will be filled with them.)

Also, in-ear earbuds usually have headphones at 5 decibels louder, the news report indicated. I’d recommend buying sound isolating headphones; thus, the background noise will be blocked out and music can be listened to at lower volumes without background interference. The V-Moda Vibe IIs were excellent, as were the Able Planet NC200s.

But go easy on the ears, they might come in handy in the future. Haha.

Apple’s not much better at graphics than PC’s. In fact, the majority of modern laptops can probably outdo their Apple counterparts at that price-point. Sure, Macs are able to run Garageband and Final Cut HD (only because of OS X, which can be illegitimately put on any computer now), but that doesn’t really give them the ‘graphic-design-edge’ that everyone boasts about. In fact, I find the Windows variants of Flash CS3 and Photoshop CS3 to be much more user-friendly than the OS X variants (similar, but the tiny differences really bug me — windows that drag funny, etc).

Similarly, the Nexus One and Droid phones are written by many columnists to outdo the iPhone 3GS — both in terms of hardware and user experience. But why is it that the iPhone is still capable of surpassing these two phones in sales and popularity? (Granted, the Nexus One is still a ghost.)

photo credit: doommeer

Smart marketing.

It’s not about commercial time. If it were, the Droid would probably be a lot closer to the iPhone. And in fact, I personally find the Droid commercials to be a bit more clever than the iPhone ones.

It’s the simplicity, the physical popularity, the word of mouth, the lack of exposure the Droid has to the non-geek world, and the reputation (or lack of, rather).

The iPhone definitely has a much more interesting ‘one-button’ hook than the Droid would. One-button to do all things. One-button to rule them all. Etc, etc. It’s just funny, and it’s a major selling point — plus, Apple is very well-known for it’s ‘simplicity’ (in fact, OS X is maybe just a bit simpler than Windows, in my opinion).

photo credit: psd

Where do you see a Motorola Droid? Maybe in a Chinese mall, along with those next-level cell phones that only 0.1% of the population takes a note of. You don’t see classmates, friends, colleagues, bosses, or anyone using them. This is also a reason why Blackberry hasn’t been trumped by Apple yet. It’s because of the physical presence that both Blackberries and iPhones have; you see strangers in the mall scrolling with their thumbs, or texting on their QWERTY-keyboards. And maybe one person on a bench, on some phone that looks like an HTC model or a generic brand — nothing to pay attention to.

When the iPhone came out, the world knew about it. Sure, there are people that know about the Droid — but not many. And a lot of them are just…geeks. Enthusiasts. Where the iPhone appealed to fashionstas for its beauty, geeks for its applications (as well as gamers), media freaks for its screen, and insecure people for its popularity, the Droid is only known to geeks. Not your mother, not your sister, not your grandpops. Just geeks. Maybe you, and one or two of your friends. And, to be frank, no one really cares that much about it, because no one’s seen anything that it can do better than the iPhone (when in fact, there is quite a bit that can be shown).

And, lastly, the iPhone’s already proven to be fun to use. It’s proven to be worth its price tag. And its prices are dropping, while specs are rising. In contrast, the Droid is still very new to the market; although a lot of smartphones came before the iPhone, the iPhone is really the phone that brought smartphones to the mainstream crowd — Feist’s song, its clever demonstration of the Shazam app (which really wow-ed my friends when we saw it), and its variety of apps just really makes the phone. Whereas, the Droid (and Android) still has a lot to prove.

photo credit: dailylifeofmojo

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s very difficult to dislodge Apple and the iPhone from their throne. There needs to be a shift — from simple commercials, to different marketing tactics. How about giving away free Droids, to certain people to try? Chanel did that with her perfume — only to a few select exclusive high-end people, for free. That way, when people are looking to see what the rich people are doing, they find that — Lo and Behold, they’re not using the iPhone, but a Droid! It’s only ideas that are out of the box, that will stand a chance against Apple’s iPhone.

Cover image by William Hook: http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamhook/3656233025/

No doubt there are a huge amount of MacBook Pro fans (I’m one of them) — the new MacBook Pros are cheaper, more efficient, and simpler than ever before. There wasn’t really much competition. Until now.

HP has created an (almost) exactly replica of the MacBook Pro; taking the exterior design of the MacBook Pro and slapping an HP logo on it, but reinventing the inside to have a lot more juice, and a lot more power. Named Envy, this line of laptops was created to capture a portion of those interested in MacBook Pros — the Envy line is more than comparable to Apple’s MacBook Pro.

With an i7 processor and double-digit RAM, and a dedicated ATI graphics card, the Envy is definitely something to keep your eyes peeled for. Available in mid-October, I’d suggest holding off that MacBook Pro until you’ve decided whether Snow Leopard is that essential, and if you can live with Envy and the Windows 7.

Read: http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/15/hp-envy-13-and-15-bring-luxury-to-the-everyman-look-like-macboo/

Read: http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/envy/discover_15.html

Indeed, the current state of the PS3 isn’t one to be proud of. Losing much territory in the console wars, the PS3 doesn’t hold too much of a competitive advantage in any aspect — its pricing is higher than its competitors, its navigation is very traditional, and its hardware — although powerful on paper, is still comparable to those of the Xbox 360. In fact, the only thing I can actually see is the free online play, which kind of sold the device to me. It has lost much of its unique selling points, including certain PS3-exclusive titles (Final Fantasy XIII sold me to the PS3 — but not to worry, Final Fantasy is expected to be PS3-exclusive). However, the PS3′s booth at E3 launched the PS3 in some interesting directions.

Sony's new PS3 Wand in action.

Firstly, the PS3 Wand really popped out. Initially, I was torn — sure, Sony took a huge page from Nintendo’s playbook, but at the same time, when paired with the PS3′s graphics, this could be an interesting combination. The unofficially named PS3 Wand has millimetre-precision, enabling just as much control over motion as the Wii. Also, upon seeing some pictures, I couldn’t help but note that this PS3 Wand looked much more advanced than the Nintendo Wiimote (I mean, look at the design of that thing — it looks like it came off an Alienware truck or something!).

A great slew of games await the PS3, including the ever-so-popular Uncharted 2.

Not to mention those titles that are still PS3-exclusive — Uncharted 2, ModNation Racers, MAG, Gran Turismo 5, and God of War 3 come to mind — are still coming right around the bend. The PS3 surely is still in the game, but will the PS3 Wand be able to turn the tables? I’m also thinking that the PS3 price will drop soon due to pressure from both the lack of sales and Activisions influence. The next six months should be interesting for the PS3, and if you’re looking for a device to combine both the Internet and media experience and blend it into your living room, the PS3 is not a bad investment (not to mention it still plays Blu-Ray — another capability that sealed the deal for me).

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/sony-ps3-wand-is-best-of-both-worlds

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10254966-1.html

My iPod Video 5.5G, which I got as a gift for Christmas a couple of years ago, has been good to me. It does what it was made to do — play music — very well, and it’s still playing videos and that nice game of Pong. However, there are times when I get bored with the relatively dull iPod UI, when I wish I had more games on it, or when I wish I could use my own equalizer settings to play my music the way I want to play it. The beauty of having a popular device, like the iPod Video 5.5G, is its community of dedicated hackers, working night and day to improve it. There are many alternatives to the original Apple firmware, but amongst the various ones, I believe that Rockbox is the most reputable and trusted, and also the one that appeals to me the most for its simplicity (sorry, iPod Linux).

Capabilities

Rockbox can do a boatload of things with the iPod that the original Apple firmware couldn’t — like using Windows Explorer to import music to your iPod (meaning you don’t have to go through iTunes to upload or download your music), more flexible customizability (you can tweak even the fonts you want to see), and a support for a huge variety of file formats (http://download.rockbox.org/manual/rockbox-h10_5gb/rockbox-buildap1.html). But amongst all these, I found the following to be the deciding factors for me:

1. Themes

There are 14 themes for the iPod Video in the Rockbox Themes Directory. Granted, a good portion of them don’t look too hot, but I think there at least one or two that are pretty eye-catching. It’s just a guess — since there used to be a lot more themes that looked a ton better — but I’m assuming that Rockbox developers removed them due to the lack of Album Art capabilities. Works fine for me. If themes are your major concern, then I’d consider using iPod Wizard to tweak the current iPod theme, and just leave Rockbox alone — but if you’re looking for more than just a theme change, read on.

2. Built-in Gameboy

What? You can play Gameboy on your iPod? Yes. For free. Rockbox can play Gameboy and Gameboy Color files by default (granted, Gameboy Color files might be a bit laggier if I’m not mistaken). All you have to do is a quick Google search for ‘Gameboy Color ROMs’ and a ton of results will pop up. I have two things to warn you about: these sites will be shady, and this is not legal if you didn’t already buy a version of the game. I’ve got a legitimate version of Pokemon Red, so I can play it on my iPod. By the way, always go with Charmander — I know it’s a pain in the ass to play against Brock and Misty, but it’ll pay off.

3. Equalizer

I think the factor that sealed the deal would be the built-in equalizer that Rockbox offers. Unlike the iPod default firmware, which only offers presets (such as ‘Bass Booster’), the Rockbox firmware offers pretty full equalizer that allows you to put more emphasis on different frequencies (I think that’s the word for it). A must-have feature for audiophiles or people that get really into their music (but if you were an audiophile, you’d already be ranting about the shortcomings of the iPod, so I can’t see why you’d have one — haha).

Installation

In the olden days, we had to drag and drop files that we downloaded and unzipped from our desktop to the iPod’s drive directory. Not anymore! With the release of Rockbox Utility, Rockbox is a lot simpler to install (not that it wasn’t simple before), so there’s really no need to write a tutorial (plus I don’t really enjoy writing tutorials that much — sorry folks, there are just too many pictures I have to create, then crop, then upload, and then link to — it’s a heck of a process just for a couple of graphics).

Take the Leap!

If you’re afraid because you haven’t done anything like this before, remember that you can always return to your old firmware via iTunes (the iPod System Restore comes in handy). It can be undone! Just remember — follow instructions to the word, don’t do anything stupid like pull out the iPod USB cord while transferring, and relax. But I’d like to say here that if you do manage to brick your iPod, I hold no responsibility for it.

Good luck.

Sound and aesthetics typically haven’t always fused together in an effective way. Meaning the nicer-looking headphones or earbuds, like the iPod earbuds (admit it, they look alright) can sound terrible while a more simplistic set of headphones (like the Able Planet NC200 set of headphones we’d looked at not too long ago) can produce great sound. Never judge a set of headphones by its looks.

Note: In this review, I use the term ‘headphones’ and ‘earbuds’ interchangeably. I apologize in advance if this causes any confusion, and if it does just substitute the word ‘headphones’ for ‘earbuds’ (or ‘headset’, now that I think about it). Enjoy!

Usually, I don’t bring my Able Planet SG500 set of headphones on a regular day — because I know that:

1. I won’t need its performance.
2. It’s better off I don’t isolate the music, because I like to be aware of my surroundings.
3. I’m scared to look like a doofus and don’t want to get mugged.

Okay, so you might be thinking I’ve got some self-image issues to work out (that’s a whole other discussion) — either way, I’m trying to say that headphones haven’t always looked too hot. It’s not that they shouldn’t — because I think that no matter what happens, in the end, aesthetics do matter. Why have Macbooks sold so well? And iPods? And iPhones? Sure, they’ve got novelty and character — but it’s the streamlined look and feel that Apple’s got mastered. It’s not just Apple, either — a while ago, we looked at the Das Keyboard which nearly knocked my socks off with its performance — but also its flashiness.

Ideally, I’d have a set of headphones that were inconspicuous (yet looked good), but still played good music. I’m no audiophile, but I like to think I can tell the difference between iPod headphones and a live orchestra. So when the opportunity came up for me to have a look at the V-Moda Vibe II set of headphones, I jumped on it. I’d heard great things about the first set of V-Moda Vibe headphones, so I was only expecting more.

A bundle of accessories is included with the V-Moda Vibe II headphones.

Design

It’s freaking beautiful. I know it sounds cliche — but nothing else comes to mind. It’s just…beautiful. I think that the V-Moda Vibe II set of headphones is…really flashy. Seriously, I could see a celebrity or a model wearing the set of headphones.

I received the ‘Nero’ version of the Vibe II, and I approve. Its chrome touches match the black very well, giving it a more ‘sophisticated’ look in comparison to other sets of earbuds.

I was really impressed by the ‘versatility’ of the Vibe II earbuds — originally, since they were designed as a really, really fancy headset for the iPhone (and Blackberries), I would have assumed that the mic would be a pain in the ass and doubly as annoying if one didn’t have an iPhone to use it with. I can’t say that I like it, but it’s really not that noticeable. It blends in well with the rest of the Vibe II, and is positioned perfectly for me to speak into without using my hands to lift it up, like I see so many people having to do awkwardly with their Sony Ericsson headsets (hypothetically, since I don’t have a phone compatible with it).

The other piece of the Vibe II that I was initially a bit iffy about would be the call answering button. I thought it was weird how V-Moda decided to separate the mic from the ‘answer’ button, but it actually turned out to be quite a good idea — it’s very inconspicuous and doubles as a piece to secure the earbuds — adding to the build quality.

The Vibe II seems to be very sturdy, and it comes with a great case to shield it from travel damage. The case is made of leather, and again, really contributes to the ‘sophisticated’ and ‘fashionable’ feel of the Vibe II earbuds. I’m actually also a really big fan on the case, because it’s just..sweet, haha. I’ve wanted a case that could contain my earbuds/headphones safely for a long time, and I could never find one, which makes this one all the more enjoyable.

V-Moda was considerate enough to include both white-coloured earbud slips (they go over the actual speakers) and black ones — 4 different pairs of each colour, accomodating 99% of mankind’s ear sizes. I found that the default set fit into my ears pretty well, so I didn’t bother changing it. Taking them off (for cleaning — because they do go deep in the ear) was a bit of a pain, because they seemed really fragile and I didn’t want to cause any damage, but they turned out fine (for now). Putting them back over the speakers went a lot more smoothly.

The V-Moda Vibe IIs also introduced two very interesting features to me — the first being its threaded wiring, which makes it more durable in comparison to typical rubber wiring.

The second would have to be the interesting headphone connector design — I haven’t seen anything like it before, but it really makes sense and functions well. It’s a great balance between the pure 90-degree headphone connector (like the JVC Gumy headphones, which I thought was awkwardly fitting and also a bit susceptible to wear and tear), and the straight-up plug-in headphone connectors (like the iPod headphone connector, which would be very susceptible to wear and tear).

Sound Isolation

The V-Moda Vibe II uses a more passive form of sound isolation — because they go in-ear, they don’t need an active filtering system like LYNX Audio to cancel out noise. I did find this to be equally as effective though, because I couldn’t hear people standing eight feet from me carry a conversation (their voices became barely distinguishable when they were four feet from me) while I was listening to music on my Dell Inspiron 6400 at 1% of Windows Vista volume in Windows Media Player.

I was initially a bit skeptical about how well these in-ear headphones would feel; I always had the notion that in-ear headphones felt a lot more intrusive and disturbing, and would fall out a lot. Although they did fall out quite a bit (sporting clips included to solve that problem), the ‘proper’ way to put the Vibe II earbuds would ensure that they stayed in your ear. I never really got around to using that method, because I grew tired of trying to learn how and I personally thought those sport clips looked really cheezy (plus I couldn’t put them on very well…my hand eye co-ordination isn’t the greatest).

I had trouble hearing a lot of things that were going on around me, which got to a tipping point when I couldn’t hear a telephone on my desk (of course, I’m kind of easily swept away by music). But in all honesty, the background noises were masked very well by the V-Moda Vibe II in-ear headphones — for better, or for worse.

Sound Quality

I’m going to say straight up — they were good, but they weren’t really that outstanding. Don’t get me wrong — the sound was rich and there weren’t many tinny or weak spots, but I just expected more from the V-Moda Vibe IIs. Then again, sound testing is very subjective — and I’m not always the most accurate judge (hey, I’m just a man).

Again, same ol’ test playlist:

• Back in Black by AC/DC (for the guitar intro)
• Devil’s got a New Disguise by Aerosmith (electric guitar performance)
• Good Life by Kanye West featuring T-Pain (bass)
• Janie’s got a Gun by Aerosmith (vocals)
• Live & Let Die by Guns N’ Roses (instruments)
• Live Your Life by T.I. featuring Rihanna (bass)
• Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses (guitar solo)
• This Love by Maroon 5 (vocals and instruments)
• Whatever You Like by T.I. (synthesizer and bass)

For one thing, I expected punchier bass. The bass was already quite strong on the V-Moda Vibe II set of headphones, but it just lacked the punchiness that would have made it perfect.

Songs with midrange and treble were reproduced quite well with the V-moda Vibe IIs. In fact, the midrange really stood out for me — acoustic/electric guitars sounded very clear. I think that the snare drums weren’t very distinct though, but that could’ve been a file/encoding issue.

What’s the Verdict?

In comparison to the Able Planet NC200 set of headphones I took a look at earlier this year, I would say that the V-Moda Vibe IIs can stand their ground. They’re a lot more portable, fashionable, and produce comparable sound quality — which says a lot. However, the V-Moda Vibe II set of headphones were not as comfortable, and personally I felt that the the NC200s produced a punchier bass, which I really look for in headphones (I feel that it’s overlooked sometimes).

And although I love its fancy designs, personally, I feel that if you don’t care about aesthetics as much and you want better sound quality, you’d be better off with another set of headphones (Able Planet NC200?).

The first dance I ever went to: the DJ was spinning, the strobes were flashing (dear God, my eyes!), and the bass was bumping.  Ever since then, I’d been searching for a set of headphones that sounded great (I like punchy bass, reminiscent of dances), cost less than an arm and a leg, isolated sound, and would last me more than a couple of months.  I didn’t want any in-ear buds — I guess I’m a bit paranoid of the effects they have (plus my ears aren’t exactly the cleanest in the world, har har).  I guess I’m also a bit old-fashioned — my idea was that nothing could beat around the ear headphones.

So Able Planet took a chance on me and sent me a set of NC200 noise-cancelling headphones. I’d never reviewed headphones before for two reasons:

1. Couldn’t get my hands on a pair, and I didn’t have time to shop around.
2. Alright, I had some doubt — reviewing headphones seemed difficult.

Design/Build Quality

First off, I’m a huge fan of the leather padding Able Planet decided to dress this baby with.  I’ve used crappy airplane around the ear headphones before, and they’ve always clipped my hair (ouch — no lie).  The padding gives my short hair a comfortable feel, and they also rest well on the back of my neck whenever I’m taking a break.  The leather padding around the speakers also leave my ears alone — unlike other reviews I’ve read with around the ear headphones and questionable comfort, my ears were left un-irritated.  I’m a happy camper in terms of comfortability.

The main issue I had with around the ear headphones was their size — how can anyone fit ‘em in their bag (let alone their pocket) without looking like an idiot?  Able Planet also took this in mind with the NC200′s, making them foldable.  I mean seriously, foldable.  Not only can you fold the headphones in half, you can also bend the speakers into the groove of the headband, making them a quarter of their size and manageable to fit into your bag (I took ‘em a bunch of places already).  The only problem I have is the time it takes to fold up — then again, I had a slight annoyance with how long it took me to unlock my locker’s lock before, and now I can go to the gym and unlock it in an easy three seconds.

My only beef is with the cord.  It looks a bit disturbing to the design when it protrudes straight out of the left speaker of the NC200′s like that.  Also, the cord is too normal — it’s not retractable, doesn’t have a specific place to wind/wrap up, I have to wrap it around like a normal set of headphones.  Yeah, I know that the NC200′s aren’t waaay high-class headphones — but I feel that there should’ve been something done with the cord.  Even just a simple magnetized design would’ve been great, just so that they aren’t a mess when I pull ‘em back out of the included slingbag (in retrospect, a good addition).

Oh yeah, and the Able Planet text on the side got mixed reactions when I brought it to now-famous Tech Design class — some thought the text was too “ordinary” (I personally found it pretty classy, but I guess it could be more unique).  But we all agreed the logo was beautiful (especially cause of its shininess).

Lastly, the battery compartment is excellently hidden.  I mean, excellently.  I didn’t even know that there was a battery compartment — it was an embarrassing mistake, actually:  I brought it into class, and my friends asked me why it kept dying when I tried turning it on.  Turns out the included battery died (probably drained in the cold when shipping, it’s understandable), and I didn’t activate LINX audio this whole time.  Holy crap.

Sound Quality

Test Playlist:

• Back in Black by AC/DC (for the guitar intro)
• Devil’s got a New Disguise by Aerosmith (electric guitar performance)
• Good Life by Kanye West featuring T-Pain (bass)
• Janie’s got a Gun by Aerosmith (vocals)
• Live & Let Die by Guns N’ Roses (instruments)
• Live Your Life by T.I. featuring Rihanna (bass)
• Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses (guitar solo)
• This Love by Maroon 5 (vocals and instruments)
• Whatever You Like by T.I. (synthesizer and bass)

All files were ripped from CD’s by Exact Audio Copy to try to get as close to lossless quality as possible (yet I wanted compressed MP3 formats for a more “realistic” size — not everyone in this world is an audiophile, I do realize).  The majority of the files were encoded at 320kbps with the exception of Live & Let Die at 224kbps, and Janie’s Got a Gun at 256 kbps.  To be perfectly honest, it was my first time fooling around with LAME — and although tiresome (I hadn’t an idea what I was doing before this review), it was rewarding.

I found it difficult to judge sound quality — because of its subjectiveness.  I employed the help of my second cousin (I’ve actually only got three), and borrowed a set of AKG Studio-Monitor k240′s.  “Typical” studio headphones.  Which I assumed were at least of “standard” quality.

The AKG Studio k240 trumped the Able Planet NC200 in terms of treble and midrange — the instruments and vocals seemed much more free on the Studio k240, whereas the NC200 seemed a bit “muffled”.  The NC200 did perform well when challenged with songs with bass, as it sounded “punchier” (as my cousin says, there’s always a difference between “punchy” and “volume”).  But I still felt a bit let down by the NC200 set of headphones — it had at least two or three years ahead of the Studio k240, so I couldn’t see why it didn’t outperform it.

And then I figured out how to turn LINX on.  Yeah, I’m a dumbass.

Wow, such a clean carpet!

But damn, I couldn’t have imagined such a difference — again, using the LAME-encoded MP3 files:

• All of a sudden, bass was more than acceptable — it was suddenly much more “punchy”, as my cousin from APHNetworks.com would describe it in his subjective sound tests (I know, I’m still a trainee).  Good Life, Live your Life (coincidence, I swear), and Whatever you Like all of a sudden sounded much more powerful.
• I think the greatest improvement is the sudden “openness” in treble and midrange — vocals all of a sudden went from backseat to driver.  Maroon 5 and Aerosmith sounded beautiful (as they should, of course).
• Volume-wise, it actually sounded “louder” than before — literally.  I could hardly stand listening at half-manual volume (100% on Windows though, to keep the setting as tested before).
• The only down-side? Well, when volume is low, you can hear a slight “hiss” of LINX working.  It can be annoying at low volumes.

Sound Isolation

Couldn’t hear a bloody thing until my cousin started clapping to get my attention (he asked whether I wanted to stay at his place for lunch).  That’s just the beginning — with LINX audio on, I couldn’t hear a person enter my house, even when the security system alerted me a door opened.  I know this sounds really stupid and cheezy, but they’re both true events that I thought illustrated my point very well: the Able Planet NC200 set of headphones makes your music stand out that much more.

But the “hiss” does get annoying.  Because sound gets filtered so well, I usually don’t listen to music that loudly (I’m a firm believer that loud music will permanently damage your ears — call me conservative).  But the “hiss” with LINX audio kind of forces me to bump the music up to the level where I can’t hear it anymore.  But again — to re-iterate, the “hiss” gets drowned out when volume is turned up to probably a 30% line-in level, plus LINX audio enhances the music so much that I would rather hear a bit of hissing with the music recreated well, than without.

To turn on LINX Audio, just shift the switch on the “On” switch.  And if nothing happens, then change the battery — lift the hatch on the right headphone, and switch in a AAA battery (kind of a drag, but it hasn’t died since).

Is that it?

Pretty much.

Can I say it all in one sentence?  The Able Planet NC200 set of headphones does its job well — it cancels sound (when LINX audio is on), produces some mean sound quality (I mean that in a good way), while retaining great looks (with leather and all), and excellent portability (kudos on the folding design); I think that LINX audio produces a bit too much hiss when it’s on — but overall, the Able Planet NC200 set of headphones are a great pair and offer much value for sub-$100.  And they don’t hurt your ears.

Darn, looks like it took me two sentences, har har.  But seriously, if you’re looking for a set of headphones and have $100 to spend, I would pay some serious attention to the Able Planet NC200s. And of course, if you felt that I wrote something wrong, or you thought it was an absolutely horrible review, I would suggest saying so in the comments (I accept compliments too, *blushes*).  It’s my first review on headphones, and I would greatly appreciate some constructive criticism (in all seriousness, now).

I could have only dreamed of this coming true — but here it is: the folks over at XDA-Developers (a bright bunch of people) have ported Google Android onto the HTC Touch (Vogue).  Now I’m really not so sure why it’s called the HTC Vogue (probably differences in countries — Canada calls the Samsung Blackjack just the Samsung Jack), but that’s besides the point.  Like…holy cow.  It’s alive.

HTC Touch Vogue running Google Android

photo credit: Kai Hendry

Sure, it’s got a bunch of minor bugs and issues for now, but it’s still something to contemplate — once its issues and bugs are gone, I’m definitely going to have to give this a try.