HIOD ONE

HIOD ONE

HIOD ONE

Long have a myriad of devices existed for motorcycle riders to communicate to one and other with. For cyclists, though, it’s a bit different of a game, since they’re trying to reduce weight and drag as much as possible. After all, they’re powered by their own legs, not a hefty, gas guzzling engine.

The HIOD One is a pocket sized device that not only connects you to your phone, but lets you chat with other HIOD One users. In the box you’ll find a set of headphones, a noise canceling mic that attaches to your helmet’s strap, a voice box and a control unit with an OLED screen. The control box straps to your handle bars, while the voice unit includes its own arm mount.

The whole get up pairs with your smartphone over Bluetooth, allowing you take calls as well as playback music on your smartphone. It’s not entirely clear how it works, but you can communicate with up to five other HIOD One users directly, one at a time, provided they’re within a 400 meter of proximity using some sort of proprietary Bluetooth connection. And if your smartphone boasts voice control, it’s compatible with that as well.

As of today, HIOD has yet to open their web shop. But if you’re willing, you can enter your email address and they’ll let you know once it’s available for purchase. We’re seeing an EU oriented charger in their unboxing video, so chances are it will launch there first, but since it is also USB based, it might be a moot issue.

ARCHOS 101 G9 REVIEW

ARCHOS 101 G9 REVIEW

ARCHOS 101 G9 REVIEW

It seems like every company out there is trying to put out a tablet now a days, and Archos is no different. With so many different ten inch tablets coming in costing more than $400 mark, they’re not as budget friendly as the smaller tabs for people who don’t need a full on computer (or want a little supplement that won’t break the bank) – Archos wants to change the mold there with this model. While most tablets don’t bring much innovation to the table, sometimes you get something really neat like the G9. Even though you could consider this a “budget” ten inch model, it still holds up relatively well to some of the more robust ten inch tabs.

IPEN

IPEN

IPEN

The iPad single handily changed the tablet market as we know it. Composing emails, jotting down notes, watching videos, playing games and even drawing on the touchscreen device is feasible. However, you’ll need a stylus to achieve this last feat, that is assuming you want some level of detail. To achieve another level of detail, though, you’ll need a stylus like no other, the iPen.

You see, other styluses for the iPad work in a passive manner. In other words, they simply act or emulate a finger tip, but thanks to their point they provide a tad more accuracy; in other words not much more. The iPen, however, is the first active digitizer stylus that lets you write, draw and paint with accuracy never seen before on the iPad. Much like those digital pens, which instantly transcribe your hand written notes to your computer, this devices uses a small dongle that plugs into your iPad’s 30-pin dock. It uses a combination of infrared and ultrasonic technology along with the iPad’s touchscreen to provide pinpoint accuracy similar to that of a stand alone drawing tablet. They’ve even managed to incorporate “palm rejection” technology, which detects when your hand is resting on the iPad’s screen and prevents it from interfering with what you’re working on.