Is it Wise to Buy a Stereo Wireless Headphone?

You can’t imagine, 34 years ago, while stereo headphones were around before the first Sony Walkman, they looked so clumsy.  In those bygone days, headphones were stay-at-home things, relegated to late-night, LP music listening. That was then; the latest generation of slimmed-down headphones injects high-resolution music or home-theater sound directly into your ears. They're convenient for any situation where you don't want to deal with dangling cables—especially at the gym, but just in general as well.

And wireless no longer means poor sound, either. These days, Bluetooth wireless stereo audio sounds much better than it ever did before. Even though the stereo Bluetooth data signal is compressed, various headphone and earphone vendors have discovered ways of enhancing the signal to compensate for deficiencies in fidelity. Having said that, audiophiles will still hear a difference and should probably stick with wired headphones. But for casual listening, many of the most recent wireless models we've tested sound just fine—even great.

All recent smartphones and tablets support stereo Bluetooth, so do many other kinds of music players. Even the latest iPod nano has stereo Bluetooth, which is a first for the nano line, in addition to the latest iPod touch. Wireless headphone means No messy wires to trip you up; falling prices make Bluetooth headphones a reasonable auxiliary device for workouts and portable use. Another benefit: Most of these wireless headphones double as hands-free headsets for making and receiving calls with your cell phone. 

However, stereo wireless headphone also has its downside. The music stops when your battery dies; compressed audio files will leave your music sounding less dynamic; less real estate on the headphones means smaller buttons to control track navigation and volume; hardware limitations relegate its use to devices with Bluetooth connectivity. If you tend to buy one, then its battery capacity must be take consideration.

How to improve your iPhone 5S touch ID fingerprint reader

If you've been less than impressed with Touch ID, the fingerprint sensor that comes on Apple's new iPhone 5S, we may be able to help.

Although the fingerprint scanner works well for many people, and has garnered positive reviews from some of the most prominent tech critics, others have found that it doesn't work well for them.

What to do? Apple recommends rescanning your finger (and, of course, making sure it's clean and dry) or trying other fingers if you are having problems. The company also notes that things like lotion, oils and dry skin, or activities like swimming or exercising "may affect fingerprint recognition."

Here we tell some tips to improve your touch ID fingerprint performance.

Scan in multiple fingerprint angles: Touch ID stores up to five prints, and given that my 5s is mine and mine alone, I’ve used those print stores to actually capture multiple versions of my thumbprints—each has been scanned once when angled at 60 degrees, and once while pointing straight up. It ensures that even if your grip is a little different, Touch ID should still recognize your thumb.

Use a different finger: If you have a mark or cut on your thumb that makes fingerprint analysis and reading difficult, you may have to retire that finger from Touch ID use and instead try one of your other digits.

Make sure your finger touches the metal ring: The steel ring around your Touch ID sensor isn’t just there for looks—it helps the scanner recognize your print. As such, if you don’t make contact with it when you try to open your phone, you may have some trouble.

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HDMI Cable Using Guide

Nowadays, most of HD devices have applied the HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) ports. To make a full use of your devices, you wonder what this port used for. Actually, nothing compares to HDMI cables when connecting devices that are intended for high definition viewing, such as cable boxes, gaming consoles, computers, and DVD and Blu-ray players.

Guide to using an HDMI cable in a Home Theater

You can begin your HDMI experience by selecting the right cable that meets your requirements. While it is possible to purchase a flatHDMI cable from a renowned electronics manufacturer such as Sony, Hitachi or Philips, you can advance your search by figuring out the exact type of cable that you need.

Standard HDMI cables can work with the majority of appliances in a home theater since the standard cable transmits 1080i or 720p video. These resolutions are typical for many electronics, such as DVD players, cable and satellite boxes.

HDMI cables can also come with Ethernet that works the same as a standard HDMI cable but is also able to network devices through a designated information channel.  High-speed HDMI cables are required in order to experience 1080p resolutions, or higher. Blu-ray players require these types of cables in order to deliver optimal sound and picture quality.

Once you have selected the appropriate cable, it is time to find the ports for connection on the equipment and connector on the cable that you wish to join. Then connect the equipment by using the designated ports.

It is common for devices to come with an HDMI port, so make sure you connect the cable in the right port. The equipment port is female and the HDMI cable plug is male.

Check the HDMI cables to make sure that they are tightly in the port. The connectors must be secured properly into the ports in order to function. Those that need a line of over 25 feet, and expect 1080p resolution, should invest in a booster box.

Guide to use an HDMI cable with Other Devices

Connecting a TV to a laptop or PC is easy when using an HDMI cable. Simply connect the cable into the computer’s “Output” port if the device is compatible with HDMI. Devices that do not have a specific HDMI Output port will require an adapter and a video card upgrade. 

Gaming consoles are easily connected to a TV by putting one end of the HDMI cable into the gaming console’s Output port and the other cable end into the Input port of the TV. 

HDMI cables also can be used in Car

Automotive HDMI cables are used for more extreme systems of HD viewing, such as in vehicles and onboard. These cables are able to withstand vibration and temperature differences.

What you should do with HDMI 1.4 cable, when HDMI 2.0 comes?

Thanks to 4K Ultra HD, the introduction of HDMI 2.0 is tied tightly to the advancement od Ultra HD, or 4K, television. Last year at IFA, Panasonic and Sony launched their latest 4K/Ultra HD television, and they gave HDMI 2.0 a lot of lip service. As a result, even consumers who don’t own those next-gen televisions are starting to ask questions: Will I have to buy new HDMI cables? Is the connector different? How long until my HDMI equipment is obsolete?

HDMI 2.0 is the successor to the HDMI 1.4a/b standard most of us use today, which works well, so why change it? The main difference between HDMI 1.4 (which is what most equipment is now) and 2.0 is an increase in the possible framerates of the 4K signal. HDMI 1.4 can do Ultra HD at 30 frames per second. HDMI 2.0 can do 60 fps. There are no new cables with HDMI 2.0, this is a hardware change, not a cable change. So your current HighSpeed HDMI cables should work just fine.

Besides, HDMI 2.0 changes nothing about the size, shape or wiring of HDMI cables. Should you wind up getting devices that are HDMI 2.0 compliant, your existing cables will work just fine. And since HDMI 2.0 is backward compatible with older HDMI versions, you’ll be able to connect your old Blu-ray player and/or A/V receiver to a newer HDMI 2.0-equipped 4K Ultra HD with absolutely no problem.

If anyone offers you so-called ‘HDMI 2.0cables’, turn and run. It will be either a marketing tactic, or expression of ignorance. Either way it is non-compliant. When the HDMI 2.0 specification was first announced, it was accompanied by this statement “ …Current High Speed cable(category 2 cables) are capable of carrying the increased bandwidth”(HDMI Licensing, LLC)

iPhone and Android battery life tips

Here we conclude five tips for saving your iPhone and Android battery life and tell you why they work. You may have already heard some of them, but some are new.

 

Tip 1: Turn off the feature you aren’t using

This might be obvious to some, but this is one of the biggest causes of fast battery drain. Turn off the radio features in your phone you aren't using; even when they are idle, they suck power. That means switching off the WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth when you don't need them.

Tip 2: Turn down the screen brightness. 

The screen is the biggest power sucker on your phone. Keep the brightness low whenever you can and set the auto-lock so it turns the screen off when you aren't using it. The iPhone and Android phones also have auto-brightness settings, but you are still best keeping the screen in the 30 percent to 50 percent range if you can.

Tip 3: Kill the apps you aren't using. 

Close apps you aren't using, or at least some of them. iOS and Android phones do a decent job of not allowing all open apps to suck your battery, but keeping more than 10 open is never a good idea. On an Android phone also kill the widgets you don't use; even if they look pretty, they are constantly updating and draining your battery.

And for those who don't know, on the iPhone, you can close apps by double-tapping the Home button to bring up the open apps. Then swipe up to remove the ones you don't need. Hit the Home button when you are done. On Android phones, you can go to the "Manage applications" area in settings or you can select the open apps menu and swipe to close the app.

Tip 4: Turn off or limit notifications. 

Notifications are very useful, but they can also tax your battery. Be smart about which app notifications are enabled. Do you need notifications from your recipe app or Yelp? Also make sure those apps that are always busy -- like Twitter or Facebook -- aren't always refreshing with new updates and notifying you of them. With email, make sure you don't have notifications enabled for every new message.

Tip 5: Buy a mobile charger or battery-equipped case.

The aforementioned software adjustments will help, but they will only go so far, at least after a day of heavy use. If that extra juice doesn't go far enough, take the plunge: buy a mobile battery charger case to have on hand.

There are a number of mobile chargers with Micro USB or Apple charging connectors, which makes the phone pretty chunky but also doubles your battery life.