Apple iPhone 6 review

e forked its iPhone product line, simultaneously introducing the next generation of its flagship model -- the iPhone 6 -- and debuting its super-sized sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus . The iPhone 6 is an exceptional phone in nearly every way but for its middling battery life. The iPhone 6 Plus is also impressive; larger and thinner than other iPhone models, and with the capacity for far more endurance on a single charge than most comparably-sized and smaller competitors. When choosing between the 6 and 6 Plus, in the end, it's a matter of personal preference. I know several people who love the iPhone 6 Plus, with its larger screen size and better battery life. But the iPhone 6 feels best in my hand. It's thin, elegant, performs really well, and is considerably less expensive than the 6 Plus. For that reason, I think the smaller iPhone 6 is the way to go for most people

Hands on with Jaybird's much-anticipated Freedom Bluetooth sports headphones

Jaybird has built all the electronics into the inline remote and it says the buds and inline remote are made of metal, not plastic, which is mostly true (there is some plastic that's part of the design). The headphones are sweat­proof, though not waterproof, and Jaybird expects people to use these not only as a sports headphone but an everyday headphone

Battery life is rated at 8 hours, which is good for this type of headphone -- but it's a bit misleading because you get 4 hours from the buds and an additional 4 hours with an included charging clip that has a second rechargeable battery inside it. You can continue wearing the headphones with the clip attached, but the package does look a little funny dangling down near your cheek

You charge the headphones' internal battery and the external battery clip at the same time via a micro USB port in the clip. It's a cool concept to have the extra juice at your disposal when you need it, but the battery clip does seem a little easy to lose

1More Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones review

The Triple-Driver's sound is not only full and warm but nicely detailed. There's plenty of bass oomph and definition is decent enough. The midrange sounds clear and natural; this is a headphone that will appeal to audiophiles. 

Steve compared the Triple Driver with his favorite under $100 in-ear headphone, the FiiO EX1, and found the sound very different. While the earpieces of the two designs have a similar shape, the Triple Driver is finished to a higher standard and did a better job blocking external noise than the EX1. 

The EX1 is clearer and more transparent while but the Triple Driver's sound is richer and more textured. It was akin to listening to headphones plugged into a tube amplifier -- everything was just a little prettier and nicer sounding with the Triple Driver. The EX1's treble is more exciting, and more accurate, but the Triple Driver's sound is more of a guilty pleasure.

Under Armour's new JBL-engineered wireless sports headphones show promise but have pain points

Harman and Under Armour have a new strategic partnership and the first fruits of their joint labour are a line of wireless sport headphones. Both sets, UA Headphones Wireless and UA Headphones Wireless Heart Rate, are engineered by JBL. I got my hands on an early sample of UA Headphones Wireless, which are shipping in late January and retail for $180 in the US. No international pricing has been announced yet, but that converts to around AU$280 or £125. I can't say I'm all that enthusiastic about them, but mainly because they simply don't fit my ears that well. The problem is the buds' housing is big and has a silicon cover (you can choose between two sizes) that's ringed with a row of treads, with a integrated silicon eartip that extends out. You kind of screw the bud into your ear and the treads are supposed to lock the headphone in place. JBL says its "Twistlock technology guarantees the headphones will never fall out while the Flexsoft finishing provides long-lasting comfort." It didn't work so well for me, however. The outer rim of the bud -- the part that has the treads in it -- was just too big to fit comfortably in my ear and the silicon tip of the earphone didn't extend into my ear canal far enough to get a good seal. That's not to say these won't be a perfect fit for someone with bigger ears, which is why I'm going to have some other CNET editors try them out before I put a final rating on them. Alas, because of the poor fit of the headphone, it was hard to judge how good the sound was. When I manually pushed the tips into my ears, I got a lot more bass and the headphones sounded good. With the more open fit I ended up with, though, they sounded flat and had little bass

iPad Air review

The original iPad Air told us all we needed to know about Apple's changed approach to tablets – with a 43% thinner bezel and a 28% lighter body than the iPads that came before it, the Air champions the 'easier to live with' ideal. Although the iPad Air's successor, the iPad Air 2, has now been out for a while it doesn't mean the original iPad Air isn't worth considering if you're after a tablet, especially since the price has dropped now that there's a newer Air on the block. The original iPad Air took many of its design cues from the iPad mini 2. It's got the same smooth back design, thinner bezel and more attractive speakers at the bottom of the slate for more of a family likeness with the cut-down tablet from Apple's stables. While the Air is a clear copy of that smaller device I'm not going to hold it against Apple, as the mini already had a stunning design, and the Air takes that design ethos and brings it to the big leagues. It's a design Apple stuck with for the iPad Air 2, for the most part, so it must be good. It also has machined buttons that don't feel loose if you shake the device, adding to the premium feel. On top of the improved design the Air also got Apple's A7 chip, bringing with it 64-bit processing power and heaps of battery-saving features to keep your tablet going even longer in day-to-day use. That's also been superseded, by the A8X chip in the Air 2 and the A9X in the iPad Pro, but you still get a decent slug of power here. And the greatest thing about the iPad range in my eyes is the price – Apple originally started the 16GB Wi-Fi-only model at the same cost as its rivals, and while that outlay does spiral up as capacity and connectivity increase, for an Apple device to not charge an (unnecessary) premium is something I'm really happy to see. Even better, since the arrival of the iPad Air 2 prices for the original iPad Air have fallen. You're looking at a price range of £319 - £459 ($399 - $579 or AU$499 - AU$709), going from the 16GB version (Wi-Fi only) to the 32GB cellular option. Apple has discontinued the 64GB version of the iPad Air, so if you're after a larger-capacity slate you'll want to invest in the iPad Air 2. You could also scour the internet for a second-hand iPad Air 64GB model. With the launch of the iPad Air 2 many people have put their perfectly good original iPad Airs up for sale, so with a bit of careful shopping you could net yourself a bargain. iPad Air review Apple has lobbed in a lot of useful free software, as well as bringing a more refined experience with iOS 8 and now iOS 9, and you can see that it's put a lot of effort into making the iPad Air a tablet that's still relevant in the market, even if it's now getting on a bit in tablet terms. On that latter point, if you're thinking about buying the iPad Air right now it would be remiss of us not to point out that the iPad Air 2 offers a number of enhancements over this model. What's more, the iPad Air 3 could be right around the corner if reports are to be believed, which would likely see the iPad Air dropped from the range altogether, with the iPad Air 2 slotting in as the entry-level 10-incher. It may not seem particularly future-proof from a certain perspective, then, but I'd wager that the iPad Air will remain a solid, and well-supported, runner throughout 2016 and beyond. The keynote for the launch of the iPad Air talked a lot about Apple's dominance in terms of tablet usage, but since then a large number of users are starting to warm to the idea of an Android model as their main device. Samsung is currently the big name in Android, with its Galaxy Tab S line offering an improved screen and better ergonomics for those preferring the Android experience in a tablet. Google's Nexus 9 is another to have impressed with its performance and UI

Status Audio CB-1 review

he Status Audio CB-1 headphones' generic looks don't do justice to their audio quality. Frankly, after not being overly impressed with the company's HD2 premium over-the-ear consumer headphones, we almost passed on reviewing the CB-1s. That would have been a mistake. True to the company's claims, the closed-back, over-the-ear headphones sound flat or neutral, which is typically what you want for studio work. They're well balanced, making them a good choice for listening to a wide variety of musical styles. Also, their neutrality allowed me to use them all day without fatigue. For their $79 cost (about £55 or AU$110), I doubt you'll be disappointed.

HP Recalls Laptop Batteries Due to Overheating, Burn Hazards

HP has announced a voluntary recall on a number of batteries that were shipped with the company's laptops or sold as replacements between March 2013 and August 2015 due to fire and burn hazards. The batteries were shipped with HP, Compaq, HP ProBook, HP Envy, Compaq Presario and HP Pavilion laptops and also sold as replacements and provided through support channels

A full list of laptops that shipped with the batteries can be found here. HP is offering a validation program that can check if the battery in your laptop is affected by the recall, which you can find here. It also provides instructions to check your battery without installing any software. The company claims that owners of affected laptops can use their computers safely by removing the batter and plugging them into a wall socket

Overall, the laptop HP of the best laptops devices

OnePlus 3 review: The best phone you can get for $399

OnePlus has been trying to craft a full-blown, "flagship killer" of a smartphone since day one, but how successful it's been is up for debate. From my perch, the company's first phone proved that a relatively unknown startup could build a high-caliber handset and a die-hard fanbase around it. Its second-generation device pushed it even further into the big leagues. And now there's the $399 (£309) OnePlus 3, which launches today. Make no mistake: The competition is even fiercer than ever, but OnePlus is trying to meet the challenge. Best of all, that pain-in-the-ass invite system is finally gone. Suffice to say, this year's launch is a big deal for OnePlus, and it's only fitting that the OnePlus 3 mostly represents this young company at its best. Indeed, right now you'd be hard-pressed to find any other phone this good for this price

Pros

 First-rate performance

 Excellent build quality

 Mostly stock Android, plus some neat features

 Dual SIM support 

!It's $399

Cons 

Ships with a few minor bugs

 Limited memory options

 Dash charger doesn't work with all cables

.............................................................................................................

Summary 

OnePlus is back with its third-generation flagship phone, and it has more than enough horsepower to duke it out with devices twice its price. The phone's construction feels first-rate too, and OxygenOS -- the custom version of Android it runs -- could easily please stock aficionados and dedicated tweakers. It's not perfect, though: You only have one choice for storage (64GB) and the included super-fast charger sometimes isn't super-fast after all. Still, considering what the company is asking and how great everything else is, the OnePlus 3 represents the best balance of price and performance 

you can find

Hands on: Asus Transformer 3 Pro review

Hands on: Asus Transformer 3 Pro review    

OUR EARLY VERDICT

Asus Transformer 3 Pro is a competitor that takes almost all of its cues from the Microsoft Surface Pro 4. It offers more bites for your buck, with faster specs as its entry-level price, making it an attractive offer.

   FOR

Cheaper than Surface Pro 4 Core i5

Looks and feels like a quality tablet PC

A bit thinner than Microsoft's 2-in-1 

AGAINST

No even cheaper Core-M3 model

Small battery

Asus Transformer 3 Pro lives up to its 2-in-1 PC label in ways besides its convertible design, as I learned at Computex 2016.

For example, here's another 2-in-1 trait: it has twice the specs we usually see from similar detachables and one goal in mind: to be a better value than the Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

Starting at $999 (£899), the look, the feel and the performance of this Windows 10 hybrid device is nearly identical to Microsoft's flagship tablet, right down to the versatile kickstand hinge on back.

I got a chance to test out the Transformer 3 Pro in Taipei, Taiwan to see if it lived up to the "more for less" 2-in-1 promise. Here's what I've found so far.

Design and display

The exciting Asus booth at Computex wasn't far from Microsoft's booth in the corner, so you'd be forgiven for mistaking the Transformer 3 Pro demo station for a Surface Pro exhibit.

The Transformer 3 Pro touts a 12.6-inch display that's slightly bigger than the Surface Pro 4 at 12.3 inches, which makes for a small but meaningful difference.

Asus also ups the resolution to 2880 x 1920 pixels, giving it a 3K device with 121% RGB. All of this fits into a frame that weighs 795g and measures 289 x 211 x 8.35mm. That's a bit wider, but shorter and noticeably thinner than what you'll get from Microsoft.

The Transformer Pro 3 has a polished, metallic design and Asus made sure to point out its diamond-cut-lid during my Computex demo session. It sounds more fancy than it is, but the chamfered edge looks nice enough.

The keyboard is outfitted in a soft PU leather and sports a large glass trackpad, and I'm told that the keyboard is included. That's a big perk over the Microsoft Surface series.

Asus designed the Transformer 3 Pro keys to be the opposite of my 12-inch MacBook low-pile keyboard. They're nice and springy with plenty of feedback.

There are accessories to splurge on, however. There's an Asus Pen, XG Station 2 external graphic dock, expansion dock and audio pod.

Specs and battery life

This is where the Transformer Pro 3 gives you more bits for your buck. It starts with a Intel Core i5 processor, but of course Asus showed off the faster Core i7 chip in its demo unit. Of course.

It also tops out at a more-than-satisfying 16GB of LPDDR3 2133MHz, though things start out at the 4GB of RAM level. Internal storage, likewise, maxes out at a mighty 1TB with a PCIe x4 SSD.

What's important here are not that the top-of-the-line specs necessarily beat the Surface Pro 4 - you can customize Microsoft's 2-in-1 with the same high-end configuration. It's that Asus starts you out with more for less money.

There's no Core-M3 version, for example. Asus cut right to Core i5. Its 2-in-1 also filled with ports, leading with a USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2 connection supporting Thunderbolt 3.

Jabra Halo Smart Reviews

Jabra Halo Smart
Review

Welcome another neckband-style headphone to the world: The Jabra Halo Smart

What's special about it? Well, since it's from Jabra one would hope that it works really well as a headset for making calls. And that's exactly what Jabra is billing it as, touting its "high-quality microphones with integrated wind noise protection for enhanced in-call quality."

It also has very good battery life. At least according to the specs, which peg it at 17 hours of talk time and up to 15 hours of music listening.

I can't tell you how well it fits or sounds because I haven't tried it yet, but we'll have a full review once we get our hands on a review sample. In the meantime, here are the Halo Smart's highlights, according to Jabra (sorry, UK and Australian readers, no word on international pricing yet):

Jabra Halo Smart Silver Edition is available exclusively at Best Buy stores and online at www.bestbuy.com in late June with an MSRP of $80 (around AU$110 or £55, converted)

Jabra Halo Smart is also available in black at Jabra.com in July

Fits the 79 percent of users who want one set of headphones for both calls and music, but find the call experience on most music devices inadequate

Built for calls, Jabra Halo Smart uses high-quality microphones with integrated wind noise protection for enhanced in-call quality, and subtle vibration alert to ensure calls are never missed

Excellent sound quality thanks to 10mm speakers and Jabra's audio capabilities

Neckband wearing style for comfortable, all-day use and seamless switching between calls, music and media

Extended battery life provides up to 17 hours talk time and up to 15 hours of music listening

Dedicated Google Now or Siri button lets you use your voice for more