Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

AMD Athlon 5350 Kabini APU Review
Audioengine A2+ Desktop Computer Speakers Review
Best Windows Phone: which should you buy?
Jabra Solemate Mini Portable Wireless Speaker Review
Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro Review
My first foray into password management
Tinkerine Studios Ditto Pro 3D Printer Launch

AMD Athlon 5350 Kabini APU Review

When I got my first car it was one of the most basic rides I could possibly get for a cheap price. I was 19 years old and the Chevy that I ended up picking up was absolutely amazing to me. I finally had the ability to go wherever I wanted to go on my own schedule. One thing about that Chevy though was that it was really basic, it had a manual transmission and hand cranks for the windows. What I would now look at and say is a really basic vehicle with no bells and whistles, but everyone remembers their first car fondly. The main thing was it was transportation and it fit my budget at a mere $3,000 dollars and sometimes that is all that counts.

For some, the same thing can be said about computers and electronics. The price is the most important item to consider and performance does not really matter. I know that is not true, however, considering people are always complaining about how slow their computers are. What would you say if I told you that there is now an extremely affordable solution for an everyday computing machine, HTPC, or NAS box? Enter the AM1 platform from AMD, in particular the Athlon 5350. The AM1 platform has the option for two to four cores, features a low TDP of 25W, and is priced to fit into any budget.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

Audioengine A2+ Desktop Computer Speakers Review

To the angel of the church in Laodicea, Revelation 3:15-16 says, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm -- neither hot nor cold -- I am about to spit you out of my mouth." While I am not about to dig into some theological exegesis on this passage today, here is one thing we can all live by: Either you don't do it, or you go all the way. (If you come from a Chinese background, this is an also a rough dynamic translation of an old saying, "一不做, 二不休".) So with a small fusion of Biblical wisdom and a good old Chinese saying to start off your day, where am I going with this? Well, sitting on my desk right now is a set of Audioengine A2+ powered desktop speakers. As a bunch of discerning audio enthusiasts, over the years, our team here at APH Networks has reviewed quite a number of audio products. There were a handful of such that we have held in high regard, but at the same time, we have not one -- but two -- tying for the lowest score awarded of any products reviewed in this history of this website. When I first heard of the Audioengine A2+, I was excited. When you see something that looks like a pair of compact bookshelf speakers, comes in a boring black or white enclosure designed by someone with a ruler, has nothing visible other than a woofer and a tweeter, and costs almost as much as my pair of my budget-but-decent Polk Audio Monitor 65 tower speakers in my living room, you know this is serious business. Ladies and gentlemen, these are not your $20 desktop speakers. Taking it all the way to $250 at press time, will the A2+ blow you away in sound quality, or will its price tag blow you away from the store? Well, let us find out.

Read full article @ APH Networks

Best Windows Phone: which should you buy?

When Windows Phone 8 launched in 2012 it was looking to shake up the mobile market and differentiate itself from the dominant Android and iOS. While Windows Phone 8 has increased Microsoft's presence in the mobile market, its popularity has dipped in the past year. There's still hope yet though as Microsoft continues to persevere. The recently launched Windows Phone 8.1 replicates the popular features of Android and iOS whilst combining the comfort of home computing with the convenience of mobile. We've looked at the Windows Phone devices on offer and picked out the best ones around to guarantee you get the best bang for your buck. Nokia still dominates the list but as a Microsoft entity, that's no surprise.

Read full article @ Techradar

Jabra Solemate Mini Portable Wireless Speaker Review

Summer is almost upon us people so i expect that it won’t be long now before most of you storm the beaches around the world (like some friends of ours I’m guessing some of you already have) so just like pretty much everyone we know you're probably looking for ways to make your time there more pleasant and carefree. Now there are plenty of things one can bring along while at the beach but there are only two devices which happen to be at the top of the list especially amongst teenagers (not including smartphones obviously). So according to what we hear from friends and family, even from some of you via emails and FB messages the number one gadget people consider bringing along is a portable battery pack (PowerBank) followed very closely by a compact wireless speaker. A couple of our readers even mentioned large Boombox stereo speakers which is somewhat funny since back in the day that was our number one to bring toy when at the beach and why not even a guitar if someone knew how to play (smartphones were in their infancy back then). Times however change and now with the help of smartphones tiny portable speakers have effectively all but replaced the many times larger Boombox stereo speakers and so today we'll be taking a thorough look at the latest Solemate Mini Portable Wireless Speaker by Jabra.

GN Netcom, led by the Jabra brand, continues to build on its standing as one of the world’s leading and fastest growing suppliers of hands-free communications solutions. With approximately 875 employees and sales offices around the world, GN Netcom develops manufactures and markets a broad range of wireless headsets for mobile users and both wireless and corded headsets for contact center and office-based users. GN Netcom’s business activities also include its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business to a wide range of global customers including mobile phone, PC and PDA manufacturers.

A while back Jabra released the 172mm long, 64mm wide and 70mm tall Solemate Portable Wireless Speaker which featured not one but two soft dome tweeters, one mid/woofer and a bass radiator to produce a very good amount of volume (for its size always) for up to 8 hours. So since the original was quite compact we never expected for Jabra to design and manufacture an even smaller version (if any we expected a larger) but to our surprise they did and named it the Solemate Mini. Well the new Solemate Mini is indeed smaller (roughly 48% smaller to be exact) and measures 125mm in length, 53mm in width and 61mm in height with a weight of just 295g (as opposed to the 610g of the original). Of course certain sacrifices had to be made because of its size and so it wears just two full range speakers and a bass radiator. However because of that (and also thanks to EDR mode which was not supported in the original Solemate) its battery although smaller compared to that of the original Solemate still gives it up to 8 hours of music playback. The rest of the features are roughly the same so the Solemate Mini has a wireless range of 10m, can be paired with up to 9 devices (only connects with one at a time), has an Omni-directional microphone for calls, is NFC compatible and comes with support for the usual A2DP (v1.2), hands free (v1.6) and headset (v1.2) profiles. Well the time has come for us to move forward with this review and see how well it does compared to its larger brother.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro Review

A more versatile take on the Ultrabook. If you're turned off by the all-business persona and lofty price of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, no worries: Lenovo offers the stylish and innovative Yoga 2 Pro as an intriguing alternative. This device is more consumer/prosumer than business, and in addition to multi-touch capabilities, it offers a stunning, super-high-res screen that can be oriented in a variety of ways, transforming the usual into something quite versatile.

Read full article @ WinSupersite

My first foray into password management

In his latest blog post, TR's Cyril Kowaliski talks about password management software:

"Until the Heartbleed fiasco, I'd been using a mish-mash of alphanumeric passwords and passphrases, all stored safely in my noggin. I wasn't nearly as diligent as I ought to have been about freshening them up, but that never got me into trouble. I made sure to use long, difficult-to-crack passwords with double-digit character counts, and I tried not to use the same ones for different services.

That all fell apart when I was faced with the daunting task of conjuring up—and then memorizing€”a cornucopia of new passwords for a large and growing list of services. My friends and colleagues suggested password-management software, and I could think of no better alternative."

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Tinkerine Studios Ditto Pro 3D Printer Launch

Even though it has technically been around for a few years already, 3D printing is still something of a novelty and 3D printers are still a niche product for hobbyists. It wasn’t that long ago that you had to spend upwards of five figures to get a 3D printer of your own and, even then, you might have had to build it yourself. That’s changing quickly and one Vancouver company is leading the charge. They’re called Tinkerine Studios and we attended their special launch party for the all new Ditto Pro 3D Printer.

The launch party commemorated two special events for Tinkerine Studios. First, they have just moved from their old facility in Langley, BC to a brand new office and facility in Vancouver, located at 341 West 6th Avenue. This provides the company with a better dedicated space in which to work, but it is also a more central location for customers to check out and pick up the 3D printers in person. Second, the party celebrates the launch of the company’s third generation Ditto Pro 3D Printer.

Unlike some of the previous outings, the Ditto Pro comes fully assembled and offers a much more refined, professional look. We had the opportunity to chat with Tinkerine CEO Eugene Suyu about the company, about the Ditto Pro, and about the 3D printing movement as a whole.

Read full article @ MEGATech