Technknowledge

Update 2: Apple's U.S. Black Friday sale is up, and while not spectacular, there are some rare discounts to be found. To go back to the same examples we used for the U.K. and Australian Apple stores, the base model 13-inch MacBook Pro is $1,098, down from $1,199.

In fact, it looks like all MacBook Pro models are exactly $101 off, while the $999 white MacBook is not discounted at all. The 32GB iPod Touch is $268, down from $299.

This sale is good online and in Apple's retail stores and runs until 3 a.m. EST on November 28.

Update: Even though it's not quite Black Friday in the U.S. yet, it's past midnight in some other parts of the globe. Notably, Australia and the U.K. have both seen their respective Apple Web sites updated to reveal Apple's one-day sale. While we can't say yet that the deals in the U.S. will be exactly the same, there's no reason think they won't be.

On apple.com/uk, we saw a 13-inch MacBook Pro, originally £1,149, marked down to £1,078. On apple.com/au, the same unit was A$1,868, marked down from A$1,999.

Similarly, a 32GB iPod Touch is £208, marked down from £229 on the U.K. site, while while in Australia, it's A$358, down from A$399.

We've also examined some Black Friday deals from other retailers.

Our original post continues below:

According to purportedly leaked documents on the tech rumor site Boy Genius Report, Apple is gearing up to offer a series of post-Thanksgiving bargains on products from iPods to MacBooks.

The deal, allegedly good only on November 27, lists "up to" discounts of 30 percent on iPods (excluding the Shuffle and iPhone), 25 percent on Mac laptops and desktops, and 15 percent on accessories, software, and other hardware.

The Boy Genius Report Web site says: "One of our connects just hit us up with some intriguing Apple information. According to them, what you see detailed above is a shot of Apple's yearly Black Friday deals. It's reported to be something Apple will email out shortly."

Of course, with the vague use of "up to" and no specific products listed, we can't be sure if these will be good deals or not. But if you're interested in being the first in line to check them out, the leaked doc also says that select Apple stores will be opening at 6 a.m. on November 27.

(Credit: Boy Genius Report)

“You hear that, Mr. Anderson, that is the sound of inevitability. That is the sound of a stolen gadget.”

“My name is Nio.”

Not the first time that I have used dialogue from The Matrix to introduce a new product. This seems to happen every time I report on a product with a name that sounds like “Neo“. Today it is the Nio security system.

The Nio is a very simple concept. It uses “tags” that are synced via Bluetooth to a mobile device. These tags can be placed on briefcases, expensive gadgets, or anything else that you don’t want to let out of your sight. There’s a video of it after the jump.

Design
If reaction from our office is anything to go by, the Sony Vaio VGF-WA1 is a good-looking unit. It certainly looks better than a grey box with a massive speaker grille is meant to -- a lot of this is down to its curved front facade, sharp edges and, of course, the angled high-gloss plastic panel which houses a series of lit up, touch sensitive buttons and a blue monochrome display.

While high on the cool factor, the controls have a downside: the plastic panel was sullied by fingerprints every time we used the unit -- which meant we spent a lot of our time cleaning it -- and when we were carrying it by its rear-mounted flip out grab handle, it often brushed against our thigh, setting off a chain of music-related embarrassment.

There are dedicated pause/play, forward, rewind and volume buttons, in addition to ones for flicking through the menus. It's a real wonder, then, why we weren't allowed to pause or skip tracks unless we were in the Now Playing or track selection screens. Searching through large lists of artists, songs or Web radio stations was a tedious task because holding the up and down buttons does nothing to increase the scrolling speed. And there's no way of making playlists or saving favourite stations on the unit.
Install screen from the past

Sony was clearly inspired by Windows 3.1 for its installation software

Features
With the Vaio you can listen to music from a variety of sources: it can stream music wirelessly from a PC or Web radio, play from an MP3 player connected via the auxiliary input or dish up tracks from its own, rather paltry, 128MB of internal memory.

Before you can do anything, though, you'll have to install the Vaio's Media Integrated Server software. Installation was fairly easy but, as we've seen with its Walkman products, Sony really needs to give its bundled software a good spit and polish. Some of the screens on the installer brought back memories of Windows 3.11 (see screen capture on right) and the manual was as friendly as a bouncer when you're wearing "the wrong shoes".

If you don't have a wireless network at home, the WA1 ships with a USB wireless stick so it can connect to your PC, and through it the Internet. We would've liked it if the Vaio supported uPNP (universal plug and play) or NAS (network attached storage), so songs can be streamed straight off network connected hard drives, like the Maxtor Shared Storage Plus, without the need for your PC to be on.

The WA1 also includes a clock and on-timer function. Just don't expect to it be a good replacement for your alarm clock. The clock is only displayed with the WA1 connected to mains power and the on-timer function doesn't ring an alarm of any sort -- indeed it fades in very neatly. In spite of the fact that there are thousands of free stations listed on the Live365 Web site -- which supplies all of the WA1's stations -- only 98 of them could be found by our unit.

Performance
Standing right over the Vaio, its sound quality is actually pretty decent but once you step away to more normal listening distances the quality can best be described as OK. The bass is weak, even with dynamic bass boost switched on, and higher ranges are a bit hollow. If you're planning to use the Vaio in the kitchen or as an adjunct to gardening -- as its packaging suggests -- it should be sufficient. There's also a headphone jack, stereo outputs and even an optical-out port. The quality through these is an improvement on the speaker output although certain background musical details were still difficult to discern, like the birds chirping in the background of The Flaming Lips' My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion.

We were impressed, though, with the Vaio's wireless range; we successfully took our review unit on a tour of the office and even at a distance of up to 50 metres away, and through a series of lifts, bathrooms and servers, the Vaio had no problem communicating with our music server. Its wireless performance even outshone some Draft-N PCMCIA cards we tested earlier this year.

While it's an interesting concept, and not without its merits, we're not entirely sure who's going to fork out nearly AU$500 for the Vaio VGF-WA1. Those looking to play MP3s in the kitchen or the garden are probably better served by the numerous MP3-player specific sound systems available.

Is it a bird, is it a plane?

Certain sections of technology lend themselves to the concept of convergence, where the mad scientists in the world's biggest tech manufacturer mix together the coolest gadgets to make even cooler gadgets — think smartphones. But what would happen if you mixed together three seemingly boring gadgets, say an alarm clock, an iPod dock and a digital photo frame? Cue the Sony Dream Machine (and Corey Haim is nowhere in sight).

The result is surprisingly sexy, or at least as sexy as an alarm clock ought to be. The centrepiece of the Dream Machine is a 7-inch colour LCD display with a pretty standard WVGA. When viewing videos or photo slideshows the results are colourful and reasonably sharp, and seeing as it's to live on your bedside table it has four brightness settings to dim the screen when its time to sleep.
Rock around the clock, dock

The Dream Machine can play media from four main sources: from its 1GB of internal memory, a USB connection to a PC or portable storage, an SD or M2 memory card, or from the media stored on your Apple iPhone or iPod, though unfortunately there is no 3.5mm socket for connecting any other brand of MP3 player (even a Sony). Apple products connect via a slide-out dock located on the right-hand side of the Dream Machine, and there are two plastic cradles to secure your iPhone in the dock correctly.

While having an iPod dock is a huge bonus for a product of this kind it does come with the most inconsistencies. Firstly, you can't start video or image files using the Dream Machine's control panel, instead you have to set the player into iPod video mode then start playback from the handset itself. You can control the iPod player's music controls using the buttons on the dock and can set music on your iPod as your alarm clock music. You also can't transfer files from the iPhone/iPod to the internal memory, though considering how tightly Apple control these aspects of its products we really shouldn't be too surprised.

The speaker in the Dream Machine is adequate for the job, especially if you plan to watch videos or listen to music close to the unit, as in with your head on your pillow and the Dream Machine an arm's length away. It also features AM/FM radio tuner, which all good alarm clocks should. If you don't feel like being woken up to your heavy metal collection you can record a "Fun Wakeup" (which sounds like an oxymoron to us). You choose a photo from your collection and marry it with a voice recording and create your own custom wake-up call. The Dream Machine supports a range of media file types including MP3 and WMA audio and MPEG4, AVI and MOV video files.
Overall

We have a few nitpicks and grumblings, but overall the Dream Machine is a happy marriage of a few popular electronic appliances. There are features missing that you might expect if you bought one of these appliances as a stand-alone, like Bluetooth or internet connectivity in a digital photo frame, but we feel that the combination of functionality makes up for the shortcomings of each of its parts.

Logitech is no stranger to the world of iPod speakers, churning out both desktop and portable units since shortly after the time of the player's inception. The company hasn't varied sharply from its formula over the years, mainly making evolutionary changes to up the quality and functionality of the devices. The latest portable speaker, the S315i, offers iPhone shielding along with a power-saving feature to increase battery life. The AU$200 unit offers solid sound quality and a durable, compact design, making it a good fit for iPod owners who are constantly on the go.
Design and features

Style-wise, the flat-black Logitech S315i is not at all striking, which means it will likely appeal to most eyes. It's nearly a perfect rectangle, save the slight pinching in the middle that adds a bit of curve. At 10.5 inches wide, 5 inches tall, and an inch deep, the unit will fit nicely into any carry-on bag or purse, though we are a bit disappointed that Logitech didn't include a case in the package — we've come to expect it from speakers in this price range. That said, the unit seems quite durable, with a sturdy flip-out kickstand that covers the iPod dock when closed and a rubber flap to protect the ports on the back.

The back of the S315i houses all controls and features. There's a DC input for the included power adapter as well as a line-in jack that allows you to connect an iPod Shuffle or any non-iPod audio source, though you'll have to provide your own stereo patch cable. Two volume buttons — "up" curved out and "down" dented in for blind control — are housed on the right side, while a power switch sits just above the kickstand. The switch has three settings: off, on and power-save. When the unit is in power-save mode, it offers up to 20 hours of playback off of the battery, whereas standard mode will provide about 10 hours. A single LED beneath the front speaker grille indicates battery level: green glows when you have more than 40 per cent power, orange lights up for 5 to 40 per cent, and red indicates less than 5 per cent.
Performance

The main problem with the Logitech S315i's power-saving mode is that it noticeably decreases audio quality. When we switched the unit into this mode during testing, music sounded thin and weak, with little low-end response. It was barely tolerable. The good news is that the speakers actually sound quite good when running off of wall power or when in standard battery mode. Music comes through clear and open, with no background hiss or distortion, and there is some bass, though not as much as we'd like. Also, while high-end detail is decent, we think the S315i could stand a little more warmth in the mids. Overall, however, we're pleased with the audio response offered by the unit. It's not for audiophiles, but will satisfy the average listener looking to fill a hotel room with tunes. Oh, and it gets good and loud.