Jon L. JacobiFreelance contributor, TechHive
Jon is a Juilliard-trained musician, former x86/6800 programmer, and long-time (late 70s) computer enthusiast living the San Francisco bay area.
Razer Leviathan sound bar review: Ba-ba-boom bass
With Dolby Virtual Speaker for faux surround and a subwoofer belting out the bass, movies and gaming take on a life of their own with the Leviathan.
RealNetworks' RealTimes makes it a snap to share good times with short videos
RealTimes takes your photos and video an combines them intelligently into short montage movies suitable for online sharing.
TDK Life on Record Trek Flex speaker review: Weatherized (and it sounds like it)
Everything about this portable Bluetooth speaker is well done--except the sound.
Qualcomm extends AllPlay’s capabilities and announces new partnerships
Though Hitachi is the only big-name win, AllPlay has added several new vendors, Bluetooth, and line-in res-streaming, and now supports stereo speaker pairs.
Oomi’s connected-home system gains remote monitoring and ingress sensors
Fantem’s Oomi connected home security and management system has acquired a new accessory for detecting entry via your home’s windows and doors. The company has also partnered with Nettalk for an optional remote monitoring and emergency system.
TDK Trek 360 Bluetooth speaker review: This box radiates nicely rendered tunes
This portable music cube radiates music in all directions, sounds great, and runs for 6 hours on fully charged battery.
PowerDVD 15 review: The best picture, bar none
It’s a pay program competing with free solutions, but PowerDVD 15 Ultra easily offers the best video quality, and arguably the best sound of any software video player on the market. It's better than most hardware-only solutions as well.
Which is the better free video player: MPC-HC 1.7.6 vs. VLC 2.2
VLC is capable and insanely popular. MPC-HC has a heady past that foundered in a sea of instability. Is VLC indomitable or has the competition righted the ship?
VLC 2.2 for Windows: Hands-on first impressions
This latest version delivers lots improvements you can’t see, and a few you can.
QNAP HS-251 Review: NAS meets home entertainment
QNAP has taken the convergence of home networking and entertainment another step further with this handsome, quiet, network-attached storage box that outputs directly to your TV via HDMI
Netgear Arlo HD Camera review: Stylish, smart, and currently proprietary
We like the Arlo's HD cameras with their clever magnetic mounting system, but there's currently no way to store your video locally.
MyDlink Network Video Recorder review: Network surveillance on the cheap
The more cameras you add, the more affordable the DNR-312L becomes. But at the moment it supports only D-Link webcams.
Qualcomm's AllPlay promises to deliver audiophile-quality wireless music streaming
Monster's SoundStage Wi-Fi speakers use Qualcomm's AllPlay tech to stream audio at sampling rates up to 192kHz, and resolution up to 24-bits.
How to pick the right sound bar to go with your flat-screen TV
Sound bars are a great way to get better sound in your living room, as long as you buy the right one.
DTS takes on Sonos: We go ears-on with three Play-Fi multi-room audio devices
Everybody wants a piece of the market Sonos opened to the masses. DTS’s effort is the most interesting so far.