$300

Travel in style with the Phiaton PS 300 headphones

Phiaton edged its way into the headphone market last year with its MS 400 Moderna Series headphones, an eye-catching set that brought solid sound quality and comfortable construction to the table. Now, with the considerably more portable PS 300 Noise Canceling headphones, the company continues its tradition of sleek design and plush comfort. These on-ear 'phones pack in a slew of travel-friendly accessories and, at $299, cost $50 less than the competition from Bose. However, the set failed to provide great sound quality across a wide variety of music, making it most suitable for only a certain type of listener.… Read more

Sound ID releases two new Bluetooth headsets

Sound ID has just announced two new Bluetooth headsets at CTIA 2009, the Sound ID 300 and the Sound ID 200. We've been quite impressed by Sound ID Bluetooth headsets in the past, especially since they're apparently made with the science of hearing in mind (Sound ID's founder is an otologist at Stanford University). The last Sound ID headset we reviewed was the SM100, which was released almost two years ago, so we're glad to see these new headsets.

Both headsets have Noise Navigation technology that optimizes speech intelligibility and automatically reduces wind and background noise, … Read more

Hitachi ups enterprise hard-drive speed

Though the new 6Gbps SATA standard that Seagate demonstrated awhile ago hasn't been available in any products yet, if you want to get that speed now, there's another option. But only enterprise customers need apply.

Hitachi introduced on Tuesday its second-generation of the 10,000rpm Ultrastar hard drive, the C10K300. The new drive uses a dual-port attached SCSI (SAS) interface that offers data rates up to 6GBps (or about 300MBps), about twice the speed of the previous model. It has average seek times as low as 3.9 milliseconds.

The 2.5-inch drive has a low-power-consumption design with … Read more

Netflix may offer streaming-only pricing in 2010

Netflix is considering offering a streaming-only pricing tier as soon as next year, according to comments made by CEO Reed Hastings in a report by Bloomberg.

The streaming-only membership could be popular among those with Netflix-enabled devices (such as the Roku Netflix Player, Xbox 360, and LG BD300) who want streaming access without the full cost of a Netflix membership. Netflix hasn't said how much the streaming-only tier would cost, but we'd assume it would be less than the current entry-level $9-a-month unlimited plan.

On the other hand, we're still on the lookout for Netflix to start … Read more

Mio Technology intros four new Moov GPS models

Mio Technology unveiled four new models to its Moov line of portable navigation devices at CES 2009, along with an improved software platform called Mio Spirit.

Calling 2009 a "watershed year for Mio," the GPS manufacturer debuted the Mio Moov S300, Mio Moov S500, Mio Moov S556, and Mio Moov S700, which will all come preloaded with the Mio Spirit navigation software. The revamped interface was designed to simplify map views and searches, including those for points of interest and other key navigation tools. Responding to customer feedback, the new search capabilities make it easier to search for … Read more

Buffalo: The ox slowly strikes back

After two long years, Buffalo, just less than a month ago, regained the right to sell wireless products in the U.S. And at CES 2009, the company is showcasing a wide range of networking products that have hardly been known in the U.S. market.

Buffalo's networking products share one thing in common: affordability. All networking products currently offered by the company cost less than $100. This doesn't mean they are of sub-par quality. In my experience, it's quite the opposite.

The company's flagship product is the $99.99 Wireless-N Nfiniti High Power Router WZR-HP-G300NH. … Read more

JVC rolls out second-gen iPod-friendly TVs

In 2008, JVC became the first company to offer TVs with built-in iPod docks. For 2009, Panasonic is joining the fray with its own line of iPod-friendly TVs, but JVC is looking to defend its turf with a second generation of models. Among the array of purported feature improvements in the so-called TeleDock line for 2009. These TVs offer better iPod integration (multiple aspect ratios for iPod video playback; iPod charges whether TV is on or off; song and artist info displayed on TV during song playback; photo slide shows from iPod or USB drive can be displayed during music … Read more

Sharp debuts 2.1-channel home theater sound bars

Sound bars, which are designed to sit below a flat-panel TV and simulate surround sound from their compact chassis, are all the rage these days. With that in mind, Sharp has introduced two new 2.1-channel sound bars, the HT-SB300 and HT-SB200. The HT-SB200 will be available later this month for $249.99 (MSRP) while the slightly more feature-rich HT-SB300 will arrive in April with an MSRP of $299.99.

Both models are wall-mountable or they can be placed on a TV stand. According to Sharp, they should be paired with TVs 32-inches or larger (preferably with one of its … Read more

Lynksys intros advanced NAS servers

Network-attached storage servers, in my opinion, have generally not been user-friendly enough. Even the easiest-to-use ones require some getting used to.

This is looking to change with the two new Media Hub series released under the networking giant's marketing brand "Linksys by Cisco" at CES this year, the NMH400 and the NMH300.

The NMH300 series is a budget solution that offers just the core features of the Media Hub, and you need to use a computer to manage the device.

The NMH400 series, on the other hand, features an LCD screen that lets users view a variety … Read more