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Kinivo Bluetooth car kit adds hands-free calling, wireless music

The advent of Bluetooth systems in cars became a boon for drivers, enabling hands-free phone calls and wirelessly streaming music from a smartphone. But if your car is more than five years old, it likely does not feature this technology. The Kinivo BTC450 makes for an easy and inexpensive way of adding Bluetooth to an older car.

The Kinivo BTC450 is a Bluetooth adapter. Lacking its own speaker, it is designed to plug into a car stereo's auxiliary input.

And therein lies its biggest limitation.

The majority of cars equipped with an auxiliary input but no Bluetooth system were … Read more

Trendnet ships 802.11ac USB 3.0 adapter

You now can officially upgrade your Windows computer to the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard .

Trendnet announced today the availability of the AC1200 Dual-Band Wireless USB 3.0 Adapter (model TEW-805UB). This is the networking vendor's first AC adapter, and one of a very few on the market.

The TEW-805UB supports USB 3.0, which is a must if you really want to get the speed of 802.11ac. Although the device is compatible with USB 2.0 as well, that connection caps at just 480Mbps, while the new Wi-Fi standard peaks out as fast as 1,300Mbps. The TEW-805UB … Read more

The 404 1,228: Where we make eyes with the Samsung Galaxy S4 (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Samsung Galaxy S4 keeps calm, carries on with big screen, 8-core chip and, yes, eye tracking.

- The Galaxy S4's software up close.

- Samsung Galaxy S4 display looking good, expert says.

- Samsung Galaxy S4 landing on six U.S. carriers.

- Does Samsung's Galaxy S4 make the iPhone 5 look lame?

- Samsung Galaxy S4 offers optional wireless charging.… Read more

Amped Wireless intros 802.11ac range extender, USB 3.0 adapter

LAS VEGAS--Amped Wireless has invested a lot in the new 802.11ac standard.

In addition to its first 802.11ac router, the RTA15, shown here at CES 2013, the company also showed off its first USB 802.11ac adapter and range extender, which may be the first 802.11ac range extender on the market.

The ACA1 High Power Dual Band AC Wi-Fi USB Adapter is designed to add long-range 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity to Windows or Mac computers. Amped Wireless says it features two high-gain, dual-band antennas and four total amplifiers to maximize performance. The adapter supports USB 3.0 … Read more

Actiontec PWR511K01 power-line kit extends Internet to the far corners of your home

At a street price of around $50 for a kit of two units, the Actiontec 500 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter Kit is a bargain. And that's not the only good thing about it.

The kit, retail model number PWR511K01, comes with two identical adapters, currently the smallest of their type, that offered very good performance in my testing.

The only real complaint I have is that these adapters don't support Gigabit Ethernet, hence offering the limited data rate of the regular Ethernet standard at most. However, the affordable price and the supercompact design still make the kit an … Read more

Trendnet intros first USB 3.0 802.11ac adapter

LAS VEGAS--If you are looking to upgrade your existing computer to support 802.11ac, without having to get a new computer entirely, here's something to look forward to.

Trendnet announced today at CES 2013 its first USB 3.0 802.11ac W-Fi adapter, the AC1200 Dual Band Wireless USB 3.0 adapter, model TEW-805UB.

This adapter card supports the dual-stream setup Wi-Fi standard and offers the cap speed of up to 867Mbps, when used with a 802.11ac router. It also works with existing Wireless-N routers and offers up to 300Mbps data rate in this case.

The new adapter … Read more

CNET Exclusive: Outdoor Tech wireless audio Cyber Monday sale

Forget wires. Outdoor Tech brings CNET three can't-miss offers! Exclusively for Cyber Monday, our good friends at Outdoor Technology are back and hooking up the CNET audience with great deals on three of the company's best Bluetooth products.

If you are a follower of CNET Exclusives or this blog, you'll know I love Bluetooth technology. If you are new to this, welcome, let me fill you in on why Bluetooth is my favorite. Bluetooth speakers mean I don't have to monopolize my iPhone in order to listen to music because docking is no longer necessary. And … Read more

iPad 4 charges faster thanks to new power adapter

Apple's iPad 4 charges quicker than previous iPads courtesy of its new power adapter.

Plugging the new iPad into a watt meter through the new adapter, Apple news and reviews site Insanely Great Mac recorded 12 watts of juice. Previous iPad adapters deliver just 10 watts.

Those two extra watts may not sound like much, but they'll trim a good 30 to 45 minutes off the charge time, according to IGM.

Unfortunately, owners of previous iPads and the iPhone are out of luck. Though the new power adapter is compatible with older units, it won't provide more … Read more

Ray turns Android phone into device for the blind

While sci-fi-style advancements like bionic eyes that help restore human vision might be getting closer to reality, everyday gadgets like smartphones can still pose major hurdles to the blind and visually impaired.

A new device called Ray aims to make the smartphone space friendlier to the sight-challenged by integrating standard smartphone capabilities with the functions of specialty devices that many blind consumers now pair with basic mobile phones to create a full smartphone experience.

Rather than having to rely on audio-book readers, navigation tools, raised Braille labels, special bar-code scanners, and large-buttoned and voice-enabled MP3 players, therefore, they can turn to just one device. … Read more

Apple now shipping Lightning to 30-pin adapters

iPhone 5 owners who ordered one of the new Lightning to 30-pin adapters may soon have one in hand.

Apple has just starting shipping the adapter, say MacRumors readers who received e-mail notices from the company. The users chiming in so far all appear to be from Australia, but presumably buyers in other countries will be on the shipping list as well.

Apple's accessories page shows the adapter as available to ship in October, while one MacRumors reader said the e-mail notice pointed to a delivery day of October 9.

The new adapter is a requirement for iPhone 5 … Read more