Sony’s once massive Walkman brand is still going, however the glory days are long gone. I’m not sure how much market there is for music players in general, Walkman or otherwise, but I can guess the market size for a $1,200.

It’s as high-quality as a pocketable player gets – it supports FLAC/ALAC (up to 96kHz/24-bit) and Bluetooth with SBC/LDAC hi-fidelity codec. Dual-band Wi-Fi is also available for DLNA playback. Read more »

Aside from the carbon ThinkPad X1, Lenovo also brought out new Yoga convertible laptops. The Lenovo Yoga 3 comes in 11″ and 14″ sizes, both powered by a 5th generation Intel processor. The signature move of the Yoga are the four modes – Laptop, Stand, Tend and Tablet – thanks to the hinge that opens all 180°.

The Windows Yoga line continues with an 8″ tablet that can use a pen instead of a stylus and three ThinkPad models that aren’t as portable as the Yoga 3 but pack additional features. Read more »

After the announcement of the new iteration of the legendary ThinkPad X1 Carbon Lenovo has unveiled yet another addition to its laptop lineup. The LaVie Z HZ550 and HZ750 are 13.3 inch premium Ultraportables that promise superb performance in a slick, light and convertible body. According to the Chinese tech giant the two models are currently the lightest 13.3-inch convertible laptops on the market thanks to the special super-light Mg-Li (Magnesium-Lithium) Alloy used for their chassis. Each of them is built-around a special hinge, with a 180-degree field of movement on the HZ550 and a full 360-degree on the HZ750.

The two PCs are not only visually impressive, but also pack quite the punch in the specs department. Both are powered by Intel’s brand new 5th Generation, “Broadwell” processors. The higher-end HZ750 is equipped with an i7, while the HZ550 carries an i5 chip. The LaVie line boasts a set of mighty fine displays. The HZ550 comes with a 13.3inch LED (non-touch) Anti – Glare panel with WQHD resolution, while the HZ750 boasts a touch screen of the same size, available in either Full HD or WQHD. Read more »

Just a few months after it went on sale, Sony has unveiled a stainless steel version of the SmartWatch 3, giving it a fashionable finish. The company said the wearable device will be rolling out globally from next month.

As it turns out, apart from the new look, the stainless steel edition is essentially the same as the original release. This means that it also features the same 1.6-inch, 320 x 320 pixel transflective LCD, Qualcomm processor, built-in GPS, and standard microUSB port charging. However, the water and dust resistance rating has been upgraded from IP58 to IP68. Read more »

We already know that the team behind the popular instant messaging service WhatsApp is working on a voice calling feature – we’ve also seen leaked screenshots of the feature in action. And now, it is being reported that the app could also offer a “Call via Skype” feature.

The above code snippet, which was first spotted by Maktechblog while exploring the iPhone version of the app, contains a clear reference to the feature. In addition, the snippet also confirms other voice calling features, including Call Mute, Call Hold, Call back, Call me in X minutes, Call back message, Call Via Skype, Call Notifications, and Separate screen for call logs. Read more »

Nikon has announced its latest enthusiast camera in the face of the D5500 – the first DSLR by the Japan-based company with a touchscreen.

Skipping over the D5400 (out of superstition perhaps), Nikon’s D5500 adds a few improvements over its predecessor D5300 – a new fully touch-enabled articulating 3.2″ 1,037,000 dots screen, redesigned control dial, more ergonomic grip, proximity sensor above the viewfinder that turns off the LCD, full ISO range of 100-25,600 and a body that’s slightly smaller and lighter. Read more »

ZTE brought out the second generation of its pico-projector/Wi-Fi hotspot. The ZTE Spro 2 features a powerful Snapdragon 800 chipset, full access to the Play Store and a 720p built-in projector.

The Spro 2 also acts as an Wi-Fi hotspot, sucking up 150Mbps of LTE data and spitting it back out over Wi-Fi. Read more »

Lenovo is entering the wearable market with the Vibe Band VB10 – a smartband with a 1.43″ E-ink display of 296 x 128 pixel resolution. The Vibe Band can last up to 7 days with its display and Bluetooth always turned on.

What’s even cooler is the band’s IP67-certified wateproofing, as it can last up to 1M of water for maximum of 30 minutes. The band works with both Android and iOS smartphones and packs a slew of fitness tracking functionality. The Vibe Band can track steps, calories, distance and sleep. Read more »

Alongside the Zenfone 2 and Zenfone 2 Zoom phone duo, Asus also introduced a trio of Windows tablets from its Transformer Book Chi series. Тhe T90, T100, and T300, as their called, all run Windows 8.1 and can be attached to keyboard docks to become a full-fledged laptop.

Like their names suggest, the Transformer Book T90 Chi and Book T100 Chi feature 8.9″ and 10.1″ screens, respectively. The resolution of the T90 is 1280 x 800, while the larger T100 is one step ahead with full HD panel. Both are powered by the Intel Atom Z3775 and are offered in 32GB and 64GB flavors.

However, the star of the show is the Transformer Chi T300 with its all-aluminum body and 12.5″ IPS 2560 x 1440 pixel display. Under the hood, there’s an Intel Broadwell Core M processor with no fans. It’s quite thin too with a waistline of 7.6mm when detached and 16.5mm when attached to a keyboard dock. Read more »

Intel has officially unveiled its 5th generation lineup covering everything from Celerons to Core i7s for anything from ultrabooks to All-in-One computers. The 5th gen chips (aka Broadwell) are the first to be built on a 14nm process, down from Haswell’s 22nm.

Along with Broadwell, there’s the Cherry Trail system on a chip for tablets. Read more »

So far the Google Cast streaming protocol has been used with video in mind – after all, it is powering the Chromecast, the company’s very successful HDMI stick. But today Google has announced Cast for audio.

This will work in a very similar way to video casting, but it naturally won’t send video, just audio, to supported speakers. Like with the Chromecast, these won’t get the content from your mobile device – rather, they’ll connect directly to the Internet and fetch it from there, saving you battery life for your phone or tablet in the process. Read more »

The ambitious California-based startup accessory maker Antenna79 took the wraps off a rugged case for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that improves the device’s network connectivity. Dubbed Reach79, the case boosts the signal of a device up to 2x (1.6x on average).

The PhD scientists from Antenna79 have done the trick by embedding the case with a micro-thin, gold-plated antenna. Read more »

Wearables are undoubtedly on the rise and interest for the odd new tech niche seems to growing by the minute. And even though the emerging market is dominated by big tech giants, like Samsung and LG there are some very interesting offerings available from other makers.

The three devices in question fit perfectly into the odd new realm between smartwatches and fitness trackers and come from Garmin. The Kansas-based company, most famous for its various navigation tech has hit the floor at this year’s CES with a handful of peculiar devices to go on your wrist. They are all quite different from each other and come with their own twist. Read more »

With CES 2015 announcements under way Lenovo wasted no time in the introduction of its future product plans in the mobile PC sector. Today the Chinese tech giant introduced the third generation of its immensely successful X1 Carbon model as well as new additions to the ThinkPad X, T, E and L families. The press release also discloses information on a new IPS panel by the company, as well as an interesting power-bank with interlocking design and multiple charging accessories.

It comes as no surprise that Lenovo is once again hitting strong on the mobile computer front and it is this kind of perseverance that insured the manufacturer the formidable leading position as the world’s biggest PC manufacturer for 2013. The ThinkPad lineup has been playing a central role in the company’s success formula and has been Lenovo’s pride and joy ever since it was acquired from IBM. The latest third generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon was introduced today as the lightest 14-inch performance ultrabook yet, weighing just under 2.9 pounds battery and all. Read more »

HP went ballistic today with its monitor announcement, launching no less than seven of them at once. This includes some 4K monitors, some curved, one 5K screen and there’s even a 3D monitor.

The HP Z27q is the 27-inch 5K monitor with a 5120×2880 resolution, identical to the new iMac with Retina display. The monitor has two DisplayPort 1.2 inputs, four USB 3.0 outputs, tilt, swivel, pivot, and height adjustment, and covers 99% of the Adobe RGB gamut. The Z27q will set you back by a reasonable $1,299 starting March. Read more »