Category Archives: reviews

Listening with Earbuds

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Air conduction earbuds

This is another quick article from my visit to the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month in Las Vegas

I dropped by the booth at OpenRock to find out more about their new earbuds.

Representative Elodie Zhang explained that OpenRock’s earbuds work without blocking the ear canal.

She showed me a few models of their air conduction earbuds which are installed over the ear with the “speakers”covering but not inserted into the ear canal.

She stressed that with the open ear design you can still be aware of your surroundings yet the air conduction provides excellent music and voice reception.

They can operate up to 48 hours before recharging.

The OpenRock X earbuds cost about $170.

OpenRock has several models of their air conduction earbuds. For more information please visit their website.

Written by:

Arnie Lee

Automatic Battery Charger

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OLight Charging Station

There are literally miles of aisles to walk at the Consumer Electronics Show. Exhibitors spend lots of time and energy to catch the attention of attendees such as myself.

In this case the bright orange color caught my eye and drew my interest,

This device is the Ostation X automatic battery charger. It makes it easy to charge your AA rechargeables.

Drop them in the top regardless of the polarity and it identifies Ni-MH batteries and charges up to four at a time. When charging is completed they are dropped into the dispensing bin. Incompatible batteries (non-Ni-MH) are deposited into a separate bin.

Ostation X has a capacity of 32 batteries and has overheating and overcharging protection. Charging time about 3-4 hours.

If you’re a frequent user of AA batteries, this may make your charging jobs easier.

The cost is about $120.

For more information about the Ostation X visit OLIGHT.

Written by:

Arnie Lee

CES: Self-Driving Vehicles

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Coming Soon – Self-Driving Vehicles

My first stop at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show was to see several of the upcoming self-driving autos that are either already or soon to be in service.

In particular I saw offerings from Suzuki, Tier IV, Waymo and ZOOX. Here’s a quick look at what you may soon see on the roads in the near future.

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This Suzuki vehicle is being developed with partner Glydways. It was the smallest of the four brands that I encountered.
The Glydways vehicle has sizable sliding doors that allows passengers easy access to a comfortable interior.
The Tier IV vehicle is slightly larger than the Glydways.
Similar to the Glydway, the Tier IV has large sliding doors.
You can see the sensors that the Tier IV uses for operation.
This model Waymo has a body similar to a sedan.
Waymo is equipped with a large sensor on its roof.
This model Waymo style is similar to a minivan.
This model ZOOX has sliding doors.
The interior provides seating for four passengers.
The ZOOX is fitted with a plethora of exterior sensors.
Later in the afternoon I encountered this ZOOX on one of the streets of Las Vegas delivering a couple of passengers without a driver in a sedan model. Please excuse the dirt on my car window.

Maybe you’ve seen self-driving vehicles. They are already operating in several cities. You can easily identify them by seeing the large number of sensors on the vehicle’s exterior. Judging from the number on display at this year’s CES, we can expect to see more of them operating on urban streets in the coming months.

Written by:

Arnie Lee