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The Samsung Galaxy S III is the latest flagship Android smartphone, and it is selling well globally, giving Apple's iPhone a run for its money. But where does the Galaxy S III fit in the pantheon of the world's best smartphones? Not all Android smartphones are created equal. That is evident just from taking a look at Samsung’s own Galaxy series. But when a company aims for the top of the market, it better come armed with its best hardware and software specifications. Smartphone enthusiasts expect nothing less.  The Galaxy S III delivers on the promise of top-end hardware. It sports a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen (1280x720 resolution), 16 or 32 GB of memory, and an 8-megapixel back camera with a 1.9-megapixel front camera. It can run on networks all the way from 2.5 G to 4G LTE. It has all the standard sensors for a top smartphone, such as Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC (Near-field communications, for mobile wallets and such), Bluetooth, gyrometer/accelerometer, compass and even a barometer. ...

Zoom makes some fine audio recording equipment—not the best in the industry, but generally a fantastic value. Now, with the Q2HD, the company has added video recording capability to a nice handheld field microphone. Is it going to make you the next Ron Burgundy? A handheld 24-bit audio recorder paired with 1080p video. Citizen journalists, musicians, bootleggers, filmmakers on a shoestring budget. A mid-side mic and a forward-facing 5MP camera fit into a 2 x 5-inch package that weighs less than three ounces. As an audio recorder, it's fantastic. It's a bit awkward as a video recorder—the camera, placed just above the grip, lets a finger find its way into the shot. Its versatility. It works as a USB mic, tethers to a laptop for live content streaming, and records full HD video. It runs on a pair of AA batteries (either disposable or NiMH) but not for particularly long—only about two hours with video, four hours with just audio. Whaddya mean I can't charge it via USB? The ma...

It's been the summer of the rugged, waterproof point-and-shoot camera, and there have been some really good ones. Fuji wants in on the rough and tough action, but can it hang with the others? We beat it up to find out. A 14.4MP point-and-shoot. Freeze-proof, dust-proof, waterproof to 33 feet, and drop-proof to 6.6 feet. Outdoors types who don't want to worry about ruining a camera all the time. Handsome. Solid. Thick, but pocketable. A door with two locks hides the ports, card, and battery. Photos snap quickly. Adjustments are cumbersome. Lived up to its water-proofiness! Two surf sessions, immersion in the Pacific—came out fine. It's damn near impossible to take a nice photo with this thing. Awful in low light. Couldn't focus in daylight. Photos are washed out, colors are bland, dynamic range is terrible, and there's noise everywhere. See for yourself. Built-in Wi-Fi, a banner feature, is a pain to set up, the iOS app barely works, and the Android app doesn't ...

If you frequently lug a laptop around, you know how horrible it is when your cables tangle into a homogenous mess. Aviiq's Ready Clips USB cables solve the problem with a nice bit of style. Portable, stylish USB cables with micro-USB, mini-USB, and Apple 30-pin connectors. The gadget fiend on the go. Sharp angles, a stiff charcoal-colored body, bright accent colors and pocket clips. Not your average cable. Slip them in a bag or pocket, and use them like any other USB cable. They don't tangle. Ever. They're too rigid. The same thing that makes these cables so great and non-tangly makes them maddening to use. The MicroUSB cable wouldn't fit the connector on the Sony RX100. The cable works with other devices, and the RX100 works with other MicroUSB cables. Bizarre. Used in various configurations with a MacBook Pro, iPhone, Mophie, mini Belkin power strip, and a Sony RX100 camera.Without a flat surface and 6-10 inches of room directly in front of whatever port you're ...

You want to run around like some wilderness badass. Climbing in the Rockies. Surfing in the Rockaways. Whatever. You can do it all if you've got some warm, dry gear to slip into when the adventure is over. Can this waterproof backpack make it happen? It's a medium-sized waterproof backpack. Kayakers, surfers, triathletes. Outdoor adventurer types. A padded, pocket-filled dry-bag you can strap to your back to carry 30 liters of stuff. You throw in the stuff you want to keep dry, roll the lid and lock it, then open the valve and squeeze out the excess air. It's pretty damn waterproof! Rain, splashes, and even a quick dunk do not inundate this bag. It's not 100% waterproof. A 15-minute swim in the ocean, diving down often and keeping the bag mostly submerged, left the clothes inside unmistakably damp. Not soaked, but wet enough. Too wet. Ever worn a backpack while swimming in the ocean? Yep, it's pretty weird. The main pocket can also keep water in . When carrying sev...

It's not remotely easy to create a pair of headphones that combine awesome audio quality, portability, style, and a favorable price tag. Could Harman Kardon's new CL headphones be the rare pair that does it all? Lightweight, well-made, on-ear headphones. You know those people who really like music? It's for them. A steel band connects the matte black foam and pleather on-ear cups, and a leather inner band sits on top of your head. Plenty of cushion. Designed to be used on the go, the Harman Kardon CLs are sensitive enough to deliver plenty of detail, clarity and bass from a smartphone, tablet or computer. But they also respond well to more power. When plugged into Audioengine's D1 DAC and headphone amp, 320 kbps tracks instantly sounded cleaner. Bass tightened, resolution improved, and highs sparkled. The low end frequencies were a bit too boomy, and the mids could be a bit more present, but nothing sounded bad. All in all, audio coming from the CLs is stellar. Versat...

Panasonic and Samsung make some sweet plasma TVs. The newest LG, the 9700, is definitely an improvement over the company's plasmas to date. But can it maintain the pace set by its competitors? A 50" 3D Plasma television from LG. Viewers who don't mind a picture that looks artificially smoothed and lacking in vibrant color. The matte screen is surrounded by a 1-inch black side bezel and 2-inch bottom. The 60 pound display is mounted on a flying V base-stand, which minimizes its footprint. Installation is simple enough, requiring seven screws and an assistant. Setup is automatic, aside from entering your network password. Bright-room picture quality is leagues better than the 9700's LCD-based competition, thanks to the screen's matte finish. The picture sharpness and clarity are outstanding, with very little blur or fast motion artifacts. Colors. The TruBlack system makes black levels paltry, leaving the other colors looking washed out and dull. There were even mor...

Panasonic and Samsung make some sweet plasma TVs. The newest LG, the 9700, is definitely an improvement over the company's plasmas to date. But can it maintain the pace set by its competitors? A 50" 3D Plasma television from LG. Viewers who don't mind a picture that looks artificially smoothed and lacking in vibrant color. The matte screen is surrounded by a 1-inch black side bezel and 2-inch bottom. The 60 pound display is mounted on a flying V base-stand, which minimizes its footprint. Installation is simple enough, requiring seven screws and an assistant. Setup is automatic, aside from entering your network password. Bright-room picture quality is leagues better than the 9700's LCD-based competition, thanks to the screen's matte finish. The picture sharpness and clarity are outstanding, with very little blur or fast motion artifacts. Colors. The TruBlack system makes black levels paltry, leaving the other colors looking washed out and dull. There were even mor...

The web is full of secret online weapons stores and places you can legally load up on ammo. But the pen is mightier than the AR-15. Especially this bolt-action bullet pen. It's a pen made of a replica 30-caliber bullet, with a rifle-shaped pocket clip. Anyone who loves guns and writing. At the same time, apparently. Very military. The end of the pen looks like the tip of a bullet, and the ink tip releases like the bolt-action .22 you used at Scout camp. It writes well. The bolt-action release is a little awkward one-handed, but you can do it. (Two-handed operation would be a deal breaker.) The little rifle-shaped pocket clip, which even has a scope. It's a $50 writing utensil. Do you know how many bags of Bic pens $50 buys? Even those Pilot V-Balls are like 2 for $5. The camouflage in the middle is kindy of milky and swirly. It's...pretty. It looks odd on a bullet with a bolt-action release and a rifle clip. Maybe if it was darker, or that digital camo, or something? I...

If you travel with technology, you need a bag that can take a beating. You don't want your iPad to get busted in crowded gym locker or on an airline's crammed overhead bin. Is Pelican ProGear's resilient new Urban Elite Tablet Backpack tough enough? A backpack with a built-in watertight and crushproof tablet case. Commuters, business travelers—anyone traveling far, frequently, and with multiple gadgets. Steve Wozniak, perhaps? The all-black satchel has a heavy-duty plastic case for a tablet or ultrabook. A main compartment stows odds and ends, and there are two hidden zipper pockets on the back, one on the side (maybe for a camera?), and a front section with spots for your your pens, phone, and keys. Your back might ache, but this backpack fits a lot of crap. All that stuff gets pretty heavy and hard on the spine, in spite of the padded back panel and soft straps. Definitely the hard shell that envelops your precious (expensive) tablet. Lacks wheels—if it had just two it ...

Jul 24, 2012 8:00 PM   Tiny MagSafe. Tinier MagSafe! Really tiny converter. LET'S DISCUSS. A little magnetic converter to make your old charger work with your new computer. People with old chargers and new computers. It's fatter than you'd think, if you're dumb like me and didn't realize it has to encircle the fat old MagSafe. You stick it on the end of the thingy and then stick the whole thing in your computer. Not having to spend $80 on a whole new adapter. You're going to lose it. It's on there pretty tight. Stayed on while yanking the cable out of my laptop at the most this-is-definitely-going-to-come-off angles I could think of.Fits inside of glass Coke bottle but very hard to get out. Yes. It's $10 for the use of your old gear with your new gear. This is a total courtesy product from Apple, who could have just told you to go sod yourself and buy a whole new charger. Photos by Nick Stango View the original article here This post was made using th...

Jul 24, 2012 4:00 PM   Gargantuan Android phones are everywhere. But a lot of people just want something smaller. The Incredible 4G is one of the few phones that isn't the size of a dinner plate, but it also raises a question: Does an Android OS even make sense on smaller screens anymore? The best HTC phone on Verizon—which did not get the HTC One series. Android fans who love small phones. HTC Sense enthusiasts. Beats by Dre fans, maybe, but probably not. It's an HTC phone. It's solidly built, with a matte rubberized back. It's thick enough that, when you first pick it up, you're not sure if it has a slide-out keyboard or not. Using the Incredible never feels like using a premium phone. It's fast, until it's not. Lag creeps in under medium loads. With several apps running, actions like returning to the home page slow to a crawl. The camera. HTC's been making good cameras for a while, going back to the Amaze last year, and definitely including the One ...

Jul 23, 2012 4:40 PM   The original Motorola Atrix was a big star of CES 2011. Despite the fact that it morphed into the world's worst laptop, the phone itself actually held its own. Now, the Atrix is back. The gimmicks are gone, and what's left is a solid, affordable phone with a sharp HD screen and a speedy OS. Is the new Atrix about to make a splash again? A $100, 4.5-inch, 720x1280 phone running Android 4.0 (ICS) on AT&T's speedy LTE network. Business users, as Motorola pitches it—but, really, anyone who wants a solid Android phone. It's plasticky and blocky, but with that cool Kevlar back that debuted with the RAZR. The buttonless navigation is more like an Android tablet than a comparable HTC or Samsung phone. Performance is surprisingly zippy throughout and the camera has virtually no shutter lag. Motorola's new MotoBLUR skin sticks close to stock Android—and Gizmodo's comparison of the major Android skins proved that that's that's a good th...

With dozens and dozens of Ultrabooks on parade, you'd be forgiven if one skinny laptop with an ultra-low voltage processor started to look like the next. Even so, it's tough to forget the Acer Aspire S5: of all the ultraportables we've seen these last nine months, this is the only one with a motorized port cover. Yeah, that one. It's an intriguing product, to be sure, and the stakes are especially high given that $1,400 price: you'd have to really enjoy that form factor (and everything else) to choose it over some less expensive ultraportable. So is it worth it? Is that drop-down door anything more than a gimmick? Questions for the ages, and ones we'll tackle in our full review after the break. Back in January when it was announced at CES, the S5 was touted as the "world's thinnest" Ultrabook, at 15mm (0.59 inches) thick. Nearly seven months later, we're not sure the S5 still qualifies for that title (the 13-inch Samsung Series 9 widens to 0....