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Can the Big Jambox replace my office stereo system?

In the last month or so, I've been on a minimalism tear. For example, I traded in my 27" iMac for a MacBook Pro with Retina Display. I also decided to get rid of my 2011 MacBook Air.

As it turns out, I rarely used the MacBook Air, because it was just too slow to get any real work done. The iMac was a beast, but it wasn't portable, which caused many of my files to fragment between multiple devices. I decided it would be best if I just had one powerful, yet portable machine to get all of my work done. It just so happened that the MacBook Pro with Retina Display was the perfect device to meet my needs.

To go along with these changes, I decided it was time to rid myself of my old antiquated component audio system. I have a Pioneer receiver coupled with Pioneer speakers. It's a 5.1 audio system that's incredibly heavy, a birds nest of wires, and power hungry to boot.

I needed something smaller, totally devoid of wires, and easier on the power consumption — all without sacrificing too much in the way of sound quality. Obviously, the highly regarded Jawbone Big Jambox was on my short list of devices to choose from, but was it up to the challenge of completely replacing my traditional stereo system?

iPad mini reportedly in production at Foxconn and Pegatron plants

Between the new iPhone and iPod announcements, and now the preparation for official launch, talk of the iPad mini has been put on the back burner. This has a lot of folks wondering, is the rumored tablet still set for a fall launch?

According to a new report this afternoon, yes, the iPad mini is still on track to launch later this year. In fact, it appears that the slate has entered mass production, with Foxconn and Pegatron splitting the production...

Check out first Bad Piggies gameplay footage

Angry Birds spinoff called Bad Piggies is slated to arrive on September 27 for iOS, Android and the Mac, but Rovio still wouldn't reveal gameplay video. Luckily, an exclusive hands-on by Yahoo! Games shows us the game's mechanics which takes cues from Amazing Alex, another physics-based game from Rovio.

This means Bad Piggies tasks you with building all sorts of funny vehicles and flying aircraft so that the pigs can steal more eggs. Contrast this to smashing things up in the Angry Birds series. That being said, the safest way to think about Bad Piggies is as the sibling of Angry Birds rather than its sequel. Check out exclusive gameplay footage right below...

HoverBar floats your iPad anywhere

Twelve South prides itself by making items for Apple products and only Apple products. With popular accessories such as the BookBook for iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, Twelve South is not a new contender to the accessory scene, but is certainly one of the best. Limiting their new accessories to a mere handful each year, the South Carolina based company ensures each product is crafted to quality standards. The HoverBar now touts iPad 3rd generation compatibility and I take it for a spin, in the kitchen...

Google buys Snapseed developer Nik Software

Google is always on an acquisition spree but if their recent deals are anything to go by, it's hard to escape the notion that the search Goliath is specifically going after very successful iOS developers.

It snapped up mobile productivity maker Quickoffice earlier in the summer and in July bought the Sparrow team and merged it with the Gmail team while saying 'no' to new features for the popular iOS and Mac email client of the same name, much to the horror of die hard fans.

If you use Snapseed, a popular photography and image editing app for the Mac and iPhone/iPad, you probably won't like this: Google just bought them for an undisclosed sum...

Law student sues Apple over Siri sponsored responses

Apple's Siri digital secretary, now a feature present on the iPhone 4S/5, the new fifth-generation iPod touch and third-generation iPad, is infamous for Apple's over-the-top advertising, availability issues and inaccuracies.

Still in beta, Siri in iOS 6 is more reliable and faster. It can now display sports scores, help you make restaurant reservations, discover showtimes, watch movie trailers in-line and more. It is also tightly integrated with Apple Maps and more broadly available.

A law student is taking issue with how Siri responds to questions like "what's the best smartphone/tablet ever". As you know, based on web customer review average scores, Siri briefly used to name the Lumia 900 the best smartphone ever unitl Apple recalibrated her to favor the iPhone (with responses like "the one you're holding"), much to Nokia's disgust...

Shazam gets ability to tag any TV show on any U.S. channel

Shazam, a popular music identification service, announced today a major update and milestone to its mobile apps. Shazam now commands an astounding user base of 250 million, with more than two million users added each week. The London, England-headquartered startup was founded in 1999 by Chris Barton, Philip Inghelbrecht, Dhiraj Mukherjee and Avery Wang.

Since their inception, Shazam mobile apps for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other platforms have remained amongst the top ten most downloaded apps of all time. Shazam updated these apps today with new features, including ability to tag any television show on any channel in the United States in order to find out what music is playing, who the actors are and more...

Wirelessly streaming files to your iPhone with Wi-Drive

You just preordered the new iPhone 5, but did not want to splurge on the 32GB or 64GB model. While you wait for Friday to arrive, you are growing more and more concerned about the lack of storage space on your shiny new iPhone. After all, you are going to want to watch widescreen movies in their 16:9 glory, but alas, you need all 16GBs to store family vacation photos to show Grandma on your Thanksgiving trip home.

Critically, you scoff that she doesn't have WiFi at the assisted living center, so you can't pull them from iCloud or Dropbox. This Thanksgiving, be thankful for Kingston's Wi-Drive, which will store everything needed in a compact design and wirelessly broadcast the files without an existing network. Even the nagging kids in the backseat can simultaneously enjoy different movies...

Apple could be close to shifting CPU orders away from Samsung

The iPhone 5 comes with a brand new Apple-designed A6 chip for a twofold jump in CPU/GPU performance. In fact, the iPhone 5 could easily be the first ARM Cortex-A15 smartphone on the market. The A6 is likely manufactured on Samsung's 32-nanometer process, but probably not for long as Apple has been looking to take its chip contract elsewhere.

There ain't many places to go: Intel sucks at power management and Samsung is #2 chip vendor in the world. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), however, is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry and Apple could be closer than previously thought to shifting production contracts away from Samsung and towards TSMC.

Can you say "stock plunge"?

Fieldrunners 2 HD now available for the iPad

Amidst all of the iPhone 5 excitement around here, we almost forgot to mention that Subatomic Studios released Fieldrunners 2 HD for the iPad last night.

The long-awaited sequel to the popular tower defense game hit the iPhone back in July, and now it's available for Apple's tablet with Retina graphics in tow...

Apple just scrapes past Amazon in JD Power’s tablet satisfaction survey

Apple's iPad is once again ranked as the No. 1 tablet in the United States. However, the company's lead over Amazon's Kindle Fire is as razor-thin as its products. According to customer satisfaction researcher JD Power, Apple scored 848 points with Amazon close behind with 842 out of 1,000.

The Cupertino, Calif. firm can be thankful that US consumers found the iPad tops for performance and ease of use -- categories heavily weighed in the survey -- while Amazon hit it out of the ballpark in price, an area carrying just 16 percent of the final score...

Everything you need to know about today’s iPhone 5 event

The iPhone 5 is finally here.

After Apple in 2011 unveiled the iPhone 4S -- when everyone and his mother expected the iPhone 5 -- the wizards of Cupertino introduced a smartphone for everyone. Want something smaller? Check. How about a big screen? Got you covered. Need power? No problem. Although this was the first post-Steve Jobs iPhone rollout, there was enough technology and geekitude on display today that even the Man in Black would have had a tough time fitting in just one more thing.

Most of the rumors about the iPhone were confirmed. The iPhone 5 sports a 4-inch (1136 x 640) display enclosed in an aluminum and glass shell. That larger display is becoming defacto on smartphones. Not to be outdone designwise by Android, Apple pushed suppliers to use an in-cell manufacturing technique that embeds the technology used in an edge-to-edge touchscreen, eliminating the need for a separate layer.