Sony MDR-1000X Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

When it comes to noise-canceling headphones — those models that actively block outside noise like airline engines — Bose is generally considered the gold standard, but Sony’s engineers have been on a mission to beat Bose at what it does best.

The result of their efforts is the MDR-1000X, which Sony is calling its most technologically advanced headphone and features both wireless Bluetooth connectivity and adaptive noise-cancellation in a swanky looking chassis that retails for $400 (£330, AU$700) and ships in October.

Sony says it developed new ear pads for this headphone and the embedded touch controls for volume adjustment and skipping tracks forward and back are more responsive than those found in the MDR-1ABT.

The headphone comes in two colors: the black here and gray-beige (pictured below).

David Carnoy/CNET

I’m not going to get into all the technical details but this headphone is equipped with similar drivers to the highly rated MDR-1A and has microphones not only on the outside of the ear cups to measure ambient noise, but inside to take account for the shape of your head and ears, and whether you wear glasses.

Sony has trademarked this feature, calling it the Sense Engine and says it tailors the noise-canceling individually to you. You can also choose alternate settings that allow more ambient noise to seep in or even filter out everything but voices so you can hear announcements in airports while listening to music.

Another cool feature is the ability to muffle your music and let the outside world in by simply holding your hand over the right ear cup, where the touch controls are located. Once you finish talking to someone, you remove your hand and the music resumes playing at its previous volume and the noise cancellation kicks back in.

Folded flat in its carrying case.

David Carnoy/CNET

Battery life is rated at 20 hours and a cord is included if you want to listen in wired mode. I didn’t get a chance to listen to it as a wired headphone, but the Sony reps I spoke with said it sounds a touch better, particularly if you’re listen to high-resolution tracks.

Like a lot of Sony’s latest headphones, the company is promoting it as a high-res headphone, with support for Sony’s proprietary LDAC format that’s supposed to provide higher quality sound than conventional Bluetooth streaming, but you need a Sony music player with LDAC to take advantage of it. (Sony makes a variety of hi-res music players, but I suspect that the majority of people will use this headphone with their phones).

Also, Sony says this is the first headphone to have its Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE HXTM) built-in to “upscale compressed music from any source to near hi-res audio sound quality, even in wireless mode.”

Sony MDR-1000X (pictures)
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In my short time with an early unit I listened to a few tracks using Spotify and Tidal to get an initial impression of the sound, but will need more time with the headphone to give you an in depth evaluation. (I also need to test it as a headset for making calls.)

Still, I heard enough to say that if you’re a frequent traveler, the MDR-1000X should definitely be on your short list of headphones to consider. It’s a step up from Sony’s H.ear On Wireless NC that I rated highly and which folds flat into a slimmer carrying case.

The sound quality is top-notch for a Bluetooth headphone and the noise-canceling appears to be as effective and perhaps even slightly more so than that of the Bose QC35 (I’ll have to do some more A/B testing before I reach a final verdict). However, the Bose is lighter and arguably slightly more comfortable. It also costs $50 less.

Sony Xperia XZ Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Cameras are Sony’s strength, so we took note when its Xperia XZ appeared with a 23-megapixel rear shooter and a 13-megapixel selfie cam. Partly because of the cameras, partly because of its metal build and partly because of the current Qualcomm 820 chipset, Sony considers the Xperia XZ a flagship phone of the X series. And so far it seems to mostly fit there, as far as the specs list goes — especially compared to the tiny, plastic Xperia X Compact that shares the same megapixel-heavy rear camera. (That phone might well wind up being the better buy for casual users.)

At 5.2 inches, the screen’s a little smaller than some, which makes the body easier to maneuver with one hand. The resolution and battery capacity are a little lower, too. An IP68 rating makes the Xperia XZ — named for its a stylistic cross between the Xperia Z and Xperia X Performance — submergible in 5 feet of water for up to 30 minutes.

This Sony Xperia XZ is a sliver of silver
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I didn’t get a whole lot of quality time with the camera in our hands-on briefing, so it’s too soon to comment on image quality. But the camera is easy to operate with both tap and swipe controls, and there are plenty of filters. Lasers help with autofocus and an RGBC sensor promises to punch up lowlight scenes. More exacting photographers will find a manual mode.

My complaint with Sony is that it (illogically) insists on turning off the fingerprint reader in the US. Globally, though, the power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader works quickly and accurately on other phones we’ve tested, like the Xperia X from earlier this year. Anyone Stateside who buys the US version of the XZ (or any other Sony phone) will have to do without that common security measure.

The Xperia XZ starts selling October in the US. We’ll update with global pricing and availability as soon we have it.

Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow	Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
5.2-inch; 1,920×1,080 pixels	4.6-inch; 1,280×720 pixels
Metal build	Polycarbonate (plastic) build
23-megapixel	23-megapixel
13-megapixel	5-megapixel
Snapdragon 820	Snapdragon 650
32GB/64GB	32GB of storage
3GB	3GB
2,900 mAh	2,700 mAh
Globally; Not in US	Globally; Not in US
IP68	None

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Wacom Bamboo smart notepads review – CNET

The Good Wacom’s Bamboo Slate and Folio are easy to use and a seamless way to get your written notes into the cloud without sacrificing pen and paper.

The Bad You may not like the feel of the pen for writing in long stretches.

The Bottom Line The Wacom Bamboo Slate and Bamboo Folio provide a practical bridge between handwritten notes on paper and making them available in the cloud.

In September 2015, Wacom launched a new line of note-taking products with the Bamboo Spark, a “smart” folio that allows you to take notes on a normal pad of paper with a special ballpoint pen; when you press the button, it sends the notes to your account in the cloud. The Spark has done well enough that Wacom introduced two new versions, the clipboard-like Bamboo Slate and the larger portfolio design, Bamboo Folio. Along with the new hardware and some operational tweaks, Wacom has rebranded its Wacom cloud service and apps as Inkspace.

The Slate comes in two sizes, small (A5/half letter) and large (A4/letter) which cost $130 (£91) and $150 (£105), respectively. The Folio only comes in the large, for $200 (£140). I don’t have Australian prices yet, but those convert to roughly AU$172, AU$200 and AU$265. The basic Inkspace service is free with registration, but Inkspace Plus is only free for three months, after which it’s $3 per month. (No UK or Australian pricing, but that’s about £2.30 and AU$4.) The subscription buys you an upgrade from 5GB to 50GB storage, supports handwriting conversion as formatted instead of plain text, allows SVG export and provides full-text search. Wacom will also introduce a collaboration mode that will only be available via subscription.

How it works

You charge the folio via a standard Micro-USB cable and charger, and pair the folio with your phone or tablet via Bluetooth. When you’re ready to send your notes to Inkspace, you press the button on the folio, and it communicates with the Inkspace app running on your device, saving a picture of the page locally and uploading it. From Inkspace you can convert the page to a JPEG, PNG, PDF or the native WILL file, or SVG if you pay for it, as well as convert it to a plain text file via the web site. There’s also a live mode in which the device mirrors the page as you write, suited to sharing during in-person meetings.

The key to the system is Wacom’s EMR (electromagnetic resistive) technology; the specially formulated ink in the pen communicates with the electronics in the folio, which records your strokes in Wacom’s WILL (writing ink layer language) format. It works with regular paper, as long as the pad isn’t too thick. Because of the custom ink, you have to buy refills from Wacom. One comes in the box.

Glyph Blackbox Plus review – CNET

The Good The Blackbox Plus has fast performance, a rugged design and is compatible with USB-C. The drive comes with helpful warranty policies and is available with several storage options.

The Bad Capacity caps at 2TB and that version uses a slower internal hard drive than smaller capacities. The drive includes no software nor does it support encryption.

The Bottom Line Fast, compact, rugged and future-proof, the Blackbox Plus is an excellent portable drive for serious users on the go.

View full gallery CNET

The Glyph Blackbox Plus portable drive is better than the G-tech G-Drive Mobile USB-C in nearly every way. While both drives support USB-C, allowing them to work with existing and future computers — they will also work with Thunderbolt 3 ports by the way — the Blackbox Plus has so much more to offer.

First of all, it supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) as opposed to the Gen 1 (5Gbps) support of the G-Drive. Apart from the rugged aluminum casing, the Blackbox Plus has a removable protective rubber case to save it from accidental drops. It’s also available in three hard drive-based capacities including 500GB, 1TB and 2TB priced at $100, $120 and $170, respectively; and two solid-state capacities including 512GB and 1TB that cost $230 and $450, respectively.

The G-Tech mobile drive, on the other hand, is available in a single hard drive-based capacity of 1TB for $120. What’s more, the Blackbox Plus includes an interesting 3-2-1 warranty policy. You get 3 years of regular warranty against hardware failure, 2 years of free level-1 data recovery (meaning no advanced recovery method is required) and one year of advance replacement where if the drive is defective, Glyph will send the replacement right away before you have to send the defective drive back.

CNET Labs’ USB 3.0/3.1 portable hard drive performance

Glyph Blackbox Plus

149.9

159.87

Seagate Backup Ultra Slim

149.6

169.21

Seagate Expansion

125.2

127.93

Sony HDD HB

121.7

128.06

G-Tech Gdrive EV ATC

119.0

138.73

Toshiba Canvio Slim II

118.8

118.49

Seagate Slim

110.4

111.49

Buffalo MiniStation Extreme

110.3

118.82

WD My Passport Ultra

110.2

117.34

G-Tech G-Drive Mobile USB-C

109.9

125.75

WD My Password Slim

107.7

107.89

SiliconPower Armor A60

104.3

114.48

WD Elements

95.7

102.15

Legend:

Write
Read

Note:

Measured in megabytes per second. Longer bars mean better performance.

Most importantly, in testing, the Blackbox Plus did much better than the G-Drive. I tested the 1TB hard drive-based version through the USB 3.1 connection, using a USB-C cable with a USB-C computer and it scored a sustained real-word copy speed of 150MB/s for writing and 160MB/s for reading, among the highest for a portable drive of this type. This is likely because the drive houses a fast 7200-rpm internal drive on the inside. Note that the 2TB version of the Blackbox, however, houses a slower 5400-rpm internal drive, so its speed could be slower. On the other hand, the SSD-based version of the drive, which I haven’t tested, will likely be much faster. The Blackbox is bus-powered, you won’t need a separate power adapter, and it also works with USB 3.0 as as well as USB 2.0.

The Blackbox Plus includes pretty much every USB cable you’d ever need: two USB cables, one USB-A to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-C cable for computers with USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 port. The drive is quite compact, measuring just 3.7 inches by 5.75 inches at 0.8 inch thick, though it’s still a bit bulkier than the G-Drive. Out of the box, the test drive was formatted in NTFS and works right away with a Windows computer but it can be easily reformatted to work with a Mac. Similar to the G-Drive, it doesn’t support encryption to protect data against the case of loss or theft nor does it include any backup software. This is not a big deal, however, since in my experience, it’s better to use Time Machine and Windows 10’s built-in File History for backups anyway.

Should you get it?

If you’re in the market for a fast, compact, rugged drive that will also work with future computers, you can’t go wrong with the Blackbox Plus, of which I find the 1TB capacity to be the best deal. On the other hand if your computer doesn’t have an USB-C (or Thunderbolt 3) port and you’re not planning to upgrade anytime soon, a non-USB-C drive like the Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Slim or WD My Passport Ultra will offer lots of storage, albeit with slower performance, for about the same price.

LG Smart Instaview Door-in-Door Refrigerator Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Chris Monroe/CNET

The smart fridge battle is heating up. LG showed off its Smart Instaview Door-in-Door Fridge Thursday here at the IFA trade show in Berlin. The refrigerator has a translucent door panel that doubles as a fully loaded Windows tablet, complete with Cortana voice controls.

Rival manufacturer Samsung made a splash at this year’s CES with the Family Hub fridge. The 21.5-inch touchscreen on the Family Hub integrates with your calendar, plays music and snaps pictures of your food while helping you track expiration dates. LG showed off the InstaView panel at the same show. While it looked like a touchscreen when darkened, the door panel on that first LG Signature fridge just turned translucent with a knock, letting you see the contents of your fridge without opening the door.

Drag and drop various icons on LG’s touchscreen.

Chris Monroe/CNET

Now, LG’s combining that same translucent panel with a touchscreen of its own. Like the Family Hub, you can drag and drop icons over different foods. The icons range from a simple countdown timer to health facts you’d like to remember to personal icons so Grandpa can make sure everyone knows which mustard is his.

Better yet, the Smart Instaview fridge has full Windows 10. You can browse the internet, play music, watch videos and even give commands to Windows digital assistant Cortana. When we reviewed the Family Hub, voice control was one of the items on our wish list.

That said, we liked how well Samsung’s Family Hub worked. During my brief hands-on time with LG’s Smart Instaview, it froze up a couple of times. Now, the trade-show environment isn’t at all similar to a normal kitchen, and the model still has months before it’s released, so it’s much too early to judge. But responsiveness will be something we keep our eyes on.

Expect the LG Smart Instaview Door-in-Door Refrigerator to start rolling out late this year or early next year (including in the US), but LG’s representatives in Berlin didn’t offer many concrete details and wouldn’t speculate on the possible price.

In addition to responsiveness, we’ll be looking for more information about how it integrates with LG’s smart home products and apps. The Smart Instaview Door-in-Door fridge is an awesome surprise from LG. We’ll see how well it works in the real world, and we’ll note whether Samsung feels compelled to add features to the Family Hub in response.

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• For all of CNET’s coverage from IFA, click here

Neato D3 Connected Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Neato’s D3 Connected offers hi-tech smarts for a lot less.

Neato Robotics

Easily costing anywhere from $700 and upwards in the US, the price of many robot vacuums makes them a hard sell to all but the well heeled. Not quite so with the new $399 Neato D3 Connected which was just announced at IFA 2016 here in Berlin. While by no means inexpensive, it’s the most affordable automatic cleaning machine we’ve seen yet. (UK and Australian prices are yet to be revealed, but that converts to about £300 or AU$530.)

That doesn’t mean the Neato D3 Connected is a fresh face masking old hardware either. Indeed this robovac, as its name suggests, features many of the parts and capabilities we loved in Neato’s premium product, the $699 Botvac Connected. Specifically the robot links to Neato’s mobile app via Wi-Fi, which allows you to both activate and schedule it remotely right from your phone or tablet.

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The Neato D3 draws electrical power from an advanced lithium-ion battery, similar to the modern battery system at the core of the company’s current flagship, the Botvac Connected. The Neato D3 also relies on Neato’s unique laser navigation technology in order to efficiently map then scour floors dirt- and debris-free.

As a result, according to Neato, the D3 will be able to navigate multiple rooms and cover up to 1,800 square feet in one charge. And like the Neato Botvac Connected the robot will make as many trips to its base station as required to recharge and complete a total floor cleaning.

A view of the Neato D3 Connected from the top.

Neato Robotics

Tradeoffs for a lower price

Neato, however, did cut a few corners to keep the D3 Connected’s price low. The machine’s battery, for example, has a lower capacity than the previous Botvac Connected and new $699 Neato D5 Connected flagship model that will eventually replace it. The same is true of the D3’s “Standard” filter, which is apparently more porous than the “Ultra Performance” filter tucked inside the D5 Connected and “High Performance” filter screening the older Botvac Connected.

The $399 Neato D3 Connected will hit store shelves by early October of 2016 in the US and Europe. Neato plans to ship the robovac to China and Japan later that year.

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Neato cleans the smart home with a connected robot vacuum
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Neato D5 Connected Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Neato D5 Connected is the company’s new flagship robovac.

Neato Robotics

How much in the way of high-tech gear and features can you pack into a robot vacuum for the least money possible? The $699 Neato D5 Connected, unveiled at IFA 2016, aims to answer that question. Inside its D-shaped body is the hardware necessary for automated and scheduled floor cleaning, as well as a wireless link to a companion mobile app, plus a high-capacity lithium ion battery to run for the duration. That’s very competitive with other intelligent and app-commanded robot vacuums such as the $900 iRobot Roomba 980 and $1,000 Dyson 360 Eye.

Like its robovac siblings, the $399 Neato D3 Connected and previous Neato Botvac Connected, the Neato D5 Connected can analyze and commit your home’s floor plan to memory in real time. It then uses that knowledge to efficiently sweep dirt and dust particles from hard and carpeted flooring across multiple rooms while avoiding obstacles, as long as it remains on the same level.

Another feature this robot shares with its family is a built-in Wi-Fi radio to link to your home network and the Internet beyond. The feature allows Neato Connected vacuum owners to control and schedule the device via a companion Android and iOS application using smartphones or tablets.

Price does matter

One big difference between the D5 and D3 Connected models, however, is the former’s high-capacity lithium ion battery. It matches the large lithium ion power cell at the heart of Neato’s first smart robovac, the Botvac Connected, which earned our Editors’ Choice Award for outstanding performance despite a few minor stumbles.

Apparently Neato has taken these complaints to heart, since the latest D5 unit can track and report its cleaning performance data — a trick we wished the Botvac Connected could perform. There’s a new “find me” function in case the vacuum gets entangled and loses power somewhere out of sight. Hopefully that won’t happen often since the D5 also features the “charge and resume” function previous Neato robots had.

Like its budget sibling the D3, Neato expects to ship the Neato D5 for $699 (converted, that’s about £535, AU$930) by early October to US and European markets first. Neato plans to roll out the robovac to China and Japan later that year.

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Neato cleans the smart home with a connected robot vacuum
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Swann Smart Series Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Swann’s Smart Series security system is for sale now at major US retailers.

Swann

Swann has sold DIY security kits globally for nearly 30 years and today marks the latest addition to the company’s roster — the $500 Smart Series system.

Cameras, cameras everywhere:

• SwannSecure lacks the competition’s appeal
• Don’t get rid of your Dropcam just yet
• http://www.cnet.com/products/icontrol-networks-piper-nv/
• Security camera buying guide
• Delve into DIY security with these 35 connected cameras

Packed with four 1080p HD cameras, an outdoor siren, two door/window sensors, a key fob and an 8-channel digital video recorder (DVR) with a 1TB storage drive, it certainly seems like a great value. For a quick comparison, popular standalone 1080p security cameras like Nest Cam cost $200 each. You could only get 2.5 Nest Cams with the same amount of money you’d spend on Swann’s complete Smart Series system, so why am I not rushing out to buy one?

The sheer number of accessories makes Smart Series seem tempting, but I’m not sure about its quality.

“Swann is a forward thinking DIY security and smart home technology company that provides innovative yet cost effective solutions for consumers,” a Swann spokesperson told me in an email.

Not so fast, Swann. The previous Swann systems we’ve gotten our hands on feel cheaply made. One Swann system I began testing, SwannOne, was so difficult to get online that I ultimately gave up on it. SwannOne also had limited overlap with the burgeoning smart-home market. That means it didn’t play well with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, IFTTT, or any other mainstream connected platforms.

The new Smart Series system seems more connected to the broader automation industry than SwannOne, though. It claims compatibility with devices from brands like Kwikset, Yale, Philips, Nest and Samsung’s SmartThings platform. Smart Series also offers a related Android and iPhone app for remote access to the system’s basic functions.

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Security camera buying guide
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Here’s an overview of the Smart Series’ accessories, features and specs:

• Four 1080p live streaming night vision cameras
• One outdoor siren
• Two door/window sensors
• One key fob
• 8-channel 1TB DVR
• Optional 24-7 professional monitoring
• Android and iPhone app
• Motion notifications

Swann has some convincing to do to prove that its systems add anything innovative to the security and smart-home space, but I’ll reserve final judgment until I get my hands on a Smart Series.

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Sharp 4LifeHub Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Ashlee Clark Thompson/CNET

Sharp is the third company at this year’s IFA trade show here in Berlin to debut its own take on the smart refrigerator. First, Samsung announced a smaller, European version of its Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator. Then LG debuted its LG Smart Instaview Door-in-Door Refrigerator. Sharp joined the fray Thursday with the 4LifeHub smart refrigerator.

All of these manufacturers have equipped these appliances with Wi-Fi, large touchscreen control panels and apps designed to make domestic life easier.

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More Smart Fridges

• Take that, Samsung: LG’s got a touchscreen fridge, too
• A Family Hub fit for Europe — Samsung slims down its feature-rich fridge

But the Sharp 4LifeHub looks to set itself apart by connecting to other large appliances in the kitchen. According to Sharp, you can use the 21-inch control panel built into the refrigerator to manage the settings of your other Sharp appliances such as the dishwasher, oven or washing machine.

The Sharp 4LifeHub will be available only in Europe from early 2017, and the company hasn’t announced the price yet. But the Japanese company’s entrance into the smart fridge race shows that fridges with giant touchscreen panels may not be going away any time soon.

• For all of CNET’s coverage from IFA, click here

Plantronics BackBeat 100 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The BackBeat 100 ships in October.

Plantronics

It took a while, but Plantronics is finally coming out with an affordable communications-oriented, neckband-style Bluetooth headphone. It’s called the BackBeat 100 Series and it’s due out worldwide in October with a price tag of £70 — we’re still waiting on US and Australian pricing, but the UK price converts to $95 or AU$125.

The headphone is geared toward both music and making calls, which you’d expect from Plantronics.

Weighing less than 30 grams, the BackBeat 100 Series has a flexible neckband design that conforms to the size and shape of your neck, and like many of these around-the-neck headphones, it has magnetic earbuds to keep the cords from flopping around too much when they’re not in your ears.

The earbuds adhere magnetically.

Plantronics

Key specs

• Up to 8 hours of listening and talk time
• Three-button interface for operation of music and calls
• Full-range sound with solid bass audio profile
• Built-in microphone with echo reduction, digital signal processing (DSP) and HD Voice clarity
• Vibration alerts for incoming calls
• Price: £70, 80 euros (no Australian or US pricing has been announced yet)
• On sale October 2016

In other Plantronics news, the company announced that its popular wireless sports headphone, the BackBeat Fit, will soon be available in five new colors: Power Blue, Sport Gray, Core Black, Fit Fuchsia and Stealth Green.