Noah Kravitz mourned the day that Star Castle was replaced in the pizza parlour he frequented as a kid. The sadness ended when he saw an older kid make it to the Ninth Key level on the Pac Man that took his place. Years later he’s become a fixture of consumer tech reporting on the InterWebs and TV, and Galaga vies with Zoo Keeper as his all-time favorite arcade games. His loves of music, games, TV, video editing and yapping endlessly at anyone who’ll listen have all been channeled into an Internet addiction that spans screens big and small and devices portable, pocketable, and best left on his desk. Noah has been reporting on gadgets and media for a decade and a half now, including writing, podcasts and videos for PhoneDog, MacDirectory, Maximum PC, PowerBook Central, and a few other publications. He’s also written about the arts, education, and sports for some magazines you’ve likely never heard of, and has invaded your television talking about consumer electronics on CNBC, Fox Business Network, and a host of local TV stations.
By Noah Kravitz |
Sonos wireless audio systems were once the exclusive playthings of the rich and famous. Then the company rebranded themselves, rolled out the “Play” line of $300 and $400 networked speakers, and started selling their wares at Target. So why was their next move to launch…
By Noah Kravitz |
Technically this is an eyes and ears on, but you get the idea: up close with Google’s new ball of living room fun, the Nexus Q.This little $299 orb of zinc and plastic streams audio and video content from Google Play and YouTube to “the…
By Noah Kravitz |
Hands-on with the new tablet in town! Google launched the first Nexus-branded tablet at I/O today, the Asus-made Nexus 7. As reported earlier, Nexus 7 sports a 7-inch display, Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, and your choice of 8 or 16GB of storage. With its $199…
By Noah Kravitz |
After my week with the Soul, the folks from Kia asked if I wanted to swap out for another new model, the 2013 Rio SX 5 Door. Having grown up in hatchbacks, I of course said “Yes”…
By Noah Kravitz |
Pros: Quad-core performance for under $200, loaded with kid-friendly software but also runs stock ICS out of the box, removable bumper is colorful and adds protection, future accessories promise extensibility. Cons: A little thick and heavy compared to competitors, no Google Play access, pre-production software a…
By Noah Kravitz |
Apple today demonstrated integrating sharing via popular third-party services, as well as the company’s own AirDrop networking, as part of next-gen OS X features announced during the WWDC keynote. Speaking about eight of the “more than 200″ new features planned for OS X 10.8 “Mountain…
By Noah Kravitz |
You’ve noticed the trend of compact, boxy small truck/wagons on the freeways. And you’ve seen the ads with the party animal hamsters. But what’s a Kia Soul really like to drive? I started finding out earlier this week when two Kias drove up to my house…
By Noah Kravitz |
If for some reason you’re in the market for a good looking speaker with AirPlay and literally don’t care how it sounds, I guess this is the one!…
By Noah Kravitz |
Pogoplug is a solid option for those who’d rather roll their own clouds than use commercially available services, so long as you can deal with some niggling software issues. Or, get one and hack it to open up the possibiltiies.…
By Noah Kravitz |
Has Kickstarter started declining projects that involve physical hardware?…
By Noah Kravitz |
Do it all, hyper-connected mobile devices just might be as distracting and dangerous as they are useful and utopian.…
By Noah Kravitz |
LG’s Connect 4G brings LTE connectivity and a few high end features to Metro PCS’ wallet-friendly, contract free cellular service model…
By Noah Kravitz |
Longtime educational media developers TribalNova have launched iLearnWith, a suite of four iPad learning apps backed by a parental tool for monitoring childrens’ progress across educational areas. Aimed at learners aged 3-6, the initial iLearnWith offerings cover science, literacy, language and math skills by way…
By Noah Kravitz |
Two good articles in recent editions of The New York Times point to just how unpredictable and exciting a time we’re living in when it comes to the intersection of technology and commerce. First up is the tale of Pebble, the latest Kickstarter poster child…
By Noah Kravitz |
The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act otherwise known as CISPA (HR 3523) passed through the House of Representatives Thursday by a vote of 248 to 168. The bill now moves on to the Senate, where it needs a simple majority to make it to…
By Noah Kravitz |
Remember KONY 2012? Sure you do. It was all the rage just a month ago, inspiring first world kids of all ages to rise up and fight against grevious crimes against humanity in far-off lands. Actually, no, there didn’t turn out to be a whole…
By Noah Kravitz |
One time when I was maybe nine I saw the video for Van Halen’s “Jump” on MTV. I spent the rest of that afternoon beating the bejeezus out of pots, pans and empty coffee cans I’d ransacked from the kitchen and decorated to look like…
By Noah Kravitz |
Overview Smartwatches have never quite caught on with consumers, and yet they continue to fascinate we on the fringes of Geek Chic. Dating back to the days of Casio’s calculator and Data Bank models, the novelty of packing computing power on our wrists has held…
By Noah Kravitz |
As a grown-up who spent a ton of time in arcades as a nine year-old, this made me incredibly happy. As a former teacher, this made me want to call up every teacher, administrator, and curriculum person I’ve ever met and say, “Watch this and…
By Noah Kravitz |
Overview Quick, what was the first thing I did after coming home from CES this past January? Sleep it off? Nope. That was the second thing I did. First thing I did was dig out my old iPod nano and register for Apple’s replacement program.…
By Noah Kravitz |
I hope this ends well. I really, really do. CNET was the first to report on AT&T’s massive plans to make Nokia’s Lumia 900 its new hero device when the Windows Phone 7 smartphone goes on sale this week. There’s no denying the 900 is…
By Noah Kravitz |
The last time I worked in a school we had a lab stocked with 30 Apple eMacs, and each classroom had one or two older iMacs of their own. New, those machines cost roughly $800-1,000 each and sported 17-inch CRT displays with 1280 x 960,…
By Noah Kravitz |
About a month ago I picked up a 13″ MacBook Air to replace my aging and battered 13″ MacBook Pro. I keep my laptop in a case or bag – or perched atop a desktop stand – when I’m not using it, but I’m otherwise…
By Noah Kravitz |
Nova Media just did what mobile companies have seemingly been afraid to do over the past six months or so: They made something smaller! Nova’s Xifi is a portable 3G router and personal Wi-Fi hotspot no larger than a thumb drive. Xifi has a retractable…
