My neighbor has a Model 3 with a wireless charging station right in the console. I didn’t realize this was an after-market purchase, so wanted to review it here today. The brand my neighbor has is the Taptes generation 2 wireless charging station.
The Gen 2 has some improvements from the previous version. Starting with the basics, this version has a ridge line molded into the center of the charging platform. This allows a user to charge two phones vertically, independently getting their charge, at the same time. The center line ridge doesn’t go all the way to the bottom so if you need to charge your phone while in landscape mode, viewing say Google Maps, you have that capability.
The charging station does have USB-C in the event a passenger has a phone which doesn’t support the wireless charging mode. This would include both Android and Apple phones.
My neighbor has the Model 3, 2019 version, but this version does support the Tesla console for 2017, 18, 19 and 20 year models. The black is the same tone of black as the black interior of the Tesla. As I mentioned before, I didn’t realize this was an after-market product until my neighbor told me so. In my opinion, it didn’t look like an add-on.
The charging pad has anti-slip grip material so the phone doesn’t move around while driving. The wireless signal is strong enough to go through phone cases. However; if you have a magnetic disc or a pop-socket on the back, it might not charge as it’s either too far away from the wireless power signal, or the obstruction doesn’t allow your phone to take the wireless charge signal. The charging pad also has two LED to indicate the charging station is sending a signal to the device. Your device will also confirm it is receiving a charge. The wireless charging station comes with two USB splitters so you can power the charging station from the Tesla USB system and still have USB connections off to the dash for something like a dash-cam recorder or other device.
To the confusion and frustration of many iPhone 7 users, the lack of an audio jack is being seen as a step forward rather than back. With the advent of USB Type-C, audio will no longer require a 3.5mm headphone port. Instead, that data can be transmitted, along with videos and power, through Type-C.
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) recently announced its awaited audio specifications for USB Type-C to end the reign of our beloved headphone jack so lets take a look at the new standard. Officially called the USB Audio Device Class 3.0, manufacturers that need to feed sound through USB Type-C ports are affected the most by it. Everything from PCs to phones is included and the USB-IF expects Type-C to be the “primary solution for all digital audio aplications, including headsets, mobile devices, docking stations, gaming set-ups, and VR solutions.”
Never again will the average skateboarder miss out on recording a sweet 12-stair or kickflip due to lack of battery life on the most popular recording device on the planet. With the revolutionary method of harnessing centripetal force, FluxTech Industries is looking to change the lives of millions of skaters across the world with the PowerBoard.
While many have dreamt of the hover board since Marty McFly showed us its possibilities, the PowerBoard achieves a far greater feat. To understand this, lets look at some of the board’s functionality. Underneath, there is a thin panel covered in an adamantium shell. Inside the panel a unique architecture of circuits, capacitors, and Legos enables the board’s magnificent ability to convert each wheel’s centripetal force into electromagnetic energy with 120% efficiency, a magnitude completely unheard of in the physical world.
CES, 2016. Sony releases a USB turntable, named HX500. Sony will provide backup- software for the Mac and PC and it connects via USB. From there, you can send the DSD (Direct Stream Digital) copies to your computer or device. Of course Sony would prefer you to play them back on their Hi-Res-playing Sony Walkmans.
The DSD audio is a lossless audio quality that will sound more full and rich than your downloaded MP3 file. Andy why not, vinyl records have been making a big comeback the last couple of years.
The USB 3.0 / 4K display and dock station is ideal for the Bring Your Own Device work environment (BYOD).
Assuming you have a limited port laptop computer the StarTech dock station can expand your laptop screen and extend out to a 4K video feed needed. It doesn’t stop there with USB 3.0 port connectivity, and Ethernet connection.
The front side of the dock station also includes a USB charging port. You can avoid the inconvenience of a dead battery and make sure your mobile device is always ready to go, using the dock’s USB fast-charge and sync port. Plus, the always-on port supports device charging even when your laptop isn’t connected to the dock.
The dock station can act as a charging station unplugged as well, making it a very portable solution. A good fit for this product would be home-office where the work space is not that large, or class room where the budget isn’t there for a complete work station and a BYOD situation best applies.
The Alesis IO Dock is a great product for iPad musicians – this small hack makes it even greater. It overcomes one limitation of the IO Dock: You can’t simply hook it to a USB hub. So I decided to build in an additional hub – which allows me to hook up additional class-compliant interfaces like my M-Audio Axiom master keyboard, and power them via the hub.
Yes, it works. No, it hasn’t been thoroughly tested yet. So try at your own risk.
Full Tutorial (nice)
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Apogee’s Duet 2, a USB audio interface device now features a full-color OLED display to offer visual feedback for its multiple functions, including level metering, audio input / output and more. The Duet2 offers full 24-bit/192kHz recording, a configurable touch pad, Soft Limit technology, a breakout cable and Maestro 2 software, along with completely re-designed mic preamps, four balanced outputs, and an independent speaker.
The Duet2 is best used for sound recording in a mic or directly plugged into the device. It uses a fully-redesigned breakout cable to convert its one I/O port into two mic (XLR) or two line/instrument (1/4-inch) preamps, and a click-free multi-function controller knob to assign gain up to 75dB. The visual display allows users to pick the perfect volume without distortion (along with monitoring phantom power and phase invert), and the Soft Limit technology previously found only in Apogee’s top-end gear now prevents digital clipping by instantly rounding off transient peaks before they hit the also-redesigned analog-to-digital converters.
The unit also features up to four outputs, including: two balanced line outputs, up to 20dBu, along with separate speaker and headphone outs, allowing a user to monitor one source while sending another out — useful for Djs at live events, recording studios or spoken word. The configurable touch pads allow uses to quickly access output functions or switch headphone sources.
Apogee Duet 2 costs $595 and will be available in April. It is designed exclusively for the Mac and works well with most popular music software, particularly Garageband and Logic. It also works with other music-creation suites like Live, Pro Tools and Cubase.
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Tokyoflash put together this odd USB watch which looks and acts very much like it’s from the future. In addition, it will challenge your cognitive abilities when someone asks you what time it is [see image 3]. The Konect is not only a watch using an unorthodox approach, it also doubles as a flash drive.
The USB flash drive, slips out from the right and the blue radial area is the watch itself.
From the description of what is what, the Konect also has voice record ability and a lavish setting of alarms. Ability to stream audio live or communicate via Skype when loaded to the USB flash.
From the source post at
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Parrot is launching their new car stereo receive which has strayed away from the trend of all touch screen interface. The Asteroid is a Google Android based receiver with loads of features and functionality.
The receiver still has a graphical interface to display the content being played, but the navigation is all “old school” buttons and radial dial.
What is most interesting about the new Parrot receive is the many number of USB ports located on the back side. With the four USB ports the Asteroid gives the user plenty of options.
Of course you’ll get the expected RCA jacks for hooking up your car’s stereo system and a 3.5 mm jack for connecting your MP3 player. The Asteroid has three high speed USB ports and one 1.1
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Whether you are a serious musician or just like playing as a hobby to relax, chances are you have a guitar and a tuner. As with most musicians your budget is probably tight or with the casual player you don’t keep up on the up-keep of your gear, so when your guitar is out of tune, you go for the tuner. But most likely the battery is dead because A) you didn’t want to spend the cash or B) hadn’t played in so long, the batteries just went dead. This is why the solar powered guitar tuner makes perfect sense.
Tascam has done a great job with this tuner and thought about including a USB port just in case that tuner was stuffed in your guitar case for too long and you need a quick fix to get back in tune.
Released just in time for the holidays and priced right [under $20] with a range of hues to select from: black, pink, orange, green, blue, white.
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Yet another “i” product for all those Apple gadgets, but this time we feel it’s a product worth mentioning. The iPADock is a dock station to power or sync all your Apple gear in one handy location. The iDevices has designated USB power ports, designated USB-to-PC sync ports and additional flash memory ports for SD cards, SDHC and Compact Flash downloading.
So if you haven’t asked yourself how to clean up your sync area at work or home for the Apple gear…don’t worry, that day will come. For example, at our house we have 4 iPhones, two iPods, a FlipVideo and several cameras. All of them will receive power via USB.
First off, we have 4 iPhones because we’ve migrated from 3G or 3GS to the 4. The iPods are legacy products we had before the phones, yet we still use them for workouts…and the cameras, well those are good anytime.
What I like about the iPADock station are all the power and sync options.
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The Corsair HS1 USB headset is about as serious as you can get for superior audio while gaming, watching movies or simply Skyping. The all new line from Corsair is a bit out of their comfort zone of storage and cooling gear, but at least they’ve done it right. Headset gear is an essential part of enjoying intense games like FPS Doom, Half Life or Halo. In addition it keeps the other half equally as happy [meaning Mom’s, girlfriends and wives don’t b!@ch about the cranked up noise].
The HS1 was built for supreme audio with massive 50mm drivers to deliver more accurate low-frequency effects in a carefully tuned acoustical design. The clear, low-noise reproduction of the unidirectional noise-canceling microphone lets teammates hear better, and with extra-large inline volume and microphone controls it’s easy to grab and control sounds given the situation of the game.
Some other notable points before making the jump to Corsair for full details:
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The USB flash drive, slips out from the right and the blue radial area is the watch itself.
From the description of what is what, the Konect also has voice record ability and a lavish setting of alarms. Ability to stream audio live or communicate via Skype when loaded to the USB flash.
From the source post at
What is most interesting about the new Parrot receive is the many number of USB ports located on the back side. With the four USB ports the Asteroid gives the user plenty of options.
Of course you’ll get the expected RCA jacks for hooking up your car’s stereo system and a 3.5 mm jack for connecting your MP3 player. The Asteroid has three high speed USB ports and one 1.1
