TECH LASS

LG 360 VR Review Introduction Like the LED bulb that is now permeating the market, so has virtual reality been around for decades—in one form or another. And true to the seemingly universal rule of thumb that dictates that anything legitimately cool we see on TV eventually makes its way into our home, so have virtual reality headsets been trending up. Headsets, such as the LG 360 VR. Priced at $199 in the United States, and with a rather underwhelming initial showing during MWC 2016, we were curious to see if the final product is worth the price tag, if it's effective at drawing people to virtual reality, and if its promise of "smartphone-free" viewing would amount to something truly noteworthy. Let's see... In the box: LG 360 VR headset Protective lens caps Glasses case User guide Design, weight, and fit Dozens of VR headsets have made their way into the wild already, but universally, you look like a fool with them glued to your face. T...

Samsung Gear Fit 2 fitness band Review Introduction Whether because it's part of its corporate DNA, or simply the result of lessons learned, Samsung has consistently done its best to hedge its bets. When smartwatches first became a thing, the company was quick to market with the Galaxy Gear. And when VR started trending up, Samsung was again at the forefront, offering its own vision, and quickly forging strategic alliances. Fitness trackers are no exception, and this is no news in the context of Samsung's product portfolio. The first proper, standalone gadget for the maker was the original Gear Fit, featuring a curved display, lending it a rather Sci-Fi look. It's no longer the early days of wearables, however, and the fitness tracker's refresh in the Gear Fit 2 no longer feels otherworldly, nor does it enjoy a relatively free reign of the market. With competition mounting, Samsung better have come up with some worthwhile improvements over the past ...

Samsung Gear IconX wireless earphones Review Introduction Oh, what a great time to be alive! The world's brightest minds have turned science fiction into fact by giving us semi-autonomous cars, vacuum cleaner robots, and pocket-sized communicators with access to the world's collective knowledge, among other miraculous gadgets. While waiting for holodecks and transporters to arrive, we have the Samsung Gear IconX to add to this list of modern marvels. The latter, in a nutshell, is a set of wireless earbuds with exercise tracking abilities. Yes, they're  completely  wireless – as in no cables whatsoever connect to the earphones at any time. Nothing hangs, nothing dangles, nothing tangles. This level of convenience puts the IconX high on the awesomeness scale, but is a pair worth the hefty price of $200?  In the box: Gear IconX wireless earphones (left and right) Battery case for carrying and recharging Micro USB cable Micro USB to full-size USB con...

Samsung Gear VR 2016 Review Introduction Smartphone users are all too used to balancing questions of cost and functionality: do you get the $250 budget phone that's fine for basic web and social apps, or splurge on the $750 flagship with the next-gen processor ready to tear right through the latest 3D games? Shoppers have much the same decision to make when looking at the burgeoning virtual reality market. You could spend hundreds on an Oculus Rift or  HTC  Vive, to say nothing of the cash you'd have to sink into upgrading your computer to handle that hardware, or as little as $5 or $10 on a literally made-from-cardboard Google Cardboard viewer. Just like with phones, there's a middle ground on this VR spectrum, which Samsung's been dominating for the past couple years with its Gear VR headsets, combining the add-your-own-phone-and-screen ethos of Cardboard with extra sensors, input controls, and software designed to push phone-based VR as close as ...

Apple Watch Series 2 Review Intro Apple has a well-deserved reputation for helping to define our expectations for what are still, to many shoppers, new product types. The iPhone showed both consumers and other handset manufacturers alike how much untapped potential there was in the burgeoning smartphone market, and the iPad helped tablets move away from their characterization as either under-equipped laptops or blown-up phones to a novel, useful form factor in its own right. After those milestones, it was only understandable that all eyes were on Apple as the smartwatch movement began to take shape. Companies like Pebble started getting that ball rolling, and by early 2014, smartwatches felt like they were on the brink of going mainstream, with Android Wear about to make its debut – so where was Apple's eagerly awaited effort?  We had to be patient, and confirmation of the Apple Watch didn't land until the waning days of summer 2014. Even then, it was still a bi...