All-night delivery.
(Credit: Euroflues)It doesn't get much more comfortable than sitting around a warm fire on a cool evening. However bad the elements are outside, the inside is heated with the warming glow emanating from the fireplace. Usually, the fireplace is in the living room, which makes sense; the living room is the central location of the house.
But there's another room that serves as a gathering spot, one that usually features a different type of heated comfort in the form of a stove. Make that stove a wood-burning stove and add a pizza oven in the mix, and suddenly the kitchen is the new living room.
While it's quite possible that pizza is the most comforting food on the planet, coupled with a wood burning stove the combination is pure comfort overload. The Huemfire Pallas Back achieves just that. In addition to the baking compartment, the top of the unit features three cooking plates, which could be used for other great comfort foods such as soup.
Combustion is controlled via an outside hookup, with air control being handled via a lever on the front. An optional built-in drawer on the bottom of the unit is designed for storing wood. The stove heats up to 1,625 square feet, and uses a patented heat retention system capable of storing heat for up to nine hours after the last fire has been lit. It doesn't get much more comfortable than that.
(Credit:
Audio-Technica)
Last year, we reviewed the Audio-Technica QuietPoint ATH-ANC7 noise-canceling headphones, and editor Jasmine France thought they were a good value, offering decent, but not great, sound for the money. Well, when we heard that Audio-Technica was releasing a new, improved version of these headphones with a "b" tacked on to the model name, we were eager to get our hands on a pair.
What exactly has the company improved? According to the news release, these 'phones are supposed to sound better, offer a more comfortable fit (the earcups have been redesigned), and deliver some additional design tweaks, including an easier-to-access battery bay and two detachable cables of varying lengths: 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) and 1 meter (3.3 feet). Also, according to Audio-Technica's release, the ATH-ANC7b headphones deliver "smoother, richer, and more natural tonal balance...with impactful bass, a detailed midrange, extended treble and accurate imaging in an immersive soundfield."
All that sounds good and a lot of people have their eyes on the $200 ATH-ANC7b headphones as good alternatives to the Bose QuietComfort 15s and QuietComfort 3s that cost significantly more ($300 and $350, respectively). So we decided to see if the Audio-Technicas measure up to that hype.
Read the full review of the Audio-Technica QuietPoint ATH-ANC7 headphones to see if they do.
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The QuietComfort 15s look almost identical to the QC2s that they are replacing.
(Credit: Bose)In designing its fourth-generation consumer noise-canceling headphones, the QuietComfort 15s, Bose has done something interesting. Instead of coming up with a whole new look for its headphones as it did with the QuietComfort 3s, Bose has left the basic design of its popular QuietComfort 2s intact and simply redesigned them on the inside, adding even more effective noise-canceling circuitry and improving their sound quality.
The QuietComfort 15s look identical to the QuietComfort 2s, with the same over-the-ear design, including earcups that swivel and fold flat to fit in a stylish case. (To be clear: the QC15s replace the QC2s, which will no longer be sold.) Bose has redesigned the case so it's easier to plop the headphones in it and close it up. The resulting package is slightly bigger than a CD wallet, which makes it easier to tote, though it's still not terribly compact.
Read the full review of the Bose QuietComfort 15s headphones to find out how they sound.
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If you've flown on a commercial airline since 2000, you've probably seen people wearing Bose QuietComfort headphones. They're expensive and large, and I don't like them.
Their noise-cancellation circuitry actually generates noise of its own, and my ears are good enough to hear it as long as I'm not seated too near the engines.
I started wearing earplugs on airplanes in the 1980s when I discovered the squishy memory-foam type. They block noise better than headphones ever could, and they don't make any noise themselves.
But when I bought my first iPod, that strategy didn't seem quite so perfect anymore. The ear-bud headphones that came with the iPod never fit me at all; they just fell out. After some experimentation with small folding travel headphones, I decided I was happiest with in-ear headphones. They gave me most of the noise reduction of the foam earplugs along with the ability to listen to music.
The problem with in-ear headphones is finding a model that fits me. I gather that this is a common problem with this type of product. I went through several low- and mid-priced models before settling on the old Apple In-Ear headphones--they just worked the best for me. (Interestingly, I had the same experience as CNET's Steve Guttenberg when he reviewed them: they only fit well when inserted upside-down.)... Read more
The QuietComfort 15s look almost identical to the QC2s, which are going away.
(Credit: Bose)If you were thinking that the next pair of Bose noise-canceling headphones would be called the QuietComfort 4s, you'd be wrong. Instead, Bose has decided to go with with QuietComfort 15, though they're technically Bose's fourth pair of consumer noise-canceling headphones to hit the market.
Why the jump in number? Well, it appears that even though the QC15 headphones share the same design as the QC2s, which they will replace, Bose really wanted to set them apart from earlier models, declaring that they offer the best noise-canceling and sound quality of any QuietComfort headphones to date. The number 15 seems kind of random, but we're not marketing pros, so who are we to judge?
I tried a pair at Bose's launch event at its store in Time Warner Center in New York City. The company locked us in a small backroom and fired up some pseudo-airplane-cabin noise ranging from 84 decibels to around 91 decibels. The simulation indeed revealed that the new headphones are better at blocking out noise. They also sounded pretty good, too, though we'll have to run them through our own sound tests to determine just how good they really are.
Priced at $299.95, the QuietComfort 15s arrive in stores tomorrow. We should have a full review up soon.
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The women's version of the Comfort Cruiser.
(Credit: Pedego)Editor's note: This post was updated at 8:59 a.m. PDT August 7 to remove the incorrect statement that Pedego is also the maker of the eZee bike.
You have heard of the eZee bike, which is cool but rather expensive. Now there's a slightly more affordable option from Pedego, another electric bike maker, for those who want to be in shape and stay green, but just can't stomach the price tag of the eZee. The new offering is another electric bike, called the Comfort Cruiser, and it costs around $1,600--$400 less than the eZee.
According to Pedego, the Comfort Cruiser is a lightweight bike designed to provide comfortable riding. It has a wide, cushioned seat and a throttle that's controlled by revving the right handlebar grip, similar to that of a motorcycle.
The bike is equipped with a rear-hub motor, which is incorporated inside the rear rim, and a lithium battery that has enough juice to power the bike for about 30 miles at up to 20 miles per hour. The battery is detachable, allowing you to quickly take it off for recharging. Pedego says the battery can go from completely dead to fully charged in 4 hours.
Of course, sans battery, the bike can be used just like a regular bike. You can always power it the traditional way and use the battery power just to ease the pedaling when cycling in rough terrain.
The Pedego Comfort Cruiser bikes are available in two versions, one for men and one for women. Each version comes in 12 color combinations, including black with pink wheels, white with mint green wheels, or orange with orange wheels. The bikes can also be customized with accessories such as baskets, bells, and cup holders.
Currently, Comfort Cruiser bikes are only available in Southern California.
Work and play living together in harmony.
(Credit: Cabracega)As the Google campuses proved long ago, employee productivity depends largely on comfort and morale. While I've given up on begging human resources at CNET to hire an in-house chef, maybe they'll front the bill for a set of USB sofas.
A concept design by Cabracega for OFFF Lisbon 2008, they might look like your average La-Z-Boy, but each one functions as its own autonomous USB hub with seven cables that stick out of the cushions and allow the lounger to plug in multiple peripherals or store content.
The real appeal, though, is that you can also connect the couches together and form a cohesive Megazordian USB hub in which users can share content and work as a team at the same time! Oh, CNET HR, you're a lucky bunch: at this time, the USB sofas are still conceptual and waiting for funding, so please go here and donate to my comfortable cause.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)
It's not unusual for a product manager to embellish certain aspects of the gadgets he or she is representing, which is why reviewers are quick to learn to take everything with a grain of salt. When the hyperbole extends to the actual name of the product, expectations tend to increase, at least incrementally.
Such is the case with Phonak's Audeo Perfect Fit Earphones, a uniquely designed set of earbuds with an impressive array of features and a fair price ($139 for the standard MP3 player version; $159 for the music-phone model with the built-in mic). We can't be certain they'll actually fit everyone perfectly, but we can say with confidence that our reviewers found them to be exceptionally secure and reasonably comfortable. Even better, they offer great bang for your buck in terms of features and sound quality.
OK. Maybe not everything in today's show is super cute, but it gives the ladies the chance to speak in exaggerated falsettos. Jason, on the other hand, balances all the cute with an unintentionally awkward joke about one of the newest segments. Oh, you'll see.
Listen now: Download today's podcast
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EPISODE 127 |
Candy Comfort Earphones are comfy and kitschy
PBS Sprout makes iPhone apps for preschoolers
Yuruppy, a virtual-pet petting gizmo
Australian IT expert invents the shoe phone
Could the Bra Dryer save your lingerie?
... Read more
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
Kitschy tech is entirely too rare on CNET, which is why we couldn't resist the Candy Comfort Earphones. These funky earbuds are decked out in candy branding and fittingly shaped like M&Ms, although that particular treat is glaringly absent from the lineup.
These 'phones may not be the best-sounding or most fully featured on the market, but the fun design is sure to appeal to some. Plus, they're more comfortable than the stock set that came with your player. At $20 a pop, the Candy Comfort Earphones aren't going to break the bank, but given the lackluster sound and dearth of eartips, we'd prefer a slightly lower price point.
