HP upgrades Chromebook 14 with longer battery life

HP refreshed its Chromebook 14 to give it better battery life and reducing its price by US$50. Now rated to last for nine hours and 15 minutes for the 1,366 x 768 display, it’s up from eight hours of the previous generation. The Chromebook also now gets an Intel Celeron N2840 chip instead of an NVIDIA one, which could possibly explain improved performance. It also comes with a 1080p option but your battery might take a hit with this one. Unfortunately, there’s no expansion options beyond 2GB for memory. This’ll be available in the U.S. starting November 8^th for $250 or $280 if you want the Full HD version. It’s a pretty compelling product, let’s hope HP brings it here, too.

Source: Engadget

Xiaomi enters the Segway game

There will come a time when we will ask ourselves what does Xiaomi not produce? This time the company’s introducing a US$315 Segway called the Ninebot mini. The company’s a major investor in Chinese company Ninebot, which recently purchased Segway. The Ninebot mini represents the first product since the acquisition. The self-balancing scooter looks rather similar to the original but it costs less than a twentieth of the original’s price.

It’s not exactly a toy either, even though it’s targeted towards the youth. It can move up to 16km/h, handle 15-degree hills, and run up to 22km on a single charge. At 12.8 kilograms, it’s portable. It can even fit into the trunk of your car, according to Xiaomi. Firmware of the scooter can be upgraded and it can monitor things like speed, traffic data, and systems via your smartphone. It’s coming to China on November 3^rd but there is no word about a wider launch. However, Ninebot updated its French website saying they will inform the public about availability, which means it could be hitting Europe soon and, hopefully, make its way here, too.

Source: Engadget

Pioneer outs portable HD audio player

There’s a resurgence of HD audio players and Pioneer’s introducing its own take on the trend with the XDP-100R. Made with aluminum, it houses two circuit boards. According to Pioneer, one of them is for the operating system and another for audio components to help “eliminate the effects of digital noise.” It supports lossless FLAC, MQA, ALAC, and DSD audio up to 11.2MHz.

This Android-powered player comes with a 4.7-inch 720p display, 32GB of internal storage that you can increase up to 256GB via two microSD slots that each support up to 128GB. It’s going on sale in Japan later this month for around US$700. There’s no word yet on a Western release at the moment though. But it does seem to be on the affordable side, especially since Sony’s NW-ZX2 HD audio player costs $1,200.

Source: Wall Street Journal | Via: Gizmodo

Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup 10/11-10/17

Imagine Dragons partners with Apple and SAP to release exclusive single for refugee crisis relief

Vimeo adds picture-in-picture support for iOS 9

Apple updates iMac line with 4K and 5K Retina Displays, adds Force Touch enabled trackpad

Toyota releases details on 4th generation Prius hybrid with 18% better mileage

Twitter to streamline workforce by cutting 336 jobs

Acer launches 34-Inch Curved IPS gaming monitor

Apple Pay may be coming to Canada as per leak on TD Canada Trust website

Thirstie comes to Canada

Apple's Health app adds support for Microsoft Band 2

August launches new access control products for smart homes

NFB launches I Love Potatoes game app for kids

7 fast facts about SPECTRE's Aston Martin DB10

New ResearchKit studies for autism, epilepsy and melanoma released by Apple

Join a Skype conversation right from a direct link

Yahoo Mail introduces new look

Samsung Canada reveals Gear S2 and Gear S2 classic wearables

First Look at the 2016 Chevrolet Volt EV

Samsung prepping response to Rose Gold iPhone 6S

Shakira and Rovio introduce ‘Love Rocks’ game

Nike outs Tech Book shopping app