Tech2

RedMere, based in Balbriggan, Ireland, is one of those clever companies that comes up with something needed, then licenses it out for other companies to make and sell. In this case it's a tiny chip, small enough to fit in an HDMI connector, that allows the cable to be significantly smaller than other cables.

Brick-and-mortar audio retailing is in decline, but fortunately there’s another way to hear the best new sound gear: Attend one of the growing number of regional audio shows. Last year saw the first Los Angeles-area show in years, T.H.E. Show Newport, which took over much of the Hilton Hotel near the Orange County Airport.

Room correction systems that optimize your audio system for the acoustics of your room have been around for more than a decade — but frankly, they’ve never won me over, and I’m finally starting to understand why.

The latest in the seemingly endless supply of add-on packs for Battlefield 3 is Armored Kill. The title is apt. There’re lots of tanks, airplanes, helicopters, airborne gunships, and massive, massive maps.

I wasn’t planning on covering yet another BF3 add-on, but the original game is one of my favorites of recent years and AK just isn’t. . . fun.

It’s weird for a 50-year-old audio writer to be reviewing a product that’s targeted at people half his age or less. Guys my age like products labeled “audiophile-grade” or “reference,” not “Nuke” or “Boom.” Meaningless as such marketing terms are, though, you gotta figure Behringer did something to make the iNuke Boom Junior iPod/iPhone dock earn its badass moniker.

It’s hardly a new trend, hiring a high-end audio company to design — maybe build — an audio system upgrade for a car. Bose does it all the time, as do THX, B&W, Lexicon, and B&O

It’s win-win, better audio, a bit of extra profit, and brand exposure for the audio company. But when it’s a pairing of two storied companies like Porsche and Burmester, color me interested.

Conveniently, that color is “Yachting Blue.”

It's hard to classify Defense of the Ancients 2, a free-to-play game from Valve. It's part RPG, part RTS, part multiplayer shooter, part lots of things. This month, there were 5.2 million unique players.

The best I can describe it, is if you've ever played a traditional RTS, and recall one of the "hero" levels where you play as just one, uber-strong, character. That's DotA. Sort of. It can be pretty intense, and quite fun, too.

If you keep reading I promise no more unexplained abbreviations.