The Star Lounger looks like something that wants to give you a warm hug. The star-shaped chair will probably remind you of Patrick Star from the Spongebob cartoon series. The lounge chair appears comfortable enough to put you in a cozy embrace.
On its own, the Star Lounger can stand as an art piece or a decor. It’s like a sculpture you want to show off, serving an important function. It’s a chair that can be perfect for lobbies and rooms where you want to chill and relax.
The Start Lounger is a star alright but can shine brighter wherever you decide to place it. Each piece is crafted from the best materials like stretch velvet fabric and brass caps. The end result is a luxurious lounge chair that is plush and comes with premium finishes.
The upholstered lounge chair is beautiful with its craftsmanship, design, and art. Designer Troy Smith took inspiration from a star and decided to use stretch velvet to achieve an elegant and beautiful furniture piece. As a result, the Star Lounger delivers meticulous craftsmanship that is hard to come by these days.
This conceptual piece of furniture is unique. The brass and stretch velvet combination delivers a feeling of luxury while still being comfortable. The Canadian designer has spent time being creative and researching and planning to design and create the chair. It breaks the mold for a lounger chair and even goes beyond the desire to produce a sculptural work of art.
The Star Lounger definitely combines beautiful form and function. There isn’t much innovation, but the design alone will make you stop and stare and even sit on the lounge chair. It has a bit of humor as it appears wanting to want you to sit on the chair and be embraced. It’s actually more of a giant starfish that wants to hug you or wants you to sit on his lap.
This Star Lounger is handmade by skilled artisans. It features a sturdy hardwood interior frame, high-density foam, brass, and velvet—so you can say it’s a bit eclectic. The upholstery is solid, so we are guaranteed of a well-made furniture piece. This chair stands out with the detailed finishes, including the cast brass legs and caps.
Troy Smith usually delivers a hands-on approach starting with design and then production. This intimacy with every creation makes every piece like the Star Lounger very special. We think it is because it doesn’t just serve as a regular lounge chair. Instead, it makes you smile and gives you comfort whenever you need it.
BT & Ericsson have announced a new partnership for commercial 5G networks, the two companies will work together to offer 5G solutions to business customers in the UK. The two companies will offer 5G Private Networks to UK business customers, you can see more information on the partnership below. BT and Ericsson today announced a […]
I got my first guitar in the seventh grade. Had a couple of bands in high school and college. And I still play regularly. But, I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I only just bought my first tube amp in April of last year. That’s right, I played guitar somewhat seriously for around 25 years before I went and bought what is considered by many (mostly obnoxious purists) the only kind of amp worth playing.
Eventually, I set my sights on a Fender Blues Jr, a simple 15-watt, 1x12 amp. Specifically, I managed to snag a gorgeous Tweed model used for $400. It was too good of a deal to pass up (even if I did have to drive into New Jersey to pick it up).
Now, before you all freak out, it’s not that I’ve never played a tube amp before. My bands often rented a rehearsal space where I was usually playing through Marshall half stack. A JCM800 if I remember correctly, but I’d be lying if I said I cared about anything other than the fact that it was a Marshall half stack at the age of 18.
In addition to sounding great, glowing vacuum tubes look great.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
When it was time for me to go out and upgrade from my tiny Yamaha practice amp, I just got the loudest thing I could afford at the time: a 2x12 120-watt Crate solid state amp. I needed something that could be heard over a drummer in my basement or in a small club. It did exactly what I expected it to: It was delightfully crisp and clean, took pedals well and it was loud.
That was my only amp for many years. But, being 120w it didn’t really do “quiet.” Even with the volume at one it was enough to piss off the neighbors. So when I had my first child I knew I needed to get something else. Again, budget and volume were important (turns out kids are expensive). But instead of being loud, this time I needed something that would sound good at levels that wouldn’t disturb a sleeping baby. So I snagged a Yamaha THR10 on sale.
But over the last few years I’d started getting serious about music again. And, in particular over the last two years, I’d rekindled my love of guitar. Between that, and what I’m going to chalk up to pandemic restlessness, I started looking to upgrade to an actual tube amp. I ended up settling on the Blues Jr in part because I still needed something that didn’t get too loud. But I also didn’t need anything terribly fancy. I wanted tube warmth and crunch at a reasonable price and without too many bells and whistles.
While it took me a while to find the amp’s sweet spots, I’m a convert. I now primarily use my THR10 late at night or if I need to be mobile – say, shooting a review in my dining room. But otherwise, I’m firing up the Blues Jr everytime. It can do the jangly clean tones often associated with Fender at lower volumes, and get an almost Vox-ish crunch when cranked. I rarely use the “Fat” switch, which boosts the mids, but I could see it being handy if you’re relying entirely on the internal drive and need to take a solo.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
The only real amenity you get is a spring reverb, which sounds pretty great. Cranking it introduces a decent amount of noise to your signal, but it really nails those drippy surf tones.
Importantly for me, it has a master volume knob (which not all amps do). That allows you to push the preamp until you start to get some delicious breakup, while keeping things at a level that won’t get the cops involved. But it gets loud enough for gigging too, in case I ever decide to play music in front of other humans again (highly unlikely).
The biggest selling point, though, was that it’s also a pretty solid pedal platform. As a guitarist with more effects than talent, I needed something that wasn’t going to get too muddy or noisy as I started stacking multiple delays and reverbs with fuzz.
The Fender Blues Jr has been around since about 1995. And, while it has undergone multiple revisions in that time, its core character remains largely unchanged. Honestly, I wish I had discovered it earlier. Because, while I’ve fallen in love with plenty of instruments and effects over the years, this is the first amp that I’ve been truly enamored with.
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter is still pushing boundaries long after its first Mars liftoff. As CNETnotes, the space agency has shared video of Ingenuity's milestone 25th flight on April 8th, when it broke duration and speed records. The robotic helicopter flew at 12MPH for just over two minutes and 41 seconds, providing footage of the Red Planet's rippling sands and rock fields as part of the 2,310-foot journey. The footage you see below was sped up to cut the viewing time to 35 seconds.
The video doesn't include the very start and end of the trip, but for good reason. The navigation camera switches off whenever Ingenuity is within three feet of the Martian surface to prevent dust from interfering with the navigation system. The autonomous flier receives flight plans from JPL, but it uses a combination of the camera, a laser rangefinder and an inertial measurement unit to adapt to real-life conditions.
Ingenuity has flown three times since. It's currently preparing for a 29th flight following a brief scare in early May, when the mission team lost communication after the helicopter switched to a low-power state. NASA isn't easily deterred, then — expect the aircraft to keep flying for a while to come.
If your iPhone screen is black and non-responsive, several things could have caused the issue. Generally, you can solve this by trying out some different things as various solutions may solve the problem. These handy tips should help you get your iPhone up and running again. Why is my iPhone screen black? When the screen […]
It's only been a couple of weeks since Cre8Audio unveiled its first self-contained synth. But the company is back already with a companion to the East Beast, called the West Pest. As the name implies this is a West Coast style synth, made to complement the Beast's east coast flavor.
Just like the Beast this is an analog semi-modular synth built in collaboration with Pittsburg Modular. It has a 20-point patch bay, a one octave keyboard, a 32-step sequencer, an arpeggiator and a "digital multi-function tool" that can be an extra envelope, LFO or a random generator.
In fact the two have more in common than not. Physically they're nearly identical, but with slightly different control layouts and graphics. And they're both just $250, which is stunningly affordable for an analog modular synth.
Of course what separates the West Pest from its sibling is its core sound and design features. Its main oscillator is described as "buzzy" and instead of a filter to shave off harmonics, it has a wave folder to add more. Rather than a traditional envelope and filter combo, the Pest has a Dynamics Controller module, that combines the functions of an envelope generator, VCA, and a low pass filter, which sounds more-or-less like a low pass gate. And there's a generative sequencing function for getting truly unpredictable with your bleeps and bloops.
West Coast style synthesis has enjoyed something of a resurgence these last few years. Small companies like Erica Synths and big players like Korg have dabbled recently. And the OG of the form, Buchla, came roaring back in 2020 with an updated take on the iconic Music Easel. So it would make sense for a company like Cre8Audio looking to make a splash with it's first couple of synths to give it a try too.
The West Pest is available to preorder now for $250 and should be shipping "imminently."
Classic mobile games Monument Valleyand Monument Valley 2are getting a new lease of life. They're coming to PC on July 12th, meaning they'll be playable outside of the iOS, Android and Windows Phone (remember that?) ecosystems for the first time.
A vertical phone-style format wouldn't quite cut the mustard for PC players, though. As such, Ustwo Games has upgraded the already-gorgeous visuals with an ultra-wide 21:9 aspect ratio. The expanded view could help you solve the mind-bending puzzles and find the right paths. With that in mind, the developer is calling these the "panoramic editions."
The games are coming to Steam and they'll each cost $8. Scoop up a bundle of both titles (which includes all of the expansions) and you'll get a 15 percent discount.
As part of the announcement, Ustwo Games released a behind-the-scenes video in which developers talk about porting the games to PC:
With the $279 Ray soundbar, Sonos is going after a new market. The company’s previous home theater products have all been $400 or more and have primarily been geared toward people intent on getting the best sound possible. The Ray, meanwhile, is more accessible for people who want better sound than their TV speakers can provide, but don’t necessarily care about things like Dolby Atmos support or room-shaking bass. The Ray isn’t exactly a budget speaker, though, so I set out to discover if Sonos made the right compromises here in its effort to make a more mainstream soundbar.
Hardware and setup
Physically, the Ray is smaller than the already-compact Beam, with a tapered design that’s wider in the front than it is in the back. Unlike other Sonos soundbars, though, the Ray’s speakers are all forward-facing; in this way, it reminds me a bit of a wider and flatter version of the Sonos Five speaker. This design means you can tuck the Ray into a media stand and not have to worry about the sound bouncing off of nearby surfaces. Since the Ray doesn’t have a mic for voice assistants, you don’t need to worry about whether it can hear you if you place it in a media stand, either.
As with just about every other Sonos product, the Ray has touch-sensitive buttons on top to start and pause music and adjust the volume. There’s also an LED status light on the front, rather than on the top as it is on most Sonos speakers. Again, this is in case you put it on a shelf that would otherwise hide the light if it was on the top. On the back, there’s a power jack, setup button, ethernet port and optical audio jack; Sonos left out HDMI support to cut costs, and since the Ray doesn’t support more advanced audio formats like Dolby Atmos, the additional bandwidth HDMI allows wasn’t needed here.
The Sonos Beam (in black) pictured in front of the new Sonos Ray (in white).
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
The setup process was simple: I just plugged the Ray into the wall and connected it to my TV with the included optical audio cable. From there, I finished setting it up in the Sonos app on my phone. The process will take a bit longer if you’ve never set up a Sonos speaker in your home before, because you’ll need to do things like authorize the various streaming music services you want to use. But I simply needed to wait for the app to recognize there was a new speaker to set up, tell it which room the Ray was in and then wait for it to get connected to my wireless network.
Once that’s done, you have the option of tuning the Ray using what Sonos calls Trueplay. This uses the microphone on an iPhone or iPad to balance the speaker’s audio based on how your room sounds. It’s a bit of a weird process, walking around your space slowly raising and lowering your phone, but I’ve found it always makes my Sonos speakers sound better, so it's worth the five minutes it takes to set it up if you have a compatible device on hand.
How do movies sound?
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
I’ve spent the last week or so watching movies and shows with the Ray and it’s an obvious improvement over my TV’s built-in speakers. Sonos said it focused on dialogue quality, bass response and a wide soundstage, and it definitely succeeded on two of those fronts. Dialogue sounds extremely clear, whether I was watching a drama like HBO’s The Staircase or enjoying Galadriel’s narration at the beginning of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The latter also provided a great chance to hear how the Ray performed in more intense, action-filled sequences. As the prologue of Fellowship continued to its massive battle against the forces of Sauron, swordplay and arrows flying filled the space around the narration in a well-balanced mix. And the rumbling explosion and massive thud of Sauron’s helmet hitting the ground after his defeat were a good opportunity to hear the Ray flex its bass muscles.
Another favorite of mine for testing soundbars is the 15-minute intro of Pacific Rim. The beginning of this over-the-top movie has it all – huge battles between giant robots and monsters, cities being destroyed as panicked citizens flee and a solid heroic narration, all of which the Ray faithfully reproduced in a well-balanced mix.
The Ray pulls this off despite having much simpler acoustics than the Beam: it includes two center midwoofers, two tweeters with split waveguides to broaden the speaker’s soundstage, a bass reflex system that provides a surprising amount of low-end performance, and four Class-D amplifiers. It’s an effective system, but my main complaint is that the waveguides and computational audio can only do so much to widen the soundstage. While the Ray clearly has a solid stereo presence, it’s not nearly as immersive as the first-generation Sonos Beam that I usually use. Even though my older Beam doesn’t support Dolby Atmos, its larger size and more complex speaker array give it a big advantage over the Ray.
The Ray is also not the loudest speaker out there. Again, this isn’t a huge surprise, as Sonos is marketing this device for use in relatively smaller space. That doesn’t mean it was too quiet for me, but I did usually have its volume up over 50 percent for it to be loud enough. If I really wanted to kick things up while watching a big movie, I might get closer to 70 percent. If you’re the kind of person who really wants theater-style audio, you’ll be better off with a more powerful device.
The good news is that, as with all other Sonos home theater devices, you can pair the Ray with the Sonos Sub to improve bass performance. You can also use two Sonos One speakers as rear surrounds to make for a much more immersive experience. The Ray might be an ideal choice for a first soundbar to upgrade your TV’s audio and then use it to build out a more complex setup down the line. That said, the Sonos Sub costs a whopping $749; it’s hard to imagine someone buying a Ray and then spending three times as much on a subwoofer.
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
What about music?
While the Ray is meant to be hooked up to your TV, it’s also a capable music speaker. Sonos says that when it builds its home theater products, music quality is just as important as how it works with movies and shows. In my testing, the Ray sounds great – songs like Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Cut to the Feeling” have plenty of low end and super-clear vocals. Meanwhile, the hard left- and right-panned guitars in Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam” were quite distinct. While it’s still not the loudest speaker, the Ray is more than capable of filling a medium-sized room with clear and lively music.
Naturally, the Ray has all the same multi-room audio features as other Sonos speakers. This means you can simultaneously stream the same music to multiple speakers on your WiFi network, or play something different on each one. You can set up custom speaker groups (just the speakers on your first floor, for example) and stream audio directly to the Ray using AirPlay 2. The only real feature it’s missing compared to most other Sonos speakers is voice control. There’s no mic, which means you can’t control the speaker directly with Alexa, Google Assistant or the upcoming Sonos Voice Control feature. That said, if you have other smart speakers, including any other Sonos speaker with a mic, you can use them to control the Ray.
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Wrap up
There’s no question in my mind that the Ray is a serious upgrade over a TV’s built-in speakers. What’s less clear is how much better it is compared to other small soundbars, like Roku’s $180 Streambar Pro. Sonos has a long history of delivering excellent sound, and the Ray continues that tradition. And just as the portable $179 Sonos Roam is a good gateway drug into the Sonos ecosystem, the Ray is a good first Sonos for someone who wants to improve their TV audio. Yes, you can find cheaper soundbars, but Sonos is betting its reputation for excellent sound quality will make the Ray a success. After spending some time with it, I’d have no problem recommending the Ray to anyone who wants an easy way to upgrade their TV’s audio but doesn't care about having the best speaker that supports the most formats. For a lot of people, particularly those with smaller living rooms, the Ray will be just the right soundbar for their space.
The Orba is mostly a musical curiosity, but a compelling one especially at the reasonable price of $100. But for its next version Artiphon is hoping to go beyond fidget toy and turn its little MPE grapefruit into a legit groovebox.
Physically almost nothing has change about the Orba 2. It's till the same black half orb with eight touchpads across the top. It still has a builtin speaker and synth engine, the latter of which was recently opened up for anyone to design their own patches. It's still a capable MIDI controller with support for multiple gestures including shake, tilt and spin.
What makes the new version immediately more impressive, is that it now supports sample playback. You can even record your own samples using the Orba app on your phone and then turn that into a preset that can be played. So you could record a bird call, a car horn or just another instrument and play that melodically.
But that's not all, Orba 2 can also quantize your playing, which is extremely helpful if your rhythm is lacking. Lastly, where the original was limited to an eight bar loop, the sequel can handle up a 128 bar loop — or about five minutes of music.
All of that additional power comes at a bit of a premium. But even at the new price of $150, it's still one of the most affordable MPE controllers out there and no doubt still a great fidget toy. But perhaps it will also now be a great groovebox too.
If you are searching for the ultimate self-cleaning litter cat litter tray for your cats you may be interested in the Popur. Featuring a unique design consisting of two boxes, the Kickstarter campaign has raised over $270,000 thanks to nearly 800 backers with still 30 days to go. Specially priced early bird pledges are now […]
