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B&O Play's H7 headphones trade silence for longevity
Bang and Olufsen held out on Bluetooth for a lot longer than other audio businesses, waiting until it could guarantee that the standard had good enough sound. Ever since it was satisfied, the usually restrained Danish firm has been throwing out wireless audio gear at a rate of knots, and another one arrives today. The BeoPlay H7 is a cheaper, over-ear version of the on-ear H8 cans we first saw in January, the biggest difference between the two being the loss of active noise cancellation. Losing that feature means that the battery, rated for 14 hours on the H8, is promised to last 20 hours on its smaller sibling.
B&O's H8 wireless headphones offer stellar audio at a steep price
I'm pretty vocal about my love for Bang and Olufsen's BeoPlay H6 headphones. To me, they're the best wired set I've used in the last three years and they still hold their own against newer rivals, even though they've been on sale for two years now. That being said, you can imagine my feelings when B&O announced the wireless H8 back at CES. The best set of cans I've used in ages are now wireless? I couldn't wait to get my hands on a pair. By now, I've spent several weeks getting to know the new headphones, and I have to say, I'm not quite ready to ditch the old model just yet.
B&O launches its first wireless headphones, the BeoPlay H8
Bang & Olufsen's main announcement this year is the wonderfully weird "Moment" home music system. The Danish company had a few other things to show though, and the BeoPlay H8 Bluetooth headphones are one of them. A mixture of cowhide, lambskin and aluminum, the H8 is definitely one of the more premium-feeling pairs of Bluetooth headphones we've held in a while. With active noise-cancellation, a bunch of high-quality playback features (aptX/A2DP) and a custom metal touch interface, they're one of the nicer specced ones, too. We took a quick look at CES.
CEOh no he didn't!: Rahul Sood heckles HP over strangely named Envy h8 PC
It's no secret that Rahul Sood, who now runs Microsoft's Bing Fund, feels a twinge of bitterness towards his previous employer. Having worked for HP until 2010, and having endowed it with the Envy sub-brand, he's since been forced to watch from the sidelines while the mothership floundered. But it's not the u-turns or bad investments that have jerked Sood's chain this time -- it's actually the slightly awkward (and potentially emotional) branding of a model in HP's desktop range. After seeing details of the product pop up online, he tweeted: "Thought I'd seen everything... then I saw the 'HP ENVY H8' desktop... what the heck guys? Is this code for I give up?" Tom's Hardware reached out to Sood for an explanation and got a carefully-worded response in which he implied that HP has become preoccupied with the "logo on the box" at the expense of "culture" and "community." Meanwhile, the old Pavilion h8 has somehow slipped by unnoticed.
HP trots out Pavilion p7, Pavilion Slimline s5, and HPE h8 desktops
Lest you think the desktop is an endangered species, HP, at least, begs to differ. The company just unveiled three of 'em: the Pavilion p7, Slimline s5, and the Pavilion HPE h8 -- all festooned with black finishes, rounded edges, sliding port covers, and metallic panels designed to blend in with the electronics already populating your living room. Of the three, the p7 is the most mainstream, with a non-threatening chassis that's about the size you'd expect a tower to be. The Slimline s5 has a similar look, but is about half the size, making it look more like a media hub. Lastly, there's the HPE h8, whose red accents and beastlier shape mark it as the power tower it is. For the money, you'll get discrete graphics, optional Beats Audio, and support for dual displays. The p7 and h8 go on sale May 18, starting at $299 and $599, respectively. For the petite s5, you'll have to step up to a $329 starting price. Look for it on June 15. %Gallery-123700%
