Have you ever come across a product online or at a store that seems intriguing but the design looks like it came straight from 1992? That was out first impression of the Magic Sound Box. We saw it for the first time at a trade show earlier this summer. The folks at Sunpak were eagerly demonstrating how this little plastic box could amplify a smartphone’s speakers to the point where it can “fill a room with sound.” A noisy show floor is not the place to test such claims, so we asked for a chance to try it on our own. Not long ago the Magic Sound Box arrived (sadly, not via owl from Hogwarts) and we fired up our music player.
The real ‘magic’ behind the Magic Sound Box is that it doesn’t need a Bluetooth or other fancy wireless connection to amplify audio. Instead, it uses an older wireless protocol: sound waves. When properly loaded up with AA batteries all you have to do is place your smartphone’s speaker grille over the Induction Area and, abracadabra! the audio gets way louder. The two speakers on each side deliver the amplified sound and can indeed fill a room. Hp usb recovery flash disk creation utility.
Volume isn’t the only measurement of a good speaker. There’s also audio quality. Alas, even magic can’t make this technology produce well-rounded audio. In fact, the quality of the output was directly tied to the input. If the speakers on your phone pump tinny, flat sound, the MSB will amplify tinny, flat sound. Listening to music wasn’t a great experience. Podcasts and audio books sounded fine. If you’re having trouble waking up in the morning because your phone’s alarm isn’t loud enough, pop it on the Magic Sound Box and that won’t be a problem anymore.
So, we know it works. The next question is: why would you buy it?
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Sunpak sells the Magic Sound Box for $25 and you can get unbranded versions of it for less. There are a number of small and portable Bluetooth speakers and wired speakers that cost about the same or slightly more. The quality isn’t spectacular, though in most cases it’s better than what the Magic Sound Box provides. The biggest advantage we could come up with is that the Magic Sound Box uses very little energy – probably less than a speaker dock. Other than that, we can’t think of a reason to own it.
But hey, the Magic Sound Box works as advertised and doesn’t cost a lot of money. Just because we don’t see many use cases for it doesn’t mean you don’t. After all, over a thousand people love this thing. (We don’t understand that, either.)
This app is only available on the App Store for iOS devices.
Description
This app is designed to help your child master the letter-sound connection. This app uses four different games to help your child learn and reinforce their knowledge of which sound each letter makes. Each game involves seeing letters and hearing sounds. The child decides which sounds do and which sound do not match the letter(s) being shown. The child either identifies the correct answer by tapping or drags and drops the correct answer in its place.
This app is the third app in the ABC MAGIC PHONICS series. This app builds on the skills learned in the first two apps of this series. Those apps were about teaching letter/sound associations using phonetic pictures. This app focuses only on the sound of the letter and does not use any phonetic pictures as cues. We recommend the other ABC MAGIC PHONICS apps as means to develop and reinforce your child’s phonics skills and reading abilities. Please note, that in this app, only the SOUNDS of the letters are used and NEVER the names of the letters. A child can actually read without knowing the common names of the letters, but a child only knowing the names of the letters cannot phonetically read. The ubiquitousness of the ABC song both at home and at school will surely give children the ability to name the letters. Many children, however, are not given the much-needed explicit instruction of the SOUNDS that the letters make. This app, therefore, is dedicated to helping children learn the SOUNDS that the letters make. Only lower case letters are used, which is the most effective way for teaching children letters since 95% of the printed word is lowercase. These games are designed so that children can do them independently after being given the basic instructions of how to play the games. The app has built-in feedback mechanisms to help the child to work independently. These mechanisms allow the child to learn at their own pace and in their own way. Some pictures may seem indiscernible, but don’t worry, the pictures, when touched, will ALWAYS say their name. The child NEVER has to know what the picture is ahead of time. Tapping on the image box will ALWAYS play the audio file that names the picture. What’s NewRatings and Reviews
377 Ratings
4 Games for learning lettersMagic Box Sprint
This app has 4 games for helping children learn the sound that each letter makes. I love that it uses lowercase letters.
top notch app
Excellent way for children to learn letter sounds. Very fun app!
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