high-quality

Updated at 2:00 p.m. with additional information from Google.

Google has added a new option in the labs section of Gmail that lets users pump up the quality in video chats.

The new setting, dubbed "video chat enhancements," ups not only the size of the video chat window, but its resolution too. The difference in size between the old and the new is considerable, both in the window of the person you're talking to, and the preview of your Webcam that appears in the bottom right-hand corner.

Here's a before and after:

Here also … Read more

Subwoofers make bass, that's easy. But really high-quality affordable subwoofers are surprisingly rare. The big problem facing subwoofer designers is the pressure to make really small subwoofers. That's not to say small subs can't make bass, they boom and thunder all right, but the sound tends to veer to the muddy side of accurate. That can sound acceptable for home theater duty, where nuance and subtlety aren't always big priorities.

So sure, a 1-foot cube sub can get the job done for a home theater, but can it define the sound of a 1962 Fender Precision Bass? Can it play music and let you really hear what's going on in the bass? No way! For that you need something a bit more substantial: a large subwoofer. Big subs also make their presence known in home theaters, where their sound has the gravitas no minisub can match. Oh, but most large, high-performance subs come with heavyweight price tags.

That's why I'm jazzed about the $799 Epik Empire; this bad boy boasts two 15-inch woofers; a Class D 600-watt (1,500 peak watt) power amplifier; in a 22-inch-high, 18-inch-wide and 24-inch-deep cabinet. The Empire's 120-pound weight might be a not so subtle indication that it's solidly built.

I briefly spoke with Epik's founder and chief designer, Chad Kuypers, Thursday. He's a no-nonsense kind of guy, and he told me he's working on some really cool larger and slightly smaller subs, but for now he's just offering one model, the Empire. Epik Subwoofers is located just north of Chicago, Illinois, where they build the subs, including fabricating the precision CNC machined cabinets in-house.… Read more

QuuxPlayer Standard Edition is a sleek audio player that allows users to import and organize music already on their computers as well as access a multitude of online radio stations. The program combines an intuitive interface with useful features, making it a nice alternative to other popular audio players.

The program's interface is well-organized and attractive, with the typical audio controls as well as buttons that allow users to switch between music stored on their computer and a variety of Internet radio stations. The radio stations were particularly well-organized by genre, and we liked that the program makes it … Read more

High Quality Photo Resizer is lightweight image editor replete with options, but it also suffers from some snags that might an update be worth the wait.

… Read more