Monoprice Introduces an LED Monitor

The Monoprice 27-inch high-resolution LED monitor costs nearly a third less than many models with similar specifications.

Monoprice, the Web retailer best known for its low-priced cables, continues to expand its product line with a 27-inch high-resolution LED computer monitor it showed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January. The price? $475, nearly a third less than many models with similar specifications.

Just to give you an example of Monoprice’s value, let’s look at the kind of cable you use to connect your TV to your DVD player. A 6-foot 24AWG High Speed HDMI cable from Monoprice is $6. The lowest price I could find on a similar name-brand cable was $50.

One caveat is that Monoprice’s quality can be uneven, although the company has a reputation for happily replacing faulty products without a quibble.

Going by the numbers, the monitor looks very good indeed. It claims 2560 x 1440 resolution and .233 by .233 mm dot pitch, which means it has lots of pixels close together for high resolution.

I have to admit I am not well-equipped for evaluating monitors. I would prefer to have seen it side-by-side with a competing model. Instead I connected to a TV source and watched some high-definition shows. The blacks were certainly excellent, detail was very good, and there was little problem with motion - although some parallel horizontal lines could get a bit jagged.

Other users have reported “light bleed,” meaning that the lights behind the screen can illuminate unevenly, causing shadows and ill-defined areas. I didn’t see any light bleed, but my room may not be dark enough for it to be apparent.

Of course, you can’t deliver a product at a fraction of a competitor’s price without cutting a few corners. Those most noticeable to me were the inelegant plastic bezel around the screen and the functional but cheesy stand. At the savings offered, I could live with it.

Charge Your iPad in Luxury

The Strut LaunchPort charging system.

Strut, a maker of grills and wheels for luxury cars, is seeking to add its touch of refinement to the iPad.

The company, based in California, recently introduced the Strut LaunchPort, an elegant charging system for the iPad. A version for the iPad mini is coming.

The LaunchPort system includes a pedestal and a sleeve that interact to charge the iPad. After being secured in the plastic sleeve, the iPad attaches to the pedestal by strong magnets. Once there, it starts drawing power automatically through induction technology.

A LaunchPort system typically costs about $350. The Strut LaunchPort, however, will set you back $1,500, more than twice the cost of the 64-gigabyte iPad, and it will be sold in boutique jewelry stores and Neiman Marcus.

Admittedly, that hefty price tag brings an air of style and sophistication. The pedestal comprises a heavy sphere that rests on a chrome-plated stainless steel ring embossed with Strut’s logo. The sphere can rotate and pivot, allowing multiple viewing angles.

The sphere comes in three colors - chrome, white and black - and the sleeve is available in five ready-made finishes like walnut burl, black carbon fiber and leopard print, as well as seven special-order finishes. A mini-USB cable is included for charging when the Strut LaunchPort is not at hand.

The striking design of the Strut LaunchPort makes it an easy fit for a corporate office with a plush carpet, oak paneling and a mahogany desk. But I don’t have access to one of those, so I set it up on my coffee table. And there it stayed, because it was too heavy to move. The sleeve is detachable, but it is awkward to hold and does not offer much protection.

The Strut LaunchPort offers the appearance of wealth and prestige, which is good, because it is intended for people who like to show off their gadgets. For the rest of us, a 30-pin connector will do just fine.

Obama to Speak at Brandenburg Gate During Berlin Visit

Apparently Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany does not find the idea “odd” any longer: At her invitation, President Obama will finally get his chance to speak at Berlin’s historic Brandenburg Gate this month.

The White House announced on Wednesday morning that Mr. Obama would deliver an address on the importance of enduring ties between the United States and Germany, and of the trans-Atlantic alliance more broadly, when he visits Berlin on June 19. That will be the final stop on a trip that also takes him to Northern Ireland for the annual meeting of the G-8 industrialized countries.

Mr. Obama had planned to speak at the Brandenburg Gate, an imposing 18th century monument that has come to symbolize German unity and European peace, on a visit during his 2008 campaign for president. But he settled on a different location after a spokesman for Ms. Merkel publicly complained that she found the prospect “odd” and had “little sympathy for the Brandenburg Gate being used for electioneering.”

An estimated 200,000 people filled the Tiergarten park that July to hear Mr. Obama, then a United States senator, for what would be the largest crowd of his 2008 campaign.

Since then, as president Mr. Obama has forged a close working relationship with Ms. Merkel, despite his administration’s differences over Germany’s austerity policies for the countries in the euro zone. He will meet with her in Berlin during the visit there.

Three Noteworthy Apps for Kids

Three noteworthy apps for children this week let children freely explore early music and logic experiences.

Sago Mini Sound Box app.

For the youngest possible iPad users, ages 2 to 4, there is Sago Mini Sound Box, free on iPad or iPhone. Want to see a 21st-century rattle? This app engages even the youngest child, even toddlers, with musical concepts in a way that can be done only with a motion-sensing touch screen. There are nine sound collections that include chimes, drums or animals. Each tap makes a colorful dot that rolls around the screen; longer touches make higher sounds and bigger dots. This is the first app by Sago Sago, the Canadian studio recently acquired by Toca Boca. The first edition was Sound Shaker.

Pitch Painter app.

For preschooler and early elementary children, Pitch Painter, $3.99 on iPad, offers a musical finger painting experience. A child’s finger becomes a musical paintbrush, where colors equal sounds, in this case from musical instruments from around the world. This app was made by Morton Subotnick, a music educator with a history of using computers to help children see musical relationships. Need to know: The menu is rather cryptic, but once you figure it out, there are a lot of cool effects to try. For example, you can make a song and then flip it upside down, or hear it backward.

Bugs and Buttons app.

Finally, it’s nice to see an excellent app like Bugs and Buttons, $2.99, for iPhone and iPad also become available for Android devices and for the Kindle Fire and Nook. Children can explore 18 well-crafted math games that playfully infuse mathematical learning with swarms of insects. The activities start easy, and grow harder as your competence in sorting, counting and classifying increases.

A Garden Hose With an Electronic Brain

The $650 RoboReel Water puts a 100- or 150-foot hose reel in a spherical motorized turret that sits in a wheeled frame. An electric motor winds the hose back into the housing.

The thing about an over-the-top item like, say, a Maserati, is that no one needs one, but plenty of people still want one. Maybe that’s the idea behind the RoboReel Water, which at $650, might qualify as the Maserati of hoses.

Yes, hoses. As in water-the-plants, attach-it-to-a-sprinkler, Jeeves-wash-the-Maserati hoses.

The RoboReel Water certainly isn’t your $30 garden center special. The contraption has a shipping weight of 85 pounds and puts a 100- or 150-foot hose reel in a spherical motorized turret that sits in a wheeled frame. Standing knee high, it looks like a green Death Star on legs.

The chief feature is that with a press of a button behind the watering nozzle, an electric motor quietly and smoothly winds the hose back into the housing.

The company previously offered a similar treatment for an extension cord, the RoboReel Power. The idea was that in a shop of fine furniture or classic cars, you wouldn’t want a spring loaded retraction system - which is what most automatic winders are - whipping the cord across the floor where it could ding delicate finishes.

I’m not sure what needs that protection on the lawn; peacocks and gilded garden gnomes, I suppose.

The RoboReel Water also has a timer, so it can be set to spray at the same time daily, and there is an available sprinkler that will crawl across your lawn, watering a large swath.

The motor is powered by a battery, so there is no worry about needing to have it near an electric outlet. They company said the reel should retract about 100 times on a single charge. The reel is warranted for four years or 4,000 winds. It also comes with an assortment of spray nozzles.

But couldn’t most people - O.K., everybody - get by with a simpler hose? Sure, but as with a quarter-of-a-million-dollar sports car, the desire to own one isn’t based on need. It’s about impressing the neighbors, which you will do when you turn the water on and off remotely and send the hose quietly slithering back into its Death Star.

A Garden Hose With an Electronic Brain

The $650 RoboReel Water puts a 100- or 150-foot hose reel in a spherical motorized turret that sits in a wheeled frame. An electric motor winds the hose back into the housing.

The thing about an over-the-top item like, say, a Maserati, is that no one needs one, but plenty of people still want one. Maybe that’s the idea behind the RoboReel Water, which at $650, might qualify as the Maserati of hoses.

Yes, hoses. As in water-the-plants, attach-it-to-a-sprinkler, Jeeves-wash-the-Maserati hoses.

The RoboReel Water certainly isn’t your $30 garden center special. The contraption has a shipping weight of 85 pounds and puts a 100- or 150-foot hose reel in a spherical motorized turret that sits in a wheeled frame. Standing knee high, it looks like a green Death Star on legs.

The chief feature is that with a press of a button behind the watering nozzle, an electric motor quietly and smoothly winds the hose back into the housing.

The company previously offered a similar treatment for an extension cord, the RoboReel Power. The idea was that in a shop of fine furniture or classic cars, you wouldn’t want a spring loaded retraction system - which is what most automatic winders are - whipping the cord across the floor where it could ding delicate finishes.

I’m not sure what needs that protection on the lawn; peacocks and gilded garden gnomes, I suppose.

The RoboReel Water also has a timer, so it can be set to spray at the same time daily, and there is an available sprinkler that will crawl across your lawn, watering a large swath.

The motor is powered by a battery, so there is no worry about needing to have it near an electric outlet. They company said the reel should retract about 100 times on a single charge. The reel is warranted for four years or 4,000 winds. It also comes with an assortment of spray nozzles.

But couldn’t most people - O.K., everybody - get by with a simpler hose? Sure, but as with a quarter-of-a-million-dollar sports car, the desire to own one isn’t based on need. It’s about impressing the neighbors, which you will do when you turn the water on and off remotely and send the hose quietly slithering back into its Death Star.

Q&A: Streaming Videos From PC to Tablet

Q.

I have a large collection of purchased iTunes movies on my Windows PC and a 16-gigabyte iPad Mini. Instead of syncing movies to the Mini to watch in bed, can I just stream them on my Wi-Fi network?

A.

Apple’s iTunes software includes Home Sharing, a feature that can stream audio and video stored in the computer’s iTunes library to iOS devices like the iPad Mini. To use Home Sharing, you need to set it up in iTunes and enter the same Apple ID used to purchase the movies. Apple has a “get started” guide to walk you through the configuration for both the PC and the iPad Mini.

Independent apps for streaming video are also available, but movies purchased from the iTunes Store are copy-protected; apps like Air Playit are said to work with purchased content. Other apps like Air Video can stream non-protected videos to the iPad Mini. If you use a cloud storage service like Dropbox or Microsoft SkyDrive, you can usually store unrestricted, compatible videos online and stream them to the Mini through the company’s corresponding mobile app.

Q&A: Streaming Videos From PC to Tablet

Q.

I have a large collection of purchased iTunes movies on my Windows PC and a 16-gigabyte iPad Mini. Instead of syncing movies to the Mini to watch in bed, can I just stream them on my Wi-Fi network?

A.

Apple’s iTunes software includes Home Sharing, a feature that can stream audio and video stored in the computer’s iTunes library to iOS devices like the iPad Mini. To use Home Sharing, you need to set it up in iTunes and enter the same Apple ID used to purchase the movies. Apple has a “get started” guide to walk you through the configuration for both the PC and the iPad Mini.

Independent apps for streaming video are also available, but movies purchased from the iTunes Store are copy-protected; apps like Air Playit are said to work with purchased content. Other apps like Air Video can stream non-protected videos to the iPad Mini. If you use a cloud storage service like Dropbox or Microsoft SkyDrive, you can usually store unrestricted, compatible videos online and stream them to the Mini through the company’s corresponding mobile app.

The Early Word: Personal Diplomacy

Today’s Times

• President Obama will meet with Xi Jinping, the president of China, in a California setting carefully chosen to nurture personal diplomacy and a high-level friendship, Mark Landler and Jackie Calmes report. The president is hoping to move beyond the usual stilted talking points, with hopes of exchanging ideas about how to best manage a complex, sometimes combustible relationship between the world’s two biggest economies.

• Republicans are viewing President Obama’s plan to fill three vacancies at once on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as an attempt to steamroll the nominations past the opposition in Congress, Michael D. Shear and Jeremy W. Peters report. Democrats are hoping that it will call attention to Republican obstruction of his choices for the cabinets and the courts, as well as his legislative agenda.

• In a rare joint appearance, the majority of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday about the problem of sexual assault in the military. Senators from both parties pressed the issue, calling the chiefs’ responses “stunningly bad,” Jennifer Steinhauer reports.

• Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, disclosed on Tuesday that she had made telephone calls to three companies regulated by her department, urging them to help a nonprofit group promote the health care law, Robert Pear writes. She argued, though, that she was following well-established precedents.

• An audit of the Internal Revenue Service has given Republicans new reason to be outraged after it was revealed that the tax-collecting agency spent $4.1 million on a single conference in Southern California in 2010, Jonathan Weisman reports.

• Republicans plan to accuse President Obama of hypocrisy for nominating Michael Froman to be his trade representative, when Mr. Froman made millions of dollars largely because of a tax loophole the administration has sought to close, Jonathan Weisman.

Happenings in Washington

• Preside Obama will greet the Baltimore Ravens at the White House on Tuesday to honor the team’s Super Bowl victory.

• Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, will take part in a rally with college students from around the country outside the United States Capitol, urging lawmakers to prevent an increase in federally subsidized student loan interest rates.