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_Yo Pups,_

We finally got some snow this week — so much so that the Mall in NH was closed and most of our Manchester team got a day off. Here in Waitsfield, the skiers were oogling the snow accumulation, and Artie, our first employee ever, took advantage of Hapy’s and my understanding with him that we won’t expect to see him on “powder” days. I just kept checking out the cameras in Key West and wondering what I was doing in the snow. Okay, I guess I know why, and the snow is beautiful as it comes down and turns everything newly and freshly white, “*but…*”:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151869963657007&l=2de298a57f

I just read that the Olympic committee had directed athletes to “*cover their Apple logos*”:http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/02/05/samsung-wants-olympians-to-hide-the-apple-logo-on-their-iphones-during-opening-ceremonies on their iPhones, or not use iPhones at all because Samsung is a sponsor of the Olympics. They gave each one a useless Android phone in their goodie bags. Somehow, I don’t think they will get compliance on this one; we are likely to see a lot of iPhones. The Opening Ceremony started last night, and today is my birthday — I think I am officially a senior citizen since I am 65, but aside from the aches and pains of getting old, I don’t feel a day over say…39.

Have you seen the “*Chill Box?*”:http://www.smalldog.com/search?search=chill+box This new product from Chill Pill Audio (a brand of Small Dog Electronics) is a full-featured Bluetooth speaker that has conference call features and awesome sound. We worked hard to get this product just right and are pleased with the results. I have one that I use when I travel. These speakers were a big hit during the holidays and I want to offer Kibbles & Bytes readers (our most loyal customers!) a chance to pick up their choice of Chill Box for a discounted price.

So for this week’s “*Kibbles & Bytes exclusive,*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001261 grab any color Chill Box speaker bundled with a Hammerhead dual-port 10Watt USB Charger for only $89.99! That’s $10 off our normal price and a free charger, too!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the newly-debuted “*Beats Music.*”:https://beatsmusic.com Beats joined the streaming music team offering allowing you to stream music through your iOS or Android device with a paid subscription of $9.95/month.

I signed up for a free week to test it out and see if I wanted to make the switch from “*Spotify*”:https://www.spotify.com/us/ (my favorite “*app*”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spotify/id324684580?mt=8&uo=4&at=11lb7k&ct=Blog ever). However, I didn’t feel like I got a good enough feel for it in just a week.

The fact that you aren’t able to stream music via your computer was a huge downside for me. I sit in front of a computer for 8-9 hours a day, and even though I have my phone right next to me most of the time, I find it kind of a pain to listen to music via my phone when I’m doing everything else on my computer. That said, I mostly listened to it during my commute or while in the kitchen cooking. If we pretend we’re keeping score, I’ll go ahead and give this point to Spotify.

??*Spotify 1, Beats 0*??

If you’re an AT&T customer, you’re able to try Beats Music out for 3 months for free (however you do need to provide your credit card information, unlike the 1-week trial). Because of this, I was able to try Beats out for a bit longer to get a better feel for it. The one thing I do really enjoy about the app is their Beats Playlists. For most artists, Beats has created themed playlists for that artist. For instance, if you like Jay Z, you can click on him as an artist and then browse the number of playlists that Beats has put together. If I feel like listening to some old school Jay, I might try out Jay Z: the 1990s. I’ll give Beats this point.

??*Spotify 1, Beats 1*??

I talked a little bit about the design of Beats in my last article. While I do like the overall look and feel of it, I find it a bit more complicated to use. I find the app to be pretty in depth with a lot of options and features. This could be a plus for some, but to me, it’s a bit overwhelming.

“The sentence” is a pretty cool feature, though — you put in your mood, who you’re with, and what you feel like listening to and it generates a “radio station” for you. You also have the artist playlists like I mentioned earlier, as well as genres, activities, and curators that contain hundreds of playlists ready for you. All great features of the app for the music lover who wants to explore new music.

Again, I think if they had this as an app for my computer, I’d be more inclined to peruse the playlists to play while I work throughout the day. Gonna have to give another point to Spotify here.

??*Spotify 2, Beats 1*??

The Beats Music app is still in the early stages, so there are a few bugs that they need to work out. I’ve had it crash on me a few times and be ??verrrrry?? slow to start playing what I ask of it. However, there have been multiple updates to it since it’s come out, so they’re working on it. Still, my point is going to go with my main squeeze, Spotify.

??*Spotify 3, Beats 1*??

And my winner is…Spotify (shocking)! I’ve created a Calendar reminder to cancel my subscription to Beats Music come April. I’ll keep it for the 3 months I have it for free, but don’t think I’ll pay for it. I’m used to Spotify, have created a couple dozen playlists that I love and having it on both my computer and my phone is the real plus. That said, I definitely think people should try out Beats Music if they are into the streaming music scene. They might find that it fits their needs better than Spotify does!

Happy listening!

The big ol’ Valentine’s Day is just one week away! If you are looking for something to give other than flowers or chocolates, fear not — we’ve got you covered!

We had our super knowledgeable product experts gather the “*best list*”:http://www.smalldog.com/valentine/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=kibbles&utm_campaign=vday of things to give on V day. There’s even a nice coupon in there to use during checkout!

If you are interested in even deeper discounts (so amazing we can’t show them on the web!), stop by any of our “*retail*”:http://www.smalldog.com/retail/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=kibbles&utm_campaign=vday locations and check out what we have to offer.

Share the love, everybody!

In this third and final article in our Kibbles and Bytes series on batteries, I’m going to discuss the one that makes all our modern portable gadgets possible: The lithium-ion battery. Without this technology, many (if not most) of our gadgets would be clunky, not last very long, and generally not be very useful. So what is it about lithium batteries that makes them so unique and successful?

First, we should define what we’re talking about. There are two broad types of lithium batteries. The first type are the primary cells. These are not rechargeable. Examples include some camera and flashlight batteries as well as most coin-cell type watch batteries. The second type are secondary cells. These are rechargeable, and they’re the ones we’re going to focus on. They have a lot of different names, but they all operate under the same principle of lithium ions being shifted back and forth between the positive and negative electrodes. So a secondary lithium battery will almost always be referred to as a lithium-ion battery.

You may hear lots of different names for lithium-ion batteries, like Li-NMC, LiFePO4, LMO, Li-Poly*, but these are all the same thing. The variations are simply describing a different cathode material. Different materials change the characteristics of the battery to make it longer lasting, safer, or shaped differently, but they work the same way.

By far the number one reason lithium-ion batteries are so useful is their high specific energy. This is a measurement of how much power a battery has vs how much it weighs. Lead acid batteries have a specific energy of around 40 watt hours per kilogram. Lithium-ion on the other hand has a specific energy of around 200 watt hours per kilogram. So they’re around five times as energy dense as lead acid. A larger amount of power can be crammed into a smaller package. This is what allows your iPad Air to be so incredibly thin and light, yet still last all day.

Another benefit of lithium-ion is their lifespan. Most types can be recharged several hundred times without any performance loss, but many variations can be recharged ??thousands?? of times. Not only does this mean your device will last longer, but it’s also better for the environment to not have to keep making new batteries.

The only real drawback to lithium-ion batteries is their cost. They cost 4-6 times more than a lead acid battery with equivalent power. But because lithium-ion can do tasks no lead acid battery could ever do (heaviest iPhone ever?), we happily accept the additional cost. As they become more and more common though, the price has dropped considerably, and it will likely continue to do so.

The future of lithium-ion batteries is looking brighter all the time too. Because of their high specific energy, better lithium-ion batteries are being developed for things like electric cars, battery backup systems, grid-level electricity storage and more. If you want to know more about batteries, the internet has some great resources. I like this “*wikipedia chart*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechargeable_battery#Table_of_rechargeable_battery_types that shows an overview of a wide array of battery types.

Thanks for following along on our sometimes technical, but hopefully informative series on batteries. Power on!

??*Extra:* What’s the deal with lithium polymer? (I was confused, too.) You’ll hear this term a lot, but really a lithium polymer battery is just a regular lithium-ion battery, most likely using lithium manganese dioxide as the cathode material, but it could be anything. The “polymer” part is really referring to how these batteries are assembled. Instead of being housed in rigid casings, the cells are laminated together. This allows greater variety in shape, but also makes them even lighter. Most electronics, including the MacBook Pro and iPhone use Li-Poly batteries.??

With the help of Grace and my friend Deborah Wachtel, I was able to complete the replacement of the convertible top on the Austin Healey. Now, all I need is some good weather but I guess I’ll have to wait for May on that one.

Thank you so much for reading Kibbles & Bytes. As always, I am very interested in your comments and suggestions to make this a better eNewsletter, so drop me an “*email*”:mailto:don@smalldog.com, I’d love to hear from you.

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
_Don, Kali & Stephanie_