I have a very specific set of requirements for headphones: They need to be budget friendly, sweat proof, fit my ears, and they need to stay put. This seems like a relatively simple list, but finding headphones that adhere to all four is remarkably tough. Earbuds don’t fit my ears right, and over the ear headphones get sweaty easily.
Virtual reality is quickly gaining steam as a mature, mainstream technology. It’s gone from concept to a geeky project to something the everyday person can not only understand, but also utilize and enjoy. Lenovo wants to really bring that to the next level with their Mirage Solo and Mirage Camera, and by including Google Daydream and a whole lot more!
WARNING: The products discussed may contain or use nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical; in many cities and a few states, you must be 21 to purchase vaping products or products containing nicotine. Please familiarize yourself with and obey the law in your location. Essential oils, as room vaporizers, personal vaporizers, lotions, drinks, and any other way to consume them, have become a very big business. People are becoming more and more aware of the various health benefits from plant extracts, but it can be prohibitively complex and expensive to customize.
For those of you who don’t remember “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”, one of the running gags involved a “secret word”. Basically, if anyone said the “secret word” everyone was supposed to scream. I would suggest playing that with CES 2018 and “digital assistant“, but we’d all lose our voices and our hearing within an hour.
Whether you are on the go or on your couch, the Miix 630 delivers. The Miix is Lenovo’s first Always On, Always Connected PC and it’s also a 2-in-1, with a removable keyboard and pen support for writing on the screen directly. It also packs in 4G connectivity with a sim card slot, so you can work from anywhere there is cell signal and not rely on WiFi or carrier pigeon – or any other local network.
There are very few laptop brands that non-tech geeks recognize. They’re aware that Samsung, HP, and Dell make PCs, but the one laptop that evokes an “Oh yeah, those are supposed to be great, right?” is the ThinkPad.
Voice assistants on our phones, from Google to Alexa to Siri, have gone from novelties to key parts of our daily workflow. Up until now, with the exception of the Amazon Echo Show, they’ve been stuck solely on phones, tablets, and speakers. Lenovo is smashing everyone’s perception of a digital assistant with the Smart Display, which will quickly become the main hub of your home. The Smart display one-ups the Amazon Echo Show by offering larger screen options, and instead of Alexa, it’s focused on Google Assistant integration.
Baby-boomers are often referred to as the “Sandwich generation”, stuck between taking care of older parents and family members as well as caring for their own children. It stretches everyone thin, and at CES 2018 we are seeing more and more technological solutions designed to give everyone a bit of peace of mind without forcing anyone to teach Grandma how an iPad works.
It is a sad commentary on our society that so many companies are working to find ways to incorporate self-defense products into everyday life. We’ve seen tasers built into phone cases, discreet pepper sprays, and all sorts of apps that alert your loved ones if you aren’t home/at your destination by a set time. Most of the time the pitches make complete sense. Then there’s the Invi bracelet, which allows you to skunk your attacker.
Sleep is very important. That’s pretty much non-negotiable for just about everyone, but many of us spend more money on a phone case than we do on pillows and other sleep accessories. A good pillow is the difference between healthy sleep and a miserable night, and the Snuggle-Pedic believes it is that pillow!
Remember on the show “The Jetsons,” how George Jetson would hop on a conveyor belt and get washed, dried, brushed, and dressed by a machine? We’re not quite there yet, but LG is getting scarily close with their LG Styler, which is basically a Jetson shower system for your clothes!
A few years ago it looked like the laptop was dying. Instead, a combination of bigger phones and touchscreen computers have pushed new and better innovations into the laptop market, and Samsung is at the forefront of these with their newest additions the Notebook 9 line!
In some areas of life, “winging it” isn’t always the most effective option. You don’t guess at how much gas your car needs, so why are you guessing at the quantities of ingredients in your food?
For all my grumbling about switching from Android to iOS, it’s really not so bad. The one thing I really missed was Google Assistant, but the JBL Link 20 is doing an excellent job of filling that gap. It’s a portable Bluetooth and WiFi speaker with Google Assistant built-in, so I can take my “Hey, Google” obsession all over the house!
Nomad makes some amazing products, from cases to cables and stands, and if you’ve ever eyed their carabiner with a mini USB cable attached, now is the time to snag it. If you head to Hello Nomad, and enter the code MINI, you can snag the carabiner for only the cost of shipping (normally $29.95). This ONLY applies to the mini USB carabiner, and only one per person. Better head there fast, you never know when you’ll need to charge a camera while climbing a mountain!
I have not had cable for almost three years. Instead, everyone in my house relies on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime for their entertainment needs, all on a Roku 3. It works quite well, and we probably pay around $25/month for the three services. Platinum Box is claiming to do the same thing but for free …
Here at Gear Diary, we know that your gear extends beyond just your smartphone and tablet. Once in a while, you sometimes like to get outside and see the sun, as you’ve heard it’s quite nice. Or maybe you know someone who does this thing called “exercise”, and you need some gift ideas.
Running is great. Music is great. Combining them can be fun, but it also creates a safety issue. X-Shock thinks they have a “bright” idea to address this with transparent, LED-equipped wireless earbuds.
I’ve been watching a lot of classic superhero stories lately, thanks to my 4-year-old, but my running joke is that I don’t want him to discover the DC Extended Universe — it’s just too bleak and dark. However, the folks over at Cracked have found a way to make it much more delightful: with Martha Kent and Martha Wayne doing commentary!
You know how I can tell smartwatches have officially hit the mainstream? I showed a coworker the Fossil Q Grant, and she attempted to tap the glass, thinking it was a touchscreen along the lines of the Android Wear powered smartwatches that Fossil has been marketing.
I have had a habit of carrying some sort of pocket knife around for years. People tease me sometimes, but it really does come in handy to have a blade for everything from opening cardboard boxes to slicing up an apple. So when Urban Kukri offered to let us check out their artistic and unique spin on pocket knives, I was all over it!