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News & Features June 17, 2013

Satechi USB Portable Humidifier Turns Your Water Bottles into Personal Climate Contollers

If you are a frequent traveler throughout the year, you’ve probably encountered a number of unpleasant environments where rooms or areas are so dry you might feel like your skin and sinuses decided to vacation in the Mojave Desert. Desiccation might be in order if you are a piece of jerky, but our bodies tend to prefer a fair amount of moisture. With the Satechi USB Portable Humidifier, savvy travelers can use a filtered water bottle as a moisture source to increase area humidity. No need to put up with bone-dry areas again!

Gear Bits June 17, 2013

It Pays to Chat with Customer Service!

When we moved into our new house, we made a very unfortunate discovery. Our box spring didn’t fit up the stairs. My brother-in-law was kind enough to build us a platform bed frame for our mattress, but it still left us very low to the ground. Sarah finally got fed up last week, and I agreed to look into split box springs. I was about to give up, or buy a crappy build-it-yourself box spring from Amazon, when I happened to get a pop-up while browsing 1-800-Mattress, asking if I wanted to chat with a representative … and I am…

Editorials, Game Diary June 12, 2013

PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One, Round 2

After getting a good look at the PlayStation 4 plus more information and a better view of the Xbox One at E3, consumers can make more informed decisions leading up to the upcoming holiday release of both next-gen consoles. The biggest element, as usual, is price with the PS4 coming in at $399 – $100 less than Xbox One. Sony has learned from the past when the PlayStation 3 was originally priced at $599— $100 higher than Xbox 360. Microsoft has usually hit the price points well avoiding these issues that Sony (PS3) and Nintendo (3DS) endured. Now, our favorite here…

Reviews June 11, 2013

Ooma Telo VoIP System Review – Functions Like a Landline While Saving You Money

We pay a fair chunk of change for our family cell phone plan each month. As a result, we opted not to add a landline when we moved into our new home. However, we had the opportunity to test out the Ooma Telo VoIP system, and it might just swing us into believing in having a dedicated line for the house. How does it work, and why is it persuading us? Read on to find out!

Crowdfunding June 4, 2013

Goji Smart Lock Makes Other Locks Look Stupid

We already use our home network to control our Nest thermostat from our smartphones, but this similarly styled smart deadbolt system might be something Kev and I should next consider. The Goji Smart Lock uses your home WiFi network to send real-time picture alerts to your smartphone when someone activates the lock. You can also use its smartphone app to remotely allow access to your home when an out-of-town friend or relative shows up and you are running late.

Reviews May 30, 2013

Diamond Multimedia PlugnView Home Monitoring System Review

A few weeks ago, I wrote an initial post entitled The Aftermarket Smart Home – a Gear Diary Journey. The thought for the series came to me after friends told me about the various smart home considerations that were playing into their choices as they do a complete home renovation. I loved some of the things they were planning on bringing into their home, but Elana and I were not about to start opening walls to add video surveillance, remote HVAC and lighting control or all-house audio. Thankfully there are enough items already on the market that make it possible…

Reviews May 30, 2013

Keep Your Teeth Clean with the Cenoire Ultra Travel Toothbrush

They say that cleanliness is next to godliness. I’m not sure about that, but I do know that fresh breath is a great way to help make a good first impression. When you are traveling or have a 16 hour work day that can be a bit of a challenge unless you have something like Cenoire’s travel toothbrush with you. The toothbrush is one of the simpler pieces of tech we have reviewed here on the site, but it is actually one of the more universal pieces of kit and belongs in pretty much any gear bag. The sonic toothbrush…

Reviews May 28, 2013

Koala Mount for Tablets Keeps Your Tablet Hanging Around

If you use a tablet and love having it handy and accessible the idea of being able to quickly and easily mount it on the wall may be attractive. The Koala Mount for tablets is designed to let you do just that in an easy, inexpensive way that won’t damage any surface. The Koala Mount is, as my contractor father-in-law calls it, a “handyman special”. In other words, the Koala Mount is easy enough to install that… even I could do it. In fact… I did. The Koala Mount for tablets is a simple product. It features Simple setup using…

Reviews May 26, 2013

The Gtech AirRAM Cordless Vacuum Cleaner Review

In our home we have a Welsh Pembroke Corgi, three girls with shoulder-length or longer hair, and three mohair rugs; there are days when I am not sure who or what sheds worse. We have a conventional upright vacuum cleaner, and although it works well enough, it is a pain to have to get it out. As you likely know, in order to use a traditional upright vacuum cleaner, you generally have to get it out of a storage closet, unwind the cord, plug it in, and move it about as needed; I’m not sure about your upright vacuum, but…

Crowdfunding, Yum Log May 25, 2013

Smart Food Scale Promises to Up the Game in Your Kitchen and Reaches Kickstarter Goal

Regular GearDiary readers know that I’m a big fan of a good kitchen gadget, and I love my digital kitchen scale. But I’ve recently seen a new toy that might encourage me to mothball my Bakers Math scale. (Even if it was a really nice holiday present.) Chef Sleeve is known for what they call “counter top technology,” products which make it easier for you to use your tech in the messy environment of the kitchen. The latest product that promises to make your life a little easier is a Bluetooth-enabled kitchen scale they are calling the Smart Food Scale….

News & Features May 23, 2013

Enervee Takes Comparison Shopping to a New, Energy Conscious Level

There are a million ways to shop by price online. You can sort lowest to highest, seek sale items, look for free shipping, and head to sites like eBay to try to get a better deal. There’s also plenty of places that will tell you how eco-friendly a device is, or will be over its lifetime. Enervee is looking to combine those metrics into one website that gives you a price, features, and environmental impact breakdown on major household appliances, so you can see what the true price of an item will be over its lifetime and whether you need…

Crowdfunding, News & Features May 15, 2013

Stor-More Key Safe Brings New Twist On Leaving Keys

It is common practice for people to leave a key or garage door opener hidden somewhere near their house. Maybe this just happens while on a trip so someone can feed the pets and water the plants, or maybe there is always one hidden. Either situation brings plenty of security issues. Whether the keys are under the door mat or hidden under a rock, someone could get access to the keys and burglarize or vandalize your home; I refuse to hide keys at my house for that very reason. A recent Crowd Supply project strives to solve this issue with…

Crowdfunding, Yum Log May 15, 2013

Lumi Wine Wall Looks to Upcycle Used Wine Casks with Kickstarter Campaign

I’ve got a fairly decent size wine collection, but I wouldn’t call what I do with my bottles “cellaring.” That implies that I’m intentionally saving it for a future date when the wine has matured or perhaps become more valuable. The hundred or so bottles of good juice that are in various racks and shelves around my house are merely bottles I haven’t drunk yet. I’ll get to you soon enough, my pretties! So I’ve never invested in a full cellar system or a large wine fridge, since I like to keep my favorite bottles within arms reach. But there’s…

Reviews May 8, 2013

Head Over Heels for the Just Mobile HeadStand

Don’t let this happen to you… “Elana do you know where the Harman Karden NC headphones I’m reviewing are?” “Where did you last use them?” “If I knew that I wouldn’t be searching for them… Oh, got ’em!” “Where were they? Buried under the pile on your desk?” Yes, there is an advantage to keeping your headphones hung up and close by the way they are when you use the Just Mobile’s HeadStand. It prevents them from getting lost under a pile of papers. It keeps them safe and protected from someone who might sit on them after yo accidentally…

Reviews May 3, 2013

Travel HoodiePillow Hooded Travel Pillow Review

Welcome to part two of my two-part hooded pillow review humiliation. In Part One I came clean and related that, while still watching the good folks from HoodiePillow make their pitch on SharkTank, I ordered a hooded pillow case from them. The HoodiePillow is a quality pillowcase made from sweatshirt material. What makes this pillow case special is that, as the name indicates, it has a hoodie built right into it. And as if that wasn’t enough, the HoodiePillow also has drawstrings, a pocket for your phone or mp3 player and a cable pass-through so the headphones can run from…

News & Features May 2, 2013

Linksys Expands its Smart Wi-Fi Router Portfolio with AC 1200 Advanced Multimedia and AC 1600 Video Enthusiast

Linksys recently announced the addition of new models to its Smart Wi-Fi Router portfolio and they promise to be a great way to get, and stay, online. The $169.99 AC 1200 Advanced Multimedia, EA6300, is already available and the $189.99 Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router AC 1600 Video Enthusiast, EA6400, is coming by the end of May. The AC1600 is a dual-band router that allows for five to seven connected devices at a time and offers Wi-Fi speeds up to 1300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and up to 300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. The dual-band AC1200 offers up to…

Editorials, Game Diary April 30, 2013

Pizza Hut Delivery Application Released on Xbox 360 … Really?

I recently saw an article from USA Today on a new “Create Your Pizza App” Xbox 360 app that lets users order food from Pizza Hut right from this game console. This free app includes the full Pizza Hut menu. The app caught my interest while the justification for the app was laughable to me. A different way of doing the same thing. Each app element was socially constructed based on our experience…how we relate to the elements individually or collectively. There are many social factors working here. Overall, pizza delivery is something many people use it and I don’t…

Reviews April 29, 2013

HoodiePillow, a SharkTank Product Pitch Product Review

I was watching SharkTank a few months ago when I saw the HoodiePillow pitch. I laughed … out loud. In part because the product sounds so silly, but also because we were pitched this product or something like it quite some time ago, and I thought it was a joke. What’s a HoodiePillow you ask? The Sharks asked the same question, and they were more than amused by the answer. The HoodiePillow is exactly what it sounds like — a hoodie that is also a pillow case. Put the HoodiePillow on your pillow, and you now have a “pillow with…

Outdoors April 28, 2013

FRODO Brings Home Automation to Camper Trailers and Other Mobile Homes

You probably have a certain level of automation that you enjoy in your home already; perhaps you use a smart thermostat, or maybe you have a home alarm. The cool thing about home monitoring and automation is that it doesn’t matter how old your home is, there are products that can be added at any time which will modernize it, making it as self-regulating and automatic as you want it to be. People who own travel trailers and campers don’t necessarily have the same options. Sure, you could drop $500K on a new top of the line travel bus with…

Reviews, Yum Log April 27, 2013

Vejibags Keep Your Greens Greener

Now that April showers are giving way to May flowers, there are also plenty of wonderful greens coming up in farms and gardens. My family has been members of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share for years. If you’ve never participated in a CSA, basically the deal is that you pay a farmer in advance of the growing season in return for a bushel or half bushel of vegetables every week. We love having lots of fresh veggies that we know exactly where they came from, but being a two-person household it’s hard to get through all those greens in…

News & Features April 23, 2013

Harman Kardon Reveals New AirPlay Networked Receivers

I’m currently evaluating the Harman Kardon NC noise canceling headphones. I am, once again, impressed by the quality, finish and audio of the company’s products. Now Harman Kardon has released two new audio/video received that offer AirPlay and network connectivity. Both the Harman Kardon AVR 2700 and AVR 3700 feature Apple AirPlay and 4K video scaling, as well as a sleek, modern design. In addition, both receivers are powered by the “acclaimed Harman Kardon high-current, ultra-wide bandwidth amplifier design for top sonic performance”. Each receiver is equipped with eight HDMI inputs and have easy-to-use on-screen menus for simple setup and…

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