If your free time is spent taking your sailboat out on the lake, or if you’re serious enough about your sailing to be part of a regatta, then you’ve no doubt heard of SailorBags. Their sailcloth bags are water-resistant, tough, and — as you’d expect — nautically colored; they also now have a Laptop bag and an iPad sleeve.
I’ve got a tendency to leave my phone plugged in when home, and while that isn’t necessarily bad for today’s Li-Ion batteries, it’s kind of wasteful to use a charger that is trying to continuously supply power to a battery that has already been topped off. I was recently sent a Velvetwire Powerslayer Kit, and it solves the problem beautifully.
Every now and then a smartphone accessory comes along that breaks the mold and surprises you in exciting and useful ways. That’s what happened when the Nova Bluetooth Off-Camera Flash for iOS arrived for review. This Bluetooth enabled flash lets you wirelessly take better pictures. Here’s a quick look at a phenomenal smartphone accessory concept that is also well-executed. The Nova Flash is a thin wafer of an accessory that has a translucent white side housing the LEDs and a black back. It is thick enough to have a micro USB port for charging but thin enough to put in your…
Logitech describes their Logitech Keys-To-Go as the “ultra-portable, stand-alone keyboard for iPad, iPhone, Apple TV and more.” I would say that is an apt description of this sub-$80 mobile accessory. About the size of an iPad Air 2, and weighing next to nothing, the keyboard is a handy item to keep in your gear bag. That’s where mine is.
I’ve made no bones about my disdain for OEM Apple cables, but I’ll reiterate: they are cheaply made, they fray, they fail, and they are not inexpensive. That’s why I love quality aftermarket cables, and right now I am really digging the Magnetic Organizational System (MOS) I was recently sent. Their quality is outstanding, and the work perfectly.
When I first pulled the Zagg Rugged Folio Keyboard Case for the iPad Air out of its box I was unimpressed. It is thick. It is heavy. It is bulky. It takes the thin, light iPad Air and makes it totally unAiry. Then I started using it. It is thick, heavy and bulky but it is also pretty great.
I thought upgrading to a 128GB iPhone 6 Plus from a 64GB iPhone 5S would solve my constant struggle to balance music, photos, and apps with my device’s available memory, yet I’ve managed to hit a wall. I’ve actually seen the dreaded out of memory warning already; once I get the Leef iBRIDGE, it will no longer be a problem.
If you have multiple devices to keep charged such as a smartphone or two, a tablet, an eReader and a pair of wireless headphones you will love the CHOETECH 50 Watt 6 Port Desktop Charger. One device will keep you going all day and night and, best of all, it is available on Amazon at an amazingly low price.
If you travel internationally, then you know that one of the best tricks is to buy a local SIM and swap it out with your home SIM in your unlocked smartphone; then you can enjoy data and local calls at a reasonable rate. Buying a local SIM and making the swap can be a hassle; that’s where KnowRoaming comes in. I met with Gregory Gundelfinger, the CEO of KnowRoaming, at Mobile World Congress this year; that’s where I first learned about this service and how it works. KnowRoaming is coming off of a successful 12 month pre-launch and beta period, and now you can get your money-saving kit for…
Lesson 1: External batteries are a must-have item when traveling. Even if it just for a day. Lesson 2: Pay attention to lesson 1. Each time I disregard Lessons 1 and 2 I have issues. Most recently I DID have an external battery, but it was too small for my needs. The Juno Power Konnect Two 9000 External Battery isn’t.
My synagogue’s executive director recently asked me to look into purchasing a conferencing device so Board members unable to attend our monthly meeting could still be part of the conversation. I’ll admit it never would have occurred to me to check out the IPEVO VX-1 Internet Conference Station were I not offered one for review. I was and am impressed.
If you are planning to pick up a new Apple iPad you’ll want to make sure your investment is well-protected. The new Waterfield Outback Slip Case for iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are a great option… and a lesson in contrasts. The tablets are sleek and refined. The cases are rough and ready. It’s a great combination!
When selecting a messenger bag, especially to actually use on a bicycle like they were originally intended for, balance is everything. It’s important to maintain a proper balance between being big enough to hold your stuff and not too bulky to ride with. And the actual balance of the payload is critical. The Altego Lunar Mirror Messenger has it all!
Ask me what my favorite headphones are, and I’ll list three or four different models. Ask me what my favorite tablet stand is and I’ll answer, “The FLOTE M2 Floorstand Tablet Stand.” (Reviewed here.) Now another tablet stand is giving the M2 a run for its money; the FLOTE Orbit is the M2’s smaller sibling, and it is awesome.
If you use a small tablet such as the iPad mini or the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and want to travel light, the Knomo Knomad Mini Portable Organizer is for you. This classy organizer will not only keep your tablet safe and protected while in transit but it will also let you carry just enough other productivity “goodies.”
While many of us love our tablets because of their portability, others wish for alternate mounting solutions especially as the devices become more integrated into working environments. Innovative Office Products offers a flexible solution with its new Tablik articulating arm designed to lift your device above the workspace or desk for more comfortable and flexible viewing options.
If you usually carry a bottle opener keyring, as so many of us do, then you could be getting so much more utility out of that doodad. A Kanex GoBuddy+ adds an emergency sync and charge cable with either a lightning port or microUSB connector, and yes — a bottle opener. Pretty nifty, right? It will charge your device, open your cold beverage, and attach via included carabiner clip to your keys. The Kanex GoBuddy+ is $24.95 for the Lightning version and $19.95 for the microUSB version; both come with that bottle opener keyring.
I’ve mentioned that Kev recently upgraded his iPhone 4S and moved to an iPhone 6, which ultimately meant a cable upgrading crisis at my house. All of Kev’s 30-pin cables had to be upgraded to Lightning, which brought him nosing around my stockpile, so I was scrambling. Fortunately, I had the JunoPower Kaebo Lightning Cable in my queue. Fancy, right?
Imagine charging your device and when done, automatically turning off power to prevent overcharging and protect battery life. What if the charger looked stylish and wasn’t an ugly block? How would you like an app that allowed you to see and monitor information about the level of charge your device was receiving? With the Velvetwire Powerslayer Blu, it’s possible. At its heart, the Powerslayer is an extremely intelligent charger that rapidly charges both phones and tablets. It is UL certified with built-in surge protection, and continuous temperature monitoring. Built in microprocessor control “protects against overcharging and eliminates wasted power by turning off automatically when charging is…
We reviewed the Henge Docks Gravitas Lightning Dock and loved it. (Read the review.) It is, in fact, the dock that sits on the nightstand next to my bed. It is stylish, weighs enough to create a stable base for iOS devices, and works with various device adapters. Now it will even support the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+.
All too often devices that need to serve too many purposes end up being a jack of all trades and a master of none. That is not the case with the IOGEAR MediaShair Hub with SD/USB Input and Built-in Power Station. It is a jack of all trades and a it plays with a full deck.