The $199 Ultimate Ears UE BOOM is one of the best Bluetooth speakers available. (Read our review.) The UE MIMI BOOM also impresses and when used as a stereo pair… wow. (Read the review.) A new firmware update teaching the UE BOOM an alarming new trick by improving audio and letting the UE BOOM become your alarm clock.
It’s hard to beat the 20,000mAh external battery Judie just reviewed, so I’m not even going to try. Still, while the $59.99 Trent PowerPak Xtreme External Battery Pack offers “just” 12,000 mAh of battery power (“JUST”!! lol), it comes in a rugged shell that built to withstand pretty much anything you can throw at it. And it is under $60.
When packing for a day out, three things are always taken: my phone, iPad, and an extended battery. I’m not always near a power source, so planning how I’ll top-off my gadgets is my (slightly obsessive) concern. Until recently, I was carrying the MiLi Power King, but now my go-to battery is the 20,000 mAh Moka i6. Here’s why …
It seems like all the hotels I’ve stayed at in the past few months have only had one free electrical outlet near the bed. That would be fine if I didn’t have a phone, iPad, and sometimes a laptop that all needed to be charged from the same plug. The $24.99 Contort Power from Quirky might just be my solution.
If you are looking for a pair of headphones with active noise cancellation, and you don’t want to be a Bose-wearing lemming, then you’ll want to check out the Velodyne vQuiet Over-Ear Noise Canceling Headphones. The vQuiet headphones have a unique look; they offer good sound, and they do an excellent job of blocking out noise. Available now for $299.
The Phiaton Chord MS 530 Bluetooth headphones combine premium materials, Bluetooth 4.0 and Active Noise Cancellation in a single pair of high-end, stylish headphones you’ll want to wear for hours at a time. Comfortable and great-sounding, the Chord MS 530 headphones are also well-made and great-looking. At an MSRP of $349 they should impress. And, in a word, they do!
Travelteq makes excellent laptop bags, iPhone and iPad cases, and travel clothing; I own their Mirjam leather shopper bag, and I like it so much that I often carry it as a purse even when I’m not toting my laptop. Their accessories are top-notch, and the current collection is 20% off with the code fall2013.
We recently brought word that Phiaton was releasing two new pair of headphones. Phiaton’s $349 Chord MS 530 Headphones cut the cords thank to Bluetooth AND have active noise cancellation. The $180 Fusion MS430 headphones use carbon fiber to keep weight down without comprising on build-quality. Reviews are on the way. For now, check out these two first look videos.
Phiaton has been adding depth to their headphone lineup and their latest, the Phiaton Chord MS 530 Headphones, is set to impress. These headphones offer “incredible sound, active noise-cancellation, the flexibility of wireless Bluetooth and an unrivaled design that stands apart from competitors.” With 18-30 hours of talk and listening time these $349 headphones do it all. Check them out.
I use an HTC One, but its camera is subpar, and I take a lot of pictures. When the Nokia Lumia 1020 was released, who wasn’t intrigued by its camera? I sure was, and so I bought one. But could the 1020 function as my only camera while on a dream vacation in Paris and Dubrovnik? I would soon find out. From the moment we arrived in Paris, I started snapping pictures predominantly with the Lumia’s Pro Cam app set to 5 megapixels, which is oversampled for lossless zoom. About midway through the trip (or about the time we moved on to Dubrovnik),…
Do you watch Game of Thrones on HBO? Kev and I love the books by Gorge R. R. Martin as well as the television series based on them, so an added bonus to our recent trip to Dubrovnik (arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world) was that we knew we might recognize some of the locations from the show. Are you a fan? Then this post is for you! Dubrovnik’s Old Town is a medieval walled city located on the coast of Croatia, and since season two it has been used for various locations in Game of…
All carry-on luggage was not created equal. That’s the message Genius Pack wants you to get when looking at their Genius Packer 22” carry-on. This is a bag for the serious traveler who needs good organization and doesn’t have time for hunting around to find what is in the bag. Normally $298 is currently available for $198. Get it. At first glance the Genius Packer doesn’t look all that unusual. A black 22″ carry-on with wheels, the back looks like something you could pick up at pretty much any department store. The bag measures 22″ x 14″ x 9.5″ and…
Nothing’s better than a cup of fresh espresso to start your day. And if you are on the go there’s no reason to compromise. Handpresso’s Wild Hybrid lets you enjoy fresh espresso anywhere. Combine hot water with Handpresso’s ESE pods or your own ground coffee and let the Wild Hybrid do the rest. Normally $129.99, get it here for $109.00.
I’ve always been fascinated by the Arctic and Antarctic, but touring either would take a lot of money, and it’s just so … cold! Enter IceBridge, a six-year NASA mission to survey the ice at both of Earth’s poles; they’ve released almost 4.5 minutes of icy aerial goodness. I’m still shivering at the thought, but now I’m even more intrigued. Find out more at the Operation IceBridge website; via Universe Today.
The AKG K495 on-ear headphones offer good sound and excellent noise cancellation in a refined package that looks great and is as comfortable as any pair of on-ear headphones I have used. At $349.95 the USB rechargeable headphones are, however, a bit pricey. Then again, quality doesn’t come cheap. Check them out here. I’m on the Amtrak Acela headed from Jersey to DC for a few hours. I like these one day trips, so long as I get to take the train rather than fly. It is easy, rather comfortable and, at least compared to travel by air, quiet. Still,…
I work out of my house. Well, I guess more accurately, I work in my house, so I usually either meet friends out for lunch somewhere or I eat at home. I don’t have a lot of need to carry a meal anywhere and keep it hot or cold. So when the offer came to check out the Sachi Insulated Food Bags. I figured it might make more sense for my girlfriend to run it through its paces. She’s a kindergarten teacher who takes her lunch to school every day and only has about 15 minutes to eat, so premade…
Before leaving on our recent trip to NYC, I was given the opportunity to try out a Nokia Lumia 928. I wasn’t expected to review the phone — Carly had already thoroughly done that. Rather, the idea was that I see how well the Lumia 928 could do as my primary camera while traveling, and to see whether I liked it better than some of the other phones I had also brought along on the trip. Ordinarily when traveling I’ll bring either my Canon G11 or 5D; on this trip I brought nothing but a bag-full of phones. Although I…
A regular old camera bag is fine for regular old photography, but what if you are headed out on an adventure? What if you are taking your camera and gear somewhere where there is water, ice and other environmental hazards just waiting to claim your camera’s last shot? That’s where Lowepro’s new DryZone line of camera bags comes in. The DryZone line consists of the DryZone Backpack 40L, The DryZone Duffle 20L and the DryZone 200. And while the Backpack 40L and Duffle 20L are IPX6-rated the Backpack 40L ups the game and offers an IPX7 rating making it “the world’s…
If you’re looking for a thin and light camera backpack that not only protects your gear, but also has enough room to let you carry your tablet or 11″ MacBook air, then you’ll want to check out the Tenba Discovery Mini Photo/Tablet Daypack. The Discovery Mini Photo/Tablet Daypack is a great way to take your camera gear on the road for the day but it also converts into a standard backpack in a matter of seconds. That flexibility, combined with the bag’s subtle but effective design and $109.95 pricetag combine to make a compelling way to carry your small DSLR…
Lowepro describes their Transit Backpack 350AW as “Designed to adapt to your carrying needs, this discreet camera backpack gives you fast access with no compromises.”. The backpack has an MSRP of just $119.99 and it packs in all of Lowepro’s best features. Let’s take a look at it on video, and I’ll then run down the specifics of this backpack to help you determine if this is the best camera backpack for your needs. Specifications: The bag is made from 600 D polyester, 300D honeycomb polyester and nylon webbing. It weighs just 2.4 pounds, and it has an interior camera…
If you travel a great deal, then you know that small things can make a huge difference during a journey. For example, getting through security quickly can mean the difference between starting a trip stressed out or feeling relatively relaxed. That’s where Checkpoint-Friendly bags come in handy. These bags allow you to move through the security screening without having to go through the hassle of pulling your laptop out of your bag and laying it in a separate bin. And while remove-screen-replace may not SOUND like a big deal, each item with which you need to deal during the chaos…