Home 2018 February

Add USB charging to your wall outlets without needing an electrician

The thingCHARGER Universal Charging Station adds two USB charging ports and a phone/tablet charging station to a wall outlet by simply plugging it into a dual 3-prong outlet.  Both of the 3-prong outlets are still available for other devices, and you can now charge two devices using the two USB ports on the bottom of the thingCHARGER.  The charging station at the top comes with two switchable tips – a microUSB and a Lightning tip.  The tips are stored in the back of the outlet when not in use.

The Universal Charging Station includes “Models SP & 2x MOV surge protection” to safeguard your devices.  It’s designed for use with upright, three-pronged double-stacked and non-GFI outlets only.  You can even plug thingCHARGERs into each other to have extra USB chargers, but you’ll need to use the charging station closest to the wall for tablets and heavier phones.  thingCHARGER’s Universal Charging Station is $34.95 at The Grommet.

JBL Boombox portable Bluetooth speaker review

Within the last couple of years, I’ve gotten to review some big (in size and sound) Bluetooth speakers. These massive new generation boomboxes have replaced the old cassette and CD driven monsters from the 80s with better sound and much better ease of use. Factor in weather resistance and you’ve got yourself a winning package. JBL is one of the latest speaker makers to go much bigger than they have previously with the simply named JBL Boombox.

For those who thought the JBL Charge 3 or even the Xtreme were powerful, they pale next to the JBL Boombox. At almost three times the weight, think of the Boombox as a JBL Xtreme on steroids.

What is it?

When it comes to portable speaker chops, no one doubts JBL’s strengths—their sales numbers prove it. The Boombox is the newest and largest of their portable line of Bluetooth speakers. It’s designed to play outdoors just as well as indoors—there’s even an Indoor/Outdoor sound mode button. An IPX7 rating makes the Boombox totally waterproof—and it floats, so falling into a lake or pool shouldn’t be a problem.

The Boombox has five buttons just below the handle: Bluetooth pairing, Volume down, Power/Connect+, Volume up and Play/Pause/Voice assistant/Speakerphone. More on these functions in the Design and Features section below. The Boombox is wrapped in a tight and durable cloth with a plastic handle which connects to supportive end caps that hold two large passive radiators. There’s a large, red square JBL logo plastered on the front. It looks out of place set against the classy cloth panel marring an otherwise beautiful design. There are two color choices available—black (my review) or olive green. It’s interesting that the bright colors available on other JBL speakers is not available for the Boombox. Hopefully in the near future, there will be added color choices.

 

Hardware specs

The JBL Boombox has some impressive audio credentials. There’s two 20mm tweeters for mid to high frequencies and two 4 in. woofers for lower mids to deeper bass. The earlier mentioned passive radiators allow the dual woofers to move a lot of air—one of the main reasons that bass on the Boombox sounds so big. It’s cool to watch the radiators move to the beat on bass-heavy songs. Try this: Set the Boombox on its side and fill one of the radiators with water. Then turn on the music to watch the water vibration show. Since the Boombox is totally waterproof, it’s perfectly safe to do this.

Even though the Boombox is tubular shaped, a large flat rubber-coated base holds the speaker in place. Note that even though the Boombox is round, the speakers are only in the front. There is no 360° sound as on some similar speakers.

Located near the base at the back of the Boombox are ports protected by a watertight cover. There are two USB ports (good for charging two devices such as smartphones or tablets), an AUX port for hard wiring, a power cord port and a mini-USB port exclusively for future firmware upgrades. A massive 20,000mAh built-in rechargeable Li-ion battery supports up to an impressive 24 hours of playtime (depending on volume level), so any get-together will end long before the power runs out.

Right next to the covered ports is an Indoor/Outdoor button that is self-explanatory. Indoor mode has no bass boost since bass resonates off objects indoors. There’s nothing outdoors to reflect bass, so Outdoor mode compensates for this by boosting the bass. Despite this, the outdoor bass boost is subtle at best. I’ve mistakenly left Outdoor mode on while using the Boombox indoors and not realized it.

Specs

  • Frequency response
  • 50Hz-20kHz
  • Signal-to-noise ratio
  • 80dB
  • Music playing time
  • up to 24 hours (Varies by volume level and music content)
  • Weight
  • 5.25kg (11.57 lbs)
  • Dimensions (H x W x D)
  • 254.5 x 495 x 195.5mm
  • Transducers
  • 4-inch woofer x 2, 20mm Tweeter x 2
  • Bluetooth version
  • 4.2
  • Battery charge time
  • 6.5 hours
  • Battery type
  • Lithium-ion Ploymer (74Wh)

Design and features

Even though it’s large and heavy at 11.5+ lbs, the built-in ergonomically rounded handle makes the Boombox easy to carry for short distances before its weight becomes bothersome. Plus, it weighs much less than either the similar Braven XXL (18 lbs) and Monster Blaster (16.8 lbs) speakers.

The top function buttons are difficult to see in the dark except for the blue lighted power and white Connect+ buttons. JBL’s Connect + allows up to 100 JBL wireless speakers to be simultaneously connected. That’s not a misprint. It’s a ridiculous number, but JBL’s point is that any and all compatible JBL speakers you own will connect for multi-room audio or to just show off. Note that each JBL speaker must be Connect+ compatible—not all are.

Bluetooth pairing was quick and painless. Plus the signal held up when within its Bluetooth distance limits. A pair of Bluetooth devices can be paired with the Boombox together, so two friends can easily switch between devices to share music. I was able to get well over 50 ft. Bluetooth range when outdoors with no hiccups.

The Play/Pause/Voice assistant/Speakerphone button is interesting. This button can be programmed (only through the JBL Connect smartphone app) to either be a standard Play/pause/skip button or a Voice assistant button. With Voice assistant on and enabled on a smart device, pressing the button activates either Apple’s Siri or Google Now. The button must be pressed to activate Voice Assistant. You can’t just start talking to the speaker.

The Boombox will also function as a speakerphone—but not a great one. Although I could hear the person I talked with just fine, they said my voice was loud enough, but it wasn’t clear and sounded fuzzy—not a pleasant experience. I expect better from a speaker in this price range.

Music on the JBL Boombox sounds really good. The Boombox manages to sound full regardless of how loud or soft the volume is set. And the bass—oh my, the bass. What I really like is that bass is bold without being boomy or distorted. In fact, the volume would reach into the painful zone and still—no distortion. In some instances, high frequencies can border on harshness—especially as volume increases. This mostly depends on whatever song is playing.

Moby’s song “Swear” has a low, low bass undercurrent that the Boombox handled with ease. There was not a hint of unwelcome vibration. With the volume set high, you can feel the bass as well as hear it.

“Devil’s Playground” by Gram Rabbit can be a bit heavy on middle and higher frequencies. Some speakers can sound brittle with this song. The Boombox did exhibit a bit of a harsh edge, but it never crossed over into unpleasantness no matter the volume.

Johann Strauss’s “The Blue Danube” from the 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack is as good as it gets with uncompressed bass and treble dynamics. There are quiet parts punctuated with crescendos that reach ear blasting levels. The Boombox doesn’t care—it just reproduces it quite well.

What I like

  • Solid build
  • Powerful, but tamed bass
  • Comfortable to carry
  • Can withstand outdoor elements

What needs to be improved

  • Expensive
  • Lackluster speakerphone
  • Harsh treble at higher volumes with some music

Final Thoughts

The Boombox is bigger, louder and sounds better than most other portable Bluetooth speakers—at a price. Can it replace a standard stereo speaker setup? Not unless you buy two and use them in stereo mode (which you can!). The Boombox is expensive, but if you only want or need one speaker that can sound good loud both indoors and out, then the JBL Boombox may be that speaker.

Price: $449.95 US
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by JBL.

Expand your control over your iDevices home automation products with the Instant Switch

iDevices recently announced the availability of their new Instant Switch, a wireless remote control switch that connects to your favorite iDevices product.  The Switch is battery powered, so it doesn’t require wiring.  You can mount it directly on the wall with its included 3M Command adhesive strip and faceplate anywhere you’d like an extra control point.  Or you can add it to an existing gang box or put it beside an existing gang box and use a standard rocker faceplate.

The Instant Switch can give you control over a hard-to-reach lamp or an outdoor lighting fixture.  The Switch even incorporates a dimmer, so you can set the ambiance of your space.  And because it can pair with an existing hard-wired iDevices Wall or Dimmer Switch, it can create a 3- or 4-way control setup.

The iDevices Instant Switch is available now for $34.95; special sale pricing gives you a third free with the purchase of two.  The Instant Switch is available at the iDevices website.

Julie’s gadget diary – Update on my plan to ditch my notebooks

In my last gadget diary post from over a week ago, I announced that I was going to give up my paper notebooks in favor of a digital To-Do system to help me manage my tasks. After I published that post, quite a few of you gave me ideas for different apps to try (thanks!). Some suggestions included Evernote, Todoist, Trello, Wunderlist, and more.

There’s are too many apps for that

I was excited to try each app that was suggested and I set out doing just that. But after trying a handful of them, I grew frustrated. Each app had features I liked, but features that I wanted but not available.

Most of the apps offered free and premium versions, with the free version offering a watered down feature set, vs. a paid version that required a monthly fee to unlock all the good stuff. Since I already mentioned in my previous gadget diary post that I don’t want to pay for a new system/app, it didn’t take me long to strike several suggestions off the list.

My aha moment

My sister commented on Facebook when she saw my post about ditching my notebooks that she gave me 2 weeks to change my mind and go back to pen and paper. It didn’t even take me that long to figure out that I love keeping a notebook for the following reasons:

  1. It’s a tangible object that I can hold that doesn’t run on batteries and won’t shatter if I drop it on the floor.
  2. I don’t have to flip to another tab in my browser or have the app own in a window on my computer because the notebook is always open next to me so I can see the 3-5 daily tasks that I want to do that day.
  3. Drawing an X through a box with pen on paper when I finish a task is more satisfying to me than clicking a mouse button.

I realized that my simplified Bullet Journal system that I’ve been using for the past few years has been working just fine for helping me productive with my list of daily tasks. I don’t need a digital task manager at all, what I really need is a better way to record and then later find ideas and notes on a variety of subjects that I jot down in the same notebook that I use for my daily To-Dos.

I’ve decided that I want to use Google apps like Gmail or Google Docs, Sheets to build my customized note-taking system because I’m a Gmail ninja and I already use Google Docs and Sheets for other things. So it shouldn’t be that difficult to create a way to keep track of ideas, notes, and other things using these tools.

Ideas I’m considering

The first idea is to record my ideas and notes in a separate section of my paper notebook. This is attractive to me because it means I have one place where I keep everything. But, it’s also the same reason why I want a better note taking system. Finding individual notes that have been written on paper is not easy unless I’d create an index. But, an index is only useful if everything is recorded in it. Otherwise, I’d never find notes on that crazy idea I had 2 months ago about a Gadgeteer podcast without flipping through 2 months worth of pages.

Another idea is to use Gmail to send myself notes with specific labels/tags that I can later use to search to see matching entries. I am a heavy label user in Gmail, so it would be simple to do this. I could use labels like postideas, healthnotes, tripideas, etc.

Another idea is to use a Google Sheets spreadsheet and add a new row each time I have a note that I want to save and have the first row be a label/tag so I can sort on that label to see all the entries with that label.

I think the Sheets idea might be the best way to go just for visual reasons. Here’s an example of the way I’m thinking about setting up the sheet.

I’m not a spreadsheet wizard so if I go with this system, I’ll have to learn how to set up the sheet so I can just display rows based on the tag column if I only want to see health notes for example. I don’t even know if this is possible in Google Sheets. I know you can do it in MS Excel because I’ve seen pivot tables. But again, I’m not a spreadsheet expert.

One more idea I have is to use a flat text file that I can use Unix commands like grep to sort and display only the notes I want to see at any given time.

The biggest issue with this idea is the ability to access the text file from my computer at home, my computer at work, and my phone or tablet.

So that’s where I am right now with this “project”. Just like before, I’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions.

The Findables Company XY4+ tracker review

On average, we spend ten minutes a day, or two and a half days a year looking for lost items. The XY4+ is a tracker that can help you find items it is attached to. It claims a longer range, louder sound, and longer battery life than competitors. Read on to see what I think!

What is it?

The XY4+ is an update to XY3, the previous version of the tracker manufactured by The Findables Company. The previous model was reviewed on The Gadgeteer about a year ago at this link. The XY4+ claims to provide a larger battery, increased range and a louder speaker than the previous model. The XY4+ also integrates with IFTTT and Zapier so that you can automate actions based on triggers and even have the finder beep based on other automation triggers.

What’s in the box?


The XY4+ tracker is the only item in the box.

Design and features

Prerequisites

The XY4+ requires and Apple or Android device.  It is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with iOS 9.0 or later.  The Android device must have Kitkat (4.4) or later.

Unboxing

It seems that The Findables Co. is doing everything in its power to demonstrate superiority to its competition (Tile, TrackR, Chipolo, etc.). It seems that environmental footprint is also an area that the manufacturer is focusing on. They have a very small retail box. However, the product is packaged in non-recyclable foam.

I received a bright yellow XY4+. Even if I can’t hear the buzzer it’s still plenty loud. There isn’t a manual. All instructions and disclosures are on the web.

Design

The tracker is made from ASB plastic and is snapped together from two halves. The assembly is quite durable, even though it is designed to be opened. The XY4+ is designed to fit onto a key chain or maybe in a pocket or a bag. It makes sense for it to have a smooth profile, but while the top of the tracker is somewhat curved the bottom is completely flat and has some point edges.  I would expect the tracker to be more clam shell shaped. The top features a triangular shaped button with the XY logo on it.

On the bottom is the number “4” for the version of the unit and four small speaker holes.

The tracker is meant to be opened in order to replace the battery. There’s a slot on the side into which a coin can be inserted to split the device open.

Once the device is open you can see the peizo-electric buzzer and the circuit board.

The tracker is powered by a CR3032. This behemoth battery is claimed to power the XY4+ for five years. (I’ll let you know how that turns out in 2023!)

For sake of comparison I have the XY4+ next to a Chipolo+ and also next to a scale and penny. The CR2032 battery the Chipolo+ is powered by is welded to the PCB, so I have also included a CR2025 for comparison which has the same diameter as the 2032. It’s interesting to note how many more components the XY4 has on the PCB.

Extra battery life is great, but you pay for it in size. The XY4+ measures 1.5″ on the flats, 1.75″ on the points, and is 0.4″ think. It’s about twice as thick as some competitor devices. Is replacing a battery once a year in a tracker so bad if 90% of people do it annually in their smoke detectors?

Operation

The XY4+ can be accessed by iPhone and Android devices but the last known location can also be seen on any web browser at https://my.xyfindit.com. The web browser will show a map of all of your item locations.

Clicking on any of the items will bring up a menu for that item. The menu indicates if IFTTT pr Zapier is linked to what type of button presses (short, double, or long) and gives a shortcut link to the web portal for both IFTTT and Zapier. The web also shows the approximate battery strength.

Pictures can by associated with the device and the pictures will be updated across platofrms.

I found that, in general, operation on the devices that communicate with the tracker is problematic.

iOS

Operation on the iOS app has a lot of issues:

  1. The app must be running for the XY tracker to ring the phone (in case the phone is lost).
  2. The app will not operate to ring the tracker unless location services is active.
  3. Running the app requires significant battery power (to constantly use the GPS).
  4. The KeepNear function, which should alert the user if the tracker and phone are separated, doesn’t work reliably. When it does work it presents a dialog box that the tracker is out of range, not a notification.
  5. The image associated with the tracker is occasionally lost by the software.
  6. The IFTTT and Zapier triggers are forwarded to the IFTTT app. However, actions are not passed (the tracker never beeps).
  7. There is no way to change the music.
  8. The battery icon may be inaccurate. The icon shows 100% when the battery is 76% – 82%.
  9. There is no way to upgrade the firmware of the tracker.

Android

Operation on the Android app is a bit better. The app supports running as a service, auto start with the phone, vibrate on notify, adjustable KeepNear sensitivity, battery saver mode and tips of the day, and use the notification screen to alert the tracker is out of range.

The app provides more interaction with the IFTTT and Zapier apps:

The app also lets you select music that the tracker rings:

But:

  1. The image associated with the tracker is occasionally lost by the software.
  2. The KeepNear system only says when the keys are out of range, not when the signal strength is low. I don’t want to wait until I’m 300 ft away from the keys until I’m told they’re forgotten.
  3. The IFTTT and Zapier actions are not passed (the tracker never beeps).

I used LightBlue Explorer to interrogate the tracker and found these are all of the settings within. The hardware seems to have a lot of functionality.






The fact that the Android app has so many more features leads me to believe that the iOS app will catch up.

Performance

I compared the XY4+ to the Chipolo alert. The XY4+ is louder than the Chipolo, but It doesn’t seem like it is twice as loud.

I was unable to get even a fraction of the range on the tracker compared to its stated range. Whereas the Chipolo+ worked up to 160 ft away in this review, the XY4+ works to only about 80 ft under the same conditions. The signal also doesn’t reestablish until about 50 ft away.

Latency between the time you push the “Find it” button and the time the tracker rings can be long so its difficult to tell if you should be listening out for it or if it hasn’t started to beep. In my tests, I usually found the tracker before I heard it.

What I like

  • Integration with IFTTT and Zapier
  • Some choices for melody

What needs to be improved

  • App performance is poor
  • Range is overstated

Final thoughts

The XY4+ tries to beat the competition by offering a device with superior specifications. However, the tracker fails to capitalize on what makes other trackers so successful: good software, reliable operation, and a well-established user base. I used a Chipolo tracker and the XY4+ tracker while reviewing this product and the Chipolo outperformed every time.  At the moment the Chipolo is the recommended device. If the software improves and this fixes the range issues, latency issues, and usability issues then perhaps my recommendation will change. But for now, my keychain will have a small round tracker on it, not a larger hexagonal one.

Price: $39.99
Where to buy: Amazon.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by The Findables Co..