Unless you’ve been under a rock the past couple of days you have probably heard that Apples newest product the HomePod has been in the news. However, not for reasons, you may think. Seems like HomePod has been leaving behind a white ring on some wooden surfaces. Don’t worry Pad & Quill, best known for their Artisan crafted leather accessories for Apple products, have you and your HomePod covered. They have designed a full-grain leather coaster specifically for the HomePod. That’s right for $19.99 you can protect all your wood surfaces from the evil white ring. The HomePod Coaster is crafted from durable and luxurious American Full-grain leather with an ultra soft leather backing with the artisan’s signature. The 4” round coaster is available in either Whiskey or Chestnut colored leather.
Bravo to Pad & Quill for being on top of the situation and quickly creating a high-quality solution to this First World problem. Because like it says on their web page “the only rings you should see in your home this season are of the Olympic variety on TV.” You can pick up the leather HomePod Coaster right now on Pad & Quill’s website.
I’ve had several years of happy tablet use with my venerable Dell Venue 8, but found that when I wasn’t using it, I left it in odd locations – a piano bench, cluttered dresser top, even on the kitchen counter. Wiplabs Slope universal tablet stand has finally given me a place to park my tablet. My little buddy has found a home.
What is it?
Wiplabs Slope universal tablet stand is a sturdy, brushed aluminum parking spot for your tablet or smartphone. It’s equipped with sticky pads on the face and base, to securely hold your device.
Hardware Specs
Brushed aluminum construction
Strong grip pads on the front and bottom
7-1/2” tall
4” width at its widest
4” deep
8.9 ounces
What’s in the box?
Slope stand
User manual
Design and features
The Slope is an aluminum frame with sticky pads allowing an attached device to be used without shifting, sliding, or slipping. It’s simple, tough and works very well.
At first glance, I thought, “This looks fairly intuitive. Why should I read the manual? All that needs to be done is peel the protective plastic covering off the sticky pads, put it down, and slap my tablet in place.” I’m so glad I went through the manual first…
The fresh sticky pads on the Slope are downright powerful. The first time I put it down, I was shocked at the gripping power. The manual contains warnings about placing it on a painted surface and they aren’t kidding. I suspect that if the Slope were placed on a loose surface, it could easily pull fresh paint, laminate or even a heavy glass desk protector loose. The grip is so secure, it completely lifted a clear plastic USB hard drive enclosure I had placed it on. The manual states that normal wear, dust, and debris that sticks to the pads will lessen its grip, but after a week, it’s still holding on tight.
The next photo is in the correct orientation. Yes, it’s really sticking to the wall.
The sticky pad on the face is the same, but I had a little challenge to overcome. Having worked in factories and tough environments, I had applied a carbon fiber skin to my tablet. I had previously tried similar products with little success holding onto the carbon weave, but the Slope’s stickiness had no trouble gripping the irregular surface. I was able to place the tablet vertically and horizontally with no difficulties. I was also able to offset the tablet, pushing the center of gravity considerably off balance with no problems. I have no doubt the Slope can hold considerably larger tablets with ease.
Having my tablet in its new home brought new uses. The viewing angle is very good so, while I’m fiddling around with my desktop, I was able to pull up Netflix and comfortably watch. As a result, my tablet is seeing more usage.
What I like
The sticky pads hold very securely, horizontally or vertically
The viewing angle is very good
Sturdy, attractive construction
What needs to be improved?
I would recommend Wiplabs place a warning label on the sticky pad peel-off plastic protectors to prevent their customers from damaging their desks!
At $49.99, it’s expensive, but definitely premium quality
Final thoughts
The Wiplabs Slope universal tablet stand is handsome, well-constructed and works better than other sticky type stands I’ve used, particularly with the carbon fiber cover on my tablet.
Price: $49.99 Where to buy: Wiplabs.com or Amazon Source: The sample for this review was provided by Wiplabs.
The SurfacePad for iPhone is a thin, minimal leather cover for your iPhone 7/8, iPhone 7/8 Plus, or iPhone X. It protects the front and back of your phone from pocket hazards and from getting surface scratches from tables and countertops. The SurfacePad also serves as a stand to support your iPhone in the horizontal orientation for hands-free use. It has two slots inside for carrying your most essential cards, and the leather back is compatible with Qi wireless charging. And for the iPhone X, the case triggers the phone’s wake/sleep functions.
The SurfacePad is made of full-grain leather, and it attaches to your phone with an adhesive pad on the back of the phone. You apply the back of the case like applying a screen protector. The SurfaceGrip technology allows you to remove and replace the case many times without leaving behind a residue, so you can replace the SurfacePad with a protective case for your more active days.
The SurfacePad is available in several leather colors. Black is available for all iPhones; tan is also available for the iPhone 7/8 and iPhone 7/8 Plus; navy is the third color for the Plus models, and brown and green are available for the iPhone X. Cases are $39.99 for the iPhone 7/8 and $49.99 for all other models. Learn more and purchase the SurfacePad at Twelve South.
When it comes to easy installs, SnapPower is the master. Remember their GuideLights outlet cover night light that I reviewed in 2014 and their SwitchLight switch plate night light which I reviewed last summer? Well, now they are back with an updated version of their SnapPower USB charger switch plate. The USB Charger 2 has been slimmed down, doubled the USB ports to 2, and it now has 2.1 amps of power to charge your phones and tablets.
You’ve no doubt seen switch plate covers with built-in USB ports before, but SnapPower’s products require no special electrical skills or tools to install. All you have to do is use a screwdriver to remove your existing switch plate and then replace it with the SnapPower Charger 2 plate. That’s it. The USB Charger 2 retails from $19 to $23 depending on the quantity purchased. For more details and to order, head over to snappower.com
We Gadgeteers not only love things that do little tasks well, and clever designs, but we also like to see the inside story on how these devices work. Sometimes this means taking them apart, but sometimes, it can just mean finding a way to observe the item in action. Sometimes, you need to see into or under something in order to troubleshoot or just observe a running process. If the desired objective is under something, behind a blockage, or deep inside a larger enclosure, this is quite difficult, unless you have an endoscope. I’ve wanted to have something like this all my life, and M-way finally offered The Gadgeteer crew a test model YPC110 for review.
Note: Photos may be tapped or clicked for a larger image.
What is it?
The YPC110 (such catchy names makers use, sometimes!) is a 1600 x 1200 resolution CMOS sensor on a long semi-rigid 8 mm diameter cable. The model I was sent is 3.5 meters long, but they have 2-meter, 5-meter, and 10-meter lengths as well. The CMOS camera is powered by a 4” long .75” square tube that houses a battery and WiFi radio.
Two USB jacks are on one end. The microUSB is for charging the internal battery, and the standard USB-A port is where the camera connects.
Specs
(From website)
Imaging Sensor: CMOS
Camera resolution: 1600*1200
Horizontal view angle: 72 degrees
Transmitting frequency: 2412-2612 MHZ
Minimum illumination : 0 Lux
Power Supply: 3.7V 600mah lithium battery
Unobstructed effective range: 5-10 m
Waterproofing grade: IP68 ( for lens/ tube only )
Diameter of flexible tube: 8.0mm
Charging voltage and current : 5V – 2A/1A/500mA
Focal Distance : 1.2 Inch – 3.2 Inch
Full Charging time: 1 hour
Length : 16.4ft /5M
What’s in the box?
A semi-rigid zippered carrying case. (6.5” x 5” x 2.5”)
The sensor/cable itself
The WiFi radio/battery “head” unit
A USB-A to microUSB charging cable
Mirror attachment (for seeing into tight turns where the camera cannot get into)
Hook tip
Magnetic probe
Instruction leaflet
Design and features
The unit is made up of two main parts: the wifi broadcasting/power module, and the camera with the stiff connecting cable. There are 6 pinhole LEDs around the end of the CMOS to light up the field in front of it. The field of focus is fairly short (a few inches) and fully automatic. You focus moving closer or further away. The app has a bit of autofocus, as well. To use, go to the App Store for your smart device, and download the HD SEE app. Once the battery is charged on the camera module, turn on the WiFi radio. Go to your smart device’s WiFi settings and connect to the YPC’s WiFi. (The WiFi and password are listed on the head unit’s endcap.) Once it’s connected, go into the HD SEE program, and you’ll see the image from the camera. You will find controls for video recording, still image capture, and settings. There’s also a button (looks like two mountains, or upside down ice cream cones) that takes you to your photo and video library, but these are also accessible in your device’s default storage app.
Here’s what the photo gallery shows:
And here’s the video gallery:
As you can see from the above three screenshots, the app is not well-labeled or designed for high-resolution. These were taken on an iPhone 8 Plus.
The camera is easy to setup and use, but a bit difficult to control. I found that the shorter length you were pushing ahead of your hand, the more control you had. Once you feed it into a tight space, of course, this advantage is gone, but if you’re in a narrow passage, there’s not going to be much boinging around anyway. At the far end of the cable from the sensor is a wheel that adjusts the amount of light the tiny LEDs around the tip produce. (You can see it on the left in the photo below. You can see the reflection the LEDs make on the table in front of the camera.) This can make a huge difference not only in your photos and videos but in how well you can actually see details live.
For fun, I explored some hidden places in my kitchen and den. Like my wife’s coffee mug sitting on the counter:
And the crevice behind the canisters on the kitchen counter:
And under the gas logs in the fireplace. (This could actually be a productive use of this tool!)
While the camera behaved exactly as advertised, there were some things that I found myself wishing for. First, why WiFi? I have never attached to a data source (CD, DVD, Scanner, Camera, etc.) over WiFi and was not impressed. Bluetooth would have been much better, both for stability and for battery life. Let me explain. Since you’re probably somewhere that has a WiFi network and are connected to the internet, you’ll need to pause or maybe even delete the existing network connection in order to use the ‘scope. I found that if I didn’t, as soon as I powered off the MWay, the regular network would be accessed, and would never let the iPhone back on the MWay network without going back into Settings. This wouldn’t happen with BlueTooth. Smart devices are designed to have many concurrent Bluetooth connections and only a single WiFi connection.
The second issue is battery life. I could get maybe 20 minutes of active viewing and recording on a single charge. I tried to charge while connected, but this would play havoc with the network setup again, and also, the two outlets are so close as to prevent any but the narrowest connectors to fit simultaneously.
I suppose if you can find drivers, you could just plug the camera directly into the USB port on your computer and run an image capture utility to capture video or stills. I tried that on my Mac, but neither the WiFi nor the direct connection allowed me to use the attached camera. (I guess they feel when you have a really good camera attached, so why connect to a different one?)
What I Like
The unit is quite small
Works as advertised
No extras needed – complete kit shipped together
What needs to be improved
Image quality is low
WiFi connection is flaky
Battery life is short
Can not use while charging battery
Final thoughts
Seeing into hidden areas is really deep geekery, and this product scratches that itch. While it’s not perfect, and you’d never be able to film movies through the wall because of the short focal distance, it’s really nice for hunting for a lost part, watching a part that appears to be failing at times, or just randomly exploring places we can’t actually see into.
Price: $35.99 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample of this product was provided by M Way.
