NEWS – Philips has announced a new fixture that can replace both the mirror and the over-mirror light in your bathroom. It can be used as general lighting for the room, and it can provide task lighting for shaving or applying makeup. The new Philips Adore bathroom mirror adds to your existing Hue bridge that controls all your other Hue lights. Just like those lights, the Adore mirror can be controlled using your smart phone app, Alexa voice commands, or with the included switch/remote control.
The switch mounts to the wall and is used to power the mirror on or off or to dim the light. The button bar pops off the mounting plate so you can use the remote to adjust the lighting while you’re relaxing in the bath.
The circular mirror has a 22″ diameter and protrudes 2.0″ from the wall. It uses a 40W LED bulb to produce 2400 lumens. The light color is 2200-6500 Hue White Ambiance. It can be adjusted from energizing white light to get you awake and ready for the day to a warm, relaxing light to help you wind down from a busy day while showering or soaking in the tub.
The Adore mirror was designed for the humid environment of a bathroom; it is DAMP-rated by UL. Philips says: “It was tested rigorously to ensure its water resistance. The IP level is described by two figures: the first one refers to the protection level against dust, the second against water. This bathroom light is designed with IP44: it is protected against splashing water, this product is most common and ideal for bathroom use.”
The Adore mirror isn’t yet available, but Hue says it will sell for $249.99. Learn more at Philips.
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NEWS – Woofie is a small holder that clips to the top of your smartphone to make capturing the perfect picture of your pet easier because it gives your pet your absolute attention. Well, not really YOUR attention, but close enough. The secret of the Woofie is that it is designed to hold your pet’s favorite treat near the camera lens so he’ll be looking at the camera when it comes time to say cheese! No more yelling his name over and over to try to get him to look at the camera.
Woofie is compact so you can easily take it with you when you and your four-legged BFF are out on an epic adventure. Woofie is available in Glamour Green, Posh Pink, or Slay Grey for $9.50 from Modelcitizenpet.com and Amazon.
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ARTICLE – In June, I was invited to Boston for a press introduction of the new Bowers & Wilkins 600 Series of speakers. The June weather was unusually cool with nights in the mid-60s—a welcome change from the humid 90s of my home in Central Florida.
Sight of the famous Boston Massacre
For those who aren’t familiar with B&W, they are a British audio company who specialize in high-end speakers, headphones and AirPlay/Bluetooth speakers. While B&W’s line of headphones has grabbed the most attention, it’s the speakers—the 800, 700 and 600 Series—that really define who B&W are. When a new or upgraded line is introduced, people notice. The newest 600 Series is considered B&W’s more affordable speaker line, but they are definitely not budget speakers.
Upon arriving at the B&W office, our small group of audio tech writers and reporters were treated to a catered lunch before the presentation and listening sessions. Chief Revenue Officer Richard Campbell and Senior Product Manager Andy Kerr introduced the new 600 line by reciting the history of the numbered speaker series. They talked about a commitment to continued innovation evidenced by hiring 40% more engineers and opening a new research facility. Further innovations include upgraded cabinet materials, improved hardware and software and a new European partnership with Philips branded televisions.
Kerr spoke about the new 600 Series benefitting from trickle-down components—utilizing components borrowed from the more expensive 700 and 800 Series—such as a continuum cone midrange driver and decoupled double dome tweeter. “The 600 Series aims to be the best sounding loudspeaker range in its class.” said Kerr. All 600 Series speaker cabinets come in either matte black or satin white.
The tweeter is covered by a steel mesh with an open pattern that allows unrestricted audio while also protecting the tweeter’s delicate diaphragm. The continuum cone speaker replaces the older kevlar design. Kerr explained that the newer speaker is quicker to recover from audio vibrations resulting in more accurate reproduction.The new 600 Series speakers continue B&W’s newer and simpler naming system. The 603 floor standing speaker is the largest of the series. It has the decoupled double dome tweeter, an FST midrange driver using the continuum cone, plus dual paper-cone bass drivers.
The smaller 606 is designed for either stand or bookshelf use. It delivers clarity and tonal purity with a bass extension by combining the decoupled double dome tweeter and the 6.5 in. continuum cone.
The compact bookshelf 607 speaker is the smallest in the 600 Series. It features a rear-firing bass response from its main 5-inch continuum cone mid/bass driver. I was particularly interested in this speaker because it’s the most affordable in the line and I wanted to review a speaker that a “normal” person (non-audiophile) might purchase. It strikes me as a great way to introduce a potential customer to a higher—yet affordable—level of audio. Look for a review soon.
After the presentation, we were escorted into a listening room featuring the previous versions of 600 Series speakers. After speaking a bit, Kerr played an eclectic selection of music. He would carefully explain what to listen for from each piece and note the differences and improvements between the older and newer 600 speakers. Once the music was played, engineers would quickly replace the previous speakers with the newer versions. This was done with each 600 Series model. The music was sourced from a MacBook using an external digital audio converter (DAC).
After hearing both the older and new 600 Series speakers, I could notice a difference. The newer speakers had just a bit of extra clarity. However, to my ears, the difference was subtle at best. If I had heard one speaker on one day and the other on the next day, I doubt I would have been able to tell the difference. That does not say that the new 600 Series isn’t that much better. But it does say that the older 600 Series speakers were that good to begin with and hard to improve upon. Even though the differences were not striking—they were noticeable on some recordings more so than others. Vocals were a bit more intimate or lifelike sounding. Melanie De Blasio’s slow and sultry voice on “With All My Love” became uncomfortably emotional sounding because, with my eyes closed, it sounded like she was in the room playing just for you. John Lee Hooker’s blues/boogie “Send me Your Pillow” had his guitar playing pushed to a volume level matching his vocals. The part in the song where Hooker unexpectedly mutes the strings making his guitar behave more like a percussive instrument raised the hair on my arms. I liked what I was hearing!
After the music presentation ended, we entered a home theater room with movie clips set up to show off the newer 600 Series speakers along with a new HTM6 center channel speaker paired with two B&W subwoofers added for extra bass whoomp. Even watching various movie scenes with all the sound effects going on, the added center channel brought out the vocals quite well. While it was an impressive experience, any improvement in audio quality from the newer 600 Series speakers was lost in the movies’ audio. It was an aural onslaught that drowned out any subtlety that one can appreciate from listening to music in a quiet room. But it still sounded great.
Of course, the term affordable is a subjective one. The new 600 Series speaker have a bit of a price bump from the previous version, but are still the least expensive speakers in B&Ws current lineup. The 607 speakers will sell for $600/pair; the slightly larger 606 will be $800/pair and the floorstanding 603’s will go for a much higher $1,800/pair.The center channel HTM6 is selling for $599. All prices are US.
Lastly (and just for fun), we were treated to three factory Bowers & Wilkins auto sound systems in a Volvo, McLaren supercar, and BMW.
All were quite impressive, but I think the Volvo was the most successful at visually integrating the speakers into the interior design. They all sounded terrific, but I fear the engine growl from the McLaren would compete with music playing over the B&W—or any other—speakers. The cars were stationary, so we couldn’t test for road noise.
As the day wound down, I got a ride back to the airport. I had prior commitments, so I, unfortunately, missed a seafood dinner that night.
I’ve reviewed and been impressed with many Bowers and Wilkin’s products, such as the P3, P5, and P7 headphones as well as the Zeppelin Wireless and T7 Bluetooth speakers. I still use and love the P5 Wireless headphone—it’s just a wonderful all-around headphone that delivers great sound and is uber convenient and comfortable. Now that I’ve been introduced to their 600 Series speakers, I’m looking forward to testing them with my home stereo system to hear any improvement I hope they provide. Look for my review soon.
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NEWS – Even when you prepare every meal from home from scratch, there’s a lot of food waste. I’m not even talking about packaging; I mean the peelings and trimmings from fresh fruits and vegetables. In nature, food materials take only 1-2 months to decompose. If you throw those food trimmings into the garbage, they’ll go to the landfill. They’ll decompose eventually in the landfill, but they’ll take up to a year to do it, and they’ll produce methane as they decompose. (Methane has 21 times the global-warming potential than carbon dioxide.) Composting would be the most earth-friendly method of disposing of your fresh food waste, but that’s not always easily done in an urban environment.
The designers of the Living Composter, a biomorphic worm house, collected data for almost two years, then created an algorithm to figure out the best shape for both worm health and human convenience. The composter is meant for use in your kitchen. It’s made of recycled plastics with a wood top; it measures 17.7” long x 8.7” wide x 6.5” tall. You fill the vessel with a dirt/sawdust mixture and add some redworms. (You’ll need to supply your own worms and dirt mixture.)
“Drop fruit and vegetable peelings, grain foods, and tea bags into a top opening. The worms will eat at least half of their own weight of scraps per day. The composter can ‘process’ over two pounds of food a week, enough to keep up with most or all of the scraps in a two- or three-person household. Spread the easily removed compost next to your plants or in pots, and watch those babies grow.”
Vermicompost (worm “castings” or manure) is packed with water-soluble plant nutrients, beneficial enzymes, and microbes, and it improves soil’s ability to hold moisture. As little as a tablespoon of vermicompost could feed a 6″ potted plant for over two months. You’ll not only reduce the impact of your food waste by composting it, you’ll produce some of the best fertilizer possible for your own plants.
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REVIEW – I have spent most of my life growing up and living in the greater Seattle area and am without a doubt a coffee snob/connoisseur. I detest Starbucks and will go miles out of my way to find espresso that isn’t burnt and bitter. On my travels finding good/tolerable coffee on the fly is sometimes difficult. Yelp helps but depending how far I’m out in the middle of nowhere, often it’s a lost cause. Thankfully, the CISNO electric portable espresso machine is engineered to make coffee where ever, whenever you want/need a worthy cup of joe…
What is it?
The CISNO electric portable espresso machine is a thermos-sized, all-in-one solution for having coffee on the go, at the office, in the car, in the middle of nowhere, etc. This compact, battery operated coffee maker uses Nespresso pods to produce your favorite caffeinated beverage when there is no coffee shop in sight.
Design and features
The CISNO electric portable espresso machine is made from ABS plastic and food grade plastic. The material and build quality is rugged, well engineered, and nicely constructed. It generates 15 bars of pressure and produces 1.35oz of espresso per Nespresso capsule. It is definitely designed to be portable, able to be powered by removable lithium ion battery, AC power adaptor, or 12 volt car charger.
Operations:
Using the CISNO is simple and relatively mess-free, all you need is water (preferably boiling water) and a few Nespresso pods. First, you insert your favorite Nespresso capsule into the base of CISNO and screw on the cap sealing the bottom chamber.
Then you flip the portable espresso machine over and fill the water reservoirs with 50ml of water. As I mentioned, the hotter the water the better. If you use room temperature water the CISNO takes approximately 8 minutes to heat the liquid to 194℉/90℃. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery can do this three times before having to be recharged. If you use boiling water, there is no wait/heating time and the CISNO can produce 80 shots of espresso before needing to be plugged in.
Once sealed, you simply press the power button and the CISNO gets to work. The thermos design also includes a screw on cup that you can (obviously) drink from. The CISNO portable espresso machine can be battery operated or directly plugged into a wall socket or into the 12V power port of your car, boat, etc. Above the power button are three blue LED that let you know the battery level and charging status.
Specifications:
Body material: ABS
Cup material: Food Grade Plastic
Water heating temperature: 194℉/90℃
Pouring temperature: 158℉/70℃
Optimum pump pressure： 15 bars
During infusion pump pressure：12-8 bars
Water reservoir capacity： 50ml
Espresso shot：1.35oz
Lithium battery： 28.86WH
Total voltage： 11.1V
Capacity of drinking cup： 200ml
Effective length of power cable： 1500mm
Dimension： 3.2*3.0*9.9 inch(L x W x H)
Weight：1.0kg
Package contents:
CISNO portable espresso machine
Battery Pack
12V Car Charger
AC Adaptor
Well…how good is it???
As I mentioned, the CISNO espresso machine uses OriginalLine Nespresso capsules to brew the coffee. The Nespresso capsules are compact, easy to transport, readily available, and non-messy. They also come in a multitude of flavors and strengths…my preference is Roma (strong, full-bodied, smooth, non-nutty). Each capsule produces a 1.35oz shot of espresso. So, I need 2-3 capsules for my americano. I’ve found you can get the Nespresso capsules for about $0.70 each. Thus, each cup of coffee is about 2 bucks, for me at least. That said, even though it is relatively inexpensive to use, this gadget isn’t really about saving money. The CISNO was created to make/have good espresso where and when you might not normally be able to.
While not as high as the typical Nespresso machine, the CISNO produces 15 bars of pump pressure and does a solid job of pulling the flavor and richness of the coffee from the capsules. If you want to use your own grind coffee, a reusable stainless SealPod is required.
What I like
Portable all-in-one espresso solution
Well made from quality materials
Very transportable
Uses easy to use/find Originalline Nespresso capsules
Makes an excellent cup of coffee/espresso
Battery operated but comes with wall and car chargers
What needs to be improved
Nothing
Final thoughts
I admit the CISNO electric portable espresso machine is a relatively niche device but for those who need a shot of worthy coffee far off the beaten path, it definitely gets the job done. It’s compact, efficient design is easy to transport with you whether in your backpack, desk drawer, car, saddlebag on your bike tour of Europe, etc. Since you can select your favorite Nespresso capsule to use, odds of making excellent espresso on the fly are very good.
Price: $119.99 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample of this product was provided by CISNO.
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