Home 2018

iLive Voice Activated Amazon Alexa Portable Wireless Fabric Speaker Review

As smartphones have become more prevalent, people have become used to having all of their information and entertainment with them 24/7. That growth has sparked a surge in portable wireless speakers. I always found these wireless speakers to be a bit too “single use”. If I’m going to haul around a device, I prefer to have it able to do more than just one thing. The iLive Voice Activated Amazon Alexa Portable Wireless Fabric Speaker is just such a device.

What is it?

The iLive Voice Activated Amazon Alexa Portable Wireless Fabric Speaker is a wireless speaker that implements Amazon Alexa and several other streaming services to provide a very well rounded listening experience. The rechargeable battery allows for portability at home or on-the-go.

What’s in the box?

  • Concierge Speaker
  • Micro-USB to USB cable
  • 3.5mm Audio cable
  • User’s Guide

Design and features

One of the main features of this speaker is that it can connect to your the internet via WiFi. The free iLive app is then used to control the device over WiFi instead of using Bluetooth, which provides for much more range than Bluetooth.

The iLive Voice Activated Amazon Alexa Portable Wireless Fabric Speaker can also play music from your phone music library and also has a 3.5mm auxiliary audio input jack that can play audio from just about any source.

If you are away from home or don’t have access to WiFi, the speaker can connect to your devices via Bluetooth.

The iLive Voice Activated Amazon Alexa Portable Wireless Fabric Speaker looks and feels like a quality product. It features a nice tweed speaker grill over much of the speaker, indicator LED’s and ring, as well as well understood rubberized buttons and a non-slip foam base.

The full feature list is well rounded:

  • Wireless speaker
  • Voice-activated Amazon Alexa
  • Bluetooth wireless
  • Built-in Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct & multi-room play
  • Multi-user capable
  • Aux in (3.5mm audio input)
  • Stream from iHeartRadio, TIDAL, or audio stored directly on your device
  • Built-in microphone
  • Micro-USB port for battery recharge
  • Play/pause/pairing button
  • On/off switch
  • Digital volume control
  • LED light ring
  • LED function indicator
  • Charge indicator
  • Wireless range: Bluetooth – 33 feet, Wi-Fi – 98 feet
  • Cloth speaker grill
  • DC battery power: built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery
  • Battery life using WiFi: ~1-2 hours at 50% volume
  • Battery life using Bluetooth: ~5 hours at 50% volume

The Amazon Alexa service is voice controlled, and all of the other services are controlled through the iLive app on your smartphone, however, Amazon Alexa does play the music on your phone.

As a software developer, I’m pretty particular when it comes to apps. If there’s one thing I can do that would be finding bugs and user interface discrepancies in apps. I’ve been writing commercial software for over 20 years so I have seen my share of bad software. This is where the iLive app really impressed me. Starting from the step-by-step setup all the way through to the main operation of the app, the iLive app was easy to use and understand.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing features of this speaker is the ability to pair up to 6 of these speakers together and have them all play simultaneously and synchronized. However, when they are paired only the primary speaker can be used to control Amazon Alexa. To add or pair more speakers you simply slide left to reveal the Device List tab, then tap the plus icon and follow the on-screen prompts, just like setting up a device for the first time.

Once the device is added it can be controlled separately, or you can simply drag the device in the list onto another device to pair it. Once it is paired you can select which speaker is the left channel, right channel, or have each speaker play the same. If you don’t remember how to do this, simple tap the “How to switch between solo and multi mode?” text and you’ll get an instruction screen.


I really like the fact that the iLive app also has the ability to update the firmware in the speaker – wirelessly. Normally most devices require you to use a USB connection with a desktop computer to update the firmware.

Initially, Amazon Alexa had an almost unbearable 8-second delay in providing answers or responding, which was quite a bit more than other Amazon Alexa devices, but an update for the iLive speaker firmware fixed that so it’s now only about 2 seconds or less which is right on par with Amazon’s own devices.

Verbal requests to Amazon Alexa are handled seamlessly, muting what ever audio is playing while Alexa responds to your requests.

Another thing that really impressed me was that the specifications state 1 to 2 hours of battery life on WiFi, but I found that it operated much longer than that. For example, after four and half  hours of streaming music and podcasts via WiFi at 50% volume the app showed that the battery level was still at 64% – wow!

What I like

  • Excellent Printed Quick Start Manual
  • Surprisingly good smartphone app
  • Very nice FAQ guide
  • Rechargeable battery, I can carry the speaker to another room with me and not have to pause music or miss what I’m listening to on live radio.
  • Longer than advertised battery life.
  • Built-in services within the iLive App: Amazon Alexa, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, TIDAL, plus all of the music on your phone.
  • You can search for stuff in the other services (like TuneIn) while your previous audio continues to play.
  • Responsive customer support. I contacted iLive with a question in the late afternoon about the different models and received an e-mail response in less than 20 hours.
  • The Bluetooth mode is extremely useful for playing audio through the speaker while watching video on my phone. I often find myself in a room other than my office watching and listening to a video while doing something else and the phone speaker is not loud enough. This speaker is definitely loud enough.


What needs to be improved

  • Although not a big issue, it would be nice if there was a desktop version of the app.
  • Audiophiles may not like the quality of the sound on the device. For me, it sounds good enough, although it could use a little more bass. It’s extremely good for listening to podcasts and talk radio.
  • There’s a device tab in the app, but there’s no indicator that it’s there. Swiping left reveals the Device List, which shows all of your devices (speakers) and for each one you can see what’s playing, pause, play, pause all, play all, and access the settings for that device as well as view the battery level. If you have multiple devices, this is where you can select the device then go to the services list and choose audio to play on it.

Final thoughts

I’ve seen many devices in my time that were great on the hardware side but severely lacking on the software side of things. This iLive speaker excels at providing a great app that makes operating the device simply a joy.

Price: $65.00
Where to buy: iLive Electronics and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by iLive Electronics.

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iLive Voice Activated Amazon Alexa Portable Wireless Fabric Speaker Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Time is etched on the surface of this sculpture

Or time is at least “etched” on the face of this clock.  The Etch Clock has a dark peacock-blue elastomer face that displays the time with numerals that appear to have been chiseled into its surface.  Using patent-pending technology, the surface reconfigures itself with each time update.  The 16″ x 16″ x 2.5″ Etch Clock and its aluminum bezel can be hung on a wall or can stand on a tabletop.

Using the app (iOS and Android), you can set the clock to display 12- or 24-hour time.  You can also have the clock wipe to a smooth surface every 30 seconds before displaying the updated time, and you can have it do the wipe/update only when it senses sound or movement.

The Etch Clock is serious artwork, and its price reflects that.  The MoMA Design Store sells the clock for $1950.00 or $1755.00 for MoMA members.

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Time is etched on the surface of this sculpture originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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The Gourmia IoT Cool-Cooker has something other slow cookers don’t

Before I fell in love with my Instant Pot, I used a slow cooker to cook chickens and roasts while I was at work during the day. The only annoying thing about using a slow cooker (aka crock pot) is that I’d have to get up earlier than usual to put all the ingredients in the cooker. I don’t like getting up in the morning, so getting up even earlier does not make Julie a happy camper. But the new Gourmia IoT Cool-Cooker might be the holy grail of slow-cookers because it not only cooks your food, but it keeps it cold BEFORE it starts cooking it.

The Gourmia Cool-Cooker has a built-in refrigeration unit that keeps everything cold before it’s time to cook. You can add all the items to the cooker the night before, like meat and vegetables and then control it later from anywhere with an app on your phone to start the cooking process. The Gourmia Cool-Cooker can even be controlled using Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice assistants.

The Cool-Cooker is a 6-quart 11-in-1 cooker that can bake, make rice, roast, yogurt, porridge, slow cook, keep food warm, sauté, steam, and sous vide.

There isn’t any pricing info at this time, but the Cool-Cooker will be available at retailers later in 2018. More info will be available at Gourmia.com

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The Gourmia IoT Cool-Cooker has something other slow cookers don’t originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2018 at 7:00 am.

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Sonoff S31 WiFi socket and Slampher RF bulb adapter review

Turning your home into a smart home is a whole lot easier if you add the home automation tech during the building phase instead of waiting years later to retrofit tech into an existing home. Although that’s great advice, it won’t help you if you want to get into the home automation game with an older home like mine. My home was built in the 1970’s and the smartest thing about it when I bought it was… ok there was nothing smart about my home when I bought it, but I’ve slowly been adding smart home gadgets over the years to raise its IQ.

Today I want to show you the Sonoff S31 WiFi Socket with Power Consumption Detection and the Slampher RF adapter. These devices provide an easy way to turn almost any plug-in device into a smart device and a light bulb adapter that turns dumb bulbs into smart ones that you can control with your smartphone. Let’s take a look.

What is it?

The Sonoff S31 is a WiFi enabled smart switch that you can control with your smartphone, Alexa enabled speakers, Google Home, and Google Assistant.

The Slampher RF adapter is a WiFi enabled adapter that will turn a regular light bulb into a smart light bulb that can be controlled by your phone, Alexa, Google Home, and Google Assistant.

What’s in the box?

Each of these adapters is sold separately and do not come with any special parts or accessories. The small keychain remote is also sold separately.

Design and features

Sonoff S31

The S31 is compact size 1 gang US standard wifi smart plug with energy monitoring that turns a “dumb” device into a “smart” device that can be controlled via WiFi with an iOS or Android device or voice assistant from Amazon and Google.

The adapter is made of white and black plastic with two status LEDs on the front.

On one side is a power button that you can use to manually toggle power to the outlet.

The Sonoff S31 WiFi Socket has a horizontal layout that keeps it from blocking the other outlet on a standard wall outlet.

I used the S31 adapter with an IR heater in my basement. With the S31’s socket powered on, the heater performed normally, but with the eWeLink app, I could control it in real time or with timers and schedules.  The app also provides info on usage and power consumption. More on the app in a sec.

Sonoff Slampher RF


In addition to smart WiFi enabled socket adapters, Sonoff also sells adapters that will turn a regular light bulb into a smart light bulb that can be controlled by your mobile device. These adapters are bulky and might not fit in certain lamps because they add extra height to the bulb.

Sonoff even sells a wireless controller that can be used to toggle power to their N and W series RF switches and adapters like the Slampher RF. However, I was never able to get it to work because it didn’t come with any instructions and everything I tried (instructions with the Slampher RF light bulb adapter) did not work. The product page for the remote has quite a few comments from customers who also are unable to get it to work.

Let’s make our home smarter!

Setting up and configuring the Sonoff WiFi Socket and Slampher RF light bulb adapter is quick and easy using the eWeLink app for Android and iOS.


The app walks you through adding a new device and once added, it shows up on the main screen like you see above on the left. Power to the Slampher RF adapter can be toggled by tapping it on this screen. Controlling the S31 socket requires that you go into the detail view for that device and then tap the power toggle.

The detail view of the S31 shows a real-time reading of how much current and voltage it’s drawing if it’s powered on.


The app allows you to set a timer to record power consumption during a specific time frame. It also tracks historical usage whenever the switch is in use and keeps a log of the last 100 days with the ability to export it as a CSV file.

You can also customize the data by plugging in your electric company’s rates. Every power company is different and my company (Duke Energy) uses three different rates:

First 300 kWh $0.092945 per kWh
Next 700kWh $0.054178 per kWh
Over 1000 kWh $0.044464 per kWh



The eWeLink app can be used to schedule times when the switch will be powered on/off and info for overload protection.

One way you could use the schedule feature is for charging your phone during the night. Instead of having it trickle charging all night which can cause your battery to age prematurely, you can set the S31 to turn off after 3 hours.

If controlling your smart switches by your phone is too much trouble, you can also control them with your voice assistant. I set up the Sonoff switches with Alexa and it worked great. I could say “Alexa, turn off the heater” and bada boom bada bing, the switch would turn off.

What I like

  • Easy to use and install
  • Can track power consumption and cost

What needs to be improved

  • Slampher RF adapter didn’t want to work with CFL and LED light bulbs
  • Couldn’t get the wireless remote to work with the Slampher RF adapter
  • Slampher adapter is bulky and adds height to the bulb.

Final thoughts

Sonoff makes easy to use products that can help you turn your non-smart home into a better smarter version without a lot of hassle and expense. I liked the S31 WiFi socket quite a bit but wasn’t impressed with the Slampher RF adapter. I’d rather just buy an inexpensive WiFi enabled smart bulb.

Price:$18.90 for the S31 socket, $16.09 for the Slampher RF
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by ITEAD.

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Sonoff S31 WiFi socket and Slampher RF bulb adapter review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 8, 2018 at 1:00 pm.

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Evergoods: trail-ready bags with city-refined style

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2017, Evergoods is now rolling out the first in their new line of bags & apparel. And there’s a good reason to be excited about this one: the founders of Evergoods, Jack Barley and Kevin Dee, hail from GORUCK and Patagonia respectively. Not only do these guys know a thing or two about building great bags, but their product-driven design philosophy is something I  can get behind. You can read all about their story on their web site.

The mission behind Evergoods is to produce “crossover” bags that combine trail-ready technical refinement & durability with style & ease-of-use for everyday carry. The first two products look fantastic. The Mountain Panel Loader 30L ($249) leans towards hiking and outdoor use, while the Civic Panel Loader 24L ($229) is targeted at the daily commute. Both bags incorporate usability and design features that enable them to go either way like side carrying handles, hydration bladder ports, swing-around access, and ergonomics that favor all-day hauling.

There’s some great design work going on here, and the bags look great. I’m looking forward to checking these out. It also looks like both bags are ready to ship. To learn more, hop on over to the Evergoods web site!

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Evergoods: trail-ready bags with city-refined style originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 8, 2018 at 12:00 pm.

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