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Gadgeteer team EDC update – Steve Holt

I use many gadgets on a daily basis, but these gadgets are the ones that I couldn’t live without.  I use them literally every day and they are an important part of my life.  If I lost one of them (which has happened) I would be like a small child who drops their ice cream cone on the pavement.  It’s not pretty, believe me. 

  1.  SpotCam HD Eva security camera – The SpotCam is what gives me a piece of mind when I am away from home.  It has motion detection built-in, it allows me to transmit my audio so that people within earshot of the camera can hear me, and I can control it from my phone.  It also records 24-hrs of video in the cloud so I can go back to review the footage.
  2. Plantronics Voyager Edge Bluetooth headset – Aside from my cell phone, the Voyager Edge Bluetooth headset is on my person 24 hrs a day.  I talk so much on my phone and need to use my hands at the same time that the idea of holding the phone to my head to talk is painful.  And because of its small size, I have accidentally left it many different places.  It announces in my ear who is calling and I can tell it to answer the call or push to voicemail.  And the portable charge enables me to get a quick charge when I need it.
  3. Plantronics Voyager Edge headset charger – The portable charger is good for about 2-3 charges for the Voyager Edge.  It charges using a standard micro-USB cable.
  4. Choetech Qi fast wireless charging pad – The Choetech sits beside my bed at home and I use it every night to charge my phone.  I also use it to grab a quick charge when I need to charge my phone up to go out for the evening, and it truly is a quick charge!  I love that it is small and it never gets hot like some of my other wireless charging gadgets.
  5. Kenu Airframe+ leather edition – I have tried many cell phone mounts in my car over the years, but I stopped looking once I found the Kenu Airframe.  Easy to use, ultra-portable, and sturdy.  I will never use another mount in my car.
  6. Nonda Zus USB car charger and smart car finder – I have gotten to the point in my life that when I go into a store or restaurant, I often forget where I parked when I come out of the store.  Don’t judge.  The Nonda will not only guide you to your car using their smartphone app, it has a parking meter alert, car battery health meter, and built-in dual USB charging ports.  It stays plugged up in my car daily. I don’t use the USB charging ports daily (see #7 below) but I use it to find my car all the time.  Unfortunately.
  7. Choetech 15,600 mAh dual USB battery pack – If your car is like mine, your lighter charging port in your car just doesn’t cut it.  I think the last time I tried it, my phone said it was going to take like 4 hours to charge my phone.  So I use the Choetech battery pack daily in my car because it charges my phone just as if it was plugged up to the wall.  I get probably 4 charges for my phone which is great.  It also has 2 USB ports so my wife can charge her phone at the same time.
  8. Nexus 7 Android tablet – I am pretty pumped about the new Nexus 7 tablet supposedly coming out this year.  In the meantime, my Nexus 7 tablet that I got back in 2013 will have to suffice.  I use it daily.  I use it to read news and social media posts at night before falling asleep.  It is my alarm clock.  I check the weather first thing in the morning.  It tells me about the traffic in the morning and tells me when I need to leave for my first appointment.  Just like my cellphone, I couldn’t live without my Nexus 7.  But it is showing age, so I can’t wait for the new version to come out.
  9. Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ – One of the worst names for a cell phone, but a great phone nonetheless!  I love the big screen, the camera is the best one I have ever seen, and it has built-in wireless charging and quick-charge.  The battery isn’t the greatest, and I don’t actually use the curved edges like I thought I would.  But it’s fast and looks beautiful.  I might walk out of the house without shoes on, but I would never go anywhere without my Edge+.

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Gadgeteer team EDC update – Steve Holt originally appeared on on February 27, 2017 at 7:30 am.

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Amazon gives the world over one million reasons to smile

Three things I love – Amazon, smiling and shopping!  (:  If you love to shop and you have an account at Amazon, you can do some good while you shop by helping to support a charitable organization of your choice.  It’s absolutely free to you.  The most difficult part will be deciding which of the almost 1 million 501(c)(3) charities you’d like to support.  You just need to visit smile.amazon.com, pick a charity, and make sure you are at the AmazonSmile page each time you buy so that $0.5 of your eligible purchases goes to your charity.  You are free to switch your charity each time you purchase if you’d like so you can spread the wealth around a little bit.  Every time you log in to shop, you will see your impact on the Amazon homepage which makes you feel good about being the informed consumer that you are!  That oughta make you smile.  For more information visit AmazonSmile.  (If you’re having trouble picking a group to support, there is a cat and dog foster care network called Up-Cycled Pets you could choose which is the one I support.)

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Amazon gives the world over one million reasons to smile originally appeared on on February 27, 2017 at 6:24 am.

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Become a doodling wizard with these How to Draw Cool Stuff books

If you’ve ever wanted to learn to draw but thought you had no talent, you can forget about that. You don’t need talent, you just need to exercise your drawing muscles and these books from Library Tales Publishing by art teacher and professional artist Catherine V. Holmes will help you do just that. There are three How to Draw Cool Stuff books which include Holidays Seasons and Events, Shading Texture Pattern Optical Illusions, and A Drawing Guide for Teachers and Students. Each softbound book includes easy step by step instructions like you see in the image above, that will walk you through roughing out the object’s shape, adding details and then shading the final product.

Catherine makes drawing fun and easy. You’ll learn to draw buildings, basic anime characters, animals, and pretty much anything else you can think of. With the tutorials included in her books, you’ll learn skills that you can use to create your own original artwork.

The books are priced at $18.99 – $19.99. Find out more at howtodrawcoolstuff.com and purchase Catherine’s books on Amazon.

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Become a doodling wizard with these How to Draw Cool Stuff books originally appeared on on February 26, 2017 at 5:51 pm.

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This supersized digital photo frame puts real artwork on your walls

A few years ago digital photo frames were really popular. I always liked the idea of photo frames, but their size was never big enough in my opinion. Enter the Digital Art Museum from Hammacher Schlemmer. This huge 32 x 21 inch 1080P digital frame can be mounted on your wall to display famous works of art that can be changed with a swipe of your hand or via a connected mobile app.

The frame has 8GB of built-in memory that is capable of storing about 2000 images. Where do the images come from? You have to create a free account on the manufacturer’s website where you can download and even upload your own images to display on the frame. I know what you’re thinking… What happens if that manufacturer goes out of business and their website shuts down? Well, I asked Hammacher Schlemmer that very question and this is the answer I received:

Thank you for your email. There is no monthly charge to download the images. You would not be able to add your own art without going through the manufacturer’s website. If the manufacturer would go out of business you would still have the images on the memory card. You would not be able to add or remove images. You would also have the option of returning the item to us for a refund through our lifetime guarantee.

If you would like to display famous works of art or even your child’s last drawing on your wall, the Digital Art Museum is priced at $595 and is available from Hammacher Schlemmer. Visit their site for more info.

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This supersized digital photo frame puts real artwork on your walls originally appeared on on February 26, 2017 at 10:45 am.

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Prynt case review

In this day and age, it’s nice to still have physical copies of favorite photos to have something tangible to look at on your desk or wall. Prynt brings a polaroid type experience by printing photos straight from your phone. It will also replay a video if you hold your phone over the photo with the Prynt app. Let’s take a look at this nifty case!

I received the Prynt case in white, along with a pack of Zink paper (a special inkless photo paper), instructions, and a microUSB cable to charge the case.

The Prynt case is compatible with the following smartphones:

  • iPhone 6/6S
  • iPhone 6/6S Plus
  • iPhone 5/5S/SE
  • Samsung Galaxy S5

My iPhone 7 Plus wasn’t listed on the compatibility list, but I was lucky and found it to work just fine!

I made sure to charge the Prynt case with the MicroUSB cable. It only took a couple of hours to fully charge, then I was ready to go. I added the Zink paper into the hatch, which fit one ten-pack at a time.

I had to press this side button to get my iPhone into the case.

Here’s the back of the case with lightning port.

The iPhone 7 Plus fit very snugly into the Prynt, but I had to remove my own iPhone case.  It made me a bit nervous to push in, but then I realized I was able to remove the “top” portion of the case by pressing against the two latches, and then snapping the cover back in.

Here I used the Prynt case with the super thin Totallee case, which I’m reviewing soon. It doesn’t sit well, so I recommend to just remove any case altogether.

After downloading the Prynt App from the iOS store, I connected the Prynt case by hitting the shutter button, and it connected automatically.

Here’s a screenshot of what the Prynt app shows you when taking a photo. You can mail a Prynt, physically print it, or edit the photo.

When printing the photos, it comes out of the case near the top of the phone. It’s similar to a Polaroid camera, but the nicer since the photo is printed right away, instead of having to wait for the photo to develop.

I found that when printing my photos, the colors were a bit “washed” out, and not very accurate to what’s on screen. It’s not terrible, but not great.

Here I was playing with the built in photo editor in the Prynt app. They have basic effects such as adjusting light, color and hue, as well as fix redeye, and adding text to the print.

You can do some freehand drawing right on the photo before printing.

You can also create your own memes.  This is the best I could do for this coffee setup. 🙂

There is a cool feature within the Prynt app where it can record a short video while you’re taking a photo. That six second video that was recorded after the shutter press is actually embedded into the photo. The video plays on the photo itself in augmented reality style when you hold the Prypt app over the physical photo. It’s like AR (Augmented Reality) with your own printed photos and the Prynt. More can be seen on their own website via the “how it works” link.

Overall, I had fun using the Prynt case. I printed a few shots and gave them out to my friends at a party, which was fun, but having the phone in the Prynt case was a pain since it’s so bulky.  I think I’d rather have a thinner case or separate printer. I’m going to guess that the next revision of the Prynt will be thinner, and hopefully, the quality of the photos will be better. For now, it’s a lot of fun to have at gatherings and nice to have a physical print of your favorite photos.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Prynt. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price: $149.99
Manufacturer: Prynt
Requirements:
  • iPhone 6/6S
  • iPhone 6/6S Plus
  • iPhone 5/5S/SE
  • Samsung Galaxy S5
Pros:
  • Fun to use
  • Never failed to connect
Cons:
  • Huge in size
  • Photos look washed out and not accurate to digital version

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Prynt case review originally appeared on on February 26, 2017 at 9:45 am.

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