NEWS – When you think of technology, you probably don’t think ballpoint pens. That is up until now. The Beyond Ink Pen will make you rethink the way you look at ballpoint pens.
As you may have guessed the Beyond Ink Pen isn’t your run of the mill ballpoint pen. Yes, it’s a luxurious pen made of brass and stainless steel that uses a high-end Lamy ballpoint pen tip for clear and attractive writing, but that’s where the similarities between it and a typical ballpoint pen end.
The Beyond Ink Pen is a multi-functional smartpen that contains all the features you need in a typical workday, right at your fingertips.
You can use it as a normal ballpoint pen for writing on paper or can switch it in seconds to a state-of-the-art stylus tip, for use on tablets and touchscreens.
Abuilt-in 1,000mAh battery and nicely concealed Lightning Cable allow you to charge your iPhone on-the-go. There’s also a model for Android users that replaces the Lightning cable with a Micro USB cable.
Last, but certainly not least, the top of the pen comes off revealing a built-in USB flash drive that has 16GB of memory storage.
The Beyond Ink Pen is available in Android or IOS models in your choice of black or white.
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NEWS – Are you interested in buying some Apple AirPods but don’t want the same white that everyone else has? If so, ColorWare has the product you’re looking for. They take various electronic devices and paint them to give you the unique device you want. They add color to game controllers, microphones, computer mice, headphones, and AirPods. If changing the color isn’t enough to pique your interest, ColorWare is offering two special, limited-time finishes for the AirPods.
The first finish is the AirPods Retro seen above. The rainbow colored power button, faux vents, and the putty color harken back to the Apple IIe. Changing the color doesn’t affect the functions of the AirPods – it just gives this set a cool 1980s vibe. The AirPods Retro are $399.00.
If you want to match your AirPods to your Space Gray iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, you’ll need the AirPods Space Gray for $349.00.
And if you just want a change from white, you can choose from a variety of bright colors. You can even choose different colors for the left and right pods and a third color for the case itself. Custom ColorWare AirPods are $339.00.
Learn more about custom AirPods and the other products offered at the ColorWare site.
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REVIEW – Ever since the famous GoPro Action Camera was launched, many companies have tried to follow that model by creating a similar product with similar features, but for a lower cost. I recently got the opportunity to test and review just such a product. Here are the results:
What is it?
The Apeman Trawo Action Camera is a GoPro style action camera, with 4K capability and a host of similar GoPro features for capturing action and movement footage in all types of environments and scenarios.
What’s in the box
1 x Apeman Trawo Action Camera
1 x Waterproof Case
1 x Additional Rear case Cover
1 x Micro USB Cable
7 x Various Case Mounts
1 x Micro Fiber Cleaning Cloth
1 x Pack of Velcro Straps (Assorted Sizes)
4 x Plastic Ties
1 x Wire Strap with Double-Sided Tape
3 x Base Mounts (@ with ¼-20mm female mounts)
(I received a pre-release version of this camera, so no instruction booklet was included in the box)
Design and features
Much like other Action cameras available today, the Apeman Trawo Action Camera is a small compact action camera that without the waterproof case measures approximately 2 1/4″ x 1 3/4″ x 1″. When in the waterproof case, it measures approximately 3″ x 2 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ at the widest and longest sides. The LCD screen is approximately 1 1/2″ x 1 1/4″. It is well built and in my opinion, it does not feel cheap in any way.
The controls for the camera are on the sides. On the top of the camera, there are 2 buttons. With the camera facing forward, the top left button has 2 main functions on the button. The front of the button powers the camera on and off and the back of the button switches the camera mode between video, camera, viewing, settings modes. The button on the top right turns the record function on and off, works as the shutter button for taking pictures and also works as the selection button when in settings mode.
On the left side of the camera, there are 3 ports with a removable cover. These ports are the micro SD card slot, the micro USB port, and the micro HDMI port.
On the right side of the camera, are the up and down buttons for navigating.
At the bottom of the camera, there is the battery port and cover.
The waterproof case that comes with the camera has water-sealed buttons that mirror the buttons on the camera, but the sides with the ports and battery are sealed.
Settings
The Apeman Trawo has a large selection of settings that offer great customization. Navigating through the settings is very easy and every choice is very clear. The following is the list of settings located on the “settings” screen. I have provided details on the first 2 since many folks would want that preliminary information:
Video resolution – 720P@60fps 1280* 720 ~ 4K@30fps 3840*2160
Image size from – 3MP 2048*1536 ~ 20MP 5120*3840
Time-lapse, Loop Recording, Anti-Shake, Lens Angle, Shooting Timer, Burst, Mic, Exposure Compensation, ISO, AWB, Scene, Rotate, Light Frequency, Language, Date/Time, Date Stamp, Wi-Fi SSID, Screen Saver, Auto Shut Off, Delete, Format, Default Setting, Version. (See Settings Screens Below)
Performance
I used the action camera for daily activities to see how it would stand up to things I normally do. For the first test, I bought a windshield mount, and I tried it out as a dashcam.
The footage I got was very good and the stabilization worked well. However, the camera seemed to have some negative effects from the heat of the sun through the windshield. Let me first say that before each test, I charged the battery overnight to ensure that it was fully charged. Each time I used it, it either shut down at around an hour or so of use, or when it didn’t, the battery drained very quickly, or the sensors told the camera that it was drained. Each time the battery indicator was red, and when I removed the camera from the windshield mount and powered it off, waited a bit and powered it back on, the battery showed back in the white, but also on the low side. My conclusion is that there must be some effect from the heat.
Here is some footage from the dashcam: (Notice near the end of the video when I am driving on really rough roads, how well the Anti-shake works).
My next test was to see if the waterproof case was, in fact, waterproof and to see what kind of underwater footage I could get with the water thrashing up against the camera. For this test, I purchased a waterproof monopod with a 1/4″-20mm stud.
I then submerged the camera into the waves of the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean. I am not a diver so I am not sure what the depth threshold is, but the case is definitely waterproof. Here is some of the footage:
The Action Camera also takes wide and clear pictures. (You can choose the lens angle in the settings)
Hisi 4K CAM
What I like
I like the small form factor of the camera that mirrors that of the GoPro. I like that is records in 4K, and that the waterproof case really is waterproof. The footage is great.
What can be improved
Battery response to heat
Better battery life
Addition of a detailed instruction booklet
Final thoughts
When I first received the Apeman Trawo Action Camera for review, I was expecting a less than capable GoPro knockoff that like many similar products, would not do any one thing very well. I must say that I am quite surprised by the performance and capabilities of this action camera. It performs very well, albeit with a few issues that I am sure can be overcome. It offers great footage and great resolutions, and the stabilization actually works. When comparing the price to other action cameras that offer the same quality and features, in my opinion, this is a great choice.
Price: $139 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample for this review was provided by Apeman.
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NEWS – About 5 years ago ( ) I wrote a news item on Mightytext, a neat utility that allowed you to send and receive texts on your desktop. I’ve been using this pretty much every day since. Well, finally Google has come up with their own version otherwise known as Google Android Messages. Like Mightytext you can open a browser window and send and receive texts (SMS) to and from your desktop as well as making it easy to send media such as pictures and video (MMS).
Google Android Messages also incorporates smart replies, handy when you’re busy and on the move. This now replaces Textra and Mighty Text on my phone, two daily used apps. Both the phone and desktop interfaces look good and are easy to use. Worth checking out, especially if you do a lot of SMS/MMS. It also supports chat (RCS) but that’s no use to me (and let’s face it Google’s messaging strategy has been a bit fragmented to say the least).
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REVIEW – There is almost no end to the number of security cameras on the market today, which is one of the reasons I’ve put off buying one. When the chance to review the Guardzilla 360 security cam came along, I jumped at the opportunity to see just what it could do.
What is it?
The Guardzilla 360 Outdoor All-In-One HD Camera is weatherproof Wi-Fi enabled outdoor security camera capable of notifying you via your phone when motion is detected. It also has the ability to stream live video to your phone and much more.
What’s in the box?
Guardzilla 360 Outdoor All-In-One HD Camera
Power adapter and 10′ power cord
Wall/ceiling mount
Desk stand
Window sticker
Setup Guide
Design and features
The Guardzilla 360 is designed to be able to see in all directions when mounted on a ceiling, wall, or table top. In effect, it’s just half of a sphere and not a full 360 degrees like a 360 action camera. When used as a security camera, as it’s designed, it’s perfect. You can simply swipe your finger on your phone screen and view an entire room or look in every direction if mounted on a ceiling.
The Guardzilla 360 has versatile mounting options such as a stand for placing it on any flat surface and a magnetic mount for mounting it to a wall or suspending it from a ceiling or eave. The magnetic ball mount is not only fantastic for pointing the camera in any direction, but it’s also extremely strong. I chose to mount it on my wall to monitor my office.
The Guardzilla 360 can run from both an AC power cord, or from the built-in rechargeable battery. The battery option is really nice in the case of a power outage or temporarily placing it somewhere.
The setup of the camera was pretty straightforward and easy. You can connect multiple cameras. I had only one camera, and each time I started the app it would automatically start with that camera selected.
Monitoring is as simple as tapping the “Monitor” button in the app. Once you’re monitoring you can adjust the volume, brightness, contrast, point-of-view, and designate whether it is mounted on a wall, ceiling, or table top.
Rotating your phone also rotates the view to full screen:
The night vision of the camera is good, however, sometimes there is a noticeable degradation in the picture quality, almost as though it’s not focusing correctly. I didn’t notice that before the last firmware update. The non-night vision mode actually performs pretty well in very low light.
Saving a snapshot during monitoring saves the full 360 image to your camera roll:
I found that the 90dB Siren just didn’t seem to be very loud. I’m not sure if it’s just me but I expected it to be much louder. My iPhone app showed it to be about 70dB at about 6 feet away, which is just over a regular speaking volume. There’s also no way to manually trigger the siren, it’s only set off when the motion detection is on. There is a setting for how long it plays though: 5, 15, 30, 60 or 120 seconds.
The motion sensors worked very well. Motion detection can be set to low, medium, and high. I set mine to low to avoid picking up my pets as often, but it would still pick up a person walking into the room. When the camera is “armed”, it can send an e-mail, text, and phone push notifications when motion is detected. Notifications were very quick and often arrived within 3 seconds. There is an event history list in the app where you can view events such as alarm set, alarm disarmed, motion events, images taken manually, etc. All motion events are captured in 8-second video clips and retained for two days for free. Cloud storage options provide longer video retention options. There’s even a setting to automatically arm and disarm the camera when you’re away by using your phone’s GPS location.
There is a listen feature that lets you hear what happens around the camera as well as a two-way talk feature that allows you to have two-way conversations through the camera’s speaker and mic.
The Guardzilla 360 can also integrate with other devices and services such as Nest, IFTTT applets, Alexa, and Google Assistant.
Guardzilla also offers professional 24/7 security monitoring for only $9.99 a month.
The one thing I would really like to be able to do is view the camera via a desktop browser. I work from home, and there are times I would like to monitor the front of my house when I’m expecting a delivery. Browser-based monitoring would be much easier than trying to do that via my phone.
There are quite a few settings for the app, but they aren’t all on one screen. If I had to choose something that I would like to see changed, I would prefer if they were organized differently, and showed the current setting value without having to tap on it. Here are a just some of the setting screens in the app:
What I like
No blind spots in camera coverage
Very good motion detection
Built-in rechargeable battery
Magnetic ball mount
Phone software automatically updates the camera firmware
What needs to be improved
The monitor view slowly creeps to the left (could be an issue with my phone)
A desktop browser-based viewer would be nice
Louder siren
Manually triggerable siren
Better indication of what video is saved in the cloud
Final thoughts
Overall I really like the Guardzilla 360 camera, and almost all of the things I would like to see improved could probably be addressed in future app updates. Guardzilla really seems to be on top of things also as they updated the app a couple of times while I was doing this review.
Price: $199.99 Where to buy: BestBuy Source: The sample of this product was provided by Guardzilla
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REVIEW – There is almost no end to the number of security cameras on the market today, which is one of the reasons I’ve put off buying one. When the chance to review the Guardzilla 360 security cam came along, I jumped at the opportunity to see just what it could do.
The Guardzilla 360 can run from both an AC power cord, or from the built-in rechargeable battery. The battery option is really nice in the case of a power outage or temporarily placing it somewhere.
