If you’re a dog owner you know how important it is to stimulate your pooch on a daily basis, you can take them for walks or to the local dog park but what do you do when you’re not home. Wickedbone is a Kickstarter project that looks to keep your furry friend entertained even when you can’t.
Wickedbone is the worlds first smart and interactive dog toy. The bone shaped toy interacts with your dog using responsive triggers such as touch, lights, and sound.
There are two different modes that you can use. Drive Mode allows you to control Wickedbone using the Wickedbone App (available for IOS and Android), using the apps joystick-like controls you can choose between 9 different available motions to play with your dog.
Interactive mode allows Wickedbone to attract your dog’s attention and doesn’t require manual operations. In this mode, Wickedbone reacts to different types of touch from your dog.
Making it the perfect mode for when you’re not at home or just too busy.
The rechargeable battery lasts up to 4-hours on a 1-hour charge (depending on the mode you choose).
The Wickedbone’s wheels and protective cover are removable making it easy to clean.
You can even customize it with different colored wheels.
Wickedbone is available through its Kickstarter page for $69. But you’d better hurry as there are fewer than 140 of the 500 Early Bird pledges left and 23 days before the campaign ends.
According to their Kickstarter page, the Wickedbone is estimated to be delivered to backers this July.
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I’ve only had one previous dash cam, and it was a very cheap one. While I was waiting for the PAPAGO! GoSafe S780 dash cam to arrive, I didn’t have my hopes set very high because I had never heard of the company. When it arrived I was unexpectedly surprised by this high-quality dash cam. PAPAGO! seems to have quite a variety of dash cams and accessories.
What is it?
The PAPAGO! GoSafe S780 dash cam isn’t your run of the mill dash cam – it’s a high-quality dual camera, low light dash cam that is capable of great performance regardless of the time of day.
Before I received this product I knew nothing more than its name. Being a photography nerd, as soon as I opened the shipping box and saw the “Sony Sensor” on the front of the box, my hopes suddenly raised. Sony makes some of the best camera sensors on the market.
1920X1080P60, 1920X1080P30, 1280X720P30, .MP4 format
Storage Device
MicroSD card (Class 10, 8GB or above. Supports up to 128GB)
Battery
Built-in super capacitor
Weight
.12 lbs
Dimensions
2.2″ x 1.2″ x 2.4″
What’s in the box?
GoSafe S780
Rear Camera
Interconnect Cable
Car Charger
Suction Cup Mount
3m Adhesive Mount
Micro SD Card
User Manual
Warranty Card
Design and features
The dual camera design allows you to place the second camera either in a rear-facing position out a rear window or facing the cabin of the vehicle to record the occupants. This is a great feature for rideshare drivers who need an extra level of protection for themselves and their passengers. I occasionally do some YouTube videos, so this will come in very handy for those moments when I don’t have my regular camera running.
You can use the far right button to quickly change which camera(s) the display shows. The modes are: Front, Rear, Front and Rear (like picture-in-picture), and off. Regardless of the mode, both cameras record to separate video files at the same time.
The S780 turns on automatically and starts recording when power is applied to the plug. The camera will record 5-minute segments of video, replacing the oldest files when the memory card is full. Embedded supercapacitors provide enough power to save the recording when power is lost, either from turning off your vehicle or in the event that a crash disrupts power to the camera. A 16gb memory card holds approximately 90 minutes of video files before the files are overwritten.
While recording you can press the down arrow button for 3 seconds to capture a picture without interrupting the video recording. These are saved to a separate “photos” folder on the memory card and are not overwritten.
There’s also an emergency mode, which is activated by pressing the far left button while the device is recording. This mode will lock the current file so that it is not overwritten when the memory card is full. The locking of the file will also occur when the g-force sensor detects a crash – something I declined to test.
The main camera has a SONY Starvis sensor with a 150-degree ultra-wide angle lens, which is not only glass but has anti-reflection coating as well to eliminate flaring when facing bright lights. The quality is really good. You can make out street signs very easily, but license plate numbers were difficult to make out, but I think that’s more a limitation due to the 1920×1080 resolution than it is the camera itself.
The second camera has a 180-degree view and a SONY Exmor sensor and also features a glass lens and anti-reflection coating. The camera has a wide enough angle of view that even mounted on my rearview mirror, it was wide enough to capture both driver and passenger, seeing slightly out each side window.
Also available is an optional accessory called the TireSafe D10E (sold separately), which enabled the unit to display your tire pressure and temperature in real-time. The unit also supports a GPS antenna (sold separately) to record speed and for GPS logging on your videos, to automatically correct the time, and for other related functions. However, you can only use one of these at a time.
Something I never expected to see in a dash cam is the PAPAGO Driver Assist Features, which include Stop Sign Recognition, Stop and Go, Driver Fatigue Warning, and Headlight Reminder to help you stay safe on the road. For example, when the unit “sees” a stop sign, it will display a stop sign on the screen and give an audible beep. These features are able to be turned on and off in the settings. The stop sign feature worked well, picking up every stop sign, but if you’re going over 25mph you won’t stop in time. I would be nice if it could pick them up a little farther away. The stop and go feature worked well also, giving a lower toned beep when it detects the car in front of you has started moving, but you haven’t.
The S780 has three recording modes: Automatic Recording (Loop recording), Monitor Mode (1 picture per second to save storage space), and Motion Detection(motion-activated recording). The monitor mode is useful to make a hyperlapse video with, as it saves the pictures as frames of the video.
The unit also supports microSD cards up to 128GB which allows approximately 8 hours recording time before it loops over old videos at 1080p30 setting. The unit comes with a 16GB card.
Although there is an included quick start manual, there were no instructions for the wiring of the rear/second camera. After some discussion with Papago support, I found out that the cable for the rear camera has two bare wires that you must connect to ground and the 12 volt backup light signal. If you’re placing the camera at the back of the vehicle that would mean connecting to the backup light wire. If you’re placing the camera in the passenger compartment then you can just leave the wires disconnected, as it’s not really going to do anything for you.
If you don’t have any electrical knowledge this might require some installation help from an auto shop or a friend.
When you have the backup wires connected, the display automatically shifts to the rear camera and provides some on screen distance guides when you place the vehicle in reverse.
What I like
As I mentioned before, the Sony sensors really make this thing. The clarity and dynamic range for both day and night use are really superb. If you’re not into photography like I am, you might not fully appreciate the low light abilities of this dash cam.
One thing I really liked was the extensive menus and settings. This enables you to customize each of the features, and disable features you don’t want on.
The microphone is extremely good, it picked up sound clearly, and from a fair distance away, such as someone standing outside of the vehicle talking to me and the sound of my turn signal.
The primary power plug has a 13-foot cord, allowing you to run the cable behind panels and such so that it’s not in the way. It also has mini-USB connectors and instead of those tiny and fragile micro-USB connectors.
The GoSafe S780 is eligible to receive a lifetime of free upgrades as soon as they are issued, who can’t like that!
I really like the automatic camera view change when going into reverse.
What needs to be improved
Needs better instructions about wiring the rear camera.
I felt the buttons on the camera were a little too hard to push. Being that the camera is normally going to be mounted up and out of the way, I think they could have gotten by with buttons that were a little easier to push so that the unit didn’t move when pressing them.
Both a suction cup mount and a 3M tape mount are included for the main unit, and the rear camera has a 3M tape mount as well as holes and screws for optionally hard mounting it.
Final thoughts
Being one of the more expensive dash cams on the market, I felt as though it was a little pricey for the features it has. Sure, the video and audio it produces are fabulous, but it lacks things that other lower cost cameras have such as touch screens and fewer cords.
Price: $279.99 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample of this product was provided by Papago!
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The Monster Solara is a solar-powered indoor/outdoor Bluetooth speaker. When used outdoors, the solar panel will keep your speaker charged. When used (or stored) indoors, the speaker charges with AC power. The Solara is IPX weather resistance-rated to resist light water exposure, like an occasional splash from the pool.
360° LED panels light up the area or serve as mood lighting, with several colors to choose from. You can set the light’s timer to turn it off automatically to preserve your charge. The Solara connects via Bluetooth to your music source to produce omni-directional sound. Using Monster’s EZ-Play Technology, you can sync the Solara with up to seven other compatible Monster speakers to fill your area with music. Connections are stable with speakers up to 100 feet apart. There’s a Monster Zone Control mobile app (Android and iOS) to change the speaker’s settings from your phone.
Monster’s Solara solar-powered speaker is $199.00 at Amazon.
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Photographers and videographers alike usually have a need for a large amount of data storage. Depending on your workflow, you might be like me and have numerous SSD drives for several projects that you access quite frequently, and therefore they are always within reach. You may also have some legacy 5 ¼ drives. While the 5 ¼ drives may not be a daily part of your workflow, or drives that you walk around with, I am sure that they have content on them that you may need to access them from time to time.
This scenario describes a part of my workflow quite well, and I use multiple USB hard drive docks to provide ease and quick access. Despite the number of docks I already own, I have been looking to add one more. The Thermaltake BlacX Duet 2.5″/3.5″ SATA I/II/III USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure Docking Station seems like it would be a nice addition for me. It has a USB 3.0 interface, and is capable of data transfer speeds of up to 5 Gbps which is much better that some of my existing docks that are USB 2.0. It also supports both 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch drives, and for those that use the MAC OS, this dock will work as well. I really like the hot swap capability that these docks offer, and the 2 year warranty is a plus.
If you want to add this dock to your workflow, you can purchase one at Amazon for $59.97.
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I’m a big fan of comfy clothes and that extends to my outerwear. Hoodies and other short jackets are my preferred type of jacket when the weather is cool. Of course, any old hoodie just won’t do when you’re the Gadgeteer, so I want my hoodies to have extra features over and beyond a hood and two handwarmer pockets. I heard about BauBax almost 3 years ago when we told you about their crowdfunding campaign. Recently they offered to send me one of their original women’s sweatshirt jackets which I’ve been trying out for the past few weeks. Let’s check it out.
What is it?
Designed in the USA, the BauBax Women’s Sweatshirt is a 60% cotton 40% polyester, machine washable hoodie style zippered jacket that comes in three colors (charcoal, black, and blue) and in men’s and women’s sizes XS up to XXXL for men and XS up to XXL for women.
Design and features
At first glance, the BauBax Women’s Sweatshirt looks like a traditional hoodie jacket that most of us already own. But when you take a closer look at it, you’ll discover several extra features.
First of all, the jacket has two open handwarmer pockets like most hoodies. But the jacket also has two additional zippered pockets on the front. There’s a horizontal pocket on the upper right chest and a vertical pocket on the left chest.
The right pocket is the drink pocket and it has been designed to be large enough to hold a regular sized soda can or bottle of water. The vertical pocket has been designed to be large enough to hold a passport. I was too lazy to find my passport for the photo above, so I substituted a Field Notes sized notebook which fits great.
If you need something to write with or a stylus, BauBax has you covered because they include a telescoping combo pen/stylus that clips on to the jacket. They also include 3 extra ink refills for the pen.
If we flip the jacket over and look at the back, we don’t find anything special, but you can see that the cuffed sleeves look longer than is typical.
That’s because the sleeves have built-in slidegloves that you can use to keep your hands a bit warmer than with no gloves at all, and it helps to keep the sleeves from sliding up your arms.
When you unzip the jacket, you’ll find a black lining and additional pockets. First about that lining. I do wish that they had used either a satin lining or regular fleece lining because the lining is a lint magnet. Since it’s black, you can see every little piece of lint, every cat hair, etc. It’s also thin and stretchy so I don’t know how it will wear over time.
As for the pockets, there are 5 interior pockets (not including the hood, but more on that later). There’s an open-topped sunglasses pocket on the upper right lapel that holds an elastic tethered eyeglass cleaning or screen cleaning cloth.
Below the sunglasses pocket is a long vertical zipped pocket that is large enough to hold a tablet. It’s just big enough to hold a Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 shown here.
On the left inside lapel, there is a vertical zippered satin lined pocket for your phone and along the waistband area, there are two open-topped pockets. One is for the optional blanket and the other is for a power bank.
The hood of the BauBax Women’s Sweatshirt jacket had a built-in eye-mask. There’s also a built-in pocket that holds the inflatable neck pillow and you’ll notice in the image above that there are elastic loops that you can use to route your earbud wires.
The inflatable pillow stores in the hood. To remove it you can just unbutton the hood’s pocket and pull it out.
The pillow has a soft plush cover and a zipper reveals the air valve. The cool thing about the port is that it takes barely any air or effort to inflate the pillow. Just place your mouth over the valve and blow a few puffs of air to inflate it. You don’t even have to quickly plug the valve because as soon as you stop blowing, it automatically closes on its own.
To deflate, you just press your finger in the air valve to open it and press out the air. It’s quick and simple.
How does it fit?
I originally asked for the jacket in small, but it felt too tight, so I traded for a medium which is a perfect fit for my 5ft 6in 130 pound frame.
The jacket is soft and comfortable. The only part of the jacket that I didn’t like was the pillow stowed in the hood because it caused the hood to tug on my neck from the weight and bulk.
Oh look, I’m Mr. Robot. You can click the images for a larger view. The hood with the built-in eye mask is actually useful when you’re not trying to sleep as it gives your head a bit more protection if it’s raining.
Accessories
The BauBax Women’s Sweatshirt jacket comes with the combo pen/stylus, but if you want the 55x37inch 100% Polyester pocket blanket, it’s an optional purchase with a price tag of $25. You can also get a collapsible BPA free bottle that runs $10. I think both of these accessories should be included with the jacket.
What I like
Comfortable like a traditional hoodie
9 pockets
Hood has a built-in eyemask and can hold a neck pillow
What needs to be improved
Expensive
Blanket and bottle should be included with the jacket
The lining is thin and attracts lint.
Final thoughts
When it comes down to it, I think the BauBax Sweatshirt is too pricey compared to my favorite hoodie (the SCOTTeVEST Cotton Hoodie). That said, I do like the little extras that come with the BauBax, like the combo stylus/pen and pillow, but I think asking people to pay an extra $35 for the blanket and bottle is too much considering that the jacket already costs $150.
When it comes to clothing, personal style is a huge part of the selection process. Some people aren’t “hoodie people”. But if you are a hoodie person and would like to have a jacket that offers more ways to carry your gear besides the two handwarmer pockets, the BauBax Sweatshirt jacket for men and women is one option to consider.
Price: $149.99 Where to buy: BauBax and Amazon Source: The sample for this review was provided by BauBax.
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You can click the images for a larger view. The hood with the built-in eye mask is actually useful when you’re not trying to sleep as it gives your head a bit more protection if it’s raining.