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Tame that nest of snakes in your laptop bag with the Side Winder

Chargers for MacBooks have permanently-attached cables that can be hard to roll up and control for neat transport.  The chargers used to have little flip-out wings that were designed to wind the thin cable around without stressing the attachment point, but those wings are missing from the chargers now.  Even when they were there, they didn’t really work well for the thick power cable, just the side with the MagSafe connector.  The folks at Fuse decided to do something to tame the nest of cable snakes with their Side Winder reel organizer for MacBook.

The Side Winder is a white plastic reel that holds the charger in the center.  Snap the Side Winder closed and reel up both cables into a neat package.  To use the charger, you pull on the ends of both cables to unwind them.  You can completely pull the cables out or just pull out the length you need to connect everything up.  When you’re ready to pack things away, Fuse says you can wind up your cables in under 5 seconds.  And the Side Winder protects your cables and prevents fraying.

The Side Winder is available in two sizes to fit either the MagSafe 1 or 2 charger or the USB-C charger.  It’s compatible with the 45W, 60W, 61W, 85W, and 87W chargers.  The normal price for the reel is $42.99, but it’s available now for $28.99 at Fuse.

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Tame that nest of snakes in your laptop bag with the Side Winder originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 3, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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Is this April Fools or real news?

Is this for real?

When JLab has a press release on April 1 for their Rewind Wireless Headphones, I have to wonder if it is for real or not. Nostalgic 80’s items are prevalent in many of today’s TV programs and Movies. Films like Ready Player One and Guardians of the Galaxy and TV programs like Stranger Things and The Americans use 80’s nostalgia to target viewers appetite of reliving fond childhood memories. The item certainly looks like it belongs in the 80’s, with the spring steel band and foam earpads. Would anyone want to use these in this day and age if there is a possibility people will think it is the authentic article from almost 40 years ago? Then again, maybe it would be interesting to be able to relive, in some sense, the good ole’ days of strapping headphones on and listening to hiss and warble.

Modern Day Specs

Even if they look old school, these headphones come with an impressive line-up of features. The features include 12 hour play time, custom EQ settings, two colors of foam ear pads, and built-in microphones. That’s right, these babies are Bluetooth, which means you’ll need an adapter to use them to listen to your mixtapes. They (supposedly) sell for $20.00 and come with a 1-year warranty and a 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee.

Click here to find out more info from JLab.

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Is this April Fools or real news? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 2, 2018 at 8:49 pm.

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Exist app knows if tweets, emails or working out makes you happier

Is there an app that can figure out what makes you happy, productive, and active? Hello Code’s Exist for iOS and Android thinks it can. This app gathers data from your Twitter account, email account, local weather, Google Fit, Withings, Fitbit, Instagram, Facebook, and other accounts to draw conclusions about your moods and behaviors.

The app gives you the ability to add any tag that you’d like to your day like sick, headache, vacation, travel, etc. and will then use these tags with the rest of your correlated data to show you trends for your behavior and activities. Some trends might be that you’re more active on Mondays, or that you say you’re happier on days when you don’t receive as many emails, or that you’re sad on days when you send more tweets.

You can also use the app to track habits like flossing, working out, etc and receive a weekly email showing an overview of everything that happened.

The Exist app is free, but the service costs US$6/month with a free 30-day trial so you can get an idea of what types of info it can tell you about yourself before you actually start paying for it.

These days, we all use so many different services, that it’s interesting to see how the data fits together to form the puzzle of your days and weeks.

Grab the free Exist app at Google Play store or iTunes and visit exist.io for more info.

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Exist app knows if tweets, emails or working out makes you happier originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 2, 2018 at 3:08 pm.

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Kronos Lift Desk keeps your workspace organized at any height

The Kronos 6752 Lift Desk from BDI allows you to sit or stand, just as you’d expect from an adjustable-height desk. Kronos is a little different from other standing desks I’ve seen, though, because it adds a shelf to keep your desktop organized.  And its motorized adjustment makes going from standing to sitting and back again as easy as pressing a single button.

The desk is made of powder-coated steel, high-pressure laminate, and walnut veneers.  Work surfaces are smooth and durable.  In addition to the shelf, there’s a flip-down keyboard and storage drawer that’s lined to keep contents secure.  The workspace measures 61.75″ wide x 30.75″ deep; height adjusts from 29″ to 54″ tall.

Height adjustment is simple with the electronically-powered leg system that’s controlled with the digital keypad.  The keypad is programmable with four user-defined presets.  Built-in wire management channels and a “modesty panel” on the back conceal wiring to keep your workspace neat and uncluttered.

Kronos is available in white and natural walnut only.  BDI also offers a matching mobile credenza and multi-function cabinet to complete your office.

The BDI website can help you find a local retailer, or you can purchase BDI products from online retailers.  One online retailer offering the BDI Kronos 6752 Lift Desk is the Modern Essentials website, where it’s available for $1999.00.

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Kronos Lift Desk keeps your workspace organized at any height originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 2, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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EcoXGear EcoDrift Bluetooth speaker review


I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy being able to take my music with me anywhere I go. While cell phone manufacturers have developed better and better speakers for the phone, it just doesn’t match the quality of a dedicated speaker. My previous portable speaker had been stolen, so I was in luck when EcoXGear sent their Ecodrift Bluetooth speaker to review. It is waterproof, which was an upgrade from the one I used before.

What is it?

The EcoXGear EcoDrift is a waterproof, rugged Bluetooth speaker. It is portable and can be used both indoors and outdoors.

Hardware specs

  • IP67 Waterproof/Shock resistant
  • 15 hours playtime
  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • 2600 mAh rechargable battery
  • LxWxH: 5.5″ x 5.5″ x 2.3″
  • Weight: 17 oz

What’s in the box?

In the box you’ll find the EcoDrift speaker, charging cable, instructions, and a carabiner attached to a screw that mounts to the bottom of the speaker.

Design and features

This speaker is simple in design, with all the buttons you’ll need on the top, charging port on the side, and there is an added bonus of a screw mount point on the bottom for mounting to a tripod or some other type of mount.

The ‘feet’ that are located on all four corners of the speaker are rubber and keeps it from sliding around. It also gives a good bit of padding in case it gets tossed around. I tossed it into my backpack for tennis practice and there’s not a scratch on it, and I feel quite confident that when I take it out camping or kayaking that it will hold up to being dumped on the ground.

As I mentioned above, all the buttons are conveniently located in one area. They were a bit difficult to press down, which most likely has to do with them being waterproof. You need to make sure to press directly in the center of the button firmly, else it won’t register. I liked that pressing the play/pause button started the music without having to even touch the phone, which is convenient when dealing with water. The microphone button will activate Siri on your iPhone, and there is a slight delay, but it worked well. The microphone on the speaker picked up my voice well, so I could use it for phone calls or to use Siri with no problem at all. The power indicator and battery level indicator lights are green, while the Bluetooth indicator light is blue. One thing I noticed was when the speaker ran out of power, there was no warning, it just shut off.

Setup

It was very easy to pair the speaker with my phone, and after the initial pairing, it connected automatically whenever I turned the speaker on. There is an on and off power switch located near the charging port, but I have left it on all the time and it does not seem to drain the battery much. It took several hours for it to charge fully, which means I will just leave it to charge overnight when needed. The battery life once charged was pretty close to the 15-hour mark advertised.

Performance

I was impressed with the overall sound quality. The bass is nothing to write home about, but the mids and highs are nice and clear, which makes up for it. When I used it in a gym for background music, it was just loud enough at full volume to work perfectly. Also, when at full volume, it did not crackle or distort the sound like some speakers do. In a small room, you definitely do not need it turned up high to fill the room with sound.

The thing I was most surprised with was how well it kept the audio synced with the video when watching YouTube on my phone. I can’t stand it when the audio is out of sync, and this speaker was only off by a tiny bit. I was definitely very happy with that.

What I like

  • Portable and durable
  • Waterproof
  • Nice and clear mids and highs
  • Audio syncs well to video played on the phone

What needs to be improved

  • Could use a little more bass
  • Buttons are hard to push

Final thoughts

Overall, I really liked the EcoXGear Ecodrift speaker. I am looking forward to warm weather so that I may go out, relax on my kayak, and listen to some music. In the meantime, I will toss this in my backpack for tennis and use it to jam to tunes in the shower. I especially like the 15-hour battery life, so I can listen to my music for a good long time without worrying about charging it up.

Price: $89.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by EcoXGear.

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EcoXGear EcoDrift Bluetooth speaker review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 2, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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