NEWS – Apple has just announced that they are putting the final nail in the AirPad coffin. (Photo credit for above shot goes to The Verge.) Matthew Panzarino at TechCrunch has the dirty details: “After a delay of over a year since it was first announced in September of 2017, the AirPower charging mat has become something of a focal point for Apple’s recent habit of announcing envelope tickling products and not actually shipping them on time.” Sometimes, Physics wins over engineering hubris. So it goes.
So, what shall we do, if we want a single device that can handle the terrific trio of charging (iPhone, Apple Watch, and wireless AirPods)? Our friends at Nomad have an answer. Their Nomad Base Station Apple Watch Edition has three Qi-certified charging coils across the charging pad. (The photo below is a promo shot from Nomad’s product listing.) The pad itself can charge two iPhones or an iPhone and AirPods in a wireless Charging Case at the same time thanks to 7.5 watts of power across those coils, according to an iMore review.
Did you, like me, rush to buy the wireless AirPods, thinking that the AirPad was just over the horizon? Are you going to use a different wireless solution, or take advantage of Apple’s 14 day return policy and fall back to a wired charging pair and spend the extra $50 on a nice steak dinner? Let’s discuss the Nomad solution and any others in the comments. Maybe we can get some of these solutions into the hands of willing Gadgeteers to test and review.
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REVIEW – I’m a self-admitted paper towel addict. I use them for everything, it’s an expensive and wasteful habit. I kept track of my paper towel use for a week. In that week alone I used 64 paper towels, an average of about 9 a day. To try and cure myself of this malady I opted to review a new multi-purpose cloth towel, the Rakōt75.
What is it?
The Rakōt75 is a multi-use cloth towel that comes on a roll like a standard paper towel.
Design and features
The thing that attracted me to Rakōt75 was the fact that they came on a roll like regular paper towels. In fact, there are exactly 75 – 11” x 16” perforated sheets on each roll.
The roll fits on a paper towel holder keeping it within reach when you need it. Being on a roll also makes it easy to take them from room to room while cleaning.
Rakōt states that one roll will last up to six months depending on what you use them for.
How does Rakōt75 differ from a standard paper towel?
Highly absorbent ( it can hold up to seven times its weight in water. )
Superior strength wet or dry
Tear resistant
Can be used with any chemical
Hand rinsable
Scratch resistant
Lint-free
What can Rakōt75 towels be used for?
All of this sounds great but how do they perform in a day to day life scenario? After spending the past few weeks using them, I can tell you they faired pretty well. I used them to clean up spills, wash & dry dishes, dust furniture, clean the bathroom, and even wipe my dog’s muddy paws. In each case, the Rakōt75 performed as well as a paper towel, and in most cases even better.
I gave a few sheets to my mom to try, and she couldn’t stop raving about them. She loved how absorbent they were and said she would never use paper towels again to clean the mirrors in her house. You know if your mom likes something it must be pretty good.
Absorbency
To test absorbency, I used a single sheet of the Rakōt75 vs. a single sheet of paper towel to wipe up a coffee spill. As you can see from the video below the Rakōt75 easily beat the paper towel.
And the great thing about the Rakōt75 is that you can simply rinse it out and reuse it. Try doing that with a paper towel.
Durability
One thing I like about the towels is how durable they are. For example, I used them to wipe off my dog’s muddy paws. In the past, I would’ve gone through sheet after sheet of paper towel or several rags. With Rakōt75, I was able to use one sheet several times. When it got dirty, I rinsed it out with warm water and a little soap. See the pic below.
You can even toss them into the washing machine for a more thorough cleaning.
Durability is certainly not a problem for these towels, even when they’re wet. Depending on what I was using them for I got a good 4-6 uses from each towel. After that, they seemed to lose a little absorbency and started to fray. Your mileage may vary.
You can even cut them into halves or quarters if you don’t require a full sheet to do a particular task.
What I like
The roll is convenient
Super Absorbent
Durable even when wet
You can use them for just about any task you can think up
Eco-friendly
What needs to be improved
Nothing
Final thoughts
Although I don’t think they’ll cure me of my paper towel addiction when it comes to multi-use towels, Rakōt might just be the G.O.A.T. And, you don’t have to take my word for it, you can try them yourself. Just head over to the Rakōt75 website and get your Free Sample. What will you use them for?!
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NEWS – Wallets are an essential piece of EDC gear for most of us, and I’ve been on a continuous quest to find the “perfect” wallet (for me). We’re fans of KeySmart here at The Gadgeteeer, but only recently did I stumble upon KeySmart’s line of Urban Wallets, which look cool and appear to have some thoughtful features included. More info below!
Keysmart’s current product offering consists of the Slim Wallet, the Bi-Fold Wallet, and the Passport Wallet. Each is made from KeySmart’s lightweight and flexible Techtuff Leather (which lasts 10x longer than traditional leather), include anti-theft 360-degree RFID blocking, have external style ridges to help guide them into your pocket, Tile Slim pockets to help you track them if lost (Tile Slim not included), and are available in either Black or Slate colors.
The Slim Wallet ($39.99) is for those who prefer the most minimalist wallet carry and works well for either front- or rear-pocket carry. It fits up to 9 cards, includes an easy slide thumb slot for quick access to your most-used card.
The Bi-Fold Wallet ($49.99) holds up to 9 cards in 5 slots, and includes both an easy-slide thumb slot as well as a Card Pull Tab for easy access to a few cards. It also has a full-sized bill pocket.
The Passport Wallet ($79.99) holds up to 6 cards that fit into die-cut card slots, and also includes a Quick-Flip Passport Pocket for easy access through security, as well as a slot for boarding passes, and a full-sized bill slot. It also includes a small pen and SIM card tool.
All of these wallets look very cool and well-built. Visit getKeySmart.com for more info or to order.
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If you want to publish your content in more than one language, the most common approach is to create a multilingual website. As you’d expect, WordPress boasts a number of excellent purpose-built multilingual/translation plugins to help with this. In this article, we’ll be exploring and comparing: WPML, qTranslate XT, and Polylang — arguably the best,… View Article
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