SoFun – Page 617 – So much Fun for Today

The all new BlackBerry KEY2 may be the biggest “comeback” smartphone of the year!

In the current smart device landscape, when we think about the smartphones that we consider as top tier, names like Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel dominate as attention grabbers.

However, for many years, much of the growth and breakthroughs have been successful because of pioneer and groundbreaking companies that laid the foundation.

One such company is BlackBerry, and most recently, this company has been chasing the leaders in an effort to regain its place in the hierarchy. They have just introduced the BlackBerry KEY2, which is the newest offering of their Smartphone with the iconic BlackBerry physical keyboard. The BlackBerry KEY2 runs on the latest Android 8.1 Oreo operating system and is the first BlackBerry Smartphone to feature a dual rear camera. They have also added a speed key and a universal shortcut key that is capable of up to 52 shortcuts for instant access to apps, contacts, and other frequently used functions. The phone also features a 4.5-inch touch display that is built with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass and incorporates an all-around seamless look. Touted as the most advanced BlackBerry Smartphone ever, it has 6GB of memory, is offered in both 64GB and 128GB models, and includes a Micro SD port for expandable storage, dual rear 12MP cameras, and 2 days worth of battery life. All of that along with its enhanced security and privacy measures may just make this the comeback Smartphone of the year.

The BlackBerry KEY2 will begin shipping this month, June 2018, with the suggested retail price starting at $649 USD. You can head over to the BlackBerry website for more details.

The post The all new BlackBerry KEY2 may be the biggest “comeback” smartphone of the year! appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Blackberry, Smartphone

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Scribit art robot, Atom mini 4G smartphone, ProPoint tiny mouse, and more – Notable crowdfunding campaigns

This week we are bringing you fix crowdfunding campaigns that are currently running on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. This week’s campaigns are for people who like art, music, building things, tiny gadgets and more. Check out our picks for this week’s notable crowdfunding campaigns.

Scribit – Turn your wall into an interactive canvas

What is it?
Scribit is a robot that has been designed to draw artwork on walls vertically.

Why do I like it?
I think Scribit unique and interesting because it can be used to add artwork to walls, erase the art and draw new artwork. It can draw on a surface up to 6.5 x 6.5 feet using 4 colored erasable markers and there’s a pod on its back that heats up to (149°F) 65°C and rolls across the design to erase the ink so a new drawing can be applied. You can use existing art or add your own using an app that can import file formats that include: .svg, .png, .ai, .pdf, .jpeg, .tiff.

Where can I find more info?
The Scribit campaign ends on 7/5/18 and they have already passed their funding goal of $50,000. You can pre-order a Scribit starting at $349. After the Scribit campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in December 2018. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

Atom, World`s Smallest 4G Rugged Smartphone

What is it?
Atom is a 4G smartphone powered by Android 8.1 that is tiny enough to fit in almost any pocket.

Why do I like it?
I reviewed Unihertz’s first phone the Jelly and thought it was a cute little Android phone that fit in my pocket. Atom is their next phone and it has an IP68 certification that means that’s waterproof, dustproof, and shockproof. Atom also features a fingerprint scanner, a programmable button, dual SIM card capability, NFC, and more. If you’re tired of big phones, Atom looks like a fun alternative. You can even take pictures using it while under water.

Where can I find more info?
The Atom campaign ends on 7/10/18 and they have already passed their funding goal of $50,000. You can pre-order an Atom starting at $210. After the Atom campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in October 2018. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

ProPoint Mouse & Presenter. iPad/PC/Mac, office or travel.

What is it?
ProPoint is a tiny 3 button ergonomic pen-grip wireless mouse that can be used with your laptop and an iPad when remoted into a computer. It even doubles as a pointer for presentations.

Why do I like it?
ProPoint is an updated version of the Swiftpoint mouse that I reviewed over 7 years ago. It’s got to be the smallest full-featured mouse that I’ve ever seen and it even has a tiny USB charging dock that provides up to an hour of usage time just by plugging it in for 30 seconds. I also like that you can use it right on your laptop if you don’t have room for a mouse pad or you’re using your computer on your lap. That makes it perfect for travel.

Where can I find more info?
The ProPoint campaign ends on 7/11/18 and they have already passed their funding goal of $20,000. You can pre-order a ProPoint starting at $117. After the ProPoint campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in October 2018. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

HUMU Augmented Audio Cushion

What is it?
HUMU is a speaker built into a cushion that will not only let you hear sound, but it will let you feel it too. It uses patented hifi technology used by cinemas to provide an audio immersive experience for your music, games, and more.

Why do I like it?
I don’t really like wearing headphones most of the time and HUMU provides a similar experience without cutting you off from the outside world and without blasting your music so that it bothers everyone around you.

Where can I find more info?
The HUMU campaign ends on 7/5/18 and they are still working towards reaching their funding goal of $30,000. You can pre-order a HUMU starting at $199. After the HUMU campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in September 2018. Visit their Indiegogo page for all the details.

INFENTO®: Build Amazing Life-Size Rides With Your Kids

What is it?
INFENTO is a collection of modular kits that will enable you and your kids ages 0-14yrs to build llife-sizevehicles that they can ride.

Why do I like it?
I want an INFENTO kit for adults! It looks like so much fun to build your own bike, wagon, scooters, and more. They even have a kit with an electric motor.

Where can I find more info?
The INFENTO campaign ends on 7/12/18 and they have already past their funding goal of $50,000. You can pre-order a INFENTO kit starting at $179. After the INFENTO campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in September 2018. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

EARTH: An immersive AR/AI experience & model of our planet

What is it?
EARTH is a 3D-printed, hand-painted globe that you use with a mobile app to learn about our planet using augmented reality.

Why do I like it?
I’ve always been fascinated with regular globes and EARTH looks like a very nice miniature globe. But when you use it with the app, it becomes a great learning tool for kids, and adults.

Where can I find more info?
The EARTH campaign ends on 7/6/18 and they have already past their funding goal of $30,000. You can pre-order EARTH starting at $199. After the EARTH campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in November 2018. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

The post Scribit art robot, Atom mini 4G smartphone, ProPoint tiny mouse, and more – Notable crowdfunding campaigns appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Crowdfunded

Scribit art robot, Atom mini 4G smartphone, ProPoint tiny mouse, and more – Notable crowdfunding campaigns originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 10, 2018 at 4:52 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad review

While wireless phone charging is certainly not new (Android phones have this capability for some time), it has exploded in popularity in the past several months due, arguably, to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X having incorporated the wireless Qi charging standard into their newest feature sets. With this has come a veritable tech tsunami of wireless charging devices for Qi-enabled phones of all types. Here, we try out the CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad.

What is it?

The CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad is a simple, low-cost, wireless charger that can be used with any phone that supports the wireless Qi charging standard.

Tech specs

Model number = T511
Color options = Black (reviewed here), Rose Gold, Blue, Red
Qi charging standard certified
Input = 5 Volts @ 2 Amps
Output = 5 Watts
Dimensions = 3.5 x 3.5 x 0.4 in
Over-current, over-voltage and over-temperature protection
Compatible with iPhone 8 / 8 Plus, iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 / S8 / S8 Plus, S7 / S7 Edge and other Qi-enabled devices
Location of manufacture = China

What’s in the box?

Inside the box were the above items show in the image above and listed below:

CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad
Micro USB cable
User Manual
Adorable Panda bookmark

Design and Features

The CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad is a slim design with a square footprint. It has a soft-to-the-touch satin finish and in its center it features a gray silicone dot with two sets of gray silicone “waves” emanating outward from either side. This dot and waves are intended to act as a target to aid the user in positioning their Qi charging-enabled phone onto the pad to align the charge transmitting and receiving hard for best charging results. Assembly consisted of simply plugging the included micro USB cable into its port on the back of the charging pad. Note that the CHOETECH Wireless Charger does not include any type of power adapter, and CHOETECH recommends a 5V/1.5-2.4A adapter for best result.

The underside of the pad features a small rubber foot located at each of the four corners. These pad help prevent the pad from slipping around while placing your phone onto or removing your phone from the pad. However, don’t be like me and forget to remove the thin plastic layers protecting the feet (as seen in the image above)—the foot pads grip much better with the plastic removed.

As mentioned above, the CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad is quite slim, as seen in the image above. It is only 0.4 inches (about 10mm) thick.

The first phone that I tested with the CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad was my daughter’s iPhone 8 Plus. She typically protects her iPhone 8 Plus in a case (currently a floral-print Vera Bradley case), and she has also attached a Pop Socket to the outside of the case. See above for details.

With the case and the Pop Socket attached to the iPhone 8 Plus, it sat quite a bit off-center of the pad, as seen in the images above and below.

The Pop Socket prevented the CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad from actually charging her iPhone 8 Plus. My guess is that the location of the Pop Socket prevented the Qi charging hardware in both the iPhone and charging pad from aligning properly, thus preventing transfer of energy between the pad and iPhone.

Next, I removed my daughter’s iPhone 8 Plus from her case and placed it back on the CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad, as shown in the images above and below.

As can be seen in the previous two images, the pad charged her iPhone with no issues once the case and attached Pop Socket was removed. With the Pop Socket no longer blocking proper alignment between the charging hardware in the iPhone and the pad, it charged as expected. Additionally, the iPhone 8 Plus charged with no issues in either the horizontal or vertical orientation.

Next, I tried out the CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad with my wife’s iPhone X. My wife does have her iPhone X in a case, but does not have a Pop Socket on it. I found that without the Pop Socket but even within the case, her iPhone X charged as expected, as seen above. In fact, I had a fair amount of freedom to position her iPhone X, provided that it was roughly centered on the pad, and still achieve a charging connection. Charging the iPhone X while in the case didn’t seem to slow down the charging speed, but it did seem to produce a bit of heat on the surface of the case. So, although the pad’s User Manual recommends removing your phone from a case to charge it, this did not seem to impede the charging of my wife’s iPhone X.

In the interest of being thorough, I then removed the case from my wife’s iPhone X and as expected, it charged without issue. I even varied the position from vertical to horizontal relative to the pad (see images above and below) and it didn’t seem to affect the charging, as long as the iPhone remained fairly centered on the pad, using the dot and waves to help align it properly.

In the image above, you can see the blue indicator light on the front of the charging pad, which illuminates when a positive charging connection has been made.

After using the CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad for several weeks, my wife reported that she really likes it. It doesn’t charge as fast as a cable connection, but its level of convenience is increased over plugging in and unplugging a cable. She just lays her iPhone X—while in the case—on the pad and, ensuring that it is properly aligned, it charges every time, and when she wakes up in the morning, she can just grab it and go. It should be noted that this charger does not support rapid charging, so if you have a phone that supports this feature, you will not be able to take advantage of it with the CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad. I didn’t really miss this feature because Apple has yet to include rapid charging in the latest iPhones.

What I like

Simple, clean, thin design
Works with or without a case, though the phone must be aligned with the pad properly.

What needs to be improved

Nothing that I can report at this time

Final thoughts

The CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad is a simple, functional wireless charging device that seems to work well for its relatively low price.

Price: $12.99
Where to buy: CHOETECH or Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by CHOETECH.

The post CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad review appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Batteries and Chargers, Qi

CHOETECH Wireless Charging Pad review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 10, 2018 at 2:48 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Never lose your glasses again with the Orbit tracker

I’m blind as a bat without my glasses, and I can’t find them if I’ve forgotten where I left them. I actually had to call my husband home from work one day to help me find them. With the Orbit sensor and app, I could track them down all by myself. The Orbit tracker for glasses is small enough to fit on the inside of one of the arms of your glasses, so it won’t be visible while you are wearing them.

The tracker will fit a minimum 4mm arm width, and it’s not suitable for aviator-style glasses. It adheres to your glasses with 3M double-sided adhesive, and it measures 1.25″ x 0.2″. You won’t have to worry about sweat or rain, because it is waterproof.

The USB-rechargeable battery lasts about a month between charges. The Orbit app (iOS and Android) connects to the tracker via Bluetooth, with a range of up to 100 feet. The tracker has a built-in 80dB speaker that sounds a tone when you are leaving your glasses behind, or the app can have it chime to help you locate them. You can also see their last know location on a map in the app.

I found the Orbit Glasses Tracker at Levenger in black for $50.00. You can also purchase a tracker at the Orbit website for $39.99, but it is currently on backorder.

The post Never lose your glasses again with the Orbit tracker appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Finder, Glasses

Never lose your glasses again with the Orbit tracker originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 10, 2018 at 10:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

AIRFREE P2000 Air Purifier review

As I continue to look at as many as possible air purifiers to combat the allergies that my kids and I battle against every season, I “jumped” at the opportunity to test and review another one. Let’s see how it stands up to the test.

What is it?

The AIRFREE P2000 is an air purifier that as per the manufacturer “destroys mold, dust mites, bacteria, viruses, pollens, pet dander, tobacco and other organic allergens”.

What’s in the box

In the box, you will find the AIRFREE P2000 Air purifier and the instruction booklet.

Design and features

The AIRFREE P2000 is a small compact air purifier that is made of sturdy plastic with a built-in power cord. It is approximately 10 inches high and 8 inches in diameter and weighs only 3 1/2 pounds. The manufacturer’s specs state that it is effective in any room up to 550 square feet, and it has a small enough footprint that I think would allow it to blend in well with almost any decor. It is filterless and completely silent and requires no maintenance.

At the back of the P2000, there is the brand name, a few air vents, a touch sensor above the brand name that controls the adjustability of the night light, and the power cord.

On the top of the P2000, there is an adjustable night light that as you increase the intensity via the touch sensor, goes from white light to an intense blue light.

Performance

After plugging in the AIRFREE P2000, I began to feel the difference after about 2 days. I normally suffer from allergies that include symptoms like watery and itching eyes, sneezing, and the occasional rash and runny nose. This air purifier seems to do a pretty good job and at remarkably reducing those symptoms. It is completely quiet, and the built-in night light is a plus. It is filterless, so there is no maintenance, but I do wonder how I would know if the filtering process ever failed, other than the possible clue if my symptoms return. Otherwise, the performance so far has been good, and I will keep paying attention to see how long it remains noticeably effective.

What I like

I like the compact size of the P2000, and the fact that it is filterless thus cost-effective, and completely silent.

What can be improved

In my opinion, the P2000 seemed to take almost 2 days before I began to feel its effectiveness, albeit that after that it did work quite well. Also, if it ever stopped working properly due to some unknown factor, there should be a display that could relay the status. Otherwise, as a filterless system with nothing to check, it would just be plugged in continuously as if working and regardless of its status.

Final thoughts

This is the second Air Purifier that I have tested since ditching my conventional HEPA air purifiers, and I must say that I am pleased with both devices. While the first one is simply amazing, more effective and more capable than the AIRFREE P2000, it also costs $800. For a room that is 200 to 300 square feet, this Air Purifier works quite well, and will now serve as the allergy deterrent in my living room.

Price: $269
Where to buy: The Air Purifier Store website and Amazon.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by The Air Purifier Store.

The post AIRFREE P2000 Air Purifier review appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Air Filtration, Health and fitness, Home and Kitchen

AIRFREE P2000 Air Purifier review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 10, 2018 at 9:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.