It figures that now that the iPhone finally has Qi charging, that Qi charging docks are becoming not only popular but cool. For example, check out the Venus Qi charger from Bourge Design. With its metal and glass design, it looks like something right out of Star Trek. It features a unique wedge shape and two additional ports to charge your other gear. There’s a USB 3.0 port on the front and a USB Type-C port.
But what’s even more unusual is that you can connect two Venus chargers together back to back to create a hub. Bourge Design created the Venus chargers to be modular from the beginning, so it’s likely that other accessories may be available in the future.
The Venus wireless charger is priced at $89.99 for one and $159.99 if you want to order two. They will be available in Q2 and can be pre-ordered now from bourgedesign.com
If you play a stringed instrument, there’s one thing that you always do before you play a song. You make sure the strings are in tune. If you aren’t blessed with perfect pitch, you own a tuner. Tuners come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but most of the ones you see today, clip to the instrument’s headstock and use a microphone or vibrations to help you tune each string.
As you pluck each string, the display will tell you if you’re higher or lower than the desired note. You then tighten or loosen the string, pluck it again, check the tuner’s display, and repeat until each string is in tune. Today I’m going to show you a tuner that you just put on the instrument’s tuning peg, pluck the string and it does ALL the rest of the work. Let’s take a look at the Roadie 2 guitar tuner.
What is it?
The Roadie 2 guitar tuner is a handheld stringed instrument tuner that has a built-in motor and peg head winder.
What’s in the box?
Roadie 2 tuner
USB Type-C cable
Product manual
Design and features
The Roadie 2 is made of plastic, with a square grip in the center, a power button and selection wheel on the left, a display in on top, and a peg connector on the right.
The peg connector has an open cross cavity that is designed to let it fit over most instrument tuning pegs. But more about that later.
The power button on the opposite side has an LED that lights up in blue when you press it to turn on the tuner and it lights up in green or red to let you know if the string is tuned or if you’re trying to tune the wrong string.
Around the button is a selection wheel that is used to navigate the Roadie’s built-in menus.
On the bottom of the tuner is a USB Type-C port which is used to recharge the tuner’s batteries. One charge should last about a month depending on how often you tune your instruments.
As mentioned above, the Roadie has been designed to fit over a string’s tuning peg like you see here. I tested the Roadie with 5 of my ukulele’s. The tuner’s peg connector fit fine on all but one of my instruments.
One of my ukes has thicker tuning pegs and the Roadie’s peg connector was too small fit over the end so the tuner did not work at all for that instrument. This is an important fact to keep in mind if you plan to buy this tuner as the peg connector might be too small or too large for some tuning pegs. Roadie does offer an adapter to make the peg connector smaller for mandolin sized tuners but I can’t find any info on how to use it with larger tuning pegs.
Let’s tune something!
To start using the Roadie 2 tuner, you first must charge it. Then all you have to do is press the button on the side to turn it on.
A white on black display on the top edge of the tuner turns on and you can use the wheel on the left to select an instrument. The tuner has guitar, ukulele, mandolin, and banjo instruments already loaded. If you want to load other instruments, you have to use the Roadie iOS or Android app and sync them to the tuner.
If you choose guitar, you can choose between Acoustic, Electric, and Classical which is weird because all of those guitars use the same standard tuning. You can also customize the number of strings that your instrument has depending on the instrument you choose.
Since I have ukuleles, that’s what I picked and was only given the choice of 4 strings, which is fine because that’s all they have.
Once selected, you will see the lowest string highlighted on the display. At this point, you put the Roadie’s peg connector over that string’s peg on your instrument and pluck that string. The Roadie 2 will use a sensor to detect the instrument’s vibrations to determine if the string needs to be tightened or loosened to put it in tune. The peg will turn a little bit and you will then need to pluck the string again and again until the tuner beeps and the button on the side glows green to tell you that the string is in tune.
You’re then prompted to put the peg connector on the next string. If you try to fool the tuner and put it on the wrong string, it will let you know by showing a warning on the display.
And the button on the end will turn red to let you know that you’ve been very bad.
Tuning proceeds with each string until you’re done. You don’t even need to be able to see the tuner’s screen, the color of the power button, or hear the beep to know that the string is in tune which is great if you’re in a noisy environment because the Roadie 2 will also vibrate to let you know.
If you’re wondering how accurate the Roadie can tune your instrument, their website says that detection accuracy: is less than +1 cent, tuning accuracy is up to +2 cents. All I know is that when it’s all said and done that my ukes sounded in tune.
See it in action
I ran into one other issue using this tuner that is worth noting. When I tried to tune one of my favorite ukes, it unwound each string instead of tuning it. I couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t work and checked to make sure that the strings were installed correctly, which they were. It finally occurred to me that the tuners on that uke were friction tuners which doing use gears and are very touchy. I guess the Roadie just can’t handle that type of tuner.
Roadie app
The Roadie 2 can be used as is or you can install the Roadie app on your mobile device to add other instruments and alternate tunings. One thing I did run into was that I could not use the Roadie with my Pixel 2 XL. The app would not connect to the tuner. However, I tried it with a Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 and it worked fine.
I only use standard tuning with my ukes and guitars so I didn’t really find the app all that useful to me.
More than a tuner
You can also use the Roadie and a string winder and unwinder when you replace your strings. It makes quick work of that task and is much easier than using your fingers or one of those cheap plastic peg winder gadgets.
What I like
It does the tuning and all I have to do is pluck the string
Rechargeable battery
Can setup alternate tunings if that’s your thing
Can be used to rapidly wind or unwind when replacing strings
What needs to be improved
Peg connector may be too small or too large for some instrument tuning pegs
Expensive
Final thoughts
I’m lazy, so I like it when gadgets can do most or all of the work for me. The Roadie 2 is such a gadget. As long as it can fit on your instrument’s tuning pegs and you don’t have friction tuners, it works great. The Roadie 2 guitar tuner is a fast, easy, and fun way to keep your favorite stringed instruments in tune.
Price: $129.00 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample for this review was provided by Roadie.
Although this Kickstarter project falls more into the cool factor than a gadget, the Ignite ring does fuse lava rock, a proprietary polymer and carbon fiber to a unique ring. As you can see from the picture, the Ignite has an outer hard shell (lava rock) and a glowing inner polymer ring. The lava rock in this ring is actually broken down, reformed and then shaped into the ring form. The Ignite has three versions on the Kickstarter page each with its own characteristics. The V1 is the ring with the inner glow. V2 has the inner flow and an outer glow ring of the same color. V3 lets you pick the colors of the inner glow and outer ring, they can be different from each other. I am drawn to the Ignite V3 that lets you pick the inner glow and the outer ring glow. With glow colors including white, teal, violet, orange, green and blue there is probably a color that will appeal to you. Pledges for this project start at $35 for an Ignite V1. This project runs through February 15, 2018, and if successful will ship in the April 2018 time frame.
We told you about the S’Well bottle that keeps your beverage at the perfect drinking temperature before. That bottle had a shape similar to an iconic cola beverage, with a narrow neck and mouth. That bottle was perfect for sipping from, but you couldn’t add ice to the drink. Now S’Well has introduced the Traveler mug, which is still made of high-grade 18/8 stainless steel, still BPA-free, and still has a triple-walled construction for maximum insulation, which means no condensation on the exterior. The Traveler bottle has a wide mouth, which means you can easily add ice, makes it easier to add hot beverages or thick smoothies to the bottle, and allows you to stir your beverage.
All S’Well bottles not only help you reduce waste, but they also help you support charities with your purchase. S’Well supports UNICEF USA, American Forests, BCRF, and (RED).
Just like the original S’Well, the Traveler shape will still keep cold beverages cold for 24 hours and hot beverages hot for 12 hours. The Traveler is available in 12 ounce ($30), 16 ounce ($35), and 20 ounce sizes ($40), and in a variety of designs at S’Well.
I’ve been dealing with pain in my right hand and thumb for a while now and it’s progressed to the point where I know that I need to do something about it. Instead of going to the doctor which I haven’t yet, I’ve been trying to “fix” it myself by doing exercises and trying ergonomic mice. The latest mouse that I’m testing is the Contour Design Unimouse. Let’s take the cursor for a spin and check it out.
What is it?
The Unimouse is an ergonomic mouse with multiple physical adjustments that are used to customize the mouse to your hand for optimal comfort.
What’s in the box?
Contour Design Unimouse
micro USB cable
USB 2.0 cable adapter
USB receiver dongle
Design and features
The Unimouse looks similar to a traditional mouse at first glance, but a second look reveals that it has additional buttons and other features that set it apart from the mouse you may be using now.
First of all, it has three buttons AND a scroll wheel which isn’t all that typical these days. There are also forward and backward buttons on the left side.
The bottom of the mouse has a power switch and a slot that holds 4 weights.
But the most interesting features of the Unimouse are seen from the side. As you can see in the image above, this mouse has a strange looking thumb rest and a clamshell design.
The mouse also has a micro USB charging port which you will need to use every 3 months or so. Next to the port is a row of status LEDs and a button. When you press the button, the status LEDs light up to show the DPI setting and then the battery charge status. If you press the button additional times in succession, it will change the DPI which adjusts the cursor speed from 800 DPI (slowest) up to a maximum of 2800 DPI (fastest).
The tilt of the Unimouse can be adjusted from as low as 35 degrees to a maximum of 70 degrees.
The idea of adjusting the tilt is to put your hand and forearm in a more normal resting angle to prevent RSI (repetitive stress injuries).
The angle of the thumb rest can pivot in all directions, from up and down…
And it can also pivot forwards and backward.
Learning curve or easy from the start?
I thought it might feel awkward to use the Unimouse given the sideways orientation which looks stranger than it feels. But it actually feels pretty natural and comfortable right from the first use of this mouse.
There are a couple things that I’ve after using the Unimouse for a few weeks though. For one, the middle button is set to double click by default instead of a right click. The right click is the right mouse button. I’m not accustomed to using my ring finger to right click, so it would be nice if there was a way to swap the middle and right buttons.
I also noticed that the scroll wheel doesn’t feel as smooth as other mice that I’ve used. It has built-in detents which are fine, but the whole mechanism feels a little cheap when I compare it to a similarly priced mouse like a Logitech MS Master 2S which can be set to free scroll or detent scroll.
Another issue is that the forward and back buttons sit too far back to easily press with your thumb unless you remove your hand from the mouse.
What I like
Mouse tilt and thumb rest angles can be customized
DPI adjustments
Lasts for 3 months on a charge
What needs to be improved
Only for right hand use
Forward and back side buttons sit too far back to easily press with your thumb
Can’t program the buttons
Final thoughts
Did the Unimouse cure my hand and thumb issues? While I have liked using the Contour Design Unimouse, it hasn’t cured my problem. I’m still having issues with my right hand and thumb. Using this mouse hasn’t made my existing problem noticeably better or worse for that matter. Of course, the Contour Design Unimouse doesn’t claim to fix problems if they already exist. This mouse has been designed to prevent the problems in the first place and this is the most comfortable and feature rich ergonomic mouse that I’ve tested so far. So as much as I don’t want to, it’s time for me to go see a doctor.
Price: $89.95 (Wired) or $109.95 (Wireless) MSRP Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample for this review was provided by Contour Design.
