By Mike Riley
The variety of Bluetooth speakers on the market is overwhelming, making it a challenge to find the perfect design for your eyes and ears. A recent entry into this crowded market is Archeer's Bluetooth Speaker A320 ($79.99). What makes this speaker stand out? Read on to find out.
By Mike Riley
As more Apple devices pile up on desks and nightstands, minimizing clutter becomes a chore. Fortunately, Archeer has designed a product to elegantly reduce the cable clutter while keeping your iOS devices charged. Does it do the job well? Read on to find out.
By Mike Riley
The Home app has officially arrived with iOS 10, finally letting you control all your smart home devices in one place, from light bulbs to thermostats to security systems. In order to take advantage of this application, you’re going to need some HomeKit-compatible hardware. In this article, I’ll share some of the best smart home products on the market today. As a home automation enthusiast for more than 30 years now, I am extremely impressed with how easy HomeKit makes the setup and configuration process. If you’re still intimated by the idea of installing new hardware, no need to worry. I’ll walk you through the process!
By Mike Riley
Looking for an easy-to-use home security solution that works wirelessly both indoors and outdoors? Netgear's Arlo Pro (starting at $249.99) meets those requirements and offers loads of other features that make it worth a closer look.
By Mike Riley
I am always on the lookout for innovative solutions to digital lifestyle situations. With the advent of information and entertainment consumption from iPhones and iPads comes the need to orient comfortable living spaces around that focused activity. Birdrock Home is just such a company that has designed a portable solution to address this new work and play space. Let's look at what they have to offer.
By Mike Riley
With the warm and sunny days of summer on its way, broadcasting your iTunes music library and podcasts outdoors for yourself and others to enjoy while working in the garden or playing at the beach would be really nice. But unless you have a spare generator to power your portable Bluetooth speakers and have it protected against unexpected water events, such a configuration could prove cumbersome and expensive. Ecoxgear has solved this dilemma with its SolJam HD Solar waterproof Bluetooth wireless speaker ($149.99).
By Mike Riley
2017 is shaping up to be the year of the board game digital conversions, with the very popular Terra Mystica ($9.99) being yet another physical board game making the leap to the virtual digital realm. Does the game capture the essence of the source material while taking full advantage of gaming on iOS? Read on to find out.
By Mike Riley
In the Spring 2017 of iPhone Life magazine, I wrote a roundup of HomeKit-compatible home-automation gear, which included Elgato's Eve Room indoor temperature and humidity sensor, its Eve Door & Window wireless contact sensor and the Eve Energy electricity toggle switch. This brief post reviews two more members of the Eve family, the Eve Motion ($49.95) wireless motion sensor and the Eve Weather ($49.95) wireless outdoor sensor.
By Mike Riley
With the success of the recently released Nintendo Switch portable gaming tablet, there has been a resurgence of interest among iPad gamers to bring their iPads to parity with what the Switch has to offer. One standout feature of the Switch is its analog joysticks on the left and right side of the screen. Perhaps Nintendo got its inspiration for this design from GameVice, a company that announced the first iteration of its iPad game controller back in 2014. Now that its iPad game controller idea has been amplified by Nintendo's success, read on to find out how the current version of the GameVice Mfi controller ($99.95) works with the iPad Pro and Mini form factors.
By Mike Riley
Another day, another headset review. Or so I thought when the Monitor Bluetooth Headphones ($249) from classic amp brand maker Marshall showed up at my door. That blasé attitude quickly disappeared once I opened the box to discover a degree of design and material quality rarely found on wireless Bluetooth headphones these days. To learn about the most important aspect, how the Monitor Bluetooth Headphones sound, read on.