Nate Adcock

Author Details

Nate Adcock's picture

Author Details

Nate Adcock

Nate Adcock is a system and integration engineer with experience managing and administering a variety of computing environments. He has worked extensively with mobile gadgets of all shapes and sizes for many years. He is also a former military weather forecaster. Nate is a regular contributor for the iphonelife.com and smartphonemag.com blogs and helps manage both websites. Read more from Nate at natestera.tumblr.com or e-mail him at nate@iphonelife.com.

Years ago, you could buy headphones that allowed you to adjust volume levels or balance for each ear. Though there are still some options out there, adjustable headphones are not common. In case you were wondering what the big deal is, most people do not have the exact same hearing ability in each ear (studies show most of us in the louder digital age suffer some form of hearing loss). Though we may perceive that we have perfectly balanced hearing, the truth is usually much different. Enter Aumeo ($199). Not only does it Bluetoothify your music, but also processes it according to a specific profile tailored to your unique left and right hearing ability. The result is actually pretty impressive.

Sleep deprivation in our always-on, social media-saturated world is a problem that is only growing as we add more tech to our homes. It affects our performance on and off the job and can result in significantly adverse health effects, particularly as we age. I have dealt with my share of sleep issues over the years, due to regularly traveling and working different shifts at my job. Although I don't have any magic-bullet solutions, I can offer what I’ve found to be the most helpful apps, gear, and tips for lulling you to sleep.

Adonit, maker of the awesome Dash, one of the best iPhone styluses out there (what I call the Pen to the Apple Pencil), has released another innovative iPhone stylus design called the Snap ($34.99). In keeping with Adonit's unique and clever take on the stylus for iPhone and iPad, the Snap feels like a sleek version of  a carpenter's pencil and is the perfect mobile companion for anyone who needs to keep a writing or drawing implement near an iPhone. The Snap also serves as a handy selfie remote.

Why would you line all your tablets, smartphone (and whatever else charges) on a dock in front of you? There are a few cool reasons that you may not have thought of, besides just charging them. If it seems silly to even have a tablet anymore (or an iPod), hear me out. In the right conditions, two tablets are actually better than one. Two tablets with an iPhone sandwiched in there is majorly empowering (looks cool, anyway)! Udoq, which is being featured on Kickstarter launch in the U.S. gets more than a few things right to make multi-device docking interesting.

It's no surprise that Atypical, the same folks that bring the amazing experience of Sky Gamblers—arguably amongst the best mobile air combat simulators ever— have now come out with the rolling thunder of a pulse-pounding tank combat sim to iOS. Infinite Tanks ($4.99) is as masterfully rendered and well designed as the lovingly cultivated Sky Gamblers games.

The cheap virtual reality glasses experience reminds me a little of the early fighter pilot video games of the 80s. After Burner was probably my all-time favorite (I still play it on a home arcade). As awesome as AB was, and it was awesome for its day, I remember even then (years before the movie Top Gun) thinking how much cooler it could have been. Just add a wrap-around high-res screen, simulate a real cockpit view with better graphics, and allow full control of the aircraft in all directions (like a real fighter). Enter VR some 30-plus years later—or maybe what some would call a somewhat passable facsimile. The makings of a much better AB almost. I recently grabbed one of many $20–$30 VR headsets that work with iPhone or Android, and sampled some of the better apps out there (the fighter simulator I tried made me feel sick). After mostly being only mildly impressed with the slightly blurry and jittery experiences, I found an award-winning game that makes the cheap VR thing more interesting again; but it's not a roaring jet fighter game, just a simple platformer called Space Box ($0.99).

If you’ve ever tried using your iPhone or iPad to consult a manual or read a recipe while cooking or while arm-deep working under the hood of a car—any situation requiring both hands—you know how frustrating it can be to constantly have to reach over and flick the screen up to the next section. Enter Face Browse ($1.99). A web-browsing app that helps solve the issue by watching your face. No touch navigation required.

If you have kids that are seriously frightened of things that go bump in the night, maybe steer them towards Pokemon GO instead of LightEaters (or go grab Light Eaters for yourself). Light Eaters ($3.99) has a dash of the scariness in there that could frighten younglings into your room for the night (or several nights thereafter). The game idea was hatched on the crowd publishing platform BrightLocker. It's a campy platform puzzle game that excels in creating enough nervous tension to keep you tiptoeing to the next level.

Internet-of-Things technology vendors want to take over your home, car, person—you name it. And the trend will continue to pervade further into our lives as portable tech becomes ever more sophisticated. At WWDC 2016, Apple announced expanded integration with smart-home product vendors, one of which is a monitoring product called Canary ($179). I just happened to be reviewing their current 1st generation product when the announcement was released. HomeKit (and newly minted products that leverage it, like the Canary Plus to be released later this year) teases with an Apple-centric vision of smart appliances, apps and online monitoring services to come. The current Canary offers a slice of that vision.

Styluses are not much in style anymore, the Apple Pencil still being a somewhat enigmatic and premium exception. That doesn't mean you can't buy good ones for an affordable price. Those of us addicted to scribbling, old-fashioned note-taking, doodling, or sketching know the good ones. A good stylus pen, like a fine pen, has a certain weighted balance and comfortable feel that makes it practically seem to disappear in your hand. The Lynktec Apex Fusion Stylus pen ($59.99) is one such fine electronic handwriting implement.

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