Accessories

Like a turtle, I love to carry my home on my back. If I can depend on a single backpack to organize and carry everything I need, whether for the day or a week, I’m immensely impressed. I’ve used backpacks in the past with pockets for laptops and side pockets for water bottles, but I didn’t realize it could get so much better. The Haven backpack by STM ($99.95) is encapsulated by the name. The designers of this tech bag thought of everything.

I don’t know when headphones got so expensive, but I clearly wasn’t paying attention when CDs turned into MP3s and headphones became luxury listening items. For this reason, Jabra Move Wireless ($99.99) are a refreshing option for listeners who want awesome sound in a reasonable price range. Jabra previously impressed me with its Sport Pulse earbuds, but I was skeptical to see if Jabra’s regular headphones could stand up to the test.

We gave the Ring Video Doorbell one of our Best of Show Awards at CES a while ago, and it's nice to see such a good product getting better. While it's great to get notifications of visitors on your iOS device, sometimes you might be away from your iPhone or iPad but near your Mac. With an official (and free) Mac app, now you can see those notices on a nice big screen.

Happy Earth Day! At its Spring Event, Apple covered all the ways in which it’s helping the environment. Apple’s goal is to run all of its operations on 100 percent renewable energy, and it’s a goal the rest of the world needs to take more seriously as well. When it comes to a getting a case for our iPhone, there are often other factors we consider like protection and functionality. So here’s some of the best cases that deliver both on features and eco-friendliness.

Each year in celebration of Earth Day, we present awards recognizing the most earth-friendly mobile tech companies. Following in the carbon footprints of Apple Inc., (perhaps one of the most ecologically conscientious companies on the planet) these three brands have all raised the bar when it comes to making sustainability, recycling, and conservation top priorities.

This year, Mother’s Day falls on May 8. That means it’s time to buy a gift and plan for flowers. I don’t care who you are, your mom waddled around for nine months and gained a tiger’s skin worth of stretch marks (or went through a strenuous adoption process) — the least you can do is get her a gift to show your appreciation. Even if your mom isn’t a tech pro, there are plenty of tech items she would love and get a lot of wonderful use out of. Here’s awesome Mother’s day gifts for the tech mom in your life.

I'm enjoying making my home smarter via Apple HomeKit-compatible devices. So far I've written about iHome's SmartPlug ($39.99), which lets you set up an on/off schedule as well as control an appliance remotely, and Elgato's Eve Room ($79.95), which lets you monitor volatile organic compounds in the air in a room, as well as humidity and temperature. In this post I'll cover a handy gadget from Elgato that lets you monitor how much electricity an appliance is using: Eve Energy ($49.95). Elgato has also given me Eve Weather and Eve Door & Window and I'll cover those HomeKit devices in future posts.