The company booq has made a name for itself as a producer of high-quality carryalls. Whether you are looking for a backpack, a messenger bag, a camera bag, or a slim laptop carrier, booq's products offer a fashionable and remarkably rugged way for you to safely transport your tech gear and essential accessories. However, when a company has an extensive lineup of great gear, it can be hard to select the best iPad bag for your purposes. To that end, I've chosen two similar products from the booq catalog to compare and see how they fare as iPad carrying cases. Please note, I'm a big fan of both of these products, but in the end, slight differences made one better than the other in my opinion.
Accessories
Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Tech Lover in Your Life
By Conner Carey
Valentine’s Day is nearly here. Sure, you could buy your sweetheart the traditional flowers and chocolate but the best gifts are either handmade or personally selected. If your love happens to be a tech lover as well, why not get them a gift they’ll both use and adore? For him and her, we’ve got a list of awesome V-day gifts for the tech lover in your life from the Keyboard Waffle Maker to a coffee pot you can start from anywhere.
Review: Power All of Your Devices Simultaneously with ChargeHub
By Conner Carey
When it comes to powering our multiple devices, it seems there’s no end to the amount of cords and power outlets needed to keep all the batteries charged. Seeking a solution to this disorganization, I gave ChargeHub ($59.99) a try for myself after hearing that a box the size of a hockey puck could handle seven USB chargers at any given time. That means more than just my iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, but also my Bluetooth headphones (one for sports, one for work), activity trackers, battery packs, and more can be charged. So, can ChargeHub really do it all?
GO PUCK Wants to Be the GO PRO Crowd's Portable Battery of Choice
By Todd Bernhard
There are so many vendors hawking similar products that you gotta have a gimmick in order to stand out. One such category is battery packs. GO PUCK has come up with a product differentiator that could work well. The growth of action cameras like GO PRO means there's more and more of a demand for portable power by extreme sports athletes as well as adventurous types. GO PUCK has an offering tailor made for that crowd.
REVIEW: LockSmart is a Smart and Seriously Secure Bluetooth Padlock
By Todd Bernhard
The folks from Dog & Bone have expanded beyond cases and now offer the LockSmart ($89.95) Bluetooth-enabled padlock. I had the chance to see it at CES and try it at home. The LockSmart has some serious heft and should provide serious competition to traditional padlocks like MasterLock. Of course it has a "smart" advantage, namely the ability to unlock it using the free, simple, and easy to use app I liked that it is "shareable" so you can allow authorized users the ability to unlock it. It's not just for one person and their phone. And you can choose to unlock by Touch ID, tapping the icon or entering a passcode in the app.
7 Awesome Apple Watch Accessories
By Conner Carey
Despite being a small accessory itself, the Apple Watch’s release created a full market of gear to go with it. From docking stations to tiny watch cases, there’s some really beautiful and functional products available for Apple Watch users. Here’s seven of the best and most useful accessories you can buy for your Apple Watch.
Review: Maxfield Offers Qi Wireless Charging for iPhone
By Nate Adcock
For years now, many smartphone brands have sported some kind of inductive charging capability, so it's welcome news to hear that Apple is planning to bake some cable-free power technology into an upcoming iPhone; but of course, the Apple flavor will likely aim to one-up the current paradigms. Great news, but you can give Qi wireless charging your iPhone a go without the wait. The Maxfield M1 wireless charging pad ($47.49) and adapter ($23.99) brings Qi wireless charging to iPhone, and without the requirement of buying a weird or bulky case.
Top 4 External Microphones for iPhone
By Conner Carey
For everyday uses, the iPhone has a decent built-in microphone. But if you want to get any level of professional sound, whether it be to film a movie, record a song, or conduct an interview, you’re going to need an external mic for quality sound. There’s a wide variety of options, but it’s definitely the type of product where you get what you pay for.
7 Cool & Creative iPhone Cases for Artists
By Conner Carey
There are iPhone cases for every type of personality, from the rugged, life-proof beasts to the professional, leather covers. Collections of cases are made fairly streamlined though; what if you want to show off your personality or love of art with your iPhone case? There is an array of websites offering graphic design covers but, recently, I came across Redbubble, a company that features independent art on all kinds of gear. Here are seven of my favorites amongst the 8000 options the website offers.
iOS 9.3 Brings More CarPlay App Support
By Todd Bernhard
Apple's CarPlay has slowly but steadily gained adoption by car manufacturers and now Apple has updated its list of supported car brands to over 20 that support the standard on more than one hundred models. The latest brands include Acura, Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Ferrari, Fiat, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Peugeot, Porsche, Ram, Renault, Seat, Skoda, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.
Cool New Health Trackers to Look For in 2016
By Conner Carey
Last week, CES in Las Vegas saw an influx of new products, a huge portion of which included new health trackers debuting in 2016. Considering how large the wearable health tracking industry has become, it’s no surprise we’re seeing lots of new products to meet the demand. Here’s some the best that were recently debuted or that we can expect to see take the wearable tech world by storm in 2016.
Review: 5 Best Things About My Apple Watch
By Conner Carey
I jumped on the Apple Watch bandwagon last month and bought the Sport edition for myself. Up until buying one, I’d been a pretty big proponent of it being an excessive piece of jewelry with a square face instead of a round one. But something about the Rose Gold color with Lavender sport band incited my shopping hunger, and I decided to give it a try. I’ve found the Apple Watch adds balance to the divide between technology and life, and it brings awareness to my daily habits rather than retracting from them. Here are the best five things about my Apple Watch.
Review: Adventure Ready with HitCase Pro+ & HitCase Snap
By Conner Carey
Hitcase caught my attention being touted as the GoPro killer. The HitCase Pro+ ($149.99) offers loads of protection for everything from drops to being completely waterproof. The HitCase Snap ($79.99) offers back and edge protection and is much easier to snap on and off. Both cases come with a wide lens and the company sells other lens options for both cases. Here’s my review after using each case.