Todd Bernhard

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in January 2019, I got a sneak peak at the Pivo Tracking Photography Mount ($179). The Pivo is a slick automatic phone or camera mount that can rotate via Bluetooth controller. The free companion app allows the mount to automatically track a user by face or action. I was really impressed, and now that the Pivo is real and I've tested a sample unit, I can finally vouch for it. 

I have been going to trade shows like the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas every year for decades now, to try to find the best consumer gadgets to review. I also try to go to shows like Comic-Con, as today's toys are increasingly intelligent and connected. So I was glad to see the Audio Pet Animal Bluetooth Speaker ($39.99) from My Audio Life at the most recent New York Comic-Con. The company let me try the adorable Narmony, a Narwhal that would be at home under the sea, or more accurately, submerged one meter for up to 30 minutes according to it's IPX7 waterproof rating. 

If you consider an iPhone case a fashion statement, you can now make a new statement every month without breaking the bank. The folks at Casely gave me a sneak peak at one of their cases of the month, via their Case Club (starting at $15/month). It's a novel idea. Many of us like to change cases periodically, but that can get expensive. With the Casely subscription box, you can have a new case every month for as little as $15 per month, with free shipping.

I travel a lot, so I'm always looking for the perfect portable charger. I think I may have found it with the Powerstation Hub ($99.95), which Mophie sent to me to review. It checks so many of my boxes. First, it has a 6,000 mAh battery. That's typically enough to either charge an iPhone twice or top off four devices. Mophie claims 36 hours of battery life, but that depends on the devices that are plugged in. The hub can charge up to four devices at once, via two USB-A ports, a USB-C port, and a built-in Qi wireless pad. The USB-C port supports power delivery for fast charging with 18 watts of power while one of the USB-A ports supports 15 watts and the other supports 5 watts. The Qi wireless charger uses 5 watts.