iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

This will sound strange coming from someone who works for a tech publication, but I’ve been so worried about buying my daughter a cellphone that I’ve put it off until she was literally the last kid in her grade without one. What have I been worried about? Everything from the more minor things like screen addiction and gigantic data overages, to larger, 60 Minutes-level fears of her getting cyberbullied or meeting an online predator. Now, though, she’s almost 14 and will be in high school next year. I’ve come to the realization that it’s part of my job as a parent to ease my teenager into the technology that’s an everyday part of all our lives, rather than keeping her from it so she has to acclimate herself all at once when she’s old enough to purchase her own smartphone.

I've reviewed a number of accessories from Nyrius before, so I was excited to see the company's latest item, ORION Home Wireless HD Video Transmitter & Receiver ($149.99), had arrived. I liked the previous model, but it used miniUSB and the newer model is microUSB-based, which is a step up. It's also easier to set up; indeed it is set up by default, out of the box. The Orion Home is two boxes that look alike, but one is a transmitter and the other a receiver. They are both similar in size to the Apple TV, but with a perforated top, which probably helps with reception.