What good is a rugged, waterproof wireless speaker if you have to carry it around with you while on an adventure? That's the thinking behind the Braven BRV-1M ($99.99), an attractive, solidly built outdoor Bluetooth speaker that is designed for on-the-go use. It's waterproof (IPX7) and quite rugged. But unlike most competing outdoor Bluetooth wireless speakers, it has a GoPro mount built-in, so you can easily attach it anywhere a GoPro camera would go, such as on a bike, boat, or motorcycle. I just wouldn't mount it to a helmet since it is somewhat heavy.
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I have seen the future of online mobile gaming, and it is MOBA. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena is a term familiar to any core, hardcore, or professional gamer. If it's not already a common term in your vocabulary, popular iOS MOBA titles like Vainglory and Ace of Arenas plan to change that, as they help usher in a new renaissance of mobile gaming.
Best Tech Gifts Under $100 You’ll Love This Holiday Season
By Conner Carey
Who doesn’t like getting cool technology gifts? A hundred dollars in tech gifts goes a lot further than it used to. Whether you’re looking for fun tech gifts to give this Christmas, Hanukkah, or another holiday— we’ve got you covered with our gift guide to tech under $100. Filled to the brim with great gift ideas, we’ll cover everything from headphones and wearables to cases and e-readers. There’s a lot to choose from on a tight budget. Here’s the best tech gadgets and gifts under $100 to get your favorite people this holiday season.
With the elimination of the headphone jack, Apple has effectively thrown its full weight behind Bluetooth technology. After years of being considered a faulty and glitchy transfer medium, Bluetooth has finally come into its own after years of refinement and technological advancement. The quality of playback that a Bluetooth speaker can pump out can easily be CD quality, depending of course on the source. Certainly it's been consistent and of a high enough caliber to fool die-hard audiophiles in blind acoustic tests. The following speakers are all top of the line Bluetooth speakers, each with its own merits and unique characteristics.
Black Friday falls on November 25 this year; it’s the perfect time to save money on tech gifts for the holidays. Whether you’re looking for Black Friday iPad deals or Amazon gadgets, there’s plenty of Black Friday specials to go around. Target, in particular, has some of the best Black Friday deals this year, with Best Buy and Walmart tying for second. Amazon will feature its Echo at a great deal and cut back on tablet prices for Black Friday too. From iPhone and iPads to Apple Watches and the Amazon Echo, here’s the best deals you can expect on tech for Black Friday 2016.
Best RSS Reader for iOS: Reeder 3 Review
By Mike Riley
Continuing along the theme of revisiting apps that have been essential since the early days of iOS, Reeder 3 ($4.99, iOS, $9.99, macOS) by Silvio Rizzi is a feature-rich RSS reader for iPhone currently in its third incarnation. The RSS feed reader app has greatly expanded its support for a variety of third-party services and kept up to date in the modern era of iOS devices. Do these enhancements offer enough value to continue using it above other RSS feed apps? Read on to find out.
I've had the opportunity to test the best Bluetooth headphones over the past several years and one thing is for certain; Bluetooth technology has come a long way since it first went mainstream. No longer is it a laggy, unpredictable medium by which to transfer audio data. These days a good pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones can reproduce sound with remarkable clarity and accuracy. Whether or not you like the fact that Apple eliminated the headphone jack, it's not surprising that the company would consider Bluetooth reliable and mature enough for their iPhone 7 series to rely heavily upon it.
Last summer, I was very lucky to be able to take a three-week road trip with one of my best friends on the planet. During the entire trip, we both worked remotely. For the most part, we stopped in coffee shops found all along our route, using their free Wi-Fi and ordering awesome coffee while we worked. However, there were multiple occasions when our devices ran out of power on the road with no power outlets in sight. Had we brought a RAVPower Bank ($39.99) with us, we wouldn’t have needed to frantically look for a place to charge our devices in every place we stopped.
Looking for a way to stay focused and disciplined on completing a task on time? The Pomodoro Technique is a proven approach to time management that has been programmatically captured in a number of iOS apps. Some are simple timers while others offer much more. This review takes a closer look at Be Focused Pro ($1.99 iOS, $4.99 macOS), one of the more comprehensive, Apple-hardware-friendly programs available on the App Store today.
Review: Jaybird X3 Wireless Sport Headphones
By Mike Riley
Jaybird Sport's latest headset offering represents the company's latest ongoing evolution of its original X series. Now in the third generation, the X3 Wireless Sport Headphones ($129.99) are a culmination of what the X product line has been striving for since its inception, namely an awesome, lightweight, hassle-free audio experience on the go. Does the X3 reach a new high in the wireless headset market, or is it a mild, incremental iteration on an already winning formula? Read on to find out.
If you play Pokémon Go and struggle making those straight up moves, Catalyst offers a soft silicone add-on aptly dubbed the Tool for Pokémon Go ($9.99). While $10 might be excessive, it is free when you purchase a case from Catalyst.
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.
Old-fashioned thermometers require contact. Either the thermometer must be kept under the arm or under the tongue until a little beep lets you know it has a reading. If you have multiple sick kids on your hands, the last thing you want to do is spend thirty minutes checking temperatures and cleaning the thermometer each time. Instead, meet Flo by Zeraph ($49.99). It’s a contact-free smart thermometer that can tell you instantly whether or not someone has a fever. No need to hold it under the tongue, simply hold it up to a forehead and let the green or red light be your guide. Or open the Flo by Zeraph app on your iPhone or Apple Watch to see their exact temperature.
How to Avoid Losing Those AirPods
By Todd Bernhard
Apple introduced AirPods, its wireless earbuds, to deal with the lack of a headphone jack on the new iPhone 7. But those earbuds come with their own problems. As separate left and right pieces, you could easily lose one (or both) and ruin your day. Many competing Bluetooth earbuds are sold in one piece with a strap connecting both sides. This helps keep them together, and if one falls out of your ear, it might not hit the floor because the other earbud is tethered to it.
The iHome mini iBT82 ($49.99), the mid-sized iBT35 ($69.99), and iHome's largest boombox, the iBT9 ($99.99) are three excellent alternatives for those in search of a reliable, affordable, and portable Bluetooth speaker solution. These rugged Bluetooth speakers are part of iHome's Weather Tough line of Bluetooth speakers, all of which are waterproof, shock proof, and dirtproof. They also float, even the biggest of the lot, the iBT9.
Review: Moshi's Flexible Case and Mounting System for iPads
By Todd Bernhard
If you want a nicely designed, protective iPad case, there are a lot of options; but not many can also let you mount that iPad and case on a wall or refrigerator. That's exactly what the MetaCover iPad Case ($74.95) from Moshi does. The iPad is safely ensconced in a protective case that can lock in to an origami-like protective cover that supports the iPad's auto-sleep and auto-wake function.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Pokémon Go
By Todd Bernhard
Pokémon Go has invaded the App Store and our society's consciousness, and as with any such trend, there are good, bad, and ugly elements. We've seen the good news—people getting out, socializing, getting exercise. It's even breathed new life into small businesses who have seen increased traffic due to players searching for characters to catch.
The leading cause of broken, unusable iPhones is a cracked screen, followed closely by water damage, so a good waterproof case can typically go a long way to keeping your precious device safe from exposure to liquids. The great thing about waterproof cases is that when they work, they turn your iPhone (or iPad) into the ultimate adventure-proof accessory. Not only does your iDevice become capable of safely handling what could otherwise be catastrophic conditions like underwater videography or surfing, but also it's protected from day-to-day hazards like an accidental drop into the bathtub or toilet. The not so great thing (major understatement) about waterproof cases, is that even the best waterproof case is only waterproof, until it isn't. When it comes to intentionally submerging your iPhone in water, there aren't usually incremental levels of damage. Let's face it, short of a minor splash, if your iPhone's innards get soaked, it's history, and hopefully you have insurance and a recent back up if that happens.
It’s not that I don’t like cooking, it’s that I don’t want to cook at the end of a long day. Yet I’ve felt the consequences of microwave meals and take out— my body is not a fan. So when I was asked to test out Mealime Pro ($5.99/mo), I figured this was a great excuse to get back in the kitchen. Mealime is a meal planning app with quick recipes that can be tailored to your personal eating preferences. The service offers five different menu types from Low Carb to Vegetarian and scales the amount of food you make based on your selection of 2 or 4 servings. Overall, I’ve made some incredibly yummy and healthy dishes the past couple weeks. But there’s certainly room for improvement here too.
Hey, Alexa: The Pros and Cons of My Amazon Echo Experience
By Daniel Rasmus
I will be honest, I talk to my Amazon Echo’s agent, Alexa, more than I talk to Siri. In many ways, the Echo is a completely different creature than Siri. I don’t need Siri to use my iPhone. Apple hopes that Siri makes me more dependent on my phone, but there is no using the Echo without Alexa. Echo is designed primarily as the home for an intelligent assistant and little else.