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Coolermaster Shoe

Another one of my visits not on the show floor was with Cooler Master. When building computers for people, if you want a solid, reliable, and long-lasting system, you can not go wrong with Cooler Master.

 

Their computer cases are functional and as you can see from these images, they have branched out to other components as well. In fact, when I needed to replace my office chair, I ended up buying one of the top-rated ergonomic chairs available.

 

You can read about it here: Cooler Master Ergonomic Chair

 

Read the full article: CES 2024 Cooler Master

 

Blue Ant SoundbarSince I had caught a cold before heading to CES, I tended to cut some of the visits short but here are some items that I found quite interesting and I suspect they will find a home easily in building new systems and upgrading old ones.

Showstoppers has always been one of my must see events at CES as they always have some very interesting new things to see. Some very interesting things there include a sound bar that sits underneath your monitor and this is quite cool.  From Blue Ant of Australia, it is called the Soundblade. With a built-in subwoofer, it connects via USB C, Bluetooth, and a simple 3.5 sound cable so it will connect to a computer, laptop, smartphone or tablet. It comes in various colors and is only $199. It is 23 by 9 inches in size and sits up a little over two inches. Look forward to seeing a review somewhere. Just love the shape.

 

Read the full article: CES 2024 Visits

 

 

One oDE Peoplef my favorite events at CES is the Digital Experience by Pepcom. Since I was a bit under the weather by then, I could only stop at a few companies to see what is new and it was still worth while.

 

General Electric was there again to show off a single machine that will both wash and dry your clothes.  I got the chance to chat with them a bit about the different cycles and the need to remove some things before drying and that machine still looks like it will do everything I need. 

 

A CES Innovation Award Winner is only $2,777.

 

Read the full article: CES 2024 Digital Experience

 

 

Cold SnapThe first event to see at CES is called Unveiled and this is where new companies with some very unique products are shown off. 

 

Many of the things you see there are not available yet but show some incredible promise. 

Cold Snap is one of those but it is coming soon.

 

Premium ice cream at your fingertips and this is intended for a company break room that offers upscale perks to employees or customers.

 

It takes about 90 seconds from when you insert the ice cream and flavor container to enjoying a soft serve which is very tasty. Coming this summer and figure cost to be about $4 - $6 per serving.

Read the full article: CES 2024 Unveiled

 

Yarbo Snow Blower

CES, the show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, is coming and already I am inundated with things they think I really need to look at.

Most of the stuff just goes into the junk mail pile but every once in a while, you run into a company you haven’t heard from before and check out the website and wow, I want one!  

 

The Yarbo Snow Blower S1 from Yarbo just blew me away. At least the site did.

 

It will handle a 12 inch snow depth and run for an hour and a half. It also comes with its own docking station for recharging.

Read the full article: CES 2024 Wish List

 

Acronis LogFor those of you who have been through several generations of computers, you know that you need a good backup system because with a computer, many things will go wrong and at the wrong time. Back in the late 1980s (I think), a good friend introduced me and a number of colleagues to a new backup software company called Acronis and I have been a fan ever since.  Because it works!  

At the time, it was called Acronis True Image and to me that was the gold standard in backup software. Now, it has been upgraded to Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office.

Read the full article: Acronis Cyber Protect

Cooler Master Ergo ChairSomething new.  Black Friday came and I could not resist the siren lure. Ok, actually I have resisted for the past 10 years but my office chair was crumbling and the radar detector in my car was telling me that the little old lady in the Volvo behind me was a cop. So, a thousand dollars later and I am cruising with a new unit from Escort and sitting in a new chair in my office.

First the chair. It is not as comfortable (or maybe broken in) as my old chair.  I needed something ergonomically correct as I tend to sit in it for too long a span and so while I am getting used to it, I do notice I am sitting up better.

Second the radar detector. Mine was an old unit from Escort that I got in March of 2012. Over eleven years ago and it was great to have. Not that I speed that much but if it is a nice highway I am usually near 10 miles over the limit and it was worth having all those years. 

Read the full article: Black Friday

 

iPhone15ProAhhh, the joy of a new smartphone. 

You probably heard enough of the hype surrounding the new iPhone 15 that was became available on September 22, 2023 and in fact, my daughter spent nearly four hours in the Apple store to get her replacement.   

So the peer pressure got to me but this time, I went online, made an appointment to pick it up at my local Apple store here in Indianapolis to avoid the waiting in line. And that part worked great as when I got to the store, it was packed. I must say, the Apple staff was incredibly helpful even if they were very busy.

Read the full article: iPhone 15 Pro

 

VisionTek 65W Power

Summer is the travel time for many of us and that also means traveling with computers, phones, cameras, and other electronics. Many years ago when Ally, Roy, and I were traveling through Death Valley in CA, we connected a power strip to an AC inverter to plug into the lighter in the car to be able to charge batteries, cameras, and the like while we were on the road. Today, life is so much simpler and I suspect many of you have your own traveling kit but I wanted to let you know what is in my travel essentials bag that I carry everywhere, from New England to Europe to Asia and beyond.

First is the VisionTek 65W Power Adapter 2 port plug.   

Read the full article: Summer 2023 Traveling

 

Mirai System PackageAt CES during my visit to ShowStoppers, I ran into a gentleman who has taken another approach to the problem of watching television with someone who is hearing impaired.

 

SoundFun is a company with a different kind of speaker. This speaker uses a technology that directs the sound coming from the speaker in a very unique way so that it can be heard by an individual sitting separately from the main system.

 

The Mirai Speaker uses a very interesting way of bending the sound to spread it around the room. And they also use a new technique to focus the sound on the dialog. You can see the idea in this video from them.  

Read the full article: SoundFun Mirai Speaker

 

Cherry DW 9500 Slim LGSeveral years ago, I ran into Cherry at CES and picked up their latest keyboard, the MX Board 6.0.  It was heavy and expensive; built like a tank and would you know, lasted like one. I wrote about it on July of 2015; so I have had it for 8 years.  And I still use it as my main keyboard. For fast typing, you can’t beat it but it does take up a bit of desktop real estate and unfortunately, cables to deal with. 

This year, they convinced me to take a different look at their new DW 9500 Slim Keyboard and Mouse combination and what caught my attention was that there were no batteries to swap out, and even more interesting, it can connect via the traditional USB RF module or Bluetooth! Having been using the MX Board for so long, I do have a problem with the transition from the upright form of that keyboard to this new one which is much more slim and flat on the table. What I do like about it is the additional real estate that I get with both the keyboard and mouse as well as the layout of the keyboard.  Read the full article: Cherry DW 9500 Slim

 

Kizik NewOne of the things that caught my eye this year at CES was from Kizik.  What they have is a patented device that they incorporate in shoes to allow you to easily slip on and off out a  shoe that is completely tied. You got to see it. Having suffered from a back spasm in the middle of last year, getting in and out of shoes was quite difficult bending over to tie them and since I wear inserts, I have discovered that slippers and moccasins just don’t work for me so I ended up leaving my shoes untied which can cause all sorts of problems into itself. So I stopped by the booth to take a look and really was quite impressed with what I saw and how it worked and so had to give it a try myself at home.  

Read the full article: Kizik Shoes

 

RollingSquareMy third evening at CES ended with a visit to ShowStoppers, one of my favorite events at CES.  it features a number of companies that are looking to connect with people from the media and so they had a terrific lineup of companies and while there were a number on my list to visit, there were others that made the trip worthwhile in their own right.

 

One company worth visiting was RollingSquare.  They make combination cables that will unfold on one end to make a better combination. One end can be an Apple lightning cable or a USB-C. The other end can be a USB-C or standard USB-A connector allowing you to connect a very wide variety of chargers and devices.

Read the full article: CES 2023 ShowStoppers

 

CES Clarios EVOne thing I noticed about CES was how they had done a great job in spacing out the booths and I suspect, moving a lot of them to the new West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) helped though it did make for long walks between the venus.  

 

With the new location and changes, I also discovered that the people wearing the “Help Me” sashes often were just as confused where things were.

 

Of course, what is a visit to CES without seeing what the holiday display at the Bellagio looks like. Unfortunately, you have to hurry as they begin to take it down soon after January 1st.

Read the full article: CES 2023 Images

 

 

Pepcom’s Digital Experience was the event of the day.Catalyst

They showcase over 150 different companies with new and pretty neat and exciting products and this year was at the Caesar’s Palace hotel.

 

I always have a number of companies that I put on my visit list but what is more fun is just wandering to see what is out of the ordinary. 

Catalyst has been my go to company for protecting my iPhone for years and Chris Herbert has been the person to see since I first took my iPhone into Mascoma Lake years ago to photograph sailboats from water level. We even took our phones and cases to visit the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls so for first class protection, you can’t beat them.

Read the full article: CES 2023 Pepcom

 

IMG 1846January 4th 2023, was what is called “Press Day” as a number of companies hold press conferences to show off what is new for them.

I attended five of them today and what struck me was that they spent a lot of time telling us about their sustainability efforts and how they are lowering their carbon foot prints.

The first of these was LG.  They first noted that it was 10 years ago that OLED Televisions hit the market and the strides in pixel resolution, clarity, brightness and the depths of darkness on the screen are amazing what has gone before. Televisions are getting bigger and offering more content as we get more movies and shows from non traditional studios.

Read the full article: CES 2023 Sights

 

 

IMG 1839It is January 2023, we rang in the new year with friends and now that is a short lived memory, I am now in Las Vegas NV which means CES !  I am still dealing with the remnants of 6 hours of jet lag and now make it 9. And so at 9:pm, my body thinks it is noon, or worse, at 3:pm, my body says it is time to go to bed!

CES began on January 3rd, 2023 with one of my favorite events to sit through and that is “Tech Trends to Watch” which kicks off a mini show called CES Unveiled where you see about 175 startups showing off products that they certainly hope, will one day become mainstream and I have to admit, some of them are pretty cool.  

CES Unveiled as I mentioned is 175 or so companies, mostly startups, at tables and displays in a hotel ballroom. If you want a nice hotel experience and money isn’t much object, the Mandalay Bay is pretty nice. Like most Vegas hotels, it is huge. There were some big names like GE Appliances, LG Electronics, L’Oreal, Netgear, and one of my favorites, Stern Pinball. But most are companies that unfortunately, you will probably never hear from again. Having said that, there were some neat ideas.

 

Read the full article: CES 2023 Unveiled

 

DriveCam_76.pngMy old Garmin GPS system finally bit the dust.  Too much heat from leaving it in the car all the time to just wearing out but when it refused to connect to the WI-FI to download updated maps and software, I knew it was time to get a new one.

Having had my car hit three times in the past few years also helped my decision in getting one with a built in Dash Camera and the Garmin DriveCam 76 fit the bill perfectly.

Setting it up is pretty simple until you run into advanced technical issues. One was that my Netgear home Wi-Fi system told me that I should be using the new WPA3 standard as it offers much better security than does WPA2.

 

Read the full article: Garmin DriveCam76

 

Covid 19Between Covid, supply chain issues, the ecomomy, war in Ukraine, and the hot weather that has really hit this part of the country, there has just been nothing to write about! Because I still deal with a lot of people that are significantly older than I am, I have been very hesitant to go to any conferences, shows, or even outdoor concerts. 

But now that I have had my second booster shot, I am ready to go! but where? The cool consumer and computer electronics shows are opening back up but I am hearing more horror stories about getting there than I am once you arrive.  flights are cancelled all over the place and one of the stories tells me that because of Covid, many pilots took an early retirement and now there are not enough of them to fly the jets. 

 

Read the full article: Summer Update 2022

 

Catalyst Total Protection SplashMost people use a single smartphone case for every situation and I have discovered over the years, that just doesn’t work well. I love to travel and Catalyst as well as Otter have always been my go-to companies for smartphone cases when I had the Apple iPhones.

My brief four-year departure from Apple really limited me to what I could use to protect my phone and often left me a bit uncomfortable when using it so when I was forced to go back to Apple by AT&T, I purchased the iPhone 13 Pro.

My next set of travels was going to take me from the sand dunes of White Sands NM to the ocean at Amelia Island FL, and so this is my story of why I needed two cases.

Read the full article: Catalyst iPhone13 Cases

 

 

A new smartphone. I have found another reason that AT&T is often called “the evil empire”.  For iPhone 13Pro LGweeks, they have been trying to convince me that my cell phone, a Huawei Mate 10 Pro, would not work when they pull the plug on 3G networks.  I realize that Huawei is considered persona no grata in many parts but they did, and still do, have some of the best cameras you will find on a smartphone which is why I have stuck with them. My Mate 10 Pro  was released in November 2017 and is now 4 plus years old but still was working very well! 

AT&T then sent me a “free” phone which I discovered was a Walmart $45 special and for someone who loves to take pictures on a smartphone, can easily tell you, that was not going to work; I gave it away and after three calls to AT&T, finally found a person that agreed with me that my phone will continue to work when the 3G network is shut off and I could just ignore the text messages.  But they kept texting me that my phone was going to be shut off around the 16th of February 2022, and sure enough, they did. By then, there was no one “smart enough” for me to talk to. 

Read the full article: New iPhone

 

mini guss 1110702

With far less companies going to CES, they ended up cancelling the last day of the show. I was sorry to be a no show but I also discovered that nearly all of my old computer friends and writers that I would meet up with at the show were also staying home.

So it looks like it will be another year before I can get to my two favorite restaurants in Las Vegas for another terrific meal. The first is Ferraro’s, an Italian place, and the second is a Chinese restaurant; The Harbor Palace Seafood Restaurant. Put them on your list to visit.

This article has a nice mixture of something new and something you can really use.  Read the full article: CES Awards 2022-part2

 

asus zenwifi pro et12 1115482 1CES, the show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, has come and gone again. It was not virtual this time around with something like 45,000 people attending in person of which I was not one of them. I had my tickets, hotel, and CES Press Pass, and was pretty much ready to go, having had all of my shots and booster for Covid-19, but at the last minute with the onset of Omicron, decided it wasn’t worth the effort or risk and cancelled. I think the tipping point was that two friend’s families came down with Covid just before the new year came in. A sign I could not ignore. 

So, what did I miss at CES this year? One of the first things to look at are the CES 2022 Innovation Award Winners;  What I love about the winners is you will see all sorts of unusual technologies being applied to some pretty cool products.   

Read the full article: CES Awards 2022-part1

 

 

PR1500LCDA while back, the noise in my office got to me. I had a computer that was winding up like a formula one racer and a furnace that when on and I am watching a news broadcast makes me turn up the television way too high.

So that summer project was to first quiet down the furnace/air conditioner with a new unit from Mitsubishi Electric and then build a new computer with the help of bequiet!.  The silence is golden, until the neighbors start up with leaf blowers, chain saws, and mowers.  Then one evening, I went into the office to check email and I could hear that familiar sound of a computer fan running at full speed.

Come to find out it was not one of the computer fans but the fan inside of my Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS). Years ago, I switched to using the UPS from CyberPower and have been very pleased with the units and have several of them scattered about the office.  This UPS is one of the larger ones as I wanted to be sure that when I do lose power, I can still keep working for a couple of hours.  

Read the full article: CyberPower Fan

Victrola

 

Pepcom has long been one of my favorite events to attend at what used to be known as the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  This year, they have done three virtual mini shows and having attended virtually, several other shows this year, it is nice to find a format that is easy to navigate and actually speak with people about what they have.  The Pepcom Fall 2021 show had a number of things that I wasn’t looking for but found interesting and here they are!

 

Because I did not actually get my hands on any of these products yet, what you are going to read is a lot from their websites and news releases and I will highlight the text so you can see what came from the site.

 

So, what is new and interesting!  Read the full article: Pepcom Fall 2021

 

 

OWC DocUSBCFor those of us that take a notebook/laptop computer from one place to another on a regular basis have discovered that a docking station at the second location makes a lot of sense as you don’t need to carry the extra mouse, keyboard, monitor back and forth and all you need to do is to simply plug the computer into the docking station and are good to go.

 

If you have a Lenovo notebook, you probably already know about the terrific docking stations that are available for it. But I needed something more portable and easier for traveling especially when it comes to traveling with USB Memory sticks and digital camera memory cards.  Read the full article: Must Have for 2021

 

At the last Pepcom Home Now virtual show, I ran into a company, RapidX that was showing off theirModula 5 Pkg latest in wireless charging solutions and I was both surprised and impressed with what they had.

 

 What was very cool was their Modula5 Wireless charging system and I needed to take a closer look.

 

What I liked about it was not only wireless charging for your Qi enabled smartphone, but also for the Apple Watch and any other Qi enabled device.   Read the full article: RapidX Wireless Charger

 

ath anc300tw 03 1Traveling has been tough this year. Double masking on flights, avoiding people in Airports, and still amazed at how many people still don’t wear masks. According to the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Tracker,  where I live, Indiana, only has 42.6% of the people are fully vaccinated. I thought we needed to be at 70% for herd immunity. I find myself spending most of my time with my earbuds taking walks.  But I do have a trip coming up and wanted to give a new set from Audio-Technica a closer look.

Having traveled overseas a number of times, my search has let me to find noise cancelling headphones and in-ear headphones that are first of all quiet and then comfortable to wear. That has been a challenge. With a 20 hour travel time to deal with, if it is not comfortable to wear, I cannot deal with the same unit for that length of time. Sitting up with headphones works for a while but if you try to get any sleep in, they get in the way and so then I switch to the in-ear headphones but I don’t want them giving up on me after just a few hours.  What I really like about my Edifier headphones are they are not only noise cancelling, but wireless as well as having the wired option to listen to an onboard movie, and while sitting up, that works just fine. When it comes time to try and sleep, they do get in the way.  Read the full article: AT Quietpoint ATH-ANC300TW

 

RapidX

While Pepcom was just a one day event, they were nice enough to leave the portal online so that I could take a closer look at the other companies that I just wandered by and in doing so, discovered that many of them are actually solving real world problems that bear a second look.

 Read the full article:  Pepcom Jun2021-part2

 

 

Pepcom is one of the mini shows that I have enjoyed for many years at CES and other Colorful Curves Ahead 2events.  They have a number of companies with pretty cool products that show off what they are doing and give you a chance to talk to developers, creators, and people actually using the products. 

They had another one of their virtual shows in June that I attended.  This was Pepcom’s Home Now! Media event.  An excellent way of showcasing companies, talking to people, and seeing what is new with them.  Read the full article: Pepcom June 2021

 

VideowindoWMy next run through Computex 2021 let me look at some other companies that have neat products or YouTube videos.  One is from Apacer, who has a terrific factory tour here.

VideowindoW adds value to glass by turning glare control into a media platform, merging sustainability goals with profitability. You can see their Vimeo Video here.

Another company is developing a gyroscope based glove to help people with tremors reduce them to allow them to live as normally as they can.  Take a look at their YouTube video which shows GyroGear and founder Dr Faii Ong featured in BBC One Show in 2018. The early prototype is featured on the video.   Read the full article: Computex 2021part2

Computex2021

 

The latest computer show that I wanted to see is still virtual and that is COMPUTEX which is normally held in Taipei Taiwan. You can see the show here.  It runs the entire month of June. They have keynote kickoffs from Intel, NXP, Nvidia, ARM, and some others.  The show has several areas of focus including 5G, Gaming, AI & IoT, (Internet of things), Edge computing and others.  Several companies have set up virtual pavilions as well to allow you to wander and look at some pretty cool stuff. There are 147 virtual exhibits this year.  Unfortunately, you do have to register to see any of the exhibits. Read the full article:  Computex 2021

 

PowerUP600aAhh, summertime and I can’t wait to hit the road. With all of us vaccinated, at least in this office, I can’t wait to start the summer travels and I realize it will be difficult with still millions of people out there refusing to get their shot. Ignorance and stupidity goes so far so we have to look out for ourselves. I realize that there are extenuating circumstances but what does that cover, .05 percent of the un-vaccinated?  I mean you wouldn’t take a long road trip without checking the car maintenance schedule, tires, battery, and simple things like do all the lights still work.

My friend who drives from IN to NM a few times a year recently purchased an emergency starter for when the car’s battery goes out and it hit me that my car is now over five year’s old and so when I checked the maintenance schedule, and tire life, I see I should be good to go this summer but in looking at recommendations for the battery, see that most places tell you to replace it after five years.  It was literally the next day that an email popped up asking me if I would be interested in taking a look at a new emergency battery starter and it took me all of a minute to reply and say you bet.  Talk about perfect timing.  Read the full article: Scosche PowerUP

 

 

Jabra elite85t copper black 01One of the problems I have had is to find a set of earbuds that is comfortable. I have to confess that I have resisted trying the Apple Air Pods for a number of reasons some of which are that I am hoping that someone comes up with something that works well, is noise cancelling, is sturdy and reliable, and at a reasonable price.

So with that in mind and after talking to them at the last virtual CES, I had to take a look and listen to the Jabra Elite 85t Noise cancelling headset. It comes shipped in a very compact and sensible packing box. To begin, once unpacked, you need to download an App to your smartphone as there really are no instructions in the box.  Read the full article: Jabra Elite85t


NomadplugI love to travel and what I hate about it sometimes is figuring out what travel adapter plug I will need for what country. Because I don’t have total recall and really don’t visit overseas as much as I would like to, I really can’t remember what type of plug is needed in England, Germany, France and even China and Japan.

So, when I saw the Nomadplug at CES in January 2019, and was getting ready for trips that never materialized this past year, I was really interested in seeing it work. Of course, their tag line hooked me and I had to take a look. The nomadplug is the last universal travel adapter you will ever buy!     Read the full article: Nomadplug

 

 

Cleer CrescentCES 2021 was definitely a different experience. After my physical problems of getting around in 2020, I was really looking forward to 2021 only to be derailed by Covid like everyone else. So, this year, it was virtually done and while the number of total exhibitors was down quite a bit from the past years, there were several companies I did get a chance to virtually chat with and see what is new coming and some of the stuff was pretty cool. 

Read the full article: CES 2021

 Christmasball

Another of the holiday events that I will miss this year with the virtual CES show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, will be Pepcom.

It is a mini show within the show condensed into a big hotel ballroom where you can wander around and see a number of companies and their new products and talk to them about them.  

Well, this month, they held their own virtual Holiday show and to my surprise, worked out very well. 

Read the full article: Pepcom Oct 2020

 

CEATEC SIn Japan, they have a show similar to what CES is in the USA called CEATEC. Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies is held every fall outside of Tokyo in the Mihama-ku ward of Chiba City at a beautiful looking convention center. It was also to be the venue for four sports during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which is now scheduled for August 2021.  So this year, CEATEC was held virtually which was nice in that I was able to get a much closer look at the companies there.

Read the full article: CEATEC 2020 Notes

 

SR3 white 109One of the advantages I am finding in all this boredom is that I am connecting more with companies that make things I can use and bequiet! Is one of them lately.

 

Once I got rid of the noisy furnace up in my office, I began to discover how much other noise is there coming from my computer so the timing was perfect to see how quiet I can get it. So what follows will be my upgrade journey and then you will see some really neat new products from bequiet! That are coming shortly.

 

But first the story on building and upgrading your own computer.  

Read the full article: A Silent bequiet! Upgrade

 

Skeleton2Notes from September include a new anti-fogging cloth from LensPens for those of us cursed to wear eyeglasses with our face mask; a very cool and neat upgrade to an older computer that makes it faster than it ever was with the help of Kingston; and how about a very cool hygiene solution in sanitizing your phone and tablet from Catalyst Lifestyle. Also a quick note on review sites and are they really different.

Read the full article: Notes from September 2020

 

 

San Disk UltraDualI am simply amazed at the pace of miniaturization of technology.

 

The SanDisk Ultra® Dual Drive Luxe USB Type-C™ Flash Drive that holds 1 Terabyte of data and can easily get lost in your pocket. 

Size wise, it is only 1.75 x 0.48 x 0.34 inches and weighs less than an ounce. You can get it from SanDisk for $199.  It comes in six capacity ranging from 32GB available to a stunning 1 TB as well.  Read the full article: SanDisk Ultra Dual

VDO 1SEEb

 

You know it had to happen. You can’t find a webcam anywhere in the stores or online except for the really cheap or super expensive models and so when VDO360 offered one of their new 1SEE models to take a look at, I had to see for myself. And it is impressive out of the box.

 

First of all, it is heavy, solid, and well built. It is a 1080p camera and as long as you have a USB2 port on your device or computer, will connect just fine. In fact, if your computer is pressed for USB Ports, it has an integrated hub built in with a single port.

Read the full article: VDO360 Webcam

 

Netgear Mesh3In February 2017, I acquired a new technology in home/office WIFI connection called a Mesh. The unit I got was from Linksys and I loved it. You can read about it here.   It was smooth, consistent, and was able to cover parts of my home office and the rest of the home that never before had Wi-Fi service including the front porch and basement storage areas.  It was a $499 upgrade that was definitely worth the money.

Now we have more devices connecting than you can count. Zoom meetings, movie downloads, video streaming all take up bandwidth not to mention the occasional gigabyte download of Windows 10 updates. So, we have come to the point that it is three years later and I need an upgrade. First of all, WIFI6 is available and it promises better coverage, better control, and faster speeds and with my office internet connection roaring along nicely, at www.speedtest.net , it was time to give the new systems a run.  Read the full article: Netgear Nighthawk AX1800

Kingston SUV500SATAI recently received a new Solid State Drive (SSD) from Kingston and wanted to see what it does for my computer’s performance. This drive is a new type m.2 form factor which is a bit smaller than a typical computer memory stick. Though fairly new to most people, the m.2 form factor for SSD has been out since August 2013, nearly seven years ago. If you took apart some of the older laptops like a Macbook, you would find they had them installed.

It is just that desktop systems didn’t have the slots for the m.2 drives till much later. Because they are all chip based, you now see a lot more companies that are selling them so the boom is on which hopefully will give us better prices and better lifespans.

Read the full article:Installing the m.2

 

SKC2500M8250G

 

It used to be that most any component would work inside most any computer but that has long changed for the worse, unfortunately. The good news is that mainboard manufacturers like Asus, MSI, and others, are constantly improving their products but the problem is that you find a lot of older products still available what can get quite confusing.  If you are building a machine from components, you have to be very careful about what will really work inside that new mainboard you are contemplating.

I have long settled on Asus mainboards for the computers I build and have spent many agonizing minutes pouring over specifications as to whether a particular processor, memory, and storage will work effectively or at all inside the new mainboard.  The good news is that it does get easier as Asus, as well as Kingston and Micron have some excellent material available to help you make sure that the processor you choose will indeed work with the mainboard.  Read the full article: Building The Computer

 

PaMu Case CoverNow that we are going through the quarantine process, I find myself needing to take more walks and that gives me the opportunity to try out new earbuds. Alex from Padmate was kind enough to send these along.

What caught my attention was the design and uniqueness of the charging case and of course it never hurts to have a lot of people saying they are terrific so with a price drop from $199 to $89, it was time to give them a closer look. 

 

Read the full article: PaMu Earbuds

 

 

CES2020 JOk, everyone has their wish list and when you travel to CES, the show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, you come away with wonder in your eyes and maybe even empty pockets. Fortunately for me, the things I see that I really would like to get my hands on are either too expensive or not yet available. What luck.

 

So, lets begin by tooling around in the NIU TQi-GT. And as they say “ Explore Your City Like Never Before Without Traffic Limitations “. 

 

From the  NIU Newsroom: “TQi Electric Three-Wheeler Revolutionizing the future and carving the way for a new vehicle category, NIU has reinvented the wheel with a unique twist and more modernized way to ride. 

 

Read the full article: CES Wish List

 

AU STREAM HB Red frontAs you have read from some of my earlier postings, I am in constant search of a good price for noise cancelling headphones.  In the past, I have avoided the in ear headphones or earbuds as for some strange reason, they just never fit that well nor could I get used to them.  Well, times, my head, and the technology has changed quite a bit over the years and as you can see from this story , I had a great time with a new noise cancelling headphones from Edifier.

 

While I was at CES, I also ran into a new company that is creating what looks to be a terrific set of noise cancelling earbuds. Spending some time with them to try things out, I was quite impressed that I didn’t mind wearing them for an extended period of time. And did I mention, they also are noise cancelling as well. Read the full article: Ausound Stream Hybrid

 sandisk ibi front

 

 

One of the major problems I keep hearing about is how to keep and share the photos that are taken with smartphones. Neither Apple IOS or Android do a good job of setting this up out of the box when you get the phone and by the time you have snapped hundreds and thousands of pictures and images, managing it gets to be too difficult.  Sure you can easily text an image and if you have your phone connected to a social media app, easily share it there, but what about family, friends, and people that are just not that technologically savvy about how to get things done? Ahhh, now we are in the range of aging luddites, distant aunts and uncles, and what about grandparents? Read the full article: Sandisk ibi

 

self driving bus

 The new trends that we were hearing about coming out of CES (the show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) certainly had nothing at all in the hint that was to be the coronavirus. 

For once I had thought about heading to Barcelona Spain for the Mobile World Congress and I am glad I stalled, for my own health reasons, for it was cancelled. 

But I was in Las Vegas and before the show even started was the event called “Tech Trends to Watch”. 

 Of course, you have heard about 5G coming and nearly everyone is talking about it but what you don’t hear is pricing.  Read the full article: CES 2020 Trends

pepcomm

 

 

Pepcom’s Digital Experience is one of those events before the event known as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and I have to admit, this makes the trip to Las Vegas worth the effort and unfortunately for me, it was an effort as I had suffered an attack of Gout that renders the foot nearly unusable. So, loaded up with medication and my walking stick, I limped through a terrific array of companies of which there were a dozen that were on my must visit list. 

Read the full article:  Pepcom Digital ExperienceCleer Mirage

 

 

Day one of CES, the show formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, was for me what is called Unveiled where companies that have new and exciting technologies get to show off their products even before the show starts.  Lots of people taking their first look at things and lots of new things that may or may not capture your imagination.   

Read the full article:CES 2020 Unveiled

 W860NB

 

 

Normally I would tell you about all the wonderful things I have seen at CES but first I want to tell you about my trip back to Indianapolis.  It was eventful and I found an exit row to sit in for extra leg room (slightly); but the best part of it was that I had a new set of Noise Cancelling Headphones from Edifier.  In a nutshell, they were great.  I first saw them off the show floor at Pepcomm's Digital Experience where I ran into an old friend, Bruce Pechman, the Muscle Man of Technology. Bruce is a terrific guy and we spent more time chatting and so I had little time to talk to Edifier.

Read the full article:  Edifier Noise Cancelling Headphones

 

cord cutting

Cutting the cord isn’t what it used to be as there are a ton of more options and they unfortunately, are getting more and more confusing as we go along.

Of course, your mileage will vary but here is one real life experience. An elderly friend has decided that she really doesn’t like to cable TV because she only watches one or two channels and it costs her $75 per month to do that.

So, my cousin who has a lot of experience being a cord cutter (and is also very thrifty with the dollar), gave us some advice and we had some fun trying different things. First was to try the antenna approach and get the local channels that are broadcasting over the air. 

Read the full article: Cutting the cord

 

 

 

CES, the show formerly known as the “Consumer Electronics Show” is all about technology and it won’t be long before any technology is connected to the internet. If you can think of any device in your home or office, it won’t be long before it becomes part of the iot or “internet of things” and it will be connected to the web and run from a cloud. What I have selected below has won the “Best of Innovation” awards from CES and will be shown off in January in Las Vegas at the 2020 version of CES which I can’t wait to see. Hotel, Air Tickets, and Press pass handy, I am ready to go. You can see the CTA Press release here, and the Winners from the Paris show here.

Read the full article: The CES 2020 Innovation Award WinnersOrbi RBK852

  Staying connected to the internet is probably the most important thing for today’s connected world. If the internet goes down in the house, I hear it immediately as we have so many things connected from doors to lights to music to movies and everything else it seems. The curse for us is to who do we blame for poor service. Is it the cable company and their access point or modem? Is it the router and wifi device? How about the connected tablet, phone, doorbell, opener, or thermostat? Sad to say, nearly all of these devices do not have much in the way to let us know something else is failing.

Read the full article:.WIFI 6 and More

 Intel i7

 For many years, building your own computer was pretty easy. You decide on a processor, then find out how many pins it uses, select nearly any motherboard that holds that processor, pick your memory based on DDR2, or DDR3 and be sure that nearly anything you select will work.

Not any more. In my years of building computers, I would always use Intel Mainboards and processors. Intel processors because of their higher reliability over the AMD options; and the Intel mainboards because they were very stable and reliable. I cannot recall ever needing to send one or the other back because of a problem. Intel gave up the mainboard business to my disappointment and so now I have settled on Asus as my number one brand. Again, reliability and the quality of features and updates.

Read the full article:.. Building Your Own Computer

Luci Light Core

Of course, the latest headlines is all about the new iPhone 11. I am sure it won’t be long before someone in this household acquires one and of course, the snag is which one. Starting to see lots of Google news and comments about them and like the political scene, someone will love it and someone will hate it and there will be a vast middle ground of confusion. Apple already has some terrific information available here Only problem for me is that to keep the same size I like, I would have to go with the 11 Pro Max.

Read the full article:.. The Late Summer Mailbag

 myCharge HubPlus

  

Summertime and the traveling is much easier now that I have snagged the perfect portable charger from myCharge. It first of all has a 6700 mAh battery so that you can keep charging and charging without having to replenish it. A built in Lightning cable for your Apple devices and a built in USB-C cable for the more modern Android phones and tablets. Finally, a built in USB-A port just in case you have one of the older phones/tablets/headphones to charge as well. ....

Read the full article:..myCharge HubPlus - Wish List

 

  

GoSun Chill

 

 

 

The traveling season is upon us and it is fun to see how well the technology works to make it easier. We spent nearly the entire month of July on the road and we discovered that researching places, events, and schedules on the internet make it much more enjoyable. So what follows will be ideas and suggestions that you can use in your own traveling adventures. ....

Read the full article:... Traveling, Klipsch, Noreve, and more

  

Cleer Stage speakerOften at CES, I run into products that I just don’t want to live without. I have a bunch of Bluetooth Speakers but the best one I got this time around was the Cleer Stage Speaker. I don’t get to use it much because my daughter keeps snatching it despite having at least three others downstairs. Ok, to drop names, it stands up to the Bose speakers I have on the computer. It is that good. Besides playing music, it includes Alexa Voice Service. Spec wise, it includes a digital amplifier, dual 48mm neodymium drivers and passive radiators. A 15-hours playback via a 2600mAh Lithium Battery and IPX7 water-resistance rounds out a really sleek design. It is solid and well built and worth the $129 from Amazon. ...

Read the full article:....CES 2019 Must Haves

 

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