Wipit is a small microfiber pad to clean your touchscreens.  What makes it different is that Wipits have adhesive backs so you can stick them on the back of your device, where they’re always handy when you need them.  The adhesive layer lets you restick the Wipit up to 100 times without leaving residue on your device.  They can also be printed with your custom artwork for use as promotional gifts.  Wipits are available in some retail stores, and they should be available soon on the Wipit website.  Check their Facebook page for more information.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: Microfiber cleaning pad

Wipit: Stick It. Peel It. Wipe It. (Your Touchscreen, That Is…) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 9, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

Check out this nice looking Aluminum and Carbon Fiber mini pen from Sunshine Products. Sunshine’s mini pens are modular, so you can “build” one with your own choice of body (stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum with carbon fiber or brass), end cap (brass, copper, aluminum, stainless steel), pen cap (brass, copper, aluminum, stainless steel), cap style (keychain cap or pocket cap) and even have it engraved. These mini pens have a hanging length of 2 3/4 inches and a writing length of 3 7/16 inches. They use Lamy Pico M22 refills and the price starts at $65 and goes up to $80 depending on your choices. I want one, how about you?

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: Writing Instruments

Sunshine Products Now Offering Carbon Fiber Mini Pens originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 8, 2012 at 8:00 am.

The topic of journaling has come up now and again here at The Gadgeteer, and has been popular of late.  I’ve been journaling daily for over a year now, and my media of choice is old school: a classic Moleskine notebook and pen.  I typically just toss my Moleskine into my messenger bag so that it is nearby to capture my daily activities, prayers and scribbled musings.  I’d been thinking about trying a case or cover for my Moleskine when I was serendipitously presented the opportunity to evaluate a Moleskine Folio from Rickshaw Bags.  Onward!

Background

Rickshaw Bagworks, also known as Rickshaw Bags, also known as simply Rickshaw, is a small, urban San Fran-based company that is best known for producing bike messenger-style bags and backpacks, many of them custom made-to-order in their shop.  Though they may not yet have the name recognition of some of the bigger boys, their product offering has grown steadily over the past several years.

Versions

When placing an order for a Moleskine Folio from Rickshaw, there are several options from which you can select.  First, you can select which version best suits your needs between the Classic Moleskine Folio and the Smartphone Moleskine Folio.  The only difference between the two is that the Smartphone version swaps a few writing implement pockets for a larger one that fits a smartphone.

Materials

After selecting between versions, you can select your choice of materials from among the following:

• Classic Cordura® – Cordura nylon exterior/Cordura nylon binding
• Performance Tweed™ – Performance tweed exterior/Cordura nylon binding
• Waterproof Sailcloth – X-Pac™ sailcloth exterior/Cordura nylon binding

Colors

After selecting the version and materials, you can select from several stock color combinations for each material.  Alternatively, you can also choose to customize your own Folio by selecting from a growing list of material and colors, and your personal Folio will be hand-assembled to order in Rickshaw’s San Francisco shop.

Dimensions

The empty Moleskine Folio measures 9.75 inches high by 6 inches wide by 1.25 inches deep.

The Outside

I received a Classic Moleskine Folio clad in olive drab Classic Cordura nylon with light green Classic Cordura nylon binding.  I like this particular color combo because it has sort of a military look. The Cordura material feels tough and durable, like it could take a lot of abuse.  In fact, in the few months that I used the Folio before writing this review, I handled and used it several times a day and it showed absolutely no wear at all.

The Classic Moleskine Folio fits nicely in the hand, not too large for the amount of cargo you can stuff into into it.

The Folio includes custom zipper pulls in a black with red trim color scheme which matches the Rickshaw logo.  Here, you’ll notice that the Moleskine notebook’s bookmark has gotten caught in the Folio’s zipper.  Unfortunately, this seems to happen regularly, unless you consciously make the effort to tuck the bookmark inside before you zip the Folio.

The Rickshaw logo sewn into the bottom of the spine, a lowercase “r” with a dot, is in black and red color scheme and matches the zipper pull.

 The Inside

The inside of the Folio is plain black.  The basic layout is an organizer panel for ID or business card, pens, and so forth and also a large zipper pocket.  If you order the Smartphone Folio rather than the Classic Moleskine Folio as shown here, the three rightmost pen pockets would be replaced with a single, larger pocket that includes a small Velcro flap.  In the center of the Folio is a padded neoprene flap used to protect the cover of your Moleskine notebook.

On the right is the pocket for the back cover of the Moleskine, as well as a larger transparent pocket.

Closeup of the “BTO SFO” (Built to Order in San Francisco) tag and another Rickshaw tag, both sewn into the interior of the Folio.  The little tags and logos are a nice touch; there are enough of them to get the point of the branding across without being obtrusive.

After snapping the pics above, I immediately loaded the Folio up with my large Moleskine notebook and some other stuff.  Taking a look at the organizer panel on the left side, at top I’ve placed in the upper transparent pocket an iTunes gift card.  Below that I’ve placed a small ruler, highlighter, two pens, and a click eraser.

The large zipper pocket on the left runs the full length and width of the front of the Folio.  It’s big enough for all kinds of stuff, like a passport, maps, other IDs or cards, or even a Kokopelli sticker.

The rear cover of the large Moleskine notebook slides into the large pocket on the right side of the Folio’s interior.  It is a snug fit, but once you get it in, it fits very securely.  Of course, this prevents you from fully utilizing the Moleskine notebook’s rear cover “bellows” pocket, but you can still place some things into this pocket in the Folio.

The large Moleskine notebook fits a bit snug in the Folio; occasionally I had to do a bit of extra work to get the Folio to zip around the Moleskine’s corners.  Note that the Folio has been specifically designed for the large Moleskine notebook.  There are other types of notebooks that are similar in size to the large Moleskine (Field Notes, Rhodia, and others), but I can’t say whether these would fit in the Folio.  They may fit fine, they may not.

Here, I’ve stuffed a pamphlet and a few postcards into the large transparent pocket on the right side of the interior.

Below is a shot of the Folio and everything I stuffed into it.  There’s room for more than this, but adding too much more made the Folio difficult to fully zip closed.

Conclusion

The Moleskine Classic Folio is well designed and constructed solidly from durable materials.  A Large Moleskine notebook fits snugly into it, and it includes several organizational features to hold other items.  It’s a bit pricey, but for you journalers, note-takers, travelers and the like, this would be a great item to haul around your Moleskine notebook and a few essentials and not worry about whether the contents are protected.  As a daily journaler myself, it was great to be able to toss the Folio, loaded with just the stuff I need, into my bag and have everything I need to journal away.  We’re planning to take an extended vacation out west this summer, and I plan to fully utilize the Folio for daily travel journaling.

Filed in categories: Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Moleskine, Rickshaw Bagworks

Rickshaw Bagworks Classic Moleskine Folio Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 7, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Samsung has a created their own version of a robotic vacuum called the NaviBot.  It is to offer a more efficient and intelligent way of cleaning your home.  NaviBot features a visionary mapping system, multiple cleaning modes, a triple brush system, and auto recharge and resume.

The Samsung NaviBot is engineered with 38 sensors, which features three cliff sensors to detect the edge of stairs and other surfaces, three anti-tangle sensors that automatically unwind cord or carpet tassles if it encounters them, and auto-stop at lifting sensor to immediately shut the NaviBot off if it falls over or is lifted up.  It also has a self-adjust function that allows it to overcome obstacles of up to 1.5 cm and can automatically adjust for different types of flooring.

It is also equipped with an onboard camera that captures 30 frames per second to create a virtual map of the home.  It captures a picture of the ceiling in the room it is about to clean and then can analyze the space it is to clean. The picture is then utilized by the NaviBot to create a virtual map and create the most efficient route to clean the entire floor.  Just set it to go as you walk out the door, or use the delay function to start at a specified time during the day.  It has a “virtual guard”  feature, which can make an imaginary barrier and not enter other rooms.

The NaviBot features a rotating triple brush system underneath to work efficiently on picking up dirt, dust, and hard to capture pet hair.  The NaviBot effortlessly picks up hair and fluff without it wrapping around the brushes due to Samsung’s patented pet hair care system.  It can hold up to 600 ml of debris with its bagless dust collection and is equipped with a HEPA filter.  The noise level is at approximately 73dBA.

There are various cleaning modes to the NaviBot.  They include:  Auto, Max, Manual, Spot and Edge. The edge mode uses the spinning brushes to clean along walls and other hard to reach places.  The delay start mode can be used before leaving the home so it runs through its routine hours later, or you can rely on the daily schedule time to create a specific time of the day to run.  The manual mode allows you to control the robotic vacuum with its remote control.

The Samsung NaviBot needs minimal human intervention.  When the battery is running low, it will automatically return to the charging station.  It can even resume cleaning where it left off before recharging.  The NaviBot  SR8855 has up to 90 minutes run time when fully charged, and the charging time is to be 33% faster than other robotic vacuums.  There is also a Samsung NaviBot SR8845 available, and a more quiet-to run-version is a new addition to the line.  Samsung’s robotic vacuums have a suggested retail starting at $599, price varies with each model.

Filed in categories: Gear, Home Tech, News

Tagged: robotic vacuum

Samsung’s Take On Robotic Vacuums – The NaviBot SR8855 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 4, 2012 at 10:13 am.

Another entry in the electric scooter market is the Boxx scooter.  In its “upgrade” model , the scooter charges in 1 hour via a standard domestic plug and gives you up to 80 miles (129kms) travel.  Weighing 120 lbs (55 kg) with all aluminium construction the unit comes standard with ABS, traction control, drive by wire, oversized all LED dot lighting system, and two useful cargo holds. Options include a heated seat and extra battery pack to double your distance.

Though they claim “superior comfort ergonomics”, it certainly doesn’t look that comfortable to me. So going 80 miles in one go might be a bit ambitious,  and I’m guessing a pillion is completely out of the question.  I suspect you won’t be getting your knee down on that sweeping corner either

Customisable at Boxx the price starts at $3995.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: Motorcycle, Scooter

Boxx Electric Scooter – Looks as Comfortable as…a Box originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 31, 2012 at 2:30 pm.

When SGP Case sent me the iPhone 4 Valentinus case I reviewed recently, they included a couple of extra goodies in the box.  They sent along the Steinheil Ultra Mirror Half Mirror Screen Protector for iPhone 4S/iPhone 4/CDMA iPhone 4 and the Kuel H10 Stylus Pen.  While the screen protector is obviously only for iPhones, the stylus should work with any capacitive screen.  How do they work?

The Kuel H10 (that’s H and the number 10) High Sensitive Stylus Pen packaging says it works with iPhone and iPad, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for any capacitive screen.  It’s available in black, red, yellow, pink, and white;  I received the black.  It’s about 3″ long, not including the hanging loop, and about 5/16″ in diameter.  It weighs about 0.2 oz.

The barrel of the stylus is made of brass.  It’s coated with a textured paint, or as SGP says, “harmless-material-plated brass.”  The cap is a silver-colored metal, and there’s a thin cord coming out of the top.  If your case has a lanyard connector on it, you could loop this cord through to attach the stylus to your device.  If you don’t have a lanyard attachment, you can attach the cap to the small plastic strap plug that you’ll see near the bottom of the package.

Getting the snap plug attached with a bit difficult; the cord was just barely long enough to work.  The snap plug goes in the iPhone’s headphone jack.  You can see it worked with my Bumper Case, too.

The stylus tip is made with “special silicone with high polymer abrasion-resistant coating.”  It has a diameter of just under 1/4″.  It doesn’t have any padding underneath; it feels like just a thin layer of the silicone.  It compresses very easily.  There’s a hard nub inside that you can feel when you completely compress the tip.

The barrel of the Kuel H10 is only about 2.75″ long without the cap.  It’s short enough that it’s difficult to support the top end against your hand.  It caused my hands to cramp up very quickly.  Luckily, the Kuel isn’t designed to be used this way.

Grab the sliver tip and pull to extend the barrel to almost 4″.  That length is long enough to allow the Kuel to rest against your hand.  It feels more like holding a normal pencil or pen, and it doesn’t cause my hand to get tired or crampy nearly as quickly.

Like with all styluses I’ve tried, I have to press harder with the stylus tip than I do with my finger tip.  Some styluses require you to hold the barrel almost perpendicular to the screen, but that’s not the case with the Kuel H10.  I could hold it at the same angle I hold pens, and it worked great.  I could tap, swipe, and slide with the Kuel.

The Kuel H10 Stylus would be a great accessory for people who wear gloves in the winter or for people who just don’t like to get smears on their screens.  The snap plug will fit into any 3.5mm headphone jack to keep the stylus handy for those people who aren’t always using their headphones.  It’s cheaper than a lot of styluses I’ve seen, too.

I debated whether I should review the Steinheil Ultra Mirror Half Mirror Screen Protector.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like it or think it would work.  The package says it’s only for the black phone, and I have a white phone.  I decided I would try it, because I wanted a screen protector.

The package contains two front screen protectors, a microfiber cloth to clean your iPhone before application, and a squeegee to remove air bubbles.  The directions are found on the back of the package.

Both the back and the front of the screen protector are covered with a protective film.  You can see from this photo that these screen protectors are those seemingly opaque sliver films.  The package calls it a “half mirror,” and that apparently means there’s a layer of silvering that’s dense enough to increase reflectivity but not enough to make it look like a regular mirror.

Application was easy.  I was very happy that no water was involved in the application.  Those wet-apply films always tell you to remove the battery and not use the device for a couple of days, but you can’t remove the battery from an iPhone.  I cleaned the screen of my iPhone with the included microfiber cloth, removed the film from the top of the backside of the protector, lined up the holes at the top of the protector with my phone, and began.

I only ended up with a couple of air bubbles, and they were quickly removed with the squeegee.  After I was happy with the appearance, I removed the top protective film.

You can see I was just the tiniest bit off lining it up with the home button.  You can also see that the screen definitely doesn’t appear like an opaque silver mirror.  On the white areas, the protector almost has a pearlescent look.  If you had a black phone, it would all look like the black screen area on my iPhone.  I understand that SGP Case was going for a uniform look, but I don’t mind the appearance of the white bezel at all.  The bezel area doesn’t work as part of the mirror, but the black touchscreen area is big enough to check your appearance.

You’ll also notice that the Ultra Mirror Screen Protector has cutouts for the front-facing camera and the phone’s speaker, but the ambient light/proximity sensors are covered by the film.  The sensors still seem to work.  I have found that the screen protector does make my display appear a bit dimmer.  That’s not because of the ambient light sensor; I don’t use the auto-brightness feature with my phone.  I increased the brightness of my phone a little, and it looks great.

The screen protector is just a bit smaller than the screen itself.  I was able to put my Bumper Case back on without peeling up the edges of the protector.  SGP Case says the “Steinheil Ultra Mirror does not peel after extended use due to the optical nanotechnology that offers higher abrasion resistance than regular films.”

You can see the screen protector is reflective enough that my camera focused on it’s own reflection instead of the icons.  It doesn’t appear reflective like that to my naked eye, though.  Once I brightened up the screen a bit, it’s easy to see my screen.  The Ultra Mirror screen protector is as slick and slippery as the naked Gorilla Glass itself, so it doesn’t interfere with using the touchscreen at all.

SGP Case says the “oleophobic coating on the Ultra Mirror enhances your phone’s picture quality, prevents fingerprints, and protects your LCD from scratches and dust.”  I haven’t seen as many fingerprints on my iPhone using the Steinheil, but I still do see some smears when I put the phone against my face, and I do see dust sometimes.  The screen cleans up easily using the little gray microfiber cloth, though.

SGP also says that the reflective coating should protect your screen from prying eyes, but I haven’t found that to be true.  It’s much shinier than the naked screen itself, but I can still read the screen from other angles.

To test the claims that it can be removed without leaving behind residue, I sacrificed the first screen protector I had applied.  It lifted right off without undue tension on the screen, and it did leave the screen perfectly clean.

I like the Steinheil Ultra Mirror Half Mirror Screen Protectors well enough that I installed the second one on my iPhone 4.  Now I don’t have to worry so much about scratches to my iPhone’s screen.  I only wish they had included a protector for the back of my phone, too.

Filed in categories: Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: Screen Protector, Stylus for capacitive touchscreen

SGP Case Steinheil Ultra Mirror Half Mirror Screen Protectors and Kuel H10 Stylus Pen Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 27, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Wondering what to get for the stylish gadget guy this coming Valentine’s Day?  It would be difficult for him not to love these Polished Silver Oval Wifi and 2GB USB Cufflinks from Brookstone.  On the surface, they’re a regular pair of classy polished silver cufflinks, but there’s more than what meets the eye.

Each cap can be detached from its base revealing a 2GB USB flash drive on one side and a WiFi hotspot on the other.  Once the corresponding software is installed on a (hard-wired) laptop or desktop, simply plug the WiFi end into the computer and start using your iPhone, iPad, etc from your new mobile hotspot.

These are a bit pricey, but how many other guys can be wearing their very own hotspot?  The WiFi/USB cufflinks are available through Brookstone for $250.

Filed in categories: Gear, News, Travel Gear

Tagged: cufflinks, USB flash drive, wifi hot spot

A Set of Cufflinks Fit for MI6 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 27, 2012 at 9:00 am.

The Switch Modular Pocket Knife from quirky could be a perfect gadget for Swiss Army knife fans it can be customized with your choice of 18 different tool attachments. Let’s see if this  multi-tool is worthy enough to add to your gear bag.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

When is the last time that you saw a multi-tool packaged in a plastic box like this one? Opening the box reveals a variety of blades.

Package Contents

2 exterior body covers, for encasing the tool attachments.
2 slotted caps to hold the tool together, which can be removed with the twist of a quarter to disassemble the unit.
3 interior chassis assemblies – small (2-6 tools), medium (4-10 tools), and large (7-13 tools)
18 tool attachments: Basic Blade, Serrated Blade, Woodsaw, Bottle Opener/Flathead, Can Opener/Wire Stripper, Scissors, Nail File, Flathead Screwdriver, Phillips-Head Screwdriver, Eyeglass Flathead Screwdriver, Eyeglass Phillips-Head Screwdriver, Magnifying Lens, Corkscrew, Wrench, Pen, Magnet, Tweezers, LED Flashlight
Plastic storage case
Instruction sheet

The idea behind the Switch Modular Pocket Knife is that you can build your own customized knife with a variety of blades / tools. You start by choosing a small, medium or large steel chassis. The smallest chassis will accommodate 2-6 tools, the medium chassis can hold 4-10 tools and the largest chassis will hold 7-13 tools.

Here are the 18 tool attachments. Top row: Magnet, Corkscrew, Tweezers, LED Flashlight, Eyeglass Flathead Screwdriver
Middle row: Eyeglass Phillips-Head Screwdriver, Pen, Scissors, Wrench, Magnifying Lens
Bottom row: Phillips-Head Screwdriver, Basic Blade, Woodsaw, Serrated Blade, Bottle Opener/Flathead, Can Opener/Wire Stripper, Flathead Screwdriver, Nail File

Some of the tools have “handles” that are made of plastic, while the others are made of steel. In the image above, you’ll see the tweezers, corkscrew, Black ballpoint pen, magnet and magnifying glass. These extra non-knife tools look like they could be handy, but in reality some of them are less than useful. The magnet tool is a great idea, but the magnet itself is pretty weak. The magnifying glass is completely useless. It might work for trying to make a fire with a beam of sunlight… but to actually magnify something, forget it. The lens is tiny and blurry. The ballpoint pen could be cool, but trying to write with it while it is in the Switch handle is pretty uncomfortable. I’m also not sure how you would go about refilling it as I can’t seem to pull out the pen from the handle.

Assembling your tools into the chassis can be a real challenge. The instructions tell you to line up all the tools into the chassis and then slide in the appropriate axle. I found this to be difficult because the tools tend to slide around making it hard to slide the axle completely through the hole.

I found it easier to slide the axle partially through the chassis opening and then load the tools one by one. Just don’t forget to put the cover on before inserting the axle. Once you’ve added all the tools and have the axle seated properly, you can add the other cover and the axle cap. To tighten the cap, you can use a quarter. Be warned that the axles are made of aluminum, which is soft and easily scratched and marred by the quarter.

Here’s an assembled Switch using the medium chassis with 6 tools.

At first I thought my customized Switch modular pocket knife was really cool… until I tried to access one of the blades. I soon became frustrated because the blades seemed to all catch on each other making it almost impossible to pull one out. Adjusting the tightness of the axle caps didn’t help and just caused the tools to flop around too easily.

The idea is a good one, but it just doesn’t work well at all.

I think there needs to be some type of nylon spacer between the steel tools to keep them from binding together.

On the bottom of the chassis is the blade lock.

When a tool is fully extended, it locks in place. At least it’s supposed to. Again, it doesn’t always work that well.

The Switch Modular Pocket Knife is a great idea but it really needs some more engineering and / or better components to make it an actual useful tool. As is, it’s just a novelty item. And a frustrating one at that. My advice is to not waste your $80 on this product. Take your money and buy a Leatherman multi-tool or a real Swiss Army knife. Trust me, you’ll be much happier with your purchase.

Filed in categories: Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Multi-tool, Pocket Knife

Switch Modular Pocket Knife Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 22, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Those of you who lug around a lot of gear like myself, and remember my article on a single convergence device, might just find this concept design by Indian Industrial Designer Prashant Chandra very interesting. His entry in the Fujitsu Design Awards competition, the Lifebook2013, was shortlisted to the top 100 from over 3000 entries from 99 countries. Consisting of a notebook, tablet, phone/MP3 player, and camera, the unit doesn’t actually have a physical keyboard, the tablet becomes a virtual keyboard when docked. When connected, the unit shares hardware and storage and only needs a single power charger.

“Our life in this IT age typically consist of these digital devices that we use everyday to do our work, entertain ourselves, enjoy our hobbies, save our memories and share and socialize with our family & friends. Presently we buy each one of these devices separately and then struggle to keep them all synchronised with our data. Also we always use these devices one at a time. This means a lot of wasted hardware which is repeated in these devices and is sitting idle in one device, when we are using other. If there was a device that could have these devices integrated into one thereby making synchronization a seamless process and overall cost of ownership lesser than what I would spend for four individual devices, it would truly be my Lifebook.”

More pictures and details can be seen in Prashant’s portolio on coroflot.com

Filed in categories: Gear, Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: concept product, notebook, Phone, Tablet

Lifebook 2013 Concept – A single convergence device? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 21, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

Just as the title says, you can charge tablets, phones, MP3 players, cameras – most anything USB-chargeable – with the Converge Rest and Recharge from Quirky.  The pictures even show it charging an iPad 2, which uses 2.1A.  The Converge has four powered USB ports hidden in the back and a slot through which you feed your charging cables.  Your devices sit on the Converge as they charge; you can charge up to four at a time.  The Converge measures about 12.2″ long X 4″ tall X 5″ deep.  It’s available now at Quirky for $39.99.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: Charging station

Quirky Converge Charges Most any USB-Chargeable Device originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 20, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

The newly-launched try-before-you-buy online subscription service, YBuy, lets you try a product for 30 days before deciding to buy.  For a monthly fee of $24.95, subscribers can try any of a wide variety of products – like iPads, Jawbone headsets, Keurig coffee machines, TaylorMade drivers, Dyson heaters, iRobot Roomba vacuums – for 30 days.  If you purchase the product, the monthly fee will be deducted from the purchase price.  YBuy says their prices are significantly lower than retail pricing, and they offer both new and refurbished products.  Read the full press release after the jump.

Why Buy When You Can Try? Test Drive the Latest Electronics, Home Gadgets at YBuy.com, Which Launches Wednesday with $750,000 in Funding

Manhattan Beach, Calif. — The new try-before-you-buy online subscription service YBuy.com launches Wednesday, January 18^th, with $750,000 in financing from Stephen Svajian and Kevin Wall and a list of angel investors, giving consumers a chance to test drive the latest electronics, home and kitchen gadgets for 30 days before they commit to purchase.

For just $24.95 a month, YBuy members can try out the latest products ranging from iPad 2s and high-end Jawbone headsets to Keurig coffee makers, Dyson heaters, TaylorMade drivers or the iRobot Roomba automatic vacuum for 30 days. After the trail period, YBuyers may opt to keep the item and have the rental fee applied toward the YBuy product purchase price—a significant discount under regular retail—or they can easily send it back and choose another product from the curated list of top-of-the-line products. Shipping is free both ways.

YBuy offers both new and factory refurbished products certified by the manufacturer. All returned products are completely refurbished before being sent to another customer, and every product is guaranteed to perform to the manufacturers’ quality standards.

Named the Best Tech Company of 2011 by edgy lifestyle guide Thrillist.com, YBuy effectively overcomes the last major obstacle to modern ecommerce: the inability to touch, feel and experience the product before you buy. By offering the trial experience, YBuy eliminates the hassle of refunds, returns and restocking fees common with traditional ecommerce—for both consumers and retailers.

Product returns cost the consumer electronics industry alone $16.7 billion in 2011, with the overwhelming majority of products (68 percent) returned simply because they failed to meet the customer’s requirements or expectations. Another 27 percent are returned due to buyer’s remorse. In order to resell these products, manufacturers must bear the high cost of refurbishment, but according to YBuy CEO Stephen Svajian, many end up in a landfill because refurbishing is simply not cost effective.

“YBuy completely eliminates all of these issues by giving consumers the chance to try the product and make sure it fits in their space or within their lifestyle with absolutely no risk,” he said. “For manufacturers, we provide an easy-to-use sales channel that allows them to offer refurbished products to consumers without the added cost of marketing and sales.”

Not only do YBuyers get a chance to try the latest gadgets and home products with no risk and no guilt, they also receive discount offers good toward the purchase of their product during their trial period. Subscribers can cancel anytime, or choose to skip a month and have that month’s fee applied toward the purchase of a future product. Membership in YBuy is limited and by invitation only to ensure sufficient inventory is always available, which also enables the company to provide exceptional, personalized customer service.

“Our goal is to offer consumers the best products at the best price with no risk,” Svajian said. “And, we’re also eager to expand our product line by working with manufacturers looking for a better solution for their refurbished product resale channel.”

For more information or to start your 30-day in-home trial of the latest electronics and home gadgets, go to www.ybuy.com.

About YBuy.com

YBuy.com is the premier try-before-you-buy destination that lets consumers test drive the latest electronics and home and kitchen gadgets for 30 days with no commitment to buy. Offering both new and certified factory refurbished products, YBuy eliminates the hassle of product refunds, returns and buyer’s remorse and offers manufacturers a captive audience and ready-made sales channel for their refurbished products. The private company is headquartered in Manhattan Beach, Calif. For more information, visit www.ybuy.com.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: Websites

YBuy Lets You Try a Product Before You Buy It originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 19, 2012 at 10:15 am.

Ever had a dead car battery, reach for your cellphone to call for help, and find that your cellphone’s battery is dead, too?  If you kept a SpareOne cellphone in your car or purse for emergencies, you wouldn’t have to worry about that scenario.  The SpareOne is a Dual band GSM phone with patented technology that allows it to be powered by a single alkaline, NiMH, or lithium AA battery – the most widely-available battery.  When powered with an Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA battery (included), you’ll have 10 hours of talk time, and it can keep its charge up to 15 years when unused.  The SpareOne is a very reliable phone to leave in your car for emergencies and as a means of keeping in touch with your children or older relatives.  SpareOne, equipped with an Energizer Ultimate Lithium battery and a micro SIM card, will be available in Q1 2012 in the US for $49.99.  Different versions (US, Europe, and Asia) will be available with WCDMA frequency options for selected regions.  It will also soon be available in customizable versions for businesses, events, and other uses.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: cell phone, Security

SpareOne – the World’s Only Cellphone That Runs on a Single AA Battery originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 13, 2012 at 1:00 pm.

How excited was I to try this product, a protective case that charges a wide variety of personal electronics – iPods, phones, GPS units, handheld game devices, and such – and has an amplified speaker built in? And can recharge itself with a built-in solar panel? And priced under $60! Woot woot! Sign me up!

I soon had a Solicharger-SP from SolLight in my hands to try out.

The package includes the case, a short set of instructions, and a bunch of tips – micro USB, mini USB, Apple, USB, and ‘reverse’ USB.  Some will be used to power your device, others help charge the unit.

Inside the case and the included tips.

The specs for the case are:

• External dimensions: 7.25″ long x 4″ wide x 1.75″ thick
• Internal dimensions: 7″ x 3″ x just under 1″
• Weight: 9 ounces
• Battery: Lithium-Ion 1500mAh
• Solar panel: 2″ x 3″, 5v 70mAh
• Output: 5vdc, 500mA
• Amplified speaker

The numbers for the dimensions are kind of misleading since the case has very rounded corners and is wider in the middle than on the top or bottom. The upper half of the opened case is filled with the battery and speakers. The case also features a blue LED to tell you it is charging, a pass-through grommet for the charger cord, and two external loops with small carabiners.

The outer case is a sturdy, stiffened black Cordura nylon, and the inner case is a slightly fuzzy material that slightly connects to the rough part of low-profile Velcro. There is not much actual padding in the shell- most of it is between your device and the case lid with the battery, etc. in it.

Case outside, showing the carabiners on top. The white dot on the left side of the solar panel is the blue 'charging' LED

Internally, there are two non-adjustable elastic straps, a small storage pouch that is not big enough for all of the tips, and the ‘control panel’ for the speaker and charging functions. There are instructions on the panel as well, which is helpful to remind you that the power switch has to be ‘on’ to run your device, and ‘off’ when charging. A small red LED lets you know the speaker elements are turned on.

There are also two 6″ or so cords inside. One is a typical right angle 1/8″ stereo plug, and the other is a right angle jack to take the charging or power tips. One issue with this case is that the charging tip and adapter will add about 1.5-1.75″ to the length of your device- and I really doubt you could use it and zip up the case if your device has a side-mounted charging port. My Samsung Galaxy S (Epic) fits, but there is not a lot of length to spare.

Case with my Samsung Galaxy S (Epic) in place (should have cleaned the screen!) Note the space taken by the power tip and cord.

Charging the case is easy enough, and you can charge the case while still using the speaker functions. You can use either the 22″ USB cable to plug into a powered USB port, or the short ‘reverse’ USB adapter so you can plug another USB cable into it, such as an AC/USB plug. The maker says it will take about 3-4 hours to charge fully. A blue LED indicates that it is charging, but there is no visible signal that the case is fully charged.

Charging the case with the rather small solar panel takes 20-24 hours of light, depending on the light quality. Even a small amount of light from the window is enough to trickle charge the battery.  If the internal batteries are fully depleted, it may not charge with the sun and would need to be hooked up to another source for about 15 minutes to get the charging process started. Also note that using the sun alone can generally only charge it about 90% of the way.

A fully-charged case should give your device a complete charge, but it may take over an hour to do so depending on several factors. The solar charger is not quite powerful enough to keep your unit charged when playing music.  You will eventually use juice faster than the solar panel can recharge it, but the cases batteries and solar panel will certainly extend your device’s battery life significantly! In my decidedly non-scientific trials, I got less than half my smartphone’s usual battery drain when I used this case to play music (without the amplified speakers). With the amplified speakers also using the battery pack, I still got about a 25% or so boost in battery life.

Close-up of the control panel. The LED shows that the speaker switch is 'on'. Also shows the pouch.

The speakers are OK. They boost the volume quite a bit, but add a lot of noise and distortion as the volume goes up. Sometimes I would have sworn I was listening to an older LP album with the hisses and popping. Charging the case as you play music seems to add a lot of noise, and even charging the player in the case seems to add some.

There are no external controls, so you need to open the case to change volume, change tracks, etc. Not a real problem if you have a good playlist going and have treated all your music so the volume is leveled out but that does not apply to me, so I constantly have to open the case and adjust things. You can also use it as the photo from the site at the top of the article suggests, and keep the player outside the case- but frankly if I wanted to do that I would buy a better external speaker unit.

Overall, the SolLight Solicharger-SP case does an OK job on all of its aspects – protection, portability, amplified speakers, and charging. Other cases may do many of these better for a lower price, but I cannot find many that do it all like this one can. Personally, I’ll stick to the iMainGo2 case for the sound vs. price benefits.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Gear, Reviews

Tagged: External battery, External speaker, solar charger

SolLight Solicharger-SP Solar Charger/Speaker Case Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 12, 2012 at 11:00 am.

The All Black is ‘just…’ a new color scheme in the existing Sunnto Elementum Terra line. The all-black casing and negative display make for a stealthy (Stargate ) look, while retaining all the functionality of the Terra clan. I have always been tempted by Suunto’s luxury line of Elementum Terra watches but to be honest the original three styles, while very nice, never talked to me enough to do the deed. But the Terra All Black pushed me over the edge….

The Terra All Black is well sized and weighted and even better looking in person, featuring: time, date, alarm, 3D compass, altimeter, barometer, and chronograph.

Here it is next to my old Suunto t6 running/workout (right) and Movado (left) watches I wear regularly.  As you can see, the Terra All Black is very nice looking. I have used my t6 for YEARS, having definitely gotten what I paid for. It continues to keep ticking…a new battery every couple of years and has yet to fail me. My hope and expectation is that the Terra will do the same; withstand the same rugged lifestyle that my t6 has. The Terra’s professional appearance not only enables it to be worn anywhere (aka business setting), but also be used while running/outdoor adventuring.

While nicely weighted and sized, the Elementum series of watches is relatively thick, but not painfully so. The overall dimensions of the watch are 1.8 (44mm) x 1.8 (44mm) x 0.5 (13.5mm) inches and weighs 95 g (200 g for Steel).

Contents:

• Suunto Elementum Terra All Black Wrist Computer
• Cleaning Cloth
• Customer Support Card
• Quick Reference Guide

Features:

• Time, Date, Alarm
• Backlight
• Altimeter
• Barometric pressure & trend
• 3D compass
• Chronograph
• Cumulative ascent / descent
• Log: last 8 ascent / descent, max. altitude

Suunto’s Elementum Terra has a simple design, manufactured with high quality materials and intelligent/well-thought out navigation. As you would expect from Suunto, its luxury line of watches is extremely well made: corrosion-resistant AISI 316L stainless steel case and buttons; sapphire crystal glass with anti-reflective coating; intelligent knob positioning for easy scrolling; high-quality LCD display with metallic display graphics; water resistance to 100 m (and according to the manual, the buttons can be pushed underwater).

The Suunto Elementum has two sensors: pressure and electronic compass. The pressure sensor has a dual purpose of monitoring the barometric pressure and altitude data. The main screen of the watch shows the time, date, altitude, and barometric pressure trend and reading continuously.

The compass function can be accessed by pushing the bottom button. The 3-Axis (3-D) compass does not need to be level to operate accurately. The barometric pressure scale (outside ring display) turns into a pointer for North, and the watch dial reads out the degrees you are facing. The compass and barometric sensors need to be initially calibrated and aligned.

Having majored in atmospheric science back in college, I find the barometric pressure gauge and trend indicator interesting and a lot of fun. So far, it has done an excellent job of letting me know what the weather is going to be like. The pressure was high and it was clear and cold but once it took a nosedive, the rains were here a few hours later. While this feature has limited benefits surviving in the urban canyons, it could definitely come in handy while out camping, fishing, hunting and the like.

The watch also features an alarm and simple chronograph. The chronograph measures 1/100 of a second for a minute after which it measures up to 99 minutes. While the Terra can time your runs/hikes/rides, track your altitude gains/losses, and help you navigate your routes, it does not work with Suunto’s foot pod, bike pod, GPS pod or heart rate monitor; making it not an ideal choice for hardcore training.

The watch has a very bright backlight. It can be activated by pushing the middle button for a couple of seconds. The entire screen is illuminated with a blue/green glow. The backlight is impressively bright and stays on for approximately 3-4 seconds.

In addition to the new Terra All Black, there are also three other styles in the line; Black Rubber, Black Leather, and Steel.

Along with the Terra, the high end Elementum line also includes a Aqua (left) and Ventus (right). The Elementum Aqua is for ‘urban and underwater use’ and the Elementum Ventus is for the ‘on-board and on-shore lifestyle’.

The Elementum line of watches is made in Finland, where the brand started/is from.

The Suunto Elementum Terra line ranges in price from $899 to $1199. While not as costly as Rolex or Breitling, a thousand dollars is nothing to scoff at either. Its lack of training and/or expedition features makes other less costly Suunto watches, like the t6d or Core, a more logical choice for the hardcore athlete or outdoor explorer. The Terra All Black is more for the professional who exercises during lunch or hunts/hikes on the weekend. Having said that, even though I workout pretty hard a majority of the time and do many outdoor activities, I have zero buyers regret on my 2011 Holiday gift/splurge (to myself )….without a doubt, I love the Terra All Black’s look, feel, form and function.

Filed in categories: Fitness, Sports, Gear, Outdoor Gear, Reviews, Watches and Clocks

Tagged: Fitness, Health, Watch

Suunto Elementum Terra All Black Watch Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 11, 2012 at 11:00 am.

A while ago scanning pens. co. uk offered a review unit of the e-pen mobile notes pro product. For some reason the review unit didn’t turn up until recently. Since then I’ve received and played with digital inking on my Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet. This has given me an “appreciation” of digital inking and how it can fit in with workflow. The E-pen offers the ability to keep both “traditional” hand written notes as well as digitised versions.  If you need to archive both “old fashioned” pen and paper notes as well as digitised versions, perhaps the e-pen solution will work for you.

Note: any errors in the above paragraph are intended as a demonstration of the OCR

Interestingly enough while I was writing this review Julie posted Starting a New Journal – Which Format Do you Use, Digital or Analog, perhaps this is the solution out there for some of you who keep both (I keep neither ).

The paperless office, a pipe-dream that I’ve heard about for many, many years.  Digital inking while improving over the years…ummm, decades,  still hasn’t reached the point where many of us still don’t need to use  pen and paper at some time.  My Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet has brought me closer, but something just doesn’t feel right (or perhaps I’m just a bit of a dinosaur).

The unit ships with a handy carrying tin, the pen, batteries, receiver, retractable USB cable, 6 spare ink cartridges, 1 plastic stylus, cartridge remover, and software CD.

The cartridges appear to be a medium tip; they come in blue and they’re quite nice smooth cartridges. Spares can be ordered, but it’s probably possible to retrofit other cartridges in there if you’re adventurous. The pen requires a V392 battery which is installed in the end of the pen.

The receiver is clipped to the top of the page, where it tracks the position of the pen and captures any notes you take.  The clip on the receiver is very small and only clips to a single piece of paper, and as such, it will not work with a top bound book or pad. Coverage of the pages is very good and you can just write normally without paying too much concern about where you’re actually writing. A minor gripe, clipping on the receiver slightly crumples the top of your page, not a big issue unless you’re a bit OCD

As mentioned, the receiver tracks the nib of the pen to digitise your writing.  You have to be careful that you don’t block the nib of the pen, highly unlikely but something to keep in mind with how you hold the pen.  While the pen requires a battery, the receiver itself if has its own internal battery and is charged via the mini-USB port on it.  It takes around 3.5 hours to fully charge. The pen itself will go to sleep after 60 seconds of non use, and pressing down on the nib will reactivate the pen.  Just for interest sake, the pen is not recognised when the cap is on.

One issue I found was that the clip very flimsy.  After a couple of days testing, the clip actually broke on one side  The clip and the two springs now pop off sometimes, and luckily I didn’t lose the springs the first time. I’ve had to jury rig with some sticky tape.

On the receiver are two buttons, the first turns the unit on and off and is pressed every time you start a new page.  The second turns on Bluetooth.  You can see here that the unit has two pages stored in it and the battery level is full. The receiver will hold up to around 100 pages before needing to download and free up memory. So the process is write a page, press the new page button, remove receiver, turn page, reclip receiver, and then start writing again.  Now what can you do with all that stored text ?

The pen comes with a CD that includes three major software components:

• Notes Manager – Manages all your notes
• MyScript Notes – does OCR of your hand written notes
• Photo Sketcher – allows you to annotate jpgs

Before you can use Myscript you need to register your pen by putting the serial number of your receiver into the online registrations.  An activation key is then emailed to you.

Once you’ve finished you’re capturing, you can then plug the receiver into your micro USB cables (supplied), and Notes Manager can be set up to automatically start and download  (they call it upload) all notes stored in the receiver. This was handy; however after  adding all the notes, it asked if you’d like to delete them off the receiver. When I said “yes” it didn’t clear the notes off the receiver and I had to re upload all the notes again. Problem was that there’s no facility for NOT uploading multiple copies of the same note, and as such I ended up with two of each notes before I could clear the receivers memory. Once into Notes Manager you can then arrange your notes into folders.

One potentially useful function is that the handwritten notes can be easily put on your desktop as sticky notes.

If you want to convert your handwritten notes to text, then you can use either the OCR built into Notes Manager or Myscript Notes.  The note is imported into the program then converted.  This text can then be saved, converted, edited, emailed, printed etc. Myscript Notes will work in 30 languages.

You can see from my original paragraph that the recognition is pretty good.  There’s an option for training Myscript which involves copying out 4 pages of standardised notes.  This is then put into the trainer which is meant to increase the accuracy of the OCR.  I went through this process a couple of times, and the truth is it didn’t make any difference to the recognition. You can also train the software to recognise multiple languages in your hand writing.

Another way that the system can be used is in “tethered mode” rather than “mobile mode”. When the receiver is attached to your PC via USB when you start writing, you’ll get the screen above.  This way you have “real-time” scribing. Once again, these notes can then saved into Notes Manager and/or converted to text.

By replacing the pen nib with the plastic stylus, the pen can be converted into mouse modes, so it’s very similar to using a tablet, but without all the additional hardware.  I found this hard to use, as for me there was a “disconnect” between moving the pen and seeing what was on the screen and where you were on the physical page.  Those who are used to a Wacom tablet or similar shouldn’t have any issue with this though.  Multiple monitors weren’t supported, and I could only control the “mouse pen” on my primary monitor.  You can actually swap between mouse and note taking mode by tapping underneath the receiver or pressing the button on the pen.  Using the mouse function, you can use the pen to use the tablet functions such as jotting diagrams or handwriting recognition in Microsoft Windows programs that support it. (Sorry, I tried to get some pictures but couldn’t work out how to show this properly).

In addition to wired, tethered mode, the receiver will also connect via Bluetooth. It’s as easy as turning on Bluetooth on both devices, discovering the mobile pen, and then putting in the PIN Code 000. All the “tethered” functions above are then available to you without plugging any cables in.

An added function of the E-Pen Mobile Notes Pro is that it will also work with Blackberry and Android devices via Bluetooth. I can’t test on a Blackberry, but I downloaded the mnote app direct from the Android Market  (note there are actually two mnote apps on the market) and ran its wizard to connect the mobile pen, and I was up and running in no time.  I would say the placement accuracy isn’t as good as on a PC, but this might just be a function of the lower screen resolution on the Android screen.

In terms of Julie’s journalling post, here’s a demonstration of the three formats that you  could use with this pen.

All in all, the e-pen is quite a nifty product and very useful when you need/want to still take your pen and paper notes but also want a digital copy to file, forward, or archive.   It’s not that good for artists however as there’s no pressure sensitivity built into the pen, so you can’t get “graduated” lines or shading in your digital copies.

The ability to OCR your handwritten notes is handy, though its usefulness will depend on your handwriting – or at least the accuracy of the handwriting recognition. The hardware is pretty sturdy and well designed except for the clip on the receiver.

Used in mouse mode, I’m not that convinced, but as I mention above, this might be because I’m used to my Thinkpad Tablet and stylus.  My brain just has a disconnect between position on the screen and position on the physical paper and receiver.

The review above is based on the Pro version which has the ability to connect via Bluetooth and is also available in Mac versions.   There is also a non-Bluetooth versions available for both PC and Mac at a slightly cheaper price.

I’m actually studying at the moment (for the first time in many, many years), and I know that for my note taking and retention, I have to write things out with pen and paper. I’ve been using the e-pen for my study notes, and it’s actually nice to have a digital backup that can be OCRed and be made into a searchable archive without too much additional work (assuming it’s recognised my scrawl properly).

Filed in categories: Gear, Reviews

Tagged: digital pen

E-pens Mobile Notes Pro PC Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 10, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Some weather stations have a confusing array of buttons that toggle between modes, but Oregon Scientific is announcing a new touchscreen weather station at CES that will simplify determining what you should wear in the mornings.  The Touch Advanced Weather Station gives you full weather forecasts, accurate time & date, temperature, humidity and air pressure readings with a touch of your finger.  The Touch Advanced station shows 12-hour weather forecast with 24-hour historical barometer and barograph, indoor/outdoor temperature and humidity with up to 3 channels, and a daily max and min temperature and humidity record.  It also has an atomic clock and calendar with crescendo alarm and 8-minute snooze.  The MSRP is $49.99.

Filed in categories: Gear, News, Watches and Clocks

Tagged: Alarm Clock, Weather Station

Oregon Scientific’s Touch Advanced Weather Station originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 9, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

The winter has arrived and temperatures are dropping across the northern hemisphere. For those of us that live in a cold climate and love our gadgets that means having to take off our gloves to use our touch screen devices, leaving our precious digits exposed to the elements, or does it? A company, by the name of OnTip, has designed and delivered what they claim are gloves that will keep your digits warm and cozy while you use your touch screen gadgets. With an embedded OnTip nub on the pointer finger and thumb of each glove, one can use their touch sensitive gadgets without having to remove their gloves. The team at The Gadgeteer was asked to review the OnTip 3-in-1 Gloves and I jumped at the chance to review them, as I am an avid skier and I love the outdoors. At $69.50, the gloves are a good deal, but we will need to see how they hold up to the rigors of the wintry outdoor world.

For this review I was able choose the gloves I wanted to review from the OnTip line of gloves. After visiting the OnTip website I found that the OnTip marketing team has a sense of humor and a stick it in your eye swagger as their company slogan is “Do it with your gloves on!” I like the slogan – definitely not your usual boring company in a sea of boring companies. Also, I found the OnTip company website extremely well designed and focused on the consumer – no weird links that take you to information you don’t need.

The first task for the review was figuring out which pair of gloves from the OnTip line up to test. A bit of background on my winter activities may help you understand the choice of gloves that I made; I ski and enjoy being outside in the winter. I also like to walk-jog in the winter on trails near my house, but I don’t like bulky gloves on my hands. I usually wear a set of runner’s gloves on the trails and a pair of ski gloves on the mountain.

I found that the OnTip team offers a number of OnTip equipped gloves, each with its own focus in terms of temperature tolerance and sports capability, including:

• OnTip Fleece
• OnTip Softshell
• OnTip WinterSport
• OnTip 3-n-1

I picked the OnTip 3-in-1 Gloves, offering a two piece system of fleece liner and shell, effectively creating three separate options for hand protection: fleece glove insert for running, shell for cold weather activities, or combined for winter sports. According to the OnTip website the 3-n-1 offers the best cold protection while also providing waterproof, windproof, and breathability – in short, the ultimate geek glove for snow sports.

The OnTip 3-n-1 comes in a variety of sizes and colors to fit your hands as well as matching your style and outfit. I needed to figure out what size would best fit my hands and the OnTip website came in handy with a men’s and a woman’s sizing chart. To use the sizing chart I simply printed it out and held my hand up to measure against the printout. I found out that my hand measures as a medium, so I ordered a pair of medium gloves.

After receiving the OnTip 3-in-1 Gloves I wondered how good they really are and what criteria I should use to evaluate them? Should I subject them to a torture test of icy cold water, a hike through the woods, or skiing out west? Or, all of the above?

Before I dig into testing the OnTip Gloves I had to read up on the OnTip website to find out what benefits and features that the OnTop Gloves gloves. I copied a list of the information from the OnTip Website and am including the list below;

• OnTip
  Using your touch-sensitive phone, MP3 player, tablet or laptop has never been this comfortable…or this precise! The OnTip™ family of gloves offers ground-breaking patent-pending OnTip™ technology that lets you touch screens in warmth and dry comfort. OnTip technology’s conductive fingertips provides visual alignment and fast-as-fingers sensitivity so you and your touchscreen can interact with more accuracy than ever before.
• DIWYGO
  Gloves with DIWYGO™ technology keep you warm by keeping you dry. Water droplets are repelled by the DIWYGO™ membrane while perspiration and excess heat pass right through. The pores in the unique polyurethane membrane are just big enough for perspiration to pass through easily…but way too small for raindrops! Conductive heat loss steals warmth from damp, unprotected fingers. Stay dray…stay warm with gloves protected by DIWYGO™ technology!
• ThermoLite Plus
  Thermolite provides warmth and comfort without weight, even when wet. It’s the lightweight fabric that provides heavy-duty performance… because it’s fabric made with ADVANSA engineered hollow-core fibers that trap air for greater insulation. Plus, wearers stay drier because it dries 20% faster than other insulating fabrics,and 50% faster than cotton.Thermolite® is the perfect layering fabric because it’s comfortable and lightweight, allowing more freedom of movement.
• 3M Scotchlite Reflective Material
  Versatility, performance and fashion come together in Scotchlite™ reflective material. We have designed 3M Scotchlite™ Reflective Material into our Winter Sport Glove and 3-in-1 Glove to give you high performance attractive handwear to help you be more visible no matter the weather conditions. Whether at work or play, 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material helps you to be seen at dawn, dusk, or night.
• Reinforced Grippy Palms
  Grippy, yet abrasion resistant and soft palms made of polyurethane or silicone (depending on the glove) helps make sure your touchscreen device stays in your hand…and out of the snow.
• Soft Brushed Wicking Lining
  All of our gloves feature a soft, brushed, wicking lining that gives you added warmth and comfort while helping to wick moisture away from your hands.
• Nose and Goggle Wipe Thumb Panel
  Featured on our Lined Soft-Shell, Winter Sport and 3-in-1 Gloves, this sueded thumb panel helps you to clean your goggles… or wipe your nose.
• Fit and Fabric
  All of our gloves are constructed with years of expertise in the perfect glove fit. Patterns have been tested, tried and tweaked to ensure fit and comfort. The fabrics used are chosen specifically for the use of the glove – from a 4-way stretch fleece for a close form-fitting fit enabling maximum dexterity, to durable outer shell material to keep warmth in and wind and rain out, to super durable fabric and polyurethane palms for high stress areas and abrasion resistance.

I prepared for my first run in the woods by putting on the OnTip Fleece Liners and found that they fit perfectly, warm and cozy, yet giving and not tight on my hands. The OnTip Fleece Liners have the OnTip “O” logo embossed on them in a grippy material that made picking up a glass or other item simple. I started my run and almost immediately my phone beeped telling me that I had a message. The temperature outside was in the low 40′s Fahrenheit and I grabbed my phone and tried out the OnTip nubs for the first time and was happily surprised to find that they worked flawlessly – I was able to open my text message and respond without having to take my gloves off. While on the run the OnTip Fleece Liners kept my hands warm and cozy and the fit was spot on – the little print out did the trick.

What I really like about the OnTip nubs is that there are two of them; one on the thumb and another on the pointer finger of the gloves. I was able to both point and swipe on my phone with a good deal of accuracy even though I was wearing a pair of gloves. Both the fleece liners and the outer shells have the OnTip nubs, so I’ll be able to answer my phone however I’m wearing the gloves.

The next test I came up with is exposing the shell to icy and wet conditions. I turned to the cold water test and created an icy bath where I plunged my hands with the OnTip Gloves on. I kept my hands in the icy water for 30 seconds and the gloves performed admirably – my hands stayed warm and dry and the gloves were super cozy. I found the OnTip Shell fit very well and there was a stretchy bit that was sewn in around the wrist are of the glove to keep it securely on my hand. The length of the OnTip shell was welcome as it extended beyond my wrist to cover any jacket that I would be wearing and ensure that my wrist area stayed warm as well. On the bottom of the glove is the standard button closure that allows you to simply close the glove up to keep out any snow or water while outside. The palm area of the glove is covered in a soft grippy material that I would have to guess is a synthetic suede. I could easily pickup items even when the glove was damp as the fingers are also covered in a second synthetic material that made picking up items a snap. The rest of the shell of the gloves is covered in two materials; a waterproof breathable material and a softer black material. Finally, on both the liners and the shell there are snaps to keep the gloves together so they don’t get lost.

I performed the last test a second time by combining the OnTip Fleece Liner with the OnTip Shell and found the ultimate in comfort, warmth and protection from the elements. What surprised me was that my hands were actually getting warm inside the gloves, not hot mind you as the breathable materials were wicking away the moisture that was starting to accumulate inside the gloves from the heat, but noticeably warm. I could see the OnTip 3-n-1 Gloves standing up to the best Mother Nature could throw at me.

The last test will be taking the OnTip 3-n-1 Gloves skiing. You will have to wait a couple of weeks for an update as I am scheduled to go out west on a ski trip the first week of the New Year and will test the OnTip 3-n-1 Gloves then. To find out how they perform you will have to check back to catch the updated review in a couple of weeks.

So far, I would have to positively recommend the OnTip 3-n-1 Gloves as they deliver warm, soft and cozy gloves that keep your hands dry even in the coldest environment while you use your touch equipped technology. I could see the OnTip family of gloves being used by sports enthusiasts as well as those whose work requires them to be in cold and harsh environments.

Filed in categories: Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Capacitive, Clothing, gloves

OnTip 3-in-1 Gloves Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 8, 2012 at 11:00 am.

Urban Tool is an Austrian company that makes “stylish accessories for portable gadgets.”  They also make small accessories like these wallets they sent to The Gadgeteer.  Let’s give them a look.

Most of the pictures in this review, including the top photo, can be clicked for an enlarged view.

Urban Tool identifies these as Wallet 1 (smallest), Wallet 2 (medium), and Wallet 3 (largest).  Wallet 1 measures about 4.25″ X 3.5″ X 0.85″ thick; it weighs about 1 ounce.  Wallet 2 is about 5.0″ X 4.1″ X 0.85″ thick; it weighs about 1.7 ounces.  Wallet 3 is about 7.8″ X 3.75″ X 0.85″ thick; it weighs about 1.9 ounces.

The wallets are plain on the outside except for the metal Urban Tool badge located at a corner.  The wallets are made of either plastic coated 100% cotton denim (the two dark wallets) or 100% metallic PVC (the green one).  There are no pockets on the exterior of the wallets.  The two cotton wallets have a plastic coating on the fabric that should make it a bit more water resistant.  All three wallets have a very strong petrochemical smell that simply doesn’t go away.  I’m not sure it’s even less noticeable after two weeks than it was when I first removed them from their zippered plastic shipping bags.  It’s a very unpleasant smell.

Each wallet comes in a variety of colors.  I received Wallet 1 and Wallet 3 in Denim Titanium and Wallet 2 in Peppermint PVC.

The back of the medium and the large wallets have little ribbon tabs sewn into the seam.  You can clip a carabiner here to hold your keys.  Wallet 3 comes with a carabiner that is embossed with the Urban Tool name and fitted with an Urban Tool ribbon tag.  Wallet 2 doesn’t come with a carabiner.

Inside, the wallets have a logo ribbon sewn onto one of the inside pockets.  They also have a care tag that says the wallets aren’t washable nor dry-cleanable.

All three wallets zip closed.  The zippers are the water-resistant style that look like they were installed backwards with the teeth inside the wallet.  The outside has a plastic coating to prevent water from soaking through.  This should be sufficient to get you from the car to the house when it’s raining, but don’t think about swimming with the wallet in your pocket.   All three zippers have plastic teeth and metal pulls.  The zippers and pulls coordinate with the wallets’ colors.

Wallet 1 is very small, with just enough room for a little money and a few cards.  I found I could put a couple of cards in each of the outermost slots.  It was a tight fit getting the cards in there, and I found I had to try to bend the zipper away from the corner to get the cards out.  There’s a closed-bottom pouch sewn into the gusset that holds change.  The two pockets between the change pouch and the outer pockets can hold a couple more cards or some receipts.  This wallet should fit easily into your pockets or your purse.  Other than the smell, you’ll hardly notice you have it with you.

Wallet 2 is much roomier inside.  The pockets are longer than those in Wallet 1, and the cards are easier to get in and out.  There are three slots on each side.  The lower two are sized to hold cards and licenses, and the uppermost two are deep enough to hold some folded bills.  The coin pouch is zippered in this wallet.  The gusseting keeps things from falling out as you open the wallet, and it also forms a couple of extra pockets to hold more cards, receipts, or the like.  This wallet isn’t big enough to hold my cellphone.

Wallet 3 is big enough to hold my iPhone 4, plus there’s room for a checkbook (if you still use them).  There is a deep, full-length pocket that can hold cash along each side.  There are also four slots for cards on each side.  The zippered coin purse is sewn into the gusset, and there’s plenty of room on each side for receipts, papers, a cellphone, checkbook, or the like.  With the included carabiner to attach your keys, you’ll have everything you need for errands.  It’s probably too big to fit in pants’ pockets, and some men may not like the shape because it looks like a lot of women’s wallets.

The Urban Tool Wallets are well-built and sturdy, so they should be able to carry your cards, cash, an even a cellphone in Wallet 3.  They come in a variety of colors and sizes, so men and women should be able to find one to fit their needs.  The only negative I see with these wallets is the strong, unpleasant smell.  Hopefully it will eventually dissipate.

Filed in categories: Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Wallet

Urban Tool Wallets Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 4, 2012 at 11:13 am.

Would you like a work table for your laptop, but you don’t have room for a desk?  Or you’d like to use it while sitting on your sofa, without burning your legs?  The Room-for-My-Sidekick Table from Levenger will let you add a work table to any room.  It’s big enough to use with a laptop or your tablet, and there’s a storage drawer that conveniently opens from either side for easy access to your supplies.  The table glides easily over tiles, wood, or carpet, and the brushed-chrome base slides under your chair to position the table over your lap.  When you don’t need it, slide it beside the sofa or chair and use it as a side table.  It’s available in dark cherry, natural cherry, or walnut wood veneers.  It’s $239 for either cherry veneer or $299 for the walnut; special pricing ends January 22, 2012.

Filed in categories: Gear, Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: Laptop table/stand

Add a Work Table Anywhere with the Room-for-My-Sidekick Table originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 30, 2011 at 2:00 pm.

If you just can’t find the right belt buckle, you should try the Scrolling LED Belt Buckle from Gadgets and Gear.  You’ll be able to type in six of your own messages; the first can have 512 characters, but the other five are limited to 256 characters each.  The buckles are available with either red or blue LEDs, and the speed and brightness are adjustable.  You’ll have to supply your own belt, but the buckle will fit most standard belts.  The Scrolling LED Belt Buckle is $39.99.

Filed in categories: Gear, Geek Toys, News

Tagged: belt, Clothing

Scrolling LED Belt Buckle originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 28, 2011 at 1:00 pm.

So the other half rings you to do something on the way home from work and you write it on a Post-it which you stick on your monitor.  You leave work, jump in the car, get home and……

Yep, Post-its are great WHEN you can see them.  Worry no longer, Doriane Favre has designed the Montre watch it to jot down your note and then whack it on your wrist so your notes always with you.

Available from Paris-based boutique PA Design for 14.00 € ($18.29) for 100 sheets.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: note

Montre Watch it – Wear your reminders originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 24, 2011 at 5:13 pm.

Here’s another multifunction pen and stylus, this one from Tuff-Luv.  The Stylus Touchpen has a brushed aluminum body with a pen clip to keep it safely in your pocket.  The top has a “soft nub” that’s a stylus for capacitive screens.  Flip it around and twist the barrel to select the red or black pen for writing on paper.  The Stylus Touchpen is £12.99 (about $20).  It’s in-stock and ready to order now directly from Tuff-Luv, or check their website for resellers.  Amazon has it for $14.99 for those of us in the US.

Filed in categories: Gear, News

Tagged: Stylus for capacitive touchscreen

Tuff-Luv Stylus Touchpen originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 16, 2011 at 9:00 am.

Sick of having to carry multiple “standard” USB cables to charge and sync your devices?  Innergie has you covered with their Magic Cable Trio .  A single cable gives you access to Mini USB, Micro USB and Apple 40 pin.  Each connector uses a hinge mechanism so you won’t lose the connectors that you’re not using. Just the thing to throw into your gadget bag for that emergency charge.

Available for $20 from Innergie.

Filed in categories: Gear, News, Travel Gear

Tagged: USB cable

Innergie Magic Cable Trio – Pure Magic originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 8, 2011 at 9:00 am.

Just in time for World AIDS Day, mophie has joined with (RED) and launched a special-edition line of their juice pack air, juice pack plus and the complete juice pack universal line (reserve, boost and power station).  We’ve told you about their great reserve power products for your mobile devices, so you know how well they work.  mophie (RED) products cost between $35 and $100.  When you purchase a (RED) product from mophie, they’ll give a portion of their profit from the sale to the fight against AIDS.  Read more about mophie’s line of (RED) products and about the (RED) project after the jump.

mophie (RED)EFINES Portable Power by Joining Forces with (RED)™

Special Edition Battery Solutions Now Available as (PRODUCT)^RED ™

Santa Ana, Calif. (Nov. 29, 2011)—mophie™, trailblazer in the portable power category, today announced its partnership with (RED)™ and the launch of a Special Edition line of flagship products—juice pack air, juice pack plus and the complete juice pack universal line (reserve, boost and powerstation)—to raise  awareness  and funds to fight AIDS. Five percent of profits from the sales of (MOPHIE)^RED products will go to the Global Fund to help reach the goal of an AIDS free generation by 2015. To kick off the program, the (MOPHIE)^RED universal line will be available for sale online beginning December 1 in conjunction with the internationally recognized World AIDS Day. Special (PRODUCT)^RED versions of the juice pack air and juice pack plus will be available in January 2012.

“We are honored to partner with (RED) on the noble cause of helping to eliminate AIDS and humbled to join the company of the global brands, celebrities and influencers who support the (RED) organization,” said mophie’s Ross Howe, vice president of marketing. “Function and style are built into the DNA of each mophie portable power solution and developing the (PRODUCT)^RED collection has been an exciting way to combine our passion for design with an opportunity to contribute to a powerful and important cause.”

The (PRODUCT)^RED Special Edition line includes:

• ·         juice pack air for iPhone 4/4S ($79.95)—Known for catapulting the brand within the portable power category, the juice pack air doubles the life of the iPhone 4/4S, while also protecting from drops, slips and bangs
• ·         juice pack plus for iPhone 4/4S ($99.95)—Big brother to the juice pack air, the plus more than doubles the life of the iPhone 4/4S with a 2000 mAh battery capacity
• ·         reserve ($34.95)—The zippo design-inspired reserve is the perfect solution for a quick charge on-the-go. Featuring a 700 mAh battery, the reserve is lightweight, compact in design, and comes with a convenient key ring and integrated USB cable for easy charging
• ·         boost ($49.95)—The sleek, pocket-sized backup battery also functions as a stand for the device. Utilizing its 2000 mAh battery capacity, the boost has the ability to fully charge an iPhone
• ·         powerstation ($79.95)—The most powerful charger in the mophie family, the external battery with a 4000 mAh capacity can charge virtually any USB-enabled device including the iPad

“In order to reach a large audience, (RED) looks to collaborate with brands that have a positive and well-knownpresence globally, and mophie is a company we are very excited to add to our outstanding group of partners,” said Deborah Dugan, CEO, (RED). “Purchasing (MOPHIE)^RED products gives tech savvy consumers a way to make a real contribution to the fight against AIDS while staying powered up for all of their communications.”

The (MOPHIE)^RED reserve, boost and powerstation will be available for sale on www.mophie.com beginning December 1. The (MOPHIE)^RED juice pack air and juice pack plus will be sold online beginning in January 2012 with expansion into other online retail and brick-and-mortar stores anticipated in early 2012.

About mophie

mophie is a California-based, award-winning designer and manufacturer of mobile intelligent devices and accessories. It is widely recognized and highly acclaimed for its creative designs and innovative solutions. mophie is the proud developer of the juice pack, the first “Works With iPhone” portable battery solution certified by Apple Inc. All of mophie’s products are developed to address real consumer and business needs and are seamless integrations of industrial, electronic, software and artistic designs. Its products are available in Apple stores, AT&T stores, Best Buy stores, Verizon stores, and on www.mophie.com and www.amazon.com. Follow mophie on Twitter at twitter.com/mophie or on Facebook at facebook.com/mophielovesyou.

About (RED)™and (PRODUCT)^RED™

(RED) engages business and consumer power in the fight against AIDS.  To date, (RED) partners and events have generated over $180 million for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  This money has supported HIV/AIDS programs that have reached more than 7.5 million people affected by AIDS in Africa.  Current (PRODUCT)^RED Proud Partners include: American Express (UK only), Apple, Beats by Dr. Dre, Belvedere, Bugaboo, Converse, Dell, Gap, Nike, Penfolds and Starbucks and Special Edition partners include: FEED, Girl Skateboards, Mophie, Nanda Home, Shazam and Solange Azagury-Partridge. Companies whose products take on the (PRODUCT)^RED mark contribute a significant percentage of the sales or portion of the profits from that product to the Global Fund.  On World AIDS Day 2010, (RED) launched “The AIDS Free Generation is Due in 2015″ campaign. (RED) is joining the global health community in raising funds and awareness to help eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015 and helping to realize the first AIDS-free generation in nearly thirty years.  Learn more at www.joinred.com.

About The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

The Global Fund is a unique, public-private partnership and international financing institution dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents an innovative approach to international health financing.  Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has become the main financier of programs to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, with approved funding of US$ 22.4 billion for more than 1,000 programs in 150 countries (as of 30 June 2011). To date, programs supported by the Global Fund have saved 7.7 million lives by providing AIDS treatment for 3.2 million people, anti-tuberculosis treatment for 8.2 million people and 190 million insecticide-treated nets for the prevention of malaria. The Global Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts in dealing with the three diseases.  (RED)™ is the largest business initiative supporting the Global Fund. For more information visit www.theglobalfund.org.

Filed in categories: Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: External battery, World AIDS Day

mophie (RED)EFINES Portable Power by Joining Forces with (RED) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 5, 2011 at 10:00 am.

I haven’t used a multi-tip pen on a long time, so when Brad at JetPens asked if I might like to review the  Zebra Sharbo X ST3 multi-tip pen, I was happy to say yes. The multi-tip pens from years gone by were usually bulky and not very sleek. People would never guess that the Sharbo X houses 3 separate tips because it looks no larger than a one tipped pen. Let’s see if it works as well as it looks.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

The Zebra Sharbo X ST3 has a paint coated brass barrel and is available in 3 colors, which include Silver, White and Black. As you can see, I was sent the Silver version for this review. The finish has a brushed appearance and is smooth to the touch.

The pen has a length of 138.1 mm (5.5 inches with the tip retracted) and a diameter of 11.1 mm (.44 inches).

There were no English instructions included with the pen, but it’s easy to load the tips. The barrel unscrews to reveal 3 tip holders.

It’s important to note that you’ll be required to purchase the individual tips along with the pen. The Sharbo is compatible with mechanical pencil components in: 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm sizes. Pen refill components are available in a: 0.4 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.7 mm sizes, in gel or ballpoint and in a variety of colors. A stylus (not for capacitive screens) component is also available. The prices for these tips vary from $1.35 to $5.00 each if you get them through JetPens.com.

To load the tips, you just slide them into each individual holder and seat them. The pencil holder is the only one that you have to pay attention to as it’s made differently to allow for the push lead advance mechanism.

Once the tips are loaded, you screw the barrel back on and start using the pen. Tips are selected by rotating the top section of the pen so that the selector line matches up with the 3 sets of lines on the lower barrel. In the image above, tip #3 is selected.

As you rotate the cap to each selection, it clicks in place. In the picture above, you can see that tip #2 is selected. FYI: tip #1 is always the mechanical pencil tip.

When you turn the cap to select a tip, it is automatically extended. The main problem with the Sharbo X ST3 is that there isn’t a selection for no tips. To leave the pen with no tips retracted, you’ll need to leave the cap rotated between two sets of marks.

Another oddity of this pen is that the cap has a rubber top that looks similar to an eraser. And interestingly enough, it works just like an eraser by leaving little eraser crumbs if you use it to erase something that you’ve written in pencil. The problem is, that the top is not an eraser at all. It’s just for looks.

To access the real eraser, you have to unscrew the cap… which is made of silver color plastic and not metal like the rest of the pen…

The Sharbo X has a bit of weight to it, while remaining well balanced. It feels like a quality pen and writes well. But of course this depends on the type of ink components that you install. I installed a black gel ink component and a red regular ink component along with a mechanical pencil component. I never had any problems with the tips getting jammed or other issues with the mechanics of the pen.

The only other thoughts that I have on the Sharbo X have to do with the fact that the tips are so small. That means they don’t hold that much ink or leads. I’ve not had an ink tips run out yet, but at $2.75 each, this could be turn into an expensive pen for a person that uses it heavily. The mechanical pencil tip can only accommodate 1 lead at a time, so having to load more could end up becoming a frequent activity.

I like the looks and feel of the Sharbo X ST3 Multi-pen. Carrying 3 pens in one sleek package does have its benefits. But at almost $50, it seems too expensive to me since you also are required to purchase 3 tips which can end up adding $10 to the price and even more as you replace the tips.

Are you a fan of multi-pens? If so, what is your favorite one to use?

Filed in categories: Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Multi-pens

Zebra Sharbo X ST3 Multi-Pen Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 3, 2011 at 5:04 pm.