Leah Hallett

Scosche boomBOTTLE rugged weatherproof wireless speaker review

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Let me start off by saying the Scosche boomBOTTLE is a really nice speaker for cycling, or for wherever you want to carry your music.  This speaker has high quality construction, great sound, durable rugged exterior, splash proof design, and it fits in most bicycle water bottle cages and cupholders.  If you frequently participate in outdoor activities […]

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Image quality evaluation – how does your device score?

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These days everyone and their mother has a camera, be it cell phone, pocketable point-and-shoot, or expensive DSLR with interchangeable lenses. The more discerning (geeky) photographer who is on the prowl for a new device will want to find a credible independent source for image quality testing. I have found such a place, DxO Lab’s DxOMark.

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Poo~Pourri, an awkward subject and rather, well, smelly

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We all know poo happens, but did you know it doesn’t have to stink?  Yep, you heard me right, you can have stink-less #2 too by pre-treating your loo with a product called Poo~Pourri.  One of our most advanced senses, our sense of smell, isn’t fooled by covering up poo odor with fragrance.   Poo~Pourri doesn’t just

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Tablet atop a tripod – my screen’s bigger than your screen

AllPuter 1

AllPuter.com is offering the Tablet / iPad Holder / Mount w/ Adapter Ready for Camera Tripod that transforms your tablet into a tripod-mounted camera with an extra-large viewing screen.  Taking photos of family and friends from a tripod inevitably leads to a small crowd of eyeballs glaring down on the tiny camera LCD screen to review the pictures; everyone wants to check

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RAVPower FileHub RP-WD01 WiFi file hub, SD card reader, and power bank review

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Do you want to expand the accessible storage of your tablet or smartphone but can’t because they don’t have an SD/microSD slot or USB port to do so?  The RAVPower  FileHub RP-WD01 3000 mAh power bank is a portable, self-powered WiFi file hub that doesn’t require any physical connection to your device.  The FileHub can transfer files via 802.11b/g/n or

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Photoshop CC plus Lightroom 5, $9.99 a month, for life?

Adobe CC Photoshop Photography Program 1

Adobe has received a huge backlash of negative comments from current users of Photoshop CS about expensive Creative Cloud pricing.  In an effort to make numerous frugal photographers happy, actually let’s say less upset, Adobe is throwing current users a “bone-us”. During a recent Photoshop World conference in Las Vegas, Adobe announced a significant drop

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iCPooch is a video chat, treat-dispensing soother for your anxious dog

iCPooch 1

Brooke Martin, a 13 year-old aspiring scientist from Spokane Washington, has recently been named a top-ten finalist in the nationwide 2013 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.  Her entry, a product called iCPooch, is designed to help dogs (and their owners) with the separation anxiety that often comes from being apart. We’ve all witnessed those bad

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Braven 625s Bluetooth speaker review

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First things first.  Do you enjoy listening to clear clean voices with readily identifiable instruments and feel a little uneasy with big booming bass?  Then the portable Braven 625s speaker, built for the outdoors thanks to a rugged rubber exterior, should be a Bluetooth speaker at the top of your wish list.  I usually stream movies

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Sony changes form and future of mirrorless cameras plus three new lenses

Sony A3000 1

A New Sony DSLR camera was announced today – but hold on, it only “looks” like a DSLR.  The Sony A3000 is actually an E-mount mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera cloaked as a DSLR.  If you want a mirrorless that has a wrap-your-fingers-around proper DSLR-type handgrip, this might be an interesting choice.  The specs look pretty good, but definitely shout

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Eagle Tech Neptor 5600mAh portable battery pack review

Eagle Tech Neptor 16

Several times over the last couple of years, I’ve been left high and dry because my smartphone battery was so drained I wanted to “save” it in case of an emergency. There were still calls/texts/photos/global positioning I needed to do, but with no convenient place to recharge my phone, I was out of luck. That

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Olympus OMD E-M1 photos and hands-on video leaked

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A prominent gear-related site was recently hacked, and a link to a “hands-on” video by Olympus technical specialist Rick Sasserath was leaked. The video demonstrated the not yet released Olympus OMD E-M1.  It has since been removed, but stills from the video are easily found.  If you do a search, it’s still possible to even

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Luxi converts your iPhone into an incident light meter

Luxi Light Meter 1

The Luxi, created by Extrasensary Devices, takes the light meter app for iPhones one step further by adding an actual physical adapter.  Professional hand held light meters tend to be bulky and expensive.  Luxi is a small inexpensive adapter that manages to do the same thing as a professional meter – help capture a well exposed photo.  The

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Leonardo, an advanced photo editor app for iPad and iPhone

Leonardo App 1

Have you often wished for an image editor app with a magic wand tool to make selective image adjustments for your iPhone or iPad?  Do you long to post process your iOS device photos using more sophisticated tools like a clone tool, text tool or paint tool with adjustable brush sizes and hardness?  Leonardo, a full-featured

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Facebook public post embedding announced

Facebook Embedding 1

Is Facebook moving away from a mainly private social network?  Until now, there wasn’t an easy way to embed Facebook status updates, posts, or your favorite photo/video of the moment into other news websites or blogs.  Well, today that all changed.  Facebook wants to branch out into more “live” web events – think Twitter-esque.  Only a handful of

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SanDisk introduces wireless flash storage drives

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Flash drives aren’t anything new, wireless storage devices aren’t either, but SanDisk has managed to combine the two in a fun, ultra-portable, attractive USB drive.  SanDisk Connect Wireless Flash Drives include a 16GB or 32GB option, while the larger cube-shaped SanDisk Connect Media drives include 32GB or 64GB versions, both for sharing your stored photos, documents,

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