Be inspired by Beautiful LEGO – New from No Starch Press

beautiful lego

If looking at your little brother’s LEGO creations never inspired your imagination, this new book from No Starch Press sure will. Beautiful LEGO by Mike Doyle is a 280 page coffee table book that features LEGO sculptures from dozens of artists. From abstract to life-like, the models featured in the pages of this book are

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Bowers & Wilkins surround your ears with the new P7 headphones

Bowers Wilkins P7

First, there was the Bowers & Wilkins P5 headphones later followed by the P3. Both are on-ear designs that are uber comfortable and sound as good as they look. Now, B&W want to surround you in their signature sound with the new P7 over-ear headphones – a first for them. The P7 has the same

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2 is better than 1 with Brando’s Dual Wireless Charging Pad

dual qi

I’ve been a fan of Qi wireless charging for many months now. I bought Samsung’s wireless charging cover for my Samsung Galaxy S3 and have been using a Nokia charging dock on my night stand to turn my phone into my ultimate alarm clock (see related links listed below for more info on that topic).

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Turn your smartphone into a 10X zoom Sony camera

sony cybershot qx10

What you see in the picture isn’t a couple of camera lenses.  It’s a couple of cameras!  The Sony CyberShot DSC-QX10 Smartphone Attachable Lens-Style Camera is a fully-functional, fully-featured camera minus an LED viewscreen.  Sony says this is the “first-ever zoom lens and sensor combo that clips right to your smartphone”.  You can connect the camera

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Grip & Shoot System iPhone holder review

GripShoot1

Camera phones have taken over as the go-to image maker for most folks. Now that the quality of the pictures created is good enough to replace your old point-and-shoot, there’s still one thing that hampers good photographic technique: holding the camera in landscape mode. Most cameras – I mean smartphones – tend to be set

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Become the master of your domain… err, dishes!

dishmaster

In my search for retro, mid-century items, I stumbled upon an interesting item for the kitchen that really does qualify as a gadget.  The Dishmaster was developed “in 1948 in the post-war years when the American kitchen was being re-invented”, and it replaced a typical faucet with a gadget that could make washing dishes easier.  The Dishmaster

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ShowerTunes Shower Curtain – Now you can take a shower with the boys from New Direction

showertunes

Now you can take your gadgets into the bathroom with the ShowerTunes Shower Curtain / Liner. The curtain features a built in waterproof speaker system and a special play-through/see-through pouch to place your smartphone or tablet. Watch and listen to music while you shower, or take a call while you soak in the tub. The

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Turn your old speakers with 30-pin dock into wireless AirPlay or DLNA speakers

auris skye wifi receiver

I don’t usually like to write about active Kickstarter projects, but the auris skye project caught my eye.  I’ve bought Bluetooth receivers for some old docking speakers, and they worked great for turning them into wireless Bluetooth speakers.  No matter how well they work, it’s still Bluetooth, though, with its inherent problems of sound compression

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Planet Audio Lynx PB252C Bluetooth Speaker review

planet audio lynx pb242 speaker 1

Because the external speaker on my iPad mini is wimpy, I’m always happy to try out another portable, Bluetooth speaker.  When Planet Audio offered their Lynx PB252C Bluetooth Speaker for a Gadgeteer review, I raised my hand.  It looks nice, and it has a compact shape that should make it great to throw in your gear bag.  How does

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Pad & Quill updates their site and adds new iPhone cases

pandq

The husband and wife team at Minneapolis based Pad & Quill have been busy updating their online store front and their line of quality handmade leather and wooden cases for the iPhone, iPad, Macbook and Kindle. They are offering 3 new wallet cases for the iPhone 5/5S along with 2 cases for the 5C. Their

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A backup battery that stands up to the elements

newtrent powerpak xtreme

The PowerPak Xtreme NT120R from NewTrent has a 12000mAh lithium-ion battery, so it has plenty of reserve power to keep your portable charged.  (It can recharge phones up to six times.)  It has two USB ports, one 5V/1A and one 5V/2A, so you charge phones, most tablets, and most other USB-chargeable devices, like GPS units,

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DUNU Detonator and Landmine earphones review

DUNU Landmine Detonator 8

It’s no secret that China is where most headphones and earphones are manufactured, but the products have always been to each brand’s individual specifications. Until recently, the Chinese were not known for originality when it comes to audio gear and sound design. That’s rapidly changing, and companies like DUNU are at the forefront of this

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NFC portable keyboard for Android phones

elecom nfc android keyboard

If you’re looking for a portable keyboard for your NFC-enabled Android phone, check out the ELECOM NFC Android Wireless keyboard.  This keyboard folds up for travel, and it unfolds to work with most Android 4.0 and higher phones.  It weighs 5 ounces and measures about 13.4″ X 2.6″ X 0.4″.  It has an internal lithium-ion

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Julie’s gadget diary – choosing between the Motorola Moto X, Droid Ultra or Droid Maxx

motorola 1

I’m up to my eyeballs in phones right now because Verizon has sent me not one, not two, but three of Motorola’s latest Android smartphones to try out for a few days. Yeah, I know it’s a rough life, but someone has to live it 😉 I have the Moto X, DROID Ultra and the

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Control your entire house with the Revolv system

revolv home automation

If you’ve started trying to automate your house and find you’ve now got a variety of systems doing various tasks, you should check out the Revolv Smart Home Solution.  Simply power up the Revolv hub in your home, and it uses the proprietary FlashLink system to join your local network (you’ll need to enter the

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