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Showing posts with label useful gadgets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label useful gadgets. Show all posts

Feb 2, 2014

Travel Gadgets for the Super Bowl


Gadgets and Such for the Big Game

Smartphone - There are multitude of ways that this gadget can be used for the big game. You can keep track of the latest news on the weather, roster, team news, and such. You can also watch the game on the phone while out and about or picking up some extra items for the game with NFL or similar app. It can also be used as a remote while watching the game on the big screen.

Tablet - You can also enjoy the game while moving from room to room or if are remote. Download the app and you can watch the game just about anywhere. The tablet can also be used to keep in touch with social network while enjoying the game and tweeting about the latest plays and commercials.

Kindle Fire HDX 7", Wi-Fi


Wireless speakers - Hear the game from anywhere in the house or pick up the phone without having to take your game off the screen. Hook up a Bluetooth compatible phone or other gadget, and the sound will come through loud clear through the speakers.

Turtle Shell 2.0 Rugged Water-Resistant Wireless Bluetooth Hi-Fi Speaker


Apps - When there is a Super Bowl party, there is likely to be some alcohol involved. And if you are drinking you should not be driving. There are apps for that. Such as intoxicheck, Breathaleyes, and DrinkTracker Breathalyzer. Theses apps can give you an estimated blood alcohol reading, keep track of your drinks, or test you to determine whether you are sober. While these are mostly for entertainment purposes, they could still be good indicators.
Super Bowl XLVIII official app

Wireless Clean Up Tool - At the end of the game, with some great celebrations, someone has to clean up. A wireless bagless vaccum makes it easier. It can be great for cleaning up indoors as well as cleaning inside of your car.

Black & Decker Cordless Hand Vac



Sound-off: What kind of gadgets did you have at your Super Bowl party? Let us know below

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Jul 11, 2012

Travel Gadgets in the Wild

Gadgets for travel in the wild:


When traveling, the less stuff to pack the better. So any gadget that can perform double duty well, think Swiss Army knife, is a go to for traveling outdoors. That is why when I came across Sony’s DEV-3 Digital Recording Binoculars I did a double take (pun maybe intended). It is binoculars that have a great 10x zoom and are also able to take full HD 3D video or still pictures. The price is also very nice, $1400, which is most likely due to the 3D capability. It is an interesting new gadget and would be great to see it in more versions.

We do not go anywhere without our smartphone. Even on vacations. We take them along at least for the beginning and end of the trip to check in with friends, relative, airports, and others. When traveling outside of US, though, need to be mindful of using the phone in anyway. The charges for any type of use abroad add up really quickly and exponentially. Hear are some great tips on Traveling overseas with your smartphone.



When traveling it is important to keep yourself and your travel companions healthy. It is even more so than when at home. You are traveling to see places have fun and relax and enjoy. Last thing you would want is to succumb to anything en route. Number one tip is to stay hydrated. While strolling around and doing excursions you might forget about hydrogen dioxide. And in some places it is hard to find water or at least water that is drinkable. It is a great idea to have a Reusable Water Bottle with you or a SteriPEN that would turn just about any water into something you can drink. For more tips see Healthy Travel Tips for the Entire Family


Not all of the travel will be by car, though a large portion of it within our borders. When on the road these days, you are packing quite a few tech gadgets. I know, that is how this blog came about. All these gadgets need power even in the middle of the trail. This is a great opportunity to make use of your car's (cigarette) lighter. Griffin Powerjolt USB plug is great for just this purpose. We bought one earlier in the year and have been using it on just about every trip, short or long. It stays in the car the entire time in our second outlet and it fits snugly into it as though it is built-in. Quite a few of the gadgets come with USB chargers and/or adapters and this little gadget makes it easy to charge them. How to make good use of your car's unused plug


If you do happen to find yourself in the wild, either on your own or as a couple, you most likely would want to capture the moment. While you can try the extension contortionist move of self-pic and the tilted zoomed-in photos. Or you can take along a small little gadget the Gorillapod. It can be placed just about anywhere with its flexible legs that wrap around objects. Set one up, set the timer, and you have great memories to take back home and make people wonder who is the third person.
Look Ma No Hands - Photos with Gorillapod


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Jun 6, 2012

Travel-friendly Music Gadgets


Ahh the sound of silence! These days it is quite hard to find. With things making noise on the road, in the air, and on the water, time to yourself with a great beat is a tremendous luxury.
Active noise cancellation technology, as the name suggests, is a technology specially developed to eliminate surrounding noise. This includes things like the traffic, the construction, loud air conditioning and pipes, and if you are on a plane or other confined space, babies.
Noise-cancelling headphones utilize this technology with built-in tiny microphones to hit the incoming sound with another sound. The two sound waves cancel each other out, therefore creating silence. What this means is that where you previously had to turn up the volume on your music player to drown out the noise, which is bad for your ears, now the headset will tune down the outside noise so you hear more of the beats you want.
A great pair of noise-cancelling headphones is even more important these days as more and more people are using their smartphones as music players with some boasting to have 2k to 5k songs downloaded. Of course, the fact that these phones now have a much greater storage capacity also helps.

Some great choices:


Wireless/Bluetooth Portable Speakers
 While sometimes on a trip you would like to immerse in your music and your thinking, there times when you also might want to share the great media that is music. In these cases portable speakers come in very handy. Since you are on the road, a boombox would not be readily available. Instead, travel-friendly speakers, such as Jawbone Wireless Bluetooth Speaker, are able to make the sound escape your small media gadget to be enjoyed by you and others around. These light and convenient speakers play clear loud music with no wires necessary. They connect to your device via Bluetooth technology and/or wi-fi (Sony Portable Wi-Fi Speaker with AirPlay).


 Why good to have on a trip:
- makes trips more fun
- portable, easy to pack and take along
- tune in and tune out
- music makes a lot of things better

Waterproof Gadgets for Playing Music by Fodors

"Go travel. Take a travel-friendly music gadget."

 Did You Know?:
Self-aware headphones switch channels depending on which ear they're in

 What's your favorite music gadget or way to enjoy music? Let us know




May 21, 2012

Is there more to these gadgets?

Is there more to these gadgets?

I live in NY. And I get to take NYC subway everyday. One thing that this affords me is being able to observe behaviors of melting pot of people. And one interesting that I noticed recently is that with multitude of advanced features and capabilities, most folks are using their iPhones and other smartphones, iPads and similar tech gadgets to engage in not so rich-media game of Solitaire.
This got me thinking. What other gadgets are being used, or under-used, to their full potential and designation. Below is a list that I have come up with. Let me know if you can think of any others:

- iPad - also used for just reading. No videos, gaming, or various applications (even if they are loaded).
- Newest TV sets - some of these come with apps, Internet connection, social media, and 3D capabilities. Though it is currently a tube for watching movies and shows on cable, with better graphics.
- Baking soda - there are multitude of uses and combination for this household staple and most have nothing to do with baking. (Home remedies) It also has many uses for when you are on the road. Baking soda can be used as toothpaste, mouthwash, cloth and shoes freshener and much more.
- Ginger - great for travel sickness and nausea
- Q-Tip style cotton swabs - These come in travel size packs and great to have along for multitude of uses.Though the product packaging expressly warns against using the swabs to clean the ear canal, yet most people buy them just for that purpose.
- Pack your shoes in a shower cap to keep the soles from touching your clothes while traveling
- Duck tape - it can be used to to take care of just about anything whether it is a bank robbery, things falling off, or have holes in them, and even someone that just talks to much :) Great to have on a trip also to mend things or use as label maker. Uses for Duct tape while traveling.
Outdated PC - our PC or laptop might not be the sharpest knife in the toolbox anymore, but it can still be a useful media storage device. Back up your pictures, music and videos from your travels to your old machine.
- Internet, which is not a gadget in itself, though is part of many, was originally started up by military as an intranet to create better and faster communication channels.

Did You Know?:
- The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite
- Internet is a short form of the technical term internetwork
- The World Wide Web commonly known as the Web, is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet
- We have access to 1,000,000,000,000 web pages

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Apr 27, 2012

Don't Get Caught Out Without One - Universal Travel Adapter

The Ultimate Traveling Buddy: Travel Adapters

Traveling internationally without one? You might as well toss out all your electronic gadgets. Most places outside of U.S. have outlets quite different than what we are used to. Not only do they look different, but they also have a different voltage. In Europe as well as many other countries the voltage is between 220 and 240 volts. See Did You Know? below for information on voltage in certain countries. And you would not want to plug in your 120v gadget into a 220v outlet. This is twice that of the voltage used for ordinary lighting and low-power appliances in the US, Canada and most of the Americas, and also Japan. Not unless you would like to have a smoldering pile of plastic. Plus you would not be able to plug it in directly as the shape of the outlets and the insertion points are also different. See picture below of various types.




For easier packing and traveling, a great option is a Universal Worldwide Travel Adapter that has multiple variations at once.
Features:
- Worldwide compatibility (US, UK, EU, AU, USB Port)
- 100-125 and 220-250 volt standards
- Surge protection and safety shutter
- compact design

Did you know?  Electric Power Around The World



Voltage and frequency:
  220-240 V/60 Hz
  220-240 V/50 Hz
  100-127 V/60 Hz
  100-127 V/50 Hz

"Note that currently, all new American buildings, in fact, get 240 volts split into two 120 volts "hot" wires (often called "legs") with a common neutral wire. Major appliances, such as virtually all drying machines and ovens, are now connected to 240 volts. " - answers




Buy reliable VPN for desktop and mobile for travel and at home

Best Anti-Theft USB Charging Travel Gadget Backpack

Amazon's shopping guide with curated luggage by airlines

Shop All-new Kindle Travel Gear



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Apr 13, 2012

15 Essentials to have with you when traveling

Many folks ask what travel gadgets you can't travel without. And the answers are usually iPad, smarphone, eReader, and such. These are great tech gadgets, though they are, for the most part, entertainment. Here are 15 gadgets you should not leave home without because they will keep you safe, healthy, and happy on the road:


Safe Hydration:


Steripen Traveler Water Purifier
Keep on Traveling Safe - Check the app, Pull out a Pen, and Drink Up

and

Reusable BPA-free water bottle - keeps you hydrated during the trip, keeps the liquid cool, and can be used over and over instead of buying and carrying multiple water bottles. Hence these bottles save you money as well as space and weight while traveling. And they also help save our planet. Reusable water bottle
It is well known that to avoid waterborne creepy crawlies you should not drink tap water in places where you are not sure about its quality. Having a reusable water bottle with you instead, you can fill it up at a hotel or other sources of safe drinking water before heading out.
Also bottled water available for purchase has a significant impact on the environments we visit. A better choice and also much cheaper would be to take a reusable water bottle. That combined with a water purifier would make travel more budget-friendly, healthier, as well as eco-friendly.

Keep Things Clean:

First Aid Kit (Most important pack when traveling)
Good items to include in the kit are:
•first-aid manual
•sterile gauze
•adhesive tape and bandages in several sizes
•antiseptic wipes
•antibiotic cream/solution (triple-antibiotic ointment)
•hydrocortisone cream (1%)
•acetaminophen and ibuprofen
•tweezers
•sharp scissors
                  •safety pins
                  •disposable instant cold packs
                  •calamine lotion
                  •alcohol wipes or ethyl alcohol
                  •plastic gloves (at least 2 pairs)
                  •Hand sanitizer


Transporting the Goods:

Waterproof case:




Anti-Theft Travel Handbag - these bags are slashproof to keep your valuables inside in crowded places or not well lit alleys. Have RFID-blocking pocket to store your credit cards and also passport so they cannot be scanned by thieves looking to still your digital identity. Water repellent material keeps the bag and items inside dry. The bags also feature security zippers for not so easy access to your valuables.

Lowepro Passport Sling Camera Bag
This bag fits the DSLR perfectly in it. It also fits cables, water bottle, snacks, keys, wallet, and a light shirt. It is versatile enough to use as a day bag when it’s not packed with camera and other travel gear. My wife loves it. It looks like a regular over the shoulder bag. Which is great as it does not announce to all that there is a camera in there. Without opening it up and looking inside you would not even know its a camera bag. We also put in it while on the trip a collection of travel gadgets: point-and-shoot camera, watch, chargers, batteries, and flash memory cards. The outside of the bag has pockets and dividers that will keep your cell phone, pens, sunglasses, and other useful travel accessories organized and easily accessible. And just in case you over stuff the bag with all this, there is a zipped up expansion to make the bag larger to accommodate.

Luggage Scale
Airline baggage fees anyone, needless to say more - Travelon Micro Scale

Travel Clocks

These useful gadgets come in handy when on a business trip. Though you would think why would you need those on a vacation? Well good question. While there are some vacations that are just for relaxing, a lot of the time travelers also plan some excursions and tours of the city that start at a certain hour. Also, each hotel that you stay in has a different type of alarm (some B&B's do not have any). It would be a lot easier if you could learn to set up one and have that along with you no matter where you are so you are on time.
Recently, I gave one such travel clock to my parents as they take several trips during the year for business and pleasure. They liked it a lot before even taking it on their first trip. They liked that it is small, light and easy to pack. It also includes a back-light with easy-to-read time display so you can see it easily at night.


Packing It In:

Travelon 1-Quart Zip-Top Bag with TSA Approved Plastic Bottles



Space Bags - you can pack all the cloth and travel accessories for a week and a half trip into only 2 carry-ons! That is right, on the way to Cali we had no bags to check-in. This meant that we saved money on airline fees and also hassle and time of picking it up after the flight. We did however have one to check-in on the way back filled with wine bottles and other goodies.

Other Essentials:


Rain gear
Emergency Poncho

Camera
A digital camera is probably the most essential travel tool so make sure you have one ready for your next trip. When going on longer trips or tours, that would be better taken in without a lot of bags to drag around, it is great to take along a point-and-shoot camera. As mentioned in the post Rechargeable batteries charger - saves money saves planet, it is more convenient to power up your digital camera with rechargeable batteries. Some small cameras nowadays can take great shots that are almost as good as some semi-pro ones. 
It would also be great to have a little folding tripod like the one from Gorillapod with the digital camera. Gorillapod is a very bendy tripod. It goes just about anywhere with its flexible legs that can wrap around objects and let you take pictures without having to hold the camera. This way you can get a whole shot of the family without leaving anyone behind the camera.





Swiss Army Knife - its a classic multi-tool. Everything you need and more within one device. Now it also comes with tech gadgets such as USB, flashlight, digital clock and thermometer


Noise canceling headphones - Music just makes the day go faster and helps you immerse in your own world and your relaxation.
Cheap earbuds and those rent-on-the-flight headphones, while functional, will not provide great sound or allow you to escape the surroundings, especially given all the background noise of a plane. A good pair of noise-canceling headphones will pay for themselves with quality of sound and serenity.

So what are some gadgets that you find essential when traveling? Add them below






Travel Gadgets