With the recent news involving Hurricane Sandy, things like the Etón FRX3 Radio are more than just cool gadgets. They can make coping with the aftermath of a storm, like loss of power, a little easier to manage. This is so much more than just a portable radio that can be charged up by cranking it or by solar power, though that is extremely helpful when you don’t have power. The hand turbine in particular gives you a power source no matter what. It won’t power your heater, but you can use the radio (including NOAA weather alert) and also the LED flashlight that’s built in on the side. You can also use it to power your cell phone or other small gadgets, which can literally be a lifesaver in some situations.
It’s amazing how many features they have crammed into this gadget. You can also use battery power as well so you don’t have to start cranking right away. You can connect it to another power source as well through USB, and of course you can set it in the sunlight to charge up the unit. The top handle also has a glow in the dark locator wrapping around the solar strip.
It’s a great gadget and you’ll love having it the next time you lose power. It’s also great for camping trips and other outdoor activities, so keep it in mind as a stocking stuffer for the holidays.
With the holidays around the corner, men’s grooming products will be getting plenty of attention, and the new dual-ended Styleshaver from Philips Norelco offers a handy gadget that can handle a wide variety of tasks. You can get a clean shave with one side and trim your beard, goatee or stubble with the other end.
With facial hair making a comeback, the Styleshaver helps you express any style you choose with a flexible beard groomer. The beard trimmer is adjustable with 12 length settings from 0.5mm to 10mm so you can easily trim a beard of any length or a three-day stubble. It’s very easy to use with the two available attachments. With the triple action foil shaver on the other end for a clean shave, now you can handle all of your facial needs with one gadget.
The charger is light and handy and you get 50 minutes per charge. It’s also 100% waterproof for easy cleaning and it comes with a handy travel case.
Any guy who is interested in a look other than the clean shaven look, even if you just go with the stubble look from time to time, will love the flexibility of this product. Guys who regularly sport facial hair will love it. It makes for a great gift as well for guys of all ages, and definitely keep it in mind for college kids who will appreciate all the features.
Click here for information on how you can save up to $20 on a range of Norelco Shavers and Groomers.
We review a lot of headphones, but the latest model from Urbanears stands out as one of the coolest we’ve sampled in a while.
The Zinken was developed with the professional DJ in mind but with an affordable price. The most unique feature involves the double-duty TurnCable that has a 3.5mm stereo plug on one end and a 6.3mm plug on the other. Basically you can easily plug into your phone and other devices but then flip the cable around and plug it into an amp.
The ZoundPlug is another great feature as it allows you to share music with a friend using a headphone jack in the right ear cup. So if you buy a set for your girlfriend and one for yourself you can easily listen to music together!
Like other Urbanears headphones we tested, the Zinken model produces excellent sound with superior comfort. The headphones fit snugly around your ears with just the right amount of padding. The Zinken features swivel ear caps and an adjustable headband so you can adjust them for maximum comfort. The collapse design also makes them easy to pack and store.
The Zinken also comes in a wide variety of cool colors as you can see in the promotional video below. With the holiday season upon, the Zinken headphones make for an excellent gift and you can choose a color that fits the person you’re buying for.
If you have a musician on your holiday shopping list, whether young or older, they’ll probably be thrilled with the VOX MINI3 portable amp.
It’s amazing all the features VOX was able to pack into the portable amp:
• Eleven on-the-money amp models, covering a broad range of authentic tones
• A new non-distorting clean model – ideal for acoustic-electric instruments and keyboards
• A broad palate of effects including compressor, chorus, flanger, tremolo; plus reverbs and delays
• Built-in tuner – never play out of tune!
• Dedicated mic input with separate volume and reverb/delay controls – ideal for vocals
• AUX input jack – connect your MP3 player or other audio source and jam along
• Headphone output for silent practice – any time, any place
• Dual power options (included AC adaptor or six AA batteries) for up to 30 hours of portable power
Everyone loves gadgets, but it’s still great to see people play real musical instruments. With this amp a kid with a guitar and really have a field day. Check out the video below for more information.
We tested out one of 50 Cent’s new SMS Audio headphones – the STREET by 50 over-ear headphones. As you can see from the photos we posted along with the video below, these headphones look very slick and they’re also durable. 50 Cent demonstrates in the video how you can twist the headphones without worrying about breaking them. We tried the same thing and they held up nicely.
With the new styles the headphone designs are getting bigger and these are no exception. Yet they aren’t too heavy and the extra padding makes them very comfortable. The headphones are equipped to deliver crisp clean sound and enhanced bass and we were very happy with the sound quality. The STREET model comes in black and the bright blue version pictured here. You’ll definitely make a fashion statement with these headphones.
The headphones also come in wireless versions so check those out as well.
With so many portable devices playing music, we’re seeing more and more options for portable speakers. We tested the new BRAVEN speakers and the sound was excellent. These units are loaded with other features and have a very slick design as you can see in the photos above, but sound quality is the most important feature and the Braven speakers deliver. The BRAVEN SIX Series speakers have two custom extended-range drivers and 3 watt speaker output providing high-fidelity stereo audio with left- and right-channel passive sub woofers.
You can take this speaker unit anywhere so you can share music with friends. It’s perfect for impromptu parties or just hanging out by the pool.
It’s also loaded with other cool features. Each device offers the ability to charge USB devices and daisy chain multiple speakers together through 3.5mm audio in and out jacks. The internal duplex microphone allows for hands-free speakerphone calls with most any Bluetooth cell phone as well as compatibility with FaceTime, iChat, Skype and other apps. Battery life ranges from 12 to 20 hours and the speakers allow continuous wireless play up to 33 feet away.
The line includes a rugged speaker built for durability in sporting and outdoor settings, as well as two striking aircraft-grade aluminum models. We tested the Stealth Black BRAVEN 625s which is encased in a rugged, shock-absorbing exterior with aluminum grills. The BRAVEN 625s is ideal for sport, travel, and outdoor experiences as it’s equipped with a waterproof bag, USB flashlight, and up to 16 hours of continuous play.
This also makes a great gift for music-loving dad on Father’s Day as well, or for anyone who is on the phone a lot and like to use the speaker phone option.
Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday, and in the gadgets section of our Father’s Day Gift Guide we’re focusing on stuff beyond the obvious choices like phones and iPads.
The Meteor Mic from Samson fits that criteria perfectly. It’s an incredible device that is chrome-plated and beautifully designed so that you can record great sound or use it as a speakerphone on services such as Skype. It looks like an old school mic, but it’s also portable as the three legs of the stand all fold up perfectly to make it easy to store in luggage or a briefcase.
Most importantly, the sound quality is so much better than what you’ll get from tiny mics or the mic built into computers. Features include:
- One of the largest condenser diaphragms (25mm) of any USB mic available to produce rich, CD quality recordings
- Fold-back leg design allows for the optimal positioning for any recording application
- A stereo 1/8-inch headphone output, no latency monitoring, and headphone volume knob give user complete control
- No drivers are required, allowing users to start recording right out of the box
It’s a great gadget for anyone and a great gift idea as well, so check it out online or at Best Buy.
As someone who grew up in the 80s, I miss the days of being able to carry around a boombox. Of course things got ridiculous as rappers carried around boomboxes as big as a house, but it was so easy back in the day to create a spontaneous party with a killer boombox.
Today, everyone is doing their own thing wearing their headphones with their iPhones or iPods. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, but it doesn’t lend itself to much socializing.
With the Eco Terra Boombox you get the best of both worlds as you can slide your phone or iPod into the boombox and share your music with friends. It’s the perfect gadget to take with you as you’re tailgating, hanging by the pool or anything else you might want to do with friends. It’s so easy to use and produces good sound.
It’s also 100% waterproof so you don’t have to worry about water splashing on it and ruining your phone. The internal waterproof casing houses your music player or smartphone, as well as some extra cash, credit cards, car key or driver’s license. The outside poly-carbonate shell with rubberized impact bumpers, fortifies your device and the boombox’s two 3” full-range forward firing speakers. Eco Terra also floats and is fully submersible. If you drop it into water the case will always rotate to point the speakers up! Pretty cool.
With Father’s Day around the corner you should check this out for the dad who misses his boombox but also loves his MP3 player.
In today’s world, you always have a need for more storage, and as we start to organize photos and videos in digital format, we need ways to back up and protect our data.
Toshiba has introduced a new series of Canvio 3.0 hard drives that meet these needs. They offer blazing-fast transfer speeds and pre-loaded backup software, and they are cloud-backup capable. The units offer a variety of storage capacity and we tested the one terabyte model.
One of the main characteristics of these devices is the ability to sync with the cloud. The Canvio 3.0 is pre-loaded with Windows™-based NTI® BackupNow EZ™ software that provides step-by-step and fully-customizable backup capabilities to the cloud and to the drive. Users create a cloud account with NTI® BackupNow EZ™ where they can backup specific folders, certain file types, and conduct a complete system backup to the Canvio 3.0. The backup software also scans the user’s system and files and recommends which files to backup to cloud-based or on-device storage.
The Canvio family now includes the support of USB 3.0, enabling Canvio users to take advantage of the faster data transfer speed of USB 3.0-enabled devices. We were impressed with the speed when we tested it out.
Some advanced features include complete password protection with up to 256-bit data encryption to prevent unauthorized access to data and an on-screen Drive Space Alert monitor that sends an alert when storage space is running low. The internal Shock Sensor and Ramp Loading Technology protect the drive during daily movement from a pocket, desk, bag, or beyond so you can feel comfortable carrying this around. It’s amazing how small these devices have become and how much you can store in a portable device.
The design of the unit is very slick and sturdy with rounded rectangular form factor and sleek high gloss finish. It’s also easy to grip it on the sides. It’s available in black, white, silver, red, green, and blue3.
This makes a great gift for anyone on your list, both techies who will appreciate the advanced features and others who need a simple way to protect their photos and home videos.
Stocking stuffers have come a long way since candy canes and decks of playing cards. Kids today love gadgets and electronics so there’s a whole new set of possible gifts. Small gadgets and gadget accessories offer great gift ideas in today’s world and we’ve got some more to go with the stocking stuffers highlighted in our Holiday Gift Guide.
Dual USB Charger
The first one is small and simple but very useful. We’re always on the go, and now everyone in the family or in the car has their own gadgets. With more people needing a charge, it’s great to have a charger that can accommodate more than one device.
Bracketron offers a Dual USB Charger (pictured above) which allows you to charge or power two devices at the same time in any vehicle. The Dual USB Charger is available now for $24.95 at Bracketron.com and is available at consumer electronics retailers. It includes both high and low-current USB outputs, perfect for quickly and safely charging your tablet and handheld mobile device simultaneously while you’re on the road. Of course, you need to be careful while driving! The pocket-sized device is compatible with iPad, iPhone/iPod, MP3 players, satellite radios, GPS units, smartphones and more. It definitely fits into a stocking and it’s perfect for people on the go (and that includes kids!).
Toddy Smart Cloth
With so many gadgets offering touch screens, our screens easily get dirty and smudged. To clean them properly it’s handy to have something specifically designed to do the job. The Toddy Smart Cloth is a carefully handcrafted microfiber cloth provides effective, scratch-free cleaning for your iDevices, screens, camera lenses and more, and it features an antimicrobial coating. It’s offered in a bunch of cool designs, so you can pick one that fits the person on your list. One side of the cloth is made to clean, while the other has the design and makes it easy to hold and swipe the device. Check out their website to pick out a cool design.
Luna Voyager II
Finally we have a clock radio for the Apple generation. Everyone appreciates a cool clock radio for their room, and now you can wake up to your favorite music by hooking up your iPhone, iPod or iPad to this device from XtremeMac. The Luna Voyager II is an easy to use alarm clock that delivers 4 watts of power and dual speakers for superior stereo sound. Setting the clock is simple with the auto time set feature, simply dock the desired Apple device and the time is set automatically. Users can choose to set alarms directly from the Apple device with the free Luna Voyager App or manually on the dock itself. Dual independent alarm settings allow two users to wake to iPod, FM radio or chime. Additionally, the Luna Voyager II features a battery backup to ensure users will never miss an alarm. It’s great for kids and adults alike.
Toddy Smart Cloth
