The battery life on my iPad 4 is fairly respectable, but not so amazing that it can last through even a one-day road trip when one of us is reading ebooks in the passenger seat. We also use my iPhone 4s to play podcasts during these drives, which of course can suck the battery dry in a matter of hours. This is…
In addition to their "Pony Express" leather pouch, the guys at Field Notes have added a beautiful new product to their lineup of leather goods: the "Everyday Carry" Memo Book Cover. Made of soft, vegetable-tanned cowhide leather, this cover sports inner pockets that can hold a Field Notes notebook along with other carryables, such as cash and a couple of credit cards.…
The Garmin Head-Up Display is an interesting little gadget. It mounts on your car's dashboard and pairs with your smartphone via Bluetooth, then projects a HUD interface onto a transparent piece of film you apply to your windshield. This display gives you information about your drive, including turn-by-turn navigation (with an indicator to let you know what lane to be in), current…
From the same folks who brought you the Compendious Coffee Chart poster (which is now available in coffee mug form) comes another coffee-themed print, Exceptional Expressions of Espresso. This beautiful 18"x24" poster breaks down the ingredient ratios of 23 different espresso beverages, some of which we've not heard of but sound delicious anyway. We recommend hanging it near your coffee-making area for…
Let's see...we've got Netflix for movies, and Spotify/Rdio for music, but what about books? Ah, here we go: Oyster Books. Imagine if you had could fit an entire library in your bag or pocket, with a personalized list of reading material put together by yourself — that's what Oyster Books is. For $10/month (the price you might pay for a single ebook),…
Super Squares is a simple and fun new puzzle game for iOS. To beat each level, you must find a way to connect each colored block with its twin and make sure every star on the grid has been "collected" along the way. It's easy to pick up the the basics, but there is some challenge added (in the form of brick…
Sure, there's something to be said about living alone out in the wilderness*, where no one will ever see you lugging firewood around — but that doesn't mean you can't still do it in style. The Felt Firewood Holder allows you to do just that, with a thick 100% wool construction that looks awesome (and is also very durable). There are nice…
Thanks to a guest review on the Pen Addict blog this morning (written by Garrett Kubat), I got to find out about a cool new notebook called reNote. It's made by the same guy behind the Pour Mason and the CINCH Wallet. The reNote is made of re-used materials, with covers that are actually cut from food and drink cartons, and pages…
For nearly two years, the Dropcam HD has been a very popular remote-viewable security camera for your home. Its new successor, the Dropcam Pro, ups the ante with an all-glass lens and a 130-degree field of view (compared with the HD's 107-degree FOV and a lens that was partly plastic). The Pro model also has a new sensor that captures twice the…
Spark Camera is a new iPhone app that makes it super easy to make great-looking video clips, up to 30 seconds in length each. If you've ever used Vine, the interface will feel a bit familiar, as your method of recording is merely holding your finger on the screen. Let off the screen and the recording pauses, allowing you to set up…
Our fearless editor Shawn Blanc is known to be an avid snowboarder, and with winter almost upon us, I think it's the perfect time to talk about Oakley's new Snowmad R.A.S (removable airbag system) Backpack ($225). Designed for cross-country treks, this bag can hold your snowboard vertically, or your skis in one of two positions: diagonal or A-frame. It also has multiple…
The Icons & Coffee group, makers of the popular 'Perspective' icon set for OmniFocus, have released another awesome set of icons: 'Essence' for iOS 7. With 300 icons covering a wide variety of categories, this set is the perfect tool for developers who want their apps to look great on iOS 7. When you buy the set, you get a .zip archive…
This morning, Sonos announced its newest wireless speaker, the PLAY:1. Like the rest of their lineup, the PLAY:1 will easily integrate into any Sonos setup, and although we haven't gotten our hands on one yet, we bet it sounds great too. The main difference between the PLAY:1 and Sonos' other offerings is that it's lot more compact and affordable, making it the…
The new Papernomad cases by Griffin are interesting. Where most case manufacturers would recommend avoiding marks and spills, the Papernomad line is actually designed to be written on, sketched on, coffee-stained, and painted to your liking. It's essentially a blank canvas for your imagination — a lofty description for a gadget case, but fitting nonetheless. The exterior is made of a special…
One of my favorite ways to take my coffee on-the-go is with my Contigo Autoseal Tumbler. It keeps hot drinks hot for several hours, and cold drinks cold for half the day (not that it takes me that long to drink my coffee, of course). It only holds 16oz of liquid though, so if I'm having the kind of day where I'm…
I've been on a bit of a reading kick lately. First was the Shady Characters book I mentioned here the other day, then Cloud Atlas (an incredible story, in my opinion), and now I'm making my way through Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Mr. Penumbra's tells the story about a young web designer who loses his job thanks to the recession of the…
Reconnaissance for iPhone is a new RSS app that ties into your Feed Wrangler account. It's the first iOS app I've seen designed specifically for Feed Wrangler outside of the official app, and it looks very nice. Actually, it just pushed out a redesign yesterday, which is what you see in the screenshots above. Reconnaissance integrates a little more deeply with Feed…
GORUCK is an American company that makes super-durable rucksacks (amongst other things), and they take their patriotism very seriously. All of their gear is made right here in the U.S., it's designed to meet the standards of Special Forces soldiers, and they test its durability with an insane physical challenge held in various cities across America (and which our friend Patrick Rhone…
The 11+ Felt Case is an attractive, hand-made case designed to protect a MacBook Air or full-sized iPad, as well as a few smaller items you might keep in your bag like cables and business cards. When opened, the inner pocket can double as a mousepad. We think this is an awesome solution for "light tech" travelers. Here's a view of the…
These days, it feels like I'm one of the few people on the internet who hasn't yet started a podcast. Since my personal site runs on Squarespace, it would be a trivial matter to have a show hosted there, but I've never been one to put all my eggs in one basket. For example: the images are hosted off-site, my RSS feed…