Readers of this site, being aficionados of fine technology, are likely no strangers to running out of charge when they need it most. Until battery tech improves such that it only takes one charge to power a smartphone for a week, most of us will need a backup plan at some point. Enter the Dark Energy Reservoir. This portable, rechargeable unit can…
I've talked about customizable wooden iPhone cases around here before, but until now I hadn't seen anything that allowed you to incorporate your own Instagram photos on the back. The Grove WoodPrint Case allows you to do exactly that, with a level of detail that I think is surprising, considering that they're printing lo-fi images onto wood. The grain of the maple…
I've been a fan of Flexibits' Fantastical since it released for iPhone a while back, but Readdle's new (and universal) Calendars 5 is certainly great competition. As with Fantastical, Calendars 5 allows you to use natural language to create events. For example, you can type something like "Meet Shawn at Blue Bottle Coffee every Wednesday at 3pm" and it will recognize exactly…
Reeder 2, the newest version of the widely beloved RSS reader, is now available on the iOS App Store as a $5 universal app. The interface has been redesigned and looks as beautiful as ever, yet maintains the same sort of UI aesthetic you know and love from the previous version. My favorite thing about this upgrade is that Feed Wrangler is…
What if you could somehow take the accessibility of a smartphone and pair it with the power of a point-and-shoot camera? Sony's new 'Smart Lens' QX series of cameras aims to do just that. Available for pre-order in two flavors – the smaller QX10 ($248) and the larger QX100 ($498) – these cameras essentially look like zoom lenses that you attach to…
There's certainly something to be said about having a minimalist workspace, but it can be a little...well, plain. The Satechi Desk Mat & Mate can help spice things up a little bit, give you a comfortable place to rest your hands while typing or writing, and protect your desk surface from scratches and spills. It's also available in a wide variety of…
The OTTO is a super-quiet, lightweight fan contained within an eco-friendly bamboo frame. Well, I say bamboo, but the more accurate term here would be twice-oiled African sapele wood. The fan itself is of the standard 3-speed variety, with the entire unit weighing in at 9.8lb and dimensions of 7.3" x 13.6" x 14.8". Perfect for a small office. At $200, there…
The Hack Lederware Sport Duffel ($239) is a canvas-and-suede bag that I think would be a perfect carry-on companion for air travelers. It sports a nicely textured exterior, with dual leather carrying handles and a detachable linen webbing messenger strap. As for storage, there is one main compartment with two inside pockets, as well as a couple of exterior zippered slip pockets.…
The guys at Studio Neat, makers of the Glif tripod mount for the iPhone and the Cosmonaut stylus for iPad, are putting on another Kickstarter for a...cough...neat kit for making super-clear ice at home. It uses an insulated, block-shaped ice mold to freeze water from the top down, pushing impurities to the bottom. The resulting ice block looks like this: Using the…
Over the last five years, Ugmonk has been the purveyor of awesome graphic tees that show an affinity for fine typography. To celebrate their 5th anniversary, Ugmonk has designed a limited-run collection of neat stuff that's worth checking out. This set includes: Black ringspun cotton t-shirt with black shimmer ink print. Anniversary screen-printed tag. Special box with embossed copper foil 5th Anniversary…
The Black+Blum Heavy-Weight Tape Dispenser is exactly what the name implies. Weighing in at 2.2lbs, the heavy-duty body is made from aluminum and contains a cast iron core, while the blade itself is made from stainless steel and is quite sharp. Combined, this makes for a tape dispenser with a handsome industrial look that won't fly off the desk during one-handed use.…
As with the BeoPlay H6 headphones I mentioned the other day, the Beoplay A9 speaker is a beautiful way to listen to music. Somewhat resembling a UFO, the A9 is nearly 3 feet tall and boasts some pretty powerful sound, thanks to its 2.1 bass reflex loudspeaker – which also acts as a handle and wall mount on the back of the…
The Magnus Mini is a clever little magnetic stand designed for the iPad mini. It's very portable, it has ten embedded magnets to hold your iPad mini in place, and the rubberized exterior prevents it from slipping all over the place. It stays connected to your iPad well enough to move from room-to-room, but is also easy to remove when necessary. The…
A couple days ago, Andrew Kim published his review of the BeoPlay H6 headphones, and I was taken aback by how beautiful they are. I recommend heading over there to read the full review and check out the hi-res photos, but here are some of the highlights that stood out to me: These are gorgeous headphones. The audio cable can be detached…
One of the best ways to brew a great cup of coffee is using a pourover method — a couple of the more popular options are the Chemex and Hario V60 brewers. The Pour Mason is an interesting Kickstarter that aims to apply this same idea to mason jars. The concept is simple: twist one of the Pour Mason brewers onto a…
Editorial for iPad, released just this morning, is a long-awaited Markdown text editor and workflow automation tool for iPad — and boy, is it a doozy. Developed by Ole Moritz – the guy behind the popular Pythonista app for iOS – Editorial looks like your typical iOS text editor on the surface. It has the requisite support for things like Markdown previews…
I've been cooking a lot of pasta at home lately, and it's gotten a bit tiresome transferring noodles back and forth between the cooking pot and our colander, possibly losing some noodles along the way. The 5-quart Bialetti Pasta Pot looks like it'll solve this problem for me, because you can merely lock the lid into place and easily pour the hot…
Some people like to work in an office, while others – like myself – are at our creative best in a comfortable environment like a coffee shop. For those of us in the latter camp, Coffitivity is an excellent app for Mac, iOS, and the web that recreates the acoustic experience of working in a bustling coffee shop. Choose one of three…
Remember the Grid-It organizer I wrote about a while back? Well as it turns out, the guys at Cocoon have made a backpack – the Cocoon SLIM ($80) – that actually incorporates a large Grid-It organizer into one of its two main pockets. The other main pocket can hold a 15" MacBook Pro, and there's even a separate iPad compartment. This backpack…
Aero ($1) is a beautiful, iOS 7-inspired weather app for iPhone that just released a couple days ago. With its lovely animations, simple UI, informative display, and push notifications, this is definitely a weather app worth checking out even if you've tried a hundred others.