Cool Tech Gadgets
Ready to spend some of your hard earned cash on cool gadgets and tech but looking for something unique? In the ongoing quest for the coolest tech, we sifted through the best gear out there and narrowed it down to our top picks. Enjoy! By Eric Nathal Voice Control Amazon is heating up the streaming box market with their new Fire TV. Similar to Apple TV and Roku – the device streams movies, TV shows, and music from various providers like Pandora, Netflix and Hulu. Several ingenious features set it apart from the competition; it uses voice commands to search for content, allows you to play video games and for the first time you can watch Showtime on a streaming device. Amazon Fire TV is extremely easy to use, set up takes less than 3 minutes and at $99 it’s a bargain; amazon.com Rugged Hi-Fi Touted as the world’s first true indoor-outdoor rugged Hi-Fi speaker, the BRAVEN BRV-X truly delivers. This is the sort of speaker you can confidently bring the beach, camping or even kayaking. It’s IPX5 water-resistant rated and with its rugged design it can withstand drops, bumps, rain and anything else you can think of. One of the really cool features is BRAVEN’s TrueWireless™ technology; it allows for easy wireless pairing with a second BRV-X for a true left and right stereo sound using two BRV-X speakers.The BRV-X allows for over 12 hours of continuous HD sound on a full charge, has a built-in speakerphone for calls and can charge USB devices such as smartphones, cameras andtablets; $199.99; braven.com Game Changer Looking to improve your game? Zepp Labs 3D Multi-Sport Motion Sensor has you covered. The sensor easily attaches to any baseball bat, tennis racket or golf gloveand allows you to review and replay your swing in 360º. It captures 1,000 data points per second and transfers all of this data to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth. Want to see how you fare against the big leagues? You can compare swings to pros and even share your swing data with others; $149.99; zepp.com Remote Viewing Ever been away from your home or office and wish you could peek in and see what’s going on? Stem Innovation’s new IZON 2.0 Remote Room Monitor is a simple and inexpensive solution. Setup is extremely easy – within minutes you can create a free, private Stem account that provides secure access to streaming video from IZON. The IZON App supports real-time video on local networks to let you see what’s happening, while it’s happening. You can even set up push notifications that will send alerts you to your mobile device when there is motion or noise; $129.95; steminnovation.com Vintage Tech For decades, Marshall has been world-renowned for their guitar amps but after reviewing the Stanmore, it’s clear that they’re a force to be reckoned with in the crowded Bluetooth speaker space. Marshall Headphones, the consumer branch of Marshall’s audio division, rolled out the Stanmore, a wireless speaker that delivers crisp room-filling sound in a very unique package. The Stanmore has the look and feel of a legendary Marshall guitar amplifier – complete with vintage-looking fret, gold details, iconic gold piping and script logo; You can connect to your smart device wirelessly via Bluetooth, use the RCA input to plug in your vinyl player or simply connect the coil cord that’s included to your phone using the 3.5mm auxiliary input; $400; marshallheadphones.com Click here to view post on the July/August 2014 issue.