I frequently forget to bring my phone charger with me when I go on a trip. You’d think it’d be something I’d remember to pack, seeing as my phone needs to be charged daily. Oh no, I always end up rummaging through my bag at the end of the day, only to come up empty-handed. The problem with a charging cable is that you usually only have one of them, so transporting it from one place to another is usually a hassle. My charger is plugged in behind my bed – I am way too lazy to unplug it for a short trip.
I’d much rather invest in something like the Credit Card Sized Cell Phone Charger (Hammacher Schlemmer, $29.95) because then I’d never have to wonder if I remembered to pack the right cable. This phone charger is small enough to fit inside the credit card slot of a wallet, micro USB cord and all! Compatible with most Android and Blackberry smartphones (as well as traditional dinosaur-age cell phones), the charger is powered by a lithium-ion battery that can fully charge your device before requiring a power-up itself. Sure, a charging cable doesn’t take up that much room, but it’s way easier to forget in a time crunch. This baby never has to leave the comfort of your wallet, ensuring that your smartphone never has to go without power.
I am addicted to wallet-sized gadgets. Would it be wrong to start carrying two wallets, one for gadgets and the other for actual purchasing properties?
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 3.25″ x 2″ x .25″
-Weight: 1 oz
-Cordless cell phone power hub
-Fits inside wallet credit card pocket
-One cell phone charge per hub charge
-Micro USB cord
-Available in brown or black
-Compatible with most Android and Blackberry smartphones
-Recharges in 1 hour via USB adapter
Remember disposable cameras? You needed 27 (or if you were lucky, 29) exposures just to get one good picture. It’s not like now when you can repose over and over until your spastic friend finally has their eyes open (alright, that’s me). A friend of mine recently busted out the disposable camera at a party the other night and when I asked her about it, she said that she likes having actual photos where you can’t take a million just to get the perfect one. Hmmm…
For those who want to have their cake and eat it too, there’s the Portable Handheld Scanner (Hammacher Schlemmer, $99.95) – the cake in this scenario being the tangible photo and eating it being the digital copy. It doesn’t just stop at photos though; you can scan anything! Photos, magazines, documents…pretty much anything you can think of. Ok, well you are confined to the limits of the microSD card, but this scanner supports memory cards up to 32 gigabytes in capacity and you can get 180 scans per charge. Each scan is saved onto the memory card as a JPEG file, as either high or normal resolution, and the scanner is both PC and Mac compatible.
Not for retinas.
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 10″ x 1.25″ x 1″
-Weight: 7.5oz
-Cordless portable scanner
-Up to 180 scans per charge
-Color image sensor
-High (600 dpi) or standard (300 dpi) resolution
-JPEG images save on microSD card (not included)
-USB cable included
-Uses 2 AA batteries (included)
-Windows 7, Vista, XP, and Mac compatible
Don’t get me wrong, I love technology but it seems like there’s a new gadget every week. I can only carry so many things with me at one time before it becomes a burden and I’m basically under house arrest due to gadget overload. If I can actually manage to get out of the house with my geek bundle, then I have to deal with the issue of readiness. What good is a smartphone if it’s not easily acceptable? Does an iPod play itself? Well, kinda but that’s not the point here.
I tend to fill my car’s cup holders with knick-knacks, trash, and well, cups so there’s not a whole lot of room left for anything actually important. The MagicPad (Latest Buy, $11.95) creates a safe space for your precious gadgets seemingly out of thin air. This stick pad attaches to most surfaces (as long as they are clean, smooth, and dry) and does so without any harsh adhesives. How? Well, that’s the magic part! Once you’ve selected the perfect spot for this pad, you’re all set to stick your items to it. That’s it – no other set-up required. Your objects will stick to the pad without any special devices or magnetic contraptions. If for some reason the pad loses its magical stickiness, all you have to do is wash it in warm water to reactivate it.
Apparently you can also use this stick pad vertically, but that just makes me nervous. I drop things on my own all the time – I don’t need any help in that department.
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Stick pad for small items
-Sticks to most surfaces
-Sticks without adhesive
-Wash in warm water to reactivate stickiness
-Heat and cold resistant
-Made of elastic rubber material
Sometimes I wish we could all go back to using those first cell phones. You know, the ones you used to actually make phone calls instead of check your email, play games, and watch videos. It was so much simpler then; if you wanted to make a call, you made a call. People weren’t ignoring the person sitting next to them whilst playing that every same person in a game of Words With Friends. Furthermore, we had phones that actually worked. Half the time when I try to make a call now, my phone freezes or cut me off mid-sentence.
I know, I don’t have to have a smartphone – I could just use the most basic phone out there. Except I can’t because I’m totally spoiled now. So I’m pretty much stuck in my predicament, but at least the Retro Wireless Handset (Perpetual Kid, $39.99) lets me feel like I’m using an actual phone instead of some touchscreen wonder. It looks and feels just like a retro handset, but it functions like a Bluetooth accessory. This handset features a rechargeable battery that provides up to six hours of talk time as well as up to 75 hours of standby time. That’s all well and good, but the real draw here is that the handset is wireless with a 30 foot range so you chat with ease. Oh, and did I mention that it’s almost compatible with Internet applications like Skype and Google Talk?
Sure, you don’t *need* it, but don’t you *want* it?
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Includes handset and charging cable
-2.4GHz wireless technology
-6 hours of talk time
-75 hours of standby
-30 ft talk range
-Rechargeable battery
-Compatible with Internet applications
Fire safety is no joke. The best method to keep you and your loved ones safe is prevention. Making sure your house has the necessary safety measures in place, such as smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, is pretty easy to do. I mean, WWStBD (What Would Smokey the Bear Do)?
If you’re going to invest in a safety precaution, why not at least make it enjoyable a la the Chick-a-Dee Smoke Detector (Generate Design, $79.00)? You could go for a boring old smoke detector, but this one is both functional and cute (another two-fer!). This bird-shaped gadget acts just like a standard smoke detector in that it will emit a sustained 85 decibel sound when smoke it detected. However, it differs in that it also replicates a chick-a-dee-dee call when a threat is first detected, making it a lot more pleasant during those all too often false alarms due to intense cooking experiments. With the bird perched on a branch, you can either mount the bird directly to the ceiling or use the branch itself as a mounting system for a more authentic look.
Also known as the Rockin’ Robin’s cousin.
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 7″ x 7″ x 4.75″
-Creative smoke detector
-Bird call at first sign of threat
-Sustained 85 decibel sound at smoke detection
-Control light flashes once a minute
-Battery included (1.5 year lifetime)
-Available in white and white/black
-3 year warranty
