Virgin Media have provided me with a test unit of their new Intelligent WiFi pods to review. They're useful, but come with some annoying limitations. If you have a big home, put a pod in every room and you'll have fast WiFi broadcast everywhere. Well, that's the theory. Limitations The big limitation is that both your 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi SSIDs need to have the same name and password. I…
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Welcome to the world of endless conference calls! My last pair of headphones broke after a few months of constant use, so I decided to treat myself to a new, sturdier pair. These Aftershokz are SEVENTY QUID! Which is about £40 more than I usual spend on a pair of cans. But these use magic to get the sound into your head. They make your cheekbones vibrate and that sends the music direct to your …
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It has been over five years since I added WiFi to a Roomba. Technology has come a long way since then. I've just bought a WiFi enabled mopping robot for under £150. This is the snappily named Muzili G9070. It is a rebranded Tuya model - more on that later - which is available under a range of names. It is... good! Not just for a cheap Chinese robot, but it is genuinely good. Fill it with …
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I was recently asked to review some motion sensitive LEDs. Not usually my thing, but they charge via USB - so why not! It has the most bizarre product description I've seen: Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentAlways nice to review a gadget which comes with a reminder of your own mortality… pic.x.com/wGJYcWCVyJ❤️ 9💬 3🔁 014:46 - Wed 07 October 2020 I think it is trying to say that if you leave the …
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I read this wonderful article about the invention of the rice cooker and, because I am easily influenced, bought one. This is the YumAsia Panda Mini. It seemed to hit the sweet spot for physical size and price. For £80 you get a rice cooker, steamer, and utensils. Makes enough rice for 2 people. Although, when full, we felt like it was more like for 4. Depends on how hungry you are. It's …
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We're all stuck on endless video calls now, right? So it behoves you to share your face in the highest resolution possible. Because your colleagues deserve to see your wrinkles. Most laptops have pathetic 720p webcams built in. Which is weird, because even the most basic smartphone has a front-facing camera capable of 4K photos. Some can even do 4K video. The good folks at INDMEM have sent me a …
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This rather generic USB Floppy Drive has just arrived for me to review. It's sold by Dainty / ChuangZhiJLB - but it has the same internals as every other floppy drive on the market. It worked instantly in Linux and MacOS. Shows up as a USB drive. Shove a disk in there and your OS should automagically mount it. Appears to draw about 500mW in power. The disk read and write speed is pretty good…
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The fine folks at Poweradd have sent me one of their gadgets to review. This is their 26800mAh USB-C power bank with Power Delivery. It's pretty similar to most normal portable batteries - but because it has USB-C-PD, it can charge MacBooks, Nintendo Switches, and other high-power devices! Let's take a look: In the box A big black battery. A weird hybrid cable. It is USB-A to Micro-USB…
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I've been sent a Flyland USB-C hub to review. It's a small but versatile unit - perfect for people who need to connect legacy equipment to something with USB-C ports. For £21, you get 7 ports: 3x USB 3.0 1x HDMI 4K 1x Micro SD 1x SD 1x USB Power Delivery It worked perfectly on Linux (more below) and Windows. No drivers required. It also worked on Android. Simple plug and play. Exactly the …
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I accidentally bought a load of vinyl records. So I decided to buy the cheapest, shittiest, turntable possible. This is the E1372. Made by Jia Yin King Technologies. This is sold under a variety of names and costs about £30 including postage from China. It's a plastic shell, motor, and ADC (Analogue to Digital Converter), which is powered via USB. It is the cheapest brand new player I could …
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This is a curious set of headphones. The OpenEar Trio by Shenzen Alex Technology. They're completely flat and designed to sit outside the ears. They're designed so you can hear your surroundings. If you're outside exercising, it's useful to hear cars creeping up on you. If you're on a conference call, being able to hear the doorbell ringing is essential. These are super-lightweight. Once…
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The only thing I miss about my old MacBook was its magnetic charging cable. It was just so convenient to be able to hover the plug near my laptop and have it snap into place. If I walked off with my machine, I knew the cable would easily spring out - rather than jerking me back or breaking. So here's a gadget to convert any USB device to magnetic charging! Chinese company TOPK have sent me some…
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