I settled on the SereneLife 3-in-1 Portable Air Conditioning Unit. It's a small(ish) tower, fairly portable, claims 9000 BTU, is reasonable cheap (£160ish depending on your favourability to the algorithm), and has WiFi.

Why WiFi?

I know it is a trope to complain about appliances being connected to the Internet for no real benefit. Thankfully, I don't have to listen to your opinion. I find it useful to be able to control the temperature of my bedroom while I'm sat downstairs. I want to be able switch things on or off while I'm on the bus home.

Most manufacturers have crap apps. Thankfully, SereneLife use the generic Tuya platform, which means it works with the Smart Life app.

Which has the side benefit of having an Alexa Skill! So I can shout at my robo-servant "ALEXA! COOL DOWN THE ATRIUM!" and my will be done. Well, almost! When I added the app to my Tuya, this instantly popped up from my Alexa:

I renamed it to something more pronounceable for me! Interestingly, "蓝牙" means "Bluetooth" - although I couldn't detect anything other than WiFi.

Of course, being an Open Source geek, I was able to add it to my HomeAssistant.

Again, the Tuya integration worked fine and showed me everything the device was capable of.

Interface, Remote, and App

The manual control on the top of the unit is pretty simple. Press big buttons, look at LEDs, hear beep, get cold.

The supplied remote (which came with two AAA batteries) is an unlovely thing.

Fine as a manual control, but why the blank buttons?

Both remote and direct interface are good enough for turning on and off, setting the temperature, and that's about it.

As well as manual control, the manual claims that you can set actions based on the following:

• Temperature
• Humidity
• Weather
• PM2.5 Levels
• Air Quality
• Sunrise & Sunset Times
• Device Actions (e.g., turn on/off)

I couldn't find most of those options in the Tuya app. It allows for basic scheduling, device actions, and local weather.

Cooling and Noise

This unit isn't silent. The various mechanical gurglings and hum of the fan is, thankfully, white-noise. The label claims 65dB - which seems to match my experience based on this comparison chart. You probably want earplugs if you're trying to sleep when it's in the same room - but it isn't hideous.

It does play a cheerful little monophonic tune when it is plugged in for the first time, and it beeps when instructed to turn on and off.

Windows

In order to generate cool air, the unit needs to remove heat. Where does it put that heat? Outside! So this comes with a hose which you can route out a window. The hose is relatively long and flexible, so the unit doesn't need to be right next to a window.

The unit came with a vent designed for a sliding sash window. The windows we have are hinged. Adapters are about £15 each, so factor that in when buying something like this.

Cost

It claims to be 960W and my energy monitor showed that to be broadly accurate. Very roughly, that's about 30p/hour. We are only running it when the sun is shining, so it either consumes solar power directly or from our battery storage.

£160 is bargain bucket when it comes to air-con units and, frankly, I was surprised to find one this cheap which also had WiFi. I suspect prices will rocket as temperatures get warmer.

Features

As well as the air-con, it is also a dehumidifier and fan. The fan is basically fine at pushing air around.

The dehumidifier has a hosepipe for draining into a bucket or plumbing in to your pipes. There's a small internal tank which can be emptied with the supplied hose.

This appliance features a self-evaporating system that enhances performance and energy efficiency by reusing condensed water to cool the condenser. However, if the built-in water container becomes full, the appliance will display "FL" and emit a buzzing sound.

I didn't use this function because, thankfully, our place isn't damp.

Verdict

The UK gets very few scorching days and, usually, a fan and some open windows are enough to relieve the heat. But the climate is changing and I expect more sweltering nights in our future. £160 seems like a reasonable sum for an experiment - I don't expect to be heartbroken if this only last a few years. Most of the time it is going to be stuck in the loft waiting for the heatwave.

It isn't particularly light, but it does have castors so it is easy to roll around the house.

The manual is comprehensive and written in plain English.

As it hasn't been particularly warm this spring, I can't truly say how effective it is - but running it for a while made a noticeable difference to the temperature. Cold air pumped out of the front of the unit in sufficient quantities.

If you think you'll need extra cooling in the coming months, this seems like a decent bit of kit for the money. The Tuya platform is cheap enough to stick in most domestic appliances without breaking the bank.

ALEXA! CHILL MY MARTINI GLASSES!

This little gadget from Plugable is a fantastic bit of kit. Plug your USB-C power supply into one end of the gadget, plug the gadget in to your laptop, phone, or any other USB-C device. Watch the screen to see how much power is flowing.

Action Shot

Features

• A black and white screen!
• A button to flip the display over!
• That's it!

There's no Bluetooth or WiFi to get the results out. There's no flash storage to record anything. There's no graphs. It shows you volts, amps, watts, and direction of power. That's all I need it for, and that's all it does.

As you can see, the screen reacts quickly. So you can get a good idea of what power load your various apps have.

Usefulness

This is great. My work Windows laptop was complaining that it wasn't receiving enough power from my USB-C docking station and, with this, I was able to see that it was getting about 40W.

I was able to test some USB-C cables to see how much power they could support.

Even better, this doesn't interfere with normal USB-C functions. It happily passed through video, audio, peripherals, etc.

Cost

It's about £20 - £35 online depending on whether The Algorithm favours you or not. You can find cheaper ones - but they tend not to go up to 240W.

This is an indispensable gadget - especially if you have dozens of cables of uncertain provenance. It'll tell you just how much they're capable of delivering.

Now I just need to find a USB-C plug which can actually deliver 240W via PD!

Unboxing

Bone Conducting??!

Yup! Rather than sticking speakers in your ears, these literally rattle the bones in your head to produce sound. It takes a little getting used to, but is rather pleasant. I also find it more comfortable than traditional in-ear products.

It also means you can easily hear your surroundings. Perfect if you're jogging or cycling. The one down side is that they do leak a fair bit of noise. So don't wear them on the bus, please!

Waterproof?

Yup! With a claimed IP68 rating, these can handle more than just a splash of water - you can go swimming with them.

Well, OK, I don't have a swimming pool at home (😢) but I do have a shower! So I stuck them on, tuned in to "Singin' in the Rain" and had a good scrub. No, you can't see a video of that. Trust me, you don't want to! Anyway, the audio quality drowned out the sound of the shower.

I know what you're thinking - if you're swimming won't that put you outside the range of Bluetooth? Yes. But these headphones hold a little secret. A built-in 32GB MP3 player!

Formats

The headset came preloaded with a few FLAC and MP3 files. I also copied across some M4A (AAC) files and they also worked. Sadly, it didn't play OGG or Opus. If there are any more exotic file formats you'd like me to try, stick a request in the comments box.

The 'phones played my music without skips, blips, or artefacts. Generally good sonic reproduction all round.

Charging and file transfer

In order to keep the unit as hermetically sealed as possible, there's no USB port. Instead there's a pogo-ping layout which uses magnets to ensure you connect it in the right orientation.

It's an elegant solution to the problem of stopping water getting inside your gadget. But I'm not a huge fan of proprietary cables. Both transfer and charging speeds are fine. And the layout isn't hideously complicated if you want to wire up your own. But I don't want to carry another cable around with me.

Tech Specs and Linux Info

The Bluetooth connection from the headphones was HD AAC - so no ultrahigh quality APT-X or LDAC etc. But that's not what these cans are for. You are not going to experience sonic perfection while swimming The English Channel. Instead you get decent quality audio bouncing straight into your skull.

The NFC chip was detected by my phone - after waving the headset around for a bit. Personally, I think it's easier to just use traditional Bluetooth pairing.

The headphones worked perfectly with Linux. When plugged into USB these show up as 4c4a:4155 Jieli Technology USB Composite Device. It's a bog-standard USB drive so you can just copy your banging choons onto there. No weird software needed.

They paired over Bluetooth and music streamed just fine. On video calls, people were able to hear my voice and I heard theirs. So, job done!

Verdict

Hmmm... There's no doubt these are impressive headphones - for £140 they ought to be! Let's take a look at the good, and the bad:

Good

• Excellent sound. Considering these are using bone conduction, the sound is phenomenal. Everything is crisp and clear.
• Waterproof! I used them in the shower and they didn't electrocute my head!
• MP3 player. 32GB of space is pretty generous, and there's also support for FLAC if you're feeling fancy.
• Good range of earplug accessories if you want to drown out the world.
• Battery life as expected. Lasted all the way through my exercise routines.
• Works with Linux without a faff. Not always a given, so nice to see.

Bad

I don't think the lack of OGG / Opus is a show stopper. And I can't complain about the lack of HD Bluetooth. There's no equaliser - so you might find it a bit heavy on the bass - but you can tune that on your phone.

However, I'm really not a fan of the magnetic USB cable.

All of my gadgets are USB-C. My phone, eReader, thermal printer, VR Headset. I don't want a proprietary cable to lose. The supplied cable has alignment magnets which are pretty nifty. Data speeds are basically fine for drag-and-drop. And the pogo-pin connector is pretty rugged, slim, and ingress proof.

I can't be too hard on this. While Qi charging might have made sense, it doesn't do data transfer. And USB-C is relatively chunky and needs a rubber cap to prevent water getting in.

Replacement cables are a couple of quid from AliExpress or about a tenner direct

If you can live with a separate cable, it's an absolutely great gadget. I'm looking forward to swimming with it on holiday.

Discount!

You can get a 15% discount with promo code Terence.

So I dug through my scrapheap of old tech and resurrected an ancient Pi2. It's old, outdated, slow, with limited RAM, and has a bunch of much-abused GPIO pins. But it works and - crucially - is still supported by Home Assistant OS.

Well... ish!

The official Home Assistant installation guide for the Pi says that you can use a:

Raspberry Pi 4 (Raspberry Pi 3 is ok too, if you have one laying around).

But, if you go to the latest releases page and then click "show all assets", you'll be rewarded with a file called haos_rpi2-9.5.img.xz - that's Home Assistant OS for the Raspberry Pi 2. Sweet!

From there it was just a case of following the installation steps. But... my goodness the Pi 2 is slllloooowwwww.

I could see that the Pi was responding to pings, but the web interface wasn't coming up. I left it for a few hours and did something more interesting. And, when I came back, it worked!

But, that slowness becomes a recurrent theme. Not in the interface itself, which is delightfully snappy, but it is slow on any form of add-on installation, upgrade, or reboot. A lot of waiting is involved. Even something like viewing sensor history slows to a crawl.

It quickly detected all my smarthome gadgets (I have far too many). Integration was pretty easy - assuming you trust the system with your username and passwords... Most of these devices don't have OAuth. Some don't even have official APIs. But HA was able to interact with nearly everything.

Of course, that does mean the user interface is a lot!

As long as you're happy to fiddle around making everything just right, then the UI isn't too bad.

The phone UI is great! It interfaces directly with Android 13's quick actions. I was able to add a couple of buttons to my phone to do common tasks like switch off lights, and turn on electric blankets. The app is a bit of a power hog - because it is continually polling for updated data about your home. I put it in battery jail - I care more about control than reports.

Installing update is slow. Installing new integrations is slow. Rebooting is slow. But, thankfully, these are things you only do rarely. For switching lights on and off, getting the bed warm, and checking the air quality, it's fast enough.

At the moment, I'm using sloppy security. The Pi has the usernames and passwords for my various gadgets and talks to them via their official APIs. I guess I could reflash them all with FLOSS firmware - but that seems like a bit too much effort at this point.

Similarly, the Pi is running Let's Encrypt and uses Dynamic DNS to give me a permanent connection back to my home. I'm reasonably sure the security is good enough - but I probably need to Design a Home Network for Hostile Devices.

But, for now, I'm impressed with Home Assistant. It isn't quite "it just works" - but it's good enough for the enthusiast who is willing to put up with a few rough edges.

And I'm pleased my old Pi has a new purpose in life.

It is a tantalising glimpse of a future which isn't quite here yet. I dislike Facebook's Meta's vision of the Metaverse - but the tech is undoubtedly fun when it works.

I remember using VR way back in the 1990s. When on holiday, games arcades often had a VR helmet. I wasted all my pocket money on virtual tanks, creeping through virtual dungeons, and generally feeling virtually claustrophobic.

A few years ago I tinkered around with Google Cardboard. Finally! VR was cheap and available to the masses! Just flip your phone on the side and off you go.

Sadly, the world didn't bite. VR still suffers from the same two problem that it always has. First, no one has enough space. This was a problem which the Xbox Kinect faced in the UK / EU. Our living spaces are generally a lot smaller than those in the USA - and the Kinect just couldn't cope. If you took a step forward from your couch, it lost sight of you.

VR has the same problem. You need a large amount of dedicated floorspace, and no cats, kids, or clutter to bash into. Otherwise you're just sat on your arse on a spinning chair.

The second problem is that VR is fundamentally alienating for everyone else in the room with you. If you're playing a console game, your friends or family can watch what you're doing. If you're strapped into VR, you're like a junkie in the corner giggling away at sprites only you can see.

This is why Facebook Meta are heavily pushing the idea that the Metaverse is a place to socialise. Because otherwise you're just a lonely git ignoring everyone around you.

Anyway, I bought a 2nd hand Meta Quest 2 from a kid who was bored of using it. It's partly for my MSc, and partly so I can see what the fuss is all about.

I'm a sceptic and a grumpy old fart - so adjust your expectations accordingly.

First Impressions

The Quest uses USB-C to recharge! Hurrah! I feared I'd need a proprietary Zuckercable - but it came with USB and plug. Except... the Quest controllers are not rechargeable!

This seems bonkers to me - especially as you can buy AA batteries which recharge via USB-C

It also demands a mobile phone be paired with it. There's no indication of why. If you don't have a phone, you're out of luck. There's no way to even demo the unit without a companion app. Again, a needlessly user-hostile action. Luckily, there's a workaround to log in with a developer account.

Once in, and after the requisite multi-gigabyte updates, it's a pretty good experience.

Play Time

The tutorial app is pretty fun. Dancing with a robot, throwing paper planes, shooting laser beams. It's nifty - but hardly revolutionary. Holding a gun in VR looks cool, but fundamentally isn't any different from Nintendo's Duck Hunt from 1984. The grab-and-manipulate mechanic is similar to the Nintendo Wii.

The brightly coloured graphics make everything pop - but hide the fact that things are generally low-resolution in order to keep things running smoothly.

The interface is adequately intuitive. It does a reasonable job of guiding you through the set-up. Everything is cartoony and playful. If you slip in to pass-through mode (where you can see the real world) the cameras show you a fuzzy & greyed-out picture - almost as if to emphasise how dull the ordinary world is compared to the Metaverse.

I was impressed at how well it let me define the safe space around my body, and it did an excellent job of preventing me from walking into walls. No mean feat given how clumsy I am.

The app store looked neat - but there didn't seem to be an easy way to filter for free games. And while Beat Sabre and Darth Vader™ look like fun, I'm unwilling to plonk down £30 without a free demo. Given the expense of the hardware, the need to keep people hooked, and the novelty of the medium it feels like a weird misstep. I'm sure there are some cool free experiences, but the Quest doesn't make them easy to find.

After an hour or so of playing, it whined about needing more power. So I returned to the mundane world.

Through A Glass Darkly

The original problems with VR are all still there. Getting interpupillary distance correct is a bit of trial and error. I was expecting to be able to adjust the distance between lenses while wearing the headset. Instead you have to remove the headset and manually adjust. That makes it difficult to share the headset with friends.

Adjusting the tightness of the headset is a bit tricky. It's a loop of fabric which is impossible to adjust while you're wearing the headset. Unless the headset is really tight, the picture quickly becomes blurry. But when the picture is clear, it's pretty pixelated. It's a lose-lose situation. Reading text is just about OK, but gets tiresome quickly as your eyes struggle to focus.

And, if the strap is too tight, it's painful and sweaty.

Peripheral vision is limited. Without a radical change in screen shape, there's not much can be done about that.

The sound is compellingly good. Even without headphones. There's great directionality. Although, it does stutter now and again.

Hand tracking is weirdly accurate. The hand controllers do a reasonable job of mapping your finger movements. Picking up objects and interacting with them is intense. So much so that I tried to put down an object on a virtual table and nearly dropped the controller on the floor! Thank heaven for wrist straps!

And then the tracking gets confused and your hand isn't where you expect it to be. Your proprioception goes out of whack and the illusion breaks.

That's where the problem lies. The key thing about VR is that when you're in, you're in! But it only takes a dropped frame, skipped audio, or glitchy bit of tracking to drag you out of the illusion.

Verdict

I got a 2nd hand Quest on the cheap. I'd have been pretty narked if I'd paid full price for this sub-par experience. I've only played it for an hour, so I doubt I've experienced the full range of wonder. But it's a slow and choppy start. I can see the potential, but have yet to experience anything compelling. It's a bit like playing Night Trap on the Sega MegaCD - yes, this is what the future of interactive movies could look like. But, no, it's not likely to grab mainstream attention.

In a world of 4K consoles delivering cinematic quality visuals, the Quest's graphics looks like an N64 in comparison.

The tech is tantalisingly close. The experience is reasonable fun - if you're happy with a heavy, battery hungry, face-hugger strapped to you.

VR is like cold-fusion. It's going to be amazing next year. Next year the glasses will be smaller. Next year the graphics will be better. Next year the battery will last longer. Next year the hand tracking will be more accurate. Next year... Next year... Next year...

Taiwanese manufacturer Clevo makes the N151CU laptop. They sell it directly to resellers, who in turn sell it on to consumers. It has excellent Linux support. Both Entroware (in the UK) and System76 (in the USA) sell it pre-installed with Ubuntu. I purchased mine from PC Specialist where they sell it as the Lafité IV.

PC Specialist sell it "bare bones" with no operating system. They don't officially support Linux, but their forums are full of people discussing Linux tips and tricks.

UNBOXING!

Pop OS

System 76 provide a customised version of Ubuntu 20 called Pop OS - it's a full Ubuntu install with a few tweaks. You can change the Desktop Environment if you don't like the UI. I picked it because I'm comfortable with Ubuntu and I figured System 76 would have added any weird drivers needed for the hardware. I dumped it onto a USB drive, shoved it into the new laptop and clicked next a bunch of times. It took less than 5 minutes to install.

What Doesn't Work?

Keyboard backlight. It has a multicolour backlight - but it's stuck on blue, with no way to dim it. I'll blog later in the week how to get it working.

That's it. Everything else worked perfectly. Sound, WiFi, Bluetooth, Suspend.

Quirks

Charging via USB-C. This was the main reason I bought this laptop. The laptop's USB-C port does support charging. But, weirdly, it is supplied with a barrel charger. I used a 65W USB charger and it worked just fine.

The BIOS supplied by PC Specialists is pretty restricted. I understand that they don't want people fiddling with settings that may be destructive. Depending on how restrictive I find it, I may try flashing the OEM BIOS and firmware. What's the worst that could happen?!

Webcam. It's a 720p model. In this age of endless video-conferencing, I'd have preferred something a bit better. But it works fine.

Hardware Review

So... many... ports! Do you need HDMI and Mini Displayport?

I'd have preferred another USB-C port rather than a Mini Displayport. There are adaptors and hubs. But nothing beats in-built.

There are 3 regular USB sockets. More than enough.

Despite having a pretty decent microphone built in, there's a 3.5mm mic port and a separate headphone jack. Weirdly, there's a Mini-TOSLINK built into the.... Yup - this laptop has optical out for digital audio!

There are slots for 2 sticks of RAM. I got a single 16GB stick - with the aim of shoving another one in there after a few years of use.

It also has 2 M.2 slots. One contains the WiFi card, the other the SSD. Once WiFi 7 comes out, I might upgrade the connectivity. Similarly, the SSD I got is big enough and fast enough for now, but might be replaced in the future. Do note that Linux has problems with NVME drives at the moment.

All I need is to read MicroSD cards, but this has a full width SD slot. Sadly, it's only half depth, so a full-sized SD adaptor sticks out: Just like the MacBook Air!

The trackpad is pretty good - but has two small flaws. Firstly, the buttons underneath it feel a bit flimsy. Hard to describe, but they work, and you can tap / right tap on the trackpad. The second flaw is that there's a fingerprint reader built into the trackpad. I can't make it work in Linux - but it makes the top left corner of the pad unusable. If your finger glides over it, the cursor stops moving. It's a weird design decision - but not a show stopper.

Keyboard is as good as any laptop I've used. The layout takes a little getting used to - but you can't beat having a proper number pad!

Speakers are a bit quiet and tinny. OK for voice calls, but for music you'll want to use headphones. Pop OS automatically detects when you've inserted a pair and routes the audio accordingly.

Fan noise is about the same as other laptops. It gets a bit warm on my lap, just like other laptops. Battery life is fine - depending on what you're doing with it.

Cost

Total cost including shipping was £738. You can configure it to a much higher or lower spec depending on your budget.

I got it from PC Specialist in the UK.

Verdict

I frickin' LOVE IT! It's light, has a big bright screen, silly light up keyboard, and worked flawlessly. I'd been considering a Dell for twice the price - but I'm glad I went for this.

It's a light, sturdy laptop which runs Ubuntu like a dream.

Full Spec

For those that like such things:

• Lafité Series: Aluminium Chassis: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED (1920 x 1080)
• Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor i5-10210U (1.6GHz, 4.2GHz Turbo)
• 16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
• INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (CPU Dependant) - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
• 256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1900 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
• Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
• 1 x 65W AC Adaptor
• 1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
• 1 x Lafité Battery 54WH
• Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
• GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
• 1 x THUNDERBOLT PORT (USB-C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT Keyboard Language
• INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
• 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
• 1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs

The design is gorgeous - and award winning. It's a sleek unit and, surprisingly, feels nice in the hand.

It can store videos on an SD card (not included) or via the cloud. The app - which is pretty nice - also lets you view the camera when you're away from home.

Let's tear straight into it!

Unboxing

Standard image

Night Mode

In low light, the Infrared LEDs turn on. Night mode works pretty well.

Video

This is the video quality when streamed from Android.

App

One really nice touch is the way it handles WiFi sign on. The app generates a QR code - hold it in front of the camera, and it automagically connects.

There's an in-app tutorial when you boot up. It's all pretty self-explanatory. Swipe the screen to move the camera.

There's a range of options where you can play with motion tracking. You also receive alerts when it detects motion.

Finally, there's 2-way audio support. You can hear what's going on in the vicinity - although it's fairly low quality mono feed. You can tap a button on the app and broadcast your voice to the camera. Good for scaring off burglars.

Cloud Services

I have mixed feelings about this. €170 per year feels a bit much - but it depends on what price you place on security. Hopefully that price includes regular firmware updates. If you don't want to pay that price, you can record videos to the local SD card. There's no option to specify your own server, sadly.

Security

Whenever you invite a 3rd party into your home, you place trust in their security. The Nooie has a sensibly written privacy policy and ToS. All data is stored on AWS, rather than a Windows Vista box under a developer's desk in China. All the connections to AWS were correctly secured, as far as I could tell.

The camera doesn't respond to common port scans.

The first thing the app asked me to do was update the firmware - which removed the FTP Daemon to increase security.

There's no 2FA on the app - but that may be overkill for a consumer device. It does let you create guest accounts, so your household don't have to share a single password.

This isn't a full and formal analysis of the product - but it is a hell of a lot better than the security on most IP cameras.

Final Thoughts

It's a good looking camera. The video and audio quality are fine - but nothing special. Two way audio is handy. Firmware updates and cloud functionality really round off the package. All-in-all, it's excellent value for money.

Discount Code

Save 10% on Nooie Cam 360 & get one month of Nooie Cloud service for free. Available from 27th April to 30th April. Discount code: NOOIEMAR

Buy the Nooie 360 WiFi camera on Amazon.

1. It rotates to vertical mode
2. It was within my employer's home working budget

There are no integrated USB hubs, no TV tuners, no gaming mode, no 4K, no HDR, no smarts. It is just a screen. That happens to rotate.

Tech Specs

Gloriously boring. For video, there's an HDMI socket. You also get a legacy VGA socket and a DVI. Audio is a 3.5mm jack in and out. That's your lot.

It appears to have standard VESA mounting screws if you don't like the stand. Oh, and there's a Kensington Lock socket if you want to securely bolt it to something. Bizarrely, it doesn't come with an HDMI cable. You get power, 3.5mm audio, and DVI.

UI

The interface is about as good as any computer monitor - which is to say pretty bad. Repeatedly clicking stiff buttons is no one's idea of fun. But it only needs to be done once. There is no way to set the UI to be rotated, so you have to twist your head whenever you want to adjust it. There's no way change the way it presents to your computer. So you'll need to find your machine's settings for rotating a display.

Posture

As well as rotation, the stand is height adjustable and has a bit of tilt.

It takes a little bit of adjustment to make it just right for your personal preferences.

Why vertical?

I read lots of long boring important documents. A tiny laptop screen isn't suited for that. A 24 inch monitor, when landscape, has a height of 30cm. The same height as A4 paper. But once you add in the overhead of the program you're using to read the paper, it is considerably less. If you're a sensible distance from the monitor, you'll also want a larger font.

So a vertical monitor is just right.

Downsides

This isn't a true vertical monitor. The viewing angles when rotated are nowhere near as wide as when in landscape. As you move your head, it becomes apparent that colours and contrast alter quite rapidly.

Jelly Scrolling. When quickly scrolling documents, there is some distortion - the right side appears to move before the left side. I think this is because the monitor is drawing from top to bottom, but receiving the data from side to side - if that makes sense. It's not hugely distracting. You can see the effect on this testing website.

Finally, the speakers are basic. They're stereo - but when rotated, they're vertical. Which is a little odd, but fine for conference calls. They're not particularly loud, but they fill my small office. There's no way to control the volume over HDMI. That may be a limitation of MacOS though.

Buy it

I was about £130 when I ordered it - but prices are fluctuating based on stock. Buy the Iiyama ProLite on Amazon

We've moved house recently, so I'm still finding my feet - but as I work from home fairly often, and have a bit of RSI, I thought I'd show you what I've got and how I use it.

The desk is just a plain IKEA table. Supplemented with a cheap Argos desk which didn't quite fit all my kit - so it becomes a side desk.

Floor

Much like Alec Guinness, I start with the the shoes. I don't wear any at home, and my floor is cold wood laminate. So I use a toilet mat!

Look, I know it sounds daft, but scrunching up my toes on a bit of carpet is relaxing. The mat was part of a set, and has never been used in the bathroom.

Power

Nothing gets done without electricity. I use a Meross smart surge protector.

Each socket can be switched using an app, and the 4 USB ports can supply 2.4 Amps. Good for charging all the gadgets I have.

I also use a powered USB hub. So many problems with a MacBook's accessories are due to weird power requirements.

Input

The MicroSoft 4000 is the best ergonomic keyboard in the world.

The mouse is a ridiculously expensive Evoluent Vertical Mouse.

I'm using an older one - I have several - because I left my best one at work. The shut-down order came in a hurry, so I didn't have time to pick it up.

Display

A new addition! My work has generously given me a small budget for a screen. It's the Iiyama ProLite B2482HS-B1 24". I read lots of long documents - so a vertical monitor is an absolute necessity.

I've been using multiple monitors since 2001 - and I've never lost the habit.

Lighting

This is so important - especially if you're doing an important presentation. Webcams look shit in low light.

It's just a standard lamp with a WiFi controlled LIFX bulb. I can change the colour to match my mood. I've only once had to switch it to BRIGHT RED when on a video call.

Ideally, I'd have one of those fancy circular lights - like proper YouTubers.

Phone

I've upcycled an old car dashboard phone holder into a desk phone holder. It's like a really inefficient third monitor. Having it at eye level is useful - for glancing at Twitter and WhatsApp video calls.

Sound

I finally found some USB-C powered Bluetooth Headphones - the Life Q10 from Anker.

I tend to use those for listening to music when working. I normally use my laptop's built in speaker and mic for calls.

Occasionally, I do strap on a headset. I hate the way they make me look like a cheap pilot.

It's a Plantronic's Mono. The best thing about it is the physical mute button. Handy for making sure no-one can hear you howling.

Seating

A decent chair is the cornerstone of any home working setup.

Got mine from Office Furniture Online. I really wanted something with a bit of head support. It reclines and spins - useful on interminable conference calls.

Wrist Support

To stop my hands breaking so much, I use wrist guards.

And a padded mousemat.

Laptop and Stand

Work provide me with a MacBook Air. Although soon I'll be getting a Linux machine.

I've no idea where I picked up the desktop riser. But it mostly hides the mess of cables.

What's next?

The MacBook's webcam is a bit crap. Something with higher definition would be good - although it might overload my colleagues' bandwidth.

Microphones are a tricky one. Bluetooth is never quite reliable enough, and flimsy headsets are usually low quality. I keep thinking about getting a decent mic with a pop-shield for a bit of light podcasting. Perhaps it would improve my calls?

A phone holder with wireless charging would make life easier, but I'd also need a phone which supports it.

There are a bunch of cheap-ish standing desks Might be nice?

So, go on then, rate my rig! Or, share yours!

Why? I've got a tall house and can't be bothered walking down several flights of stairs just to tell a peddler to piss off. And, when I'm away, it's nice to know where couriers are leaving my packages.

So, here's my review of the DophiGo DV-200. It was £40 on special offer.

One thing to note - this is an energy efficient unit. There's no PIR sensor or movement detector. It doesn't continually stream. It doesn't have 4K resolution. It's designed to run off one battery and be recharged a few times per year.

Unboxing

Comes with a (UK) plug in chime, doorbell, fixing kit. Button feels a little stiff. Not sure how obvious it is to a visitor.

But what's in the accessories box…?

Screws, rawlplugs, screwdriver, instructions, and a sticker. What's the micro-USB cable for? We'll come on to that!

Set Up

Oh! Cool! It has a QR code to download the app. That'll make setting things up much easier…

Ah...

I've contacted the company, and they've now fixed it.

Charging

There's a micro-USB port on the back. It's there for charging. Yeah, ideally it'd be USB-C, but it'll only be charged a few times per year. I plugged the unit into a Linux laptop and ran lsusb - nothing showed up. The port's just for charging - firmware updates are done via the app.

There's a single battery in the back:

That's an 18650.

Fitting

As well as screws and rawlplugs, there are also stickers which fit to the back of the unit. The backing plate sticks to the door and the doorbell clips to the backing plate. There's a single screw at the bottom to prevent people nicking it. Not the most secure thing in the world but, hey, it's only forty quid.

App

All smarthome apps are crap. That's an undeniable truth. Dophigo's WowCam app is basically fine. It doesn't have the polish of a modern app, but it works.

It's quick too! You press the button, the unit and ringer sound, and a few seconds later your phone rings.

One down side, there's a permanent notification to keep the app awake. Android really needs a better way to handle long-running background tasks.

Video

The Dophigo proudly claims to have a 960p resolution. That's a bit optimistic! Downloaded video seems to be 640x480.

And, you know what? That's fine. It's good enough to see who is at the door. Here's my ugly mug caught on camera:

When someone rings the bell, a 10 second video clip is stored somewhere in the cloud - so if you miss a call, you can see who was there:

Night vision

Our road is reasonably well lit, and the camera copes well at night. It doesn't have a powerful flashlight - again, to save battery - but it claims to have "military level infrared night vision".

Networking

It is impossible to create a sensible WiFi configuration for a smarthome. Luckily the device doesn't need a local network connection, just an Internet connection. So it is on a separate WiFi network. If it gets stolen, and if they can dump the flash memory, they'll find that my IoT network's password is hunter2.

It only connects to 2.4GHz - fine for this sort of thing - and copes well with my router being quite far away and behind several doors.

I ran a quick nmap

PORT     STATE    SERVICE
554/tcp  open     rtsp
687/tcp  filtered asipregistry
1107/tcp filtered isoipsigport-2
4662/tcp filtered edonkey
9999/tcp filtered abyss

I wasn't able to connect to any of them without authentication - but I didn't try too hard. The app's connection to the cloud used SSL and was resistant to my MITM attacks.

Privacy

The app makes it very clear what happens to your data.

Verdict

It works! The audio quality isn't high-def, but it's good enough. The video isn't DVD quality, but it's good enough. The app isn't exactly a joy to use, but it's good enough.

There's no ongoing fees, unlike some other cameras, and it doesn't invade the privacy of your neighbours by going off every time someone walks down the street.

I paid £40 on special offer - and I reckon that's a bloody good price.

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Anyone coming to @barcamplondon fancy doing a Tech Swap Table with me?
Bring bits of (working) kit and old gadgets that you don't want in the hope they find a loving home.
Let me know if you want to take part 😁
#bclxi

---

The idea is similar to Swishing - a popular way to recycle old clothes. In a Swishing party, you turn up with a jacket, swap it for a ticket, then swap the ticket for a vintage pair of jeans.

We decided to go a little more simple and low tech for our swap-meet.

• A big table in the corridor
• People can deposit any (working) gadgets on there
• Anyone can take what they want - you don't have to bring something to get something

We made sure to tell people in advance what was likely to be on offer, and got a few friendly faces to promote it.

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Giving away lots of tech at #bclxi this lunchtime.
💡 WiFi lightbulb
⚡ 10 port USB charger
💅 NFC fingernails
🔌 WiFi ethernet USB power thing
⌚ SmartWatch
🖥 Project Tango dev kit
And a bunch more working kit.
Come find the Swap Shop at lunchtime 😊

---

BarCamp London

@barcamplondon

2300 HRS - somebody is putting a blanket over our cage - we must sleep now - before you go to sleep, sort out a bit of old usable IT stuff for the "Bits of Kit Swap Shop" tomorrow, and @edent will be a happy bunny 🐰n'night #bclxi

---

@biglesp@mastodon.social

@biglesp

Replying to @barcamplondon@barcamplondon @edent Done pic.x.com/snpx1ix423

---

A few ground rules

Here are the informal rules that we set up...

• People can take one thing each. Geeks are hoarders and, given half the chance, will snaffle everything. We told a people who'd already taken something to come back later to give everyone a fair chance.
• Caveat emptor - we gave everything a quick visual inspection to make sure it wasn't obviously broken or unsafe. But we didn't do any PAT, or virus scanning, or even booting up. You get what you pay for, and that was explained to people.
• Have a friendly sign to let people know what's going on.
• Have someone crew the stall to ensure fair-play and explain what some of the more esoteric items are.

That green cube is a WiFi Travel Router & Charger.

Can I run a swap-shop at my event?

YES! At your next tech event, tell participants that they can bring any old gadgets, laptops, cables, tools, bits, kits, circuits, and components with them to swap.

There is a slight risk that you'll end up with some useless junk that no-one wants. Either get the person who "donated" it to take it back, or find your local WEEE Recycling plant.

Fair warning, you will almost certainly need a separate table just for obsolete cables!

@BrianLinuxing (everywhere, even on Threads!) 🇮🇪

@BrianLinuxing

Cablecornucopia #BCLXI with @jaygooby pic.x.com/kuieouf1bq

---

Enjoy!

This is what the Alexa does, here's which light switches not to use, don't be scared if the Roomba attacks. That sort of thing.

I don't know how long we'll live in this place. It's more than likely we'll move at some point. So what happens to the smarthome stuff we've accumulated?

When we hand over the keys to the new residents - do we hand over all the cloud passwords as well? Or do we factory reset everything and let them go through the dull process of setting up new accounts?

Some stuff is probably easy to move. Unplug the LIFX bulbs and replace with poundshop lights.

Some stuff is probably hard. Do I unwire the Tado Thermostat and replace with a generic version?

Tado, to their credit, have a procedure for people moving house. You need to provide them with:

• A copy of your ID (photo or scan)
• Your signature
• Firstname & Surname of the new user
• Your Email address associated with your tado° account
• Email address of the new user
• Telephone number of the new user

A bit of a faff - and possibly annoying to the new occupiers to not be able to easily set the heating until they've moved in, configured the WiFi, and registered for an account.

Now imagine doing that for every hardwired gadget you have - the light switches, the connected cooker, the smoke alarms, the doorbell, the security system. A nightmare which adds to the stress of an already fraught situation for both parties.

The Nest Protect smoke alarm suggests that you should factory reset alarms you inherit and then manually add them. When I move into a house, do I want to spend the first day looking up manuals online to try and work out which buttons to hold down in order to claim the devices as my own?

This is, of course, the epitome of "first-world problems" - but it is one that most people will have to face in the coming years.

But projectors are still wildly expensive and out of reach for most people. Aren't they?

DBPower have sent me their RD810 projector to review. It costs £60. That's not a typo. Sixty Quid.

Let's get two things out of the way first.

1. This is not an HD projector. The resolution is 800*480. That's fine for standard definition US TV shows, but a little underwhelming for anything else.
2. You're going to need a dark room in order to get the most out of it.

This isn't a laser-powered, 4K, 3D, super-projector. This is a quick and cheap way to watch cartoons on the big screen.

Let's get on with this sponsored review...

Unboxing and First Use

I used Big Buck Bunny as a test source. The projector played a 1080p 60fps MP4 without complaint! I was expecting it to stutter on that, but it worked flawlessly.

Connections

• USB - possibly the most useful port, you can load movies up on a USB stick and play them back from there - no laptop needed! It will also work with an MHL cable, so you can play directly from Android.
• HDMI - standard connector. Will take up to 1080p video.
• Headphones - there's a small mono speaker on the projector, so if you want stereo, you'll need something plugged into here.
• AV - a weird little port. The projector comes bundled with an adaptor so you can plug in a composite source. Handy if you've got an ancient device hanging around. Personally, I think this could be dropped.
• VGA - yup, the good old standard connector.

Nothing too exciting - but it doesn't need to be. There's no WiFi or network connections, no TV tuner, nor any serial ports. But you don't expect that on a cheapo machine. You'll see some cheap media projectors run Android - this does not, it just has a simple operating system. The UI is sparse, but does the job.

At the bottom is a standard tripod screw fitting. Handy if you want to raise the height.

The remote is a cheap bit of plastic. No backlighting, so you'll need to remember the layout.

Screen Size

Because of the low price, there's no zoom mode.

Parody Kryten: NOW ON THREADS

@KrytenRD

Human eyes don't have a zoom - Well then how do you bring a small object into sharp focus? - You just move your head closer to the object!

---

Yup - you literally have to move the projector nearer to and further from the screen in order to change its size.

There is a adjustable foot at the front, so you can change the angle of projection. There's also focus and vertical keystone correction. They're both built into the lens, give them a twist and off you go.

Depending on the shape of your room, you might struggle to achieve the maximum available width. The brightness of the LED is surprisingly good for the price, but you'll need a pitch-black room to get the most out of it.

Colours can be adjusted in the projector's menu. There's also options to adjust aspect ratioa, brightness, and noise reduction.

Sound

There is a small built in speaker. No volume control that I could see - which is a pity, as the fan rather drowns it out. There's a basic set of EQ which allows you to change the bass and treble - but they don't have much effect.

At the back of the projector is a headphone jack. I suggest either plugging in some cans, or hooking it up to a more powerful set of speakers.

The speaker is mono. Again, good enough for simple sounds. The manual advises that the system doesn't support Dolby. It happily played an MP3 encoded stream in an MP4, I used Big Buck Bunny as a test.

Wrapping Up

You're not going to use this for your executive PowerPoint presentations, and you're not going to wow everyone with your in-home IMAX.

But, for sixty-notes, it's pretty damn good! For a second screen, projected onto a wall, or at a party it's a decent choice.

The colours are more suited to cartoons than David Attenborough documentaries. They claim that the LED lamp should last 50,000 hours. It appears to be replaceable but, honestly, for this price, it's probably just easier to buy a new one.

The small speaker is basic and the fan is a touch noisy.

Buy it

Readers of this blog can get 20% off at Amazon using the code KYZTI4EQ - valid until 31st December 2017.

But all of the Bluetooth headphones that I can find are charged via Micro USB. Which is bloody annoying! I want to charge my phone, laptop, camera, games console, and headphones from the same charger.

Even looking at the wholesalers on Ali Express - there are plenty of wired USB-C headphones, but an absolute dearth of wireless ones.

What gives? Do people with ultra-modern phones really want to carry around multiple charging cables? Are all the manufacturers waiting for a critical mass of phones before they change?

Perhaps they're all moving to Qi - the wireless charging standard? Nope! I would have though there would be some - literally all I can find is the £300 Parrot Zika cans.

To be fair, Qi is slow and does require a larger surface area than most earbuds will provide. Hmmm... I wonder if the physical size of the USB-C connector makes manufacturers reluctant to adopt it?

Back in 2009 I successfully switched to Micro USB for all my gadgets. It looks like this decade's switch is going to take a bit longer than expected...!

Tech Specs

Before we dive in to the photos and videos, let's see how they compare on raw numbers.

Photo

By default photos are 3040*1520 and taken in spherical format. The average photo size is about 1.5MB. They look like this: (click for full-size)

There's very little metadata included, aside from a mysterious comment.

There's an option in the app to export the photo in equirectangular format.

The exported version looks like this:

As you can see, the stitching isn't perfect, but that's sadly common on all cameras like this. Filesize is about 2.1MB.

Here's the same photo taken by the LG 360. It's 5660*2830 and 4.5MB.

Comparison

The PowerAdd has lower resolution, that's obvious. But when viewed on a phone screen, it doesn't make much difference. Stitching needs improving, but it isn't noticeably worse than the LG.

The app is annoying to use - more on that in a bit - you have to download the side-by-side file into the app, then find the photo in your gallery, then share it, which then converts it to an equirectangular photosphere. A little cumbersome.

Video

Video quality is adequate. As you can see here, it is a bit blurry and suffers under low light.

Sound is stereo. The LG has full 5.1 and spatial audio - which is more suitable for use on VR. But the PowerAdd captures voices perfectly well.

Just like the photos, the raw video is side-by-side. Filesize is about 1MB per minute when copied directly from the SD card. You can use the app to trim the video and export to to 360 format. Once stitched together by the software, the filesize doubles to about 2MB per minute.

Interestingly, the LG will only record for a maximum of 20 minutes, the PowerAdd will go for 80 minutes at a time.

Physical Size

The PowerAdd is significantly bigger and heavier. That doesn't bother me. If anything, it feels sturdier in the hand than the lightweight LG. The PowerAdd's can only take 128GB cards - but that's tempered by the fact that larger cards are rare and exorbitantly expensive.

The bigger battery is a real boost - although it is hard to measure it in the real world.

The LG comes with a plastic protective cover for the lenses - you get nothing with the PowerAdd. Worth investing in a soft or hard case to protect its eyes.

Connectivity

Both cameras have their ports at the bottom.

The LG has a stupid flap protecting the ports which means you can't charge it and have it connected with a tripod. The PowerAdd uses the older micro-USB connector, that is a shame. I'd have hoped in 2017 that all new electronics would use USB-C.

The PowerAdd will let you transfer files by USB. You can also take the SD card out and transfer them directly. No different to the LG in that respect.

The PowerAdd, like the LG, uses WiFi to connect to the app and transfer files. The speed on both is about the same in terms of raw throughput - but the PowerAdd's files are much smaller, so they transfer quicker.

Lights, Camera, Action!

The PowerAdd is festooned with blue LEDs. They are bright and dotted around the body.

This one lets you know that the power is on:

These let you know that the WiFi is on, and whether the unit is in photo of video mode:

The lights are a bit bright, but they're more noticeable than the LG's which hide them on the side.

One annoying thing is the buzzer on the PowerAdd. It is only capable of beeping. It's a piercing, shrieking, loud and unpleasant sound. It goes off when the unit is switch on, when the WiFi is turned on, when a photo is taken. It's just grim. There's no option in the app to turn it off.

Buttons

You get power, wifi, camera/video toggle, and a shutter thumb button.

I'd have preferred them to be physical switches rather than buttons. You have to hold them down for a little while to get the functionality to change.

The shutter button is curious. After pressing it there is a short delay, and then the wretched beeper lets you know that a photo has been captured.

The App

I found the LG's app to be confusing and unreliable. The PowerAdd's app is also disappointing. For some reason it starts upside down! There are also a few error messages which remain untranslated from Chinese. As with the LG, you have to manually connect to the camera's WiFi, only then can you use the app.

The basic interface is fine. You see what the camera sees, tap the screen to take a photo or fiddle with the settings.

For basic configuration, the app is adequate. You can adjust all sorts of settings.

You have to download the photos, then convert them to equirectangular format, then upload or share them. A little cumbersome.

A few other oddities. There's no ability to stream directly to YouTube or Facebook. It seems that the timezone is set to China time - there's no way to edit that. GPS isn't included in the unit - so you don't get geotagged photos.

OEM

The app does give us some clues as to the origin of the camera. I think it is made by URBETTER a Chinese OEM. Which, with a bit of sleuthing, takes us to a product called Halwel IDV720.

According to that, the image sensor is the OV4689 - they should be capable of recording video at 2688x1520 up to 120fps. I wonder if it is intentionally slowed due to the 550MHz processor, and the need to instantly write to an SD card?

The stitching software used to create the equirectangular image is provided by "MiTong Technology".

It should be possible to use the apps designed for other IDV720 cameras - but they all get terrible reviews.

USB

The app will allow you to switch from WiFi to USB connectivity. So, theoretically, you should be able to plug this into a regular PC and stream video and audio directly.

A quick lsusb gives us 18d1:0003 Google Inc. that's rather cheeky! It's masquerading as a basic Android device. It shows up as a simple SD card reader, so you can pull files from the DCIM folder.

I couldn't work out how to stream video from it though.

Firmware

Grrrr! This is very disappointing. The latest firmware can be downloaded over http, with no security, from a computer in Shenzen, running Windows 7 Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1!

The firmware is unencrypted and a quick binwalk shows that it is running Linux! Hurrah. But PowerAdd really need to secure their software update process and comply with the GPL.

There's no changelog included, so there's no way of knowing what the software has fixed.

Conclusion

Once again we see technology fall rapidly in price as Chinese OEMs race to replicate premium hardware.

For ninety-quid, this is a perfectly decent 360 camera. The resolution is lower than the competitors, but it makes up for it with a longer battery life.

The software is disappointing. It just about does the basics - simple configuration and photo management - but it lacks the finesse of the LG app. The constant beeping from the PowerAdd is also annoying.

Buy the PowerAdd 360 from Amazon UK for £89.99.

You can also view the unboxing on YouTube

This is a card-holder with space for 6 cards - wrapped up in a protective bundle, secured with strong magnets.

Let's get the price out of the way first, this wallet costs £80. That's not Gucci levels of extravagance, but it is more expensive than any wallet I've had so far. What makes it so pricey? It is build out of woven carbon fibre - that makes it lightweight and incredibly strong.

Gorgeous

The woven fibre design is sleek and subtle. It feels great in the hand, just the right amount of texture. The case catches the light and makes for a pleasant change from dull leather.

The edges are ridged - which helps it feel secure in your hand. This isn't as slippery as it looks.

As you can see in the video, the action of the mechanism is superb. It takes a little effort to open but snap when it does is perfect. Those strong magnets keep everything in place, with no worries that the cards will fall out.

Strong

I haven't tested the device to destruction, but there's no flex when pressure is applied to it. It won't crush, deform, bend, or break.

It appears to be fairly scratch resistant as well. It spent a day in my pocket with a couple of keys and some coins. This is what it looked like afterwards:

Unblemished!

Modular

It's about the same size as a pack of cards. But you can change that! The individual card holders are secured by some reasonably strong magnets.

The price for extra inserts is US$30 each - again, a bit pricey - but they're durable and double sided. Two cards fit in every one.

Personally, I've removed one of the inserts from mine so I can have an ultra-slim card holder.

Shielded

Tap-to-pay cards are a great convenience, but they're fairly easy for a fraudster to read them. The PITAKA is RFID shielded. With my test equipment I can usually read an Oyster Card through a leather wallet - once it was in this case it became invisible to my scans.

Disadvantages

It's not all good though. This is a card only wallet. There's no space for notes, coins, or pictures of your sweetheart. I'm (mostly) cashless now - but it may not be suitable for everyone. Extra layers are available which can hold paper money and coins - but they're a further expense.

The shell is extremely tough, that also makes it completely rigid. It won't deform to fit in your pockets. It is a hard surface and, if you fall on it, you'll feel it. It only weighs 80 grammes - so it isn't excessively noticeable.

The magic magnets which keep everything together will wipe your cards' magstrips. Thankfully most cards today use Chip & Pin - or are contactless - but you'll need to find somewhere else for your older cards.

Onto that shielding. The last RFID blocking wallet I purchased had a special pouch which wasn't shielded. Handy for Oyster Cards. With the PITAKA, it is all or nothing. Handy if you're paranoid.

Finally, you will need to take a bit of time to learn how to use this wallet. Opening one-handed is pretty easy to get used to - but you'll need to memorise where your cards are. On any other wallet, I open it then pick out the card I want. With this one, I have to remember which insert I want before I open it.

With all that said, it is a cracking bit of kit. It looks cool, feels brilliant, and is pretty damned secure. The cost is high, but you get a lot of high tech kit for the price.

Learn more

You can read more about the wallet on PITAKA's blog

• International readers can buy the wallet direct from PITAKA.
• UK readers can buy the wallet on Amazon UK
• PITAKA also have a range of ultra-tough phone cases available on Amazon.

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Slightly more detail of the tree what fell on me. pic.x.com/5fgi1zhyln

---

It wasn't quite as dramatic as some of the footage you see from Russian drivers - whose dashboard cameras picked up a meteor streaking through the sky - but I thought it was the kind of thing I would have liked to have had recorded. For insurance purposes, if nothing else. And, given the number of terrible drivers I encounter on my commute - I'd like to have some verifiable evidence if I'm ever involved in an incident.

So - time to buy a Dash Cam! As a geek, it's my duty to buy one that I can hack :-)

I found an Android based Dash Cam on Amazon for £80.

The first thing to note is that this is a cheap piece of Chinese tat. The online marketplace AliBaba lists dozens of similar products.

You could spend a lifetime picking out the one which exactly matched your needs - rear parking sensors, infra-red, continual surveillance, auto-upload, etc. I decided to forgo the hassle of importing one, and went through Amazon directly. If it did turn out to be rubbish, I could return it fairly easily.

One of the problems of buying these sorts of products, is that you're never entirely sure what you're going to get. Between mistranslated product descriptions and downright deceptive photographs, it's a bit of a gamble.

I was happily surprised when the product turned up as advertised - more or less!

Unboxing

The DashCam comes with velcro straps to connect it to your mirror, a rear camera, external GPS, car charger, and data cable. No printed manual, but it was there on a mini CD.

First Impressions

As soon as it booted - a swift 30 seconds - a mechanical voice bade me to "have a safe journey." What a pleasing touch! The battery was nearly full, and the language was set to UK English.

The screen isn't particularly bright. It's adequate on an overcast day, but not great in direct sunlight.

It's not possible to change the screen brightness - although the options make it look like it is. Like many cheap screens, it works best if looked at straight. The colours become very washed out if you're looking at it from above or below. Sideways is fine.

The screen was set to stay on indefinitely. That's OK if you're using the inbuilt navigation, but I decided to set the screen to sleep after 15 seconds of inactivity. That way, it won't distract me as I drive.

Really, the only fly in the ointment was that the timezone was set to China Standard Time

Video Recording

As soon as the Dash Cam receives power (usually when your car is started), it boots and auto-records.

The front camera records at 1920*1080 @ 30fps - files are around 62MB/minute.

The rear camera is 720*576 @ 50fps - files around 6MB/minute.

The quality is, again, adequate. The videos do look like they've been upsampled. Colour reproduction isn't perfect. You've get a clear view of the numberplate for anyone directly ahead of you and (depending on how you position the camera) behind you. I've yet to see how well they cope in the dark.

Video files can be set to save every minute, 3 minutes, or five minutes. There's a g-force sensor which should automatically save the files in the event of a crash. But I've yet to try that out ;-) Once the card is full, the software should automatically erase the old ones to make space for new recordings.

An important thing to note - this device needs a micro SD card. Even though there is free space on the device, it simply won't record unless given a card. It's recommended that you use a Class 10 card - to ensure that the memory can be written to fast enough - they're only about a tenner.

There are lots of camera options to play with.

Quite why you'd want your footage in sepia tones is beyond me! I tried to get the speed of travel added to the video, but that doesn't seem to have worked. I'd also quite like the location on there. And, for some reason, the rear video is horizontally flipped. Guess I'll have to fiddle with those options!

Snapshots

You can capture stills from the front and rear cameras.

The front is 1280*960 (although the aspect ratio is incorrect). Click for full size :

The rear is... odd... Because it's an analogue camera, the software samples it as a 2592*1936 image. Click for full size :

There's no EXIF data to speak of and, sadly, no geolocation included with the images.

Audio Options

Audio recording was surprisingly good. There are two microphones on the back of the mirror, they'll pick up what you're saying - but not much of what's going on outside the car.

What I thought was an FM radio is actually an FM transmitter. Pick a frequency, tune in your car's radio, and you can listen to what the device is playing over your car's speakers. Handy, because there's no Bluetooth and the small speakers on the back of the device aren't quite loud enough to overcome the noise of traffic.

GPS

Most Android devices have a built in GPS chip. This unit has an external antenna - ostensibly to give you a quicker location fix and greater accuracy. In reality, it was no quicker at picking up satellites than my phone.

The onboard navigation app is powered by iGO and is surprisingly accurate. More than that, it had offline maps for most of Europe! That means, even without a WiFi connection, you can plan a journey and be guided to your destination. Of course, you don't get live traffic updates like you do with Google Maps - but it's pretty useful! The map defaulted to a Russian location - but quickly located me in Oxford.

Fitting

It's fairly painless to fit. The velcro straps on the back will help it fit snuggly over your your existing mirror. The wires are very long, so you should be able to route them around your car like so :

You can view the images from the cameras while you're fitting them - which makes it easier to position them for the perfect viewing angle.

One strange item is the bare wires coming from the rear camera. They appear to be designed to help the device function as a rear parking camera. That is, when you shift into reverse, the camera should come on automatically.

I've no idea how they should be wired in - so I just ignored them.

Drawbacks

It's not a perfect device - there are a few flaws you should be aware of.

Hard To Export

Ok, so you've recorded an epic video - now what? Well, you have to take the micro SD card out and find a computer to put it in! There's no other way to transfer the files. No Bluetooth or wireless transfer tool is available.

The recording screen isn't particularly well designed.

No Automated Uploading

I'd have liked the device to auto-upload videos once it got in range of my home WiFi. There's no option for that - so I might have to write an app!

No Keyboard

Ok, this is a downright weird one. The phone has the standard Android web browser on it - but you can't use it because there's no keyboard installed!

I installed F-Droid on the device by copying the APK to the SD card. Then I installed AnySoft Keyboard.

I had to sideload the alternative app store because...

No Google Services

No maps, Gmail, Play Store, YouTube or any of the other Google services. You'll have to find alternative apps stores if you want to install apps or games.

That said... The device doesn't need any of those things. It functions perfectly well without them.

WiFi

The WiFi is 2.4GHz only. That's pretty standard for cheaper equipment. It didn't have brilliant range so, depending on how close your car is to your home or office, it may have trouble connecting.

Power

The device takes a USB Mini connection - rather than the more popular/modern micro connection. While that's annoying, it's not a show-stopper. The car charger is a hefty beast, with a very long cable - but it has no extra ports on it. That means you won't be able to charge your phone or other gadgets while using it.

Personally, I've bought a multi-USB-port car charger and a very long USB cable.

Verdict

An Android based Dash Cam for £80 is a pretty good deal. The camera quality isn't really HD - but it should be good enough to capture the details of an incident should you be unlucky enough.

The software quality isn't great - but it does the job. Really, after setting it up, it's unlikely you'll need to play with it much.

Finally, as a mirror, it works flawlessly!

Here Be Geekery

The device shipped with Developer Options enabled. However, adb couldn't detect it. lsusb showed it as ID 18d1:0003 Google Inc. Changing to a different USB port seemed to work.

The device name is "SoftwinerCvr" - (Car Video Recorder?) - there's almost no information about it on the web.

It's not a particularly fast device - you can download the 0xBenchmark results.

The processor is an ARMv7 Processor rev 2 (v7l):sun4i:0000. It reports as SoftwinerCvr:crane_cvr-eng 4.0.4 IMM76D 20141009 test-keys. The browser appears to be the standard 4.0.4 Android version.

The default launcher is DX_Launcher (no, I've never heard of it either) and I suspect it can be replaced. Pressing the Android icon on the main screen takes you to a fairly standard looking app drawer.

There isn't much in the way of interesting options. Once it has connected to WiFi you can tether other devices to it.

There is also a vestigial HDMI options setting - even though there's no HDMI out.

Video Codecs

Most any system should be able to play back the videos it records. Front :

  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: isomiso2mp41
  Duration: 00:01:00.78, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 8607 kb/s
    Stream #0.0(eng): Video: h264 (Baseline), yuv420p, 1920x1080, 8540 kb/s, 30.17 fps, 1k tbn
    Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: aac, 44100 Hz, mono, fltp, 64 kb/s

Rear :

  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: isomiso2mp41
  Duration: 00:00:59.86, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1751 kb/s
    Stream #0.0(eng): Video: h264 (Baseline), yuv420p, 720x576, 1673 kb/s, 50.20 fps, 1k tbn
    Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: aac, 44100 Hz, mono, fltp, 64 kb/s

Touch Screen

As advertised, the screen supports five touch points.

Leftovers

Like lots of cheap goods from Shenzen - the device has lots of odd bits which are obviously intended for a slightly different product. For example, on the bottom are three buttons which do nothing. They don't even feel like they're connected to anything.

As we can see from the back, there are a few more "mistakes". The "GPS" and "DADT" (underlined in red) are blocked off. The GPS plugs into the port marked 🎧. There's "RESED" and "RESET2" buttons - as well as two microphones, although the device only records in mono.

As mentioned, there are oddities in the firmware. For example, the browser's homepage is the Chinese search engine hao123.com.

The hackability seems fairly low. I can easily install apps, but I couldn't get it to reboot into recovery. There's not enough information on the device to work out if it's possible to upgrade the firmware beyond the three year old Ice Cream Sandwich. There's depressingly little information about "SoftWiner" out there.

The best I've managed to find is a Russian forum review of the unit.

The forum contains some disassembly photos - it points out that the GPS unit contains a battery which can be replaced - and it's possible to upgrade the battery in the main unit as well.

There are also links to some third part firmware - which I'm too chicken to try!

Manufacturer

It turns out that this is the HD-Q7 manufactured by Phisung. You'll need to speak pretty good Chinese in order to make the most of the site though!

If you have any questions or tips - stick them in the comments box.

Ever since then, I've loved taking things apart. Putting things back together...? Eh... not so much!

Recently I "acquired" the latest Swiss made smartwatch - MyKronoz ZeWatch.

It's a cute, simple, and cheap smart watch. At around £30 on Amazon, it's not exactly feature packed, but it has enough tech packed inside to make it interesting.

• Bluetooth connection to the phone - for taking phone calls on the wrist, and listening to music.
• Lost phone alert - if you wander off without your phone, your wrist will gently buzz.
• OLED display - showing time and caller alert. Reversible display for left- or right-handed use.

Nothing fancy - but smart enough if you want to upgrade an old Casio watch.

The only problem I had was that the phone just wouldn't charge. The box came with an EU USB plug, and a very strange USB cable.

Rather than a USB mini or micro slot, the phone has two recessed contacts on the back of the face. The plug is a sort-of giant clip into which you place the watch.

No matter what I tried, I couldn't get the clip to align properly with the watch - at least, it never seemed to charge.

Bizarrely, the clip completely obscures the fascia - so it's impossible to see if the device is charging.

Well, what to do when faced with a bit of kit which doesn't work? TO THE SCREWDRIVERS!

Four small cross-head screws on the back, and a little bit of leverage were all that were needed to pop off the plastic covering.

You can see the two charging terminals on the back. As for what's under it...

On the left is the speaker, the vibration motor is in the middle, with the large battery on the right. Top and bottom left are the answer and hang-up buttons.

The battery is unsecured and only held in place by the back plate. Let's lift it up!

The chip on the left is the obsolete SST39VF1601 containing 2MB of memory. The other chip appears to be an end-of-life BlueTooth component from CSR.

The board is held down by 4 more tiny screws. Removing them allows us to flip the board over and see the connector to the screen.

The identification "BP ML E186014 94V-0" indicates that the board was made by a Chinese OEM called Brain Power.

A flimsy ribbon connects to the 128 * 32 OLED screen.

With a bit of effort, it's possible to prise the entire guts out of the body.

The screen is on the right, just above it is the small mono condenser microphone.

Final Thoughts

This is at the cheap end of the "cheap and cheerful" spectrum. The screen isn't very bright, the charging solution is non-standard and finickety, and one of the key-selling points (seeing who is calling) only works with the iPhone.

There's no touch screen, text messaging, or fitness monitoring. But, hey, it's about 10% of the cost of the latest smartwatches. Of course, if you can't get it to charge....

It was great seeing so many weird and wonderful gadgets. I think it would have been a good idea to give everyone a 30 second slot to talk about what they'd brought to show off.

As for me, I took along an iPad competitor from 2004, my MP4 watch, and my now ubiquitous video glasses - from which I recorded the highlights from the event.

Many thanks to Nokia Ovi for sponsoring the food and drink.

File Sizes

The glasses, it turns out, record in 1.1GB chunks. If you really want to know the details, the videos are

1,231,771,216 bytes
1,233,678,696 bytes

Each file is 30 minutes and 1 second long. Annoyingly, there is a gap between the videos of roughly 10 seconds.

My calculations from earlier were incorrect - an 8GB card is enough to hold just shy of 4 hours of video.

Compressing

I'm hosting the video on archive.org. One of their services is to re-encode the video into a web-friendly format. What's quite stunning (to me) is the inefficiency of the MJPEG codec which the glasses use.

The change in quality is negligible - as you can see from the demo.

I wonder how much more expensive the glasses would be if they recorded in an efficient format like Ogg Video? Obviously, there would be battery life considerations - but being able to record 10 times as much video on a single memory card is a big gain.

Another demo

This is using flash, however, Archive.org also offer HTML5 video which I'll be moving to after #NaBloPoMo has finished.