The good folks at SmartDisplayer Technology Co have sent me a six colour eInk badge to play about with. Here's a quick video and then a walk-through of its features. You can also view SmartDisplayer's official video. The Badge It is a single block of plastic. There are no seams, screws, or rough edges. The ePaper appear right on the surface of the badge, there's no recessing or anything…
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The gadget wizards at Benfei know that I'm a sucker for any sort of USB-C gadget. So when they offered to send me their micro-hub to review, how could I refuse? It is dinky! Here's what you get for your tenner USB-C PowerDelivery HDMI USB-A Frankly, I'm impressed that they managed to fit that much in! If you'll excuse my lacklustre photo-editing skills, here are the two output ports: …
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The good folks at Benfei know that I'm always losing my USB Thumb Drives. They're just too damn small. I crave something bigger and harder to lose. Not as huge as a CD Drive, but not as small as a MiniDisc. Something chunky and satisfying, with a slim elegance. So they've sent me their SATA to USB-C drive enclosure. It's a cute little box, with a built-in USB-C cable. The cable has one of…
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Sure, WiFi is basically fine. But sometimes you need the raw power, high speed, and utter reliability of Ethernet. Billions of packets hurtling down twisted copper pair in order to deliver your data - that's what it is all about, right? But - alas! - laptops don't have Ethernet ports these days. And mobile phones tend to shun them as well. Who can save us from the tyranny of multi-GigaHertz…
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The good folks at Benfei have sent me a laptop stand to review. You know the drill, a few pieces of metal, some hinges, and rubber feet. But this stand holds a little more interest for the gadget lover - a built in USB-C hub! What do you get for your £35? USB-C power input - capable of taking 100W of PowerDelivery. A built-in USB-C cable to connect to your laptop. HDMI port which supports 4k …
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The good folks at Windfall Energy have sent me one of their interesting new plugs to beta test. OK, an Internet connected smart plug. What's so interesting about that? Our Windfall Plug turns on at the optimal times in the middle of the night to charge and power your devices with green energy. Ah! Now that is interesting. The proposition is brilliantly simple: Connect the smart-plug to…
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Summer is coming. The best time to buy air-con is before it gets blazing hot. So, off to the Mighty Internet to see if I can find a unit which I can attach to my burgeoning smarthome setup. 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), …
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I was lucky enough to score playtest tickets for the new season of Phantom Peak - the open world, interactive and immersive puzzle experience in London. I'd never been before and generally have a mixed reaction to these sorts of immersive shows. I loved Doctor Who - Time Fracture but found 1984 to be underwhelming. Phantom Peak takes you inside an Old West mining town in a weird steam-punk…
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I was packing for FOSDEM when I suddenly realised that I'd lost my clicker. Disaster! Here's a shortlist of what I need in a presentation remote: Ring style to fit on my finger USB-C Works on Linux Frickin' lazor beams! The only one I could find which matched all that was this Voviggol unit. Ring Here's how it looks hooked to my hand: The ring is stretchy and will fit around the…
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Android is belatedly getting a Bluetooth tracker feature which doesn't rely on proprietary apps. Long-time readers will know that back in 2016 I reviewed both the Chipolo and the TinTag. Both of those were adequate at finding things which were in range of your phone, but hopeless at finding lost items - because they required everyone to have a special app installed. But now, under pressure from …
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"Mirror Mirror on the wall. What's the hottest gadget of them all?" Do you need a mirror which is connected to the Internet? Yes. Obviously. What's the point of having anything which doesn't have an IP address‽ The good folks at Infrared Group don't want me shivering while I blog, so they've sent me their latest Far Infrared heating panel which, obviously, is also a smart mirror. 350W of heat, e…
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I've got a bunch of travel coming up to exotic locations. Previously, I've bought a local SIM card when I've landed - but they're often expensive, fiddly to fit, and queuing in an airport isn't much fun. I've also bought pre-paid SIMs which have a fixed amount of data or only last a specific amount of time. But the big problem with those solutions is that you lose a fair bit of value unless you …
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