Our favorite smart phone gadgets [Gadgets 007]

Boing Boing 4:00 am Fri Jun 20, 2014

The editors of Boing Boing recommend technology they love and use. Xeni, Jason, and Mark check out a Bluetooth speaker, an earphone cord manager, a compact phone recharger, snap-on earpod clips, an app for insomniacs, and more.

Our picks this week:

Xeni:

Logitech Ultimate Ears BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Speaker: $200 (photo above) Powerful, crisp sound in a highly portable, water-resistant speaker. Perfect for the office, your hotel room, the beach.

sumajin Sumajin Smartwrap Earphone Cord Manager: $15/3-pack No more rats’ nests of earbud cables in your purse or man-bag.

Jason:

anker Anker Astro Mini 3000mAh Ultra-Compact Portable Charger: $20 Want a surprise? Battery life on my smartphone sucks. I'm always looking for small, simple external packs that last.

Mark:

sprng Sprng Clips $10: These clips snap on to your Apple Earpods to prevent them from falling out, by hooking under the antihelix (curved prominence of cartilage) of your ear.

We gave away a pair of Audeze LCD 2 Bamboo headphones to a lucky Gadgets listener: Adam of Lititz, PA! We plan to have lots more giveaways in the coming weeks. If you would like to pre-enter to be eligible for all our upcoming giveaways, simply subscribe to the podcast on iTunes then send an email to gadgets@boingboing.net to let us know that you did. We will pick the winner using the random number generator at random.org.

GET GADGETS: RSS |
On iTunes | Download episode

Review / Logitech MX Keys

Logitech’s MX Keys [Amazon] is what it finally took to lure me away from mechanical keyboards. It’s a slim yet solidly-constructed full-size model that's similar to and superior to Apple's… READ THE REST
Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

Microsoft is to shut shop on the high streets and malls of America, permanently closing its 116 retail stores. Only 10 were overseas; flagship stores in New York City, London,… READ THE REST
Traintrackr is a light-up circuit-board map of the London Underground or Boston Metro

Traintrackr is a powered circuit board showing a map of the London Underground, lighting up in real time to show train positions on 333 stations on all 12 main lines.… READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST