Electronics for Everyone
Peter Flynn
I admit it, I'm a gadget guy. Give me a new gizmo, something fun to play with that expands the abilities of my other devices, or allows for even more sophisticated electronic interactions, and I can be distracted for hours at a time.
Here are some new and fun toys for you or someone who feels the way I do:
If you haven't had a chance to experience Amazon's Echo, it's a pretty transformative device. Activated mainly by voice commands, it easily becomes the hub of your non-TV household. I enjoy getting the news, having audiobooks be played, or having the ability to get basic facts and wikipedia info without having to be at a computer, turn on my phone, or even quit whatever task I'm doing; all I have to do is ask the Echo to do it for me:
The hands free accessibility of the Echo is amazing, but if your gift budget isn't at that level, connecting your phone to a bluetooth speaker with allow you to do many of the things I mentioned. Check this one out from the Simple Bounty shop:
This modern looking speaker is a fun way to bring your audio to life without having to clutter the room up. While it has the ability to connect wirelessly thru Bluetooth to your digital devices, it can also play audio via a line in port or from a SD card port.
It also features a FM radio, clock & alarm, and charges via mini-usb cord(not included, but it is the same type that powers Android phones & many other devices).
Before we leave the idea of audio devices, I also wanted to show the Bluetooth headphones @ the Simple Bounty shop: with a athletic inspired design they are great for a workout, or just a hands free way to listen to what you want to listen to on your phone/tablet/computer.
Finally, instead of audio, let's look at a device that displays info from your phone in a different way. Just as the Echo changes how we interact with the internet & Amazon in our home, wearables like the Pebble smartwatch are changing how we view & control our smartphones. Coming in both color & greyscale versions, the Pebble can feature multiple watchfaces, let's you see your emails and texts without opening your phone, and with different apps can keep you up to date on sports scores, the weather, and even control your music and Pandora apps: