As I added more Apple devices -- iPhone, watch and AirPods -- my bedside table began to look like a snarl of snakes. I had a charging cable for each device and a wall outlet that was overrun with charging bases. The KKM Wireless Charger put an end to all of that.
Now I have a wireless charger for my phone and watch and a cradle for my AirPods case with everything connected to one cable.
The phone sits upright where I can see alerts and text messages. The watch faces the bed and serves as a clock while the pod case sits securely in a cradle with a Lightning tip at its center. Everything is organized and accessible.
The cradle for the pod case is designed accommodate both the standard AirPod case and the wider case for the AirPods Pro model. One caution: Make sure that the phone is placed in a spot where a light just below it shows blue. If the light is red, the phone is off-center and not charging.
And, although the three-way stand will take up a fair amount of table real estate, the single cable connection could make it a good travel option.
Planning an evening out on the town typically starts with a lot of thumb work. You peck away on your mobile phone searching for restaurant websites and their menus. Then more searching for local concerts or sporting events.
How about a movie? What’s playing and what are the showtimes? After you’ve juggled a bunch of apps and you finally have a plan, it’s time message your friends to see who’s in and where everyone wants to meet.
That’s a lot of work that can make leisure seem downright exhausting. Isn’t there a better way?
A new app called hubub has a solution to all that juggling. Billed as a "Digital Concierge," the app helps users plan a night out by bringing all of those leisure-time listings together into one searchable app.
Once users install hubub and designate their home location, they are presented with lists of events, activities, and venues. Buttons for Concerts, Theaters and Sports display lists of upcoming events in each group. The app casts a fairly wide net, so events include those that might require a two-hour drive along with others that are in the user’s hometown.
Each list can be sorted by subcategories. The concert list can be narrowed to show jazz or classical music while sporting events can be filtered for football, baseball or even e-sports.
The app is also well-stocked with listings for restaurants and bars. Users can also drill deeper into that data to find specialty restaurant types (Coffee, Brunch, Dessert) or cuisine types (Barbecue, Pizza, Mexican). In most cases, a link offering to reserve a table or order a meal takes you to Yelp where you can find reviews and links to the restaurant's website.
My search for French food returned listings for a nail salon called French Tips and contractor named Jim French along with the Brasserie Provence, the best of the few French restaurants in my area. The list of vegan restaurants includes Taco Bell and Wendy’s.
Other hubub listings are grouped under Things to do Nearby. That collection includes museums, movie theaters, art exhibits, libraries, and parks. These listings are all conveniently focused on locations that are in or close to my ZIP code.
Want your friends to join you? The hubub app also makes that easy. Users can create groups by selecting names from their contacts app. Once you have found the concert or art show that you want to attend, click the Reserve button to add the item to your calendar, then hit the Invite Friends button to share your plan. Your hubub calendar keeps track of all the events in your (hopefully busy) social life.
I found hubub to be a welcome time-saver and a valuable source of information about events and activities in my area. The app will get a lofty position on my iPhone and I expect it to give my thumbs a well-needed rest.
The app is available as a free download for iOS devices in the Apple App Store. For a closer look, watch the video below, visit the hubub website and follow @hubub_me on Twitter.
As gas prices continue to move upward, electric vehicles are becoming a more attractive alternative to the gas-guzzlers we grew up with. And that includes battery-powered scooters, which are quickly getting more affordable and dependable.
A new e-scooter called the Komeet X9 is poised to begin arriving in November in the US, Europe, and elsewhere. The scooter is in full production in China and Komeet developers are accepting pre-orders at prices that start at less than $500 US or 400 Euros.
The scooter has several high-end features, including an LED dashboard, disc brakes, three gear modes, and an automatic locking mechanism. The Komeet X9 Pro model is powered by a 48-volt battery that gives the scooter a range of up to 62 miles or 100 km. It also has wider tires and a wide 7.2-inch deck.
The battery is nestled under the deck plate behind a sturdy door that offers easy access to the battery compartment.Owners don't have to park the scooter near an electrical outlet to recharge it. They just carry the battery into their home or office to plug it in or swap in a second battery.
The scooter has a maximum speed of 25 mph in the US or 25 km/h in the EU. The Pro model has a brushless motor with rear-wheel drive and a 4.7-inch clearance, which makes for a smooth ride on an inclined roadway, speed bumps, or an off-road surface.
UK-based X-Technology is accepting pre-orders as part of a fund-raising campaign on Indiegogo where the money will help ramp up production of the different Komeet models. Deliveries are expected to begin in November and orders include free delivery.
To get a closer look at the Komeet X9, check out the video below and visit the funding page on Indiegogo.
A key element in the success of any website is getting it recognized by Google and other search engines. That's why an entire industry has blossomed around the concept of SEO: Search Engine Optimization.
Most search services offer a submission process so the people behind new websites can announce their arrival to the online world.
But for any chance of success, websites need to submit more than just their home page. Google and the other lords of search recommend submitting a full roadmap pointing to every page on the site.
Building a full sitemap sounds like a lot of work, and it can be. I built several sitemaps by hand back in the early days of the World Wide Web and I would never want to do that again. Today, I wouldn't have to because there's an online service that will create one for free.
At XML Sitemap Generator, site managers can fill out a simple form and get a full sitemap in a few hours or even minutes, depending on the size of the site. The free service includes a sitemap of up to 200 pages in XML, HTML or RSS format. The formats are compatible with major search engines including Google, Bing, Baidu, Yandex and others.
For larger websites, customers can make a small donation or purchase a Windows download or a WordPress plugin.
I started reporting on gadgets and gear when Atari ruled electronic games and computers used floppy disks. My weekly column ran in the The Louisville Courier-Journal and online at USAToday.com and ABC News.com. I was a regular at tech trade shows including COMDEX, CES and the CEDIA show for home theater. Follow @GizmoEditor on Twitter and on Facebook. Contact me at ricman@iglou.comI also create short videos for vendors to use on Amazon and YouTube. Click here to see a portfolio of my recent videos.
Video by Gizmo
Need a video to promote your app or product? Check out my gig at Fiverr.com and browse my video portfolio here.
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