Summer 2021 Product Reviews

Flexispot Adjustable Standing Desk Pro Series

Standing desks are all the rage now and I have tested out several over the years but this is the first whole desk solution rather than one that sits on top of an existing fixed-height desk. This accessory style standing desk is always a compromise and really affects the amount of desk surface you have and when lowered still means you have a higher than standard desk surface, after extensive experience I am not a fan of this so was keen to test the Flexispot.

The Flexispot Adjustable Standing Desk Pro Series is all around a better idea and means that when it is in the lowered position it’s a regular desk plus you have the neat and tidy option to raise it up when you feel like stretching your legs. Everything on the desk remains the same and your workflow is not interrupted.

Enhanced structure and the dual-motor advanced lifting system boost the loading capacity and ensures the maximum stability even at the highest setting. Powerful dual motors enable a maximum lifting speed of 1.4”/s even under the full weight capacity of 275 lbs (EC4). All this is easily achieved with just the touch of a button.

I tried out the 24″ x 48″ desk with Pro 3-Stage frame and if you are like me like a large surface and run multiple monitors plus several laptops at the same time you know your cabling is pretty complex but the Flexispot’s simple height adjustment system means all that cabling stays in place.

There is no need to rearrange your setup each time to adjust the height and best of all you can rely on the desk to handle the weight of all this equipment. Flexispot claims the inbuilt motors can handle up to 220lbs (Pro 2-Stage model) and 275lbs (Pro 3-Stage model) which is a lot!

Steady, Quiet, Quick. Made with powder-coated steel tubing, our desk frame resists scratches and stains. The dual-motor lifting system and the enhanced structure could provide maximum stability even at the highest setting. With the energy-efficient LED display, our advanced keypad has 3 memory height presets and a programmable sit/stand reminder system. You can change positions with ease and get friendly alerts when it’s time to stand.

This Pro Series desk is built like a tank and inspires confidence that it can handle the heaviest of workloads. Even the thick laminate surface weighs a tonne but putting it together was a cinch. Be warned, it absolutely takes two people to move the fully assembled desk around as it is so heavy. However, the motors handled the load perfectly, and once the desk was where I wanted it and loaded up with my equipment It was a cinch to raise and lower it at will.

Stylish Desktop Options. All-natural Bamboo surface, twice the durability and elasticity of ordinary wood. The carbonized technology that coats the tabletop with a water-resistant 2H lacquer, making it moisture-proof, insect-resistant, and scratch-proof.

The control pad mounts just under the front of the desktop and to one side where it’s easy to access but out of the way. As well as the expected up and down controls you get three height memory options and a sit-stand reminder function to literally help get you off your ass regularly through the workday. There is a huge variety of surface options inc. solid wood, bamboo or high-quality laminated 1 inch MDF or Chipboard, all of which look super sturdy and professional quality.

Bamboo

All-natural surface, twice the durability and elasticity of ordinary wood. The carbonized technology that coats the tabletop with a water-resistant 2H lacquer, making it moisture-proof, insect-resistant, and scratch-proof.

Solid Wood

Free of harmful chemicals and harder than wood, this solid surface is built to last. Designed for maximum durability, the eco-friendly desktop will last for years and help you adopt a greener mindset. It’s one of the most affordable choices for solid wood.

Laminated

Available in up to 10 different color options including black, white, maple, mahogany, custom graphite, marble grey, special walnut, ebony, oak and brown wood grain — making it easy to find the precise fit for your space!

Details and dimensions

• Rectangle tops are available in every size
• Contoured tops are not available in some sizes
• Laminate top thickness: 1″
• Natural bamboo desktop thickness: 0.7”
• Bamboo curved desktop includes two grommets for better cable management

Materials

• Chipboard – A sturdy material that holds up well under pressure, creates stable desks without weak spots.
• MDF(Medium Density Fiberboard) – Does not have knots or kinks that can disrupt the smooth surface.
• Bamboo Desktop -Truly environment-friendly bamboo desktop sourced from sustainable Forests. No pesticides or fertilizers are used

Flexispot offers a lot of desk options and a variety of desk designs to suit your needs but after reviewing the Adjustable Standing Desk Pro Series I can say that the quality is really excellent. The mechanisms are strong and versatile and the high-quality surface was easily as good as anything I have used in a professional office but the prices are incredibly reasonable. Check out the full Flexispot range here but the desk I reviewed costs $439.99 here. Thumbs up from TechTrends!

Moment Pebble

A new tool for modern mindfulness has been launched, combining the power of mindfulness and breathwork with the calming help of a tactile, illuminated, marble pebble. In a world vying for our attention, we have never been more educated, stimulated, connected… and exhausted! Globally over 1 billion of us feel the mental and physical impact of burnout and stress each year.  That’s why it’s never been more important to stop and take a moment for ourselves. Combined with the Moment Method course, the Pebble makes the benefits of mindfulness, meditation, and breathwork simple, quick, and effective.

The Moment Pebble is a palm-sized, wirelessly charged, natural stone device that enables you to take 30 second moments of mindfulness – anytime, anywhere. With a gentle light that beats from within, it guides you through short mindful exercises that help you de-stress and re-energize. The idea for the Moment Pebble came from the lived experiences of the three co-founders Fiona, Alex and Charlie.

It was our experiences of extreme stress and the resulting mental and physical symptoms that brought us together and set us on our mission to develop a product that would help people STOP, and take a Moment, reducing stress in their lives. Our mission is to empower people to recognize that they have the power to shift their mindset to a more positive outlook in as little as 30 seconds, or a Moment. Although well-being apps are very popular today, they are embedded in our key source of stress, our phones. Our design brief was simple – create something that felt grounded in nature, made of natural materials, guided, unconnected, and a little bit magical.

As opposed to fully digital services such as Headspace and Calm, Moments are anchored in the physical world, away from connected devices that are often the source of our stress. We’ve all been spending far too much time in front of screens, especially when working from home during the pandemic and dealing with the challenges of home-schooling. Moment Pebble acts as a physical reminder to be mindful throughout the day; it’s a tool to bring calm to a busy life, something to reach for instead of your phone, for a self-imposed screen break.

The Pebble’s light sequence follows Cardiac Coherence Breathing, a proven breathing pattern that brings the nervous system into balance by stimulating the vagus nerve. The sequence is simple, breathe in for 5 seconds and out for 5 seconds, on a 4 breath cycle. This in turn activates the parasympathetic nervous system, resetting many of the negative impacts of stress. This includes calming heart rate, reducing blood pressure, boosting digestive health, and improving sleep quality.

Co-Founder of Moment Pebble Charlie Cadbury said: “I came up with the idea for Moment Pebble whilst listening to a Headspace session on focus. I immediately teamed up with an old friend Alex Strang and put plans into action to making it a reality. My personal experience of mindfulness, an MBSR course and talking to others led me to understand how easy it was to fall out of a regular practice. I also wanted to create something that was not linked to technology, believing the mobile phone is the problem not the solution to finding some space for yourself.”

The Pebble is supported by a mindful community and mental health experts. Dr. Gini Harrison, senior lecturer in Psychology at The Open University, specialising in harnessing technology to promote mental well-being and health said: “It’s a tangible thing in the real world, that isn’t connected to technology – which can so often be a driver for our stress and anxieties. Taking short moments can increase your capacity for mindfulness. By regularly practising these micro-moments you will become more aware and calmer.”

The Pebble’s design and function is deliberately soothing, easy to use and intuitive as CEO Fiona McKinnon explains “mindfulness and breathing are wellbeing techniques that are centuries old, we all know how to do them, we have just forgotten as our lives get busier.  The fact that Moments are quick and easy to do means that anyone from young children, those with learning difficulties, through to the elderly are all able to feel the benefits of holding the Pebble.”

The Moment Pebble & charging stone are made with natural stone. Every Pebble is individually marbled and hand polished to give a smooth tactile finish. The Pebble comes with short guided meditations and ideas to enhance the practise, such as smiling when you breathe, adding movement and music into your Moments and also NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) mediation to anchor positive feelings into the Pebble. The Pebble is portable and has an average of 3 weeks before needing to be recharged. The Pebble contains a small inner pebble casing that houses the electronic components.  Packaging and the booklet are made from recyclable card and paper. It comes with a USB-C charging cable.

We found the time away from a screen and the calming feel of the Pebble definitely helped us break our stress cycles. With something natural to help guide your thoughts, something that won’t ping or vibrate or suddenly ring as a focus for that ‘Moment’ it was easier to let go and stop cascading thoughts of work and time pressure. There is definitely something to this and we can see a benefit to those who are willing to use it regularly and who understand the need to interrupt damaging and stress-inducing behaviors and take control of our hectic modern lives. We can’t control the world we live in but we can control how we interact with it. Moment Pebble is a really interesting product and is available wholesale and direct to consumers for $81 from www.momentcompany.co

Yeedi Vac Station

The new Yeedi Vac Station claims to be an app-enabled, 3-in-1, home cleaning hero that vacuums, mops, and self-empties its dustbin for up to 30 days. “It tackles more, so you can worry less.” That’s a big claim and I happen to have a filthy floor so time to charge it up, hook it up to the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (5GHz not supported) and test these claims!

30-Day Hands-Free Cleaning. Forget about vacuuming and bid adieu to frequent smelly dustbin cleanings thanks to the self-empty station which automatically disposes dirt in yeedi’s dustbin and holds up to 30 days of dust. No more sneezing or itching noses, perfect for family with pets and kids. Vacuum and Mop at the Same Time Yeedi vac station is versatile. It performs robust vacuuming and serious mopping at the same time with its industry-leading suction power and smart mopping system – leave your floor impeccably clean with a single run.

I have seen many similar-looking robot vacuums come to market and even tested out a few but always found the same flaw, they don’t deal well with, or sometimes fail totally on, mixed floor coverings and changes in floor covering from room to room. It has been a constant annoyance and in my opinion, virtually invalidates your purchase if your robot cannot move between hard flooring and carpets of different thicknesses. That is simply the way we live and robots are supposed to serve us, right?

I am stoked to say that the Yeedi Vac Station has no issues with this! I put it through my standard test on a slick hardwood floor with multiple rugs that vary from thin and smooth to 1-inch thick shag pile and was very happy to see that the Yeedi coped well with everything I threw at it. With the carpet detecting, ‘Auto Boost’ function on it actually did a great job cleaning the shag pile which, by its nature, hides the dust and dirt deep within its weave. I’d expect it to effectively clean hard floors but this flexibility was a wonderful surprise.

Featuring 3000Pa strong suction power plus the 4-stage cleaning system sweep up dirt, crumbles, pet hair and other ground-in messes from hard floor and carpet like a hurricane. Including Auto-Recharge & Resume yeedi vac station runs up to 200 minutes on a single charge making it a reliable helper for big house cleaning. It returns to the charging dock for recharge when low on battery and resumes cleaning where it left off for a seamless and complete cleaning cycle.

The unit clearly packs some suction power but was not too noisy although, if you have it set to auto-clean you will also want to set the do not disturb times. I haven’t yet had to empty the base station bag but listening to the self-empty system at work it sure sounds like it picked up a lot of sizable dirt particles. The three dogs that allow us to live with them certainly bring in a lot of grass and dirt particles plus large wood chips but after running the Vac Station a couple of times 95% of this visible dirt was gone.

Because of our mixed floor coverings, I won’t be using or testing the mop function but from previous experience, this type of robot-mounted mop performs well in a touch-up & maintenance role, when used frequently, but is never going to be the tool you need for a spill. For that get out the old-fashioned mop and bucket!

It’s time to upgrade the random and gyro robot vacuums who bump around, miss spots and take forever to clean. Yeedi’s visual mapping technology works seamlessly with a floor tracking sensor to trace your space like a GPS for efficient whole-floor cleaning in a split second, day and night. Yeedi identifies your rooms and creates editable home map accordingly. Tap the map to choose a room to clean, and mark the targeted area you want yeedi to clean or steer away from by drawing up zones on the map as if you were painting on a graphics tablet.

The connected app worked very well indeed and let me control the unit without issue. The only weakness I found with this model was the app mapping. The robot performed fine and covered the floor area 100% but the app’s mapping function fed back a constantly shifting map of our home that was not very accurate. I’m sure this will improve with app and firmware updates so is not a deal-breaker for me, I’m happy that the floor is thoroughly and quickly cleaned. If you want to control how and when your robot cleans separate rooms this might be more of an issue but for me it was more than enough.

To conclude, simply for its ability to traverse and effectively clean different kinds of floor covering, I can safely say this is the best Robo-vacuum I have used. Apart from that, every other function works well and without any serious problems plus the price is very reasonable. For more info visit the Yeedi website here where they sometimes post discount codes along with links to their Amazon store where a Yeedi Vac Station will currently set you back $499.99.

Felaqua Connect Water Bowl from Sure Petcare

Sure Petcare products are back on the Tech Trends reviews list and today we are faced with the elaborate and very very niche Felaqua Connect cat water bowl.

Felaqua Connect links to your Sure Petcare App via the Sure Petcare Hub. Simply plug the Sure Petcare Hub into your home router and connect up to 10 Sure Petcare connected products, such as the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder Connect or SureFlap Microchip Cat Door Connect.

Now there is a clear market for this in the older and tech-savvy pet owners who dote over cats with very specific diet control challenges, are often away from home for days at a time and have the cash to invest in an expensive system like this at $173 inc. Hub.

Felaqua Connect is the bowl that your cat would choose to drink from. Its wide, shallow bowl presents water in a way that is more visible and appealing to your cat. The bowl automatically refills from the reservoir as your cat drinks. No recirculating water, no filters to change, just clean, fresh water. Plus, receive notifications when the water needs changing.

The one problem here is that in my experience this kind of older pet obsessed person can often be found shouting and stabbing frustrated fingers at the wrong side of an iPad or failing miserably to send an email from a smartphone rather than mastering a networked, programmable, automated pet water bowl after absorbing the booklet of instructions the Felaqua Connect and Hub come with. Anyway…

Designed with leading veterinary behaviorists, Felaqua Connect is the smart water bowl that encourages your cat to drink. Felaqua Connect provides insights into drinking behavior by connecting with your cat’s microchip, highlighting changes which may otherwise be missed.

Basically, the Pet Hub wirelessly connects to the Felaqua and is itself hardwired to your router and connects with the app on your phone allowing you to monitor the drinking activity of your cat while controlling functions of the Felaqua Connect. The Hub comes in the cute shape of a cat’s head with ears that light up to indicate network activity.

Download the app, pair the Hub and Felaqua Connect then follow the onscreen guide. If you already have a Sure Petcare connected product, simply add it to your Household. The Felaqua Connect links to the Sure Petcare app via the Hub, which is connected to your home router. Each Hub can connect up to ten devices, including our connected doors.

Felaqua Connect has open access and can be used by any pet. The integrated microchip reader recognizes individual pets to monitor their water intake. You get extensive info on your cat’s drinking times and a multitude of settings keep you in control and up-to-date on water freshness and refill notifications

The bowl automatically refills from the reservoir as your cat drinks. No recirculating water, no filters to change, just clean, fresh water. Plus, receive notifications when the water needs changing.

Receive notifications and view the frequency, duration and times that your pet drinks within the app. Learn your pet’s normal pattern of drinking behaviour to notice changes which could be an indication of illness.

If you need this device it looks to me that it does an exhaustively good job but the complexity of operation might turn some off or prove frustrating and there is no question that this is a solution to a specific problem.

You can get your hands on the Sure Petcare Felaqua Connect for $100 and the Hub for $73 here.

Apricorn Aegis Padlock SSD – 2021

Three years on from my first review of this excellent and ultra-secure portable SSD drive, Apricorn has tweaked and updated it for 2021. These updates primarily focus on speeding the drive up and lowering the price. I’m happy to report that both of these objectives have been achieved! Take a look at the side-by-side speed test results below with the 2018 drive on the left and the new 2021 version on the right. The speeds are pretty much double across read and write performance.

Padlock SSD 2018

Padlock SSD 2021

Storage capacity has also doubled with the new model available in sizes from 240GB to 4TB but it’s the price relative to this jump that astounds me most with the 2021 version costing less per unit for double the capacity + double the speed of the 2018 version. RRP this year: 240GB – 4TB – $209.00 – $1,199.00 US these incredible prices also inc. a 3-year warranty.

Visually they are virtually identical except the new version is black rather than grey and the enclosed USB extension cable is very useful for those reaching down behind PC or Sever towers or struggling with limited laptop ports. The included security features are outstanding, see below for more detail.

Software-Free, 100% hardware-based 256-bit AES XTS encrypted, onboard keypad PIN authenticated, and ultra-fast USB 3.1 (3.0) data transfer speeds. All Data is encrypted on the fly and the PINs and Data remain encrypted while the drive is at rest. Completely cross-platform compatible and OS agnostic; the Padlock SSD thrives with Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, and Chrome. It also thrives where software-authenticated encrypted devices can’t even function, such as embedded systems, machines without a keyboard, and equipment in possession of a powered USB port and storage file system. All internal componentry is protected from physical tampering with a layer of hardened epoxy, and its firmware is locked down to prevent any modifications making it impervious to malware attacks such as BadUSB.

Aegis Padlock Solid State Drive:

Where super-tough meets ultra secure you’ll find Apricorn’s Aegis Padlock SSD. Boasting a crush-resistant, aluminum enclosure that is water-resistant and impervious to dust and grit, this secure solid-state USB 3.0 drive is as tough as they come. With no moving parts, this drive is drop and vibration resistant, unaffected by high humidity and works in extremes of temperature.

Military-Grade 100% Hardware Encryption: Featuring AES-XTS 256-bit hardware encryption, the Aegis Padlock SSD seamlessly encrypts all data on the drive in real-time, keeping your data safe even if the hard drive is removed from its enclosure.

Software-Free Design: The Aegis Padlock SSD is ready to use right out of the box, no software, no drivers, no updates. It can even be utilized where no keyboard is present. Completely cross-platform compatible, the Fortress excels virtually anywhere, PCs, MACs, Linux, or any OS with a powered USB port and a storage file system.

Configurable: Create custom profiles and mass configure multiple Configurator-compatible Aegis devices at once with Apricorn’s new Configurator / Powered Hub bundle.

Embedded Keypad: All PIN entries and controls are performed on the keypad of the Aegis Padlock SSD. No critical security parameters are ever shared with the host computer.

FIPS 140-2 Level 2 Validated: The Aegis Padlock SSD’s FIPS 140-2 validation is the cryptography standard required by the US federal government for the protection of sensitive data. It covers 11 areas of its cryptographic security system, including physical security, cryptographic key management and design integrity. Tested and validated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for use by the Federal governments of the USA, Canada and others, the Aegis Padlock SSD Drive is based on Apricorn’s FIPS 140-2 Level 2 validated encryption module as indicated by certificate #2835. The Padlock’s security policy is located on the NIST site at http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/ ocuments/140-1/140sp/140sp2835.pdf. The epoxy-coated boundary includes all encryption functions and all Critical Security Parameters (CSPs) such as PIN storage, encryption key generation and storage, random number and seed generators, and all firmware storage. The FIPS module is a complete encryption system, and all CSPs never leave the boundary and are never shared with a host system. By design, the HDD/SSD that stores the encrypted data is excluded from this boundary to both maximize affordability and product line flexibility in capacity and form factor offerings.

Lock-Override Mode: Designated for specific cases in which the drive needs to remain unlocked, e.g., during reboot, passing the drive through a virtual machine, or other similar situations that would normally prompt the Padlock SSD to automatically lock. When enabled, Lock-Override Mode allows the drive to remain unlocked through USB port re-enumeration and will not re-lock until USB power is interrupted.

Two Read-Only Modes: Perfect for accessing data on the drive in a public setting to protect against USB viruses. Particularly important in forensics, Read-Only Mode is ideal for applications that require data to be preserved in its original, unaltered state and can’t be overwritten or modified. The Padlock SSD has two read-only modes. One is set by the admin within the admin mode and can’t be modified or disabled by anyone other than the admin. The second read-only mode can be set and disabled by anyone with a recognized PIN.

Auto-Lock feature and Self Destruct PIN: With the Aegis Padlock SSD you can set the unattended drive to lock after a pre-determined amount of time. In addition you can pre-program your own unique Self Destruct PIN which, once implemented, instantly destroys all PINs, data and creates a new encryption key.

Brute Force Protection: The Aegis Padlock uses a three-pronged approach to protect against a Brute Force attack. The first step is to deny access to the drive until the drive can verify the user PIN. After several incorrect attempts, the drive will lock itself, requiring the drive to be plugged in again to input a PIN. This feature blocks automated attempts to enter PIN numbers. Lastly, after a predetermined number of failed PIN entries, the Padlock assumes it is being attacked and will destroy the encryption key and lock itself, rendering the data useless and requiring a total reset to redeploy the Padlock.

Wear Resistant Key Pad – Water & Dust Resistant: Designed with protection in mind, the Aegis Padlock’s ‘wear resistant’ keypad and case is impervious to dust, grit and water, and hides key usage to avoid tipping off a potential hacker to the commonly used keys.

Integrated USB 3.0 Cable: Never forget your cables again. Connect the drive at the flick of a fingertip.

Take a look at my 2018 review here for a bit more info on usage but once again Tech Trends can’t recommend Apricorn’s products highly enough. When prices have dropped but capacity and speed have doubled and the excellent security and versatility remain the same we can truly say there has never been a better time to pick up one of these Padlock SSDs and keep your personal and business data safe.

Check them out here Padlock SSD (2021) 240GB – 4TB – $209.00 – $1,199.00.

Lurera Anti-Anxiety Pillow

There is a lovely tech story behind this unassuming fluffy pillow. There is no denying that the Lurera anti-anxiety pillow is very tactile, and it is made to mimic the feel of stroking a pet or a (hairy?) human being.

It is a well-documented scientific fact that tactile touch (such as petting your lovely dog) can lead to significantly lower levels of anxiety, and I can certainly attest to the fact that often the only thing to get me through a stressful day is turning to our 3 Staffies for de-stressing pats. For them it’s a win-win and they certainly love these pandemic times that force us to spend lots of time at home and pretty much eliminated long-haul travel from our lives.

But back to the pillow. It’s not only the texture, but the Lurera also offers a heating pad and an actual heartbeat. Yes, a small device, tucked inside the pillow, when turned on, mimics the vibration and sound of a beating heart.

“The pillow consists of three parts all working together to help you feel that tactile touch. The cover is extremely soft, so you can pet it. On the back of the pillow there are two pouches: one for the heating pad to feel the warmth and one for the heartbeat device to imitate a living being. Using all 3 touches at once gives you the sensation of touching a pet or another human.”

The name was actually inspired by the inventor’s support dog, who she got as a puppy to support their son through his mental health challenges. They named the puppy Lurera, after an Irish lullaby his parents used to sing to their son as a baby.

“I saw a report about two nurses in Brazil who wanted to help their COVID-19 patients who were forced into isolation to feel more comfortable. To mimic the human touch, they filled latex gloves with warm water and put them into the hands of the patients. The patients were comforted “as if someone were holding hands with them.” They called the method “little hands of love.”

The inventor wanted to come up with something that harnessed those benefits to help people that couldn’t get a therapy pet or were in isolation due to the pandemic.

“There are a lot of amazing ways one can improve their anxiety like eating right, exercising regularly and mindfulness practices. With the pandemic outside the door, endless zoom calls, work stress, those routines can be challenging to maintain. Especially if you are trying to convince your teenager to do it. I wanted my device to be a very low effort, something you could use while watching TV.”

You can pick one up from $59.95 here.

Gree Air Purifier for the Home

The new GREE Air Purifier is a sleek tabletop unit for the home that provides fresh, hypoallergenic air filtered through its 360-degree intake. A big plus for me is its ultra-low noise profile along with three fan speeds and a 1/2/4/8-hour timer meaning I could happily leave it on through the night or on the timer when out of the house. The unit is equipped with an infrared sensor that reads air quality in real-time and give you feedback with different light colors.

Smart Reminder – When the filter needs to be replaced, the indicator light will light up. This ensures that you always use the air purifier in a clean and hygienic condition

The air purifier includes a true H13 HEPA filter that claims to capture 99.97% of fine particles smaller than 0.03 microns such as dust, pet dander, smoke, pollen. Living in the country, hayfever is an annual misery so the high-quality filter should help alleviate my allergies while in the house or at least the room the purifier is in. I can’t vouch for that specifically but after a few hours of use, the room definitely smelled fresher.

The Gree Air Purifier has three wind speeds, which can run with ultra-low noise levels (as low as 36 dB(A)) in a sleeping environment. The light can be turned off, so you can safely put it on the bedside table without affecting the quality of sleep. It also has a 1/2/4/8-hour timer function, which can be set according to needs.

We all need less dust, smoke, pet hair, and stink in our lives and the GREE Air Purifier definitely cleaned up the air in my office. It is attractive, quiet, and super easy to use. When the filter needs to be replaced, the indicator light will light up. The knob design makes it easy to replace the filter, and there will be no dust flying around like when you empty a vacuum. Normally, the filter needs to be replaced every 6 months. If you need more fresh air in your life you can pick one of these GREE air purifiers up here for $99.99.

NewerTech USB-C to HDMI Adapters

Connect your computer, iPad, smartphone, dock, or hub to an HDMI display, TV, or projector with this quality adapter

NewerTech, a leading provider of performance upgrades and accessories for Macs,  PCs, iPhones, iPads, and other mobile devices since 1984, just announced the availability of the NewerTech USB-C to HDMI and USB-C to  DisplayPort Adapters. Stream sports, watch videos, play games,  or browse the internet on up to a 4K HDMI or display, TV, or projector with the NewerTech USB-C to HDMI and USB-C to DisplayPort Adapters.

Both are backwards compatible with earlier versions of HDMI and DisplayPort so you can connect your USB-C-equipped computer or device to almost any Display Port and HDMI-equipped display.

NewerTech USB-C to HDMI Adapter Highlights

• See it all: stream sports, watch videos, play games, browse the internet,  or create digital signage walls on an HDMI display, TV, or projector
  
• Supports up to 4K maximum resolution
• Supports HDR for sharper images, brighter colors, and greater contrast
• Supports HDCP 2.2 content protection
• 3 Year NewerTech Limited Warranty

This is a simple but high-spec adaptor and gets the thumbs up from us and you can pick one up here for $22.99.

TEGO Adventure Kit – Personal Toolkit/Organiser

Whether you’re a frequent traveler, a beauty guru, an outdoor enthusiast, a cycling professional or a tech nerd, everyone deserves an adventure with little to no hassle. Launching on Kickstarter on Tuesday, August 10th. Tego is a customizable, waterproof, roll-and-go personal organizer that makes any adventure easy, organized, and clean.

Tego is a fully customizable, waterproof personal organizer made from recycled materials, for avid adventurers and anyone on the go. Adventure is a state of mind and Tego is your toolkit. This is the world’s most adaptable carry solution for all of life’s on-the-go essentials.

What you carry is as unique as your fingerprint – so we created pockets for everything. Tego comes with seven sections to start, but we won’t stop there! Let us know what types of sections YOU’D like to bring on your adventures. Tego is the world’s most customizable, waterproof roll-up-and-go personal organizer for frequent travelers, avid adventurers, and the curiously organized. Tego is made from post-consumer recycled materials; so while you’re out enjoying nature, you’re making sure others can too! Tego has you covered from A-Z and all the places you could want to see.

With 7 different modular sections to create more than 100 different combinations, your creative organization skills will know no bounds. You create the perfect configuration for all your carry needs, keeping essentials separated, tangle-free and easy to access. Tego will always be obsessed about what you pack, so you don’t have to be.

Features

• Customizable – Tego personalizes the packing experience, and is fully customizable with as few or as many sections as you need—mix-and-match from 7 different section types.
• Modular & Adjustable – Tego is completely modular and reconfigurable on the fly, so you can adapt your packing for short vs. long trips for greater simplicity and space efficiency and reduced clutter. Tego makes sure your travel items are safe and secure, no matter where you go.
• Clean, Neat, & Organized – Tego’s compartments separate your items and are designed with convenience, function, and efficiency in mind, and can be hung or lay flat so you have full visibility of your gear.
• Versatile & Multifunctional – Tego isn’t just for toiletries and personal care items—use it to make any of your essentials conveniently portable, like gadgets and charging cables, outdoor tools and gear, cycling accessories, and more.
• Durable & Made from Post-Consumer Recycled Materials – Tego is waterproof, durable, compact, and machine-washable, and sustainably made using post-consumer recycled bottles (average 2.69 bottles per unit). The company is Climate Neutral Certified.

Every section has a slide on one side and hooks on the other so you can create the perfect bag for any occasion. And just to make sure they are as durable as the rest of the bag, we tested them out and they are pretty sturdy. Each Tego also comes equipped with the famous YKK zippers (because they last forever).

Going on a weekend getaway? Take a section out. Off on a safari? Add a few. Tego adapts itself to you, not the other way around. Check out the Tego Kickstarter page here for more info and pick one up and the Tego Company page is here.