Category: Mobile Devices

Jon Westfall and I are joined by old friend, former Microsoft MVP, Rey Flores

1. Revisiting the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 over the ears $80 headphones for podcasting
   Can pair with more than one device – unlike the other non-Apple BT headsets I’ve bought/tried
2. Raspberry Pi 400 $100 kit version first impressions
3. A trip down tech memory lane with Rey

You can find Rey’s Twitch broadcast at: https://twitch.tv/reydio

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

In this podcast Jon Westfall and I welcome our old friend Arne Hess in Germany to catch up with him — and making for a rare trans-pacific and trans-atlantic podcast. The most surprising thing we heard from Arne was that he has not seen any discussions of Chromebooks in his part of the world.

1. Questions for Arne: What are you using now?
   Smartphone
   Tablet
   Laptop
   Watch
   Exercise tech
   Drone tech
2. Waiting for iOS 14.5 so I can unlock my iPhone when wearing a facemask. Ref: MacRumors
3. Tested the $60 One by Wacom tablet with a Macbook Pro and the free Autodesk Sketchbook software
4. Jon’s been playing with Homebridge connecting all of his miscellaneous IoT devices to homekit. Amazed with how quickly it’s been to set it up (running it in a Docker container). Also cool that it can trigger unix commands – so if you can shell script it, you can hook it in! (cmdswitch2 plugin)

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

1. Tucows closes its once-popular software download site
2. Microsoft Lists for iOS

Revisiting Past Purchases

3. Nulaxy A4 Cell Phone Stand, Fully Foldable, Adjustable Desktop Phone Holder Cradle Dock $12
4. A 60 GB iPod Video for $399.99 on 12/4/2005. In 2017 or so he gave it to a friend who still needed a dedicated music player, and for all I know, it might still be alive today.
5. https://the-gadgeteer.com/2004/01/29/roadwired_megamedia_bag_review/
6. A Timex Digital Ironman Data Link USB Watch for $67.96 on 5/13/2005. It was a great watch until it died, IIRC.
7. A lot of LiveScribe things in 2010 and used them for 2-3 years until he realized that it was a lot easier to use a tablet. But in 2010, the only other alternative was a Tablet PC, which wasn’t always the best experience
8. eBags Packing Cubes in 2011 that I still use, ya know, when I travel. Not always all 3, but mixing and matching as needed.
9. Keyspan by Tripp Lite Presentation Remote (https://amzn.to/369k4ZM) – still the best presenter remote in my opinion because it allows full mouse movement. Sadly hard to find today.
10. A Spring Bar Tool (https://amzn.to/3sSxtPD) that is the $8.50 tool that jewelers know about but us commoners don’t. If you’ve ever struggled with a watch band tension bar (to change the band on your watch), you need this thing.
11. An Insta-bed (https://amzn.to/3pe1BTb) which has held up very well for over 5 years. Makes traveling to friends who don’t have spare beds a breeze.
12. Beats Solo 3’s (https://amzn.to/3a5Wj6a) which haven’t had any issue other than having replace the ear cups after a few years.
13. Kindle Oasis – works great at the beach, but was it worth $309? Probably not. Hardly ever use it at home.
14. A Braun Series 7 Razor for $190.95 in 2016.
15. A Vivo rolling / sittings / standing desk / cart – $299.99 (https://amzn.to/2Mihn0P) Great to be able to flexibly work in a variety of places.

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

In this Podcast, Jon Westfall and I focus on a few products announced during CES 2021 last week that may actually be available as a product you can buy in the near future.

1. ~12GB macOS Big Sur update waiting for my MacBook Pro. Still holding off on this update
2. AI set to replace humans in cybersecurity by 2030, says Trend Micro
3. Withings Thermo – smart Temporal Thermometer
   $99 from Amazon. However, for it for $89 at Sams Club yesterday
4. ZenBook Duo 14 UX482
   UX482EA product page
   Starts at $999
   Last year the Duo’s predecessor was an interesting expensive oddity
   This year I have an actual use-case for it and the starting config price is a much more affordable $999 (not yet available)
5. Mudra Band
   Touch Free Control for Apple Watch
   Control music, manage calls and dismiss notifications using effortless finger movements
   $180. Available, allegedly,in March
6. Jon’s Take on CES 2021: If you aren’t into niche tech (Robotics, Drones, Automation / self-driving Cars) the mainstream stuff was kinda boring. Two interesting products:
   TCL Wearable Display but unfortunately can’t be used as a regular pair of glasses.
   For those who wear makeup: A lipstick pod gadget that can provide an exact shade (within a color family): Kinda cool idea, but I don’t know a lot of women who want to have very subtly different shades of lipstick (For that matter, most women I know these days don’t really wear lipstick that often). Do you really need something “slightly” more red? But along with other lifestyle stuff like Ice cream pods, kinda interesting innovation.
7. Jon bought a VIVO Desk riser this week (https://amzn.to/2XPIeE4) to convert his last “sitting only” desk to the ability to be stand/sit. Oh, and Zendure support replaced a dead Supertank battery I had (less than a year old). But the location of the serial number was… unreal

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

2. Mac App Store not featuring apps recompiled for M1 anymore
3. Apple presents App Store Best of 2020 winners
4. Jon’s PiBoy Adventures
5. Instant Pot WiFi
   2.4Ghz (like all IoT devices)
   App works well
6. MacOS Sidecar does not support iPad mini 4 or 5?
   Downloaded Duet for MacOS. Bought iPad app years ago

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.