All posts tagged: gadget

The DJI Mini 5 Pro has hit its best-ever price at Amazon — buy for under ,000 this weekend

The DJI Mini 5 Pro has hit its best-ever price at Amazon — buy for under $1,000 this weekend

Published by skeptic

TL;DR: As of July 18, the DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo on sale for $989 at Amazon. That’s the first time we’ve seen this beginner-friendly bundle drop below $1,000. $989 at Amazon $1,599 Save $610   We’re keeping a close eye on DJI drone deals. That’s largely because these drones are firm favorites of content creators, but it’s also because there are restrictions on DJI products in the U.S. The new rules only restrict future imports. That means buyers can still purchase and use drones that are already in stock with retailers like Amazon. There will come a time when stock starts to disappear. At this point we expect prices to climb. That time has not come yet, because you can still find record-low prices on top models, including the DJI Mini 5 Pro. As of July 18, the DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo on sale for $989 at Amazon. We’ve never seen this beginner-friendly bundle drop below $1,000, so if you’re interested in buying, this is the time to strike. …

This little wireless gadget can bring all of your old speakers back to life

This little wireless gadget can bring all of your old speakers back to life

Published by skeptic

I love my speakers, in this case, a pair of KRK Rokit 5 active studio monitors. They sound fantastic, with silk dome tweeters, Kevlar woofers, powerful built-in amplifiers, LCD panels at the rear, and a companion app for fine-tuning. The only thing they lack is the convenience of modern streaming. Now, I could simply buy a Bluetooth adapter, but that would mean a downgrade in sound quality. I realized that to keep the superior sound and have wireless functionality, I’d have to find another solution, and that’s when I stumbled upon the WiiM Pro. This little box could be the easiest way to give older speakers a whole new lease of life. Give older speakers the features they were never designed to have All it takes is this compact, audiophile-quality streaming device Those of us with high-quality older speakers know that these don’t suddenly become obsolete like most tech. A decent stereo amplifier or pair of active speakers can sound every bit as good twenty years later as they did on the day you bought …

This is what your smart home needs, not another random gadget

This is what your smart home needs, not another random gadget

Published by skeptic

Your smart home should be set up in a way that streamlines your usage. Setting up the smart home should take a little bit of thought, as you want devices that you’re going to utilize to make your life easier. You don’t just want to add a bunch of smart bulbs to your home because you can. If you’re going to use them on a schedule or because they have different color options, that’s a different story. There are so many smart home devices to choose from that it can be overwhelming to get the right system in place. The worst thing you can do is have a bunch of devices not connected and collecting dust because they didn’t actually serve the purpose that you wanted. I have a box in my basement of smart home devices that I don’t use because I wasn’t smart about early purchases. I’ve started to go the route of focusing on Matter-enabled devices for any purchase. Related Matter finally supports cameras, but I still wouldn’t buy one without checking …

I don’t do any work outside without this gadget (my bone conduction headphones)

I don’t do any work outside without this gadget (my bone conduction headphones)

Published by skeptic

Enjoying nature isn’t a difficult ask. Although sometimes it can be, especially if you’re dealing with tough temperatures and annoying pests and bugs. Sometimes, you just want to be able to go out into your yard and take care of some yard work that you’ve been putting off for weeks. That’s some people’s idea of enjoying nature. Making your yard the best that it can be is the perfect way to enjoy the outdoors. But you have to put in the work to get it that way. I’m learning this the hard way, trying to balance work, fatherhood, and keeping up with a large yard. Luckily, I don’t do any yard work without some form of entertainment. That entertainment comes in the form of my bone conduction headphones. Related My favorite open-ear headphones are getting a surprising new feature Active noise reduction in an open-ear headphone I love wearing bone conduction headphones outside It’s the perfect tool for any outdoor job I was first introduced to bone conduction headphones a few years ago when I …

The Dune keypad device can be your meeting controller and more

The Dune keypad device can be your meeting controller and more

Published by skeptic

My biggest pet peeve with meeting apps is that each one has a different shortcut for muting your mic or turning off your webcam. It’s hard to remember which keys do what when you’re mid-meeting and trying to make a point or ask a question. I always wanted a physical, universal button for mute and camera control — something I could hit without thinking. Project Mirage’s Dune, a tiny, three-key aluminum keypad — about the size of a stick of gum — that plugs into your MacBook’s USB-C port, does just that. The $119 gadget has three buttons, and it changes context based on what app you are looking at. For instance, in meeting apps and sites, it could be toggle mic, toggle video, and bring window to the front. For Excel or Sheets, it could be copy, paste, and undo. For Chrome, it could be refresh, jump to URL bar, and paste. You get the gist. Developers can also use it with apps like VS Code or GitHub to merge, approve, or close a …

Six months later, this small gadget is my secret weapon against doomscrolling

Six months later, this small gadget is my secret weapon against doomscrolling

Published by skeptic

ZDNET’s key takeaways Brick is a $65 device that blocks you from accessing your most-used apps It helped me develop a better relationship to my phone Its positive reinforcements work better than competitors or Screen Time limits. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. As every aspect of our working and social life is digitized, screen addiction has become less an exception to our way of living and more a widely accepted characteristic of it. I see this most commonly when I ask my friends, family, and coworkers how many hours a day they spend on their phones. The answers range from 3 to 8 hours.  I spend about 4 hours a day on my phone, checking emails, responding to texts, scrolling through social media, and checking the weather. That’s four hours I could be spending reading a book, writing an article, learning how to predict the weather, calling a loved one, and doing anything besides checking the time suck and brain rot that is social media sites and messaging apps.  Also: How I …

The Busy Bar Is a Gadget to Get People to Leave You Alone

The Busy Bar Is a Gadget to Get People to Leave You Alone

Published by skeptic

Focus and productivity apps abound, all to help you stave off the many distractions coming from your phone. Or the annoying people at your open-office desk. Digital well-being tools can silence notifications, limit apps like TikTok and Instagram, and help you focus on the task at hand. But you can also turn them off very easily as soon as you feel like you haven’t endlessly scrolled enough. This is where Flipper’s Busy Bar comes in, a hardware clock with an LED screen that doubles as a clock and a dedicated timer. Slap the big button in the middle, and the screen displays a bright red “BUSY” sign or another message that lets the people around you know you’re, well, busy. (Maybe try “GO AWAY” or “GET OUT OF MY ROOM, MOM.”) The bar goes on sale today and costs $249. “How do you let people know politely, yet firmly, that you don’t want to be disturbed?” says Callum Tennent, a creative writer at Flipper. “We decided the politest way to do it was a massive …

6 jobs for the old phone in your drawer that beat buying a gadget

6 jobs for the old phone in your drawer that beat buying a gadget

Published by skeptic

We all have that one drawer at home filled with old tech. It might be that phone from a decade ago you can’t seem to part with, an old smartwatch or fitness tracker, maybe a mini Bluetooth speaker or two and a pair of old earbuds. Some of these gadgets are just taking up space, better to be dropped off for safe recycling. But when it comes to your old phone, if it still powers on, there’s a lot you can do with it. One writer even used his old Android phone as a navigation device for his motorcycle! Rather than buy a new gadget to serve a simple but important purpose, consider how your old phone could be used for the same task. It’s not a device you’ll take with you 24/7 anymore nor use with an active SIM card. You may also be reluctant to connect it online if security support has lapsed. But it can still be useful, even without being connected. It’s all about upcycling in this day and age, after …

A gadget woke me at 2am and saved my basement

A $30 gadget woke me at 2am and saved my basement

Published by skeptic

My phone buzzed and woke me up at 2:12am. The Ring app notification said “Water detected in Basement Utility.” My finished basement was one slow leak away from a contractor’s invoice. I grabbed my phone, pulled on my slippers, and headed downstairs. The Ring Alarm Flood & Freeze Sensor I’d placed near the HVAC drain pan had caught a leak. Twenty minutes later, I was back in bed. No damage. The condensate drain line on the whole-house humidifier had clogged, backing up into the pan. A wet/dry vac quickly fixed it. This is why I now have sensors tucked into every vulnerable corner of my basement—and why I think anyone with a finished space below grade is making a mistake without them. The night I actually understood what these sensors do A notification at 2am hits differently than one at noon I’ve read about water damage statistics before. The insurance industry loves to cite them. None of that landed the way a buzzing phone at 2am did, when I was half-asleep and suddenly doing mental …

Flush With Cash From OpenAI, Opal Is Making an AI-Powered Audio Gadget

Flush With Cash From OpenAI, Opal Is Making an AI-Powered Audio Gadget

Published by skeptic

A small San Francisco startup known for making well-appointed, beautifully designed webcams is now vying to become the AI hardware company of the moment. Opal Camera is rebranding to Opal Electronics and will expand its product portfolio beyond webcams to a broad range of consumer devices, some of which will be AI-focused. It aims to emulate Sony Electronics as a wide-ranging consumer gadget brand by focusing on design and culture, not just tech. The transition was possible thanks to a $40 million Series B funding round from OpenAI. Some details about the investment were first reported in 2024, but the deal was closed in the first quarter of 2025. Other investors in Opal include Samsung, Peter Thiel, Seven Seven Six (Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm), and noted tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (known as MKBHD), among others, according to a source close to the deal. Opal is now valued at around $275 million. Opal Electronics declined to comment. OpenAI did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was an early customer and …