iRig Mic Field records stereo in landscape or portrait mode

micfield_iphone_vertical_hand
Back in 2012, here at CanoeTech Blog we reviewed IK Multimedia’s iRig Mic Cast a portable external microphone you popped into the headphone port of your iOS device. Skip ahead to 2015 and its follow-up product, the iRig Mic Field is a new and improved stereo and now digital microphone perfect, as the name says, for field recording and for both audio and video projects.
The iRig Mic Field connects digitally through your devices Lightning connector instead of the headphone jack eliminating any analog noise. It has a built-in 24-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) converter with sampling rates as high as 48 kHz as well as a high-def low noise preamp for efficient quality recordings.  Read more…at Canoe Tech Blog

Wearable anti-fatigue brainwave detector may saves lives

Impecca The Alert Band Photo with man
A new wearable gadget that attaches to a driver’s forehead promises to send real-time alerts to an iPhone or Android device three to five minutes before the driver falls asleep. It’s called The Alert Band by Impecca and it’s being introduced at International CES 2015. The device which the company says is 90% accurate, is designed to sense fatigue and help prevent accidents.
The idea for The Alert Band came about after a friend of the developer was severely injured in a car accident because someone had hit him after they had fallen asleep behind the wheel. Read more…at CanoeTech Blog

Transform your cassette deck into a wireless receiver

IONCassetteAdapterBluetooth

If you’re still driving an old or classic car, chances are as long as it’s not too ancient, it’s equipped with an AM/FM Cassette Deck. Now while it still might sound pretty good, likely most of your cassettes have been more than sunbaked and it’s still not up to today’s digital standards. So here’s a little gadget, the ION Cassette Adapter Bluetooth that transforms your cassette player into a wireless music receiver allowing you stream tunes from your portable device through to your car’s speakers.

It’s shaped like a cassette tape; obviously, as it would need to fits into a cassette player. Looking directly at its front face, the microphone and the micro USB charging port are both on the left-hand side along with the on/off sensor which automatically powers the adapter either on or off when you insert or eject the adapter from the player.  READ MORE at Canoe Tech Blog.

More last minute tech and not-so-tech stocking stuffers

SensoGlove Alone Photo - New VersionEDMONTON, AB, Dec 24, 2014/ Troy Media/ – Looking for some last-minute unique gift ideas? Here are a few, some of which are high tech while others not so much, you might want to consider.

There’s more than one way to help your loved ones get an edge on their golf game – using the right club and positioning it properly, swinging and standing just the right way. But one element I wasn’t aware of is how getting just the right amount of pressure in your grip is equally important in getting better distance and accuracy. I typically hold onto my club for dear life to ensure it doesn’t fly off as I swing my wood, much like Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore. Read full review at Troy Media.

Last minute gadget gift ideas

Epson LabelMaker Jar smallMany of us wait for the last minute to pick up our gifts for loved ones so here’s a few 11th hour ideas to help you get through that special day. If it’s too late to get them in, think of them as ideas for Boxing week, which in some places, has already started.

Ultra Portable Mini Groove Controller

If you’re looking for a great gift idea for a budding music producer, music lover or someone who just likes to tap out a beat, cue up loops or mix like a DJ, then check out one of the newest gadgets from IK Multimedia – iRig Pads, a full featured ultra-portable universal MIDI groove controller.

One huge feature is its size. It’s a little smaller than an iPad, less than 1″ thick and really lightweight – ideal to port around. It’s designed to consume very little power – in fact it draws peer from whatever it’s plugged in to.  READ MORE at Canoe Tech Blog

Review: Yantouch Diamond+ Light, Sleep / Wake & Music Device

If you’re looking for a gift for that someone special who seems to have everything, chances are that he or she doesn’t have the Yantouch Diamond+, a 3-in-1 mini entertainment system that’s a sound, light and a sleep/wake device all built-in to a desktop diamond-cut shaped globe. This latest model from the Taiwan based company is a new and much improved follow up to their previous Diamond II and Diamond 3 models.

First of all, Diamond+ get its name from its rounded diamond shape. It’s a 2.1 stereo Bluetooth 3.0 speaker system, that allows you to stream your music wirelessly from various devices including Android and iOS. It can also work in wired mode too. It has a pair of drivers, one on each side and a bass resonance tube to give you bigger sound from the smaller form factor. Built into the globe are eight RGB and two white LED lights that offer illumination that range from a bedside reading white light to a kaleidoscope of over 16 million colours.  READ FULL REVIEW at G4TV Canada

Great gadgets come in small gift packages

1 MusicProGifts come in all shapes and sizes, but bigger isn’t necessarily better or more desirable. So here are a few gift ideas all of which I had an opportunity to test-drive, that are all much smaller than a bread box and some of which might actually fit in the palm of your hand.

High Fidelity Electronic Earplugs

This first one certainly fits the criteria, but it’s designed for your ears. The Music•Pro High-Fidelty Electronic Musicians Earplugs by Etymotic Research as the name says is ideally suited for musicians, but equally sensible for anyone to find themselves in environments where hearing protection is without trading off sound fidelity, which something like typical passive earplugs can’t accomplish.  READ FULL ARTICLE at G4 Canada.

Wink makes home automation easy

1 Wink HubEDMONTON, AB, Dec 11, 2014/ Troy Media/ – In the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a Babel Fish is a fictitious creature which, if you stick it in your ear, immediately converts any language into one that you can understand. This makes the Wink Hub, recently introduced to Canadians by The Home Depot, the “Babel Fish” of Home Automation.

The Wink Hub is a hardware (hub) and app solution designed to bring all of the different “smart” brands, most of which operate within their own eco-system and protocols, together under a single platform to allow them to work together. Currently, Wink is compatible with over 70 products from a dozen or so brands, including Philips, GE, DropCam, Honeywell, Schlage and more.  READ Full article at TROY Media.

Poieo3D family friendly Canadian designed 3D printer

Poieo3DTORONTO, ON – Designed BY families FOR families, the Poieo3D Printer aims to make an exciting new technology as commonplace and worry-free as a microwave oven. While not quite “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot”, the Poeio3D Printer just might be the closest thing on Earth to home-based Star Trek tech.

It’s currently featured in a high-profile Kickstarter campaign, the Poieo3D Printer is the first such featured device to offer a one-year warranty, FREE lifetime online education, and a family-friendly, child-safe design.

[Read more…]

iStabilizer Shutter Remote snaps pics videos and more

1Shutter-RemoteiOS_1024x1024Long before the term was popularized but now abuse, people struggled to find the way to get that perfect “Selfie”. While there have been hardware and app solutions to solve that ultimate puzzle, the Shutter Remote by iStabilizer has come along to give you that wireless proverbial extra long arm that you need, plus more.

Shutter Remote is a pocket sized remote that that not only gives you a wireless Bluetooth remote shutter button, but also a media controller for your music and video, a remote iOS Home/Siri controller and a wireless presenter, good for a range of up to 3 m.

It’s a little thicker, wider and shorter than the Apple Remote, but it still very comfortable to hold and with a lot more functionality. It runs off 2 x CR2025 batteries (large coins cells), so it’s not rechargeable, but the company says they should last up to six months if you use it for about an hour a day.

Its thickness allows for a conveniently located on/off switch on the left side and pairing button on the right. It has a familiar circular media controller, with the “+” (Volume Up) button (or Volume down – not documented), acting as your shutter release for your perfect Selfie.  READ FULL REVIEW at G4TV Canada.