9 Gadgets That Make Life Less Burdensome
The astoundingly rapid pace at which the technology is advancing means increasing convenience for people by each moment. It also means a great influx of gadgets and devices that make life simpler and more manageable.
Amidst this gigantic plethora of gadgets and devices, consumers usually overlook many or at least underrate their importance in making lives less onerous.
Here is a list of 9 gadgets that are relatively less popular than your smartphones and laptops but are arguably equally imperative.
1. Quitbit
Quitbit, as the name suggests, is a special lighter designed for those who want to quit smoking gradually. It tracks all your smoking with the help of an app available for both iOS and Android. It connects to your phone and basically works in the same fashion as all other health apps do. Coming towards its features: It has a display which shows the number of cigarettes you had all day and the remaining number depending upon what you set as a target in the app.
It lights your smokes using a heating coil instead of using gas or sparks. Once synced to your phone, Quitbit uses a security feature that prevents you from losing it. And it’s smart so the user doesn’t have to worry about unnecessary addition of cigarettes if someone else uses it or if the smoke has to be relit.
The app on the other hand is equally useful. It shows you your stats and trends of smoking and motivates you in different ways e.g. it switches off the Quitbit once you have reached a specific limit. It enables you to track all the money you save each day and allows you to share your achievements.
2. Nikola Phone Cases
Phone cases with battery chargers embedded in them are no strangers to the mobile market. You just have to fix your phone into the case and keep on going with your phone while the case tops up your phone with extra battery life. But in order for them to come your rescue at the right time, you need to charge them too. Charging them and your phones can be a tedious undertaking sometimes.
Nikola cases take the concept of battery cases to a new level. These cases, named after a famous engineer, harness the RF (radio frequency) waves, emitted from your phone that would have otherwise been rendered into nothingness, into useful energy that your phone uses to provide you with more juice. This technology works just fine provided that the phone’s cellular data or WiFi is turned on. All in all the case provides you with about 30 percent of extra juice. Though turning on the cellular data throughout the day for just 30 percent of extra battery may not seem to be a fair trade but in practical life, it helps a lot to have a few extra hours on battery to get you going on.
3. Smart watches and Wearables
These are a lot more than your regular analogue watches. The digital wizardry by different tech giants has produced a device that aims at giving you more connectivity in a smaller package. This changing trend in technology may be redundant for some but truth be told, smart watches are apparently an impeccable addition to the smartphone family. These digital watches can run apps and other sorts of media like your songs from your smartphone through Bluetooth connectivity. Almost all of these are equipped with touch screens that makes navigating through the watch a pleasant experience.
You can make use of helping apps like calculator, compass and more. Other than this, smart watches are capable of GPS navigation and message notifications. That Bluetooth connection with your device means that you can place calls or send messages right from your wrist. Unfortunately most of these are not standalone devices so they need a smartphone for proper functionality. Some digital smart watches are also fitness oriented with pedometers to track your steps, heart rate monitors for your Bpm and apps to measure various trends in your fitness journey. They show you the time too, of course. Life just got a lot easier.
Visit Android Wearables Site Visit Apple Watch Site
4. Amazon Echo
Finding a place on this list is a voice driven speaker that is cloud-connected and basically works as Apple’s “Siri” for you. But it’s “Alexa” here that answers your questions here. You can also use a remote control in lieu of the wake command or change the wake command from “Alexa” to “Amazon”. It’s amazing how not connected this thing is to your smartphone. This personal assistant works best with a good WiFi connection. It is by default connected to Amazon Web services to make Echo’s voice recognition more capable.
Echo’s TTS (text-to-speech) engine sounds more natural than others in the market. Amazon Echo offers weather forecasts and reports from a variety of sources. It can also read out news to you at your demand. Echo is also capable of playing music from the user’s Amazon account or from Apple Music or Google Play Music accounts. Users can set voice controlled alarms, timers and make to-do-lists. It can also access Wikipedia articles. Though it sounds a cool idea to have a personal assistant that listens to your commands and answers back, Amazon Echo has its share of setbacks.
Amazon Echo confuses homophones sometimes and can deliver inaccurate results. Battery is not an option so it has be plugged in at all times. At higher volumes the sound becomes uneven and distorted. Nevertheless this portable device is extremely helpful with many day-to-day tasks. Hopefully it will keep getting updates to perfectly match our needs one day.
5. Light Up Charging Cables
Companies like Dexim, make charging your phone more delightful than ever. They have come up with cables that make use of electroluminescent technology to light up the cable itself while the phone is plugged in. The light in the cable depicts the flow of current. It’s faster when the phone is running low on battery and slows down eventually as the phone charges. Once the phone is fully charged it switches to an automatic standby mode so to save electricity.
You don’t have to switch your phone on to see if your phone has been fully charged or not: you can determine that from a considerable distance. It also gives you an aesthetic edge over other chargers. But it isn’t any gimmick. The price is also justified.
6. BiKN Tracking Device
This device is especially designed for those who have a tendency to lose valuable possessions like keys and their offspring. Yes you read just right: it can even help track and trace your offspring. This tracking system (pronounced as beacon) comprises of a phone case (only for iPhone yet), a phone app and up to eight tags. You just have to install the app from Appstore, fit your phone into the case and clip the tag on whatever item you fear can get easily lost e.g. keys, bags or children’s clothes while they are wearing them. Both the case and the tags have to be charged.
The app tells you how much battery is left on each. The system has a simple working. The case detects the radio signals emitted by the tags to locate your items. The user can find his lost items through the app which does so with a navigation display and a tone. This is the simple Find Mode of the device. In another mode called the Leash Mode, you should hear a holler from the tags and the case, should the tagged object move beyond a certain radius (set by the user through the app). This mode doesn’t require the app to locate the object and can easily be used without turning the phone on. Now you don’t have to worry about losing anything precious again, unless you forget to charge the BiKN system.
7. Griffin Beacon Universal Remote Controller
Your phone is already so much capable, why not make a remote controller too? This technology has crept into the Android ecosystem and has made its way into several flagships. It uses a built-in IR (Infrared) blaster and an app to control various appliances ranging from your air conditioner to your Xbox gaming console. But the universal remote control technology is not omnipresent: it still hasn’t convinced Apple.Inc to install IR blasters into their iPhones and iPads.
This is where Griffin Beacon comes in. It’s a weird looking device that connects to your iOS device through Bluetooth and works as an external IR blaster. Bluetooth connectivity means limited range in which the remote is functional. The app for the remote is easily available from the iTunes store. Connecting your device with Griffin Beacon is easy too. You just press the button in it upon which it flashes a blue light. This indicates that it is looking for a connection. From there you can connect via Bluetooth. Simple, wasn’t it? Now you have a system that controls your home theatre system and other infrared enabled appliances and devices.
Griffin Beacon ensures that you will never buy another remote again. The app shows you different channels, listings and reviews and even allows you to manage your Netflix queue. One of the very few downsides of this is that Griffin Beacon works with AA batteries. There is no other way to power it on. This means you have to change its batteries just as often as you change your remote controller’s.
8. Remote Controlled Mop
Cleaning floors has never been more fun and easier. Sugoi is an innovative company that has devoted itself in making flabbergasting gadgets that make everyday chores easier than ever. They also take away the sheer boredom from them. The package is simple. You get a mop in a bright yellow canary color and a remote controller that pretty much resembles a PlayStation controller. Moving around the mop is just as easy as controlling an RC car or a plane. You control the mop which does the job while you sit back in the comfort of your sofa or lounge around observing the mop working. It is non-rechargeable and requires AA batteries. The transmitter demands 2 batteries and the mop requires 4. Spending a few bucks to add ease and fun is totally reasonable.
Sugoi also designed an RC trash bin and other similar products that mitigate that inexplicable dreariness from everyday tasks.
9. Coin
Coin is a piece of technology that is undoubtedly a major breakthrough in the conventional payment system. The company behind this creation makes sure to make payments and transactions all the more a carefree job. Gone are the days of cramming up that fat wallet with debit/credit cards and wasting time scrutinizing the whole thing trying to search for a specific one. Coin, that more or less resembles a card (only more digital), stores up to 8 cards in itself and enables you to use it in the same old fashion to make transactions. So you can kiss them cards goodbye.
The setup process is simple too. First you have to install the company’s app. From there you can add your cards by taking pictures of them, manually adding in the data or swiping your cards through a card reader (included in the package) that fits in the phone’s audio jack. Once this process is done, you can secure the app by a pin code. This pin maximizes the security by distinguishing between long and short taps. So it’s more of a Morse code.
Coin connects to your phone with a type of Bluetooth connectivity called the BLE technology so it’s highly secure. You can sync your cards and that’s it, you are done with the setup process. Now comes in the Coin itself. Tap on the device and enter the Morse code you setup in the app. Coin works as a standalone device, which means you don’t need have a phone nearby to make it work, although your phone will notify you if you leave behind your Coin while going somewhere. Alright, back to the payment procedure. You unlock your coin and select your device. Mind you, Coin only unlocks for seven minutes after which it goes back into a deep sleep mode. After selecting your device you choose the card (from the pictures taken) and then swipe it through the payment machine like a regular credit card payments. And voila! Another job made easier for the lazy earthlings. Coin has a good battery life. It lingers on for about 2 years. Unfortunately you cannot add transit cards in Coin, so its a bummer for those who regularly use subways and metro. Beta version of Coin has been in the market for a while now and after its magnum success, the company now has come up with a better and improved version called Coin 2.0.
If even a single one of these tech tools somehow makes life less difficult then we have truly become a lost, lazy race of humans (to put it simply). The only thing that makes a single one of these items important is the advertising that is done to make us think we have to have this or suffer. I mean really, there is a logical argument that can be made to show how much more burdon there is having anyone of these and thinking we have to rely on them or suffer the agony of life. What a JOKE!