Budget Bluetooth Headsets – An Update
Bluetooth has been very slow to achieve its promised potential. The concept was for a low-cost standard to be a wireless equivalent to a serial cable as a way to connect devices together. A Bluetooth …
Reviews
A Portable Luggage Scale Helps You Pack Right
It was bad enough when airlines started charging for bags, and worse when they dropped the limit for a “standard” bag from 70lbs to 50lbs. But now some of the worst airlines are reducing …
The Echo Show 15, Revisited
I ordered one of Amazon’s large-screened Echo Show 15 devices when they were first announced in early November 2021, with several kind Travel Insider readers underwriting its $250 purchase cost. I also ordered, at the …
A Look at CES 2022
I’ve been attending the annual, every-early-January, Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, on and off, for over 30 years. This year’s show has been the strangest, and least impactful, of them all. Last year’s show …
Is Turo a Good Alternative to Regular Rental Cars?
The internet has fueled a growth in people renting their properties through Airbnb, and has enabled us all to become amateur taxi drivers as and when we wish through Uber and Lyft. Not so …
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Add a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player to Your 4K Television
Did you treat yourself to a new 4K UHD HDR television set over the Christmas period? Or are you planning to do so with the after-Christmas/New Year sales that usually appear? If you do, there …
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Amazon’s new Smart Air Quality Monitor
I’ve been interested in air quality issues for two reasons and so was attracted to this device. The first is due to forest fires – like other western states, Washington has its fair share of …
The Echo Show 15 – Bigger, but Not Better
Amazon has struggled to extend its Alexa audio service into the realm of video. This latest product shows the struggle is ongoing and far from resolved. After introducing the first Echo (audio only) device …
Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19 : A Book That Should Make You Angry
We all know that accidents happen. They happen to ourselves, and to people around us. Generally, if the person most responsible for the “accident” (being responsible implies some causal link, of course, whereas “accident” implies …
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Television Buyer’s Guide Part 2 : The Many Aspects of Picture Quality and Everything Else
This is the second part of a two part guide to choosing a good television set, in which we delve into what makes a modern video picture good or not so good. In the first …
Television Buyer’s Guide Part 1 : Size, Placement, Speakers, Amplifier
This is the first part of a two part guide about choosing a good television set. In this part we look at some of the obvious issues, and consider also speakers, placement, and external streamers …
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The Amazon Smart Thermostat
Amazon announced its new Alexa-enabled smart thermostat back in September, and started shipping them this last week. Although smart thermostats, in general, have been around for some time. The Nest, released in 2011 and purchased …
