Life has changed there is no doubt and we wanted to reach out to see how you are doing.
As we go through this interesting time, we are trying to look at this as an opportunity to focus on our family and on friends like you. Let us use this extra time to catch up and talk more. Let us cook food that is not fast, but interesting and satisfying. Let us learn to enjoy a time to try new things. Let us find ways to enjoy time at home!
Computer Security
If my client base is any experience, anyone can be a victim of a Ransomware, Malware or Virus attack.
What can you do about it?
I conduct audits of your entire computer infrastructure and apply best practice solutions to plug the security holes on your computers, Smartphones and networks.
Now offering consultations to give you the best protection possible:
1:38 PMHigh Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Everyone's talking about Nextdoor. It's the social networking site
that brings back good old-fashioned neighborhood chatter between your
neighbors across the street and you. It puts you in touch with folks
down the block and even people a few miles down the road.
It's
reminiscent of simpler times that you might remember when your neighbors
and you actually spoke. That was before we all disappeared behind our
digital devices. Nextdoor is also like Facebook, where you can scan
through your contacts' posts and photos, and you can post your own
messages and photos. Only, Nextdoor limits your communication to people
who live close to you.
You
might alert those neighbors to prowlers you spotted in the
neighborhood. Your neighbors might recommend a good plumber or mechanic.
They could also tell you about yard sales or appliances they're giving
away. Or you can alert them to a stray dog you found.
It sounds great and in many ways, Nextdoor is a great, new social media site that you should check out. (Read our tips to navigate Nextdoor here.) However, as we mentioned last week, Nextdoor has a dark side. Actually, it has a few dark sides that you must know about.
Note: This
is one of the reasons we're constantly telling you how important it is
that you protect your home with a 24/7 monitoring service. Consider
beefing up your home protection with a security system from our
sponsor, SimpliSafe. It requires no drilling to install so you can set
it up in 15 minutes in any house, apartment or garage. Even better, it
doesn't lock you into an expensive monitoring contract, so you save big
money. Click
here now to find out why SimpliSafe is the perfect alarm to protect you
and your family, and get $50 off when you use promo code KIM.
Online bullying
When
you're using Nextdoor, it's hard not to notice that it's not as well
monitored as sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Instead of
online bullies being quickly silenced, on Nextdoor, they can rattle on
and on, and on, with seemingly little or no monitoring.
In
fact, it's not unheard of for Nextdoor bullies to take their harassment
offline, too. That's scary when you realize that many members post
their exact street address on the site.
There have been reports of
Nextdoor bullies calling other members and harassing them. How can you
feel safe when people who don't like you call you at home, or walk right
up to your front door?
There have been instances of Nextdoor
bullies contacting other members' jobs to reveal embarrassing or hurtful
information about them. One Nextdoor bully, for instance, called a
realtor's manager and started harassing her with emails and phone calls.
Why? It was another realtor trying to damage her competition's
reputation.
That's outrageous and frightening. However, don't panic. There are ways to keep your Nextdoor bullies away.
The first step to staying safe is really important. Do not put your street address on Nextdoor.
To
ensure that your street address isn't visible to Nextdoor members:
Click on the down arrow by your profile picture >>Settings >> Privacy >> Show My Address to Neighbors As.
You'll
have two choices. You can show them your street address, including your
house number, like 321 Main Street. Or you can just display which street
you live on, like Main Street.
Second, make sure you alert your
neighborhood's Lead to another member's harassment. However, be careful.
Do not rely on only your neighborhood Lead to solve your problem,
especially if you're being threatened.
As Nextdoor states:
"Neighborhood Leads do not work for Nextdoor and are not compensated in
any way. They are simply neighbors like other members, who have been
granted additional capabilities to help their neighborhood run more
smoothly." Those extra privileges include things like redefining
neighborhood boundaries or nominating a new Lead.
Third, if you feel that you're in danger, immediately contact your local police.
If you are in danger, you can report it to Nextdoor after you've called the police.
How
to Report a Safety Concern: From any page on Nextdoor, click the down
arrow by your Profile picture in the upper-right corner >> Help >> Managing Your Privacy >> scroll down to Privacy and
Safety >> click on Contact Us (three-quarters down the page) >> choose Privacy and Safety Concerns >> Report a Safety
Concern >> choose No, I'd Like to Contact Nextdoor Support.
Privacy
On a social networking site that asks you to post your real name and your home address, your Privacy is an immediate concern.
It's
important to note that Nextdoor, like many sites, reassures users that
it will not share or sell your private information to anyone. However,
there is a huge loophole that you need to be aware of.
When you
register with Nextdoor, you're giving the site permission to access a
lot of your information. In fact, Nextdoor spells this out pretty
clearly on its Privacy Policy. Take a moment to read through it, ideally before you sign up with the site.
"We
collect information from you, when you give it to us directly or give
us the OK to get it from another source. For example, when you register
for Nextdoor, you voluntarily provide your name, profile photo, email
address, and similar information."
If you register for Nextdoor using your Facebook credentials, you're giving Nextdoor permission to access information from that site about you.
Nextdoor can also track your physical location.
"If
you want to allow us to show you where you are on your neighborhood
map, to tag your posts, photos and events by location, to verify your
address (where available), or to display activities and Content that may
be relevant to your current location, we may ask your permission to
access geolocation information from your mobile device."
Nextdoor also collects information about the computer, smartphone and other devices you're using to access the site.
Plus,
when you invite your neighbors to join Nextdoor, whether it's providing
their email address or their home address, you are giving that
information to Nextdoor. That's how Nextdoor is expanding to five or
more new neighborhoods every single day. That's great, as long as you're
comfortable sharing other people's information with Nextdoor.
Fortunately, you have a few options when it comes to restricting Nextdoor's access to your personal information. These include:
Simply, don't sign up in the first place.
Manage your Personal Profile settings (click on the down arrow by your profile photo >> Your Profile).
Delete
your Nextdoor account from your computer (steps for iOS and Android
vary slightly from these): Click on the down arrow by your profile
picture >> Settings >> Account >> Deactivate Your
Account >> tell Nextdoor why you're leaving >> Deactivate.
If
you feel that your privacy is being violated on Nextdoor, or you're
concerned about it, you can email Nextdoor at Privacy@Nextdoor.com.
11:38 AMHigh Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
The advent of the smartphone has made it possible to conduct the
business of life on the go. With these handy gadgets, we can store
important documents, family photos, daily planners and have face-to-face
conversations with the help of apps like Skype and FaceTime. Very
impressive!
They have become such an important part of our daily
lives it's hard to imagine what we would do without them. Unfortunately,
millions of iPhone users are at risk of having their devices wiped at
the hands of hackers.
Why your iPhone could be at risk
A
group of hackers calling themselves the "Turkish Crime Family" claims
to have gained access to a massive cache of iCloud and Apple email
accounts. Access to these accounts could allow them to wipe everything
from the victims' gadget remotely. They could also reset the victims'
iCloud accounts.
The hackers allegedly have access to more than
300 million Apple email accounts. This includes people using @me and
@icloud domains.
The cybercriminals are demanding that Apple pay
them either $75,000 in Bitcoin currency or $100,000 in iTunes gift
cards. In exchange for payment, the group would then delete the alleged
data cache. They are giving Apple until April 7 to make the payment.
One
of the criminals told Motherboard, "I just want my money and thought
this would be an interesting report that a lot of Apple customers would
be interested in reading and hearing."
Apple has not made a public
statement on the extortion attempt. It's unknown whether this threat is
real, as the alleged stolen account details have yet to be verified. In
the case that the threat is real, there are some security steps you
should take before April 7.
What you need to do now
In the chance that hackers have gained access to your Apple accounts, take these steps:
Change your passwords
- Make sure that you change all passwords associated with your Apple
accounts. Also, have unique passwords for every site that you have an
account. Using the same password across multiple sites should never be
done. Read this article to help you create hack-proof passwords.
Backup
your iPhone - You should backup your iPhone onto your computer through
iTunes. If your phone ever gets wiped, you can restore it with your
backup on iTunes. Click here to learn how to backup your iPhone.
Beware of phishing scams
- Scammers will try and piggyback on potential breaches like this. They
will create phishing emails, pretending to be the affected company,
hoping to get victims to click on malicious links that could lead to
more problems. Take our phishing IQ test to see if you can spot a fake email.
11:32 AMHigh Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Facebook may have started out as a social network for college
students, but a lot has changed since it originally launched back in
2004. Each year, Facebook rolls out new features and settings hoping
they'll improve the user experience.
Still, for many Facebook
users, the social media platform is a cause of headaches. You might be
one of them. After scrolling through numerous posts in your News Feed,
do you find that you're more frustrated than when you first logged in?
This
frustration can be caused by numerous things including oversharing,
political posts, annoying messages and even just not understanding some
of Facebook's key features.
Don't worry. You don't need to be a
Facebook pro to get more from the social network. Follow these tips to
reduce clutter and improve how Facebook functions.
1. See what you want to see
To
make Facebook better, one of the first things you need to do is tell it
exactly what you'd like to see. You can do this through normal use by
only Liking and Sharing things you're truly interested in. But there's
also a way to tell Facebook specifically that you'd like to see more
posts from a particular page or person.
Setting this feature up is simple. Go to the Settings menu in the Facebook Mobile app. Tap, "News Feed Preferences."
Next,
tap "Prioritize who to see first." You can then mark certain profiles
with little stars to tell Facebook that you'd like to see content from
them.
Psst... Like Kim's page on Facebook
and be sure to use this trick so that you don't miss any of the
important content shared there such as security alerts, helpful tips,
behind-the-scenes clips from the show, giveaways and more. Here's how
you can set up your preferences in the Facebook site itself.
Click
the upside-down arrow in the top right-hand corner of the screen, then
click, "News Feed Preferences." From there, use the drop-down menu in
the upper left-hand corner to narrow the list down to "Friends" or
"Pages." Finally, select the friends and pages to which you'd like to
give priority.
2. Eliminate what you don't want to see
If you'd like to cut the clutter from your News Feed, a free browser extension called Social Fixer
is a good place to start. Tired of sponsored posts (aka ads)? How about
annoying posts about politics? Social Fixer has filters that will weed
all of these things out. But that's not all it can do.
Another
perk of Social Mixer is that you can hide the most distracting parts of
the Facebook page. All of those links to the left and tiles to the
right just get in the way, so why not tuck them out of sight?
And, to
clean your feed up even further, there's a setting that will
automatically hide posts after you've read them.
You can also add
filters to your News Feed to hide stories about a particular keyword,
author or application. Your News Feed can even be organized into
different tabs so that certain content categories will be grouped
together.
3. Hide yourself from Facebook Chat
For those of
you who enjoy your privacy, this is an essential tip. Although you may
not use Facebook Chat all that often, it lets your friends know whenever
you're "available." Essentially, the chat feature recognizes that
you're online and using Facebook, so each of your friends who are online
at the same time could see that you're available.
To turn this
feature off, you'll need a Google Chrome extension called Ghost for
Chat. This app lets you use Facebook as you normally would without
allowing your contacts to see that you're online.
Bonus: Block annoying people without getting caught
Let's
be honest: We all have one or two (or maybe more) friends that we don't
want knowing our business. But no one wants to deal with the drama of
"Unfriending" people. And there's a serious stigma that's tied to the
act of Blocking someone altogether.
The good news is you don't
have to officially "Block" someone to prevent them from seeing your
posts. All you have to do is add them to your Restricted List. This list
prevents your content from showing up in the News Feed of the people
you've "blocked," unless you've either tagged them or made the post
itself public.
For step-by-step instructions on adding someone to your Restricted List, press play to watch the video below.
5:27 PMHigh Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Hybrid tablets, 2-in-1 devices or detachable notebooks -- whatever
you want to call them -- come in all shapes and sizes. In fact, the
options are so expansive, it can be overwhelming to find the device that
will best suit you.
Whether you prefer a more traditional notebook experience or
you're looking for a tablet that can perform like a notebook, it's more
than likely the perfect option exists for you. But there's a lot to
consider before you purchase a hybrid device, and these five tips will
help you find your best option.
[ Related story: 6 new 2-in-1 devices to watch for in 2017 ]
Performance
You might be tempted to get a decked-out Surface Pro 4
with an Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM, but it's important to
be realistic about the level of performance you need. For some users, a
mobile processor and 4GB of RAM will be more than enough for everyday
computing.
For power users, or anyone who needs to run more taxing software,
there are plenty of Windows 10 hybrid options that offer more
performance. The Surface Pro 4 line alone has five different
configurations and the option to customize your own device.
It's important to note that a mobile processor isn't necessarily bad -- in fact, the Apple iPad Pro
features Apple's A9X third-generation chip with 64-bit architecture.
Apple's chips consistently perform well, and both the hardware and
software are optimized to work with the chip to offer strong
performance, so don't let the word "mobile" scare you.
Bottom line: If you need business-level
performance, you'll want to look at something configurable, like the
Surface Pro 4. For anyone who just needs access to common apps, email
and basic computing, devices like the iPad Pro and entry level Surface
Pro 4 offer more than enough power.
[ Related story: 4 things you'll love about Dell's XPS 13 2-in-1 and 4 you won't ]
Operating system
There are a three major operating systems to from which to
choose -- iOS, Android or Windows 10. If you're already invested in the
Apple ecosystem, you want to consider the iPad Pro -- you'll enjoy the
continuity features between your iPhone and Mac.
If you're interested in an Android device, you won't find many
dedicated 2-in-1 options. But the reality is that any Android tablet can
act as a hybrid in a pinch. Android tablets, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2
and forthcoming S3, typically feature a compatible keyboard case you
can purchase. And there are plenty of third-party options that can
connect via Bluetooth. So, while Android tablets typically aren't
marketed as 2-in-1 devices, they can easily transform into one with the
right accessories.
And finally, there's Microsoft Windows 10. You'll find no
shortage of hybrid devices running Window 10. Overall, it offers more
flexibility than a mobile OS -- on a Windows 10 hybrid, you can download
desktop applications, multitask with more apps at once and get a true
notebook experience.
Bottom line: If you use software or desktop apps
that aren't available in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store,
consider a device running full Windows 10. If your software can be found
via mobile app, then an iOS or Android device will suffice.
[ Related story: 7 inexpensive Surface Pro 4 alternatives ]
Consider display size
If you're looking for an entertainment device, you can get away
with a smaller display size. But if you want a hybrid that lets you
switch back and forth from business to pleasure, you want to stay in the
12-inch category.
Two of the most popular hybrids, the iPad Pro and Surface Pro 4,
feature 12.9-inch and 12.3-inch displays, respectively. This is the
sweet spot with hybrid devices -- it gives you just enough space to
multitask, while remaining compact and lightweight.
With smaller hybrids, like the 10-inch Apple iPad Pro, Asus
Transformer Mini or the 10-inch Samsung Galaxy Book, you can get work
done, but it won't replace your notebook -- they're better as
entertainment devices. And if you go over 13-inches, like with the Surface Book, you'll find they're usually less portable.
Bottom line: If you want something lightweight
and highly portable, that will allow you to get work done, consider
something in the 12-inch category. Anything smaller will feel more like
an entertainment device, while anything larger will feel more like a
true notebook.
Choose your form factor
While devices like the iPad Pro and Galaxy Book rely on a
portfolio design, others like the Surface Pro 4 and forthcoming Dell
Latitude 5285 feature kickstands on the back of the tablet display. Both
designs come with pros and cons. Portfolio designs offer limited
viewing angles, while kickstand designs can feel unstable on your lap.
Some hybrids are designed like an average notebook, like the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
or the Surface Book. They often feature larger displays, 13-inches or
bigger, which means they're also typically bulkier than other options.
These are for users who need a typical notebook more often than a
tablet, but want the flexibility.
Bottom line: Hybrids that offer a true notebook
experience usually do so at the expense of portability, while tablets
with portfolio and kickstand designs may be more compact, there are some
limitations in viewing angles and stability.
Ports
You'll find hybrid options, like the iPad Pro, that feature only
one port -- and that's fine for an entertainment device. One port is
fine if you plan to use mobile apps, rarely need to connect to external
displays and if you don't mind using an adapter or two in a pinch.
But if you're planning to regularly use a workstation, or connect
to an external monitor, mouse or keyboard, then you'll need something
with more flexibility. Devices like the Surface Pro 4, Galaxy Book, Dell
Latitude 5285, Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and the Surface Book offer a wide
range of ports. Of course, each device offers a different selection of
ports, so make sure they're compatible with the peripherals you plan to
use.
Bottom line: If you plan to connect your hybrid to a work station, or use any peripheral devices, look at something with more than one port.
Related Video
Hardware & Accessories
10 tablets for under $500
This story, "5 tips to help you find the right hybrid tablet" was originally published by
CIO.
They’re dying of what doctors call non-adherence—basically, not following instructions.
And
you don’t have to be old and feeble to have trouble. When I was
recovering from a kidney stone last year, my doctor told me to take
ibuprofen, two pills, four times a day; phenazopyridine, one pill, three
times a day; ciprofloxacin, two pills twice a day; docusate sodium, one
capsule, three times a day; and solifenacin succinate, one pill, once a
day.
Seriously? You’d need a spreadsheet.
Now imagine that you’re on 10 prescriptions. Or 20.
The
point is: There should be an app that reminds you of what to take when,
and records your adherence. In fact, there is an app like that—at least
47 of them, actually. I know, because I bought, installed, and tested
every single one, on a quest for the best.
View photos
An app that tracks your meds through the day. Is that so hard?
Here’s
the complete list of apps I tried. (I originally located 75 of these
apps but eliminated apps that are over three years old, since they’re
usually pretty creaky. Many apps have identical names, so I’ve included
the full title as it appears on the app store. They’re free unless noted.)
Care4Today,
CareZone, CeyHello, Do not forget your pills, Dose Direct, Dose
Organizer ($1), Dosecast, Easy Pill ($3), GenieMD, iCare—Medication
Reminder, Mango Health—Medicine Manager, Pill Reminder, Med Helper—Pill
Reminder and Medication Tracker, MedBox—Medication Reminder and Rx
Tracker, MedCoach Medication Reminder, Medi-Prompt—Medication Reminder
and Log ($4), Medisafe Pill Reminder & Medication Tracker,
MedOClock—Free Pill Reminder with Health Journal, Meds Alert, Meds
Tracker: Medication Daily Reminder and Tracker, Memo Health—Smart pill
reminder & meds manager, Memo Pill Reminder, Mr. Pillster—pill
reminder & medication tracker ($5), MyMedSchedule Mobile, MyTherapy
Meds & Pill Reminder with Health Diary, Pill Alert, Pill
Alert—Medicine Reminder, Pill Alert—Med, Prescriptions Reminder &
Tracker, Pill Box—Your Pill Reminder, Pill In Time, Pill Monitor, Pill
Monitor Pro—Medication Reminders and Logs ($1), Pill Reminder—All in
One, Medication Reminders…, Pill Reminder—Drugs.com, Pill Reminder—
MedRem, Pill Reminder—Alarm for medicine, contraceptive, Pill Reminder
Alarm—Reminder To Take Medication, Pill Tracker Box, Pillbox—Your Pill
Reminder, Pillboxie ($2), Pills—Reminder for Daily Taking Medicine and
Pills Medication Reminder ($1), PocketNurse—Pill Reminder, Round
Health—Medicine Reminder and Pill Tracker, RX2—Meds and Pill Reminder
($3), rxRemind—Free Medicine Pill Reminder and Tracker.
Got it?
Apparently, a pill reminder is what every coder attempts as My Very First App, because most of them are terrible.
Some are just bare-bones, but others are aggressively bad. Plenty of
them crash on opening. Lots are full of typos and broken English. Many
of them make it extremely awkward to enter the pill information. Almost
all of them should instantly go into the Great App Trash Bin in the Sky.
Fortunately, there’s one shining exception.
What we want in a pill-reminder app
Dive into a few of these apps, and it rapidly becomes apparent that eight features separate the good stuff from the junk:
Easy to enter the med’s name. In
bad apps (most of them), you have to type out the name of the medicine
with your finger, carefully glancing back to the drugstore bottle. In
better apps, you can type the first few letters and then tap Search—and
choose from a list of matches. In the best apps, you get real-time
autocomplete: A list of matches appears as you type.
Pictures of the pills. The
worst apps don’t even attempt graphics. Better ones let you take a
photo of your pills, or choose from a palette of pill shapes and colors.
The best ones already know what the meds look like, because
they’re plugged into online medicine databases. Compliance is much more
likely if the reminders, instead of just saying phenazopyridine,also show a couple of maroon round pills.
Easy to enter the times. The
worst apps make you set reminder times manually. If you’re supposed to
take a pill 3 times a day, for example, you might input 10 a.m., 6 p.m.,
and 2 a.m. The better ones let you enter “3x daily,” and the app proposes
three evenly spaced times. The best ones do that but also intelligently
reset the timer if you’re late taking a pill at one of the three times.
Drug warnings. The worst apps don’t have any actual knowledge of the drugs you’ve listed; it doesn’t know “ibuprofen” from“I
love Lucy.” The better apps show you a page of information about each
prescription. And the best apps automatically warn you if you’ve entered
two drugs that shouldn’t be taken together.
Family monitoring. The worst apps track only your meds.
The better ones let you track other family members’ meds on your phone,
so that you can also remember when it’s time to dose up your kid or
your parent. The best ones also let you know remotely when a
loved one has missed a dose. For example, if your grandfather doesn’t
tap “Done” when he gets his 6 p.m. reminder to take his heart medicine, your phone lets you know, so you can call him up and bug him.
To Do list. The
worst apps just pop up reminders when it’s time to take a medicine. The
better ones also show you a tidy timeline of upcoming pills you’ll have
to take today. The best apps also keep a history—a handy report of your
past pill-taking record—that you can send to, say, your doctor.
Smart rescheduling. The
worst apps just remind you when it’s time to take a dose. The better
ones let you indicate either Taken or Missed for each reminder. The best
ones also offer options to Skip or Postpone a dose. (For example, if
you’re on hardcore pain medicine that you’re supposed to take no more
often than every four hours, the reminder that pops up says, in effect,
“You may take a pill now.” But if you don’t need it, you can hit Skip.)
Lock-screen dismissal. All
apps make an alert appear on your iPhone or Android phone’s Lock
screen. Usually, in order to indicate that you’ve taken that pill, you
have to swipe that alert to open the app. The best ones offer Taken or
Skipped buttons right there on the Lock screen, for less disruption and
fewer steps.
As it turns out, only one app delivers all of
those features. It’s so much more complete than its rivals, with so
much more polish, that the others should slink back to the app store in
shame.
To make matters even better, this app is free. This winner, by a wide margin, is called Medisafe.
Medisafe
As you can see by the video above, Medisafe
wins you over right at the top, by auto-completing your drug names as
you enter them and showing you what they look like. It autocompletes
both prescription and over-the-counter drug names.
If
you get your prescriptions from CVS, Walgreens, RiteAid, or WalMart,
the app can even import your complete meds list directly from those
drugstore accounts, so you do no data entry at all.
It’s
got drug-interaction warnings, and even—get this—videos that offer drug
and dosage information. “This is Tamsulosin,” a doctor-looking guy says
in one, “and you should take your dose 30 minutes after a meal. You
should swallow the capsule whole, and don’t crush or chew it.” He goes
on to describe what it’s for and what the side effects can be. (The
videos cover the drugs representing 85% of all prescriptions.)
View photos
MediSafe is smart, simple, complete, and free.
This
app makes it incredibly easy to specify when and how many you’re
supposed to take. It reminds you to refill your prescription, too.
The
app shows your drug regimen as four “pill boxes,” representing morning,
afternoon, and so on. To say you’ve taken your dose, you just swipe
across the medicine’s name, or (if you take several at once) hit Take
All. You can indicate that you’re skipping a dose, or postponing it.
There’s
a To Do list, a History report, an Apple Watch app, a built-in
tutorial, and notifications if a loved one has missed a dose.
So
if Medisafe is free, how does it make money? Kind of clever: Its
company makes money from drug companies, health plans, and doctors. Each
has a vested interest in your sticking to your prescription routine:
health insurers, because keeping you healthy costs them less; doctors,
because (a) they want you healthy and (b) sometimes the insurance
companies won’t pay them if you get re-admitted for the same ailment
within 30 days; and pharma companies, because if you take your meds on
time, you’ll have to buy refills from them sooner! Handy, no?
If you or someone you love could use a free, lovely, complete pill-reminder app, go download Medisafe.
The runners-up
Here are a few other apps worth mentioning.
Care4Today.
This beautifully simple app is a close second place. It offers a quick
visual way to check off doses as you take them, color-coded by urgency
(below, left). Offers drug info, interaction warnings, autocomplete, and
automatic pill pictures. Better yet, few apps go as far as this one to
encourage adherence. For example, it shows weekly graphs of your
adherence, including your running percentage score. And get this: For
each day that you maintain 100% adherence, the company donates 25 cents
to a charity (you can choose from a set of 9).
View photos
Care4Today
is beautiful and rich, complete with autocomplete (center) and
charitable donations for each day you master your meds.
Pill Reminder—All in One, Medication Reminders. Very
clean, very attractive, easy to use. Type a few letters, then tap
“Search U.S. FDA Database” to autocomplete (although it doesn’t list
everything). You can specify either “3 times a day” or specify three
exact times. Options to reschedule; auto-snooze. If you have more than
two meds, you have to buy the $2 Pro version.
View photos
“Pill Reminder – All in One…” looks great and shows simple pill graphics.
Pill Reminder—Drugs.com. Superb,
clean layout; the To Do list is also a calendar, so you can look ahead
or back to other days. Autocomplete for drug names, option to photograph
your pills. Tracks your refills; offers a password for privacy.
View photos
“Pill Reminder – Drugs.com” is pretty great. (There are 4 other apps called Pill Reminder, though–don’t get confused.)
Pillboxie. Really
simple app, heavy on clear, attractive graphics. For example, you
schedule your dose times by dragging a picture of the pill into a
time-labeled pill-box on the screen. Lots of help screens. To Do list,
History, fun reminder sounds.
View photos
Pillboxie’s text and graphics are big and clear enough to see without glasses.
Round Health—Medicine Reminder and Pill Tracker. Shows
a round daily graph of your progress; offers a unique but somewhat
confusing “time window” system of reminder prompts. Great autocomplete
that includes standard pill strengths—alas, no pictures. If you create
an account, you can save your med history and sync data between multiple
devices.
View photos
Round Health shows your progress as a round graph (left). It also has autocomplete (right).
RX2—Meds and Pill Reminder. Super
efficient to schedule your doses: If you tap “3x a day,” the app
proposes the actual time slots (you can adjust the defaults in Settings,
or on the spot). When the time comes, you can tap Take, Skip, or
Reschedule. Clear, big design. View by day, week, month. Autocomplete
(although doesn’t know all med names). No pill pictures, though.
View photos
RX2 has a bold, clear design and a choice of Day, Week, or Month views.
Happy pill taking!
I’ve
identified seven extraordinary, well designed apps that remind you to
take your meds, and track your adherence; MediSafe and Care4Today, in
particular, are spectacular.
Now,
technically, I can appreciate that a tech column is more exciting when
it covers hybrid tablets or automated drones. But this time, I thought
maybe the most exciting product is one that can save your life.
6:36 PMHigh Tech House Calls, Expert Computer Consulting
Admit it, my people: the way of the world is to go wireless.
First phone cords went away, then internet cables, then printer cords; power cords’ extinction is coming soon.
So why, then, are we so upset about losing earbud cords?
Yes, yes, OK: It’s a pain to have yet another battery to charge, and wired buds give you better sound quality for the dollar.
But wireless earbuds have compelling advantages, too—for example, they’re wireless. You
don’t have to fish out a wiry mass from your bag, untangle it, avoid
catching it on your clothing or furniture, or figure out how to thread
it so it doesn’t drive you crazy when you’re working out or running.
Soon enough, the decision will be made for you. Motorola (MSI), LeEco, and Apple (AAPL) have begun eliminating the headphone jacks from their smartphones, and other phone makers are following suit.
When Apple removed the headphone jack
from the iPhone 7, a popular cry was, “They just want to force us to
buy their $160 AirPod wireless buds!” And yes, Apple would love that,
but it’s not mandatory. The world is teeming with wireless earbuds that
don’t come from Apple. Many are better, less expensive, or both.
How do I know? Because I’ve tested them out. Forty of them (40). My ear canals are practically bleeding at this point.
View photos
I’ll try out 40 pairs of earbuds for you. No problem.
But you know what? You’re worth it.
What to expect from Bluetooth earbuds
Most
of today’s earbuds use the Bluetooth 4.1 technology, which is pretty
great. It eliminates the lag between the video you’re watching and its
audio, and it lets your earbuds remain “paired” (wirelessly connected)
to two devices simultaneously, like your phone and your laptop. (You
hear sound from only one at a time.)
Almost
all of the candidates come with a Micro USB charging cable, which you
can connect to your computer or, with a USB “wall wart” (not included),
to a power outlet. The earbuds get between 4 and 18 hours of music
playback time, and you can wander between 30 and 100 feet from your
phone before the music begins to drop out.
The
good ones come with cases to protect them and an assortment of rubber
or foam ear tips; it’s super important to find the ones that fit you
best. Since these are in-the-ear-canal buds, a snug fit blocks outside
noise and gives their generally feeble bass a fighting chance to reach
your brain.
These
days, wireless buds come in all kinds of crazy incarnations; it’s as
though you gave some guidelines (“battery, circuit board, two earbuds”)
to six different aliens and then watched how many approaches they came
up with. In general, they break down like this:
Completely detached. On
these, there are no wires—not even between the earbuds. They’re two
separate pieces; you can hand one to a friend, if you like, for
simul-listening. For about 80% of the population, they stay in place
even during running, but it may take you a long time to get over the feeling that you’re going to lose one. Most are kind of heavy, and all of them look bizarre in your ears. Most, like Apple’s AirPods,
come with a battery-equipped case that recharges your buds. Controlling
volume and skipping tracks can be tricky on these, since there’s no
remote, and phone calls generally aren’t great, since the microphone is
nowhere near your mouth.
Cord style.
The huge majority of Bluetooth earbuds still have one wire—between the
buds. That way, you’re a lot less likely to lose one. The good ones
offer some way to shorten that wire behind your head so that it doesn’t
slap as you run. There’s usually a remote control with three
buttons—volume up, volume down, play/pause—that also contains the
microphone for calls and Siri/Google Now. Usually, you have to memorize
patterns of short, long, double, and triple-clicks of these buttons to
perform all the functions of music playback and call management.
Collar style. You’re
seeing this style crop up in offices these days: a lightweight plastic
collar that hangs around your neck all day long, with thin earbud wires
coming out of it. That extra real estate means more buttons for
dedicated features, beefier batteries, and a vibration mode that lets
you know when a call is coming in. Calls sound great, of course, because
now the microphone is positioned right below your mouth. You may not be
so crazy about the collar style if you run, though; it’ll bang on your
collarbones.
In
the endless scrolling pages below, I’ll show you my notes for each of
the 40 earbuds I tested. But in the event that you actually have a life,
here’s the short version: the winners in each category.
The winner: Detached earbuds
The
Apple AirPods ($160) take it. Their design is far slimmer, and somewhat
less goofy looking, than their bulky rivals, which look like you’ve
jammed wine corks into your head. Each AirPod plays music for five hours
on a charge, but when you slip them magnetically back into their little
dental-floss box/case, they get a fresh charge—24 hours’ worth in all.
View photos
If you’re prepared for the downsides of detached buds, the AirPods are great.
They
really don’t fall out, as you’d expect them to, and they sound
fantastic, even on phone calls. (The little stem points the microphones
at your mouth.) Unfortunately, they have no buttons, so you can’t adjust
the volume or skip tracks without speaking Siri commands or picking up
your phone.
The
AirPods contain what Apple calls the W1 chip, which confers several
advantages. First, the “pairing” process with an iPhone is absurdly
easy: Just open the case. Instantly, the phone acknowledges their
proximity and offers a Connect button. The Beats X and Powerbeats 3 also
contain the W1 chip, and the pairing process looks something like this:
(If you have an Android phone, you pair the AirPods the usual way, using your Bluetooth settings.)
The
W1 also means that once you’ve introduced the AirPods to your iPhone,
it’s automatically listed as available to your Mac or Apple Watch, too.
It also boosts the Bluetooth signal considerably; you can walk really
deeply into your home without worrying that the sound will cut out.
Important note: Since you have no option to choose different tips, AirPods aren’t comfortable for everyone.
The winners: Corded earbuds
The
world offers hundreds of corded Bluetooth earbuds. No-name Chinese
corded earbuds fill the pages of Amazon.com like grain in a silo.
I have buddies who don’t care about sweat resistance, Bluetooth range, elegant controls and all that jazz; they just buy super cheapies (you can find ‘em for under $15), good enough for listening to podcasts and YouTube, and don’t care when they die or get lost.
But
if you do care about comfort, battery life, music quality, Bluetooth
range, looks, sweatproofness, and features, then you can’t get wrong
with today’s winner, the Jaybird X3s.
Among the finest of many, many fine corded Bluetooth earbuds.
They come with nine pairs of tips, including Comply foam tips (squish,
insert, wait for them to expand) and wingtips, which hook into your
cartilage to hold the buds in place. You can thread the cord either over
or under your ears; a clip lets you shorten the cord to prevent
slapping while running. Eight hours of playback time. All of this for
$130.
A nice alternative, by the way, is the Optoma NuForce BE6i.
It offers a clone of the Jaybirds’ list of virtues—eight hours, eight
pairs of tips, $130—but offers voice prompts with a cute British accent,
a flat, tangle-resistant cable, and a little less bass and Bluetooth
range.
The winners: Collared
OK, this stunned me: For some reason, Samsung is selling a full-featured collar-style Bluetooth earbud set for $33 on Amazon: the Level U. It sounds fine, it’s got incoming-call vibrations, it has a tremendous Bluetooth range, and it’s $33. What am I missing?
Clearly, it’s not the best collared set you can buy, but it’s by far the best for the money.
At the opposite extreme, there’s the $400, super-deluxe, leather-wrapped, Klipsch x12.
I mean, 18 hours of battery life. Splash resistant. Carrying case, six
pairs of tips, and ridiculous Bluetooth range. And the sound—holy moly:
spectacular clarity, weighty bass, detailed highs, solid midrange.
You’ll think you’re listening to fancy wired headphones.
View photos
From left: Samsung Level U ($32), Klipsch x12 ($400), LG Tone Infinim ($67).
In a more practical price range, I really liked LG’s line of collars, like the Tone Infinim, the Tone Active+, and the Tone Platinum. They have retractable, spring-loaded earbud wires, which are tidy and brilliant (above, right).
The
Tone Active+ collar even has external speakers in addition to the
retractable buds. Their power won’t shatter any wine glasses. But since
they sit just below your ears, they’re perfectly listenable as you
putter around the house, take a call at your desk, or share a song with a
couple of friends sitting nearby.
Besides: having nothing in your ears is the most comfortable of all.
Lots
of wireless buds offer excellence in one area or another (see below),
and very few are outright stinkers. But for most people—especially those
for whom money doesn’t grow on trees—the models listed above are the
most likely to bring happiness.
I know, because I did the exhausting research and testing for you. You’re welcome.
The 40 contenders
Here are my notes on the 40 wireless earbuds I tested.
The
little graphs for price, battery, Bluetooth range, and number of ear
tips show you where they fall relative to their competitors.
For example, if you see “Battery hours: 4 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦,” then this model can play music for only four hours, whereas the best models last 18 hours (18 diamonds).
Unless
otherwise noted, they all sound basically alike: fine for watching
videos, making calls, doing Skype or FaceTime—just not so great with
bass.
Adv.Sound Model 3. They’re
billed as “high-resolution music monitors,” and by golly, they sound
fantastic. Putting them on takes some training, though, because one loop
of wire goes around your head, and another down your torso.
View photos
Adv.Sound Model 3: Exceptional sound, not so great for workouts.
Amazingly,
these wireless buds can become wired buds when the battery dies or you
want all the quality you can squeeze out—no other buds do that. But
they’re not for working out, since they’re not sweat-resistant.
Range, in Poguesteps: 25 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Apple AirPods. No
other earbuds have this design, or these pros/cons. Terrific sound,
battery life, pairing simplicity, range, as described above. Double-tap
to get an immediate, crisp “I’m listening” chime from Siri—and then you
talk. Just ridiculous amounts of cool technology packed into tiny space.
(Here’s my full review.)
View photos
AirPods. Amazing, but not suitable for all ear canals.
Range, in Poguesteps: 48 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Beats Powerbeats 3. Apple
owns Beats, so it’s no surprise to find the W1 chip in these corded
earbuds—so you get the insta-pairing with an iPhone and the insane
range. These are made for working out: they’re sweat-resistant, hook
over your ears, and allow ambient sound. These babies aren’t going
anywhere. They have unusually good battery life. If you’re rushed, five
minutes of charging provides one hour of listening. A clip can shorten
the cord.
Range, in Poguesteps: 48 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Beats X. Another
Apple-owned product—with that nice W1 chip. A standard earbuds-and-cord
design, but there are three pods along the cord instead of the usual
one. One has the playback controls, one has the power button, and one’s
there just to confuse you. Magnets keep the buds together when you’re
not listening. Requires a Lightning cable to recharge (included); five
minutes gives you two hours of juice. Not much bass (yes, even though
it’s Beats).
Range, in Poguesteps: 48 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? Yes
Bose QuietControl 30. These
are the buds you want on a plane; they’ve got Bose’s famous noise
cancellation technology, which shuts up the engine roar amazingly well
(though not as well as Bose’s wired models). That helps with the sound
quality, which is leaps better than the cheapy buds. You can control how
much outside noise you want to admit, using either buttons on the
controller or a companion app—handy when you’re biking or running. Pairs
with NFC, if your Android phone has it. Gorgeous build quality; sweat
resistant and pricey.
View photos
Bose QuietControl 30: Best noise cancellation you can buy.
Range, in Poguesteps: 20 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? Yes
Bose Soundsport Wireless.
Here’s Bose’s take on corded workout buds. Splash/rain resistant, a
clothing clip, and terrific bass. The little globules stick way out from
your head, though, so you can’t put a helmet on over them, and they
look a little goofy.
Range, in Poguesteps: 20 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? Yes
Bragi The Headphone. Totally
detached—a followup to the Bragi Dash (a do-it-all in-ear doodad that
purports to measure your heart rate). The right earbud contains three
tiny control buttons that are no picnic to operate; the left one has
only one big button. Sound quality isn’t great, and the real
heart-breaker is that the charging case doesn’t also have a battery, as
rivals do, so the buds don’t recharge except when the case is plugged
in.
Range, in Poguesteps: 30 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Decibullz Custom-Fit Wireless. Cheap,
pretty bad earbuds (the shortest battery life, and shortest range, of
this roundup)—with a clever gimmick: The earbuds melt into pliable goo
when boiled in water. You’re supposed to mash it into your ear as it
cools, so that it perfectly fits your nooks and crannies. It really
works—it helps out with sound, fit, and comfort, and easily accommodates
a helmet—but looks bizarre. (You can also buy the mashable plastic
portion separately to use with better earbuds.)
Range, in Poguesteps: 10 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? Yes
Jabra Halo Free. OK
cheapo buds. Dedicated button for Siri or Google Now. An app that
offers additional features, like a map that shows you the last place you
had them turned on, and a voice that can read your messages. Water
resistant. The protruding bulb blocks helmets.
Range, in Poguesteps: 18 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? No
Jabra Halo Smart. Amazingly
cheap, super lighweight collar-style buds with astonishing battery life
(15 hours). Magnets for bud-clicking; vibration for incoming calls;
mediocre, bass-free sound. Companion app tracks last known location.
Range, in Poguesteps: 25 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? No
Jabra Sport Rox Wireless. Nice,
steel buds. Magnets on the buds that auto-pause your music (why didn’t
anyone think of this before?). Rain, shock, dust resistant. NFC pairing.
Range, in Poguesteps: 18 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? No
Jaybird Freedom. Tiny,
sweat-resistant, metal buds, helmet-friendly; very bright sound.
Charges from a tiny cradle that snaps onto the remote on the cord—a
blocky, bulky arrangement, but the cradle has a 4-hour booster battery
inside. Loaded with features and cord-draping options. App lets you
adjust the sound character.
Range, in Poguesteps: 45 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? Yes
JBL Reflect Mini BT. Reflective
cables—a great idea for night joggers. Sweat/water resistant. Weak
range, no case. They don’t turn off automatically after you stop using
them.
Range, in Poguesteps: 26 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Klipsch x12. Almost
absurdly overbuilt: leather band, copper accents, black chrome. 18-hour
battery life, huge distance range, vibration mode for calls, crazy
great sound. Super comfy, thanks to the unique oval-shaped silicone
ear-canal plugs. 6 tip pairs, including Comply foam ones.
Range, in Poguesteps: 45 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
LG Tone Infinim HBS-910. Inexpensive,
likable collar-style. Sturdy yet flexible plastic collar. Press buttons
on the inner collar to make the retractable earbuds snap back inside to
avoid tangle and clutter. Dedicated buttons for volume, track
forward/back, calls, power. No case, not sweat resistant.
Range, in Poguesteps: 39 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? No
LG Tone Active+. External
speakers—not powerful, but very handy (calls, listening to music
without anything in your ears). Retractable buds (tug on them rather
than pressing a button). Sweat/water resistant. Tone & Talk app can
read your notifications and texts, and let you customize the button
controls.
Range, in Poguesteps: 39 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? No
LG Tone Platinum HBS-1100. LG’s
top-of-the-line Bluetooth collar. Great dedicated buttons. Earbuds
retract with buttons. Tone & Talk app. Not sweat-resistant.
(Clearly, LG offers a huge range of these collar-style buds—for help in
telling them apart, here’s a chart.)
Range, in Poguesteps: 39 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? No
LG Force. LG
also makes this standard corded earbuds, distinguished by the
ear-shaped loops. Takes a little effort to put on, but they stay on.
Incredibly light (under an ounce); nice sound. Dedicated power button.
Sweat/water resistant.
View photos
LG Force. These babies won’t fall off unless your ears do.
Range, in Poguesteps: 35 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Monster iSport Victory. The
cable is coated with rubber, for a weird, non-tangling feel. A
shortener is built in. It has above-average sound, and the buttons on
the remote are much more feel-able than on most. Sweat resistant. Short
Bluetooth range.
Monster iSport Victory, with its weird cool rubbery cords.
Range, in Poguesteps: 11 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? Yes
Motorola VerveOnes+. Fully
detached, sweat/waterproof earbuds. The bulky outer pod may or may not
nestle neatly into your particular ears. You have to learn the meanings
of various clicks, double, triple, and long presses on each side. Great
sound. Long delay before Siri. Have to pause the music before you can
use Siri or Google Now. Case is also a recharger, providing a total of
12 hours of playback.
Moto VerveOnes+, shown in their little recharging cylinder case.
Battery hours: 3 (12 in charging case) ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear tip pairs: 3 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Range, in Poguesteps: 13 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? NO
Case included? Yes
Motorola VerveLoop+. Super
light, waterproof/sweat-proof. Companion app notes the last connected
location—a sort of “Find my buds.” Protruding bulge not helmet-friendly.
Range, in Poguesteps: 25 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? No
Motorola VerveRider+. Super
light, water/sweat-proof, excellent battery life. Bright orange for
visibility. Magnetic tips. Companion app for locating or turning
notification vibrations on and off.
View photos
Moto VerveRider+, in “don’t hit me with your car” orange.
Range, in Poguesteps: 25 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? No
Optoma NuForce BE6i. Magnetic,
aluminum-construction buds; sweat-proof; voice prompt has a cute
British accent. Have to pause music before triggering Siri/Google Now.
Flat, no-tangle cable. Everything included. Overall, a superb pair.
View photos
Optoma NuForce BE6i: Competent and satisfying all the way around.
Range, in Poguesteps: 25 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? Yes
Phiaton BT 220 NC. Strange
design: The wires connect to a control box that dangles on your
torso—will drive runners crazy. Supposedly has noise canceling, but it’s
very, very weak. Amazing battery, poor range.
View photos
Phiaton BT 220 NC: The stethoscope design doesn’t really help.
Range, in Poguesteps: 8 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Plantronics BackBeat Fit Bluetooth. Super minimal and light. No remote on the cord; the buttons are on the buds themselves. Thick rubberized cord wraps over your
ear—stays in place. Sweat/waterproof. Reflective armband case. Lets in
ambient sound for running/biking safety (plugs don’t seal ear canals).
Bluetooth 3.0, alas.
View photos
Plantronics BackBeat Fit. Minimalist, waterproof, rugged.
Range, in Poguesteps: 13 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Roam Ropes. Radical,
somewhat tangly stethoscope/pendant design, created by the guy who
originally developed the Beats headphones. You’re supposed to let it
just hang around you when you’re not using the buds. Painful treble when
cranked. App lets you adjust the sound signature.
Range, in Poguesteps: 45 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? Yes
Case included? No
Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds 2 Wireless. Removable rigid neck channel for the wire, to give the neck portion some rigidity (if you like). Super crisp highs.
Range, in Poguesteps: 25 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? No
Skybuds. Incredibly
tiny, detached-style separate buds. You have to turn the right and left
buds on separately. There’s an app to find your lost bud, and it has
great sound. The case recharges the buds. No way to adjust volume
without using your phone.
Range, in Poguesteps: 33 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? Yes
Sol Republic Shadow Wireless. Great-looking
hybrid design: a thickened band around your neck. May bounce out of
your ears when running. Water/sweat resistant. Bluetooth 4.0 (not 4.1).
Range, in Poguesteps: 33 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Ear wings included? No
Case included? No
Sol Republic Amps Air. Detached-style.
Entire outside panel is a button—hard to avoid hitting accidentally.
The remarkable recharging case is a huge battery: can recharge the buds
15 times, or recharge your phone! Just put buds in case to turn them
off; take out to turn them on. Case can charge buds 15 times or be a
backup battery for phone! Case has charge LEDs. No volume control or
track controls on the buds. Real bass.
View photos
Sol Republic Amps Air: Detached, if you’re into that kind of thing.
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Gift Certificates
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Making the move to an Apple laptop? My business has been running on an Apple laptop for 6 years.
You bought an iPhone. Now what? We have been working on iPhone problems since they came out and we can help.
Summer will be here before you know it. You want to surf on the internet on your wireless network from your pool. We are wireless network experts in both design and deployment.
Or you can use this gift card for any help needed (including training) for the computers in your home or small business.
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No expiration date.
Can be used for service calls or training.
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