Reviews - Page 14

Volkswagen's Jetta compact sedan, a mainstay of the German automaker's lineup for 40 years, received a significant redesign for the 2019 model year, bringing a new platform, fresh new design, technology upgrades, and more. The Jetta is popular with car buyers looking for a cost-efficient daily commute vehicle, and the new Jetta starts at a little under $19,000 but can rise to around $27,500 if ...

Nomad is a company that creates useful accessories built around rugged simplicity, and in the past it has released iPhone cases, Lightning cables, and Apple Watch straps. This year, Nomad launched its first metal strap for the Apple Watch, called the Titanium Band, a full-metal link bracelet built with over twenty titanium links and a set of custom lugs, designed for the 44mm Apple Watch...

If you're a fan of classic Mac designs, you may be interested in the iBot G3, a figurine that's modeled after Apple's iconic iMac G3, first released in 1998. The iBot G3 was designed by Philip Lee, who previously released another Mac-related figurine called the Classicbot. The iBot G3 is Lee's latest project, and like the Classic bot, it's a fun take on one of Apple's original Mac designs. ...

Fibaro has been making smart home devices and HomeKit-compatible products for a few years now, and the company has several sensors that work with HomeKit, including the Flood Sensor. The Flood Sensor, along with the Button that we reviewed last year, are the two Fibaro branded ‌HomeKit‌ accessories available for purchase from Apple. Fibaro's Flood Sensor is designed to detect water, which...

Eve Systems, formerly known as Elgato, has been making its Eve line of HomeKit products since ‌HomeKit‌ was first announced, and it was in fact one of the first companies to come out with ‌HomeKit‌ devices. Eve recently expanded into lighting, launching the Eve Flare and the Eve Light Strip. I tested the Eve Light Strip earlier this year, and now that its sister product the Eve Flare has come to...

LaCie, Seagate's premium brand, recently launched a new external SSD, the LaCie Mobile SSD, which offers up to 2TB of storage space along with USB-C transfer speeds up to 540MB/s. The LaCie Mobile SSD follows the LaCie Portable SSD, offering a thin, light enclosure that's easily pocketable but still eye catching. LaCie first introduced the Mobile SSD at CES 2019, and it's now available for...

The Philips Hue line of lights have been controllable via an indoor motion sensor for some time, but Signify is today introducing an Outdoor Motion Sensor that's designed to control the range of outdoor Hue lights that are now available for purchase. The Outdoor Motion Sensor works just like the indoor Smart Motion Sensor, automating your lights and other HomeKit products to come on when...

Skin care company La Roche-Posay (owned by L'Oreal) recently released its first tech product, a UV sensor that's designed to tell you how much sun exposure you're getting on any given day. The My Skin Track UV Sensor, available from Apple, is meant to help you make sure you have adequate sun protection for long days spent in the sun. It's tiny, solar powered, and transfers data over NFC, so...

Mattress company Casper recently introduced its first non-bedding product, the Glow Light. Designed to help you fall asleep and wake up, the Glow Light provides timed, smart lighting that gets gradually dimmer or brighter based on your needs for the purpose of improving your sleeping habits. Design Casper's Glow Light will look familiar to Apple users because the design is reminiscent of the...

Mitsubishi isn't one of the biggest-selling car manufacturers in the U.S. these days, but the Japanese automaker has been rebounding substantially in recent years thanks in large part to its focus on the popular crossover segment, led by the Outlander. The Mitsubishi Outlander has been offered in a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant for the last few years, and I've been testing out a brand-new 2019 ...

Eve (formerly known as Elgato) was one of the first companies to come out with HomeKit accessories when ‌HomeKit‌ was announced in 2014, and since then, Eve has been expanding its portfolio of HomeKit-connected products. The newest addition to the Eve ‌HomeKit‌ lineup is the Eve Light Strip, first introduced at CES and launched in February. The Eve Light Strip is one of several HomeKit-connected...

Satechi has offered a few options for iMac stands over the past few years, allowing customers a chance to elevate their ‌iMac‌ for a more ergonomic workspace, and gain access to a limited number of ports. Now Satechi has released the Type-C Aluminum Monitor Stand Hub for ‌iMac‌, an all-new ‌iMac‌ stand that is a bit of a combination of the two previous accessories, offering a greater number of...

GM was one of the early adopters of CarPlay, with the feature debuting on a few 2016 Chevrolet models and rapidly spreading across the company's various brands including Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. As part of a 2018 model year redesign intended to breathe some more life into its Regal sedan, Buick introduced the Regal TourX, an all-wheel drive wagon version that offers more cargo space to...

Since debuting CarPlay in the 2017 Maxima, Nissan has been gradually expanding support for Apple's in-car platform throughout much of the carmaker's lineup, integrating with its NissanConnect infotainment system. I've had an opportunity to spend some time testing out ‌CarPlay‌ and NissanConnect on a new 2019 Nissan Altima, one of the most popular midsize sedans on the market, and I've found it...

Back in mid-2018, First Alert launched its Onelink Safe & Sound smoke and carbon dioxide detector that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and Wi-Fi connected Alexa assistant while also including HomeKit support to integrate with the rest of your smart home products in the Apple ecosystem. I've been using the Safe & Sound for a few months now, and I must say, it's turned out to be more useful...

With a new material called Gallium nitride (GaN), semiconductor components have been able to be shrunk down, leading to smaller than ever charging accessories. Several accessory makers have been taking advantage of GaN technology for new products, including Anker. Anker recently debuted the PowerPort Atom PD 1, a 30W USB-C charger that's much smaller than the USB-C power adapters offered by...

Back in November, I took a look at Fiat Chrysler's Uconnect infotainment system and CarPlay integration in the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan, discovering a quite positive user experience that nearly seamlessly incorporates ‌CarPlay‌ into Uconnect. That seamlessness comes thanks to an 8.4-inch Uconnect display that keeps a top status bar and a bottom menu bar visible at all times for easy...

Last fall I had the chance to take a look at ZENS' all-new Dual + Watch Wireless Charger, which offers spots to charge two Qi-enabled smartphones and one perch for the Apple Watch. I came away quite liking the accessory, which should be a great charging hub for anyone in a two-person household, and now the company has launched a companion accessory called the ZENS Dual Wireless Powerbank....

Apple in 2017 purchased Beddit, a company that makes a sleep monitoring system designed to track your sleeping habits to help you improve your sleep hygiene. Apple hasn't said much about the purchase, nor what it's doing with the data it collects from the Beddit system, but in December, Apple quietly pulled the original Beddit Sleep System and introduced a redesigned model with an updated and...

Belkin is known for a range of accessories for the iPhone, and when Apple introduced support for Qi-based wireless chargers, Belkin was quick to come out with a range of options. The Boost Up Wireless Charging Dock, which debuted in September, is the newest and most versatile offering, combining a Qi wireless charger with an Apple Watch charging puck and an extra USB-A port. Design wise,...