Stop the porch pirates
Thirty percent of Americans have experienced package theft, reports Mercury News. Video doorbells help catch porch pirates in the act. But a new partnership between Amazon and Chamberlain Group, a manufacturer of automatic garage door openers, offers a more foolproof solution: in-garage delivery, known as Key for Garage. Amazon already offers in-home delivery, but many homeowners aren’t comfortable with delivery persons entering their home. With Key for Garage, you install a device to your garage door opener that allows the delivery person access to your garage and notifies you along the way.
Standing desks
The editors of The Wirecutter, a New York Times Company, write that the Uplift bamboo stand-up desk and V2 frame is the best deal for people who want a relatively stable surface that looks good, moves quickly and quietly, and presents few problems in working every day. “The Uplift bamboo desktop was every tester’s favorite, particularly the (optional) ergonomic groove cutout in front,” according to the editors. “You can kit out the Uplift with a number of accessories that match your desk style, including power and cable organizers.”
Shades from Bose
It’s difficult to determine whether to classify the $199.95 Bose Frames as Bluetooth earphones or headphones, as they make no contact with your actual ear, says PC Magazine. But they are sunglasses. And surprisingly, they succeed on both fronts, delivering crisp and clear audio through a classic, stylish design, according to the editors. The Frames present several limitations, however. They are, after all, sunglasses, so unless you work in an exceptionally bright room, you won’t be wearing these at your office desk. And they lack prescription lenses. Bose says you can add prescription lenses without disrupting the internal electronics, but doing so will void the warranty.
A good cheap scanner
The $90 Canon LiDE 220 is the fastest, most accurate, and most intuitive flatbed scanner for everyday users, according to The Wirecutter. “Whether you’re scanning an old photo, your kid’s artwork, or an excerpt from a book, the LiDE 220 is fast, accurate, and affordable,” according to the editors. “Compared to its closest competitors, the LiDE 220 produced the clearest scans with the most visual accuracy from a variety of materials and had the most accurate text recognition across all documents. It’s light and compact, can be used upright, and because it requires just one USB port, it won’t clutter up your workspace.”
For the connoisseur
Qloo, an artificial intelligence platform for culture and taste, has acquired TasteDive, a cultural recommendation engine and social community. TasteDive is said to help consumers discover their taste across broad categories of entertainment choices by identifying, matching and making personalized recommendations based on their interests in authors, books, games, music, movies, TV shows and podcasts. Users get recommendations based on what they like, while registered users are provided with additional features, such as sharing a taste profile, receiving personalized recommendations, and taking part in a global community of like-minded users.
Flicker-free lighting
If your current office lighting is making life flash or at least flicker before your eyes, ask your manager to install the GAYA flat panel fixture from Access Fixtures. Designed for installation in a grid ceiling, the GAYA LED flat panels boast an L70 rated life of 50,000 hours. And they are guaranteed to be flicker-free, and they won’t produce glare. Available in 30w, 40w, 50w, and 75w.
Triple-rear cameras
Will 2019 be the year of triple-rear cameras? The launch of the Galaxy S10, LG G8 and Xiaomi Mi 9, along with numerousrumors about the next iPhone, point to this trend growing, according to CNET. “Even though Apple, Samsung and others aren’t the first to add three cameras to the back of a phone (that would be last year’s Huawei P20 Pro, and the LG V40 has them, too) the fact that some of most the popular phone-makers are embracing them, or plan to, will surely ensure widespread use.”According to CNET, the standard Galaxy S10 gets you three rear cameras – a 16-megapixel ultrawide sensor with fixed focus, a main 12-megapixel dual aperture wide-angle lens with OIS, and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens with OIS that can achieve 2x optical zoom. “That means you’re able to take portrait photos and photos from any of the sensors, just by toggling on the screen.”