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Twelve South Magic Wand

accessories, apple, reviewed No Responses »

Jan 162012

I recently started a project at my company’s “Solution Center” and for the next 3-5 months I’ve actually found myself with a consistent place to sit… a giant monitor for my Macbook Pro, and an ergonomic seat. It’s insane. I love it. I’m getting used to using my Magic Trackpad and my Bluetooth Mac Keyboard, but I find it annoying that they arent connected.

Well, good news. Twelve South, a company that really seems to get the idea of good, ergonomic design has my back with the “Magic Wand“. It’s an amazingly simple concept, as you can see. Basically, it’s a simple plastic tube into which you clip your keyboard and trackpad so they feel as if they’re one unit.

Brilliant!

Admittedly on a desktop you can just place the two right next to eachother without too much trouble, but if you have a Mac Mini attached to your TV, for example, and find yourself with the keyboard and trackpad on your lap often, the Magic Wand will REALLY increase your quality of life.

Definitely recommended.

Hyperjuice Mac Battery (Formerly “HyperMac”)

apple, electronics, power, reviewed, Super Cool No Responses »

Dec 202011

As someone who has to travel a lot for work, I often spend stretches of time on planes browsing the web or working or watching movies, and while some airlines are figuring out how to supply power for laptops, many others aren’t.

That brings me to the Hyperjuice Laptop battery for macs. These suckers REALLY extend the usable life of your Mac, and come in sizes of 60, 100, 150, and 222 Wh, and also offer a 10W USB to charge your iPad or iPhone (or anything really) .. at the same time! Cool, right?

In the old days, Hypershop used to offer a magsafe cable compatible with MacBooks, but unfortunately, that’s a but of a no no and Apple sued them for patent violation. Not to worry though, the clever folks at Hypershop have come up with a solution. Two solutions in fact! In order to get the newly renamed Hyperjuice battery with your mac you can

1. Use the Apple Magsafe Airline Adapter with the battery (this requires no modifications)

2. Splice in the “Magic Box” (sold separately) to your existing magsafe adapter. Not ideal, and not as elegant as the old solution, but certainly acceptable. How long can you use your Macbook with these batteries? You may not believe this… but… a LONG TIME!

It of course depends on the Macbook, but with the largest battery you can expect to go outlet free for almost 37 hours. I included the chart at the bottom.

They’re not cheap, but if you travel, I really recommend them 60Wh ($175) 100Wh ($275) 150Wh ($350) 222Wh ($459)

Hyperjuice Mac Performance

BlueLounge Milo

accessories, apple, Super Cool, video No Responses »

Dec 062011

One of the few annoying things I’ve found about mobile phones including the iPhone is the lack of good simple solutions for propping them up while I’m working away at my desk or on my nightstand especially. It’s rather annoying to find a great bedside alarm clock app only to have to prop up my phone and have it slide down in the middle of the night!

Enter the Blue Lounge Milo. The Milo’s design is rather interesting. The “sticky” part that holds your device in place is actually a micro-suction area which can be easily cleaned with scotch tape if it ever loses its grip. It works super well with non porous surfaces line the iPhone’s glass back, or a plastic case, but not so well with more porous cases, like the one I’ve been using, the Solo from iSkin. No worries, though, you can just securely prop it up in either landscape or portrait mode.

Milo's Micro Suction

The bottom of the Milo also has a micro suction area which holds nicely on your non porous desk!

Overall, I’d highly recommend the Milo, although it’s definitely not travel friendly as its going to take up a bit of space in your bag… but for home use, absolutely!

Milo is prices at $19.95 and is available on Amazon.

Milo

BodyGuardz Carbon Fiber Laptop Armor

apple, protection, Super Cool No Responses »

Dec 012011

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I’m not going to lie. I’m a little obsessed with keeping my Macbook, my iPhone, and my iPad safely free of scuffs and other cosmetic damage. Part of that is because I’m an early adopter so I end up selling “old” devices on Ebay, and I feel like there’s no better karma than providing someone with a nice well maintained used item.

Enter laptop skins.

For a long time I’ve been a fan of laptop covers of all types, from the Speck hard case to the tight fitting Zagg skins, but I found that the hard cases add too much bulk, and Zagg, while being very high quality, is a nightmare to apply to a laptop, and there’s just something unnerving about a wet application to a sensitive electronic device.

I recently learned about the extremely cool looking BodyGuardz carbon fiber armor… so I had to give it a try. I ordered it directly from BodyGuardz and it came in a little under a week, rolled up in a tube.

So, the first thing I recommend is take it out, flatten it, and put it under something heavy and flat for a few days to make the application easier.

Carbon Fiber Body Armor? Yes please!

It comes with protection for the top, bottom, and sides, and took no more than 15 minutes to apply properly. Unlike the Zagg covers, I wasn’t left with a lot of annoying air bubbles either, and of course BodyGuardz provides nice instructional videos on YouTube and right on their site.

Once applied, the armor looks REALLY slick and has a nice tactile feel to it. I’ve had several comments from co workers and random people in Starbucks about how cool it looks.

The full set of Armor is $50 and is available in Red, Black and White, which is slightly cheaper than the Zagg skin, and of course comes with a similar lifetime warranty. It’s good to know they stand by the product.

If you’re in the market for a unique change to the look of your device and want to keep it looking pristine… definitely give BodyGuardz a look!