Techish

Mattel announces ‘Hot Wheel id’ toys with built-in digital sensors and an all-new app

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I'm calling them Hot Wheels 2-point “oh wow." The little toy cars have been all the rage for, well, pretty much forever. Over the years we've gotten so many new additions to the Hot Wheels lineup that it would take a day just list them all, but with its latest update, Mattel just made Hot Wheels smarter than they've ever been. "Hot Wheel id" is the biggest overhaul of Hot Wheels toys ever, giving them a digital makeover with app connectivity, ridiculously cool stat tracking, and other virtual goodies. The biggest news here is that Hot Wheels id cars can actually, seriously, race. The classic die-cast toys now have built-in NFC tags and work hand-in-hand with the new Hot Wheels ... Read more

GIFT GUIDE: Impress Pops With These Awesome Dad’s Day Gadgets!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haPuMC6Vm_0 Impressing dad is easy if you’re a kid. Just ride your bike off a three-inch ramp without crashing and more likely than not he’ll be beaming with pride. But impressing pops as a full-fledged wage-earning adult is a whole other story. Lucky for us though, new gadgets are coming out at a faster pace than ever before, and this year, some budget-friendly choices are still unique, memorable, and even super helpful too. Here are my top Father’s Day gift picks for all kinds of dads. A BETTER WAY TO RECHARGE Sometimes the simplest gifts end up being used the most, and this 3-in-1 charging station ($29) will be dad’s gadget go-to when he’s ... Read more

GIFT GUIDE: Great gadget gifts for grads that they’ll totally love!

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***This story is from Jennifer's weekly columns and video segments for the USAToday Network.*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xooy3Gg8csk Think back to your graduation, do you remember who gave you cash? I don’t. (And not just because I graduated a million years ago.) This cap-and-gown season, Americans are expected to spend more than $5.5 billion on gifts for high school and college grads. Cash in a card remains one of the most popular gifts, but it’s not the most memorable or even most useful in the long term. With my daughter graduating from high school this month, the pressure’s on to gift beyond cold, hard cash – and to find something truly meaningful, useful and just plain smart. ... Read more

Apple WWDC 2019: Here’s everything Apple announced today!

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Apple's annual WWDC developer conference kicked off today and, as usual, the company's biggest names took the stage to tell us everything we can expect for the months ahead. We saw new features for the Apple Watch, Mac, iOS, and more, so let's get started! Apple started things off with tvOS 13, the latest and greatest software update for the Apple TV. Along with the new multi-user account feature (great for families!) we saw new music features like synced lyrics so you can follow along with your favorite songs, and support for PlayStation and Xbox game controllers for Apple TV downloadable games. On the Apple Watch front, a new "Activity Trends" feature lets you see your own ... Read more

Dyson — the vacuum company — is making an SUV, and here’s what it’ll probably look like

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Dyson is best known for its top-of-the-line vacuums and other assorted high-tech home gear. The last thing you'd expect to see with a Dyson logo is a car, but that's exactly what the company is planning on building, and it actually seems kind of... awesome? Dyson's automotive aspirations stretch back quite a while, but new patents show us what Dyson's designers are aiming for with their new all-electric SUV. Here it is: Carwow took the patent drawings a few steps further, turning them into 3D renders of what the car might look like when it finally hits the road: The four-door SUV depicted in the drawings is an all-electric vehicle powered by Dyson's own electric motors. With ... Read more

#GiftingGoals for Mother’s Day 2019: Epic Gifts For All Kinds of Moms

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpfUxJsk7Vc Most moms I know “live in service and sacrifice to their children” 24/7. (I didn’t come up with that, Oprah did, see #7 on this list.) So it never hurts to go the extra mile to make her feel loved and appreciated. Of course, she’ll love your homemade card. And cry a few happy tears if you clean the bathroom without being asked. But if you — like more than 8 out of every 10 Americans — plan to spend a record amount of money on Mom this Mother’s Day, starting with this list is a genius move. #MomLife #TechLife Why? I’m a Mom who tests gadgets for a living. I also polled thousands of other Moms across social media, and then tried every single one ... Read more

HOW TO: Kondo your E-Clutter and Spring Clean Your Digital Mess

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Thanks to decluttering diva Marie Kondo, Spring Cleaning is expected to hit an all-time high this year. A recent survey by the American Cleaning Institute shows a record 77 percent of households plan to clean-up, clear-out, and address the mess of our modern lives. Since e-waste is the world's fastest-growing trash stream, there’s an even stronger sense of renewed responsibility to declutter your e-clutter. #1. CLEAR-OUT BEFORE YOU CLEAN-UP One of the key trademarks of the “KonMari” method is to start by clearing-out everything unwanted and unused. Think about how much tech junk you have – that drawer full of dusty cell phones, charging cable chaos, and old earphones you haven’t ... Read more

Celebrate Earth Day with sustainable, Earth-friendly products from responsible companies

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Today is Earth Day, which means there's no better time to take some time out of your day to enjoy the world around you. It could be anything, like a walk through the park or even just a few moments kicking back in your yard and enjoying the warming weather of spring. It's also a great time to remember that every purchase you and I make can potentially impact the environment, and seeking out companies with sustainable, Earth-friendly approaches is one way we can all help to do our part to keep the planet from falling apart. Here's a few that I've come across. Soma   Soma makes durable, long-lasting mugs and bottles out of glass and ceramic — like the awesome Brew Bottle ($40) ... Read more

USA Today: Cruising into the future of travel with smart wearables, avatars, and lightening-fast WiFi

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This story originally ran in USA Today as part of Jennifer's on-going Tech+Culture column. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL90Fw_T5oE A year ago, boarding a cruise ship at the Port Everglades dock in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was an exercise in patience as passengers waited in blocks-long lines to check in. Pens and paper in hand, anxious vacationers hunched over suitcases or used walls as a hard surface to scribble down important personal information, sometimes waiting hours just to set foot on board. Today, those lines are gone – at least in front of the Caribbean Princess. That’s the first sign that a new wearable gadget aimed at fixing common travel hassles, is working. “Look at ... Read more

Apple just launched a pair of new iPads, and you’re going to love them

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Apple is well known for its flashy, scene-stealing events where it shows off all its new products and causes a major buzz in the tech world. It's rare that the company updates one of its signature product lineups without making a big deal out of it, but that's just what it did this week, revealing both a new iPad Air and iPad mini out of nowhere. Both the new iPad Air and iPad mini get huge processor upgrades which means more powerful hardware for apps, games, and everything else you do with the tablet. On top of that, the new iPad Air even gets a bigger 10.5-inch display. The iPad mini retains the same 7.9-inch display that it already had, but the extra bump in power will ... Read more

Keeping Up With The Phoneses: State of Smartphones 2019

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It’s time for mobile makers to put up, or shut up. We need to see revolutionary — not just evolutionary — upgrades. We need better battery life, and we need it yesterday. We need our most relevant must-have gadget to be drop-dead simple to use, unhackable, unbreakable and less expensive. Oh, and how about less addictive too? We need our smartphones to WOW us again. State of the Smartphone 2019   The first batch of 2019’s shiny new smartphones — Samsung’s S10 line — landed on store shelves and in people’s hands across the country today. It kicked off a new year of flagship phone launches hoping to invigorate sagging sales. Samsung felt the pinch with the Galaxy S9, which worried ... Read more

HOW TO: Keep creepers off your smart home gadgets!

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A recent spate of high-profile smart home gadget hacks has a whole lot of us wondering what we can do to keep the creepers out. Easy to guess passwords? Oh hell no. Unsecured Wi-Fi networks? Gone. These are things I've been warning you about for years, but have you actually taken steps to make you and your family as safe as possible? Likely, the answer is, "no," and that's okay. It's not easy, and that's why we're here to help! “A smart home gadget is no different from your phone or your computer,” says Kelvin Coleman, executive director for the National Cyber Security Alliance. “If it’s vulnerable to being hacked, there are basic good housekeeping practices that should become second ... Read more

TOY FAIR 2019: Anti-Gravity Cars, and More Next-Level Hot Toys This Year (As seen on KTVU)

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The International Toy Fair was filled with fun in New York City. It’s the largest toy trade show in the Western hemisphere, and it’s a chance to see what will kids of all ages will be clamoring for over this next year. 1,000 companies debuted more than 7,000 toys this year — big trends include Augmented Reality (AR), and more robotics than we’ve ever seen. Here are my favorites among toys I was able to go hands-on with before the show: 1. LeapFrog LeapBuilders ABC Smart House Tots can build, create and learn with this interactive 61-piece house-themed block set. Kids can use the easy-to-hold blocks to build a house and learn about the alphabet, objects around the house, colors, ... Read more

Boom boxes, mix tapes and instant cameras as hot new tech? Yes, it’s actually 2019

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A whole lot has changed in the gadget world since Philips launched the first consumer VCR for $900 at CES in 1970. So why then, I wondered as I trekked through the seemingly endless halls packed with every gadget imaginable at this year's CES, were there so many boom boxes straight out of the '80s everywhere? Turns out some of the most popular new tech launching this year isn’t so new at all. LENOVO SMART ALARM CLOCK Sure, the smart screen trend shows no signs of slowing down, but rather than continually going for bigger, more feature-packed displays, Lenovo looked to the past for inspiration. The Lenovo Smart Clock is a total rethink of the classic alarm clock – you know, the ... Read more

Stop Porch Pirates: 5 pro tips to make sure thieves don’t steal your stuff

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Thanks to modern technology, we can buy just about anything online and get it delivered to our doorstep in a snap. Not only has that been insanely convenient for us, but it’s also created a giant window of opportunity for so-called “porch pirates” too. According to a recent report, at least 23 million Americans have had packages stolen from their porches, mailboxes, and stoops, and with UPS delivering an estimated 750 million packages during the holiday season there's plenty of opportunity for thieves to pad their pockets. Lucky for us though, there’s a there’s a slew of new high-tech sheriffs in town to put a stop to these pesky poachers. Package Guard Package Guard (pre-order $49.99) ... Read more

Here’s what we’re buying on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

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You might think that reviewing all the latest gadgets all year would make Black Friday boring for someone like me. Sure, I get to play with all of the most awesome gadgets and tech tools throughout the year, but I don't get to keep them. That means come Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I'm leaning over my laptop the same as you, fingers twitching, crediting cards itching to score huge deals on my favorite tech. Here's what I'm holding my breath to get this week, and how much it'll cost. Facebook Portal & Portal Plus One of the most controversial new gadgets (because ... it's Facebook) is also the best video-calling machine ever invented — and a look at the way landlines should evolve ... Read more