Gadgets :: July 26, 2017
By Gregg Ellman
(@Greggellman)
The pocket-sized (4.0-by-2.0-by-0.6-inches) Alcomate Revo is a tremendous device for accurately reading an individual’s blood alcohol level so hopefully they don’t rely on judgment alone.
Since I really have no experience with using portable breathalyzers, I did some research and found that often pocket breathalyzers must be sent back to manufacturers for calibration to keep them accurate.
That’s not the case with the Revo because it features a pre-calibrated sensor, which is easily replaceable on your own.
To use it, breathe into a replaceable mouth piece until a beeper stops sounding. The device translates that information to your blood alcohol level. Five mouth pieces are included.
It’s recommended to change the sensor every 1,000 tests or at least once yearly. Additional mouth pieces can be purchased in a 10-pack ($4) or a 100-pack ($40). A pouch and hard carrying case are available for purchase.
The Revo is powered by two AAA batteries, has an easy-to-read LCD and constructed with ABS Molding.
According to the Alcomate site, the Revo is the single source supplier for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps and is DOT approved for law enforcement accuracy.
http://alcomate.net/ $219.95
I’ve tried an endless number of smart home products over the past few years and the number one complaint I hear from people (which I agree with) is when they aren’t easy to use.
Honeywell get’s an A-Plus from me for their new indoor C1 Wi-Fi Security Camera; it’s exactly as advertised: you can watch what’s happening at home — anytime, anywhere. Versatile and easy to install.
Setup takes just a few minutes. Download the free Lyric app (iOS and Android), connect the camera’s included power cord and following the easy startup guide in the app, which includes connecting the camera to youre existing home WiFi.
The user friendly app is used for viewing the camera but it does a whole lot more, including taking instant screen shots during livestream, which can be easily saved to your mobile device.
Two-way audio allows you to press the microphone tab on the app to speak out of the camera along with hearing sounds in the camera’s area. Alerts can be set for sound and motion detection. Video recording has quality settings for HD 720p (default) auto or low.
Even though the C1 is easy to set up, I recommend reading about all the features and settings so it’s customized for what you want. This way you won’t get alerts every time a pet runs through a room, unless you really want them.
The C1 can send an alert you if a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm goes off. Other features include intelligent sound detection to recognize specific sounds, 135-degree wide-angle view and night vision.
The app works with just one C1 or multiple cameras. Images are stored on a cloud or on a removable microSD memory card.
https://yourhome.honeywell.com $119.99
Imagenomic’s last version of Portraiture (version 3) is a Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture plugin, which makes skin retouching a snap.
I tested the Photoshop version and found it super easy to achieve professional results with just a few clicks.
The program is built with a powerful masking tool that enables you to selectively smooth only the skin tones of an image without affecting the rest of your image. It works like magic.
Portraiture’s masking tool is unique with its built-in Auto-Mask feature to help you quickly discover most of the skin tone range of the image automatically as well as allowing you to manually fine-tune the results.
When I opened Portraiture, the filter starts with several preset option; Smoothing Normal, Smoothing Strong, Enhancing Glamour, etc. After choosing a preset, you can tweak the results using the sliders for changing the amount of smoothing, add or delete from the mask and even change the hue of the skin color being masked.
Once you are happy with the results, click OK and the filter goes to work, In just a few seconds the skin is smoother, wrinkles and blemishes are erased and my photo looks professionally retouched.
http://imagenomic.com $199.95
