Gadgets :: July 18, 2018
by Gregg Ellman
(@greggellman)
Power, charging and charging on-the-go has been summed up nicely with Mophie’s new charge stream travel kit.
In many ways a charger is a charger, but the new kit keeps everything in one place to pick up and go or just reach into your backpack and have it all in one place in the 7.87-by-6.69-inches pouch.
The compact, pocket sized pouch has everything you need to connect your power hungry devices to a power source. It includes a 2.4A wall charger, a 2.4A car charger, and a 4.9-foot USB-A to microUSB cable and the all new charge stream pad mini.
The charge stream pad mini delivers 5w of wireless charging and is compatible with Apple, Samsung, and other Qi-enabled smartphones. Once you have the pad connected to a power source, just place your device on the pad for instant charging.
It has a rubberized non-slip grip from slips and scratches. You can even charge through some cases, typically up to 3 mm thick, according to Mophie.
After a recent trip with the kit, I found you can add a few extra cables inside the pouch, including a small portable USB battery, which came in handy several times.
Mophie sells the kit as a whole for $49.95, but if you just want the new charge stream pad mini, it can be purchased for $24.95.
It doesn’t require a plug, power, USB, firmware and it’s not even sold in electronic stores. But I still think the new Cave Tools stainless steel grill pan is a gadget worth having and telling you about.
Cave Tools has developed the pan the last few years and got it right, even though it’s pretty simple. They researched other grill matts and found many are made with teflon, which when heated to high grill temperatures, can release a toxic gas. Obviously that’s not a good thing to breathe or cook your food on.
On the press release announcing the product, they said directly “If you own a grill mat, then please take my advice and throw it out immediately!”
True or not, the new Cave Tool stainless steel grill pan is simply awesome. It measures 5.3-by-13-by-1-inches and will work for breakfast, lunch or dinner; from eggs, pancakes to gilled onions and peppers or any piece of meat.
One side of the flat surface is slotted to allow flavors to come up through and give excess grease a place to fall to the grill.
Cave tools includes 25 professional barbecue recipes, a free app and a lifetime guarantee on the pan or any product they sell.
cavetools.com/products/bbq-grill-pan $17.99
A few months ago I reviewed the Rachio’s 3 smart sprinkler system, which I thought was great.
Rachio let me know that the wireless flow meter, an accessory for the smart home sprinkler system, is now available.
The flow meter helps prevent leaks and provides additional insights to your outdoor water use. This includes broken sprinkler heads, pipes and leaks. Since it’s a smart system, you’ll get a smartphone notification of the problem, hopefully allowing you to catch it before it gets worse.
With the new flow meter, when a problem is detected it will shut down your sprinkler system.
The Rachio 3 sprinkler controller system connects to your existing WiFi network to fully manage your lawn watering, An easy setup lets you determine watering days, how long each zone waters, scheduling (odd, even, every three days, etc.) or manually with a user-friendly app.
During the app setup, it automatically finds a local weather station, which determines the amount of rain in the area and whether watering is needed.
There’s a whole lot more to the Rachio system, which is even better with the flow meter.
The Gen 3 system is available in 8 zone ($329.99) or 16 zone ($379.99) models with the flow meter.
www.rachio.com/smart-water-system
