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There are plenty of dynamo based hand chargers for your electronic gadgets.  What makes the VoltMaker better or different?  First of all, they have the best infomercial video I have seen in a while.  If nothing else it is worth a laugh… watch it below.  Secondly they create power by twirling or spinning the dynamo around.  This 6-inch, 10-ounce dynamo charger has a 2,000 mAh battery and can also be wall charged “if you are lazy”.  You get all that goodness for $69… strap on the flashlight attachment and the new total is $89.  Yes I am on the list for three, hoping they hit their $200,000 indiegogo goal.

Before I get right into my review of the BlackVue DR500GW-HD Vehicle Video Recorder I think it is important to add a bit of backstory about my search for the best car dvr/camera.  I have been trying to find the “perfect” vehicle video recorder for quite some time and have tested a myriad of products.  Most of the vehicle cameras with built-in DVR are manufactured in China.  This alone shouldn’t be a bad thing, but for some reason it is.  Of the 10+ car cameras I have tested, all of them were made in China.  All of these Chinese units had some combination of subpar manuals, cheap build quality, low video quality (don’t let the use of the term “HD” fool you), unacceptable night time viewing, etc…

So, when I found the BlackVue DR500GW-HD (made in South Korea) I was excited but skeptical.  While I believe that products made in South Korea are higher quality than Chinese products, I had seen so many bad vehicle video recorders and wondered if I would ever find a good unit.  Read on for my DR500GW-HD Review.

I love riding my bike around the lake listening to some motivational tunes from Mickey Avalon and 2ne1 on my Yamaha ear buds.  The problem is, all I can hear is Mickey Avalon and 2ne1, and even thought that’s pretty cool, it creates a certain lack of ambient awareness.  I mean, the entire world is blocked off and all I am hearing is Mickey Avalon.  I am not hearing people honking at me, hot chicks calling out for me, and some dude yelling “Yo buddy is that really Mickey Avalon?!”.  Who knows how much social content I am missing out on… To solve my lack of ambient awareness, while in the depths of the Avalonian groove, I discovered the alternative ear bud attachments called the Airbudz from SafeSound.  Read on for details about the Airbudz earbud attachments after the break. 

I think I finally found the ideal pair of headphones for my teenage son.  A wicked bright pair of eye popping high contrast orange/gray/white colored headphones called the Boom Blocks by Coloud.  Read on for my review of the Coloud Boom Blocks.

Tangled-up earbuds are a common problem.  Zipbuds aren’t the first to try and make tangle-free earbuds, remember the CordCruncher or the a-JAYS Four?  The main difference with the Zipbuds Tangle-Free Earphones is the zippered approach.  Most of the earphones cord is embedded into a zipper.  Clever and pretty cool.

The cables are made of military grade Aramid for strength, this cabling runs up the “vertebrae” of the zipper.  While I can’t speak to the sound quality, haven’t actually plugged them in yet, they look great and don’t tangle.  A cheesy promo video after the break.

Driving a classic car is a very cool sensation on many levels.  You get to cruise a car that has been around for decades, that has unique styling and stands out amongst todays massed produced vehicles, and you are keeping a bunch of metal out of the scrapyard.  Sure there are more intangibles that are hard to describe in words.  Driving a classic car just makes you feel good.  Either you know what I mean, or you don’t.

It looks like manufacturers are finally catching up with Apples new Lightning connector like the one on the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini.  We can now add Scosche to the list of manufacturers with a household charger, cigarette charger, and portable (3-foot) synch/charge cable for Lightning.  They are also making the household and cigarette chargers in two versions, a 5W version for the iPod Touch and iPhone and a 12W version for just about any iOS device.

Scosche i2C05 5-Watt Car Charger

Scosche i2C12 12-Watt Car Charger

Scosche i2H12 12-Watt Home Charger

Scosche i2H05 5-Watt Home Charger

Remember the waterproofing company Liquipel from last year?  Well they just got some competition from a new company named HzO.

The HzO coating is called WaterBlock and claims that it protects better than the competition (aka Liquipel).  The WaterBlock technology is applied via a “chemical vapor deposition process” and protects against most liquids (water, beer, soda, juice, etc…).

“The coating process offered by other companies sprays a thin hydrophobic coating on both the interior and exterior of the device which can aid in driving away light splashes to the device, but leave microscopic gaps and openings that allow water, humidity and moisture to eventually seep through and damage the internal sensitive circuitry, especially when submerged.”

Currently HzO is going after the OEM (original equipment manufacturers) instead of the users.  This means that you can’t send in your current gadgets.  You can only hope they are successful selling to companies like Apple, Canon, etc… 

The Secom autonomous quadcopter is a high tech flying surveillance robot.  You no longer need to go outside to protect your domicile… just launch the Secom Helicopter and watch the live video feed from the safety of your living room.

Seecom’s autonomous flying surveillance robot works by detecting and following intruders.  The unit uses a laser-guided camera system, LED lights for night vision, and wireless video link. 

Who doesn’t want music in the shower?  Good music can help get you out of bed and into your daily grind.  Sounds easy enough… but adding music to a wet environment isn’t always that simple.

While there are waterproof Bluetooth speakers… I don’t have room on my one little shower shelf… and anything with a suction cup eventually ends up falling off and breaking as it hits the floor.

And yes, I can just put a mini boom-box on the bathroom sink.  But this solution, takes up valuable sink real estate and tends to wake everyone else in the house.

The closest solution to date is the one pictured above, the Kohler Moxie Showerhead Wireless Bluetooth Speaker.  You get a great showerhead (in two versions, a 2.0 gpm or 2.5 gpm) made from Kohler… they know water.  In addition you get a removable and rechargeable waterproof Bluetooth speaker.  Leave your phone on the sink and let the tunes play right out of the showerhead.  The battery will last for about 7 hours of music then needs to be removed and charged via USB.

While I like the idea… and will most likely be asking Santa for a Kohler Moxie ($199)… I really wish they put volume and track controls on the unit.  Huge miss in an otherwise great idea.

Video of the Kohler Moxie in action after the break.