Featured Portables Reviews

It seems like everything needs a USB power supply these days. iPads, smart phones, Kindles... the list goes on. The bottom line is, it's very likely that your office, your kitchen - possibly even your bedroom is littered with a myriad of power adapters - all designed to charge these portable devices. Newer Technology's Power2U is an innovative device that combines two USB charging ports with a standard Decora-style electrical outlet or receptacle. That means you eliminate the need to use a bulky power adapter to charge your devices. Instead, you just plug in a USB cable and you're good to go. And the 2A (2000mA) rating means that there's enough juice to charge even power-hungry devices like the new iPad.

Not much has happened to the electrical outlet in the past 85 years. Not much at all... except for the fact that more and more devices require power. There was a time when toasters, vacuums and televisions were about all that ever needed to be plugged in to an outlet in the standard home. But now... now we've got all manner of electronic gadgets. And that's where the U-Socket comes in. With smart phones, Kindles, and all manner of portable electronic devices, your wall outlet might look sort of Frankenstein-ish with a host of wall-warts, adapters and USB chargers all plugged in. And who wants to manage all that clutter? Apparently not FastMac, who invented the U-Socket as a way to wed the standard wall receptacle with a pair of 2.6A (2600mA) USB outlets.

The question remains of how I like the new OtterBox Defender Series case for the iPad 2 and 3 versus the older case. I believe that, in almost every way, it is superior. I love the new stand functionality, the screen protector (remove it if you don't agree), and the ability to use full-sized headphones without removing the case. It is rugged, attractive, and functional. The only real knock I have against it is that the front "home" button is much harder to use, something that I'm hoping will improve with use over time. What's important is that the owner of the iPad (unfortunately not me) is happy with the case.

I woke up at 5am this morning thanks to the iHome iA91 App-enhanced Dual Alarm Stereo Clock Radio for iPod. Let's just break down that sentence... First off, the name is incredibly long, so let's refer to this thing as the iA91 iPod Clock Radio... or iA91. I woke up at 5am because the iA91 has dual alarms, so you can set one for during the week and another for weekends. I decided to test it out and, for some reason, 5am seemed like a great time to wake up and start my day. The iA91 is very flexible. In addition to having two configurable alarms, you can wake up to your iPhone or iPod, the AM/FM radio, or the classic buzzer. You don't want to wake up to the buzzer - just trust me on that one. The LED display is dimmable in 7 steps, making it the perfect bedside clock, because it won't blind you as you try and fall asleep.

If you don't use headphones with a full-sized terminal, don't mind a bit of slip (which is great for getting the phone in and out of your pocket quickly), want unfettered access to the touchscreen, and need moderate protection, the OtterBox Commuter Case for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be for you. The Defender series is much more bulky but provides a full shell of polycarbonate plus an integrated screen cover and silicone sleeve. For us, we love that we can finally use our high end headphones with our OtterBox Defender case. Basically, no matter what you need or how you use your phone, OtterBox has a case for your Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

The Mondo (model GDI-IRC6000W) is a Wi-Fi music player and Internet radio from Grace Digital that's designed to go just about anywhere and bring you music from just about any source. Grace Digital has been making these Internet radios for quite some time now, but the Mondo is at least a little bit new because it uses a faster processor and a new color LCD screen to navigate and select your music. It does, however, still sports the dated remote and tired functionality of all current Grace Digital Internet radio products.

The Marantz TT42 may be a very basic turntable, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good one. While it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the high-priced offerings, it also doesn't have the price tag. At $330, you can have a brand new, high-performance, turntable for exploring your old LPs and some of the new ones that are being released. It is a bit to expensive to be an impulse buy but, for those that are wondering what the fuss is all about, it could be the perfect solution.

Alpine was alive and well in the North Hall and the new INE-Z928HD AVN (Audio/Video/Navigation) DVD receiver is a big deal for the company. It's squarely taking aim at the 12-volt aftermarket and competing with some of the big names that have dominated that segment for some time. Alpine claims it as the first AVN system with a full 8-inch WVGA screen, but whose chassis fits into a standard 2-DIN opening. We weren't the only ones who were impressed, the INE-Z928HD won a 2012 CES Innovations Award in the In-Vehicle Audio/Video category. The INE-Z928HD include Pandora Internet Radio control and station creation from iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry smartphones. It has a built-in HD Radio receiver and is compatible with SiriusXM.

Zagg has done it again. Not content to sit around waiting for the next SHIELD device, they went to work protecting your electronics products from the inside. Yes, we said FROM THE INSIDE. How? We have no freaking idea, but the demo is amazing. Zagg has figured out how to use a chemical to bond to electronics in order to prevent water from doing what water does - namely short out any electronics it comes into contact with it. How do we know it's real? Because Zagg demonstrated it in a fishbowl with an iPod that kept playing - along with a speaker connected to its headphone jack - for over 15 minutes. If this isn't hype and the process is able to be made to work for consumers, then this could be the the next evolution in manufacturing for electronics products. I just hope manufactures are willing to license it, because this is something that should come from the factory.