is a reviews editor who manages how-tos and various projects. She’s worked as an editor and writer (and occasional sci-fi author) for more years than she cares to admit to.
During the last half month, we’ve covered a lot of interesting gadgets and apps and thought we’d highlight a few that caught our attention the most. For example, we have a robovac that can mop the edges of your walls (something that my manual mop usually fails at), a charging cable that with any luck will last a good long time, and a new dock for the Mac Studio that adds a bunch of ports. And what’s cooler than 3D printing a lightsaber? Let’s dive in.
Cool gear
One of these years, I will get myself a robovac — hopefully one that will clean and mop the floor, pick up stray detritus, and wash the dishes. (Okay, maybe not this last one.) One of the latest to hit the market is the Narwal Flow, which is available for preorder and ships August 27th. It is distinguished by a mopping pad that can extend to reach the edges of walls. There are two versions: a standard model and one with a more compact dock that can connect to plumbing; both are currently discounted for preorders.
One of the obsessions of The Verge’s staff these days is senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy’s chicken coop (yes, really), which has been outfitted with a variety of smart devices. Most recently, Jennifer installed what she describes as “the biggest smart home antenna I’ve ever seen,” the 12-inch-tall Home Assistant Connect ZWA-2 ($69), which she says has added smart accessibility “from the attic to the chicken coop.” The antenna plugs into any Home Assistant system via USB and can connect to any Z-Wave device.
Cables may not be the most exciting things to cover, but what would we do without them? And even better if the cables boast of both a higher level of durability and a fair amount of sustainable manufacture. Fairphone’s new USB cables are all C-to-C (there’s a removable USB-A adapter), and use entirely recycled copper wires and recycled plastic braiding and cable jackets. They come in 1m (3.3ft) and 2.5m (8.2ft) versions using the USB 2.0 spec costing from €19.95 (around $23), and a 1m (3.3ft) version using USB 3.2 for €34.95 (around $40).
iPad fans may find it frustrating that their tablets are still not capable of wireless charging, but there is a solution. Kuxiu’s new M30 Magnetic Smart Connector Charger magnetically attaches to the back of an iPad Pro or iPad Air and uses the same Smart Connector pins that iPad accessories like the Magic Keyboard rely on to transfer power. And it’s not slow: iPad models using Apple’s M2 and M3 chips will charge at up to 18W, while those with an M4 chip can charge at 35W speeds.
I don’t have the high-powered creativity needed to justify a Mac Studio, but if you do and need more storage or more connectivity for your computer, check out RayCue’s Thunderbolt 5. The dock, which sits under the Studio, expands the device’s connectivity with two additional HDMI ports, a front-facing headphone jack, DisplayPort, and extra USB-A ports. It also lets you add up to 16TB of storage. It ships in early September but is available now for preorder.
I’ve been a fan of old-style Star Wars for a while, but unfortunately, I’m not a 3D creator. And I wish I were. Because if you’re a 3D creator who’s into Star Wars, you can now create your own glowing, humming lightsaber with Bambu Labs’ Motion-Activated Sound and Light Props Kit. This will take some expertise to put together (in fact, Bambu rates it for experienced users), but if 3D is your thing, then it could be a lot of fun.
Interesting apps
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