AIRLINE TRACKERS vs. My Mobile Finder

This product review on my Tracker and corresponding App is not scheduled for this coming publication but I decided to write about it because of current events.

We all know about the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 plane that until this time has not been found.

This is despite all the satellites, radars, and the most sophisticated detecting and tracking devices that are now being utilized.  My barber is disappointed but I know that he is being unfair for feeling that way.

In the last CES Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, I was provided with a sample product for review.  It is a device with a tracking technology.

StickNFind

  

As described by the developers, one feature allows you to create a virtual leash on a sticker so that if that sticker moves away more than the approximate selected distance from your phone, your phone will alarm you. You can even select a different type of alarm for each individual Sticker. This feature is called a Virtual Leash. 

 

As you can see from the picture, the Sticker is attached to the collar of the dog.  If the dog goes out of the range or beyond a certain distance, the alarm will sound off and alert you. The app, which you download on your iPhone as I did, enables this feature.

Another feature makes your Sticker or Stickers trackable.  Displayed on a map on your phone as “last place seen.”  This will allow you to see where you last used StickNFind in case you lose your item with Sticker. It would help you locate it.  It also allows your sticker to communicate within the StickNFind server but only you will receive notifications that your sticker has been found.

   

One feature that I actually use my stickers for is for my personal items. This feature activates a one-mile geofence or virtual perimeter around your iPhone or mobile device to help prevent the loss of your item/s.  Once the mobile device is outside the geofence you will receive email notification.

The connectivity is Bluetooth 4.0; Range is approximately 100 feet line of sight; the Battery type is CR2016 watch battery (replaceable) and it last up to 1 year

I have two of these Stickers and they have been useful in my tests. Of course, I hope that I do not have to actually lose any of my personal items to test how effective the technology is.

The Missing Malaysian Airlines

As I explained above, there are technologies that are currently utilized to track small and big items as well as places.  We have the Find Your Phone app, Google Earth, GPS, and many others that I still have to write about. In fact, as I write this article my SocialRadar app informs me that a Facebook friend just checked in at Pagasa Weather Station which is 8551 miles away.

The StickNFind technology is quite simple but it is able to track small items or big ones when the Stickers are attached and the app connects them to your mobile device.

My barber’s disappointment is our inability to track a plane as big as a Boeing 777.  Wasn’t it possible to have attached a Sticker as small as a StickNFind hidden somewhere on the plane but connected to some server that only Boeing or some authorized agency/personnel knows?

PRODUCT REVIEW: SleepPhones

In this week’s column/blog, I will be reviewing an amazing wearable technology product.  I had this sample after I visited the booth of Acoustic Sleep LLC at the International CES 2014 in Las Vegas.  Dr. Wei Shin Lai, MD, the inventor and the Chief Executive Officer of the company gave it to me.  I finally opened the package and tested it.

SleepPhones

It is called the SleepPhones.  Dr. Wei Shin Lai, a family doctor, developed it “to provide a safe, all-natural way to provide restful, music assisted relaxation without bulky headphones.”

The device is actually a machine washable headband with removable padded speakers.  The headband is made of cool, breathable, moisture-wicking fabric with a 4’ cord (120 cm) and a mini-jack 1/8” (3.5 mm).

It works with most music players.  The built-in sounds or music in the app are supposed to help you fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.  An added claim is that it blocks-out snoring and other unwanted noise.

For more MP3 downloads, a selection of relaxing audio tracks with scientifically proven sleep-enhancing rhythms is available for free at www.SleepPhones.com.

I downloaded the SleepPhones app to my iPhone 5s.  I wore the headband and connected the cord to my iPhone.   The headband is very comfortable whether wearing it standing up, sitting down, and most especially lying down in bed.  I played the sounds embedded in the app first.  They were indeed soft and soothing as I closed my eyes.  They really put me to sleep faster and more soundly.

I visited the company website just to check the available MP3 downloads.  Worth mentioning are two: “To Dreams Unsettled” , a Sleep track; and “Breakfast Sizzle”, an Awake track.

Of course, I could not help going into testing whether it is as effective using my own sleep-enhancing sounds and music as well as other apps that could work hand-in-hand with SleepPhones.

 

SLEEP Track

As I expected, it worked.  I used it as a speaker for my playlists such as songs of Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Beatles, Harry Belafonte and Jason Myles Goss.  I also played the versions of Marvin Gaye and his Duet with his daughter Nona, and that of Renee Fleming of the U.S. National Anthem; the interpretations of Alicia Keyes, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley of  “America the Beautiful”; and many more.

I have an app called “aSleep”.  It also plays sounds that help you fall asleep faster and more soundly.  Included are the sounds of Rain, Rain and Thunder, Wind, Waves, Water Drops, Waterfall, and many more.  I tried them with the comfortable SleepPhones and they were effective.

I have another app called CAPTI, which I featured, in an earlier column/blog.  It is a Text-to-Speech technology that is used to read the “texts” for you by a “natural” voice that you choose – male or female.  When your eyes are tired, you can use this app and listen until it is finished or until you fall asleep.  Again I used this app with CAPTI and it worked very well.

I also brought the SleepPhones to my gym.  I played all the songs that I connected or linked together for non-stop playing using another app.  This was while I was on the treadmill, the bike and as I use the weights and other pieces of gym equipment.

Of course, whether at the gym, in the car, at the park or even in the library, I make sure that the sound tracks that I use are on the AWAKE – not SLEEP track.

 

AWAKE Track

It is a pity that I did not get to test this magical and almost miraculous yet very simple technology product sooner.  Time and human limitations prevented me from getting into it as early as I should have.  But I am making up for lost time.

This app was invented primarily to deal with the sound use of the allotted 1/3 part of our life.  My experience and by many others who have bought and used it, attest to its usefulness in this arena.

But as I have also tried and tested its features, its usefulness will prove beneficial while we enjoy the 2/3 part of our life.

I strongly recommend that you get it.  As the Washington Post would say, “if you don’t get it, you just don’t get it!

Product Review: ChargeKey

In a previous column, I mentioned my trip to New York to attend the LegalTech Conference.  I talked about bringing my iPad, iPhone 5S, and of course, useful apps that included the revolutionary app SocialRadar.

What I failed to write about was a very small accessory to my IOS devices that proved to be very useful and convenient to have during my trip.  Although I never got to use it while in the conference, I was reminded of it during my dinner with my daughter Traci and son-in-law Jason.

ChargeKey

Traci has all the latest IOS devices, accessories, and the apps that she needs professionally and in facing day-to-day living in this digital age. So do her sister Tanya who owns and runs the fast-growing Craft Kombucha Company in Metro DC, and her brother Raul who is an Information and Systems Specialist at the Department of Justice.

Traci showed me this portable lightning cable in the shape of a house key called the ChargeKey.  I immediately told her that I have one like it.  Anna Sergeeva of Nomad, the company that launched it, sent it to me. 

ChargeKey is known for being the world’s smallest, most portable USB cable.  As seen in the picture, it is shaped like a key and fits onto any keychain. What I like about it is that it allows for charging from any USB port a la standard iPhone 5 cable and also full data transfer when connected to a computer.  I tried and tested this feature, and it really works.

Nomad claims that it is made with high-grade plastics from Bayer (Germany) and GLS (USA).  I guess this is probably to reassure buyers or users that it is NOT made with materials from China.

I definitely understand the claim that ChargeKey can be used to charge your phone from a laptop at a coffee house or the cash register at the local shop.  You can also power up from the USB port on a flat screen TV or other devices with USB ports.

I must emphasize though that this does not take the place of a charger.  It is a very convenient replacement for a regular or standard cable connectable to a USB port.

It is meant for you have a cable that is always with you even without thinking about it. 

That my daughter Traci has it is a validation for its usefulness.  I have tested it with my iPhone 5S and iPAD Mini.  Connected them also to my MacBook Pro for charging using ChargeKey.

 For its price of $25, the ChargeKey is worth having.  You get back convenience and functionality plus feeling cool!