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The best plug-in smart outlet
By Rachel Cericola This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter, reviews for the real world. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. After spending over 22 hours plugging in and unplugging lights and other small appliances and turning them on and off using various apps (and by barking orders at Siri and Alexa when we could), we found that the Belkin WeMo Mini is the best smart-switch outlet adapter for people who want to add smart control to their existing outlets. It packs most of the same features as our previous pick, the WeMo Insight, into a smaller size, and it's less expensive. It also plays nicely with both iOS and Android smartphones and tablets and integrates easily with popular smart-home protocols and devices. All you need to do is plug the Belkin WeMo Mini into an existing outlet and install the app to get started with home automation.
The best tech for honor students
Look, not everyone is cut out for late nights of drinking and playing DJ for groups of frat kids. Some would prefer to campout in the library until the wee hours of the morning studying and poring over notes and lectures. Of course, the days of pen, paper and microfiche are pretty much over at this point. You need powerful, digital tools like an Evernote subscription to help organize all your notes from class. And there's nothing like a solid voice recorder to document all those early morning classes before you're fully caffeinated. Of course you'll also need the basics, like a backpack and a laptop. But, you might also want to invest in a portable energy light to help keep you awake and fight off bouts of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) when you're spending 90 percent of your day indoors. Check out the gallery below for all our best bookworm picks and make sure to check out our full Back-to-School Guide right here.
The best iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus battery cases
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a list of the best technology to buy. Read the full article below at TheWirecutter.com. We've spent more than 140 hours testing 21 different battery cases (18 for the iPhone 6 and three for the iPhone 6 Plus), and we think the best battery case for most people is Anker's Ultra Slim Extended Battery Case. It provides an above-average 117 percent of a full charge to the iPhone 6one full charge plus another 17 percentand at only $40, it's by far the least expensive. The result is the highest ratio of charge percent per dollar and the lowest cost per full iPhone recharge out of all the models we looked at. It's also the lightest and thinnest battery case we tested.
IRL: TYLT's Energi charging backpack and the Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. This week, Darren Murph, the man of many bags, is at it once again, trying out a charging backpack we got to handle for just a few minutes back at CES. In addition, we'll give you a peek at Logitech's suspiciously Surface-like FabricSkin keyboard case. Find it all after the break.
Energi charging backpack by TYLT hands-on
Seemingly made for the urban warrior, the Energi charging backpack by TYLT does precisely what it claims to do. Hosted on Christie Street as a crowd-funded project and shown off here at CES 2013, the bag offers an array of compartments for everyday product storage (as you would assume), in addition to a charging base within its main pouch. The brick is capable of charging up to three devices simultaneously via USB, as well as a micro-USB port for juicing the bag itself. There's also an accessible slit on the lower right side for threading out cords and charging devices on-the-go. It's currently on sale for $169, but look for that price to jump to $189 once the company reaches its $150,000 goal. Sarah Silbert contributed to this report.
Ford announces C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid cars for 2012 release
Ford indicated that CES was simply the right place to debut the Ford Focus Electric, and we'd tend to agree given the company's history of showing off cool stuff at the show. But, perhaps part of that reason is because the company wasn't done with the new car announcements. In Detroit Ford has announced two new flavors of its C-MAX, both coming to the US: hybrid and plug-in hybrid. The C-MAX is a European market compact MPV, basically a tall station wagon that'll comfortably seat five and still leave room for luggage, dogs, or '70s era mainframe systems in the back. More details on both versions, plus the full PR, after the break. %Gallery-113588%
