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The North Face teases its most breathable waterproof gear yet
As great as waterproof apparel is to keep you protected from bad weather, most jackets, pants and other gear tend to be too bulky or uncomfortable. That's a problem The North Face is well aware of, and it has come up with a new material that it believes will fix this: Futurelight, which the company is calling "the most advanced breathable waterproof outerwear technology." According to The North Face, Futurelight is its most comfortable waterproof gear yet, thanks to a design that lets air move through fabric more easily and provide "more venting than ever before.'
North Face's Access Pack was made for obsessive gadget lovers
A lot of backpacks and messenger bags now come standard with padded laptop sleeves. Whether that's due to most people taking a notebook or tablet with them, I don't know, but laptop bags are a thing, with an increasingly wide range of prices, shapes and styles. The North Face Access Pack caught my attention for a couple of reasons. First, it's an established bag and apparel maker that's made something for people like me. The company already has several backpack designs with laptop sleeves -- and even battery packs -- built-in.) Then there's the fact that it's been sold out for a while (despite the $235 asking price) on the company's retail site. It's in demand. So I demanded to try one.
The best tech for students studying abroad
There's nothing quite as exciting or daunting as packing up your stuff and heading overseas for a semester. You'll have an opportunity to immerse yourself in a new culture, a foreign language and a whole ocean of unique tech challenges. But don't worry, we're here to help you navigate those obstacles. In our guide you'll find top notch cameras to capture all those transformational memories, luggage that is basically impossible to lose, a backpack that hides a spare battery for charging your phone and, of course, some noise-cancelling headphones for those long flights filled with screaming children. But you'll also need a lightweight laptop with solid battery life (like the HP Spectre 13.3) and a phone with a couple of SIM slots for doing a little border hopping. Check out the gallery below for all our recommendations for students studying abroad. And make sure to check out our full back-to-school guide right here.
The best touchscreen gloves
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 Over the past three winters, we've tested more than 20 pairs of touchscreen gloves while moving half a ton of stumps, climbing on ice, and just walking and biking around town. For the third year running and despite some stiff competition, the Winter Style Touchscreen Gloves by Glider Gloves are the ones we recommend for most people, offering up the best combination of warmth, dexterity, and grip for about $30 (also available direct). They're not the absolute warmest gloves you can buy, but they're warmer than anything that's better at handling touchscreens and better at handling touchscreens than anything that's warmer.
IBM's Watson supercomputer will soon be your personal shopper
Watson had been a doctor, a geneticist, a game show contestant and even a chef in the past. But now IBM's supercomputer has a new career: personal shopping. IBM has partnered with digital commerce firm Fluid to develop a cloud-based app called Expert Personal Shopper (XPS), which uses Watson's brains to answer buyers' highly specific questions. In short, the computer with many hats now plays the role of a sales associate when you're shopping online. IBM and Fluid are currently working with several consumer brands, but The North Face will be the first to feature the technology on its website. When the outdoor clothing and equipment company launches XPS, you can ask it questions like you would an assistant at a mall. If you needed a recommendation on the best equipment to use for a five-day cross-country trip, or need to know the best tent to use if you're hiking with family, including kids, then Watson's got your back. It's unclear when XPS will launch exactly, but IBM has allotted $100 million in funds to develop that and a variety of other cognitive apps. All parties involved are planning to develop it further for mobile applications and devices.
