Roku sent me one of their Roku Ultra units to test out on a trip, so I was excited to give it a whirl! Hotel TV's and cable packages have gotten a lot better in the past few years. As a kid I remember getting excited to see the "Free HBO!" sign, while today you generally see a large flat screen TV in your room with a moderate assortment of channels to help you relax before bed. The problem here though is exactly why so many people (including me) are cutting cable from our own homes. It's the programming. Unfortunately, there's very little that the hotels and resorts can do aside from what some have graciously done by providing accessible HDMI and other ports. This allows me to bring my own content and cut the cord when I travel.

If you are looking for the ultimate TV for cord-cutters then look no further, this TCL Roku TV is a fantastic product at a fabulous price. And so are it's bigger brothers and sisters if you need something larger than 40" with 4K support. For just under $300 though, you really can't go wrong with this TCL Roku TV (model 40FS3800). I'm an active user of both Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV, but frankly speaking Roku has them beat.

Whether it's going out to watch a concert at a park, a soccer game, or just visiting friends, it can be a pain in the butt if you have a kid. While this ciao! baby high chair can't make everything about traveling with an infant easier, it does help. What the company has done is create a great portable travel high-chair that is easy to take with you wherever you might be headed. 

I love travel backpacks, it's such an easy solution these days where bags can cost money to check but "backpacks" are considered personal items. While some that have reviewed stretch those boundaries, I found that Travel Pack sent to me by Aer to be very smartly designed and had a killer feature that makes it perfect for overnight business trips.

Remember back in high school - or your last cruise - when you might have been suspected of sneaking vodka disguised in a water bottle? Well that's the premise here too. It's a gimmick plain and simple but luckily the water bottles are actually well designed and have great visual appeal as well.

After wandering the halls of the Consumer Electronics Show a few weeks ago it was clear that virtually everything going forward will be "smart" or at least connected. That includes not just stuff traditionally in the domain of guys like garage door openers, security cameras, and thermostats but virtually everything in your house will soon be connected. For me as a total gadget geek this leaves a question in my mind - "What if I want to check out stuff designed for her?" Luckily, with Valentine's Day coming up you have an opportunity to make her happy by giving her something awesome while also getting a chance to expand the reach of your inner gadget geek!

A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak at Zmodo's CES booth about smart home technology and how it's changing lives. This is a topic that I am particularly passionate about since it has the potential to turn the boxes we call homes and truely turn them into something special. Over the past several decades we've been chasing this ideal with rudimentary switches to turn things on and off, but few companies are actually approaching the point where they are able to bring everything together and that's one of the reasons I love the folks at Zmodo.

I've been searching for the perfect tripod for a while now - something that is small enough to fit easily into my carry-on luggage, but capable enough for use with both my phone camera and my DSLR. The MeFOTO Backpacker Air travel tripod comes as close as any that I've experienced so far and makes a great addition to my travel gear. 

Each time I go out, it's time to make decisions - do I just go with only my phone? Or, should I take my laptop and tablet too? I've tested a lot of keyboards for iPad and honestly most of them fall short, so I was really impressed with Brydge since it looks great, is well manufactured, and when connected, it feels sturdy - almost like it was a first party add on rather than a manufacturer other than Apple itself. Because of this, for many trips - and especially quick business meetings and offsite brainstorming sessions - this keyboard makes it possible to leave the laptop at home.

One of the toughest things about setting New Years resolutions is that it's "just words". This year though, C+A Global a company that you might never have heard of (till now!), but is a global company matching innovative design with an extensive portfolio of brands including Zink, Polaroid, and Gold's Gym. As a blogger, I get spoiled by the latest and greatest products with the most amazing features so I was very impressed with what C+A Global presented when I met with them at CES. Instead of focusing just on aspirational products that you'll never be able to afford, they are producing the products you need and want... at a price you can afford. Over the next few months, we'll be highlighting a few of their products here, but let's kick things off by exploring how these products can help me... and you... make the most of our New Years resolutions!

It would have been easy to simply bang out a few hundred words about how nice these boots looked and felt five minutes after opening the box and trying them on for the first time. However, it was clear that what Ice Bug sent me wasn't those kind of shoes. They pretty much begged to get out and explore... so I honored their request! Since September, these boots have climbed sandstone mesas in San Diego, hiked through Germany's Black Forest and explored the prairies of North Dakota as well as the mountains of Idaho and deserts of California. 

There's no shortage of companies selling wireless speakers out there, but I have a special place in my heart for products from Tivoli Audio since they not only sound great - but look great too and tend to be very high-quality construction. That's certainly the case with the Tivoli Sphera speaker from their Audio Art collection too!

When it comes to gift giving, sometimes those over-the-top items are just perfect and so we were excited to test out the Oral-B Genius electric toothbrush. Never in my life did I expect to ever be the owner of a toothbrush that connected to my camera through Bluetooth so it could monitor my brushing pasterns, but here we are... thanks Oral-B! At $249.99, this isn't the cheapest item on our gift list for guys but it is a perfect idea for someone who wants to combine smart home technology with looking great.

As winter approaches, there’s few things more essential than a sturdy pair of trail crampons for hiking, running, or simply walking across packed snow and ice. I mean what’s more literal about freedom than how you move on two feet?

I think I may have found the ultimate camera bag provides me with exactly what I need. What I have been searching for. I now have ONE BAG to house all of my gear when I travel. This Roadie 22" Backpack by Tenba is pretty close to my dream camera bag. It is sturdy and "Carry On" compatible, with lots of space to store gear - while still having a little room for a change of clothes and other incidentals like toiletries. At one point, I was happy with a standard carry on and a small camera bag but as I started to need more gear on trips - laptop, tablet, gopro, tripod, DSLR, lenses, filters, chargers, cables, etc. my needs grew exponentially. However, after just a few days of receiving the Tenba Roadie 22", I'm pretty sure I've found exactly what I have been searching for.

We're notoriously hard to shop for - or so the women in our lives tell us. That doesn't have to be true this year though! Just show them this post about gifts for guys or even better send them over to UncommonGoods where there are tons of awesome gifts that every guy will love. (Who knows - she might just find something there she likes too!). Really though, we aren't that complicated - Beer Gifts, Whiskey Gifts, Sports Gifts, Auto Gifts, and Geeky Toys  that's what we are looking for and you can be pretty safe picking a present for us from any of those categories. Luckily - UncommonGoods has tons of awesome gift ideas from each of those categories.

In case you haven't noticed, Holiday shopping season is officially here and almost every woman I talk to is looking for great gift ideas for the men in their lives. From husbands to their dads and even sons, this can be a confusing time but I have some great gift ideas that I'd like to share on behalf of Babble Box who sent me some products to share with you guys. If you agree that these are some great gift ideas, then just share this page with your female friends and help a brother out!

While most "smart home" gadgets are designed simply to make your life easier or just more fun, some can actually justify the expense by saving you money. That's the case with the smart thermostat category, so I was thrilled to spend some time reviewing the WiserAir smart thermostat from Schneider Electric.

Drones were once a luxury item reserved only for those who had thousands of dollars to spend... but things are changing and when Dromida offered to send me their latest drone, I was initially disappointed that it was only priced at about $250. At that price it must be terrible right?... I was wrong! It's actually a great drone and the absolutely perfect entry level FPV drone for someone who might not want to invest in the expensive hardware before confirming that they really want to start a potentially expensive new hobby.

When one thinks about musical instruments, chances are that cymbals aren't going to top the list but when you think about it they are incredibly important to rock and roll as well as other bands. However, when you look deeper you can discover that they and in fact, their most famous maker have a pretty fascinating history.