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?

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.

There's something magical about being able to control the way time unfolds... those clouds that look static suddenly billow and fluff as they float across the sky. Many people have played with time lapse features on their camera phone or even a DSLR at one point or another - myself included - but there are two big challenges. The first is that nobody that I know wants to surrender their phone to a process that can take hours or even days. Second, even if you have a spare phone, chances are it isn't going to do well in the elements such as rain, a heavy dew, and even hot blowing dust and sand... even if the battery was somehow to last long enough. Enter Brinno's TLC-200 camera!

I've worn glasses for much of my life and it's always been an expensive and confusing process. Depending on which place you go to, the exams are expensive and the glasses are cheap or the other way around. Today though, thanks to online retailers like EyeBuyDirect, things are a little bit easier. To see how things work, the folks at EyeBuyDirect offered to let me order a few pairs of glasses through their website and share my review opinions with you guys.

Smart homes are the future, but most technology that you see today is related to inside the home or connected to security. One area that you don't hear much about is smart garages so when I got the opportunity to have one of my writers share his experience checking out the new Chamberlain Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener we jumped at the opportunity.

Camping successfully in a remote location requires the use of a convenient source of power to support your lights, fridges, heaters and other essential appliances. While there are several options for powering your crucial devices, a super quiet portable generator happens to be the most appropriate. The reason is it produces 240 V (the voltage your camping appliances need), can easily be moved from one remote place to another and produces the least noise possible. Imagine the peaceful and relaxing environment in a remote camping location. All these can only be realized with the aid of a handy, quiet portable generator. Below is everything you need to know about portable generators

Looking for a fun gift for the guys in your life? We think this Stay Puft man is pretty cool as ar the other products that Underground Toys has produced as part of their license with the Ghostbusters movie. While honestly I hate feminized movies that are made simply for the fact of making it a "girl thing", these toys are fun and you can just pretend that it's a throw back to the original series if you want when you buy this as a gift for the man in your life!

I'm not a big fan of using pain relievers and I'm also not a big fan of giving back rubs to my wife who suffers from constant back pain. Thus, when I got the chance to check out Aleve's new Direct Therapy TENS device I jumped at the opportunity.  It operates based on a simple theory - the TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) device stimulates the nerves to block the sensation of pain without using drugs.

As you know, I'm a huge fan of smart home technology - well tech in any form for that matter! So when Cox invited me to stop by their event and see some examples of smart home technology powered by their Gigablast Internet at a swanky penthouse apartment 47 floors above San Diego I jumped at the opportunity.