Author: Joel Mathis

In our latest roundup of new Mac gear, we’ve got all kinds of ways to carry your MacBook, plus mega-storage, colorful mice, standing desks, and more.

The $295 Cobra brief is a mid-sized laptop bag — it’ll fit a 15-inch MacBook Pro — with an extra pocket for your iPad, phone, or other small items. The laptop compartment is padded, the pockets are trimmed with leather, and the entire bag is outfitted with a waterproof nylon exterior, ensuring that your valuable electronics are safe from the elements.

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This week’s roundup of new and updated apps includes an offering from Walmart that ensures you’re always paying the lowest advertised price for a product.

The iPad was made for culture. 82nd and Fifth takes 100 curators from across The Metropolitan Museum of Art to talk about 100 works of art that changed the way they see the world. The result: “One work, one curator, two minutes a time.” Beauty has never been so accessible.

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This week’s roundup of new apps includes a celebration of Blue Note, one of the greatest labels in jazz—and music—history. But if that’s too heady for you, we’ve also got Sharknado.

The diamond anniversary of a legendary jazz label is celebrated in the Blue Note 75 iPad app. Immerse yourself in the history of the music: If you have a Spotify, Rdio, or Deezer subscription, the app ties into those accounts to give you album-length dips into the history being described. (Other users can listen to 30-second sound clips and buy albums and singles directly from iTunes.) In addition to timelines, artist catalogues, and more, the app also includes an interactive magazine featuring news and other information about jazz today.

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This week’s roundup features updates to apps that help enhance your health, teach you yoga, and more. Plus, there’s always a good game to take your mind off things, right?

The $10 Broken Age game for iPad is “a timeless coming-of-age story of barfing trees and talking spoon.” You can switch between the characters of Vella Tartine and Shay Volta, a pair of teens in similar situations played out on different worlds. The cast includes Elijah Wood, Wil Wheaton, and Jack Black, with a soundtrack recorded by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Only Act 1 of the puzzle-driven game is out now; Act 2 will soon be available as an in-app purchase.

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This week’s roundup of new iOS accessories includes a slew of gear from Belkin, a bunch of new (and, yes, interesting) cables, a multi-multi charger, and more.

The $100 Portable Tablet Stage is an iPad stand that’s, says the company, “perfect for presenting, reading, recording video or surfing the web.” It’s form also lets you use the iPad, along with Belkin’s free Stage app, as a camera for live presentations. The stand itself is lightweight, adjustable for viewing your tablet at any angle, and foldable for easy transportation and storage.

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Just because it’s WWDC week doesn’t mean the endless flow of new iOS accessories slows down. This week’s roundup includes a cool new way to control games on your iPhone; we’ve also got speakers, car accessories, and more.

The $30 ClipSee lets you strap your iPhone to your car’s seatbelt, letting you conduct hands-free speakerphone conversations with a minimum of distraction and the best audio pickup. The ClipSee also amplifies the phone’s speaker up to three times.

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This week’s roundup includes updates to the app that bills itself as “the Netflix of books.” Plus new ways to track expenses, save screenshots, and stay organized.

We are suckers for science and for beautifully designed apps. The Elements Flashcards, a free app for iPhone and iPad, hits both our sweet spots. You can try to identify chemical elements by their symbol alone, test your knowledge of groups in the periodic table, or drag and drop elements into their correct position on the periodic table. 

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This week’s roundup of new accessories for your iOS gear includes a device that uses your campfire to power up your iPhone, plus the usual assortment of speakers, keyboards, stands, and more.

The $99 Tower is both an iPad stand and charging station. Just plug it in wherever’s convenient, and it’ll juice your tablet up while displaying it at eye level. The desk-height Tower features four AC outlets and two USB ports, and it offers surge protection.

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This week’s roundup features improvements to several apps that let you listen to music and podcasts when and where you want to.

It’s about a month before futbol’s World Cup opens in Brazil, but it’s never too early to download the ESPN FC Soccer and World Cup app. Since ESPN is the broadcaster for the games, you’ll be able to view video highlights once the matches take place. Until then, you can follow clubs and action from major soccer leagues all over the world.

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This week’s roundup of new iOS gear includes accessories designed and built with summer in mind; others can be used all year round.

The $60 Xtream S2 line of portable Bluetooth speakers each features “double bass” subwoofer sound and offers 10 hours of music playback time. If you’re instead using the built-in microphone to make speakerphone calls, you get 11 hours of talk time.

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This week’s roundup of new Mac accessories features several new Thunderbolt storage solutions, as well as new sleeves, cases, and more.

This company has introduced two new products for high-end Mac gamers. The $97 Nascita gaming mouse (pictured) offers an “8200 dpi laser engine with perfect accuracy, tracking, and pickups,” while the $36 Dimora gaming mousepad’s “micro textured surface makes it feel as if mice are hovering on air.”

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This week’s roundup of iOS apps features two new apps for editing and sharing your photos. There are also updates to some of our favorite productivity apps and a chance to live in M.C. Escher’s universe.

Adobe Lightroom has arrived on the iPad, bringing high-level photo editing to the tablet. It can also sync pics to your desktop computer, as well as vice versa. Pro-level tools come with a pro-level cost, however: The app itself is free, but to use it (after a free 30-day trial, anyway) you’ll need to have a subscription to Adobe’s Creative Cloud service, which typically costs $50 per month.

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We’ve got apps from Cosmos and NASA this week, as well as gross games, flight trackers, and more.

If you like the new show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, or if you just love science, this free app for iPhone and iPad will make a great companion, with “breathtaking imagery, unique videos and additional exclusive content” to make the cosmos come to life. Full episodes aren’t available in this app, but users will have access to the Cosmic Calendar—condensing of the 1.8 billion-year history of the universe into a single calendar year.

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