You’re going to want protection for your new gadgets!

The holidays are a time when people tend to get lots of new gizmos and gadgets that need to be charged, and unfortunately, they don’t each come with their own wall outlet to use. Odds are that you want to keep your gear safe from surges while charging it, and it doesn’t hurt anything to be able to charge more than two things from any outlet, right?

Well, today only you can pick up Belkin’s SurgePlus wall mountable surge protector for $13.95, which happens to be about $6 lower than its regular price. This surge protector has six AC outlets and two USB ports and protects against electrical spikes of up to 900 Joules.

Compact and Convenient: Charge 6 AC powered devices or 2 USB A powered devices from 1 AC wall mounted surge protector.
Faster Charging: The two USB ports deliver 2.1 AMPs of shared power to each port for faster charging of USB-A powered devices.
Surge Protection: The 6 AC outlets provides surge protection for against…

Want to jam out to your favorite tunes or epic games and don’t want any wires holding you back? Bose QC 35 is the best Bluetooth headphones to do exactly that.

Best overall

Bose QuietComfort 35 Series I

See at Amazon

For years, the Bose brand has been the gold standard for active noise-canceling headphones, and its new Bluetooth over-ear model continues that proud tradition. Though other brands have edged closer to the company’s top-tier quality over the years, we still think Bose is the headphone manufacturer to beat.

The QuietComfort 35 Series I (QC35 I for short) was the company’s first wireless pair of over-ear noise-canceling headphones, and it excels in comfort, quality, and muting the outside world. When it comes to rocking a good set with your iPhone for a flight or commute, the QC35 is simply the best.

Bottom line: If you want Bluetooth headphones that deliver on comfort, epic noise cancellation, and overall sound quality, you can’t go wrong with the Bose QuietComfor…

VOLTA’s magnetic adapter turns your single charging cable into a USB C, micro USB, or Lightning cable, making it the only cord you need when you’re on the go.

We’ve all had it happen. You’re at a friend’s house when you notice your iPhone battery has trickled down to nothing, so you ask to borrow their charger. But — oh god, what’s this? — their phone requires a different charger, and there are no Lightning cables to be found. Enter charging technology company VOLTA and its recently launched Indiegogo campaign for the VOLTA Magnetic Adapter — an adapter that allows you to change any Android charging cable into a USB C, micro USB, or Lightning cable. Thanks to of VOLTA’s adapter, you can use any micro USB cord to charge all your devices, saving you from a dead battery or from having to pull a tangled, snakelike mass out of your bag (and — ugh — unravel it) when you need to power up on the go.

See on Indiegogo

How does it work?

Each adapter comes with …

A developer details what went down with a recently-corrected HomeKit vulnerability.

A little more light has been shed on exactly what was happening with a recently-uncovered HomeKit vulnerability discovered in iOS and watchOS. The issue, which has been fixed, allowed potentially anyone to control HomeKit accessories without your authorization. Developer Khaos Tian has been able to perform a deep dive on exactly what happened and how the vulnerability worked.

Tian outlined the issues in a post on Medium:

In order for HomeKit to do something, the message needs to contain a unique identifier that identifies the object (accessory, scene, or room) in the home. Normally it should be impossible for anyone to figure out the unique identifier for those objects unless you are actually authorized to access that home in HomeKit. However, there are two separate bugs, one in watchOS 4 – 4.1, and another in iOS 11.2 and watchOS 4.2, allow someone to figure out those unique identifiers without…

The holiday season is in full swing, and many developers are celebrating with discounts on their great apps and games on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

With the holidays rolling around once again, a number of apps and games have gone on sale on both iOS and Mac. Naturally, a number of developers have teamed up for this year’s App Santa sale, but other developers have placed their work on sale as well.

Here are some of the great deals you’ll find on apps and games for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Be sure to check back often, as we’ll be updating this list throughout the holiday season.

iPhone and iPad

Broken Age – $0.99
Badland 2 – $0.99
This War of Mine – $0.99
Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked – $0.99
Streetfighter IV CE – $0.99
Grim Fandango Remastered – $0.99
Day of the Tentacle Remastered – $0.99
Full Throttle Remastered – $0.99
Transistor – $1.99
Titan Quest – $3.99
Invisible, Inc. (iPad) – $0.99
Fold Defy – FREE
Starman: Tale of Light – $1.99
Superimpose – FREE
Superimose X – $2.99
Samorset 3 – …

Mac VR developers, go get your fresh Steam VR Beta!

Valve has just released some fixes and updates to SteamVR supporting macOS. The update released on December 12, 2017 for Steam VR Beta mentions the following for macOS:

macOS specific updates

Fixes bug where tracking can’t start on new 10.13.2 installs
Some other general updates to SteamVR Beta

General:
– Fixed SteamVR keyboard not getting any input when requested from an application.

Oculus:
– Fixed SteamVR Keyboard for Touch controllers.

Opting into the beta

To get the latest Beta updates for Steam VR, you must opt into the beta.

Launch Steam.
Go to Settings.
Select Account.
Under ”Beta participation” click CHANGE….
Select Steam Beta Update.
Click Restart Steam.
You’ll then automatically download the beta client and all future beta updates.

Thoughts? Comments?

This is exciting news especially since we are seeing fixes and feature additions with nearly every Steam VR Beta release. That means developers are busily creati…

HO HO HOOOOOOLD UP! Here are some handy-dandy photography tips for this holiday season!

During the holiday season, there’s always bound to be a camera or an iPhone stuck in your face at one point or another.

Whether it’s posing in ugly sweaters or grinning with the super lame gift you unwrapped from your Uncle Danny, snapping pictures of the beautifully roasted turkey & centerpiece or of your two-year-old niece screaming on Santa’s lap, there’s always someone somewhere looking to capture a festive memory on camera.

After all, ’tis the season!

Nowadays, there are dozens of opportunities available to snap some truly breathtaking and unique holiday snapshots; you just need to get creative with it!

Here are a couple of ways you can take some wickedly festive photos this holiday season!

Let there be light!
Angles, angles, angles
#Boomerang4life
Unwrap those photography toys (& get creative!)
Get weird and play with your editing

Let there be light!

Regardless of whicheve…

Let’s face it: some of us just aren’t watch people. Thankfully, Apple Watch accessory company Bucardo has you covered.

There are a lot of reasons not to wear a watch in the traditional way. For some, it’s a style choice. For others, it’s just plain uncomfortable and annoying. Regardless of the reason, it can put a real damper on your gift-giving if that special someone you’d like to buy a brand new Apple Watch for doesn’t like rocking accessories on their wrist. Enter Bucardo: a California-based company that creates special, non-traditional housing for Apple Watches. Its products allow fashion-forward individuals to wear their watch around their neck like a pendant or on a chain like a pocket watch, offering them an opportunity to style their tech in a whole new way.

For the necklace-lover, Bucardo offers a near-overwhelming multitude of options. If you’re more into hiding your Apple Watch than putting it on display, you can choose from Bucardo’s locket-style chain and pendant co…

DECK YOUR WRIST WITH FESTIVE WATCH BANDS FA LA LA LA LAAAA LA LA LA LAAAA.

If you’re looking to show off your holiday spirit but don’t want to put up an entire smelly evergreen tree or break your neck wrapping lights around your house, then why not opt for a super fantastic, super festive holiday Apple Watch band!

Here are the best Apple Watch bands to get you into the festivities!

1. Star light, star bright…

First $180 Apple Watch melon-pink, star studded Coach band I see tonight… Wish I may… Wish I might… Look like a total fashion-forward elf on Christmas night…

2. SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMONDDDD 💎

Or shine bright like this $16 gold, glittery, Apple Watch band!

3. Nothing says ’holiday season’ like gingerbread men

So this Gingerbread man Apple Watch band for $52 will match perfectly, no?

4. Forget red and green, go blue and white instead!

This band is perfect for someone who prefers to celebrate the cold, beauty, and snow that comes with the holid…

Instagram has started it’s alpha testing, but what the heck does that mean…

Instagram: either you love it, or you’re super annoyed with all the selfies people are taking, but if you are someone who loves the app, then news about Insta’s latest alpha texting programs on iOS and Andorid might make your heart happy.

While Instagram has actually been dolling out beta programs for a number of years already — think things like account switching, archiving photos, multi-photo posts, comment replies — that have become a key part of how we use and navigate the app, new alpha testing is coming in the next little while.

The company’s newly launched Alpha program will offer a different version of the app to testers than is available to Beta testers, however, so users may get to test features that never even make it to the next step up, much less the wider public. (TechCrunch)

So we have to ask: would you be an alpha tester for the ’gram if you’re on Android or iOS? If the a…