Hasta La Gadget!

PerfectDraft enhancing a PerfectView of The Masters from the comfort of home

We have been fortunate to receive a sneak peak of the new Stella PerfectDraft machine, a slick countertop draft system that lets you pull a perfect pint in your own home. Being a beer fan I must say, I am impressed.

The PerfectDraft machine looked complicated but actually proved very simple. First, snap the tap on top of the keg and connect a tube between the tap body and the keg. There are two doors at the front of the machine which open up (via a switch) so you can place the keg inside. Once plugged in the PerfectDraft cools the keg and its contents to the correct temperature (3°C in the case of Stella Artois), in our test it took about 3 hours to cool it by 9 degrees.

The appearance of the PerfectDraft is minimalistic but stylish, matt black with some shiny chrome details. It features an LCD display which shows you the current temperature, how much beer remains in the keg and a count of days until it expires (they recommend 30 days).

Now on to the important bit. If you’ve ever pulled a pint in a bar before the process is the same, make sure you tilt the glass at a 45° angle, pull the tap handle and pour your beer, as it approaches full adjust the angle and distance from the tap to produce your preferred head. As it is Stella, we had a chance to properly skim the top of the traditional Stella Chalice to seal the head. Taste-wise, the Stella was as good as any we’ve had in a pub. Win! Overall we were very impressed with the system, even though the system is not widely available yet.

Just think of the number of uses of a PerfectDraft system. It would be a great addition to parties, a necessity for any beer aficionado’s bar, and with the onslaught of Summer sports on TV you could enjoy Stella Artois at home while watching any event – PerfectDraft…for PerfectViewing.

Disclaimer: Stella Artois gifted me with a PerfectDraft machine for the purposes of this post. I was not paid for this post and all my thoughts are my honest opinion. PerfectDraft is not available in the UK.
[ A PerfectDraft for a PerfectView, Right from Home A Review of the Stella Artois PerfectDraft copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

We all love having pets, they truly are a joy, and nothing loves you as unconditionally as an animal friend. Of course nothing smells up the house, or makes your nose and eyes itch as much either. In fact, combined with some dust and a few other allergens, the air in our homes can become quite unpleasant, and with winter heading our way, the days of throwing open a window for some fresh air is quickly fading to a memory.

So check out CritterZone’s Air Naturalizer, designed to help your stale inside air, clean itself like Mother Nature intended. CritterZone’s unique unit includes a powerful ionic engine that puts energized elements to work, causing a series of oxidation and reduction reactions that essentially give these energized elements the power to clean up the air, and help get rid of odors, allergens, molds and bacteria and then maintains your fresh and delightful environment in up to 800 square feet of living space.

Now I’ve had a few loud and large air purifiers in my day, and they all helped to varying degrees, but this little guy plugs directly into any standard outlet and works it’s magic right from there, taking up no floor or counter space whatsoever. I have to admit I didn’t expect much from this tiny 2 inch deep box, but boy was I wrong. In only 24 hours my entire bedroom smells like the air after a thunderstorm and my husbands sinus issues lessened just enough for a better nights sleep. (for both of us)

The CritterZone Air Naturalizer doesn’t use chemicals, or pesky filters and it’s so small you can use it anywhere. You can take it to work and banish the odor of your neighbors lunch, put one by the kitty litter box, or take it on your next business trip for when they’re all out of non-smoking rooms. If you want one for yourself they run around 90 bucks at critterzone.com and they really are a breath of fresh air.
[ The Air Naturalizer from CritterZone – Easy Breathing in a very Small Package copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Philips, a global leader in lighting solutions, launched Hue at the end of last year which proves to give a whole new take on lighting automation. Usually when we think of home automation we envision complicated computer systems built into the wall. But in reality, with the growth of smartphones and tablets, wi-fi and home networking are enabling more remote control of everyday items. Philips Hue looks to provide personal lighting to meet your changing needs – wirelessly via your home network and smartphone/tablet. After the launch of Hue we received a set to evaluate. The light in our lives has never been the same.

SETUP:

The Hue system packaging elicits thoughts of color variety with a functioning color wheel, which doubles as easy set-up instructions on the inside of the box. Each set contains three LED bulbs and the controller/hub – the brains of the system – and run for $199.95. Additional bulbs are available at $59.95 each. Note that bulbs are standard Edison type (“screw-in”, E26 or E27). Double check the sockets where you intend to use Hue as you may have to get a converter. Using the included hub power cord and network cable, hooking the controller to the home router was a piece of cake but yes, that does mean you need an available port on your router. Before you go further, download the necessary control app. We easily loaded it on both an iOS and Android device. Syncing with the hub was a simple push of a button. Another step you may want to take before getting started is the remote access. Log in on the Hue website to enable the feature. You still control lighting from your device, but remote access gives permission for you to adjust your Hue system from anywhere in the world.

APP & FUNCTIONS:

Scenes within the app

Philips built in more than a dozen ‘scenes’ in the app, which migrate the bulbs to specific color combinations that prompt memories of environments. “Relax” and “concentration” give you what you expect. But others like “ski” (bright whites and blues) emulate the lighting you could encounter in those situations. Hundreds more scenes have been created by Hue users and are available on their website when logged into your account. A very creative app feature is the ability to produce and save scenes based on photos. Check your library to find a favorite moment. Hue will analyze the photo and bring out the colors in it. So if you are in a nightclub having a great time with friends take a photo and emulate that environment when you get home. Scenes were easy to call up and create. And setting an alarm for a scene to turn off or on was just as easy – whether on the network or away from home. For example, I found it helpful to have the office lights turn to bright orange about the time I was due to fall asleep on my keyboard. It made me get up and leave. And yes, we have managed to mess fellow CG staffers while away from our network. Believe it or not the toughest thing to do on the app was simply assigning a color to each bulb. Although we eventually figured it out, making all the lights red or yellow or color of our choice proved not quite as intuitive as using or creating scenes.

Philips did think ahead on the technology and made Hue open platform. Anticipate developer details later this year which may lead to options like strobe or rotating colors. Imagine having rotating red and green during your Christmas party!

LIGHT:

The light exhibited from the LED bulbs was worthy of mention. Each gives off 600 lumens and uses about  7.5W. Conversely, the equivalent lumens in an incandescent would require approximately a 50W bulb. So you will save by simply using LED.  The color combinations are as endless as LEDs allow. And when turned off at the source the Hue bulbs return to white light which proved better than our bulb predecessors. Up to 50 Hue bulbs can be controlled per hub.

CONCLUSION:

Philips is not the first to get in the wireless-ly controlled bulb game. But with their expertise and resources they will certainly make the biggest splash. Do we need a $200 set of bulbs that change color? Perhaps not, but with the mounds of research showing how our moods and work is impacted based on our surroundings, there does exist plenty of reason. Plus, it is fun! If you enjoy mood lighting, travel (and want to deter mischief) or simply like to control your life through your phone/tablet pick up a Hue system via Philips, Apple, Amazon or other retailers.

[ Control Your Lumens via Phone with Philips Hue copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]