Hasta La Gadget!

Smartphones make reasonably adequate cameras, especially if all you want is to capture some photos of your family and daily life. However, one thing that iPhonetographers will quickly find limiting are the optics included in their cameras. There’s not much you can do about improving them, unless you use some sort of add-on lens or filter.

After having made a pretty useful lens filter case, which was also successfully funded through Kickstarter, Trygger is back with a clip-on filter for your iPhone 5. Unlike their previous design, this camera clip is pretty small and can easily be removed and carried in your pocket. It’s designed to help balancing out colors and improve overall image fidelity using an adjustable polarizing filter. Here are some example images with and without the filter in place (left image is the stock iPhone, the right is with the Trygger).

The image on the right definitely exhibits fewer blown-out areas, and is more pleasing to the eye. In addition to improving color and hotspots, the lens filter can all but eliminate unwanted glare off of reflective surfaces. The result is pretty impressive from the looks of this example:

The Trygger camera clip was launched as a Kickstarter crowdfunding project, and they’ve currently amassed about $2,000 out of a $10,000 goal, with about a month to go to reach their funding goal. You’ll have to pledge $30(USD) to get yours.

[via Ubergizmo]

These days, there are plenty of Bluetooth speakers available, and you no longer have to pay hundreds of dollars to get something decent that sounds good. If you’re looking for a small, but feature-packed speaker, you might want to check out the Boombot REX.

The hexagonal Boombot REX isn’t just a single channel – it’s a 2.1 speaker – with a pair of full-range drivers on front and a dedicated woofer on back. It also has a noise-canceling microphone, and a built-in clip, making it quite portable in a variety of different situations. It connects via Bluetooth to many different devices, from iPods to smartphones and tablets.

There are dedicated buttons to change tracks, adjust volume, answer and hang up calls. In addition, the REX is Siri-enabled, so that you can push a single button on the phone and speak your requests to it and hear them back through the speaker. Beyond all of its technical capabilities, the REX is water-resistant and built to take a beating.

The project is currently raising funds over on Kickstarter, having already amassed more than $85,000 against an initial goal of just $27,000, with 15 days of funding left. Needless to say that this project will be fully funded. You’ll have to pledge $80(USD) to get yours, and you can choose from a blue, green or black version for that price. There’s also a $100 option which lets you choose a custom set of grills in either purple or orange.

[via designboom]

Whether you’re a fan of the Game of Thrones TV series or the A Song of Fire and Ice novels or you’re just willing to admit that your smartphone rules over your time and attention, you’ll love this dock made by Instructables member mstyle183.

mstyle183 – for this is the manner in which the kingdom’s future blacksmiths are named – originally made the dock for himself, but rightly decided that other people might want one. Whereas he made the original using 3D printing, the docks he’s selling are made via injection molding. Each order is individually painted, though I kind of like its vanilla look.

You can order the dock from mstyle183′s website nuPROTO for $70 (USD). It’s compatible with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 5 and phones that have micro-USB charging ports at the bottom. Although I’m not sure if fatter phones like the Galaxy Note are fit to sit on this throne.

[via Instructables via Nerd Approved]

There are plenty of Bluetooth speakers available these days, and here’s another one you might want to check out if you still haven’t found one you like. This latest one was designed in France, and is called the Lowdi.

The minimally-styled Lowdi is a Bluetooth 4.0 mobile speaker, with 3 watts of power. It can produce sound up to 80 dB measured at 0.5m, which isn’t bad. You can recharge the device via USB and its autonomy is 8 hours. Like other speakers, the 3.5mm input allows you to plug in other audio sources which don’t support Bluetooth. The Lowdi also has a mic so it can receive phone calls as well. Another nice touch is the rubber bumper around the exterior of the case, which resists scratches.

The Lowdi Bluetooth speaker sells for for €99 (~$132 USD), including a carrying pouch, USB charging cable and 3.5mm audio cable.

[via Geek & Hype]

If you’re going to be doing a lot of traveling tonight to and from the homes of friends and family, you might be looking for some entertainment options to keep you occupied during a road trip. DirecTV has announced that its customers who subscribe to Starz and Encore now have access to the authenticated online streaming services for both pay channels. This means you can watch your favorite Starz or Encore programs or movies on the go.

The Starz Play and Encore Play apps are available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch at no cost on the App Store. DirecTV subscribers can also stream content through Wi-Fi and broadband connections on their computer at StarzPlay.com and EncorePlay.com. Android users will get access to the applications in the future. DirecTV customers simply need to provide their account information to link their accounts and stream the content using the apps.

Encore Play promises about 900 different monthly selections including 300 movies and select original programming. Starz Play offers about 400 monthly selections including 300 movies, some of them being first-run titles. Starz also offers access to its original shows including the awesome Spartacus series.