Spot Cool Stuff is freshly back from the Summer Outdoor Retailer convention in Salt Lake City where, along with approximately 20,999 others, we ooo-ed and ahhh-ed over the latest tents, backpacks, kayaks, shoes, bicycles, roof-top carriers, portable disposable toilets (yes, really), sunglasses, jackets, pocket knives, hammocks, energy bars, hiking GPS units and an assorted sundry of outdoor gear and gadgets.
Many products at the OR Show were newly released and several will not be available to the general public for several months. What were the coolest new items we discovered? Here’s a roundup of our 12 favorites—and a sneak peak at some products we’ll be reviewing more fully in the future:
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Have you flown on a commercial flight recently? Ugh. Airlines are decreasing their level of service. Airports are increasing their level of security. Add to that delayed flights, crowded cabins and lost luggage and you have a recipe for frustration.
Spot Cool Stuff can’t do anything about the workings of the airline business. But we can recommend seven items that can help take some out of the stress out of air travel. Or at least help make the experience of it seem to go by faster.
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What do a diamond and a shot of espresso have in common?
That’s no meant to be a bad joke. It’s a serious question. And the answer is: Both can only be made under pressure.
In the case of the shot of espresso the pressure is required to push hot water through densely packed ground coffee beans. Typically this requirement for pressurizing water has meant that effective espresso makers were relatively loud and large electric devices.
The Handpresso Wild, however, is not a typical espresso maker.
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Shopping for a traveler you really can’t stand? You should click on over to our collection of the worst travel gear. For everyone else—those of you hoping to, you know, find a present that will make a traveler happy—we offer you these 10 suggestions, a cross section of products that will appeal to a variety of travelers from geeks to frequent fliers to travlelers of the armchair variety.
And remember—there’s no reason you can’t give any of these items to yourself too.
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“Elegant” and “Microsoft” are usually not words that go together. Yet somehow those adjectives managed to meet up in the cool, wireless Microsoft Arc Mouse.
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Amazon offers two “current” versions of its popular e-book reader: the Kindle 2 and the Kindle DX.
Both Kindles are among Spot Cool Stuff’s favorite gadgets, especially for traveling. But why? And what’s the difference between the two Kindle models? And which one is better?
For the answers, Dear Reader, continue on . . .
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