CES – Catalyst Waterproof Case for AirPods Featured at Unveiled

· Dave Hamilton · Cool Stuff Found

Catalyst is still one of the only companies to offer a case for your AirPods, and now have won a CES Innovation Award for it. They were showing off the case and its new colors at CES Unveiled on Sunday. With most people just now having finally gotten AirPods, I figured this was a good time to call this a Cool Stuff Found for you all.

CES – Ring Alarm Home Security System Coming in 2018

· Dave Hamilton · Cool Stuff Found

LAS VEGAS – Ring, maker of video doorbells and security cams, added an entire home security kit to its lineup today. The US$199 Ring Alarm Home Security System starter bundle includes a keypad, Base Station (with siren), motion sensor, and door/window sensor. Additional motion and door/window sensors can be added to the system, of course. On its own, the Ring Alarm will send alerts to your iPhone, but it can also be paired with an optional professional monitoring service and cellular backup service for $10/month. The nice part is, if you’re comfortable doing your own monitoring with your iPhone, you don’t need to ever pay a monthly fee. Just set the Ring Alarm system up, connect it to your Wi-Fi, and let it do its thing and alert you when something is awry. The Ring Alarm system will be available coming in 2018.

CES – Ring Alarm Home Security System Coming in 2018

Dashlane Password Manager Premium Subscription: $19.98

· Bryan Chaffin · TMO Deals

Dashlane Password Manager

We have a deal on a subscription to Dashlane Password Manager, an online password storage system. Features include password generation, support for two-factor authentication systems, access from a variety of devices, and more. A one year subscription is $19.98 though us, and there are options on the deal listing for three and five years, too.

CES – JBL adds Link 500 Voice-Controlled, Multi-room Speaker with Additional Woofer and Tweeter

· Dave Hamilton · Cool Stuff Found

LAS VEGAS – At CES this week JBL announced the new Link 500 voice-activated, multi-room speaker at the top end of the Link line. Link is JBL’s Wi-Fi-enabled, voice-controlled line of speakers, all with Google Assistant built-in. Besting it’s smaller sibling, the Link 300, the new 500 adds a second woofer and second tweeter and boosts the total output to 60 watts. We recently discussed the Link product line on Mac Geek Gab 685 and it’s the first set of speakers that makes me think someone could have multi-room audio from a company other than Sonos. Supporting both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Link has some options many smart speakers don’t, including portability: the Link 10 and 20 both have batteries that can power them each for hours of synced, wireless playback. The JBL Link 500 is available today for preorder for US$399.95, and is expected to ship on February 1.

CES – JBL adds Link 500 Voice-Controlled, Multi-room Speaker with Additional Woofer and Tweeter

Which iPhone Should I Get: The Thrilling Conclusion

· Bob LeVitus · Dr. Mac's Rants & Raves

Dr. Mac has been running around with an iPhone X in one pocket and an iPhone 8 Plus in the other. Here’s a spoiler: He says the iPhone X was the hands-down winner in every category that matters to him.

CES - Wemo Bridge Makes All Your Wemo Gear HomeKit Compatible

· Jeff Gamet · Cool Stuff Found

LAS VEGAS – Wemo introduced their HomeKit compatible Wemo Bridge at CES, and showed it off to Jeff Gamet. It lets you add all your Wemo devices to a HomeKit network without replacing any gear. Check out our video interview.

Powerful Forces Ready to Fight For Net Neutrality

· John Martellaro · Link

Net Neutrality graffiti on a brick wall

Powerful forces are lining up to fight the undermining of Net Neutrality. Particle Debris page #2 points to major articles that bring us up to date.

CES - Who Invited the Aflac Duck to CES?

· John F. Braun · Product News

John F. Braun meets with the Aflac team, and learns how they are working with a technology partner to battle childhood cancer.

TMO Background Mode Special Edition #3 With Former Apple Executive Michael Gartenberg

· John Martellaro · Background Mode Podcast

Michael Gartenberg

Michael Gartenberg spent three years as Apple’s Senior Director of Product Marketing, reporting directly to Senior VP Phil Schiller. In this very special edition, Michael and I chat about what we think Apple will ship in 2018. We go from certain, HomePod, to very speculative, a new Mac mini, and everything in between. iPhone 11? iPhone 9? Coffee Lake MacBook Pros? At the end of the show we also offer up some fantasies about what we’d personally like Apple to do.