Five Must-Have Summer Gadgets

While we are almost at the official half-way point of summer, many of you may not have everything you need in the technology department.  The other day I saw a guy listening to music on his iPhone at the pool.  First of all, the sound was terrible, second of all, you don’t have to spend that much to get an awesome bluetooth speaker.  Here are some must-have summer gadgets to make the rest of your summer a little more fun:

ECOXBT Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker:  Bluetooth speakers are popping up everywhere, but picking the right one for your needs and budget is key.  Are you going to use it outdoors?  Inside?  Multi-room?  One of my favorite bluetooth speakers is made by ECOXGEAR.  Their ECOXBT is not only waterproof, but also float-proof, so if you drop it in the pool, no worries.  The sound quality is good considering it will only cost you a little over $100.  So get rid of your sad smartphone sound system and upgrade, trust me, you will thank me.

Lifeproof Waterproof iPhone Case:  I was at the pool the other day and almost jumped in after a bunch of girls that were playing with their iPhone in the water.  What are you doing!!?? I almost screamed (I know, I sound like THAT mom).  But turns out, they had the Lifeproof Waterproof iPhone Case, which is not just waterproof, but also dustproof, and shockproof.  The company also makes waterproof cases for iPhone 4 / 4S / 5 and cases for the Apple iPad 2,3, and 4.  I like the design because it’s thin and doesn’t turn your smartphone into a bubble-encapsulated tugboat.

Stick-N-Find:  The other day, I couldn’t find where I parked my car, which is typical for me because I have no sense of direction.  I started thinking, wouldn’t it be great to leave a little sensor in my car so I knew where I parked it?  Well, Stick-N-Find does that and more.  If you are constantly misplacing items, you may want to pick up this bluetooth button that’s about the size of a quarter.  They link to a smartphone app and you can use your phone to track them or set up an alarm if they go out of range.  Stick-N-Find costs $50 for two and works up to about 100 feet.

Trent iCarrier IMP120D Portable Charger: Portable chargers are flooding the market and many will do the job well to charge your smartphone once or maybe twice. But if you need something that has a little more juice, you may want to pick up the Trent iCarrier.  Yes, it costs $75, but it will charge your phone up to six times and is compatible with most smartphones.  It has dual charge ports so two devices can be charged at the same time and packs an impressive 12,000mAh of power.  So if you are heading up to a cabin in the woods or plan on  attending an all-day rib festival, check out the Trent.

GoPro Hero3: I don’t know what you will be up to this summer, but if you are planning on doing anything action-packed, you should definitely pick up the GoPro HD Hero3.  You can mount this video camera onto pretty much anything, whether it’s a helmet or your surf board.  It has capabilities that you may not need or use, including shooting in 4K (few people have a 4K TV or monitor yet, so that’s wasted).  But it does have resolution capabilities up to 1080p and starts at $199.99, so it’s a great option over other mountable video camera.  You can purchase additional add-ons and mounts, including a removable LCD screen that displays what you are recording.