Gadgets: Holiday lights

A recent post by Enbrighten told people to say goodbye to their boring outdoor holiday lighting, and honestly, that couldn’t be more true.

Enbrighten Modern Cafe LED Lights bring your space to life with a stunning array of colors and lighting modes, perfect for every holiday and celebration. Built for year-round use, they feature weather-resistant, IP65-rated cables and durable acrylic bulbs. With a simple do-it-yourself setup, you'll enjoy an easy, permanent installation that looks great all year.

The setup is based on where you want the lights. Once it's completed, the Enbrighten companion app (available on Apple App Store and Google Play) is your best friend for lighting modes, colors, presets and dimming options. It walks you through connecting them to your home's existing 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, and then the control is up to you. There's no right or wrong when there are millions of combinations to choose from.

The lights come with presets in the companion app for the most popular holidays and occasions: Christmas, the Fourth of July, Mardi Gras and more. If you don't see one to your liking, create your own custom setting in under a minute.

For Christmas lighting, as mentioned, there are presets, or you can create your own with your preferred colors and effects. Add to that, there's no need to attach the lights to a pesky timer. The app, which controls everything, has an option to create scenes for the time and days you want the lights on. My personal choice is dusk to dawn, which eliminates the need to change the time as the seasons and daylight hours change.

You can choose from 24-foot ($129.99) or 48-foot ($199.99) strands, or really be the talk of the neighborhood and go all out by connecting up to 750 feet of lights.

Lighting up your landscape for any holiday theme or year-round outdoor lighting is even easier with the Enbrighten Eternity Landscape Lights. These Wi-Fi-enabled LED puck lights make it easy to illuminate your landscaping with fully customizable colors and lighting programs.

Each compact light is mounted on a small tripod stake for quick installation; just plug the string into an AC outlet, connect it to your home Wi-Fi, and you’re ready to go. The lights are rated IP67 weatherproof for dependable, year-round performance.

Available in 33-foot sets ($99.99), you can link multiple sets together with up to 150 feet total (36 lights) to cover larger areas with vibrant, programmable illumination.

https://enbrightenme.com/products/enbrighten-wifi-vibe-modern-color-changing-led-cafe-lights-12-bulbs-24ft-black-cord

https://enbrightenme.com/products/enbrighten-wifi-vibe-color-changing-eternity-landscape-lights-8-lights-33ft-black-cord

Whether you're commuting, traveling or just relaxing, the pocket-sized iFi GO Blu Air improves your portable audio performance anywhere life takes you. And one of the best features is how easy the setup is, which dramatically enhances your sound quality from your smartphone or tablet to your wired headphones.

With Bluetooth 5.2, pairing is fast and reliable with your smartphone, tablet or other portable music sources. Then plug in wired headphones and immerse yourself in stunning high-resolution audio. Weighing only 1.09 ounces and measuring 2.11 by 1.33 by 0.77 inches, the GO Blu Air fits easily in your pocket or clips securely to your belt or backpack with the detachable magnetic clip.

My first experience with a portable amp like the iFi GO Blu Air left me genuinely impressed. At first glance, you might think it sounds too good to be true or that it's complicated to use, but it's not. In fact, it's as simple as plug-and-play. I tested it with several different headphones, and each showed a noticeable improvement in sound quality, even with basic audio files from my iPhone playlist, delivering hi-fi-quality audio.

According to the GO Blu Air specs, it supports a comprehensive suite of high-resolution codecs, including LDAC, LHDC, aptX (Classic, HD, Adaptive), AAC, and SBC. Inside is a 450 mAh lithium-polymer rechargeable battery (USB-C), which will supply power for up to 10 hours of use (depending on volume level and your headphones).

A ChronoDial controls the volume and playback. Give the dial a long press and you'll access smartphone voice assistants. There are MEMS microphones with Qualcomm's noise and echo suppression, which work perfectly for clear handsfree calls. The GO blu Air delivers up to 10 hours of uninterrupted, immersive sound on a single charge.

https://ifi-audio.com/products/go-blu-air$129

ESR has recently added to its line of Apple-certified "Find My" enabled products with the Geo Wallet and the Geo Wallet Stand.

Both products are part of ESR's mission of "Tech Made Easier," designed to help users enjoy a more connected and worry-free digital life. With Apple's Find My technology built in, they can be located in seconds if lost, stolen or misplaced directly through the Find My app. The app displays their real-time location on a map, lets you play a sound to find them nearby, and even sends left-behind notifications so you're alerted if you accidentally leave them behind.

The Geo Wallet Stand combines sleek functionality with smart protection. It securely attaches to MagSafe-compatible iPhones with a powerful 3,200g magnetic lock. Inside, it can store up to 5 credit cards, held firmly in place by a dynamic tension spring for quick, easy removal. The wallet also includes RFID-blocking technology, which safeguards your cards from unauthorized wireless scanning or data theft.

While attached, the genuine leather wallet (3.9 by 2.5 by 0.66 inches) folds out into an adjustable stand for hands-free viewing in both portrait and landscape modes. You can keep it at any angle between 15 and 170 degrees. The battery is rated to last for 6 months before needing a charge. A finger loop is built into the outside for handsfree use.

It's available in black or gray for $39.99, blue for $41.99 and brown for $42.99.

The Geo Wallet ($39.99) looks and feels like a traditional wallet with added technology. According to ESR, it's the world's first ultra-slim wallet featuring a fully integrated, Apple-certified Find My tracker, so you can easily locate it using the Find My app.

Empty, it measures 4.5 by 3.5 by 0.6 inches and weighs 3 ounces. It holds up to 2 IDs, 15 bills and seven cards, and includes a coin pouch. It also has RFID-blocking technology.

https://www.esrtech.com/