Author Archives: Phil Baker

What’s the best case for an iPhone? Like most things, it depends. Do you want something slim, something rugged, a case with a cover?  After trying many cases for a variety of iPhone models, I return to one case over and over again that I consider the very best. It’s the wallet case made by […]

New Travel Bags The new WaterField Air Travel Backpack is a new type of carry-on travel bag designed for these times where our office might be most anywhere – a coffee shop, a backyard, or a park. It’s a large bag, 22.5 x 16 x 7.5 inches, with a dedicated office compartment for two laptops and other work necessities, […]

My wife and I just returned from our first vacation since 2019- a 1200 mile driving trip in the Northeast- bookended with flights on Southwest and United from and to our home in southern CA. Bottom line: I’d rather be driving than flying, even with the costly rental cars. The trip was to visit friends […]

Here are some gadgets that are worthwhile taking with you on your next trip. Many of them relate to keeping your devices charged in as simple and efficient manner possible. iWalk Portable watch charger – This pocket size battery is designed to charge an iPhone and Apple Watch without the need for any cables. The […]

This is the 14th anniversary of the iPhone, a product that has had more impact on the consumer than most any other product in the last three decades. Who would have imagined a device with so much impact? But the brilliant engineers that work on successive generations of the iPhones must be far removed from […]

This week we were barraged with promotions for Prime Days, an event created by Amazon for their Prime members, but now adopted by other online and physical retailers. Prime Days is one of the special times of the year when products go on sale for a few hours or a few days at deep discounts – […]

This week, Amazon removed products from RavPower, an online manufacturer of electronic chargers and backup batteries, citing violations of its review policy.  RavPower was accused of offering customers gift cards for those leaving positive reviews of its products. Enclosed with the product was a card with instructions to submit their review once it appeared on […]

Not being able to travel for the past year was something I missed a lot, second only to not being with our family. Just prior to the shutdown of travel in early 2020 we had visited Portugal, New Zealand and Taiwan. We commented at the time on how much international travel we did and need […]

When Amazon first sent me their Echo product in early 2015, I was impressed. The Echo is the speaker that’s listens to verbal requests and provides intelligent answers, much like an audio version of Google search.  I’d ask it for the traffic report, the local news, or requested that it play some favorite songs, and, […]

Apple is being sued by Epic Games for levying a 30% charge on its app sold in its App Store. Epic wants to be able to sell directly to its customers, while Apple insists only it should provide software for its iPhones and iPads. The issue is one with strong arguments on both sides. Apple […]

Neil Young’s multi-decade effort to bring high resolution music to music fans scored a major victory this week when Apple announced it would be converting its streaming music service to hi res. One of the major holdouts, Apple finally joins Amazon and Qobuz in offering their music at the same quality as it was recorded, […]

The Internet is built on ads. Everything we do and everywhere we go we see ads. Google and Facebook are built on delivering ads that are intended to be more interesting and relevant than just presenting us with random offerings.  From an advertiser’s perspective that makes good sense, because it allows them to target their […]

When Facebook indefinitely suspended ex-President Trump after the January 6 attack on the capitol, its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, got no thanks from either side. Why did he wait so long, considering how Trump and his campaign had used Facebook to perpetuate lies, many complained. And Trump supporters complained that the suspension was a violation of […]

WaterField Designs has introduced the slim and elegant Double-Take iPad + MacBook Sleeve to protect and transport both devices at once. Increasingly, we routinely carry either an iPad Pro and a MacBook or two laptops, one personal and one professional. The modular Double-Take Sleeve, with two padded compartments, a designated Apple Pencil slot, a simple […]

The luggage industry has been hit hard this past year, with most of us stuck at home and not traveling.  Buying new luggage is the furthest from our minds. Samsonite, the world’s largest luggage maker, had nearly a one billion dollar loss in the first half of 2020, but showed a small improvement later in […]

As a business traveler for over fifty years, I’ve been on dozens of airlines flying to scores of countries. Most of it was for business travel to Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and China. But a fair amount of it was for pleasure, visiting family and going on vacations to Hawaii, Europe and elsewhere.  In […]

There are a few rules I’ve learned over the years relating to technology: If it’s not broken leave it alone Things rarely go as expected A bargain is not always a bargain Well,  I just broke all of them going through cell hell. It all began last week when I learned that Verizon was having […]

We are about to see some meaningful action against the incessant violation of our privacy by Facebook, data brokers, and others that collect and sell our personal information. Up to now, there have been no limitations to what they collect and what they share. With its next software update for iPhones and iPads, iOS 14.5, […]

This past Thursday marked one month since my wife got her second vaccine; I became eligible a few weeks earlier. At 6 am on Thursday we were off on a 500 mile road trip to Marin County from San Diego to visit our son, his wife, and our grandkids. We hadn’t visited them in Marin […]

In a recent column I described how Amazon knocked off one of Peak Design’s iconic bags. They copied the unusual design right down to the trapezoidal shape of the label and priced it at a third the cost. They even used the same name, “The Everyday Sling Bag.” Peak responded by creating a parody video that […]