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Total Paid $15

Tell us about a random bit of tech that's changed your life for $1

Posted by Alex Sinclair in Tech

Here's a quick and easy bounty that you can enter before your coffee has brewed. Talking of which, did you know that you can buy alarm clocks that will wake you up with a fresh brew? That's the theme of today's bounty: unusual gadgets that have changed your life.

We're not looking for the big-hitters here - phones and laptops have changed all of our lives - we want to hear about your obscure and random bits of transformational tech! We're looking for a minimum of 30 words in your submissions; we'd love it if you attached a picture too!

already paid

$15 / 15

Reward details

This reward closed to entries at 12:06pm on April 17, 2024 but you can still reply, react, and join the conversation below! If you’d like to enter other rewards which are still open, click here.

Created at 9:19am, 9th April, 2024. Page last updated at 2:42pm, 16th May, 2024.
Deadline at 11:00pm, 16th April, 2024.

Dean 4/15/2024, 11:00:14 AM

It absolutely has to be AirPods. I never leave home without them! The rate at which you can charge them is a godsend, especially when they run out mid-trip, you can easily get an extra hour or two out of them on a 10-min charge.

The sound quality and noise cancellation is great compared to some over the head chunky sets

I literally couldn't be without them when leaving the house.

NeoKazuho 4/15/2024, 9:28:59 AM

Wireless charger might be the best invention as I do not need to use plug but just put on the mat itself and my phone will be charge.

Asim 4/14/2024, 11:27:42 PM

Have you ever wanted to RELIVE A MEMORY, ever thought about an old birthday party or holiday you really enjoyed and just WISHED you could go back there?

You can, I do all the time, the future is now peopel

The insta 360 camera that I bought has changed my life. Initially I wanted it a couple of years ago to record a video of my grandad before he dies but I couldn't afford it (Got the video 2 weeks ago on his 80th) but I ended up buying it when my wedding video was bulldozed

It's a small camera about the size of an iphone and it records in 360 degrees, hence the name 360. It records a 360 video, similar to the ones you can swipe around on all angles on your phone. I bought a selfie stick with it and I've started recording holidays, birthday parties, trips and general cool moments I would take a video off

When I upload the 360 video to Youtube, I rewatch and LITERALLY relive the moment in virtual reality. It's like reliving a memory whenever I want and wherever I want. It's honestly surreal, similar to them experiencing memories in harry potter. The absolute craziest thing though is you can upload YOUR 360 video to Youtube and ANYONE IN THE WORLD can watch it on their VR headset

which basically means... YOU CAN RELIVE OTHER PEOPLE'S MEMORIES TOO

What a crazy world we live in

Alex SinclairMod4/15/2024, 9:19:44 AM

Asim

Great bounty submission. I do a lot of travelling, and I've often thought how great it would be to have one to be able to truly show off (or remember) the atmosphere of a place. If I remember correctly, Sturmer is also an insta360 convert!

Sturmer 4/15/2024, 9:38:26 AM

Alex Sinclair

yup, sadly Youtube still crops the footage, which cripple the quality. So i just use insta360 for post to frame the video and make drone-like effects where using actual drone is impossible

Josh B 4/13/2024, 10:54:51 PM

Out hive thermostat is such a game changer! We were stuck on an old school manual thermostat in our last house which is a pain in comparison to our new system being smart.

It learns our heating patterns and it's a God send when we go away as we often forget to turn off the timed schedule. Now we just need our phone to turn it on to 'away mode' and the hesting/hot water are off until we plan to return.

Saves on energy bills and just generally makes life so much more convenient, especially as you can link it to Alexa and simply ask her to turn it on/off!

MargotCandy 4/13/2024, 4:01:13 PM

Headphones have been mentioned here before, but as someone who gets overwhelmed in crowds or on public transport, they have massively changed my life for the better, as well

I recently used the AirPods Pros and their noise cancelling ability is so great that I can even relax on a noisy plane.

This has meant that I have been able to see my family abroad more often. The headphones keep distracting and overwhelming noises to a minimum and let me listen to my favourite podcasts or audio books.

FirestormGamingTeam 4/13/2024, 2:49:44 PM

So for me, I carry around obviously my iPhone, my Apple Watch and my Kindle/workbook - Charging them was always a pain in the ass. I bought this, a long time ago, it's a mobile charging station basically and for around a year till I upgraded to its big brother, it changed my life in terms of my stuff and didn't keep running out of charge. It could literally recharge multiple things before it died.

Social media Link

Sturmer 4/15/2024, 7:16:13 PM

FirestormGamingTeam

I've seen on Kickstarter some new power bank beats, with 100W in and out, meaning you can pump the whole pack for like 12 minutes and then get that juice to your phone or another device! My old 5000mAh power bank charges like 8 hours lol

Kane Carnifex 4/11/2024, 12:18:45 PM

Puh, the difficult choice is the rice cooker or the noise canceling headphones. Both are used nearly daily.

I go for the noise canceling headphones.

All the outside noise is gone… bus,train, even planes, just you and your music. Once your Brain recognizes something is missing you will be aware of what your brain filtered on the fly. Like a constant flow of noise getting channeled into /dev/null.

If you use them on your bike, this may cause harm to you. You will not hear the motor of any vehicle approaching you… make a visual double check to increase lifetime.

I have the Px7 S2 which is currently in Germany for around ~200 bucks. There is an upgraded version which flexes with more metal to make it more durable. An issue is voices which the system doesn´t filter as nice as just noise. But as it is tech, with every version they will get better. The above headphones are from end of 2022, i believe.

Paul 4/10/2024, 9:06:53 PM

I think it has to be my 8bido snes controller.

On top of being a cool looking retro controller I can connect it to my phone, pc and switch easily so no need to carry round a bulky controller. As well as the face buttons it has an R1 & 2 and an L1 & 2 so theres no restriction on games I can use it with.

Alex SinclairMod4/11/2024, 9:40:32 AM

Paul

Very cool.

Sturmer 4/15/2024, 7:13:34 PM

Paul

Do you own a Nintendo Pro controller? If yes, how are these 8bitdo compared to Pro?

Paul 4/15/2024, 10:43:13 PM

Sturmer

I domt have a pro controller so I cant say im afraid but I think its great.

One thing though, you cant hold it like a pro or other modern controller as itl make your hands cramp trying to grip with your whole hand. You just need to hold it loosely.

Emilia 4/9/2024, 10:37:37 PM

Those at home milk frothers have changed my life completely. Not even joking you don't need to leave the house and get a coffee when you can use this silly little machine to froth it yourself and make a perfect frothy coffee. Changes the game from a normal non-frothy coffee :0 Slowly saving to buy one for my uni house as well because the money I save on a good cup of coffee is crazy.

Alex SinclairMod4/11/2024, 9:39:53 AM

Emilia

I only learned that these exist at the weekend, and they sound ace. We have a coffee machine at home with one of the milk-frothing spouts, but between the cleaning and the spillages, it's more hassle than it's worth. I'm also a sucker for a store-bought cappuccino, so I might buy one of these as an investment.

Sturmer 4/9/2024, 4:29:42 PM

A random piece of technology that significantly impacted my life is the Multi Cooker. As someone who often seeks the fastest route in cooking due to a busy (or admittedly, sometimes lazy!) lifestyle, my dishes used to be quite basic. However, with the arrival of the Multi Cooker in my kitchen, my culinary skills have transformed. I now find myself creating more complex and delightful dishes, seemingly with the finesse of a Michelin-grade chef. The beauty of it lies in achieving these more elaborate meals without exerting much effort.

Makster 4/9/2024, 6:43:03 PM

Sturmer

Can't believe I forgot about appliances! In that case, a toastie maker and later on a slow cooker got me through university. And now an air fryer is carrying me in adulthood

Alex SinclairMod4/17/2024, 12:02:59 PM

Makster

Long live the toastie maker!

Lanah Tyra 4/9/2024, 3:51:00 PM

MMO mouse

Never thought I would need one until I got one. Would never go back. As someone with small hands if I have to use WASD for moving, there's only a limited amount of keys I can reach on my keyboard, and it's not quite enough for a game like FFXIV.

It's not just 12 extra buttons as I also have the mouse wheel tilt mapped to CTRL and ALT so that gives me loads of extra options. Possibly the best gaming relate tech purchase I've made.

Paul 4/10/2024, 8:58:08 PM

Lanah Tyra

I love those! They are so useful for other games aswell.

Lanah Tyra 4/10/2024, 10:25:26 PM

Paul

I also use the keybinds for editing. This and the Stream Deck buttons together are amazing. No need to remember stupid 3 key combos.

Alex SinclairMod4/11/2024, 9:36:14 AM

Lanah Tyra

Oh fantastic! I want one of these, and fortunately I have a birthday coming up!

mar1gold 4/9/2024, 2:13:14 PM

So stupid but the newer kindles with the backlight - i can read in the dark!!! This helps if i'm sharing a room with someone or im on a plane or something - also the backlight isn't as bright as a phone screen or something so it doesn't really disturb my sleep yipeee

Makster 4/9/2024, 11:06:55 AM

It's a little old hat but a second monitor is a literal game changer not just for work but life in general. I perpetually live off my Macbook Pro so being able to plug it into a larger monitor is great especially when I have a dedicated screen for YT or Twitch.

But my real submission is bone conducting headphones! Although you lose a bit in terms of audio quality they are amazing when it comes to being aware of the environment and listening to music. Although I love my ear buds for the majority of walking around, they don't have an ambient option and sometimes pairing them is annoying so these have their place when I'm biking/ skating around the park or town

Horror and Cats 4/9/2024, 6:17:04 PM

Makster

Aftershokz are awesome for safety in public. When I lived in a city and would walk the dog after dark but still needed my music, definitely felt good not to have anything actually IN my ears.

Damien Mason 4/9/2024, 9:56:30 AM

PC Pedals

Throughout 2022 and 2023, I became obsessed with foot pedals and their ability to expand what we do in games. Why use an MMO mouse with a cluster of buttons you can fumble if you can simply use a limb that would otherwise sit there useless?

I started with a cheaper 'Lemo 1640835' from Amazon before upgrading to an Elgato Stream Deck Pedal (pictured above), and now use two MSI Liberators linked together. Only the Liberator has good latency, so the others aren't the best for quick actions in games. They are all, however, brilliant as a push-to-talk option in Discord, keeping comms clean without distracting your hands in the middle of a firefight.

Makster 4/9/2024, 11:02:10 AM

Damien Mason

I never knew these were a thing but now that you mention it, it is awesome! I remember playing Counter Strike: Source in the 00's having to press Q for voice and not being able to strafe left because of it

Damien Mason 4/9/2024, 11:43:20 AM

Makster

If you want to try it but don't fancy investing a hefty amount, I recommend starting with the Amazon ones. Software looks like it was made by a 16-year-old in their basement but it is basically just a macropad for your foot anyway. Well worth it.

Elgato's has the best software integration with plugins that directly work with certain software (although the Discord one broke recently and caused me a load of hassle. Fixed after a few days, though).

MSI Liberator is the best for in-game inputs that you'd spam quickly. Unsure if it's available at retail, though.

Horror and Cats 4/9/2024, 9:34:52 AM

My puppy has a really high pitched bark when excited and it blows my ears out when we are in the car. I use Samsung Galaxy Buds pro 2 in the car because I can hear everything, but loud noises are cancelled. It’s a bit like having those decibel cutoff ear protection headphones at a gun range where it only stops loud, sharp noises, but you can still hear what’s going on around you. Been a life (ear) saver in the car.

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