Buycott App: Shop Ethically Using Barcodes

Choosing what to buy when you’re trying to be an ethical consumer is tricky. In a world where hippie holdout Ben and Jerry’s is now a corporate sellout owned by Unilever, how can we know who owns what, and which products we should boycott?

Luckily (and you knew this was coming), There’s An App For That™. It’s called Buycott, and by just scanning a barcode, you can find out which scheming ne’erdowells are behind the brand.

Read the rest of this post »

Griffin’s Decomposable iCases Made From Hemp, Wool And Cotton

Griffin has finally admitted to itself that no matter how good an iPad or MacBook case it makes, you are – eventually – going to toss it away. So the Paper Nomad is designed to decompose gracefully, kind of like the opposite of every aging Hollywood star, ever.

Read the rest of this post »

This Amazing Knitted iPhone 5 Case Was ‘Hand-Woven By Robots’

3-D printing: It’s just like knitting, right, only more high-tech? No? OK, fine. At least I tried.

But you know what really is high-tech and just like knitting? These iPhone cases, which are 3-D printed in the shape of knitting. Try to spoil that one for me, you grumpy old sourpuss you. Just try…

Read the rest of this post »

iZen Bamboo, The iPad Keyboard For Hippies

The iZen Bamboo Keyboard really, really looks like an Apple Bluetooth keyboard with a bunch of bamboo caps stuck on top to the existing keys. And oddly enough, there’s nothing in the Kickstarter description to say otherwise.

There are a few telltale clues, though. This keyboard has iPad-specific keys that mimic the home button, search and slideshow functions, and comes with a li-ion battery.

Read the rest of this post »

Changers Charger Powers Your Phone With The Sun [Review]

This panel and charger have changed the way I power my gadgets. Photo Charlie Sorrel (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Read our full Reviews archive

Since I got the Changers solar charger to test, I haven’t plugged a USB-chargeable device into anything else (with the exception of my iPad). Changers comes as a kit containing a solar panel and a battery pack, along with a a bag of tips that fit most cellphones and gadgets. But this description doesn’t do justice to what is a rather excellent and useful device.

Read the rest of this post »