4 super cool Lifestyle products that should be on everyone’s summer list this year
Summer is the time to be outdoors – and in a country as blessed as New Zealand, with its endless smorgasbord of rainforests, snowcapped alps, glaciers, geothermal parks and endlessly rugged coastline, Kiwis and visitors alike are spoiled for choice on what to do and where to go.
Whether you’re planning to careen at breakneck speed down some of the most arduous but majestic mountain bike terrain on the planet, surfing the endless lefts at Raglan, hiking one of the many majestic mountain and forest trails or just spending the days lazing on the golden sands of one of NZ’s premiere beaches – having a little helping hand from technology will go a long way in helping you make the most of your summer.
Here is our choice of the top 4 super cool summer gadgets that should be on everyone’s shopping list this year.
iSwimBand
Enjoy peace of mind and ensure your kids’ swimming safety with iSwimBand
An ingenuous solution to a dormant and deadly threat to kids the world over when summer comes around – drowning.
iSwimBand is a device that aims to remove the anxiety associated with unsupervised swimming at the beach, at the pool or at the river.
It’s a cliché to hear, but any parent who has a toddler will know that it just takes a moment for a beautiful, sunny day by the pool or beach to turn into a nightmare.
The iSwimBand couples its smart sensor technology (which is worn in a customized head or wrist band) with your apple device and it alerts you whenever your child enters the water or if they have been submerged for too long.
Whilst it is no replacement for vigilance at the beach or pool, iSwimBand is a very welcome gadget for any parent whose kids love the water.
Brown Dog Gadgets Solar Charger
Summer time excursions in NZ mean road trips and heading outdoors – away from plug points for your cell phone, ipad, ipod or e-book reader.
Brown Dog Gadgets have come up with an eco-friendly solution to solving all your portable technology charging needs. Designed to allow for USB based charging of multiple devices at once, this forward thinking device is capable of fully charging your I-phone in around 1-2 hours – depending on sunlight.
Go-Pro Hero 4 – Black edition
This is the ultimate action video camera for capturing all your outdoor shenanigans in high quality HD video.
With their Hero 4 Black Edition, GoPro have unleashed a world of professional action capture possibilities for virtually anyone.
Strap it on, hit record and document your free-fall out of a plane, getting barreled in perfect surf, diving with sharks or bungee jumping off the highest bungee in NZ.
With more mounts and accessories than you can shake a stick at, the GoPro 4 will allow you to document everything you get up to this summer in full HD.
It features 4K30, 2.7K50 and 1080p120 video, 12MP photos up to 30 frames per second, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth®, and Protune™ for photos and video.
No summer excursion will be complete with one of these bad boys strapped somewhere on your body.
Grace Digital EcoXBT – rugged outdoor speaker
Rugged, shock-proof and fully water resistant the new and improved Grace Digital EcoXBT outdoor speaker is perfect for any festive occasion spent in nature and exposed to the elements.
For any occasion that requires music in a harsh environment, this speaker will keep everybody entertained for up to 10 hours. Throw it in the sand, hang it in a tree, even toss it in the water and let it float – nothing will stop the tunes.
An even cooler feature is it’s built in speakerphone which makes it easy to pick up calls when your hands are full guiding that raft down some challenging rapids just lazing in your inflatable swimming pool lounger sipping Pina Coladas and listening to Buena Vista Social Club on a flawless sunny day.
Living the ultimate summer lifestyle is more easily accomplished with a little technological help. Remember, have fun but be safe.