The simple cap that I tried was not much different from the sort on sale at the nearest Walmart. But Tooks caps come with a couple of small speakers and a slit on the cap for inserting them.
Each little speaker has a bit of Velcro glued to it, so it will stay put once you have maneuvered it into position. That same Velcro made positioning the speakers something of a pain. Still, it all comes together without much trouble. Then you extend the headphone cord through another slit in the fabric and you’re good to go.
Sound quality is unspectacular but decent, and since the earpieces are inside the cap, your ears stay reasonably warm. You could get much the same result by pulling a standard cap down over standard earbuds.
But it’s so easy to misplace those portable earpieces. With Tooks, you only have to worry about misplacing your hat.
PowerTrekk fuel cell charger for cellphones
$229.99.
Goes on sale in May at REI sporting goods stores
Yes, you can run your cellphone on tap water. Anyway, you’ll be able to do it this spring, when REI, the upscale outdoor retailer, will start selling this little gadget, which I saw demonstrated at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show.
The idea isn’t all that radical. We sent men to the moon in a spaceship that used fuel cell technology, which made electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen. PowerTrekk does the same thing, in a slightly different way. It uses a replaceable chemical canister that releases hydrogen gas when moistened with water. This gas is combined with oxygen from the surrounding air, and there’s your electricity. The PowerTrekk has a built-in battery that you can charge up either with the chemical cartridge, or by plugging it into a a computer’s USB port.
PowerTrekk is just the thing for campers. They can use its battery to top off their phones. When it runs out, pour in some water for enough electricity to run a phone for about two hours. If you need more power, plug in a fresh canister (they’re three for $12) and keep on talking. As long as you’ve got water, you’ve got juice.
Modlet smart electrical outlet by ThinkEco Inc.
$49.95 at bestbuy.com
