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Laptopify your iPad: trying out Belkin's keyboard cases at CES

LAS VEGAS--iPad keyboard cases galore litter CES, but Belkin has some nice new models up its sleeve, including a clever one that converts your old Apple keyboard. I gave them a whirl over at Belkin's booth.

The Convertible Keyboard Case (top), announced at the show, costs just $49 and adopts a standard Apple bluetooth keyboard to become a pretty portable keyboard case. The foldable case essentially acts as a wraparound folio/stand, but its design is elegant, finding a way to fold the Apple keyboard's tubular back into the design without adding bulge.

The Ultimate Keyboard Case is … Read more

Track your steps, sleep with Fitbit Flex wristband

LAS VEGAS--Who doesn't need a little more exercise? Fitbit wants to push you to get more active with its Flex wristband, shown off at CES 2013.

It's a colorful pedometer that monitors how far you walk every day, as well as your time spent sleeping or tossing and turning.

The Flex can track steps, distance, calories, and how many minutes you've been active. It also has a silent alarm to wake you up.

You can also set daily goals, which a reflected in flashing LEDs on the water-resistant wristband. As you progress toward your daily goal, more … Read more

How high can you jump? Measure with Vert

LAS VEGAS--One of the more simple fitness-oriented devices on exhibit here at CES 2013 is Vert, billed as the world's first wearable jump measurement system.

Vert attaches to your waistband, belt, cap, or wherever and calculates how high you jump by using a gyroscope and an accelerometer.

It performs more than 50 simultaneous calculations to calculate height with 96 percent accuracy, according to maker Mayfonk Athletic.

Smaller than a matchbox, the device has an OLED screen showing your altitude in inches. It can send the data to your iOS or Android mobile device via one of two Vert apps, which can track multiple user height records and jumping progress. … Read more

This small, slick fitness tracker senses your ticker

LAS VEGAS--It seems that many companies want in on the wearable fitness tracker craze, and Withings is no exception. Its new Smart Activity Tracker is a small, light, 8-gram device that records user activity, sleep, and even measures heart rate in real time.

About the size of a USB stick, the Smart Activity Tracker can handle all the typical pedometer duties such as logging the steps you take, stairs climbed, and calories burned. What sets this gadget apart, though, is its heart rate sensor located on back. Just place your finger tip in the right spot and the Tracker will … Read more

RunKeeper 3.0 for iOS gets overhauled interface, new features

I usually hang up my running shoes for the winter, but the arrival of RunKeeper 3.0 for iOS makes me want to brave the cold, ice, and snow (of which there's ample supply here in Michigan).

Let me pause here to note that although the App Store is home to many great run-management apps, I've been a RunKeeper fan -- and user -- since way back in 2009. And I'm not alone in my adoration of the app: It's a regular presence on the iTunes top-10-freebies list.

So what's new in version 3.0? … Read more

How to enable pinch-to-zoom in Gmail on your Android device

Last week when Google rolled out Gmail 4.2.1 to all Android users, swipe-to-delete wasn't the only feature added to the app. Google also added pinch-to-zoom, but it's not called pinch-to-zoom in the settings. Wait, what? Yeah, it's a bit confusing. So here's what you'll need to do to enable pinch-to-zoom in Gmail on your Android device.

Download the latest version of Gmail from the Google Play Store. It should be version 4.2.1. After you're up to date, launch the Gmail app and navigate to Settings > General Settings. Check the … Read more

Episode 24: Jawbone Up vs. Fitbit One

I've had a lot of great adventures producing Always On, but I've had a lifelong dream to see a space shuttle launch, and with this show, I got to get pretty close: I flew down to Cape Canaveral to watch the Falcon 9 rocket blast off with the Dragon cargo capsule on board. It was, as you might imagine, a pretty spectacular sight: and a pretty exciting start to the future of privatized space flight.

This episode also features another pretty awesome day for me: a spin around Ford's test track in the 2013 Shelby GT500 Mustang. … Read more

Lots of little 'lectrics at the LA Auto Show (roundup)

Take a look around the 2012 LA Auto Show and you'll see quite a few compact, fully-electric vehicles. Having spent much time creeping along at 20 mph on Los Angeles' gridlocked highways and stopping-and-going on its crowded streets this week, I can think of no better city to get excited about EVs.

We've rounded up the biggest players in this year's small EV class, many of which are currently available to consumers or will be sometime in 2013.

Chevrolet Spark EV

Chevrolet follows up its Volt with the smaller, simpler Spark EV. Based on the smallest model … Read more

The Cheapskate Fifth-Anniversary Giveaway Spectacular, Round Three

Happy Black Friday, cheeps! (That's "cheapskates" plus "peeps" in case you're new around here.)

In honor of this crazy day of shopping madness, and to cap off the celebration of my fifth anniversary writing the Cheapskate blog, I've got one seriously killer contest for you.

Because it's a fifth anniversary, I decided one prize wouldn't do -- I needed five. And thanks to some very generous companies, that's what I ended up with. I'm overjoyed with this roster of goodies, which you can easily enter to win by following … Read more