SLXtreme Case $129.99
Smartphone cover great for extreme conditions
The SLXtreme case from SnowLizard appropriately describes itself as the "World's Most Extreme Case" for iPhones. It offers ruggedness like Otterbox cases, a built-in battery like Mophie and more.
It's also big, too big for everyday use. But it's not designed for that, anyway. It's waterproof (it can be submerged in 6 feet of water for 30 minutes). It's certified to the MIL-STD 810G specification for drop protection from heights up to 6 feet.
So there is hard plastic surrounding the phone and clear plastic over the screen, home button/touch ID sensor and camera. Surprisingly, touch response isn't hindered; the ID sensor works behind the plastic cover.
The battery has enough juice to charge an iPhone 8+ almost twice. Solar panels on the back of the case will get you 10 minutes of talk time for every hour of solar charging. That means you will still need to use a microUSB cable to do most of the charging.
The SLXtreme 8+ is the perfect case for skiing or white-water rafting or any other extreme situation. When you need extreme protection and extra power, the SLXtreme 8+ will perform well.
Dallas Morning News
Picture Keeper $20
Gadget will help organize photos
If you are like many other parents and grandparents, you have taken thousands of photos as the children have grown up. Losing them to a computer crash or theft would be disastrous, which is why you need an appropriate backup.
Picture Keeper, which looks and acts like a thumb drive, will do the task. Insert one end of the USB thumb drive into the PC or smartphone, click on Start Backup, and watch a flying gallery of each photo as it backs up. There's no software to install; the program resides on the thumb drive itself. Picture Keeper will search for photos in obvious places — Pictures, Documents and Desktop — and it will skip duplicates. You can stop the gallery when you see a photo you like.
The 8-gigabyte version for PC is $20, but larger ones are available. The Apple smartphone version starts at about $80 and tops off with a 64-gigabyte version for $120. Photos can be shared by e-mail or Facebook, and they can be printed at home or sent to granddad, who has a super color printer.
