Tech gadgets that actually fill a need
New Apple Watch, Echo Show offer tangible benefits
Sometimes you can sense that tech products are striving to solve problems that are manufactured by their manufacturers. Smartwatches, for instance, have long been a nifty idea — but they’ve offered few tangible benefits for anyone but health and fitness enthusiasts.
That’s why it’s notable when a particular gadget finally breaks through. The latest Apple Watch, for instance, has heart-monitoring features that will appeal to those who aren’t active. Likewise, an Amazon digital video recorder makes cable cord-cutting far more practical.
When you are looking at tech products to purchase, ask yourself if they’re really ready for prime time or destined to gather dust somewhere.
Apple’s smartwatch
The newest features in the Series 4 Apple Watch are actually anything but flashy. But they could save lives.
With a built-in EKG feature, you can share detailed heart readings with your doctor without visiting a clinic. Doctors get a PDF file showing the peaks and valleys of your heart rhythm, just as they would with an EKG on paper.
Apple’s EKG sensors take measurements only on your wrist and finger, while EKG machines in clinics typically measure 12 points. That means the watch can’t detect heart attacks and other conditions. But Apple says it can provide early detection of atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm that increases the risk of stroke and heart failure. The company tested the watch against standard EKGs to win U.S. regulatory clearance.
The new watch can also tell if you take a hard fall — and it will call 911 if you can’t get up. If someone on your gift list is elderly, you might enjoy greater peace of mind.
The Series 4 watch starts at $399 and requires an iPhone. The EKG feature is for U.S. customers only.
Amazon’s DVR
DVRs have lost their allure in the streaming age, when entire TV seasons drop at once on Netflix. Still, some broadcast shows aren’t available for streaming at all, or without a significant delay. If you’ve dropped cable TV service, you can still watch those shows for free with an old-fashioned TV antenna — but then you’re back to watching only when they air.
Enter Amazon’s Fire TV Recast DVR. It will record over-the-air programs and let you watch on your TV, Amazon’s Echo Show or an app on the go.
You need to buy an antenna, which could be the rabbit-ear kind or an indoor one you stick on your window. Thanks to Wi-Fi, the Recast can be near that window rather than your TV.
While the Recast can technically work with just a phone app or the Echo Show, you need a separate Fire TV streaming device ($40 and up) for full functionality. Among the limitations: You can’t delete shows through the app. The Recast itself is $230 for 75 hours of storage and two simultaneous recordings, $280 for double the storage and simultaneous recordings.
TiVo, the gold standard in DVRs, has easier ways to skip commercials and more flexible options to record. But TiVo also gets expensive. A model aimed at cord-cutters, the Bolt OTA, costs $250 — but then you have to pay either a recurring fee of at least $70 a year or another $250 a single time to get the program guide. Recast doesn’t carry ongoing fees.
Amazon collects data on the shows you watch to personalize and improve its services. If you find that creepy, Recast won’t be for you.