If you’re like me, you carry both a laptop and a tablet with you when you travel. I’vet found that I can’t totally abandon my laptop yet and there are times when I really need a full set-up out in the field. Enter Duet, an iOS app that turns any iPad (other than the original iPad) into a second screen for either your Mac or Windows PC. It also works with an iPhone, but I’ve found that the lower resolution of the phone screen gets in the way of the productivity.

Unlike its competitors that rely on wi-fi for their connectivity, Duet uses a standard USB/Lightning cable. With a tether, you can even watch 1080p videos at 60 fps. Prior versions of the software allowed for only a single second screen but with the new 1.2 version of Duet, users can now take advantage of iOS’s split-screen capabilities (when tethered to a Mac) an allocate two-thirds of the display for Mac apps, while the other third can be used for your favorite split-screen iOS apps. The split screening only works on iPad Air 2 or iPad Pro.
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Duet is available from the Apps Store for $9.99. It’s a bit pricey as apps go, but an inexpensive investment in a road warrior’s kit.

As the PC market continues its decline, areas for growth are becoming few and far between for hardware manufacturers. But the education world remains a rare area for computer companies to tap into. Over the past couple of years, no one has tapped into schools like Chromebook manufacturers. According to a new report from Futuresource Consulting, the (mostly) budget-priced notebooks that run Google's Chrome operating system have gone from a statistical blip to the dominant player in the space in the time it's taken a second grader to reach the fifth grade.

Futuresource claims that Chromebooks accounted for more than 50% of U.S. sales for education devices in the third quarter, a jump that comes at the expense of iOS devices (i.e., iPads) and, to a lesser degree, Windows PCs. That's up from 40% at the same point last year, and less than one percent back in 2012.
It's not too hard to determine why Chromebooks have swiftly infiltrated classrooms, thanks to starting prices that are notably cheaper than iPads. The laptop form factor is often better suited to productivity as well, allowing students to type without needing the extra expense of an optional keyboard. Considering the strained budgets of many school districts, saving thousands of dollars on new technology seems like a no-brainer.

But Chromebooks' rapid ascent isn't a guarantee that they will continue to dominate the education market. Futuresource expects Microsoft to redouble its efforts to increase sales of Windows systems to schools, emphasizing the increasingly popular 2-in-1 laptops at a cheaper price point. There are a handful of 2-in-1 Chromebooks, such as the Asus Chromebook Flip, but Chrome is not optimized for touch support as well as the most recent versions of Windows are.
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Chromebook adoption is far slower in the rest of the world than in the U.S., with a mere 3% market share in non-U.S. schools, according to Futuresource. While that provides a massive opportunity for growth, Google isn't doing itself any favors if the Electronic Frontier Foundation's allegations are true that the company is collecting data on students using its Chromebooks, something the privacy-focused European nations wouldn't look kindly upon.  

At this point, the action-camera market is quite crowded. So what do you do if you want to get noticed? Well, other than coming in at a really low price, you go after user pain points. Perhaps the biggest one for most people is how to quickly edit and share what you’ve shot with your social media audience.

TomTom, the company best known for its GPS navigation systems, came up with a solution in the Bandit, a camera that can handle both capturing your adventures and editing the best moments together into a movie you can share straight from a phone or tablet.

Priced at $400 for the camera, two adhesive mounts and an adapter to use the Bandit's quick-release mount with GoPro accessories, it's definitely an investment. A Premium bundle includes: a wrist remote control, handle bar mount, a dive lens cover good down to just over 160 feet, a 360-degree tilt mount and a power cable for $500. The dive lens alone is $40.

The Bandit is splash-proof with the included lens cover, though, so a little rain or snow shouldn't hurt it. It feels like it can take a beating, which is good because there is no housing option for more protection. There are plenty of other accessories including several mounts that take advantage of the camera's quick-release clip.

If you’re looking for cool features, check out the Batt-Stick. With a twist of the back of the camera you pull out the battery and the microSD slot. This is the Batt-Stick and at the front is a standard USB 3.0 connector, so to charge up the battery you don't need a cable, you just plug it into any standard USB port. The same goes for transferring photos and videos to a computer and since it's USB 3.0, transfers are fast. And since the battery isn't built in, you can just swap in for another Batt-Stick ($60) to keep recording when you run low on power.

The small monochrome display on top is just for changing settings. That means there's no way to preview what you're shooting without turning on the camera's Wi-Fi and using the Bandit's app for iOS or Android to use a mobile device as a viewfinder. The app can also be used to change settings and as a remote control.
Video can be captured at resolutions up to 4K. Unfortunately, the 4K is at only 15 frames per second. It does have a 2.7K at 30fps option, though, in addition to 1080p at 60fps and 30fps along with 720p at 120fps and 60fps. It'll do 4K time-lapse movies, and slow motion at 1080p and 720P, too.

The point here is that if you're after the best quality final product from the Bandit, you'll still need to transfer your clips to a computer and edit them yourself. The advantage for this camera is the quick lo-res edits for fast online sharing and playback on mobile devices, and it's a real winner there.
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The TomTom Bandit is an good alternative to a GoPro and others in the category thanks to its quick mobile editing, versatile mounting system, removable battery and its numerous shooting options. The video quality is very good, too, but if that is your main concern, the GoPro Hero4 Silver and Sony Action Cam X1000V are better alternatives at a comparable price.