Accessories

The Katana Safety is a self-defense device you can attach to your smartphone

Three layers of defense anywhere you go

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Peace of mind is priceless. Especially for women, violence and sexual assault are still realities we arm ourselves against. Aside from traditional self-defense techniques, there are countless things you could do in today’s fast-paced, connected world to ensure you always have an added layer of security.

One of the things at CES 2019 that definitely caught my eye is a colorful buttoned device that attaches to your phone. This is the Katana Safety. This unassuming thing might just save your life.

This is the Pink Katana which, of course, matches my Not Pink Pixel 3. There are so many other color options to choose from. It sticks to your phone via reusable 3M tape. The whole idea is that, like your phone, it’s with you everywhere.

It’s basically a panic button — but it does so much more. Katana Safety has three layers of security: Its alarms, a 24/7 response team, and the Katana App.

Pulling that red tab at the bottom of the device activates a piercing alarm. Another alarm feature is connected to a built-in strap for your wrist. While wearing the strap, an alarm is automatically is triggered when you drop or let go of your phone. There’s also a silent alarm function that’s activated by pressing that round indented button on the Katana.

Once any of these alarms are activated in whatever way, the Katana also prompts the response team to call you and contact relevant emergency services as the app simultaneously and automatically sends a prompt and your location to a pre-set group of people. All this, without even needing to unlock your phone.

The Katana Safety device retails for a one-time fee of US$ 99. The subscription for the response center will set you back US$ 12 per month for an annual subscription, or US$ 15 if you pay on a per month basis. A small price to pay for peace of mind, if you ask me.

Accessories

CASETiFY revives Spider-Man collection for Brand New Day

Spider-Man returns to CASETiFY

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CASETiFY Spider-Man

CASETiFY has unveiled a new Marvel collaboration inspired by Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The collection marks the brand’s first Spider-Man release since 2023. It also arrives alongside Sony Pictures’ upcoming film, which opens later this month.

The lineup includes phone and tablet cases, MagSafe accessories, earbuds cases, watchbands, laptop sleeves, and wireless chargers. It is headlined by two premium phone cases. The Aluminium Spider-Man Mask Case costs US$84, while the 2.5D Silicone Case sells for US$78. Both are available for the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Fans can also choose from five printed phone case designs: Spider-Man New Mask, Spider-Man Poster, Spider-Man Medley, Spider-Man Medley (Dark Version), and Spider-Man New Suit. CASETiFY also lets buyers personalize select phone cases and MagSafe wallets through its Custom Sticker feature.

More Spider-Man accessories

The collection goes beyond phone cases. It also includes MagSafe Grip Stands, Cardholder Stands, Wallets, a 2-in-1 Charging Stand, Earbuds Cases, Watchbands, Camera Lens Protectors, Laptop Cases and Sleeves, Tablet Cases, and Wireless Chargers. Prices start at US$24 for the Camera Lens Protector and go up to US$92 for the 2-in-1 Charging Stand.

The Marvel Spider-Man: Brand New Day x CASETiFY collection is now available through CASETiFY’s website, the Co-Lab app, and CASETiFY STUDiO stores worldwide.

 

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Going ‘back to school’ as an adult with the HP Smart Tank 580

Cost-efficient, high-performance printer for tangible memories

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Make memories, keep them

I’ll be completely honest: I can’t recall the last time I held art materials for a creative workshop. Living in a digital world today, it’s been quite a while for sure.

I do write greeting cards for my partner every month — a habit I’ve had from way back and a way of keeping the old school tradition alive at the same time.

So HP inviting us for a hands-on workshop proved to be a welcome “throwback” as it brought us “back to school” for an afternoon arts-and-crafts session.

The HP INKredible Learning Day collaborated with visual artist and storyteller Geloy Concepcion, a photographer known for expressing thoughts through the creative use of images and other elements.

HP Smart Tank 580

At the heart of the event is the HP Smart Tank 580 printer, which helped reproduce high-quality HP Printables made exclusively available for the participants during the day.

Think of these as activity sheets, as if I really went back to school for art class. Coincidentally, I was part of my elementary school’s art club about two decades ago. DIY-ing stuff for journals, diaries, or just for displaying on a desk has been my thing.

Funny enough, we were handed out these plastic envelopes with sheets of paper, crayons, and more materials. It’s like completely going back to the first day of school and making sure all your stuff is complete.

Anyway, the four sheets each had a theme: To-Do List, My Family, How Are You Feeling, and Concepcion’s “Bad Days Are Temporary” artwork.

The cost-efficient, high-performance printer quickly prints the sheets, and users are assured of high-quality detail. That’s as the Smart Tank 580 is designed for such purposes and even small businesses that require high-volume printing.

I personally think they’re a great fit for schools for reproducing quizzes or short activities especially for the lower levels.

With crayons and colored markers, participants all had their take on the sheets, adding life and their own personal identities on each.

Make memories, keep them

With the right devices at home, you can definitely turn digital memories and even just everyday creative ideas into tangible forms.

Especially in this era, it’s easy to overlook photos that we have on our phones. Ironically, our handsets’ storage spaces fill up fast, but after a few years or so, we usually either lose such media.

So what Concepcion is also trying to get across is if there is the opportunity to turn these moments into tangible print-outs we can always look back at, then that would be better. It’s how the world has been anyway since the invention of the camera.

We all brought home the sheets, some art materials, and even a personalized postcard only available for those in attendance.

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Samsung announces new 990 SSD with up to 2TB capacity

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Samsung has announced the availability of its new 990 SSD with powerful performance and improved power efficiency.

The 990 SD is available in the 1TB and 2TB capacities. It is designed as a balanced storage solution optimized for gaming, creative workloads, and daily PC use.

Samsung’s new SSD model has up to 38% improved performance compared to the previous 990 PRO model.

It has a sequential read/write speed of up to 7,250/6,450 MB/s for the 2TB model. Meanwhile, the 1TB variant has a 7,150/6,450 MB/s read/write speed.

This way, users can achieve high performance but with low power consumption, as well as customized performance optimization.

For random performance, the 2TB model delivers up to 850K read and 1,200K write IOPS, while the 1TB model reaches read and write speeds of up to 700K and 1,100K IOPS, respectively.

The expanded storage capacity also allows users to store large amounts of high-quality content, or the latest AAA games.

Particularly, the 2TB model can store up to 30 large-scale games based on an average size of 64GB, making it an ideal solution for both gamers and creators.

The latest storage solution will be available for US$ 529.99 and US$ 269.99 respectively for the two capacities.

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