3 gadgets to buy at the Apple Store that isn’t an iPhone, iPad or Mac
The Apple Store is so much more than iPads, iPhones and Macs. There’s actually a ton of really cool stuff that you can buy that supplements your many devices
Here are three of our favorites:
Nest Learning Thermostat
Heating and cooling your home has never been this cool. The Nest Learning Thermostat 2.0 ($250) has one goal in mind: Save energy and save you money. It remembers what temperatures you like and turns itself down when you’re away.
You can control the chic gadget over WiFi from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac.
It’ll also give you a history showing when your system was on and why, just to make sure you’re not wasting any energy.
Blue Spark Digital Microphone
We like to use our Macs — and even our iPads — for recording music and Podcasts. And while the internal mic will sometimes suffice, nothing is better than having that professional-quality sound.
The Blue Spark Digital Microphone ($200) easily connects via USB to your Mac or via 30-pin connector with your iPad (and its compatible with the adapter, obviously, if you have an iPad Mini or iPhone 5.).
Not only does the Spark look really cool, it also produces a great sound.
“I know Blue is known for their vintage designs, but still have to say I was blown away by how gorgeous this mic is,” writes one reviewer. “Setup was flawless, plugged it into my iPad (3 gen), booted up GarageBand and immediately got a great vocal sound (best I’ve ever gotten!). The front gain control made it easy to adjust the sensitivity. My friend has the original Spark for studio/XLR and this claims to be the same thing, and I’d believe it. I recorded acoustic guitar and vocals, sounds amazing! Big reason I bought this over other iPad mics was the headphone output – can’t really use headphones on a multi-track session on Garage Band without it. And it came with a cool carrying bag! Immediately satisfied with my purchase.”
Vestax Spin 2 DJ/VJ USB and iOS Controller
It didn’t take long for the DJing industry to come up with a device that pairs perfectly with your iPad.
The Vestax Spin2 DJ/VJ ($350) is the ultimate all-in-one DJ controller designed to work with the creators of that awesome app — djay — for your iPad or iPhone
Now you can mix all of your music from your iTunes library and look really cool doing it
