As in past years(2013, 2012, 2011), I am putting together a new list of my top ten tech.   The list will contain my favorite things from last year, even if they were available in prior years.  By "tech" I am basically including any new toys, apps, etc... that I find cool and/or useful.

Note:  I get paid commissions for purchases made through any links to Amazon products in this post.
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1.  iPhone 6 plus - Product of the year - Any time I get a new phone, it will most likely end up on this list.  The iPhone 6 plus is the phone I have wanted since I bought my first smartphone several years ago (Kyocera 7135).   It is finally large enough to be used for more than just email and music.   The main upsides are the fact that it now has a 1920x1080, 5.5 inch screen, TouchID/ApplePay  (which is amazing and probably deserves its own entry on this list), faster processor, better camera with optical stabilization, slo-mo video,  specific landscape mode with certain apps, fantastic battery life, etc...  See some of my impressions here and here. 

2.  iPad Air 2 - Okay, I am starting to sound like a fanboy, but this is a huge upgrade over my iPad 3.  It has a better screen, runs apps quicker,  and is also lighter and thinner.  It has TouchID which is great for password apps and ordering from places like Target via their app.  I still have the iPad 3 around for using near water with a life proof case, but it definitely feels long in the tooth after using the iPad Air 2.

Note:  I get paid commissions for purchases made through any links to Amazon products in this post.

3.  Global Cache IP2IR iTach /Roomie app - These work together in perfect harmony.   Roomie Remote is an app for the iPad/iPhone/Touch that has features that will control your internet devices over wifi.  It also has an app for the Mac that will allow you to launch and control certain programs.  The iTach is a separate device that you need if you have electronics that you want to control with the iPhone that are not connected to the internet.  I should mention that the Roomie is fantastic, especially for controlling devices through walls, but I still keep around my Harmony remote for the hard buttons (30 second skip during football games) which can also come in handy.   I have discussed the Roomie here and here.

5. Rdio / Tidal - I wrote about music streaming quite a bit over the last year.  My preference is for Rdio because it has the slickest, most useful interface for my needs.  They even upped their bitrate to a much more acceptable 320k.  Even though I prefer Rdio, I have to mention Tidal which brought lossless audio to music streaming this year.  I can hear a difference on some music and I would love to keep Tidal, but for my needs, the interface just needs a lot more work.  For those that want the best quality audio and mainly listen at home, I would recommend Tidal if you are willing to pay $20 a month.  I wrote about the comparison here and here... for everyone else I would recommend Rdio.  

6.  Lodge 10 inch Cast Iron Skillet / T-Fal 12 inch Non-stick Skillet - I am also lumping these two together because they are exceptional, inexpensive, and fill all of my skillet needs.  The Lodge is great for when you want to scramble eggs, cook on the grill, etc..  It seems to be indestructable.  The T-Fal is great for omelets, pancakes, and when you want to have more control over the temp.   The non-stick coating is the best that I have used and clean up is a breeze.  For my needs,  they are the perfect combo. 

7. ClipR - This is a small bluetooth device that will work wirelessly when it isn't plugged into a wall.  For running on a treadmill or an exercise bike, I put my iPad on a shelf in front of me and use the Clipr with a pair of my own headphones (Ety-ER4p) to listen to music or watch a video.  In other words, it will make any pair of headphones wireless.

Note:  I get paid commissions for purchases made through any links to Amazon products in this post.

8.  Zoom modem -I decided to boost my cable internet speeds this year and found that the modem that Comcast was providing was too slow to handle 50+ mbps.  I decided that I needed a new modem, but decided to buy one, rather than renting a modem from Comcast this time around.  Comcast has a list of compatible modems and I got on Amazon and ordered the cheapest one I could find.  I was a bit worried that this might not be the best way to choose, but I have had the modem for several months now and it has been flawless.  Unlike my prior modem, which I had to reboot about twice a month, I haven't had to reboot it since it was set up. 

9.  ZyXEL 600 Mbps Mini Powerline AV2 Gigabit Adapter -  These are adapters that allow you to use your power line (in most homes) for ethernet.   I have a couple of them setup and they are very useful, even though in my home, they don't get the speeds that are advertised (I admit that I might not have them setup properly).  However, that being said, for my needs they are perfect.  I have a pair like the photo below and another pair that are slower and without the power plug pass through (the slower versions are probably slowing everything down).   I have one of them in our sunroom hooked to a router that feeds an Apple Airport Express a wired ethernet signal and a security camera that keeps an eye on the backyard.  The Airport Express is setup to expand the wifi network, so I can use an iPad/or iPhone anywhere in the backyard via wifi and the Airport Express also feeds an audio setup.  It works flawlessly even though there is not any air conditioning or heating in the room.   The other adapter is in the living room hooked up to a NetTalk Duo that we use to feed an old school wired telephone and a base station for  some cordless phones off of a splitter.  In short, these things put wired ethernet were you need it.

10.  Apple TV 3 -  This is an oldy, but a goody.   First let me say that this device is better if you own are in the Apple ecosystem (iOS, iTunes, iTunes Match, etc.).  However, I have owned the AppleTV and the Roku for several years and the Apple TV gets at least twice as much use.  It wouldn't be my top pick for Android owners unless you can figure out how to get it to work with Airplay (which I believe is possible for at least audio), but there are a lot of people that own at least one iOS device to make it a worthwhile purchase..   

In addition to the above, which are my top ten for the year, I thought I would make the list a bit longer this year to make up for all of the Apple stuff on the list this year:

11.  SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Gaming Headset -  These are fantastic, comfortable game/movie headphones that can be customized for sound and for looks.    I have a long review on Amazon and I will probably add a review for them in my blog. 

Note:  I get paid commissions for purchases made through any links to Amazon products in this post.

12.   TP-LINK RE200 AC750 Universal Wireless Dual Band Range Extender -  I can't say how many times I have seen posts from people complaining about wifi in their homes.  This device goes a long way in solving many of those issues.  I found it easy to setup and the extra range in my house (and even outside) is substantial.  

13.  Victorinox 12-Inch Granton Edge Slicing Knife with Fibrox Handle -  I bought this knife mainly for cutting through brisket, but it is so sharp and comfortable to use that I often use it for carving raw meat.  I love using it so much, I plan to buy more of their knives in different sizes.

14.   KitchenAide Mixer -  I have had this for a while now and I looked back at my and was surprised that it hasn't been on past lists.  This thing is a workhorse and with added attachments, you can grind meat, shred cheese, or even make ice cream with it.  I absolutely love it for making pizza dough or grinding meat for my own hamburgers. 

Well, that pretty much wraps it up.  The list was easier to put together this year since Apple came out with some great new items.   I wonder what next year will hold?

Note:  I get paid commissions for purchases made through any links to Amazon products in this post.

I mentioned in another post that when MOG was cancelled, I decided to move to RDio, at least for the summer.  However, Spotify had a buy one month, get two free deal, so I jumped on board to try it out for a few months.

Now that I have been using it for over a month, I am really starting to like this service.  It will actual bump Rdio off the top of the mountain by the end of the summer if Rdio hasn't converted their files to 320k by then.  As with all of these services, they promise features are coming, but don't say when.  For all I know, it could take years for Rdio to convert.  By that time, Apple may have done something more interesting with Beats Music and move it up the list of contenders.  

Well,  now that I am leaning toward Spotify, I wanted to give a few reasons why:

1.  320k audio for premium subscribers
2.  Fantastic third party apps
3.  Desktop app
4.  iPad app
5. Exclusive deals

The 320k audio puts it on par with Google and Beats.  It also puts it ahead of Rdio and Rhapsody.  This is a main consideration in the fall/winter when I do a lot more listening on my main systems.  

For me, a desktop app is an important feature.  For one thing, the Roomie Remote app on my iPhone can launch a desktop app automatically.  It can't easily do that with a web address (actually, I am not sure if it is even possible).  Secondly, web browser apps are usually short in features.  The Spotify Desktop app has a section called "Apps" that isn't on their other platforms.  This "App" section is one of my favorite features of Spotify.  A description of a few of the apps and how they work below:

a.  BlueNote - This app has a history of jazz built right into Spotify.  You can click on playlists, explore artists, explore time periods, and playlists.  It has biographies of artists and albums.   I had a monthly subscription to BlueNote at one time, but the service was missing too many albums.  Pairing it with Spotify actually fills in a lot of blanks.   Needless to say, if you are a jazz fan, this app alone is worth the price of admission.

b.  Jazzify - Staying on the subject of jazz, Jazzify takes a similar approach as the BlueNote app, but has a larger database because it isn't concentrated on the BlueNote label.  It allows you to pull up artists by decades, chose by instrument, choose by style, etc..  Unlike BlueNote which has albums and playlists, it seems to be oriented only around playlists.  

c. Classify/Bluesify - Very similar to Jazzify....which is to say that they are terrific  ways to explore these genres and sub-genres.  In the Classical genre, the Decca app is amazing, as well.

d.  Hard& Heavy is a rock and roll app similar to the "Jazzify" app.  Not sure why they didn't call it "Rockify".   

d.  Last.fm - I have been on this site for a long, long time.  It takes your past music listening choices and makes new similar suggestions.

e. Moodagent sets up playlists based on your mood.  

f.  There are several more and the apps you would use would depend on your individual taste.  

The above are all inside the desktop app.  However, there are also apps that you can use on an iPhone that I like.  My favorite would be "Remoteless".  You download a program to your Windows/Mac computer and download the iOS/Android app to your device.   This allows you to remotely control Spotify on the desktop with a mobile device.  Below is one of the screens from their website:

Notice (pic to left) that the Apps built into the Spotify Desktop app aren't available, but you can access features like Playlists and Starred tracks with Spotify Premium according to the Remoteless website.  

I mainly use the Remoteless app to search for artists and albums on Spotify and play them back on my main system that is attached to a mac mini.  

However, if you notice, Airfoil is built right into the Remoteless app.  I have discussed the Airfoil app in the past, but to give a quick summary, it will send all audio from your computer to Airplay devices (Apple TV, Airport Express, Airplay built into third party receivers/speakers).  The upside to using this over iOS via Airplay is the ability to send audio from Spotify to multiple Airplay devices simultaneously.  

There is also a cool app called SSRadio that uses your Spotify account to set up playlists for popular genres.  It is similar to the music stations on SiriusXM and for many of the stations they actually have the SiriusXM counterpart in parenthesis to make the transition easier.  I have only used the app for a week, but I really like it.  I have been using Sirius or XM for several years and the downside has always been the compression in the audio signal that they use.  This offers similar channels using Spotfy's 320k high quality format.

There are also apps like Djay that only work with Spotify and iTunes that are innovative and unique.  A short demonstration for their Youtube account is below:

The other thing that Spotify has is a lot more exclusive deals than the other services.  For example, they had Led Zeppelin and Metallica signed to exclusive deals.  With the comparable services having a similar number of tracks, these exclusive deals are a separator that they have over the competition.

As you can see, this service currently has a lot of unique characteristics.  I have read that Spotify plans to discontinue some of its  desktop features, so if that happens, they could lose one of their competitive advantages.   For me, the desktop app is the main separator between Spotify and Beats/Google.  Google is also missing a native iPad app which just seems lazy to me.   Anyway,  in the current market, they are neck and neck with Rdio.    I wrote about the reasons I prefer Rdio in another post, but at the end of the summer, my current plan is to switch to Spotify if Rdio hasn't completed their file conversion to 320k.  

As I have mentioned, I have a 2010 Mac Mini in my office that feeds two separate systems.   I have the mini placed in my office and I have it feeding the office display with DVI and I also have a long HDMI cable feeding a Denon receiver in my living room. 

I guess the strange part of my system is that the Denon receiver in the living room feeds two systems (it routes HDMI back into my office), as well.  This makes it possible to use the Mac Mini in both rooms and every component in my main entertainment system in my living room and office.

I started looking into a way to easily control XBMC (software for watching movies, listening to music, and a lot more) from my living room via a remote app.   I already have a few ways to take over the computer with the iPad and apps that make the iPad into a mac keyboard (Rowmote Pro).  These are both great approaches, but I wanted something more embedded into the overall system.  In other words, I wanted something with "activities"/macros that could make it easy to hit one button and  have my TV turn on and go to the correct input, then my receiver turns on and goes to the correct input, and finally the XBMC remote pops up on the screen.

When I started looking into this, I ran across a site called EverythingiCafe that had a great description of how they use their Mac Mini and an introduction to Roomie Remote. 

I looked into Roomie a little more and found that it might fit my needs for XBMC in my living room and a lot more.  However, I will probably have to build my system around it over the next few months since it starts getting costly with each add on.  The current pricing for what I have already purchased:

1.  Roomie Remote app -$9.99 - This allows you to control two devices in one room.  
2.  Home Theater Pack - $19.99 - This expands to unlimited devices in unlimited rooms.

So, I am already in for $30 and I will have to change settings on my mini to get it to work the way I want.  When my mini's screensaver comes on, or my mini goes to sleep, the app will no longer control XBMC.  I have to use the Rowmote Pro app to move the curser around to wake up the mini so I can control it with Roomie again.   Not ideal.

That being said, I discovered other uses for the app that I had not anticipated when I initially started researching.  Right now, my Denon receiver, Roku, and Directv Genie can all be controlled via the Roomie app via IP control.  This means they are all connected to my network and available for the Roomie to control (Not all internet devices work this way.  For example, I can't control my AppleTVs this way).   

One issue I have had with sharing Directv from my living room into my office is that I am using my Denon receiver's second HDMI output for the office setup.  For some reason, my receiver has an issue using both HDMI outputs at the same time, so I have to go into the Denon's webpage and change the output to HDMI 2 manually.  I also have to manually route audio to my TV rather than my amp via the Denon web control.  With Roomie, I have set up an "activity" to make these changes automatically when I want to watch Directv.  I also set up my main system to put these settings back when I want to use HDMI 1 and the amp/speakers in my living room via Roomie.

Now that I can use Roku and Directv in my office using Roomie, I am starting to think I want to use some of their other features to get everything working perfectly.  The downside is that this starts to get expensive very quickly.  Here is the breakdown of what I need to have everything working in my Office and living room (I would also like to add some of this to my bedroom, but that will be a while down the road):

-Roomie Remote Agent - $19.99 - This will make it possible to control the Mac Mini and bring it out of sleep/screensaver mode and launch applications.   It says it will also control the mouse on the Mac.  

-Agent Management Pack -  9..99 - I think I will also need this to make Roomie Remote Agent work.  It is not really clear on their website, but their in app purchase makes it sound like this is a required add on, too.  I will have to research it a bit more.  

-Global Cache IP2IR - $91 - This is a box that plugs into a router via ethernet and has IR blasters that will control IR only devices (AppleTV, Samsung TV, etc.. in my setup) .  

Roomie Service Subscription - $16.99 per year - this gives you access to IR codes that you will need to control those IR devices.   This is the one thing about the service that worries me a bit.  What happens if they go out of business?  I am stuck with trying to find another app that will do this or I could be dead in the water.   Vanishing tech is an issue with all small tech services like this, but I will probably risk it.

So, if you are keeping up, adding everything above will have me all set for my office and living room.  However, the add-ons start getting pretty expensive.  I would also need to spend another $91 for another blaster if I wanted the same setup in the bedroom.  However, I rarely use that system, so I am not sure I will ever add it.  Also, the Roomie can handle some security cameras and home automation devices, so you can even expand on what I mentioned above.

Also, I should mention that this system is not just plug and play.  You may need to configure routers, figure out how to add the "webserver" to XBMC,  figure out what add ons you need, etc..  They do have a forum, but it isn't very busy, so that could be an issue for some.  Also, some of the responses were too "tech speak" for me.

I won't be getting rid of my Harmony Remote even if I buy everything on the list, but the Roomie will be a nice supplement to that remote.  Also, if you have more than one iOS device and a Dropbox account, you can setup one device, upload the settings to Dropbox, and download those settings to a separate iOS device which I found very useful.    I will probably add the "Roomie Remote Agent" in the next month or so and then decide if I really want to add the IR blasters since that is when the yearly charge and additional hardware are needed.  I will report back as I add new features.