Pax Ploom 
• $249.99
• Ploom 

My dad was a lifelong smoker who was never able to kick the nicotine habit, and I remember many arguments between my parents revolved around the topics of smoke and the smell it would bring into the home. If only dear old dad was alive now, I would likely gift him one of these smokeless vaporizers, a pocket-sized device designed to heat up any leaves just hot enough to extract the kick, but without producing offensive smoke. Ploom's design is a 21st century pipe, complete with LED temperature indicator, motion-based temperature control, and keen pop-out mouthpiece design. I would have rather my father stopped smoked completely, but if one has the habit, this beats the old box of Marlboros any day.

Are you reading this on your smartphone or tablet right now? Do you even still use a laptop or desktop computer at home? There's a growing group of us who hardly touch a computer any longer, happy to rely upon our handheld devices for all our computing needs. Sure, mobile devices still have limitations, but for a large majority of the things we do, mobile devices are proving the death of personal computers.

Considering how penetrating each and every one of Apple's devices has been in the personal tech market, it's no wonder iTunes continues to make loads of money. It wouldn't happen without the individual contribution of each of iTunes' millions of users. But just how much app, song and movie money does each person contribute to Apple's world domination each year?

A few years back a good friend of mine, a dedicated gamer who competes competitively, built himself a head-to-head gaming cabinet to keep his fighting game skills honed from the comfort of his garage. As impressive as that was, as a kid of the 80's, this DIY NES themed gaming cabinet touched an even greater nostalgic nerve...

One of my favorite things about the warmer weather in Southern California is being able to enjoy movies outdoors. Fortunately in LA, there are a lot of outdoor screenings in public parks, museums, and unusual settings like Hollywood Forever Cemetery. But if you're more about entertaining at home, and have the space, there are a plentitude of options for creating an outdoor movie screening setup...

Just a few hours ago Larry Page concluded the keynote for Google I/O 2013. It was an exciting event, not only because this was the first year Apartment Therapy was invited to attend the annual developers conference for all things Google, but also because it's amongst the most anticipated showcase events for technologies likely to change consumer markets. We've rounded up all the biggest announcements revealed today...

Big Jawbone
• $299.99
• Jawbone 

The larger, younger sibling of the original Jambox wireless speaker, one of our favorite outdoor audio options, has expanded its wardrobe of color combinations to include 9 grill and 13 cap colors (including new Purple, Dark Green, and Crimson Red), allowing buyers to mix and match to their color-loving content. The color customization option joins last month's 2.0 software update, which optimized battery life two additional hours and fixing dropouts and interruptions at greater distances while streaming from an iOS 6.1 device. Sounds like the perfect audio companion for a picnic or dining al fresco now warm weather has become the rule, not the exception.

Product: High Resolution Technologies microStreamer
Price: $189.95
Rating: Recommend*

Walking across the CES show floor earlier this year made one thing clear: more audiophile companies are (finally) realizing music listeners place portability on equal ground with audio performance. High Resolution Technologies took note of the trend, releasing the microStreamer, a tiny USB Headphone DAC unit designed to amplify and massage digital music for headphone listeners.

Smartphones have wiggled their way into practically every aspect of our lives, and in the process, thanks to the utility of the wide selection of apps available at our fingertips, have replaced books, newspapers, GPS units, digital cameras, gaming devices, maps, and countless other things we once hauled around. So why not our house keys?

What can I say about New York that hasn't been said before? New York is the city that needs no introduction and definitely warrants a visit at least once in a lifetime. Whether you're sightseeing, museum hopping, shopping in luxury, catching a Broadway show, or just taking in the energy of a city always alive, the options are seemingly unlimited. It was difficult to narrow it down to 10 apps, but here are my favorites for navigating the city that never sleeps.