turn the QTV on and off, which make this speaker worth way
more than the low price point.
Rerii Walnut
Bluetooth
Speaker with
Radio
($49.98)
My favorite
Bluetooth
speaker of
all time hap-
pens to be the
cheapest one I
own too. Rerii’s
tiny speaker has
fantastic sound and a beautiful design. Including AM/FM re-
ception alongside wireless pairing, the visual and functional
aesthetic of this gem from Rerii is simple and elegant. I bring
this speaker out for every party I host, and I always get com-
pliments. If you love vintage-inspired tech but don’t want to
spend a lot of money, I recommend going with Rerii.
Old Time Radio Shows
($2.99/month)
When you’ve picked out your speak-
er and you’re ready to listen to some
vintage sounds, I’ve found that all retro
speakers pair well with the Old Time
Radio Shows app. With a free four-day
trial, I listened to the fi rst season of
The Shadow on my Rerii speaker while I drank Arnold Palmers
on my back porch. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of
men? You will when you download this app.
Totally Tubular Tech & Games
Teddy Ruxpin
($99.99)
Teddy Ruxpin is back, and he
wants to be your friend! I had an
original Teddy Ruxpin when I was
a kid, so I was very excited to
check out Teddy’s offi cial
return from Wicked Cool
Toys. The new Teddy
Ruxpin is Bluetooth
enabled so that you can
listen to some of his
trademark stories from the
free Teddy Ruxpin app. For most
of the story bundles, you have to
download the stories to your com-
puter, connect Teddy via USB,
and then play back the stories
from Teddy’s onboard storage.
The toy has soft fur and a much
fuller face than the 1985 ver-
sion, as well as cute, LCD animated eyes that pair well with
the animatronic mouth. Unlike the 1985 Teddy, the update
does not sometimes turn its head 360 degrees, thus scarring
your children for life; so, all in all, I feel like this is a fun update
to a classic toy.Chrono Trigger
($9.99)
My favorite video game as a kid was
the dinosaur- and robot-fi lled time
travel extravaganza, Chrono Trigger.
Now, I can relive my glory days on
my iPhone and iPad with the Chrono
Trigger app. The game is more com-
fortable to play on the larger screen of my iPad Air than my
iPhone 7 Plus. While the app runs smoothly, the controls are
awkward. There’s an on-screen joystick for moving the char-
acters that I found hard to master. I would have preferred a
point-and-click approach to movement and enemy selection.
Despite some user interface fl aws, I’ve been playing the
game for three days now, so for me, the nostalgia factor bal-
ances out any gameplay issues.Polaroid Snap Touch Instant Digital Camera
($179.99)
A trip down memory lane would be incomplete without
checking out the newest tech from Polaroid. I wasn’t sure if
the company was still in operation, and was pleased to see
Polaroid is keeping up with the times. The Snap Touch camera
reminds me of what I loved about the clunky Polaroid camer-
as of my youth; they’re essentially portable darkrooms for pro-
cessing instant photos. I can snap a picture and print a copy
without having to use any additional equipment or messy
wires. Incredibly, the camera does not require ink, it’s built
into the photo paper and brought out during the development
process, so you only need to change the paper. With an iOS
compatible app, you can add fi lters, stickers, and make minor
adjustments before printing your photos off of the Snap Touch
camera. ѶTamlin Day is a feature web writer and advertising specialist for iPhone Life. He holds
degrees in graphic design and professional writing and has been previously published
in Breathe Easy Press.