Tag Archives: app

New Govee Sensors, a Few Cigars and a Contest Winner

Image from Amazon

I’ve been using the Govee WiFi and Bluetooth humidity and temperature sensors in my humidors for a while now, and recently got some of their new ones to try out. I got three of them (actually four, one comes in a handy two pack). The first one is the WiFi Smart Thermo Hygrometer, Model H5179. The batteries were included in the device, it just had a strip of plastic that needed to be removed for the batteries to make contact. The Bluetooth pairing and WiFi connection were very simple through the app (which I already had from having multiple other devices). There’s no display on this device, so everything is monitored through the app, Temperature, humidity, along with historical data for something like a year. You can also set alerts for highs and lows so if there are spikes in your humidor you can address them before any long term damage is done. This also had a mounting bracket and a lanyard (the later of which serves no purpose in my application). I will probably mount this in my primary cabinet humidor.

 

Image from Amazon

The second one is the Bluetooth Smart Thermometer, Model 5174, which is very much the same as the above, in a smaller form factor, without WiFi, and without the mounting bracket. Once again, the batteries are included so it’s ready to go. The instruction booklet is clear and concise, and most of the setup is done through the app anyway. Like the H5179, it has a blue light that blinks every 30 seconds when it takes a reading, which will turn red when the batteries get to 15%, so if you aren’t paying attention to the app you can remember to change them. I’m not sure which humidor I’m going to put this in, probably my large desktop humidor where I put the cigars that I plan to feature, and new arrivals. The older Govee Mini Smart Hygrometer I had in there seems to have drifted to the high side on the humidity reading and I don’t think there’s a way to fix that. I’m going to try resetting it by removing the battery and putting it back in and see what happens, but it might just be replaced. (As of this writing, this unit appears to be unavailable. Not sure why or when it will be available again, no worries, there are options!)

 

Image from Amazon

these are my images!

Finally the third item is the Smart Thermo-Hygrometer, Model H5101, which has a nice, large 1.8” digital display. I got the two-pack, which is around $20, quite a deal. These have a little tab in the back to make a stand for on a shelf or table, otherwise I suspect some velcro or magnets could be used. I had an older, similar model that didn’t impress me too much, the humidity readings were low compared with other gauges, so I use that in the living room. These seem to be spot on. I conducted a test over the last six weeks or thereabouts, where I placed all four units in a tray with a known good hygrometer and just left them there to do their thing. As you can see in the screen shots from the app, they all are, more or less, right on. Considering the spec is +/- 3% for humidity and +/- .54°f for temp, they are fine. I like that I can see the humidity levels in all of my humidors from one app, when one has six or seven humidors, that’s an issue. I know that there are retailers that have deployed these in their club lockers so they can keep track of them. Even if they aren’t dead on accurate, which they seem to be pretty close,

you can track trends, and sometimes that’s more important to cigars than the actual numbers. Anyway, I’m a fan of these devices, I bought one of their wireless doorbells for my house too. They work well, they look nice, and don’t break the bank. Full disclosure, the Amazon links included here are affiliate links tied to my account, so any sales will drop a couple cents my way. I’ve never gotten paid by Amazon yet, so it’s purely optimistic on my part.

 

Cigar Aficionado’s list came out last week, of course there was much controversy. People need to realize the target audience of that list is not the same cigar geek crowd that reads cigar blogs and is into boutique cigars. Personally, I think the EPC Pledge is an amazing cigar, and I’m going to try to get my hands on a few more. I smoked the EPC Encore this week, which was number one a few years ago, and people couldn’t figure out why that made number one. It clearly was number one because the tasting panel loved it, as it’s a really good tasting cigar and suited that panels palate! The one I had I had purchased the day after the results came out, so it had rested what, three years? It was delicious, I think the Nicaraguan wrapper must be a Sumatra seed varietal, because it had that flavor, and I know Ernesto is a fan of the Sumatra. I also smoked the Alec and Bradley Gatekeeper, which was also made by Ernesto. This was pretty high on the list, and is a good cigar. I can’t say that I would put it high on my list, it was a good cigar, but not particularly memorable or a stand out to me. But that’s me, and I don’t do a list, and if I did, nobody would be taking a copy of it in to shops asking for cigars that are on it! I guarantee every shop in the country has had customers coming in asking for cigars on CAs list this week. It drives sales.

 

I need to pick a winner of the Groovy Guy Gifts Good To Go Cigar Case today. I also will need to throw some more cigars in, three, you see, just isn’t enough. That will be a surprise for the lucky winner! As you know, I have a thorough process of double random selection, just to keep things fair. There was a very small pool of long-time readers who entered. Tim McCabe is the winner this time! Please send me your address and proof that you’re old and I’ll get this shipped out to you! Thanks to Groovy Guy Gifts for this cool item! Check them out!

 

That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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Filed under Accessories, Contest, Review

A New Cigar App from Cigar Dojo

Check out this press release I received from the folks at CigarDojo.com. I don’t usually post press releases, but I started playing with the app a little bit on my iPod Touch and I think it might be pretty cool.  I initially found a couple inaccuracies and omissions in the “Shops” and “Places” sections, but this is brand new and these little things will be corrected, I’m sure.  It’s a really sharp and friendly interface  even for an old dude like me!

 

PRESS RELEASE: CigarDojo.com Releases the CigarDojo Social Cigar App

Lakewood, Colorado – November 1st, 2011 CigarDojo the Social Cigar App is available for both iPhone as well as Android devices in the iTunes and Google Play stores. The CigarDojo Social Cigar app is a free smartphone app that is designed for cigar smokers to socialize and share their thoughts and images of the the cigars they are smoking.

“Cigar smoking is a highly social hobby and we knew that none of the existing cigar apps were very social in nature therefore the CigarDojo Social Cigar App was born.” said Eric Guttormson CEO of CigarDojo.com. “Cigar smokers communicate on Twitter and Facebook which is great but there is so much distraction on those social media tools we knew cigar smokers would love to have a place of their own.”

Users of the app can create an account in seconds or merely login with their existing Twitter or Facebook account. Users can also send their status updates from the Dojo out to both Twitter and Facebook therefore there is no need to duplicate efforts. “The Dojo is like a world-wide HERF. Wherever you are smoking you always have the Dojo in your pocket and the vibrant Dojo community is always ready to comment on what you might be smoking.” In the first month of release the Dojo app has already had over 1,000 downloads and the growth shows no sign of slowing down.

The Dojo is a fun place to relax, smoke, and share.

“The thing that separates the Dojo app from other cigar apps is the awesome group of people that participate. We have personalities of all types on the app and everyone is positive and supportive.” And the Dojo gives back. The Great Cigar Giveaway allows users to enter to win cigars from companies such as My Father, Arturo Fuente, AJ Fernandez, Espinosa Cigars, Eddie Ortega, Rocky Patel, Drew Estate, and others. “The giveaways are our way of showing our cigar community how much we appreciate their fellowship.” Giveaways stated in October and will run deep into December 2012. “Hopefully we can find more great partners and keep these giveaways going forever. Abe from SmokeInn.com, and Jorge at Stogies World Class Cigars in Houston were instrumental in helping us get the Great Cigar Giveaway off the ground.”

The Dojo app also features a really slick cigar shop and cigar bar locator where you can “checkin” while you are at your favorite location or even add your own location to the app. Of course the app also features the Dojo’s famous cigar reviews and a cigar event calendar but there is no doubt the focus of the app is the fellowship and the social HERF aspect of the app. Eric says “We have only just begun with this app. It’s our goal to be the number one cigar app in the world and we have all sorts of plans to add new features to our app. Our app is free so please download it and say hi to our ever growing community of cigar smokers.”

The CigarDojo App is free and can be downloaded…

For the iPhone in the iTunes store:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cigardojo-social-cigar-app/id555309816?mt=8

For Android devices in the Google Play store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hr.apps.n1027161

And a Web app version for any other type of mobile phone:

http://m.cigardojo.com/

Full feature list can be viewed at http://cigardojo.com/app

 

Give the CigarDojo app a try, it’s free and looks like a lot of fun. In other news, last night I took a walk with a Thunder by Nimmish from Rocky Patel,  I’ve enjoyed this cigar in the past, it’s well made and tastes great.  It’s not super strong, but you know it’s there for sure.  Nice smoke.

 

That’s it for now, don’t forget to adjust your clocks if your area requires it.  I dislike Standard Time, it gets dark really early from now until spring, and I like my daylight!  In other news, I’ve started putting together this year’s “12 Days of Spectacular Giveaways” and it’s safe to say that this year will blow last year away!  Early response has been fantastic!

 

That’s it for now, Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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IPCPR 2012 – Sonny and Sean of the Cigar Boss App

While wandering the show floor I had the good fortune of meeting Sean and Sonny of the Cigar Boss App.  I’ve used the app on my iPod Touch with great results, so I thought I’d have them tell us a little something about it.  As they mention, the app is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch as well as Android.  Check out CigarBossApp.com, it’s free, which is one of my favorite features!

 

 

Once again, I appreciate Sonny and Sean taking a minute to share their product with us.  I probably wouldn’t have an iPod Touch if I hadn’t won it from my company last Christmas, but it sure has come in handy for apps like this one, and recording all of these videos so nicely.  It’s become a valuable tool and I rarely go a day without using it for one thing or another (usually cigar related!).  I haven’t found a good lighter or cutter app yet though…

 

Plenty more to come from the show, stay tuned!

 

CigarCraig

 

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Filed under IPCPR, Video