A gadget is a new, small and useful hardware device or piece of software with a compelling design. It can make a computer or mobile phone more efficient, fun or productive. Some examples include USB toys, GPS systems, and smartphone apps. It’s not uncommon for gadgets to become mainstream technology once they are marketed well enough.
Tech blogs and publications are a good resource for keeping up with gadget release. Platforms like TechCrunch and Wired provide general updates, while sites such as Engadget and Gizmodo focus on niche gadgets. Additionally, subscribing to newsletters from these sources can deliver news directly to your inbox. Following technology influencers on social media can also be a great way to stay in touch with new innovations.
Alternatively, online forums can be a treasure trove of information. Sites such as Reddit’s r/gadgets are home to discussions about new devices, giving you the opportunity to hear first-hand how they perform. In addition to gaining insights, you can even ask questions of the community about particular products.
Actions are a core concept of the Gadget framework, and a big part of why web app development is faster and easier with Gadget than with other tools and frameworks. An Action is a serverless function that can either read or write records in your Gadget database, or run other backend logic outside of the database (e.g. sending an SMS via Twilio after a blog post is created). With Gadget, you can build and deploy an Action in minutes. In addition, Gadget handles all of the pesky boilerplate work involved in building, documenting, serving and scaling a robust backend API.