⚡ 29MAR2026: Much like with books
A portable music making machine, tools for focus, improving your color skills, leveling up your video calls, and keeping track of your video game progress...
Happy Sunday everyone!
This week, I've loved seeing this handcrafted, functional rebuild of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit, thinking about getting "lil' agents" to walk around my desktop and do Claude stuff, doing my morning meditation to ambient sounds generated with midlife.engineering, hyperfixating on these amazing custom-built disposable film cameras, and playing with Kyle Ford's Bye Doom for creating RSS feeds out of public X/Threads/Instagram/TikTok accounts so you can get their content without visiting the site.
Note that some of the links in this issue of the Hiro Report are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.
On to the good stuff!
🎵 Akai MPC Sample — The makers of countless iconic samplers/drum machines of all time have released a more portable and approachable entry-level version at last to compete with the Teenage Engineering K.O. II. It costs just a little bit more, but looks to be easier to learn and use, and features Akai's excellent drum pads. The Verge has a great review up on it already, where Terrence O'Brien says it's his new favorite portable beat maker. I want one.
🍅 Tempo Focus for iOS — Tempo Focus is a delightful-looking new Pomodoro timer for iOS with a really clean, modern design aimed squarely at helping you get focused work done. It features a fun flipboard-style countdown timer, optional background app and notification blocking, rest cycles, and more, all with nice analytics.
🟠 Color Snap — Color Snap is a simple but fun web app (an iOS app might be in development too?) that gives you one color a day and challenges you to capture three photos that feature that exact color (or as close as you can get) over the course of the day. You are scored based on how accurately you are able to replicate that color in your photos. It's a fun photographic challenge for folks looking for inspiration, and also a great way to train your eye for the nuances of color.
🎥 Insta360 Link 2 Pro Webcam — I have a first-generation version of this webcam and it's far and away my favorite webcam/microphone combo for video calls that I've used. This new version has an even larger sensor allowing for higher-quality video and better low-light performance, paired with a better microphone array for even better sound. It's got a great companion app that lets you optionally control exposure/white balance/bokeh, and more. I'm sorely tempted to upgrade. If you don't need the smart gimbal, check out the cheaper Link 2C Pro which has all the same tech for $50 less.
🎮 GamePal for iOS — Much like with books, I tend to start way too many games and either never finish them or just slowly make my way through, often forgetting where I was. GamePal is an awesome app for keeping track of your game library, the games you want to play, and your progress through the various games you're actively playing. The creators just released a big update earlier this month bringing Live Activities for tracking how long you've been playing, and a center for staying on top of major gaming events/announcements.
That's it for this week. May you find the perfect color ink for your pen.