Daily Archives: January 28, 2012

Ford Focus Electric at 100 MPGe

CES 2012, Mobile, , , , ,
Ford Electric
Ford Electric

Eric from Ford talked with Jeffrey about the Ford Focus Electric at CES. Items discussed included the internal battery system, the interactive charging system inside, strength of the vehicle, recycled material, and how these vehicles can be 100% made in the USA.

Over 50% of the body is high-strength steel. The battery is around this steel, which will protect you and the battery in case of a crash. With the new Ford assembly line (a video Jeffrey recorded in December), a power train vehicle build can be switched at a moments notice.

The best part is the Focus Electric will get you over 100 miles per charge. That, along with recycled bottles and rubber making the seats, floormats and gaskets around your car, this is a truely green vehicle for you.

Interview by Jeffrey Powers of Geekazine

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LG Pentouch For a PC and TV

CES 2012, Video, , ,

The new LG Pentouch technology connects to your TV and a computer to bring touch-screen technology to your flat screen TV. The Pentouch consists of the box for connecting a Windows PC to the Plasma TV, which comes along in the package. It all works on WiFi so there won’t be any messy cables either. It’s geared more towards a business than home user as it essentially turns the TV into a whiteboard, but there are a lot more features than just that. You can also edit Office documents and there are two pens included so that two people can work on the screen at the same time.

There is no exact release date yet, although LG hopes to make it available in the early Spring. There is also no price point as of yet, although with a plasma TV included you probably shouldn’t expect it to be too cheap. You can find out more by visiting LG and by watching the video below.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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Trikke A Fun (Electric) Ride

CES 2012, Home, ,

Trikke If you live in the city or suburbs and are looking for a vehicle that you could ride to work and have fun doing it, then you may want to take a look at the Trikke. As the word indicates the Trikke is a three-wheeled electric vehicle. Because it has three wheels it is very stable and easy to ride. You simply turn the throttle and go. You can lean into the curves and the wheels never leave the ground. It folds up so you can easily fit it in the back of a car or carry it into the office. A Trikke weights between 35 and 48 pounds (with battery) depending on the model, so you are probably not going to want to carry it far. You can plug it into any outlet to recharge it. A battery takes about three hours to fully recharge. On a fully charged battery a Trikke will go from 10 to 24 miles depending on model and weight of the rider. You can reach speeds up to 17 miles per hour.

Trikkes are available in different colors and models and the prices range from $1300 to $2200 depending on the model. If you are a skier a Trikke would be a great way to keep in shape for the skiing season. You use the same muscle and movements on a Trikke that you do for skiing and it is low impact. Easier to ride than a bike and a lot better on the bottom.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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The Mighty Dwarf BlueII Bluetooth Speaker

Accessories, CES 2012,

Today most of us travel with portable music devices, and in a lot cases that’s now our smartphone or tablet. Those device don’t always have very good external speakers, but most them do have Bluetooth capability. That same Bluetooth technology is now built into external speakers, which really helps to bring these new portable devices to life.

The new BlueII Bluetooth speaker from Mighty Dwarf brings surface induction to the external speaker world. By using the surface the speaker is sitting on to amplify the sound Mighty Dwarf has added a whole new dimension to this external speaker. For those with a device that doesn’t feature Bluetooth technology there is a model for you as well.

The new BlueII will be available in March of this year and carries an MSRP of $120 for the Bluetooth model, and $100 for the standard version. There are also other versions already available in the $75 range. You can visit Mighty Dwarf to find out more, and also check out the video demo posted below.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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Godaddy.co Super Bowl 46 Extravaganza

CES 2012,

We have been running some very hot GoDaddy deals here at TPN. Every Super Bowl GoDaddy turns up the heat with their GoDaddy ads. We are going to have an amazing GoDaddy offer to celebrate Super Bowl 46.

This year no wardrobe malfunctions because there is no wardrobe, so if you want a sneak peak at what the GoDaddy has planned for the Super Bowl check out this behind the scenes video hinting at the ad spots that will run during the game.

We have some amazing GoDaddy Deals as seen on this site make sure you cash in now..

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Take Control of Your Car with Mavia

CES 2012, Mobile,

Mavia DeviceTodd chats to Madison of Mavizon about their new Mavia automotive product which keeps tabs on your vehicle in more ways than one.

Mavia is a small box (see picture left) that plugs into your vehicle’s ODB-II port – that’s the connector used by technician’s to check on the car when there’s a problem. The Mavia combines readouts from this port with its own internal GPS receiver to provide location and technical information that is sent back to an online hub at www.mymavia.com. Android and iPhone client apps can be downloaded too.

The MyMavia hub will show data on the vehicle such as gas mileage and distance to next service, plus any diagnostic error codes. MyMavia can interpret some of the diagnostic codes and it enables the owner to consult other resources, online or otherwise, to find out more on what’s wrong with the car. MyMavia incorporates location services too, showing where the vehicle is on Google Maps and there are connections to social sites like Foursquare.

The Mavia is in a beta testing phase so pricing is not confirmed but is expected to be around $200. The device will be available from retail outlets later in the year and requires no special fitting; it’s a self-install.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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Careverge Takes A Social Approach To Health

CES 2012, Health,

Careverge logoThe fast pace of modern Western life doesn’t lend itself to a healthy lifestyle and many of us struggle to keep on top of the weight and exercise regularly, including myself. Careverge can help as a one-stop health and well-being site that brings together fitness, health and support in one place. Careverge’s Henry de Phillips talks to Jamie Davies of the and the Nursing Show about what the site can offer.

Careverge’s approach is to create a social networking environment to encourage good health behaviours rather than to simply sell a product or a plan. The site brings networking, gaming and recommendations together so that within only a few moments of starting to use the site, the individual is given personalised suggestions on reading and possible activities. The focus of Careverge is to encourage people to health through fun while providing quality health information and support to reach their goals.

Careverge is free to use for consumers.

Interview by Jamie Davies of the and the Nursing Show.

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LifeStation Web managed Pill box

CES 2012, Health,

From the CES 2012 floor, Jamie Davis from Promed Network talks with David from LifeStation about their new web enabled pill box for people on daily medications. The pill box had compartments for up to 4 doses a day and once full holds a week’s worth of pills. The pillbox doors flash when it’s time for that dose and if after a time, the door isn’t opened it starts beeping. If the person still doesn’t take their meds, it sends and email, text and automated phone call to the patient and their care giver. In tests, the pill box got a medication compliance of up to 92% (which is very good)

For more information go to or lifestation.com

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Mercedes Benz Introduces Mbrace2

CES 2012, Mobile,

Mbrace We talked to Robert at the Mercedes-Benz booth at CES 2012 about Mercedes-Benz’s new Mbrace2 technology. Mbrace2 is Mercedes-Benz’s newest generation of connected car technology. It is fully loaded with Mercedes-Benz apps which are customized versions of popular apps including Google Local Search, Yelp, Morningstar Finance, news and others.

Safety of both the driver and those around them is very important to Mercedes-Benz, so each app is customized for the driving environment. For example on Yelp and Google Local Search data entry is disabled while driving. The driver can only access predetermine search terms such as banks, restaurants, hotel while driving. Moving up and down through choices is done through a knob that sits on the center console of the car. You can call or navigate to a location directly from Mbrace. If you are using the news application while driving it will only show you the headlines and maybe a picture. However there is a one button push to send the full article to an email address.

Everything is controlled through the center panel. All updates will be done through the cloud. As time goes on Mercedes-Benz hopes to integrate more of the GPS technology available in the car with off-board tools that are on phones. Mercedes-Benz hopes to have Mbrace available on all models starting in 2013. There will be a monthly subscription fee but the price has not been determined.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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Mercedes Benz Helping You Connect to Your World

CES 2012, Mobile,

Mercedes BenzRight now if you own a SL class from Mercedes-Benz you can access data, make calls and play music on your phone directly thru the mbrace system. However if you have a C class or an GLK series car that option is not available to you.

Mercedes-Benz is currently developing a concept that will allow customers with C class or GLK series owners to be able to integrate their smart phones or iPod Touches directly into their car. Once the device is plugged in the car will take over the info and become the infotainment system. You can then control the smart phone directly from the car, allowing for hands free-calling and access of supported applications on the smart phone through the car interface. All updates will be done through the smart phone so you will always be up to date.

The system they are now developing for the C class and GLK series will allow those customers to get connected at a more reasonable price. They hope to have the system available for C class and GLK series cars by the 3rd quarter of 2013.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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