All posts by PLUGHITZ Live

Stay Plugged Into Your Car with Akolyt

February 9, 2016CES 2016, Gadgetsakolyte, car, ces, CES2016, drust, f5 live, gadgets, tech, vehiclePLUGHITZ Live

Everybody could use a little help maintaining their car and that is a role that Drust’s Akolyt is looking to fill.

The Akolyt is a device that plugs directly into a car’s dashboard and provides real-time information and support to one’s smart phone via a free app. The device assists in several areas of maintaining a vehicle, from feedback on how you drive the car to upcoming maintenance alerts. That includes such things as wear on tires, breaks and oil. The Akolyt can also help to get a driver assistance should a breakdown or accident occur and CEO Michael Fernandez said at CES that the device provides performance tips that could lead to up to 20-to-30 percent in gas savings.

Of course, in an increasingly social world, users can also measure their performance against other drivers and accrue points to level up and earn badges.

The Akolyt has started to become available in Europe and Fernandez said the company has an eye towards a release in the United States at a later time.

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Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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Ampy Charges Up Your Devices Just by You Moving Around

February 7, 2016CES 2016, Gadgetsampy, CES, CES2016, gadgets, motion, power, techPLUGHITZ Live

AMPY MOVE has found a unique way to help find the energy to keep your smart phone powered throughout the day: your body.

AMPY MOVE is a motion charger that captures kinetic energy from your motion and transforms it into battery power. Co-founder Alex Smith said at CES that one hour of exercise could supply up to five hours of extra smart phone standby battery life. The form-fitting device features an 1800mAH Li-Ion battery and can also be charged from a wall outlet. A second USB port allows the user to charge their smart device from the portable charger.

The product is already available for purchase at getampy.com and retails for $99.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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Spun Puts a New Spin on the Way You Eat, with Food-Tracking Utensils

February 7, 2016CES 2016, Gadgetsces, CES2016, gadgets, Health, spun, techPLUGHITZ Live

Fitness and healthy eating are on the mind of many people around the globe, with technology a major player in helping those to reach personal goals. Spun utensils are just the latest tool aiming to assist consumers in tracking what they are putting into their bodies.

Spun utensils are designed to take calorie-counting apps to the next level. After taking a picture and identifying the food on your plate, the smart utensil tracks calories and nutrients with each bite rather than just calculating the whole meal. This means you can cut your portion short should you reach your calorie limit before the plate is cleared. The app also allows for things such as monitoring seconds between bites and you can even select profiles that will offer tailored recommendations towards reaching your personal goals.

For an expected retail of $74.99, a Spun starter pack will come with the intelligence handle along with two different spoon size plug-ins as well as a fork attachment. A stylish carrying case is also included with the product. Founder Umar Bakhsh said the utensils will launch in beta form in March of this year with a hopeful release in June.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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Somabar Combines Alcohol and Robots to Mix You the Perfect Drink

February 7, 2016CES 2016, Gadgetsalcohol, ces, CES2016, f5 live, gadgets, home, plughitzlive, robotics, somabar, techPLUGHITZ Live

Not all of the technology being shown off at CES is designed to give consumers convenient and faster access to the latest forms of information and entertainment. Some of it is created with the idea of making certain tasks just a little bit easier.

That’s the thought behind Somabar, a fully robotic bartender that can create and mix a beverage without so much as the unscrewing of a cap. The app-controlled drink mixer uses six different pods to blend together over 300 different cocktails, or the user can program their own creation into the app. Following feedback from its Kickstarter campaign, Somabar also comes with a full water-flushing system for automatic cleaning.

Inspired by CEO Dylan Purcell-Lowe’s travels to Japan, where he witnessed prepackaged rum and Cokes being served from a machine, Somabar is set to be released in July and will retail at $449. The robotic bartender can be purchased at http://www.somabarkickstarter.com.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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Skreens Brings Your Favorite Content Together on One Screen

February 6, 2016CES 2016, Gadgetsces, CES2016, gadgetsPLUGHITZ Live

As consumers continue to absorb content and entertainment in a variety of different ways, Skreens is aiming to bring all those options together on one screen.

Funded through a successful Kickstarter program, Skreens allows its users to connect multiple devices through HDMI inputs and put them all on one screen simultaneously with total control over the layout. This allows users a variety of options, such as playing a console video game while watching the news and streaming a sporting event all at the same time. Advanced versions of the hardware allow for streaming and have a built in audio mixer, while Skreens also makes use of a flexible hardware platform that enables the device to be updated on the fly.

With the ability to offer a variety of streaming options to one location, Skreens is looking to become the central hub to the new, smart interactive homes. The device has both a Plus2 and Plus4 model, with each also being offered in a Pro version. No final price has been set for the devices and founder and CEO Marc Todd aims to have them available for retail by the second half of 2016.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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DXRacer Showcases Six Unique Chair Designs, Tailored to You

February 26, 2015CES 2015, EntertainmentPLUGHITZ Live

The most comfortable interview of the International CES found us at the DXRacer booth, talking about their recent line of gaming and productivity chairs. Before making DXRacer chairs, the company’s roots were in manufacturing high-level racing seats, which is where the attention to quality, comfort and detail came from for these chairs. The company also owns its own factory and has some of the oldest patents for a style of chair that they create.

There are six different series of chairs, starting with the Formula series, then the Drifting series, the Racing series, the Max series, the Universal series and lastly the King series. With so many choices, DXRacer goes above and beyond to understand their customers and tries to tailor the purchase to the body type of the customer and the use of the chair. Because a premium chair like this is an investment, it’s important to make sure you get the right one that fits your needs.

DXRacer has also partnered with Major League Gaming and debuted the design for the MLG chair at CES. The company is diversifying its reach by getting involved in a new line of desks, to create a whole home office solution. After this interview, it was hard to get to the next one because after five minutes in the chair, Nick did not want to get up.

Interview by Nicholas DiMeo of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology for the Tech Podcast Network.

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AspectSolar Brings the Power, in Several Different Form Factors

February 26, 2015CES 2015, Gadgets, MobilePLUGHITZ Live

When it comes to solar power, there are a lot of options for you to choose from. However, if you’re looking for a company that makes a broad range of products to fit your varying needs, then you may want to give AspectSolar a bit more attention.

AspectSolar had several interesting things to show off at the International CES. First, the company’s turnkey solution and entry to solar is the DuoFlex 2. It’s a 13-watt panel that is flexible and made with monocrystalline silicone. What that means is that if one panel breaks, the unit will keep working, only at less power. The unique design of the DuoFlex 2 is what makes it special. Several zippers and loops allow you to configure the device however you want. And for $179, you can pick up a DuoFlex 2 and a 10,000 MaH battery today.

The other product that has me excited is the Power Rack. Its batteries are not the standard lithium-polymer and instead use LiPO4, making the unit weigh almost 40% lighter than its competitors, under 60 pounds. The batteries, of which there are five, are all 300 watt-hours, pushing a total output of 1000 watts in order to replicate the most natural A/C output possible. You can also pair it with two slave units to be up to 4,500 watt-hours total. The Power Rack will launch later this year at $2,500.

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Vysk Makes Your Smartphone a Secure Phone

February 26, 2015CES 2015, Gadgets, MobilePLUGHITZ Live

As expected, one of the tech trends this year revolves around the topic of security. Be it computers, the Internet and of course, our personal cell phones. In line with that, Vysk, a smartphone security company, is on a mission to make sure that everyone can have access to privacy. A smartphone case paired with an app makes this all possible.

Vysk introduced three different levels at CES. The entry-level option gives users private text messaging, private photos and a shutter for their camera, all within the case. The next level gives consumers all of those features, along with 120 percent extra battery life, to give you that extra juice you need. The final selection, the QS1, stands to be the world’s most secure form of voice communication. Sliding a switch sends you into privacy mode so that someone cannot listen in on conversations, like in a private business meeting.

What’s really unique about Vysk’s encrypted photo gallery is its combination of three codes. The first code opens up one gallery, the second another, and then the third initiates a self-destruct process, destroying the contents of your photo gallery. A last resort indeed, but definitely a good option to keep in your back pocket.

Interview by Nicholas DiMeo of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology for the Tech Podcast Network.

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Qualcomm Flies Into Robotics with New Snapdragon Processor

February 26, 2015CES 2015, GadgetsPLUGHITZ Live

Qualcomm has been involved with robotics quite a lot over the past few years. A key reason the company set up their own mini-booth in the South Hall at CES was to show off how the Snapdragon processor is the perfect SoC for the robotics space. On display and demonstration was the Snapdragon Cargo – a robot that could fly, drive, pick up objects and see the world in 3D.

The processor is small enough yet still packs a huge punch, all while being extremely lightweight, which is important for robots, especially flying ones. We saw some interesting technologies specifically demonstrated by Qualcomm. One of them was depth-from-stereo, taking stereo cameras and creating a depth map, allowing the robot to see its world. It also knows where it is in 3D space. Based on these maps it draws, it can fly autonomously without crashing into objects. This is perfect for the drones that have been popular as of late. The range can essentially be as long as you wish, all based off of how far apart you space the cameras.

Another demonstration included a robot that could pick up toys and sort them into appropriate bins, all by looking at the color, shape and density of the toy. The bins could be placed anywhere in the room and the robot was able to find them without problem.

More information can be found at Qualcomm’s Robotics website.

Interview by Nicholas DiMeo of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology for the Tech Podcast Network.

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Intel Shrinks Down the PC with New NUC Line

February 26, 2015CES 2015, ComputersPLUGHITZ Live

In a screening at Intel’s suite, the company showed off their latest Next Unit of Computing devices, or NUCs. These super tiny PCs feature the latest Core i3, i5 and i7 Broadwell processors, with some of them even running Braswell chips, all within a 4-by-4 design.

This latest series of NUC has ditches the mSATA storage interface and moved into M.2, allowing for lightning fast read and write speeds to the disk. USB 2.0 ports are also a thing of the past, and the NUCs all feature USB 3.0 ports only. Some of the higher-end models also feature a mini-DisplayPort v1.2 output, giving the ability to connect three monitors to this mini PC. All of this power packed into such a small frame means that it can not only replace your home theater PC, but could easily replace most users’ desktop PCs.

There are three distinct enclosures for the NUC, depending on which processor you select. The two that will be commonly sold are 115mm x 111mm wide and are either 29.8mm or 48.5mm tall. Your differentiator there is going to be whether or not you want to fit a 2.5″ SSD inside the NUC.

What I found most intriguing was the customizable lids that can be interchanged on the NUC. One of the prototypes on display was a Hauppauge TV tuner that was attached to the top of one of the NUCs, allowing full TV capture and playback, built right into the top of the PC. There was also a NUC that wore a lid that had NFC capability built into it, and Intel said there would be another dozen or so lids to choose from in the near future, with hopes that more partners will join in to create other lid styles.

One surprise was saved for the end, and that was the Intel Compute Stick. Donning Windows 8.1 with Bing, 32GB of storage, 2GB RAM and a Baytrail processor all within a device that can fit in your pocket, the Compute Stick can plug into any TV or monitor. Intel looks to sell this extremely compact computer for only $149.

Interview by Nicholas DiMeo of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology for the Tech Podcast Network.

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