All posts by Mike Dell

Gain Inner Balance With HeartMath’s App

CES 2013, Health, , ,

Inner Balance Digital App After over 20 years of research and based on the emWave2, HeartMath has created the Inner Balance Digital App. The Inner Balance Digital app can help you reduce stress in your life. The product consist of an iOs app which is available for iPad and iPhone and the HeartMath sensor that clips to your ear. It reads your heart and breathing. It trains you through twice a day daily use to main proper breathing of 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out. You also learn to reach a calm aware Zen state where your heart beats at an even rate and its graph looks like rolling hills instead of jagged mountains when you are under stress. The app shows you both your breathing rate and your heart beat. When you are through your results are shown in easy to read graphs and charts.

The sensor and app together should sell around $99.00. Inner Balance Digital app will be available soon at the Inner Balance website. To receive a pre-release version send an email to info@heartmath.com.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network. and by Don Baine, the Gadget Professor.

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Pelican Pro-Gear Backpacks Protect Your Mobile Gear

Accessories, CES 2013, , , ,

PelicanPelican began in the 1970s making equipment for the scuba market. They quickly expanded into making equipment cases for police, fire, rescue and the military. Pelican has recently gone into the consumer market. Their newest product line is the Pro-Gear Urban and Sports backpacks. These backpacks each have a copolymer blend plastic compartment that will hold up to a 17 inch Macbook. There is also one on the front for a tablet. The front compartment also has plenty of room for accessories. Both compartment have an O ring seal and are well padded and crush proof. There is also normal backpack compartments for your cloths and necessities.

The Pro-Gear Urban Backpack start at $250.00 and come in green, orange and black. They are well ventilated and the straps have extra padding on them for comfort. They weight about 6–7 lb. empty. If you travel a lot and are looking for a backpack that can take the abuse then you may want to take the look at the Pro-Gear Urban Backpack line at Pelican

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network, and by Don Baine, the Gadget Professor.

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DRF – The Device Renewal Forum Certifies Phone Recycling

CES 2013, Gadgets, , , , ,

Device Renewal Forum

With over 2 billion wireless devices (mobile phones) produced every year, the recycling and reuse of these gadgets is an important environmental issue. Todd chats to Perry LaForge of the Device Renewal Forum about how many major companies are now approaching the issue.

The DRF’s mission is “to expand the growth of the device renewal market through the development of a common and branded certification process for renewed wireless devices”, which means that for consumers, a DRF-certified device will have been properly processed, removing any traces of the previous owners data, and confirms that the phone meets the technical requirements for use on a mobile network.

Several major companies, such as Sprint, are joining the scheme and for the sake of the planet, let’s hope the DRF is a success.

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

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PhaseHD Sends HDMI Farther – Up to 100ft

Accessories, CES 2013, , ,

PhaseHD Logo

HDMI is great interconnect technology but it’s really only designed for relatively short cable runs. What do you do if you want to send a 4K UltraHD picture 100ft? PhaseHD have the answer.

Canadian outfit phaseHD uses standard, albeit long, HDMI cables with smart adaptors on each end of the cable to transmit a clean signal at one end and boost the received signal at the other, while preserving the control signals needed for encrypted content. Obviously it’s more complicated than that and it’s definitely worth watching the video to understand how this technology differs from the video extenders that use cat 6 network cabling for long runs.

It’s not cheap either, with the expected price around $500-$600. Expect to see early adoption by event management companies and sports bars.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Don Baine, the Gadget Professor for the TechPodcast Network.

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Sphero Releases Sharky the Beaver Mixed Reality App

CES 2013, Gadgets, , , , , , ,

Sphero LogoGNC first saw Sphero at CES last year and it’s a really cool toy: a rugged waterproof ball controlled from a smartphone or tablet. So what has Sphero been up to in the past year…Todd and Don find out from Ian Bernstein, CTO Founder.

While the  hardware is unchanged from last year, Sphero has grown the number and type of companion apps from around 5 apps to over 20 with several produced by third parties. New on the scene is a mixed reality app which uses the tablet or smartphone’s camera to track Sphero and overlay Sharky the Beaver on the device’s screen. It’s particularly fun as the real-world interaction with Sphero creates a relationship with the cartoon character which makes it that bit more believable.

Sphero works with both iOS and Android devices, and retails for around $130. Lots of fun and there’s an SDK if you feel like rolling your own (sorry!)

Interview by Don Baine, the Gadget Professor and Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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