All posts by Todd Cochrane

YooTechPros Android Tablet

CES 2011, Computers, , , ,

Todd talks with Ernest Wolf, CEO of YooTechPros, creators of an Android-based tablet PC that actually looks quite good.

Using the same LG touch screen as the iPad, this tablet offers twin USB ports, a microSD slot, front- and rear-facing cameras and runs Android 2.2. It’s also slightly lighter and thinner than the iPad. Unfortunately, the model in the video is a non-working prototype but it does look good. $399 for the 16 GB, wifi version and available in the Spring.

For the germ-adverse of us, YouTechPros offers an antibacterial screen film for tablets called the iProtector for $19.99.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Zinio: The Digital Newstand

CES 2011, Mobile, ,

ZinioTodd Cochrane interviewed Jeanniey Mullen from Zinio which is the oldest digital publishing company. It has over 3500 digital magazines available through its catalog. Zinio has been around for over 10 years now. it first started out on the PC. It has seen an explosive growth in interest with the introduction of the iPhone and especially the iPad. Zinio allows you to read on or off-line. A person can buy a single issue or a subscription. It is up to the publisher whether you can buy digital only or if it comes bundled with the paper version.

As Jeanniey showed the big difference between digital and paper magazines is the ability to add video and audio to them and make them interactive. Also connecting a magazine to other things such as catalogs, or an online music store. Allowing the consumer to see something in a magazine and buy it right then and there. Digital magazines are still in their infancy it will be interesting to see where they go over the next couple of years.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Cellcontrol: Safe Driving

CES 2011, Mobile, , , , ,

One of the biggest problems today is the use of cellphones by people driving. Todd Cochrane spoke to Chuck Cox CEO of Cellcontrol about their solution to this problem at CES 2011. It is a three part solution. The first part of the solution is to integrate the program directly into the vehicle. When the vehicle moves the program is activated. It then sends a message through bluetooth to the cellphones in the car.

The program is supported by a most major cellphones and other devices. The program and policies are easy to setup and manage. The policies are also very customizable depending on what is the safety policy of the company or individual is. Cellcontrol is targeting companies with large fleets first, before moving into the direct consumer market. Businesses not only have to worry about accidents causing higher insurance and law suits, but also about the company reputation.

According to Mr. Cox twenty eight percent of all accidents involve someone using a cellphone, Driving and texting is 4x more likely to cause a accident then driving while drunk. People are going to use cellphones in their car, the question is how do we make it safer.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Ectaco eBook Readers and Translators

Accessories, CES 2011, ,

Todd and Tom get together with Jerry Cimadomo and Greg Stetson of Ectaco to review their range of ebook readers and translators.

First up was is the Jetbook Mini (shown right) at $99, which runs off 4 AAA batteries giving 90 hours of continuous reading. It comes with free software which converts a wide range of ebook formats into a one suitable for the device.

Second was a new model that will be out in a couple of months. Aimed at the school market, it will come preloaded with a pile of educational material. It goes beyond being a simple ereader with features such as voice recognition so that language programs are able to give feedback on pronunciation. Around $250.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Tom Newman of The Fogview Podcast.

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PayWizard Product Review

CES 2011, Mobile, ,

Paywizard iconTodd Cochrane spoke to Stephen Petheram, Marketing Director of PayWizard, which is part of MGTpic, about PayWizard. PayWizard allows anyone to take a payment at anytime. It permits the merchant to set up multiple payment options including daily, monthly, yearly, subscription and micro. It enable one click purchase. If there is not enough money in the PayWizard account then the money will automatically be withdrawn from the card that is connected to the account on the sites that the consumer list as their favorites. The transaction data will belong to and be visible to the merchant at all times.

As the consumer you can set a limit on the amount that can be withdrawn a day without having to enter a pin number. PayWizard works cross platforms so that payments that are made on a mobile platform will also show up on systems that take payment from online platforms.

The system is available on multiple devices including the iPhone, iPad, Android, online and connected TV, just to name a few. Right now PayWizard is only available in Europe, but they are working hard to open up the US market.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Aridion by P2i Water Repellant

CES 2011, Health, ,

Todd Cochrane spoke to Dr. Stephen Coulson CTO of P2i. P2i developed a product that uses nano-coating technology with liquid repellant called Aridion. The P2i Web site states “Aridion™ is applied using a special pulsed ionized gas (plasma), which is created within a vacuum chamber, to attach a nanoscopic polymer layer – one thousand times thinner than a human hair – to the electronic device.

This dramatically lowers the product’s surface energy, so that when liquid comes into contact with it, they form beads and simply roll off.” It can be used to coat various products including electronics, foot-ware, military clothing, energy products and filtration. It is applied to the end product and not to the individual components, which according to Dr. Coulson means all components are coated equally. Liquids including water and even oil actually beads up and are repelled. It is applied during the manufacturing process and at this time there is no product made for the consumer market.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Somfy Tahoma – Beyond Home Automation

CES 2011, Wireless, ,

Steve Iommi chats to Todd and Tom about Somfy‘s new Tahoma system which takes home automation to the next level. It’s based round the concept of “scenes” – a scene might be “weekday-morning” which has certain set of actions, e.g. open blinds at 7.30am, whereas the “weekend-morning” opens the blinds at 8.30. With a whole a range of scenes, everything from blinds to thermostats can be controlled according to the day of the week and the activities of the owner.

As with all things these days, the Tahoma system is connected to the Internet via the homeowner’s Wifi, meaning that the owner can connect via a web browser back to the system to make any changes that might be needed, say, because of changes in the weather.

The underlying technology is the Z-Wave RF home automation wireless standard, so upgrading a home to for automation doesn’t involving lots of recabling. It’s simply a case of replacing the controllers with Z-Wave-compatible ones.

A basic Tahoma system can be professionally installed for under $2000.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Tom Newman of The Fogview Podcast.

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Globaltel Media’s Cherple for SMS and Texting Chat

CES 2011, Mobile, , ,

Tom and Todd get texting with Globaltel Media‘s free SMS chat platform, Cherple. Robert Sanchez, President & CEO, takes them through it.

Cherple is a free web-based SMS texting client, which in itself is not unusual – there a plenty of sites which can send SMS messages. But what makes this a little bit different is that the recipient can text the sender back again, even though the sender is at a computer. A whole text chat can then follow, back and forth.

It’s web-based, so can be used from any web browser, but Windows and Mac downloads are on offer, too.

Cherple currently only works for texts to US-based cellphones, but Globaltel are expecting to setup local Cherple sites in ten countries in the coming months.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Tom Newman of The Fogview Podcast.

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PureSound Technology and ClarityOne Earbuds

CES 2011, Gadgets, ,

Todd and Tom tune into Patrick and Dean from PureSound Technology, Inc, who talk about their patented PureSound processor that will shortly be launched within their ClarityOne earbuds. Because of the processor, the earbuds can use 8 ohm impedance rather than the more usual 16 or 32 ohms, giving greater clarity and less distortion.

The range will be extended later in the year with over the ear models for professional studio use.

Available late February /early March for $140 with a 15% pre-registration discount and iTunes gift card for the first 500 orders.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Tom Newman of The Fogview Podcast.

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Andrea Electronics Quality Headsets

Accessories, CES 2011, ,

Super Beam HeadphonesBoth Todd Cochrane and Tom Newman had fun trying out the product being shown by Roland Nutter of Andrea Electronics Andrea Electronics has been in the speech recognition market for 15 years, they make quality headsets and audio drivers. He showed off the new line of Andrea Super Beam headsets. The headsets come in two models one with earbuds and the second over the ear kind.

The idea was to eliminate the need for a microphone to be out in front of a person’s mouth. They did this by putting the microphone in the earbuds. In one mode the microphone collects only audio that is created right in front of a person mouth. The background noise is cancelled out. In this mode there are two filters. A light filter that would be useful in a coffee shop environment where there is some background noise but its not very loud. In a more noisy environment like a concert or ballgame you could use the more aggressive filter. The software you use to record, is going to be easy to use for the beginner, but highly customizable for the expert. You can use it conjunction with Skype and remove constant background noise coming in from the caller, such as the noise coming from an air conditioner.

The software works on both Macs and Windows. As you can see in the video, Tom tried the headphones out and seemed quite impressed by them. The earbuds will be $129.00 and the over the ears will be $149.00 and should be available in June.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central. and Tom Newman of The Fogview Podcast.

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