All posts by Todd Cochrane

Scosche Industries’ Great Gadgets

CES 2011, Gadgets

Todd chats to Ted Lopez, Interface Product Manager for Scosche Industries on their long-term association with the motor (auto) industry and their latest award-winning products.

Scosche have been in business for over 30 years starting out on dash-mounted entertainment systems, which 30 years ago was probably just a radio and a cassette player. These days Scosche still has a strong business with in-car entertainment but more recently has expanded into Bluetooth systems and accessories for the iPhone and iPod. Ted gives Todd a drive-by of their latest products, all of which have won innovation awards at CES or other major shows.

The FreedomMIC is a lapel-mounted Bluetooth microphone suitable for video interview work. Available in Spring – price not known.

The FlipSYNC II keychain are small charge’n’sync cables that clip up into a keyfob. Two models, one for Apple devices, the other micro- and mini-USB. Never leave home without them. Available now for $19.99.

The MotorMOUTH II (shown above) is a Bluetooth hands-free kit and A2DP audio streaming device that plugs straight into the 3.5 mm jack on the car dash. I need one of these – I currently use a Jabra BT3030 for streaming audio to my car stereo but if I have to take a phone call, the microphone is poor. Available now for $79.99.

Finally, the MyTREK is an armband fitness trainer with a complementary iPhone app. No surprise there. Available Spring – price not known.

All innovation award winners so check them out.
Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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Polk Audio Delivers Wireless Surround Sound

Accessories, CES 2011

Todd talks to Al Baron from Polk Audio which has introduced an incredible 82 new products in 2010. Polk Audio provides high quality audio components for a range of different of environments. Not just the home, but auto, marine and outdoors.

A couple of highlights from the year includes Wireless Surround effects speaker which replaces the rear speakers with single unit. As it’s wireless no cables are required except for power. Available now for $399.

Continuing the surround sound theme, the PolkAudio SurroundBar delivers surround sound from a single unit and pairs well with flat screen TVs to give a big audio experience with minimum of fuss. There’s just one cable from the TV to the speaker. Starts from £349.

PolkAudio also have a range of subwoofers that are wireless ready so they can start off wired and then be converted to wireless with the addition of $99 module. Very easy to use and keeps your investment going for that little bit longer.

Finally, Al talks about the Blackstone TL series of compact home theatre speakers. These are small powerful speakers for home audio that pack a punch and give big sound from a small box. A 5.1 home theatre system runs $499 upwards.

All products are available now.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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ARIN: The move to IPv6

CES 2011, Computers, , ,

ARIN

Todd Cochrane spoke to Richard of the American Registry of Internet Numbers or ARIN. ARIN provides service related to the management of Internet number resources in its specific region. There are five RIR in the world, the American registry serves the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. One of their main purposes today is to get out the word that IPv4 numbers are running out. IPv4 is based on 32 bits with 4 billion addresses.

According to Richard, even if we got back all the legacy IPv4 addresses that are no longer in use we would only have enough addresses for another 10 years. Right now most regions will run out of their allocation of IPv4 addresses sometime this year. ARIN will have no more to give them. When this happens if the regional ISP provider hasn’t switched over to IPv6, they will be forced to do things like have multiple consumers use the same IPv4 address. This will increase latency for the consumer and could break some equipment.

IPV6 has been around since 1998, however it has taken sometime for manufacture to make their equipment IPv6 capable, Today all Windows, Mac and most Linux distributions are IPv6 capable, however there is a lot of electronic equipment that is not. If you are buying a new piece of hardware, make sure it is IPv6 capable. IPv6 is based on 128 bits with support for 2 to the 128th power addresses. Once everything moves over to IPv6 we should have enough addresses to last for centuries. For now we will have the mixture of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Corning Gorilla Glass Survives Brutal Abuse!

CES 2011, Mobile, , ,

If you’ve got a mobile phone from htc or a Samsung Galaxy Tab, then there’s a good chance you’re looking at the display through Corning glass. Todd talks to James Hollis, Director of Corning Display Technologies, to find out what Corning brings to the electronics market.

Well…Gorilla Glass is probably their most well known and flagship product. Developed in 2007, it’s an aluminosilicate glass that is optically pure and has excellent scratch resistance and strength properties. James describes how this glass is manufactured and the chemical structure that gives the glass its hardness. Gorilla Glass is 3-to-5 times harder than standard glass (well, I think that’s what he means when he talks about “soda lime glass”).

Todd has a lot of fun scratching and breaking samples of glass…or not breaking in the case of the Gorilla Glass. It’s a great demonstration of what you are buying when you buy a gadget with Gorilla Glass, so watch the video to understand the value.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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EmFinders Emergency Locator Service

CES 2011, Health, ,

Todd Cochrane spoke with Harry G. Smeenk, VP of Sales for EmFinders. EmFinders makes a emergency location device, that you wear like a watch. It is made for people who are cognitively and developmentally impaired individuals. like someone with Autism or Alzheimer’s It uses a cellular based solution instead of GPS so it can work inside of buildings. Mr. Smeenk said many times the wearer will go somewhere that seems comfortable to them, which is often inside. It uses the gsm network. They talked about how the clasp is hard to open so the user can’t take it off.

Mr. Smeenk indicated that the way the system works is if an individual wearing the device disappears. The caregiver would then call EmFinder. EmFinder then activates the device and gets a signal. They then send that signal to the 911 dispatcher in the area where the signal is coming from. They also provide information about the wearer to the 911 dispatch. Normally once the signal is sent out it takes on 10-15 minutes to find the wearer. The devices cost $200 and there is a $25.00 monthly charge. It has has been in the market for only a year and is being directed toward consumers, law enforcement and senior institutions. As the population gets older these types of devices are going to become more popular.

Interview by Carissa O’Brien for Geek News Central.

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Fulton eCoupled Does Wireless Power

CES 2011, Wireless, ,

Dave Baarman presents Fulton eCoupled Wireless Power (ecoupled.com). They have systems for wirelessly powering things such as cell phones and even systems using conductive ink for “smart packaging” that actually lights up the packaging when placed on a special conductive grocery store shelf. You are going to be blown away by where this is headed. Listen to the full interview and post commentary to get some insights into where ecoupled charging and what symbol to look for when you are purchasing electronics.

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

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zBoost Signal Amplifier for Cell Phones

CES 2011, Mobile,

zBoost, made by Wi-Ex, looks very similar to a WiFi router, but instead of broadcasting or repeating WiFi, it boosts a cell signal. At CES they showed off a new model, called the Metro, which was made for urban dwellers. It can boost the signal in an apartment, but no so much that it allows all of your neighbors to jump on it as well.

There is also a multi-band model which covers all wireless providers. Setting one up in your home is as easy as following the simple instructions. zBoost products are available at most big-box electronics stores as well as online from such retailers as Amazon. The Metro retails for $299 and other models prices vary.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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Targus Introduces A New Line Of Bags

Accessories, CES 2011, , ,

Targus, the premier computer bag maker, was at CES 2011 showing off their new line of products. To nobody’s surprise they are going heavy on the tablet cases this year – as PC makers scramble to go heavy on the tablets. They have been producing iPad cases for several months, but they give us a look here at the Samsung Galaxy Tab cases as well. But, beyond cases they also have a stylus, which can be used with any touch device, including those running iOS (we know Steve Jobs LOVES the stylus). They are also now producing a bluetooth keyboard as well.

Availability on these products is immediate and price points are mentioned during the interview.

Interview by Todd Cochran of Geek News Central and Esby Larsen of MrNetCast.com

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Ipad Cover with Keyboard by Zagg

Accessories, CES 2011, ,

The iPad virtual keyboard works great if you are just typing some short notes or an email. However if you are typing a long document, you may prefer a regular keyboard. Unfortunately once you start carrying a regular keyboard you might as well be carrying a computer.

Zagg has a solution, a cover with the keyboard in it. On the back edge of the cover there is a support which you pull up and lean your iPad against it. The support can go into 10 different angles. Allowing you to place the iPad as you like it. The keyboard is right there in front of you in the case.

When you done with your work, remove the iPad, put down the support, lay the ipad on top of the cover face down and close. You are ready to go in less than a minute. The case is made of high-grade tough aluminium, which matches the color of the iPad. The Zaggmate only adds 1/8 of an inch of thickness to the iPad. The ZaggMate with keyboard is $99.00, without the keyboard it is $69.00. So if you are looking for a well made cover with keyboard included you might want to take a look at the Zaggmate

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Toshiba SSD and Standard HDD head to head!

CES 2011, Computers, , ,

There has been vast improvement of SSD drives over the past year, write and read speeds are up considerably. The folks at Toshiba had a demo running that really breaks it down on speed and life time reliability of drives that are being used in a variety of applications that are often not healthy for standard hard drives.

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