Category Archives: Gadgets

Meet SunPort, the World’s First Smart Grid Solar Delivery Device

February 9, 2016CES 2016, Gadgetsces, CES2016, f5 live, gadgets, power, solar, sunport, techPLUGHITZ Live

Amid the bright lights of Las Vegas, SunPort offers a way for consumers to be much more energy conscience with how they use their devices.

SunPort is a tiny box that plugs into your outlet and measures the amount of energy that goes through it. That information is then tracked and matched with solar energy purchased from solar farms by usage. This allows for the application of solar energy without the need for installing panels or having sufficient land. SunPort director of information systems Nick Williams compared the method to depositing money into a bank and then withdrawing it from an ATM.

The device is portable, of course, meaning it can be used in any outlet so you can use your solar energy on the go. It can be preordered now and is expected to cost $80 per year for both the plug-in and the energy.

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Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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Your Pan Now Knows What It’s Cooking with SmartyPans

February 9, 2016CES 2016, Gadgetsces, CES2016, cooking, f5 live, gadgets, home, kitchen, smartypans, techPLUGHITZ Live

The evolving smart household has reached the stove-top with the introduction of SmartyPans. The app-enhanced cookware offers both nutritional information as well as assists users in the cooking of their food.

SmartyPans uses built-in temperature and weight sensors to help compute nutrition as you cook. Use the app to tell the pan the ingredient you are adding to efficiently track information about your meal in real time. Users can either add ingredients on the fly or pull recipes from the app, which also can assist you in properly preparing the food. The pan is dishwasher safe and detaches to also serve as a serving dish.

Co-founder and CEO Prachi Baxi said at CES that the product should be available for mass retail by the end of the year and is expected to be priced at $289. More information can be found on the company’s website.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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Immerse Yourself in a Complete 3D Sound Experience with 3D Sound One Headphones

February 9, 2016CES 2016, Gadgets3d sound labs, audio, ces, CES2016, f5 live, gadgets, headphones, techPLUGHITZ Live

3D Sound Labs is looking to combine state-of-the-art 3D audio sound with the comfort and style of the other name-brand headphones on the market.

The company showed off its 3D Sound One headphones at CES as it tries to reproduce real-life audio into a personal and portable home theater. The headphones combine surround-sound quality with 9 axis motion sensors that lock the audio into position — centered sound stays centered regardless of movement. 3D Sound Labs is hoping this provides the ultimate real-life audio experience to media ranging from movies to gaming to virtual reality. The headphones are bluetooth smart and charge through a USB port.

3D Sound One headphones are available for purchase at their website and retail for $299.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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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.

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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StoAmigo’s TackApp Gives You a Personal Cloud

January 31, 2016CES 2016, Computers, Gadgets, HomeTodd Cochrane

StoAmigo gives people a personal cloud with access to their files at home or back in the office from anywhere there’s an internet connection. Todd sits down on the sofa with Randy Creighton, VP Legal and Business Affairs at StoAmigo and talks through some of the background to the products and the key benefits of StoAmigo and the TackApp.

StoAmigo firmly believes in the benefits of the cloud but unlike many other cloud storage vendors, StoAmigo thinks that control and ownership of the data and files should remain with the individual, using storage that is already available. Wherever the information is held, it should still be possible to get to it from all over the world.

StoAmigo brings together storage from multiple sources into an “access anywhere” cloud and key to the ecosystem is StoAmigo’s TackApp which joins local device storage from PC, Mac or Android into the cloud. All the software is free to download so there’s no risk in trying it out.

As expected from a cloud service, files can be shared securely with other people too. StoAmigo takes this a little further than others, providing information on when files were accessed and whether they were viewed or downloaded. This gives even greater control and ownership over the data.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com, and special thanks to our CES partner, StoAmigo. Download and try out TackApp for free for Windows, Mac and Android from the links here.

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CES 2016 Wrap Up Show & TPN Picks

January 12, 2016Accessories, Auto, Cameras, CES 2016, Computers, Gadgets, Health, Home, Mobile, Photography, Toys & Gaming, TVs, Video, WirelessTodd Cochrane

The TPN Team present their 2016 TPN Picks to 10 companies that we felt had the best new products at CES 2016. Off the 1000’s of companies booths we walked by these 10 where tops by our team.

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