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Livescribe 3 Smart Pen

February 21, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Gadgets, Home, WirelessTodd Cochrane

Writing is one of humankind’s greatest inventions and it’s no surprise that despite the arrival of typewriters, keyboards, mice and voice recognition, most people just write stuff down in notebooks or on bits of paper. That doesn’t easily transfer into a digital record but Livescribe reckon that they have a solution to this problem with their digital pens. Todd takes notes with Brian Kemp.

Livescribe have a long history in this space, and their latest digital pen, the Livescribe 3, continues the tradition. Using specially printed notebooks, a tiny camera installed in the pen tracks the path of the pen across the page, converting the motion into handwriting that is then transferred to a nearby Apple iPad or iPhone using Bluetooth.

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Once the writing is in the iPad app, you can then starting doing clever things, such as adding contacts to your address book or dialling phone numbers. An Android version is expected later in the year.

The Livescribe 3 is available now for $150 with notebooks retailing at around $25 for a pack of 4. The price of paper products varies depending on size and style.

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

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Switch Lighting

February 20, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Gadgets, HomeTodd Cochrane

Switchlighting Switch Lighting was the winner of CES Innovation Award for Design and Engineering Award a CES 2013 for their latest LED three-way bulb,

What makes the Switch bulbs special is that they are filled with liquid silicon. This helps to keep them cooler than most LED bulbs. Because they are cooler the Switch lighting bulbs can be used in places that other LED bulbs can not like enclosed areas. Switch bulbs work like an incandescent light bulb, they are dimmable and spread the light out broadly. The newest bulb that won the award is the first three-way LED bulb.

Switch is based in California.

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Their bulbs range from $40.00-$60.00 and are available through speciality retail store. Their bulbs should last up to twenty-five years and are recyclable. At this time Switch Lighting mainly sells to businesses and government organizations.

Interview by Jeffrey Powers of Geekazine and by Scott Ertz of F5 Live.

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Omnimount Ergonomic TV Mounts

February 20, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Home, VideoTodd Cochrane

Omnimount the maker of ergonomic furniture is now making ergonomic TV mounts. The Omnimount mount for TVs allows a television to be moved easily up, down, forward and backward. If you are sitting on the floor you can lower the TV so that you are not craning your neck to watch it. The mount is also extendable so you can bring the TV closer to you. The mount can be extended out up to 28 inches. These mounts would be perfect for people who want to mount their television sets over their fireplace. The problem with this idea is that it leads to the viewer having to look up to watch it which is uncomfortable and unhealthy. With the Omnimount mount you can still place the TV over the fire-place and then bring it down when you want to watch it.

The mounts can handle monitors up to seventy pounds and come in various sizes. Mounts that handle smaller TV monitors are available now and those that can handle bigger monitors should be available soon at an MSRP of $449.00.

Interview by Jeffrey Powers of Geekazine.

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Brinno – Looking through the Peephole

February 19, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Gadgets, Home, Video, WirelessTodd Cochrane

Don looks through the peephole with Chris Adams from Brinno at their latest home security cameras. Brinno are known for their time-lapse and motion detecting digital cameras and this is the latest addition to their PeepHole Viewer range.

The PeepHole Viewer digital camera is designed to fit over standard door peepholes to record activity on the outside of the door, either as short videos or else as still photos on a micro SD card. Connecting the camera to the peephole is very straightforward and a new peephole is included with the camera just in case the existing peephole is damaged or dirty. Footage can be reviewed on the camera itself or else transferred to a laptop or PC using the memory card to look at visitors in more detail.

Interview by Don Baine, the Gadget Professor.

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TrackingPoint Weapon System

February 4, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Gadgets, HomeTodd Cochrane

tracking Point TrackingPoint introduced a precision guided firearm at CES 2013. The kit consists of a digital rifle scope and a guided trigger. This kit works with a traditional bolt-action rifle.

The way the system works is that you point the weapon toward the target and the system tags the target. The tag, which is a red dot will remain with the target even if the target moves. The system then calculates all necessary measurements including distance and wind velocity. When you pull the trigger the shot is held until you can align the target. A cross hair will appear and then the shot is fired.

The TrackingPoint system includes five processors within it. There is an image processor that processes up to 54 frames per second. There is also a DSP processor, an Arm core processor and a FPGA with RISC processor inside.

The TrackingPoint kit includes a rifle, a scope, the trigger package, 200 rounds of ammo, a pelican case, a wind bag and an iPad mini. There is also an app for the iPhone or iPad which allows you to stream and record video of your shot. The total kit will be around $20,000. More information is available at the Tracking-Point website.

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

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OtterBox Preserver Series of phone cases

February 1, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Home, MobileTodd Cochrane

Don Baine talked with Jordan Vetter at the Otterbox booth at CES 2014 about the new OtterBox Preserver Series of phone cases.

The Preserver Series is a waterproof and dustproof case that will keep your iPhone 5S, iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S4 safe and sound while you enjoy whatever environment you find yourself in. All the phone’s functions, including the Touch ID sensor on the 5S, remain available while protecting your phone against water, dust and drops. The cases are fully submergible up to 6.6 ft. (2 m) for 30 minutes and can take a drop from up to 6.6 feet (2m) without damage.

The OtterBox Preserver is available now in assorted colors for $89.95 from otterbox.com

Interview by Don Baine, the Gadget Professor for the TechPodcast Network.

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iSmartAlarm at CES

January 31, 2014CES 2014, Home, WirelessTodd Cochrane

Don Bain and Todd Cochrane inteviewed Zac Sutton of iSmartAlarm about their home security system, called CubeOne, at the broadcast booth for CES 2014.

The iSmartAlarm system plugs into your router and all of the remote sensors communicate with the CubeOne box which syncs with the cloud and an iOS (or Android) app to give you a security system that is infinitely customizable. Sensors and controls that can be hooked to the system include Remote Switches, Streaming Cameras, Door and Window Sensors, and motion sensors. The system can be controlled by a web interface, App or a remote control.

The iSmartAlarm system is available now for $349 for the Premium Package and $199 for the Prefered Package. For more information or to buy, see iSmartAlarm.com

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

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QisDesign Designer Lighting from BenQ

January 31, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, HomeTodd Cochrane

BenQ aren’t really known for their designer lighting but this is what Bob Wudeck brought along to Don and Todd at CES. BenQ has a range of about forty different lights and lamps sold under the QisDesign brand, and on show is a beautiful flexible table LED lamp. Inspired by the human spine, the Hatha LED table lamp won a series of design awards, including a Red Dot Design Award in 2012. It’s definitely designer lighting with a ticket of price of $450 and this is one of the cheaper ones!

More ordinarily for CES, Bob also brought along a BenQ GP20 projector. This 700 lumen HD projector is designed for cord-cutters and watching video rather than execs and Powerpoint slides. The HDMI input is ideal for connecting up a Roku for Netflix viewing and it’s quite portable at only 22 x 62 x 18 cm. Bob says in the video that it’s only 720p, but the specs at BenQ say 1080p; worth clarifying before shelling out around $700. It’s a nice little unit.

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

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Brookstone wants to help make your mixed drinks

January 31, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, HomeTodd Cochrane

Todd stopped by the Brookstone booth to show off Perfect Drink App-Controlled Smart Bartending, a product he actually uses himself. With that disclaimer out of the way, here’s what it is.

Essentially, this is a food scale with a 1/8-inch jack that plugs into an iPad. It then utilises an app that allows the user to begin mixing ingredients from the many recipes available to make a mixed drink exactly right. You can even enter in the contents of your cabinet and the app will offer suggestions of drinks that you’re able to make based on that data. It’s available now and retails for $69. Find out more at Brookstone.

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

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Singing Machine Bluetooth Speaker and Karaoke Machine

January 31, 2014CES 2014, Entertainment, HomeTodd Cochrane

Todd interviewed Kristen from The Singing Machine Company about their new Bluetooth Speaker and Karaoke Machine at Digital Experience during CES 2014.

The Singing Machine turns your Laptop, iOS device and TV into a Karaoke system that has Access to over 8000 HD Karaoke videos that can be streamed to your TV on demand. It also acts as a standard bluetooth speaker for times you just want to listen to music. The wireless remote also acts as the microphone.