We have all been there — you are out and about and suddenly find that the battery in your smartphone has died. There are, of course, portable solutions for this. I spend a good deal of time hiking and camping in remote locations and have used a solar charger in the past to solve this problem, but it is a slow process.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, MyCharge unveiled a whole new line of portable charging solutions. Depending on your choice from the new lineup, you can potentially charge up to three devices at one time. There are a variety of choices and also a variety of colors and designs to suit everyone’s tastes.

The new line, which will include the Lightning connector for Apple, is expected to launch in the April-May timeframe. Depending on the charger you decide on, the price can range from $39 to $129.

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

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NFC has been a solution looking for a problem for some time, but products using NFC to solve real world issues are finally beginning to appear. Todd speaks with Brad from LG about how NFC is helping get video off smartphones and onto TVs.

Most people wanting to show video from their smartphone on their TV would automatically reach for a cable and then probably spend the next 10 minutes hunting around for the adaptor to plug the TV’s HDMI cable into the phone’s much smaller socket. NFC eliminates all this by wirelessly providing the information needed to stream the video to the TV using Miracast and all the person has to do is place his or her smartphone on the NFC tag. It’s not limited to sending video to the TV from the smartphone as the reverse is also possible: they can view what’s on the smart TV on their smartphone. Watch the video to see it in action – it’s very cool.

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

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Regular listeners of GNC will know that Todd has been rocking an LG Optimus G Android smartphone (on loan from LG). Impressed with this device, he finds out more from Amy.

The LG Optimus G is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor which takes everything in its stride, with super smooth graphics and slick multitasking. Todd rates the camera, too, with both stills and video footage looking fantastic. Overall, it’s a great package that’s worth checking out if you are in the market for a new smartphone.

Available through AT&T and Sprint in the US on range of contracts.

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

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These days everyone has a camera in their pocket at all times. Heck, it is not even just smartphones these days — as annoying as it sometimes seems, there are even people in front of you at events who are holding up iPads and snapping images. PhotoFast has a solution to the problem of saving those precious pictures, but it is only for iOS devices at this point.

In fact, PhotoFast has the only officially licensed Apple iOS flash drive on the market at this time. You can then plug the device right into your PC or Mac to grab the images or videos. It goes both ways too — you can also move images and videos from a computer to the iPad or iPhone. In addition, there is a dedicated app, AirPlay support, security and contact backup.

Sizes start at 8GB and range up from there, meaning prices also head up, with a starting point of $99 for the 8 GB model. It will be available through Amazon and a number of other retailers “shortly”.

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

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Simple Laptop Stability for Productive Work

A slight modification to a product originally developed for photographer or videographer use provides road warriors with a lightweight and compact accessory that converts the standard roll-aboard overhead compartment suitcase into a stable desk for a stable work surface.

The $39 Tripad Traveler allows you to turn those layovers where you have no Airline Club membership into a productive layover. It is lightweight and slips easily into the traveler’s suitcase outer pocket.
TPN Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDRNews.com

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Looking for a new car? How about an Audi RS5? We take a look at the 420 HP V8 engine.

With the Audi MMI navigation plussystem, the RS5 will give you a QNX system with an embedded Google Earth client on top of their navigation system. This is all the Audi cars – Q7 – A6 – A8 – A5 and A3 (at the end of the year).

Audi is working on bringing 4G into the car. There is already 3G embedded through T-Mobile. 4G will be with AT&T and T-Mobile.

RS5 Cabriolet covertable is available now. Audi RS5 will start at $69,700

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