Tag Archives: CES

Corning Brings Protective Glass and Long Cables to CES

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Corning Logo

Corning are famous for their glass-based products, most notably Serengeti Drivers sunglasses and Gorilla Glass screens which protect the majority of mobile devices on the planet. Todd gets a hands-on demonstration of Corning’s latest products from Jon Pesansky and Gabriela Allen.

This year sees  come to market which roughly doubles the height a phone could fall without screen damage. Alternatively, the glass can be made thinner for the same level of survivability and a 0.4 mm thick piece of Gorilla Glass 4 is the same as a 0.55 mm of Gorilla Glass 3.

Partly as a result of the high data transfer rates, the maximum length of Thunderbolt and USB3 electrical cables is only a few metres. To address this, Corning have developed fibre versions of these cables which can run longer distances and put up with the abuse typically associated with plugging and unplugging cables. They don’t come cheap with a 5.5 m Thunderbolt cable costing $179 and a 10m USB3 cable costing $109. Available now.

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

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Floome Checks Your Alcohol Levels at CES

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2045 TechYou shouldn’t drink alcohol before driving as even small amounts of alcohol can impair your judgement. But, if you do need to check your blood alcohol concentration (BAC), then the Floome smartphone breathalyser from 2045 Tech can help you determine if it’s legal to drive. Fabio Penzo CEO shows Todd how it works.

Floome is a small palm-sized device that plugs into the earphone jack of a smartphone. The owner breathes into Floome and it then analyses the alcohol concentration and passes the data to the Floome smartphone app. The phone then shows the BAC on the screen along with a green or red indicator. The app has other features such as showing the location of the nearest taxi service or it can send “come and get me” messages with the alcohol level superimposed on a selfie.

The Floome will be launching in Italy for 49 euros and will come to USA in a few months.

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

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Program All The Buttons with Flic at CES

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Flic logoFlic is a bluetooth-enabled button. It’s a simple idea that has many uses from taking pictures with a smartphone to autodialling or even working as a personal distress signal. Nick and Todd met with Pranav Kosuri, co-founder of Shortcut Labs.

Flic is a coin-sized button that can be stuck or clipped onto almost anything. When pressed, it sends a bluetooth message that is received by the Flic app (available for both Android and iOS) and actions include controlling music, dialling phone numbers, sharing GPS position, taking pictures, dimming lights and more. Different things can be done depending on the number of clicks or if the button is being held down: one click could be take a picture, two clicks take a video. The possibilities are huge.

The Flic is currently on Indiegogo and $99 gets 5x Flics with delivery in April 2015.

Interview by Nick DiMeo of F5 Live and Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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Octa Brings Innovative Tablet Accessories to CES

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Octa logoTablet computers have become such mainstays in our day-to-day lives that it’s nearly impossible to remember what life was like before them. And while tablets are often lightweight and easy to use, sometimes it’s necessary to get them into more comfortable or convenient positions. That’s where Octa and its full line of accessories come in.

Todd and Nick got a hands-on demo from Prometheus of Octa. He showed off several of the company’s products, noting that they had won an award at CES 2015. Octa has an impressive line of accessories for turning tablets into truly hands-free devices. Pricing starts at $79.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Nicholas DiMeo of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology for the TechPodcast Network.

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Roadie Tuner Helps You Stay In Tune at CES

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Roadie Tuner logoWhether you’re a musician or a music fan, no one appreciates an out-of-tune instrument. And while there are plenty of solutions out there to help players keep their strings properly tuned, they usually require weird workarounds or clunky devices.

Todd and Nick met with Sam Force of Band Industries. Sam showed off the Roadie Tuner, a mechanical Bluetooth-enabled guitar tuner. Just put Roadie Tuner over your instrument’s tuning pegs and the connected smartphone app takes over, analyzing the sound coming from the strings and telling Roadie Tuner to turn the pegs accordingly.

Roadie Tuner would make for a fine accessory for beginners and guitar vets alike. It is currently available for $99 direct from the Roadie Tuner website as well as a growing number of retail outlets.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Nicholas DiMeo of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology for the TechPodcast Network.

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ProGearX Shows Off GoPro Camera Mounts at CES

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ProgearX LogoVideos from body-cams are more popular than ever thanks to products like the GoPro camera. And with that popularity and success comes a cottage industry of vendors who are supplying accessories for GoPros.

Todd and Nick had a chat with Noah Rasheta, CEO/founder of ProGearX, a company that specializes in mounting solutions/accessories for GoPros as well as other imaging devices. Noah was wearing one of his company’s products, a shoulder/torso harness that accommodates up to two cameras. Noah also brought ProGearX’s retractable “selfie-stick” style camera arm.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Nicholas DiMeo of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology for the TechPodcast Network.

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RoadEyes Is a HUD For The Car at CES

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Road Eyes Cams LogoFrench company RoadEyesCams is bringing out an aftermarket heads-up display (HUD) with an affordable price. Todd takes to the road with Axel and the Aston.

The RoadEyesCam M6 HUD is a small dash-mounted unit that mirrors a smartphone display via wifi, projecting the image upwards and into the driver’s field of view. Whatever the smartphone shows, the M6 will reproduce on-screen. It can be anything from GPS directions to motorsport data such as acceleration or lateral G. The M6 HUD will be available in the US in 4 to 6 weeks for $299.

Todd also takes a look at some of RoadEyesCams new dash-cams.

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

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StickyPassword Helps Manage Your Passwords at CES

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StickyPasswordOne of the great frustrations of modern life is the need to remember a multitude  of passwords and it’s getting worse as hackers get more sophisticated and passwords need to get longer and more complex. The ex-AVG team at StickyPassword have put together a comprehensive cross-platform password management solution. Todd sits down with Thomas to learn more.

StickyPassword Premium is available on most platforms, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Amazon devices, and can synchronise between those platforms either via direct wifi or through the Amazon cloud. Security is covered with AES256 encryption and the data file is encrypted before transmission minimising the risk of interception. Where available, i.e. the iPhone, fingerprints can be used to secure the app and data: for everyone else it’s a single master password.

If you want to try it out, there’s a free version that has everything except the sync. For that it’s $19.99 a year.

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

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Laser-light Radar LiDARShown Off at CES

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Lidar is a version of radar that uses laser light instead of radio waves to measure distance and although it may seem like a new technology, it’s been around since the 1960s. It’s come to greater prominence recently as it’s been used as one of the sensing technologies both for 3D mapping and driverless cars. Jamie and Todd find out more about lidar from Wolfgang Juchmann, Director of Sales and Marketing at Velodyne LiDAR.

Velodyne LiDAR has been a leader in developing lidar technology, bringing down both the size and price of the lidar units over the past ten years. What previously was the size of a trash can, costing $80,000, is now the size of a large food tin and costs $8,000. As sizes and prices continue to drop, the cost and practicality of autonomous vehicles becomes more feasible, with lidar building high resolution 3D maps of the world around the car. The on-board computer can use the 3D information to tell the difference between cyclists and buildings, and control the car on the road avoiding other road users.

Interview by Jamie Davies of Health Tech Weekly and Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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Intel Energy Brings Hydrogen Fuel Cell to CES

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Beupp LogoWhile USB battery packs are ubiquitous, they’re only any good if there’s somewhere to charge the battery pack in the first place. If there’s no electrical supply, options can be limited but with Intelligent Energy‘s new hydrogen fuel cell, Upp, there’s one more option available. Todd and Jamie get enthused with Julian Hughes of Intelligent Energy.

The Upp call uses a hydrogen micro generator and reusable fuel cartridge. One cartridge can provide up to five full smartphone charges and is approved for carriage in aircraft. Each cartridge has a shelf-life of nine years, making it perfect to store for emergencies. As it’s a fuel cell, not a battery, it doesn’t need to be recharged by the electricity. Once powered up, the Upp will power devices at 1A via a full size USB port.

When spent the cartridges can be recharged with hydrogen and extra cartridges can prolong time off grid. It’s perfect for those on hiking trips or for those involved in emergency disaster relief.

The Upp is available in the UK for £149 including one cartridge. Additional cartridges are £49 and recharges costs £5.95. The Upp is expected to come to the US in late 2015.

Interview by Jamie Davies of Health Tech Weekly and Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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