All posts by Todd Cochrane

BeeWi Combat Toys

January 26, 2014CES 2014, Gadgets, Home, Toys & GamingTodd Cochrane

Todd and Don have some fun with Tobias Schoeler from French wireless specialists, BeeWi, and on show at CES are Bluetooth battle robots. Controlled from a smartphone app, the robots can fight against themselves or other BeeWi remote controlled toys including helicopters. Very cool and lots of fun.

The robots will be available in the first half of 2014 priced at US$35 and will be supported on Android, iOS and Windows Phone devices. More information and more toys at www.bee-wi.com.

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

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FLIR Imager attached to a iPhone

January 24, 2014CES 2014, Gadgets, Home, Mobile, VideoTodd Cochrane

flir Flir appeared at Showstoppers, a pre-CES show that helps to kick off the Las Vegas electronics show, and we caught up with them to see what was new. It turns out, the company now has a case for your iPhone that can work a bit of optical magic, transforming the handset into a thermal imaging device.

The product goes a bit beyond just thermal though, as it combines it with the visible spectrum to produce a nice high-quality image. There are a lot of features added to this, and the user can choose the type of image seen. This technology does come at a cost, though. Retail pricing is slated for $349, and the release is planned for this spring. You can head to Flir to find out more.

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

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PeoplePower’s Presence App Turns Old iPhones Into a Security Cameras

January 22, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Gadgets, Home, VideoTodd Cochrane

Todd and Don interviewed Gene Wang, from PeoplePower, at CES about their iOS app called Presence 2.0. Presence turns your spare iPhone or iPad into a free remote camera to monitor your home or office from anywhere in the world (Wi-Fi or cellular). Select Presence Motion Detection to receive free Presence Video Alerts and see what happened just moments ago. Or select Video and Audio Streaming to enable convenient 2-way conversations, and even the ability to remotely control robotic viewing stands. Supervise and control your energy consumption before your eyes with Presence, too. Turn lights and appliances on and off from your smartphone with Presence-controlled smart plugs. Automate your system with simple and powerful Presence Rules, helping you design an automated motion detection and energy plan for home or office.

Presence is available now from the iOS App Store for FREE! (hardware accessories are extra) See peoplepowerco.com/products/ for more information.

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

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Korus Portable Wireless Speakers

January 22, 2014CES 2014, Gadgets, Home, WirelessTodd Cochrane

a href=”https://geeknewscentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/korus-logo.png”>Todd and Don interview Nortek‘s Rob Halligan about the new wireless speaker system called Korus, which instead of using wifi or Bluetooth, uses SKAA, a wireless hi-fi audio standard that won CES Innovation awards in 2010 and 2011. The benefit of SKAA is low latency and greater range, but the downside is that it’s not built-in to any smartphone, tablet or media player. This is solved via a dongle, the Korus Baton, a SKAA transceiver which comes in USB, Apple Lightning and Apple 30 pin variants. Plug it in to the PC, Mac or Apple device and you are good to go. An Android version is expected later in the year.

Using SKAA rather than wifi or Bluetooth also means that there’s no faffing around with SSIDs or pairing with PINs; it’s simply a case of pressing a button on the wireless speaker and the speaker locks onto the nearest Baton. Press the button again and it moves onto the next.

Korus currently have two speaker units for sale, the V400 and V600, priced at a penny shy of US$350 and $450 respectively on the Korus shop at www.korussound.com.

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

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HAL TV Remote Set Top Box, Watch and Ring at CES

January 22, 2014CES 2014, TVs, VideoTodd Cochrane

Todd and Don interview Eric Stalker from HAL.tv about the new Remote Set Top box for controlling your TV with hand gesture or voice control. Once the box is setup, it allows you all kinds features like Hand control of your TV, Phone Calls, Reminders and a “mirror” mode.

HAL is also coming out with a smart watch and smart RING that will work with your smart phone. Details can be found at hal.tv.

Prices for the TV box and the Watch will be $199 and the ring is $99. All these products will be available in the Fall of 2014.

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

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Eyetech unveils new eye-tracking technology

January 22, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Gadgets, VideoTodd Cochrane

eyetech Eyetech, is company that focuses on the natural user interface, specializing in eye-tracking technology. This isn’t a type of technology that is new — you may have used it in such devices as the Kinect, which utilizes both voice and gestures to control your Xbox.

The new hardware can be imbedded into other devices — it’s essentially a large chip. It tracks eye movement, but the software can actually be removed so that the device can be licensed out to other companies. There are security implications involved with this technology, and you will need to check out the whole video below to find out exactly what is going and what you should expect from this tech in the future.

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

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XOEye Safety Glasses

January 22, 2014CES 2014, Gadgets, HealthTodd Cochrane

There’s no doubt that wearables are where it’s at right now, but devices such as Google Glass or Recon goggles are very much luxury toys. XOEye Technologies have taken a more practical approach, developing safety glasses with built-in video cameras and microphones for use in business, typically manufacturing, construction and field service industry. Don and Todd talk to Aaron Salow, CEO of XOEye.

Currently in the prototype stage, the XOEye solution streams HD video and sound from the glasses across the internet to a remote viewing station, where an expert can review and discuss what the wearer is seeing, usually in an attempt to solve a problem. The wearer can hear the expert through small speakers installed on the glasses, so a conversation can take place between the wearer and the expert. Although still in the early stages of development, XOEye is exploring different materials for the glasses and a range of additional sensors, such as gyros and accelerometers, and other enhancements including a torch.

The final product is expected to come to market in June and there’s more information at www.xoeye.com.

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

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Seal Shield Waterproof Covers

January 22, 2014Accessories, CES 2014, Gadgets, HealthTodd Cochrane

Todd and Don chat to Bradley Whitchurch from Seal Shield about their latest products aimed at both the healthcare market and technology users with active lifestyles. With expertise in waterproof and anti-microbial technologies, their core products are washable keyboards, mice and TV remote controls.

In the video, Bradley demonstrates the Seal Shield’s washable True Type keyboard by submersing it in warm water, along with an iPhone and iPad covered in Seal Shield’s Life Proof Shield. The Life Proof Shield is a skin which covers the product, keeping the water out and bug-free.

The Life Proof Shield is $29 for the iPad and can be purchased in a combo with the Life Proof Bumper case for $59 from Seal Shield’s site and other good retailers. More information at www.sealshield.com.

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

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Livio talks about its apps for cars

January 22, 2014Accessories, Auto, CES 2014, MobileTodd Cochrane

livio Livio, a company recently acquired by Ford, produces apps designed to work in cars — a technology that Ford obviously has a great deal of interest in. If you aren’t familiar with the company, it produces a library and developers can use this within their apps, which can then interact with the software, also produced by Livio, that is installed in the car stereo system.

Livio discussed its plans for moving forward in 2014, which, despite its new owner, include plans for an open format that all can use. A standard that will work in Ford, GM and other autos. The proposed standardization would benefit everyone if the company can pull it off. You can learn more by watching the video below.

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

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Acton M Folding Scooter at CES

January 22, 2014CES 2014, HealthTodd Cochrane

Don Baine and Todd Cochrane interviewed Peter form Acton Global about their new M electric scooter. The little scooter folds up so you can take it with you on an Airplane, Bus or train. Once it’s folded out, you can go 15 mile per hour for up to 15 miles. The Acton M scooter will be very useful for getting around places like CES or any City-like area. It’s kind of half segway and half mobility scooter. In fact, Acton is seeking to have the M certified for use as a scooter for help for those with medical problems that hinder mobility.

The M scooter is available now for an MSRP of $1799.

See actonglobal.com/m-scooter/ for more information.

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

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