All posts by Todd Cochrane

Pure Jongo at CES Unveiled

CES 2013, Home

Pure LogoAt this year’s CES, Pure launched Jongo, the world’s most affordable (and colourful) multi-room music system. Vicky tells Todd all about it.

The Jongo range will shortly include a couple of wireless speakers and a hi-fi adaptor, all with both Bluetooth and wi-fi built-in. Music can be streamed using the Pure Connect app via wi-fi to any speaker in range or else smartphones and tablets can stream music directly to the speakers using Bluetooth. Both Apple iOs and Android devices are supported and it uses the existing wi-fi infrastructure: there’s no need for special transmitters.

The S340B speaker will be available soon and can be pre-ordered on Amazon. Price is listed as $229.
The stereo speaker (T640B) and the hi-fi adaptor (A140B) will be on-sale in the summer with MSRPs of $329 and $119, respectively.

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

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MyIDKey brings secure passwords to USB storage

Accessories, CES 2013

One of the companies that GNC had the pleasure of meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month was MyIDKey, who introduced a new biometric USB stick (thumb drive), meaning you will be using your fingerprint to unlock the device. The new drive is a bit small, but it does pack some powerful data protection, more so than we have seen in the past from such products.

While only storing 2 GB, it is mainly used for user name and password storage, meaning that the file size should be good enough for even the most demanding power user. The drive also has a tiny microphone and LCD screen, making it easy to search for a service for easier access.

This USB drive is a great alternative to web apps like LastPass. It is expected to ship in the second quarter of 2013 and retail for $99. There is also a 16 GB version for $199. Head over to MyIDKey to pre-order one.

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

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Livestream Introduces Live Streaming over Verizon 4G LTE

CES 2013, Video

LivestreamDuring the live stream coverage of CES 2013, Geek News Central as part of the Tech Podcast Network used Livestream. Livestream introduced a new product during CES. The product is a part of their broadcast unit family. It will allow someone to broadcast live without any wired or wireless connection. It uses Verizon’s 4G LTE connection to do the streaming instead.

All you need is a camera, a HDMI cable and the broadcast unit. The broadcast unit will have a built-in lithium battery which will provide up to three hours of live streaming per charge. Prior to CES getting into full swing the Livestream team was getting a great connection. As with any network connection, speeds may vary depending on how congested the network is and the strength of the signal.

At this point there is no pricing available but they hope to have the units available early Q2. There will also probably be a fee from Verizon but at this point the fee is unknown. If you do a lot of live streaming in the field and have a Verizon contract then this is definitely something you will want to look into.

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

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Belkin turns your iPad into a Media Player

CES 2013, Video

Belkin, a company who has been known for its routers, is branching out into other areas, not for the first time. Now the company wants to turn your iPad into a personal media player that you carry around. Not that iOS was not already capable of that, but Belkin want to enhance it.

The device comes in the form of a case and much of what it does is enhance sound level and quality — something Apple seems to struggle with. Although, to be fair, many other mobile devices do as well.

The cover, named the Thunderstorm, not only adds an enhanced speaker, but also a stand, to help with your movie viewing. The case is available now, although the Lightening Connect version is not. It retails for $199.

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

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Felt Audio Introduces a Bluetooth Modular System

CES 2013, Mobile

Felt Audio I love the idea of Bluetooth audio there are no tangled wires, however I have never found a Bluetooth headset that I liked. To me they’re uncomfortable and hard to use. I prefer regular ear buds, but I hate untangling the wires every time I want to use them. So when I saw the newest Felt Audio product I was intrigued. Felt Audio has created a Blue tooth modular system that connects to any Bluetooth device. What makes this device unique is that the cables retract into the modular system. So when you’re finished with your phone call or listening to your music the cables simply retract back into the device. You can have this device in one pocket and then have your smart phone or tablet in a completely different pocket that is more secure. You can control your phone calls and music directly from the device. The system will sync to any bluetooth device within 3 second. If you prefer to have everything together Felt Audio also makes a case that you can use to attach the device directly to your smart phone. When it is attached to your phone’s you can use it to recharge your phone.

Felt Audio also introduced what they call the world’s smallest speaker system at CES 2013. It also works through Bluetooth. It has omnidirectional microphone so you can use it in a meeting or any group. You can use the speaker either attached to the smart phone or separate like the modular system. It will connect with any Bluetooth device within three-seconds. You can clip the speaker to your belt or you can use the included stand and place it on a table.

Both the Bluetooth modular system and the speaker will be available in April for $99. The first 5000 customers who purchase the modular system from the Felt Audio website will receive a free case. You can preorder either the modular system or the speakers through the website now. It appears to be well made and I like the way to looks. As soon as I have some money available I’m going to preorder the modular system. Once I have it I will give you my review on how it works in the real world, but for now just the idea intrigues me.

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

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Trakdot Never Loose a Bag Again

Accessories, CES 2013

trakdotDo you fly a lot for business or pleasure. Do you constantly worry about your bags being lost. Then you maybe interested in the new device from Trakdot. This is a device that you stick in your luggage and when your plane lands the device sends you an SMS message letting you know that the baggage is also arrived. If for some reason the baggage gets lost the device will tell you what city it is in. You can see from the video that Todd who is doing the interview at CES 2013 and travels a lot is very much looking forward to using this device.

The device should be available in April for $49.99. There will be an activation fee of $8.99 and an annual fee of $12.99. To find out more about the device you can go to the Trakdot website.

Trakdot is also working on a second device that has GPS embedded that will notify you if the baggage has been dropped. This would be excellent for people who carry a lot of equipment, like photographers.

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

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SpareOne Emergency Mobile Phone at CES 2013

CES 2013, Mobile

SpareOne Emergency PhoneModern smartphones are expensive, relatively fragile and battery-hungry. Consequently, they’re pretty much useless in any tough emergency situation. Todd talks to Christian Scheder of SpareOne about their solution to the problem.

The SpareOne emergency phone is a mobile phone that runs off a standard AA battery rather than a rechargeable one more usually found in a mobile phone. While this gives 10 hours of use from a single battery, the benefit in an emergency is that the battery can simply be swapped for another. Further, Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries have a storage life of 15 years so this phone can be stored with batteries for up to 15 years, ready to go. The SpareOne is supplied in a waterproof bag that further protects the phone during storage and any wet emergencies.

The phone takes standard GSM SIMs for ordinary calls but the SpareOne can also call the emergency services even without a SIM card. If you are interested, the SpareOne is available now for $99 from the website.

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

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CES 2013 Post Show TPN. tv Assets

CES 2013
Stats
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The team has packed up and is heading home from CES 2013, but we have a metric ton of content to produce, post & analyze but that does not stop you from reviewing everything we have online so far.

We want to thank the folks over at LiveStream who worked with us and made the Live experience an “ad free” one. We have all of the content segments posted on Livestream, and while they need some time hack refinements you can watch the segments now by day and hour.. CES 2013 Live Livestream Segments

Our Liveblog was hugely successful. We have had so far 246,769 user engagement minutes so far, or over 4111 hours of viewing. You can see the entire live blog here on the TPN.tv site.

We are still working on the numbers for the live content and will get you our totals for that shortly.

Over the coming weeks, we will be producing each floor and live interview as an individual segment and they will be posted to this website and all of our team members websites.