All posts by Todd Cochrane

Samsung Series 9 Notebooks

CES 2012, Computers, ,

If you are in the market for a new notebook computer then you may want to check out the latest offerings from Samsung with their Series 9 version, which was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas just recently. Samsung calls it the world’s thinnest laptop, which is saying something given the MacBook Air and all of the new UltraBooks that were unveiled at CES.

The new Samsung Series 9 will come in both 13 inch and 15 inch versions. The new laptops are extremely thin and light and sport all-aluminum bodies. In addition, the Series 9 has a back-lit keyboard, a 128 GB or 256 GB SSD, an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, and a high-resolution 1600 x 900 screen. The Samsung Series 9 notebooks should be available sometime this spring for an as-yet-undisclosed price. You can get a look at the 15″ version in the video posted below.

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

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Kidz Gear Volume Limiting Headphones

CES 2012, Home, ,

Volume Limiting Headphones

CES regular Jack Peterson talks with Todd and Don on the latest headphones for children from Kidz Gear.

Kidz Gear produces headphones with smaller headbands and ear cups to fit the smaller heads of children. This year they’ve brought to the market new wired headphones that have a built-in volume limiter that prevents children’s hearing becoming damaged through excessive sound levels. The headphones reduce the maximum sound level by about 20% into the 80-95 decibel range.

The new headphones are compatible with the iPad, iPhone and iPod ranges and include an inline remote and mic control. They’re available from the Apple Store or direct from Kidz Gear for $29.99.

An additional new product in the same vein is a volume limit cable which can be added to already-purchased headphones to make them safer for children. Priced at only $9.99, there’s currently a special price of $5.99 showing on-line.

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

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Polkast: Making Your Computer the Cloud

CES 2012, Computers

Polkast Cloud base solutions for accessing the data on your computer off site are great, but they have their limitations. First they are slow, because everything has to upload to the cloud first before you can access it off site. Second most cloud solutions have a limit on how much you can store on their sites. Third they can get expensive if you have to store a lot and finally you have to depend on them to be up.

What if you made your computer the cloud, that is the solution that Polkast came up with. You install the Polkast server on the computer you want to access the files from and then the Polkast app on your mobile devices including your smart phone, tablets or lap top. You can then access the files on that computer from anywhere in the world as long as the server is running. To access files using Polkast you have to sign in with a user name and password. Everything is encrypted while going from PC to PC or mobile device. Unlike a cloud base solution there is no storage limitation and it is as fast as your local ISP. You can share specific files with other people by email or through their Polkast account. The service is free for one computer for multiple devices it is $49.95 a year. If you are looking for a way to access your home files on the road, but are wary of a cloud solution, this might be a solution for you.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central and Don Baine The Gadget Professor of Geek News Central

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Parrot Introduces Cool Products like AR Drone Mark 2

CES 2012, Wireless, , ,

Parrot There are some products that are shown at CES that are just cool and everyone who is a kid at heart just wants, the AR. Drone by Parrot is one of those gadgets. This year at CES 2012 they introduced AR. Drone Mark 2. The Mark 2 (aka AR. Drone 2.0) is controlled by a smart phone or tablet. It has a one button launch. Once it is launched it will sit and hove till the next command. The AR. Drone Mark 2 can fly up to 150 feet in the air, or as far as wi-fi will allow. AR. Drone Mark 2 has stabilization and pressure sensor technology built into it. On the front is an HD camera and a standard def camera on the bottom. You can stream and record the video back to the phone via wi-fi. The video can then be uploaded to your favorite social site, including YouTube and Facebook.

It come with two hulls one for in home use and one for outdoor use. It is built to take some crashes, but if something breaks you can get replacement parts are on-line. The AR. Drone Mark 2 should be available according to Peter George of Parrot in the second quarter of 2012 for about $299.00

Once you are finished playing with the AR. Drone Mark 2, you may want to relax with a little music and some quiet time, well Parrot has you covered there too. They are introducing a pair of stereo cordless headsets that are noise canceling called the Parrot Zik . They work over either Bluetooth or the included cord. They run on a chargeable battery and give about 5 hours of listening pleasure. Once the battery runs down you can continue listening by connecting the cord. What makes the Parrot Zik headphones stand out besides the great style by French designer Philippe Starck are the controls on the headphones. There is a sensitive touchpad on the headphone which allows you to skip back and forth thru tracks by swiping right or left and control volume by swiping up and down. The headphones fold down flat to fit into a small carrying case. There is no price or launch date at this time, but they should be available sometime in 2012 at various retailers. All together Parrot introduced seven new products at CES 2012, including three additional products in the car environment and the asteroid marketplace. You can take a look at all of them at their Web site Parrot.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of [Geek News Central](https://geeknewscentral.com ) and Don Baine The Gadget Professor of Geek News Central

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iLuv Wins With New Travel Gadgets

Accessories, CES 2012, ,

iLuv LogoiLuv will be familiar to many with their extensive range of matching accessories for tablets, smartphones and MP3 players. At CES this year, iLuv won no less than 5 CES Innovations Honoree awards to add to their collection of accolades. Todd gets a review of their latest products from Peter of iLuv.

The DreamTraveler is combined iPhone dock, USB charger and mains power strip squared aimed at those unfortunate souls who have to spend time in poorly equipped hotel rooms. It has two USB charging ports, three power outlets and an Apple connector for charging iPhones, iPods and iPads.

For the international traveller, iLuv has the RockWall, a dual USB charger that comes with the right mains plugs for different countries round the world.

Finally, the Mo’Beats is a portable tablet or smartphone cradle with Bluetooth wireless speakers that has a built-in lithium-ion battery which will run for about 4 hours.

All the products will be available in April or May. The Mo’Beats SRP is expected to be $89.99 but the website is currently showing $99.99. I think Peter gets his prices mixed up in the video as the RockWall is priced at $49.99 on the website and the DreamTraveler is $129.99.

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

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New Sony Google TV Products

CES 2012, Video, , ,

Sony was the first to market with Google TV and, while the platform had a rocky start, Google is sticking with it and working hard to improve it. Sony is also sticking with it and at CES they showed off their latest Google TV products. The two big releases are a new version the Sony Google TV-enabled BlueRay player and a brand new Networked Media Player with built-in Google TV. There is also a new dual-sided remote control with a simplified user experience – one side has the basic buttons along with a touch pad for mouse-like control , while the reverse side features a QWERTY keyboard which is only active when it is facing up, eliminating those accidental clicks.

The BlueRay player and Networked Media player are expected to be released sometime in the late spring or early summer. No pricing information is available as of this writing. You can check out the boxes and the really cool new remote control in the video below.

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

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IOGear Introduces HDMI Switch with 2D to 3D Conversion

CES 2012, Video, , , ,

According to IOGear about 70% of the people currently looking to buy new TV’s are leaning towards 3D, but are scared off by the lack of available programming. That’s why they have decided to produce what is the worlds first conversion box for making 2D content available as 3D, that also has upscaling features and an HDMI switch built-in.

This new HDMI switch has 4 ports and it does a lot more than simple conversion. This as-yet-unnamed IOGear box allows the user to make adjustments to get the 3D picture looking right for their individual tastes. Since it has four HDMI inputs you can also up-convert your 2D DVD’s as well. It also upscales resolution types by turning 480 into 720 and 720 into 1080, which then converts to 3D, making all of your existing content available in 3D. The box is expected to be available in March for an MSRP of $199. That’s about double a basic 4 port HDMI switch, but it contains functionality which can’t be had all in one box until now, and it’s all in one very small box. You can check it out in the video below. Now all it needs is a name.

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

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LG Styler Overview

CES 2012, Home,

LG Styler If you are a businessman or women you know how important it is to have your cloths wrinkle free and smelling fresh. You also know how expensive dry cleaning can get. LG may have an answer for you, the LG Styler. The LG Styler is about the size of a storage wardrobe. The cloths hang from a rack and steam is used to gently remove wrinkles and odors. There are no harsh chemicals involved. It takes about thirty-nine minutes to steam and dry a shirt.

Right now the LG Styler is only available in S. Korea and Japan, but they hope to have it available in the U.S for around $2,000 by the end of the year. At this point LG is looking at selling the Styler not only to individuals, but also to high end hotels and other companies that cater to the business travellers. Wouldn’t it be nice to get to a hotel room, unpack and place your shirts in the LG Styler and then in less then 40 minutes you are ready to go. Your cloths smell fresh and are wrinkle free. The LG Styler isn’t supposed to replace dry cleaning, but it might keep your cloths ready to wear between dry cleanings.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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LG Pentouch For a PC and TV

CES 2012, Video, , ,

The new LG Pentouch technology connects to your TV and a computer to bring touch-screen technology to your flat screen TV. The Pentouch consists of the box for connecting a Windows PC to the Plasma TV, which comes along in the package. It all works on WiFi so there won’t be any messy cables either. It’s geared more towards a business than home user as it essentially turns the TV into a whiteboard, but there are a lot more features than just that. You can also edit Office documents and there are two pens included so that two people can work on the screen at the same time.

There is no exact release date yet, although LG hopes to make it available in the early Spring. There is also no price point as of yet, although with a plasma TV included you probably shouldn’t expect it to be too cheap. You can find out more by visiting LG and by watching the video below.

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

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Trikke A Fun (Electric) Ride

CES 2012, Home, ,

Trikke If you live in the city or suburbs and are looking for a vehicle that you could ride to work and have fun doing it, then you may want to take a look at the Trikke. As the word indicates the Trikke is a three-wheeled electric vehicle. Because it has three wheels it is very stable and easy to ride. You simply turn the throttle and go. You can lean into the curves and the wheels never leave the ground. It folds up so you can easily fit it in the back of a car or carry it into the office. A Trikke weights between 35 and 48 pounds (with battery) depending on the model, so you are probably not going to want to carry it far. You can plug it into any outlet to recharge it. A battery takes about three hours to fully recharge. On a fully charged battery a Trikke will go from 10 to 24 miles depending on model and weight of the rider. You can reach speeds up to 17 miles per hour.

Trikkes are available in different colors and models and the prices range from $1300 to $2200 depending on the model. If you are a skier a Trikke would be a great way to keep in shape for the skiing season. You use the same muscle and movements on a Trikke that you do for skiing and it is low impact. Easier to ride than a bike and a lot better on the bottom.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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