Tag Archives: CES

The Kit by Livio Radio

CES 2012, Mobile,

Livio Radio

I have a 1998 Nissan Sentra it has an Am-FM radio and a cassette deck, which is how I connect my iPhone to listen to music. It works for that purpose, however I can’t legally make or take calls while I am driving. The car runs great so I am not in the market for a new car, however I would love to be able to make hands free calls in my car. The The Kit by Livio Radio was made for someone like me. It was shown at CES 2012. The Kit will work with any car that has an FM radio and a 12 volt adaptor. The device plugs into the 12 volt adapter and then works with your iPhone or iPod Touch through Bluetooth. With the Kit by Livio Radio you to make hands free calls with the integrated microphone. You can voice dial anyone in your iPhone address book. It also allows you to stream music from your favorite music application including iTunes through the award-winning car Internet application. The Kit is around $119.99 and is available through the Livio website

If you have an older model car and are looking to get connected, the Kit by Livio Radio maybe your answer if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch. It runs around $119.99 and is available through the Livio Raido website.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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Biscotti TV Phone with Google Video Chat

CES 2012, TVs, ,

Biscotti LogoBiscotti‘s TV phone is a small camera unit that sits on top of your big screen TV, connecting to the TV via HDMI and to the network via WiFi. Once connected up, owners can make high-definition video calls to other Biscotti owners and Google Video Chat users. And you will not believe how small the camera unit is. Todd chats to Matthew Shoemake to learn more.

The TV Phone uses an HDMI pass-through technology, meaning that there’s no need to change channels when receiving a call as the Biscotti notifies users via a pop-up message on screen. By using Google Video Chat, the Biscotti TV Phone can connect to any device that has a Chat client, whether it’s Android, iPhone or a PC. Connectivity with other video clients will be forthcoming, but no details just yet.

The Biscotti TV Phone is for $199 and no monthly fees. Watch the video to get free shipping (disclaimer – not sure how long this promotion will run after CES finishes.)

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

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Kingston HyperX SSD

CES 2012, Computers, ,

Kingston is known for their memory, but now they are branching out into the world of hard drives and, more specifically, solid state hard drives, or SSD’s as they are commonly referred to. The HyperX is the top of the Kingston line when it comes to this technology. The SSD is a much-hyped technology that has remained a dream for most consumers because of their price-point, but they are starting to come down into the realm of the affordable, although still top-end, drives. The SSD provides much faster speed than the traditional HDD, plus they are much smaller in size, which is driving the new Ultrabook craze, which was also capturing the media at this year’s CES.

The new HyperX comes with an external drive bay that you can plug into your computer and software to clone you current drive to get you started without any down time. The new Kingston drive may still be out of reach for the average user, but that’s okay, because they know it’s for the enthusiast, who knows how to get inside a PC and change out hardware, clone drives, and use all of the hardware and tools that come along with a project such as this.

Currently for the 120 GB version seen in the video below the price is coming in at a little over $200. To find out more be sure to check out the video and visit Kingston.

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

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eFun Brings the APen Stylus to the iPad

Accessories, CES 2012,

apen logoThe iPad was purposely designed to be used without a stylus, but that doesn’t stop some users from wanting one. It’s especially handy for things like editing a document, writing notes, or for drawing apps. Now eFun has introduced one especially made for the iPad. The new stylus comes with a lot of options as well. You can not only write, draw, and edit, but you can do so in multiple colors and line weights.

The stylus, which debuted last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is available now for $99 from APenUSA. To see this cool new iPad pen in action you can check out the video posted below of a live demo from the CES show floor.

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

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my-Ditto Key

CES 2012, Gadgets,

my-Ditto Key Do you put data on a USB stick and then do you tend to lose that USB stick? Do your kids store their homework on a USB stick and then lose it? I sure for most people the answer is yes to all of the above. Let’s face it we’ve all done it; we’ve put data on a USB stick that we want to bring with us, then we put it down somewhere or leave it behind. That use to mean that not only was the USB stick was gone but all the data on it. No longer now the information on the USB stick can also be in the cloud.

That is the idea behind my-Ditto Key. You register your my-Ditto Key with my-Ditto and then all the information on the key is copied to the cloud. Now if you lose your my-Ditto Key USB stick or leave it behind you still have access to your data anywhere in the world. You can store up to 100 GB of space in the cloud. It doesn’t matter what type of data it is it can be music, videos, documents it’s up to you. Simple and easy to use, but effective that is what my-Ditto key is all about.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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Zagg Sparq Portable Power

Accessories, CES 2012,

Zagg LogoZagg’s protective films are popular “first purchases” for new smartphone owners and but Zagg offer other products in the mobile working space. Todd chats to Nate from Zagg to about the Zagg Sparq, a portable rechargeable battery pack.

The Sparq is mains charged, with two front-facing USB ports to recharge any portable device with a USB-type connector. The internal battery has sufficient capacity to recharge four times the average smartphone. Perfect for when you’re on the road.

Available now for $99.99 from Zagg online with free shipping.

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

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Intouch Remote Health Monitoring

CES 2012, Health,

Intouch Health InTouch Health along with Verizon had developed the RP Express and the RP 7 Mobile Robot and other similar devices to allow doctors to access their patients from remote locations. The RP Express is a mobile device for an individual to carry in the field. The RP 7 Mobile Robot is made for hospitals or other medical facilities. Both devices allow you to plug in medical instruments including EKGs, Ultrasound equipment and other devices directly into the machine allowing doctors to take and read vital signs from anywhere in the world. The video and audio are in real time and work over the Verizon 4G network, or wifi. (I am not sure what happens if the 4G or wifi networks are not available, hopefully there is a solution to that problem.) The doctor can control the RP 7 Mobile Robot and the RP Express from any computer that has the control station installed on it. The RP 7 robot allows for 178 degree field of view.

These devices are FDA cleared for connection to diagnostic medical devices on wifi. They are still going through the approval process for the 4G version. They hope to have those versions available for hospitals later this year. It is nice to know that now people in remote areas have a way to get access to the medical care, including the specialist that they need.

Interviewed by Jamie Davis of and the Tech Podcast Network

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G Form Extreme Gadget Protection -100k Drop test

Accessories, CES 2012,

G-Form Logo

G-Form is best know for its protective gear for high adrenaline sports but using this know-how, it’s protecting something much more precious – your expensive tablet with its Extreme range of cases. If you think this is gimmick, these guys dropped an iPad in an Extreme Portfolio from a weather balloon at 100,000+ feet….and it survived.

Todd talks to Rick Garrard to find out more about the high altitude drop and gets a demonstration of what happens when an 8 lb bowling ball lands on a packet of chocolate M&Ms covered with G-Form’s Extreme protection. Mmm, chocolate.

The Extreme cases and sleeves are from $34.95 upwards for the iPad and Kindle Fire (or 10″ and 7″ tablets).

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

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Zagg HZO – Waterproofing for Electronics

CES 2012, Mobile,

Zagg Logo

Zagg’s protective films are popular “first purchases” for new smartphone owners and at CES 2012, Zagg shows off their latest protection mechanism. Todd chats to Bill from Zagg to find out what it protects against.

The adage is that water and electricity don’t mix, and by extension, water and mobile devices don’t mix well either. Zagg hopes to change that with a new nanotech-based coating, HZO, that repels water so effectively that a dunk in the drink will have no effect on the device.

The HZO coating is applied during the manufacturing process so that every component is properly treated and waterproofed. There’s no physical skin or cover as the water-repellency is at the molecular level. Almost any device can be waterproofed – smartphones, tablets, MP3 players, headphones, but it has to be done during manufacture, not by the end-user.

Zagg is currently in negotiation with major OEMs so expect water-repellent devices to hit the market in 12-18 months and if you want to see an iPhone working underwater, then watch the video.

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

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Basis Wearable Health Monitoring

CES 2012, Health,

Todd talked to Jeff from Basis at the digital experience event at CES 2012 about their new product for health monitoring.

Basis is coming this spring with a wrist wearable health monitoring system to help you keep track of your overall activity level. Different from the heart monitors you would wear for working out, this new system will track your heart rate, temperature, perspiration, sleep and activity level as you go about your daily life. It will take that information and upload it to Basis’ cloud service and give you all the data along with some recommendations of things you need to do to get into better overall health.

The device and service will be available in early 2012 for $199. This includes a lifetime membership to the cloud service.

For more information, go to www.mybasis.com

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