Beatpower Speakers

CES 2013, Home

Beat-Power If you start looking for portable speakers for your iPhone or iPod you quickly notice that most companies have a one-size fits all policy. Fortunately there is a company that thinks differently, beatpower. beatpower policy is to create speakers for different types of people. They have a category of speakers that are made for people who are more fashion conscious. Another category for those who like things to look more traditional. A third category for those who want their speakers to have the same design quality as their iPad or iPod and a fourth category for the audiophile. All speakers no matter what the category are bluetooth enabled and most have a microphone installed.

The final category that was shown was the beatbox which is a hi-fi system for the home. The beatbox is covered with hand-stitch leather in various colors. It has optical wireless and bluetooth capability. It also has two USB charging ports which you can use to charge your iPhone or iPod. The Beat Block comes with a remote control that allows you to control the treble and bass that is coming out of your iPhone or iPod.

You can take a look at the various speakers available at the beatpower website. The prices for the various speakers will run from $29.99 up to $199.00. For more information about availability you can send an email to sales@beat-power.com. They are also working on an e-shop, which should be coming soon.

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

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Cell Buckle

Accessories, CES 2013, Gadgets, Mobile

Cell Buckle My husband and I share a car and he frowns on having anything on the dashboard including a phone holder, so I end up with the phone on the seat next to me. This is bad for many reasons, including safety. I am always on the look out for something that I can attach and remove easily, Cell Buckle shown in this video looks like a possibility.

The Cell Buckle can hold anything from the size of a lighter up to something 3 inches across. You simply clip the device into the buckle and then the other end on to the object you want the device to be on. You can get a Cell Buckle to use in a car, motorcycle, bicycle stroller, golf cart, ATV, boat or even a riding lawn mower.

The Cell Buckle is $19.95 and is available on the Cell Buckle website. It has a lifetime guarantee.

Interview by Don Baine, the Gadget Professor.

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NeroKwik: All Your Devices Photos Together

Accessories, CES 2013, Gadgets, Mobile

NeroKwikNeroKwik is a way to organize and share your pictures between your various devices and online services. It will work on no matter which platform each device is on. The photos show up as a tapestry. You can set it to a random view, a social view or a view by rating. If you rate your photos then in the rating view the higher the rating the bigger the photo will appear. You can also connect your Facebook account.and the more a photo is liked on Facebook the larger it will appear in the social tapestry. You can easily create a tapestry and share that tapestry with friends and then automatically see which ones they favorite. Those they favor will appear larger.

The app is available in the Google Play Store and should be available soon in iTunes and on the . Two devices and as many online services that NeroKwik supports is free. They are releasing a premium version later in the year. If you have more than two devices the cost will be $2–4 a month plus you will be able to connect to the pictures on your computer and add videos. NeroKwik does not store your pictures. The pictures stay on the original device and are just shared to the other devices.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network, and Daniel J Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast

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The MirrorCase

Accessories, CES 2013, Mobile

MirrorCase The MirrorCase by RHP Multimedia was originally designed for the iPhone 4 and 4s, however it was a little too bulky for some users. The new design for the iPhone 5 and iPad is much sleeker. The mirror can be pivoted. It can work either when the iPad or iPhone is in landscape or portrait mode. The mirror slides back into the case when you’re done and you can then use the camera as you would normally.

If you take a lot of pictures or videos with your iPhone or iPad you know that it can get quite awkward after a while. The MirrorCase allows you to hold your iPhone or iPad in a more natural position while taking pictures or videos. You can save everything directly to the iPhone or iPad camera roll. You can set different resolutions to save storage space. There is a built-in acoustic port which directs the sound back toward the user. There is also a built-in stand which you can adjust to various heights. The mirror itself is a second surface mirror with a piece of glass on top to prevent the mirror from being scratched. When you take a picture using the mirror there is no distortion added to the photo by the mirror. The basic app on the iPhone and iPad are free. The plus app which is available for $00.99 adds sharing features and in app access to the camera roll.

The iPad version is $79.95, the iPhone 5 version is $59.95 and the original case for the iPhone 4 and 4s is $49.95. The original case for the iPhone 4 and 4s is available now on the MirrorCase website and the iPhone 5 and iPad cases are available for pre-order and should be release around the end of the 1st quarter.

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

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MultiCharger-X by iLuv

Accessories, CES 2013

iLuvMultiCharger-X by iLuv can charge and sync up to ten iPads in at once. You can stack one MultiCharger-X on top of another. You can daisy chain up to three MultiCharger-X in a row so you can sync up to thirty iPads with one MacBook. The box has a locking feature so you can lock the iPads up to keep them secure overnight. You have the option of putting casters on the bottom so you could roll it across the floor or you can also lock it to the floor. Each slot charges independently so you don’t need to fill all slots for it to work. There is an individual LED light to indicate charging level of each slot. You can go from charging to syncing with the touch of a button.

This type of device would be great for businesses where a lot of the employees use iPads. For example if you have a sales force and you want them to all to use the same PowerPoint presentation you could easily sync that presentation to multiply iPads from one Mac. Employees who use iPads for work could place them in a slot when they leave. The iPads then could be synced and charged over night so they would be ready for them in the morning

The MultiCharger X will be available around May-June and will cost $799. It should be available at various retail stores and on the iLuv website.

Interview by Don Baine, the Gadget Professor.

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The Ford Developer Program

CES 2013, Home, Mobile

Developer Program Ford Motor Company opened up their app program to all developers at CES 2013 The new platform is called Uplink it is a suite of technology that works with Connect to Sync. This program has gone through two years of beta testing using such apps as Pandora however now it is open to all developers. It should be opened to North America, Europe and China by the end of the year. Ford has hired people from the mobile industries work previously done some development so they are ready for the volume. They’ve have told developers there are certain categories they will not permit including games videos anything with a lot of texts involved. Ford has developed a multiple number of test that the developer’s app must pass before it is even submitted. These standards are available at the Ford Developer Program website. Ford would like developers to concentrate on using voice commands or if that’s not available quick touch. Right now Ford is concentrating on the driver and they want to make sure that the apps are distraction free.

Developers can work on either the iOS platform or the Android platform. The IOS platform works with the Xcode package in Objective C. The Android platform uses the Eclipse package in . Is it a Json library with an API call. The head unit software accepts and manage the information. The head unit software is being open to the industry. Ford is trying to work with competitors so that developers don’t have to develop a different package for each car company.

The apps once developed or tweaked for the environment will be available directly through iTunes and the Google Play Store. Ford is also continuing to work on opening up their diagnostic platform or OpenXC Platform to produce more data for research. If you are developer and interested in developing for the Ford platform you can find more information at the Ford developer website.

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

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The Neat Digital Filing System

CES 2013, Home

Neat The Neat digital filing system helps you organize your receipts and documents. It is a full system including both software and a hardware scanner. There are a number of ways you can get the information into the Neat system. You can scan the information in. You can email digital receipts using your Neat email address. You can use the Neat app on your iPhone or android phone and take a picture of the receipt and upload it to the Neat Cloud. If you want you can send a box of receipts to Neat and they will process them for you. The Neat system allows you to categorize and organize the information for tax purposes. It is fully searchable and with extended search it will also search such apps as Evernote and Dropbox. You can export the information and save it to PDF and you can also share the information.

The Neat mobile scanner is $199.95 and the desktop scanner is $399.95. There is a monthly fee for the service which starts at $5.99 for the basic service. If you are trying to go paperless and get organizer Neat maybe exactly what you need.

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

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EnerGenie Saving Money and Energy

CES 2013, Home

Power EnerGenie makes products that helps you keep track of how much electricity you are using in your home and ways to control that usage. The basic product is a socket that plugs into the wall. You can then control any device that is plugged into it by your iPad or iPhone; turning the device on or off, setting a timer for either reoccurring or single phase. It can measures how much electricity is being used by individual devices. You can use it to do a cost relationship analysis. You can also compare how much is being used in the daytime and nighttime.

They also sell a Power Management System which you can set up either via USB or wirelessly. You can program it so each plug turns off and on different times. You can also group plugs together, so for example when you turn on your TV, your blu-ray player would come on. They are also going to be selling a portable charger which handles up to 40,000 mAh. The charger will be available at the end of Q2 for $250.00. The socket and power management systems are $50.00 and $150 respectively and are available now through Amazon and the Energenie website.

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

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Tinké by Zensorium

CES 2013, Health

TinkéTinké by Zensorium measures heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen level and heart rate variability. It compiles the heart rate, respiratory rate and blood oxygen level information into a score know as the Vita Index. The Zen index uses the heart rate variability to quantify your stress level. It is a small device, 1.65 long inches by 1.26 wide by .0275 deep which fits easily into a pocket or purse. It works by plugging it into the iPhone and then placing your thumb on the device for 30 seconds. The iPhone powers it and so there is no need for batteries.

The device is $119 and comes in a variety of colors.The Tinké is available through the Zensorium website. They are looking for distribution partners. The app is free and available in the iTunes store. You can share your results thru the Tinké network or other social networks. Within the Tinké network you add friends and post comments on their scores. You also have the option to keep your information private.

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

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AfterShokz Bone Conductivity Headphones

Accessories, CES 2013

Aftershokz Aftershokz showed off their new headphones with up to 21 total improvements from the previous version. What makes these headphones different from most headphones is the use of bone conductivity. Bone conductivity was developed for the military and police, because they don’t go into the ear they allow you to be situational aware. You can wear them outdoors for such sports as running or walking and still hear what’s going on around you. Among some of the improvements that were made include sound quality, they fit better, are better looking and are sweat proof. They are 30% smaller and lighter than the previous version and they also included a reflective safety strip on the back. They fit most heads but for those with smaller heads there is a tension band included. Fully charged there is about 6 to 8 hours of playing time. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to do a full charge. You can control everything from the headset including volume, play, take calls and fast-forward and rewind.

There is a two-year no question asked warranty. The newest model is a wireless Bluetooth version which has an MSRP of $119 but should retail around $99.95. The wired version runs around $79.95 retail. The Aftershokz headphones won Design and Engineering Showcase Honors for innovation at CES 2013. You can purchase AfterShokz headphones at their websites and various online and off-line retail locations.

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

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