MWE Lab has taken all of the elements of an office and compressed them down into one ergonomic object.  MWE stands for Modern Work Environment and they spent about three years designing the Emperor 1510 to make it a place that, according to their spokesperson, a worker can spend 10-12 hours without feeling any fatigue.  That’s a strong statement, so what do they have that makes this so special?

It starts with contoured chair that works like a futuristic recliner with buttons to control it’s angle and tilt.  There is a tray around in front of the user and hold the keyboard and control buttons.  There are three LCD screens arrayed in front of you that can also be angled to whatever the user’s preference is.  Buttons on the arm of the chair also control the volume and pretty much everything else.  There is even a drink holder for that finishing touch.

You can see a demo from MWE Lab rep Gianni in the video below.  The Emperor 1510 is available now for U.S. $6,200.  You can order directly from their web site, but they are hoping have U.S. distributors in place soon.

Interview by Jon Wurm of F5 Live.

One of the things that make Hollywood movies fun are the great special effects. Soon with the help of Cinefy by Chairseven you will be able to add branded special effects to the home movies you make on your iPhone, iPad and Android device. Right now there are over 50 effects packages with 120 animations. Everything from robots to dinosaurs to fairies to war scenes, just to name a few. So now can you make that great robots take over the world movie you have always wanted to. Not only do you get some great effects, but you also get access to the Friendly Music catalog and over 500,000 copyright cleared songs. Friendly Music scores music for shows like Entourage.

Once the app is downloaded you can choose the effects packages you want to download. You can download them over 3G, but WiFi is recommended. All downloaded packages are available to you no matter where you are. The Friendly Music catalog is only available when you are connected to the Internet. You can add any music that is already on your device to a Cinefy Video. The app itself will be $2.99. The effect packs will vary in price and size, at the time of release they hope to have at least 30 effect packages for free with over 70 animations. Cinefy has been in development for over a year and Chairseven is looking to launch it on iOs in 4-6 weeks and on Android in 6-8 months. Chairseven is looking into a desktop version, but they want to have the mobile version up and going before starting on it. They are in the process of signing agreements with various media companies to have access to their special effects packages. At CES 2012 they signed an agreement with MTV to have access to Death Valley Zombies. Cinefy was also a Mobile App Showdown Finalist at CES 2012.  I can’t wait until this app becomes available, I am looking forward to all the great YouTube videos that people make with these special effects.

Interview by Andy McCaskey and Courtney Wallin of SDRNews for the TechPodcast Network.

California Audio Technology, known as CAT, work with third-party hardware vendors in the home theater field to produce some of the best sound quality available.  They were recently at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas showing off their latest top-of-the-line 2 channel audio speakers.  These aren’t speakers for the feint of heart.  Each tower weighs in at 120 pounds.

CAT makes more than simple tower speakers though, they precision-make each speaker and can design them for almost any installation, including hidden in-wall speakers.  Their custom-made speakers can be found anywhere from homes, to music studios, to mega yachts.  All of that massive weight comes in handy to prevent any speaker vibration, which is a common issue in cheap speakers.

To really understand everything that goes into these speakers you will really need to watch the video below for an in-depth explanation of how they are milled and how they work.  You can visit them at their web site.  CAT speakers are on the market now, but if you have to ask the price….well, you know how that saying ends.

Interview by Nick DiMeo of F5 Live.

One time there was a very popular comic strip in the 1930 of a detective known as Dick Tracy, one of the coolest gadgets that Dick Tracy had was a watch that was also a phone. Now over eighty years later the Dick Tracy watch has become a reality in the Burg line of watches.

The Burg Watches come in a sports and a children models. The basic Burg Watch will just make phone calls and do SMS messages. With the high end models you can make phone calls, send SMS messages, play music, take pictures and organize your data. It has 3.2 mb of memory and a USB connection. You can also record calls, and view images. The background can be changed to any photo you have on file on the watch. They do not connect to social networks, such as Twitter or Facebook at this time, but the company hopes the new models coming out in April will. You change from a regular watch to a phone by turning the dial. To access the menu on the higher end watches you simply push a button on the side of the watch. To get access to a specific section of a menu you simply tap on that section. These are stand alone phones and can be used with a Bluetooth headset.

I didn’t see any price I the Web site but there was one model available on Amazon for a little over $60.00. These would be great for a someone like a child who needs to have a phone with them, but is constantly losing theirs. The watches also have GPS in them so you can keep track of them easily.

Interviewed by Allante Sparks Host of F5 Live

Do your headphones get tangled up in your pocket or purse?  Are you frustrated by having to spend time untangling them everytime you go to use them?  Then you may want to take a look at Zipbuds. Zipbuds are headphones where the cords zips up like a zipper and so the two cords become one and doesn’t get tangled up. Zipbuds come in two styles in ear and over the ear. The over the ear style has two models a lower end model and a higher end one. The lower end model comes in five colors and the higher end model comes in three colors. The earbuds come in eight different colors. They are made of PET plastic and aluminium and are environmentally friendly. They are available thru the Zipbud Web site and Amazon starting at $20.00. They have gotten great reviews on Amazon as far as how they sound and work. So if you are in the market for headphones that don’t get all tangled up you may want to take a look at some Zipbuds.

Interview by Courtney Wallin of SDRNews for the TechPodcast Network.

We all like to get prizes, especially if we don’t have to do much. That is the concept behind Prize Monkey. Prize Monkey was being shown off at CES 2012, when Nick Dimeo, host of F5 Live stopped by to find out what it was all about.

Prize Monkey is a kiosk, but instead of working like a normal kiosk, it interacts with your phone. A monkey ask if you want to play, if you answer yes then it sends a message to your phone. Hit the right answer and the Prize Monkey kiosk produces a prize. There is no application to download or install. Each monkey acts a little differently and can be programmed for a specific demographic. It is being marketed toward social campaigns, promotional campaigns, loyalty programs, product sampling and more. Managers can build the campaign they want based on the demographic they are going for with the dynamic campaign tool provided. It has in-depth metrics and analytic tools built right in. Prize Monkey is an example of a product that is shown at CES that is being marketed toward businesses and not directly toward consumers.

I am curious to know if anyone has seen or used a Prize Monkey Kiosk? How well did it work, was it fun to use? If you are a business or social group who installed a Prize Monkey kiosk did it work for your business?

Interviewed by Nick Dimeo, Host of [F5 Live]((http://www.plughitzlive.com/radio/1-f5-live-refreshing-technology.html)

Pioneer is probably most famous for A/V receivers and car stereos.  At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show they talked primarily about their new line of car audio devices.  It consists of in-dash CD players, DVD players and even navigation systems.  All are what Pioneer refers to as “connected devices”.  There are even in-dash devices with capacitive touch-screens.

The new devices can replicate your phone’s interface, or reasonably so, allowing you to control the stereo from the touch interface in your dashboard.  The stereo will use your mobile handset’s connection to access services like Pandora and others.  In addition the new devices can use apps like those that help you find parking spaces or even navigate.

The new line of Pioneer in-dash stereos will also work with Android,  in addition to the previous support for iOS.  There’s a  lot more to these stereos than just what I have touched on here, but you will have to watch the video below.  You can also visit the Pioneer website.

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDR News.

Jeremy from Vox International, representing Acoustic Research, dropped by the TPN studio at the Consumer Electronics Show to talk a little bit about the new AirPlay Wireless Audio System that they introduced at the show.  As the name implies, the system is based on iTunes and it allows you to free your iTunes library from you computer or mobile device and stream the audio anywhere in your house.

While there are a number of AirPlay devices on the market, Acoustic Research hopes to separate themselves from the group by, not only their famous name, but also with quality and pricing.  Users will be able to tether multiple players together so that they can have them in separate rooms, creating a whole-house audio system.

The box has 10w x 2 for audio power and will be available this April for $129.99.  You can learn more from Acoustic Research.

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

I’m Watch is the worlds first smart phone on your wrist. It tethers to your smart phone by Bluetooth. Now almost everything you do on your smartphone you can do on your wrist. No need to mess around in your purse or briefcase looking for your phone when you get a call. Simply tap on your watch and start to talk. The I’m Watch is based on Android 1.6, it has 128 mb of ram and 4 GBs  of memory.

With normal use it will last about 8 hours. You can fit three applications on the main screen and you get to choose which ones. To get to the other applications you simply swipe to go into the library. Right now the applications available for the watch include; phone, address book, notifications, weather forecast, i’music, i’mage, appointments, multitasking, i’moticons, i’m Tweet and news just to name a few. There is a headphone and microphone jack on the side and also built-in speakers. The SDK has been released to developers so anyone can create an application for the I’m Watch. If you are a developer and are interested you can go to their developer Web site. It has a 1.54 inch display with 240×240 pixel resolution.

The watch comes in [three models starting at $49.00] six models starting at $329.00.  They are currently taking preorders and the watches should ship in about a month. They hope to have them in retail stores within the year. I’m Watch was an Innovation Winner at CES this year. It looks like a stylish watch and a cool concept, can’t wait to see how they work in the real world.

Interview by Courtney Wallin of SDRNews for the TechPodcast Network.

Have you ever forgotten a charger at a hotel or coffee shop, my bet is you have at least once in your life. Buying new chargers can get expensive if you do it enough. There is not only the expense to you as an individual but also to the businesses who have to dispose of the chargers and to the environment. Most chargers will continue to draw power even if nothing is plugged into them, this is known as vampire power, which is an additional cost.

Perch has developed a product that will help solve this problem. It is called the Perch Alarm. The Perch alarm is simple to use, you simply plug the charger into the Perch Alarm and then both into the outlet. Connect your device and you are charging as normal. When you are ready to leave if you try to disconnect the device and leave the charger behind, you will hear a chirping sound reminding you to take the charger with you. There is a home mode so you can turn the alarm off. Perch was a semifinalist of the Last Gadget Standing Award at CES 2012. They hope to release the product within 60 days and will be $9.95 one-third the cost of a replacement charger which cost around $29.95.

I really like the concept behind this product, but I do see a couple of problems with it. One of the problems with this devices is it another thing for people to carry and people complain enough already about the stuff they have to carry with them. Another problem is its size, it is actually fairly large, hopefully they can get it down to a smaller size, so it doesn’t take as much room up. Despite these complaints, I think the Perch Alarm is a great idea.

Interview by Courtney Wallin of SDRNews for the TechPodcast Network.

You are on the road and you need to scan a document, your options are limited you could go to the local Staples or office store and get them to scan the document, or borrow the scanner of the business you are visiting. Neither are very convenient and the first option can get expensive. Hovercam to the rescue.

Hovercam has produced a line of cameras with CMOS technology built-in. The Hovercam cameras are shaped like telescopes and fold down to the point they can fit into a briefcase or in the case of the HoverCam T3 Document a large pocket. The HoverCam T3 Document Camera, is the smallest version and is made to scan 8×10 documents. It has a 3 megapixel camera with a 200 dpi scanner. It folds down to the size of a large pen. For larger 11×14 documents the Hovercam T5 Scanner and Document Camera is available. It has a 5 megapixel camera and folds down to only 12 inches tall. They even have a model made for the visually impaired the Hovercam T5-V. The included software has automatic gesture recognition, so when you turn a page it will automatically take a new picture. This is great for scanning books or magazine. If you do a lot of scanning and want something better, take a look at Hovercam.

Interview by Andy McCaskey and Courtney Wallin of SDRNews for the TechPodcast Network.

Most people like to listen to music while exercising. The first thing you learn when you start exercising is that your ears sweat and most headphones don’t stay in sweaty ears. There is nothing more frustrating than having your ear buds constantly falling out, while exercising.

The company Yurbuds understands this frustration, they are athletes who make products for athletes. Their newest product is the Yurbuds Ironman Series. The Ironman Series Yurbuds are ear buds specifically designed for the athlete who carries an iPhone or iPod Touch. There is a three button control on the center Y which allows you move forward and backward through tracks, control the volume, and answer calls. On the other side of the Y is the microphone. What really makes the Yurbuds special are their proprietary twist and lock technology. Place the ear buds in your ear twist and lock them in place. Now no matter how much you sweat or it rains they will not come out. They are made of a medical grade silicon, so once they are locked into the ear they are very comfortable. They have a great sound quality, the speakers in the ear buds are tuned with the drivers and sound tunnel. The speakers in the ear buds are protected by their ergonomic design. You can remove the silicon cover and clean them with a little soap and water.

There is a life time guarantee on the product for damage done by sweat or rain. The Ironman Inspired earbuds cost $59.99 and are available through the Web site and various retailers including Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Apple and Target. Whether you are a world-class triathlete or a weekend runner Yurbuds were made for you.

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

Contour came by the TPN.TV booth at CES this year and showed some great action sports cameras; the Contour Roam, the Contour GPS and the Contour Plus. Theses cameras are great for filming while hiking, snow boarding, biking, skiing and other action sports. They all use a micro sd card up to 32 Gb. You can get up to eight hours of video at 1080p and up to twelve hours at 780p. They all take removable lithium batteries which run for about three hours of video taping . They also adjust the white balance and the exposure to create crisp clear videos. These cameras are waterproof up to 1 meter. With the water proof case you can go down to 60 meters, great for scuba diving or snorkeling. All three cameras can connect by USB cable. Both the Contour Roam and the Contour GPS have an internal microphone only.

The Contour Plus includes the internal microphone but it also has a mic cable out jack, this along with the ability to connect a HDMI cable adds live streaming capability. Now you can live stream your adventures directly to Ustream using the Cerevo Live Shell. Now instead of telling other people about your adventures, they can watch them as they are happening. You can control the camera on the Contour GPS and Contour Plus thru the Contour Mobile App on the iPhone or an Android phone The Contour GPS and the Contour Plus both have GPS included so now you can map your adventures. The Contour Roam at $199 is the newest phone and should be available soon. The Contour GPS and the Contour Plus are available now and are $299 and $499 respectively. Not only does Contour offer great action cameras but they also have some great mounts, including ones that allow you to mount camera directly to your helmet, pole, roll bar, surfboard and many other objects. So if you are into adventure sports and filming, Contour has everything you need and want.

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

We all want to listen to music while we are in the kitchen or bathroom, but for most of us counter space is at a premium. Sharper image has a solution for this problem. At CES 2012 Steve Lee of Netcast Studio spoke with Don of Sharper Image about their newest product the connected wireless speaker. It takes up very little space and is designed specifically for the kitchen or bath. You can either plug it into any AC outlet or it also works through the installed lithium batteries. There is between 3-4 hours of playback time on a fully charged battery. Once it is plugged in or started it will connect wirelessly to your Bluetooth enabled device including a smart phone or tablet. You can also take a call directly from the device with its built in microphone. It should be available in May or June for about $49.99 online at the Sharper image Web site or through various retailers. This should be a great product for the kitchen or bath.

Interview by Steve Lee of Netcast Studio

For a long time now cyclists, at least serious ones, have mounted mini computers on their handlebars.  The devices provide information on time, distance, average speed, and even elevation and temperature.  Now iBike is bringing us the ability to do all of this with our iPhone and eliminate that second device.

The iBike Powerhouse provides a weather-proof case for your iPhone that can be easily mounted on your bike’s handlebars and the accompanying app provides all of the data you are used to getting from a traditional cycling computer plus a whole lot of additional information such as a heart rate monitor, training plans, and more.

The product and app are the creation of real cyclists and coaches, so the information provided by the app is what even professional riders want and need to know.  Check out the interview below with the iBike representative, who has a side job coaching Olympic and professional riders, to get more information on the iBike Powerhouse, along with pricing and availability.  You can also visit iBikeSports to check everything out.

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

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

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](http://www.geeknewscentral.com ) and Don Baine The Gadget Professor of Geek News Central

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

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

   The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”- 4th Amendment, Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution

What would you say if your state decided that your ISP had to keep records of all the Web sites you went too? That they had to keep records of both Internet protocol address and domain names of all sites that you visited and they had to keep them for a minimum of two years. That is what is being proposed in the Hawaiian State Legislation under H.B. 2288, which states that Internet destination history information and the subscriber’s information, such as name and address must be saved for no less than two years. I know what some of you are saying I don’t care if the government knows what Web sites I visit I have nothing to hide, or if you aren’t doing anything wrong what’s the problem.

Do you currently belong to any political or social organization like the Tea Party  and do you visit supporting Web sites a lot.  How would you feel if the government started investigating the Tea Party and started looking for information on its members. Now how do you feel about the legislation. Let’s take this to the real world, what if the government required the local retail stores to keep a record of every book you bought, every magazine article you read, the talk radio you listen too, the clubs you joined, the people you associated with, now how do you feel. If you are like me you are saying to yourself that’s none of the government business, well this legislation does exactly that only in the virtual world.

Rep. John Mizuno of Oahu is a lead sponsor of the bill and a similar bill is being introduced in the Hawaii Senate. The bills are being introduced at the behest of Representative Kimberly Marcos Pine, who is in the middle of a dispute with a web designer Eric Ryan, who launched KymPineLsACrook.com and who says she owes him money. Her email was also hacked last summer, at the same time an article was written in the Hawaii Reporter about the dispute.  Because of these incidents Rep Pine has advocated tougher cyber laws. Those who support the legislation say that this type of law is necessary to “to protect people of Hawaii from these attacks and give prosecutors the tools to ensure justice is served for victims.” Unfortunately for the supporters of this bill, that is not how the law works in the United States, you can’t gather information on a large group of people in hopes that you may capture a few bad apples.

If the constitutionality of the bill is not enough there is also the question of what the Internet Provider can do with the information while they hold it. The bill says nothing about how the data should be stored or if it needs to be encrypted. There is no prohibition against the Internet Companies selling the information to anyone including advertiser or insurance agencies. So if you don’t care about the government having the information, how about your insurance company. The police aren’t even required to get a court order to view the information of anyone who uses a computer in Hawaii. This legislation would not only apply to Hawaiian residents but it would also apply to the 6 million tourist who visit the state each year. Which mean coffee shops, hotels, bookstore or anyone else with a public wi-fi would have sweeping requirements and cost put upon them.

We all want the bad guy to be caught and stopped, but not if it means giving up our rights and freedoms. Although SOPA and PIPA were stopped last week in the U.S. Congress, the fight over our rights and freedoms on the Internet is on going, it has simply moved to state legislation, we all need to remain vigilant.

Welcome to The Gadget Professor’s podcast, Show #42 hosted by Don Baine.

TELIKIN Computer-Telikin is a simple and easy to use family computer that combines video chat, photo sharing, email and many more popular features into a sleek, touchscreen device.

It’s fun for young and the young at heart and easy to use for seniors, the elderly and their families. All the features you want, just easier to use. The stress and hassle of setting up a traditional PC is a thing of the past. Telikin comes with its software fully installed and ready to go out of the box! Just connect Telikin to your high-speed Internet provider and enjoy the experience !Face to face video chat is an exciting experience with Telikin. With three simple clicks, you can be talking face to face with a loved one or friend! Now Grandma can easily see and hear her grandchildren, whether they live across town or across the world!

Be sure to take advantage of The Gadget Professors preferred price – To purchase the Telikin Computer Click Here and use the code PROF when checking out. You must use this link to qualify for The Gadget Professor discount. Your price for the 18″ system will be $649.00 the best price around. SHIPPING IS FREE! Sit back and relax while you watch The Gadget Professor.

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The fast pace of modern Western life doesn’t lend itself to a healthy lifestyle and many of us struggle to keep on top of the weight and exercise regularly, including myself. Careverge can help as a one-stop health and well-being site that brings together fitness, health and support in one place. Careverge’s Henry de Phillips talks to Jamie Davies of the MedicCast and the Nursing Show about what the site can offer.

Careverge’s approach is to create a social networking environment to encourage good health behaviours rather than to simply sell a product or a plan. The site brings networking, gaming and recommendations together so that within only a few moments of starting to use the site, the individual is given personalised suggestions on reading and possible activities. The focus of Careverge is to encourage people to health through fun while providing quality health information and support to reach their goals.

Careverge is free to use for consumers.

Interview by Jamie Davies of the MedicCast and the Nursing Show.

We talked to Robert at the Mercedes-Benz booth at CES 2012 about Mercedes-Benz’s new Mbrace2 technology. Mbrace2 is Mercedes-Benz’s newest generation of connected car technology. It is fully loaded with Mercedes-Benz apps which are customized versions of popular apps including Google Local Search, Yelp, Morningstar Finance, news and others.

Safety of both the driver and those around them is very important to Mercedes-Benz, so each app is customized for the driving environment. For example on Yelp and Google Local Search data entry is disabled while driving. The driver can only access predetermine search terms such as banks, restaurants, hotel while driving. Moving up and down through choices is done through a knob that sits on the center console of the car. You can call or navigate to a location directly from Mbrace. If you are using the news application while driving it will only show you the headlines and maybe a picture. However there is a one button push to send the full article to an email address.

Everything is controlled through the center panel. All updates will be done through the cloud. As time goes on Mercedes-Benz hopes to integrate more of the GPS technology available in the car with off-board tools that are on phones. Mercedes-Benz hopes to have Mbrace available on all models starting in 2013. There will be a monthly subscription fee but the price has not been determined.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

Right now if you own a SL class from Mercedes-Benz you can access data, make calls and play music on your phone directly thru the mbrace system. However if you have a C class or an GLK series car that option is not available to you.

Mercedes-Benz is currently developing a concept that will allow customers with C class or GLK series owners to be able to integrate their smart phones or iPod Touches directly into their car. Once the device is plugged in the car will take over the info and become the infotainment system. You can then control the smart phone directly from the car, allowing for hands free-calling and access of supported applications on the smart phone through the car interface. All updates will be done through the smart phone so you will always be up to date.

The system they are now developing for the C class and GLK series will allow those customers to get connected at a more reasonable price. They hope to have the system available for C class and GLK series cars by the 3rd quarter of 2013.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

I ran a shoutcast server for a couple of years and it was quite popular, as folks tuned into my show. Now that we have grown with more shows I am now going to run a live stream of the shows 24/7 so you can tune whenever you want if you have missed downloading and episode.

Live 24/7 Streaming Audio

Enjoy!

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

Speakers in your clothes, at first I thought why would anybody want to have speakers in their clothes, but the more I thought about the more I liked the idea. Ok, maybe we should step back for a minute, what are we talking about. We are talking about Electret-electrostatic Flexible Loudspeakers (EFL) from VeriSonik. These are super thin speakers, about the same thinnest as a very thin piece of cardboard only flexible. Unlike regular speaker that have large cones, these speakers create sound by the use of positively charged membranes. They use only 10 percent of the power of normal speakers. The sound isn’t great, it is like the sound you get from a pair of modestly priced headphones, but it’s ok.

VeriSonik sells the speakers to end customers. The end customer comes to VeriSonik and tells them how they want to use the speakers. VeraSonik then integrates the Electret speakers into the end customer’s design. I could see these speakers being placed in many things, including pillows, backpacks, stuffed animals, backs of chairs just to name a few. VeriSonik is based in Taipei, Taiwan and has been around since 2010. Electret-electrostatic Flexible Speakers were developed by Taiwan electrets electronics corporation(TEEC).  Have you ever heard these speakers, what did you think of the sound.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

Do you have that box of papers next to you or maybe across the room, you know the one. It’s the one full of papers you need to shred. You keep telling yourself you need to take care of it, but then somehow it never gets done. You tell yourself you are too busy or you have other things to do, but in reality you don’t do it because you hate having to feed the paper in one at a time.

Swingline to the rescue. Swingline has been making products for offices for over 80 years including shredder, stapler, punches, trimmers and sharpeners. Their latest products in the shredder line are hands free shredders called Stack-and-Shred. There are multiple lines and models both for home and office. These new shredders allow you to place a stack of papers into the shredder and then close the lid and the machine takes over from there. No more having to feed in one paper at a time. The home models are made to take 8×11 inch paper and have a separate feed for envelopes. Other models for business take larger size paper. There is an auto unjamming feature, so the machine will try to clear itself, before asking for help.

These personal shredders are currently available at Office Max, Office Depot and Staples and run between $150.00 to $250 depending on size and models. So now you have no more excuses for not getting those papers shredded.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central

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 The Pod Medic and the Tech Podcast Network

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.