Leo, Amber and I squeezed in some time to record a few Daily Giz Wiz Podcasts. I was in Toronto to tape some Call For Help spots. Photo by Sean 'Global Hermit' Curruthers.
A Short Trip Down Memory Lane...
ZNet became TechTV which became G4TechTV, then G4TV..... Then Leo Laporte left, Patrick left, and Kevin Rose has moved on. But Leo Laporte kept doing CALL FOR HELP...in Canada. Toronto, in fact. I flew to Toronto quite a few times to tape several CALL FOR HELP episodes on each trip.
Then Call For Help became The Lab with Leo and the show moved to Vancouver. That's a long 7 hour trip, but I still flew up there to tape some Lab with Leo episodes.
And guess what, G4 still has a few my spots on line.
They're at: www.G4TV.com . Put "The Giz Wiz" in search. (Of course G4 might take them off line at any time they come to their senses!)
Below are some of the gizmos from previous CALL FOR HELP shows.
Fun New Toys
New from
the folks at Wild Planet is the mid-air combat game called Verticon,
the first aerial battle system. You go
head-to-head with 3-D warriors that fight in flight. Combat starts when you
release your palm-sized battling sphere (not unlike a ping pong ball, but lots
more fun!) into an inverted dome which
sits atop a foot-high base that shoots air. The Verticon warriors hover over
the dome, floating and fighting in the jet stream until one warrior is knocked
out of the airflow and into defeat. I had a specially rigged warrior so I could
beat Leo but while setting up Verticon everyone was playing with it and my
warrior was altered. But guess what? I still won! Fair and square it turns out.
The game will run about $25. There’s a complete ‘back story’and scoring system if you want to make the
game very complicated! Me? I just like watching the warriors bounce about in
the jet stream!
Kid-Tough FP3 Player – it’s a kid’s version of an MP3
player suitable for boys and girls as young as 3 years old! It built tough, with big buttons and it’s easy
for young fingers to hold and use.It can
hold two hours of entertainment. It comes preloaded with six songs and 3
stories. Kids can download more kid appropriate music and songs. Prices range
from 99 cents to $1.99. You can also load music from a CD on a memory card
because there’s an SD card slot. The kit includes the FP3 player, headphones and
breakaway head strap. It’s available in blue and pink. Under $70.
Spy Video Car, under $100. (US) Talk about high
tech! This is a RC car with a built in video camera, infrared night vision,
headset screen and hand-held controls. Drive into someone else’s room and see
what they’re doing on the video headset! Age: 8+. www.shopwildplanet.comand other online and specialty retailers. (See more below with picture)
Okay, so the kid’s have their own
music player. So we need a Big Boy’s Toy…And I have a hot one. It’s the totally redesigned second generation iPod
nano.(Yeah, they use a lower case “n”).
It has a lot of new
features. The new anodized aluminum case makes it
look like the old (and no longer made) iPod mini, but it’s like a mini that
went on a severe diet.There’s a
noticeably brighter screen, (Apple says 40% brighter) and longer battery life.
Apple says up to 24 hours, a big leap from the earlier nano. The 2GB model
comes in silver only. The 4GB model comes in silver, green, blue, or pink. And
the 8GB model is available only in black. The 1GB model is no longer available.
There’s a price drop too. The 8 GB model is under $250.00 I showed the 4GB model
which is $199.95.
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVERY ON
TELEVISION. GADGETS FROM DICK’S GADGET WAREHOUSE! You’ve heard about them on
the Daily GizWiz Podcast. Now you can see them exclusively on Call For Help!
The Digisette DUO 64 had
64 MB of onboard memory. 192 MB Expandable - The Duo-64 was advertised as both
a personal MP3 player and a self-contained MP3 cassette adapter. The object was
to be able to use it as a carry around MP3 player – though you looked pretty
nerdy, and then just click into a cassette player to play your tunes. A big
problem was the lack of features many other MP3 players have. No screen, no equalizer
and zero style. Unless you like retro. It was a great idea, for a very short
time. MP3 players took off like a shot, and cassette players fell way out of
fashion. The Digisette is still listed on their website. The fact that they say
the rebate coupon expired August, 2003 makes me think it’s not updated with any
regularity.
This optical storage format was one of the most highly anticipated products
at CES 2001. It was named Best product of the Show, but then it never made it
to market. In fact in 2002 DataPlay
went into bankruptcy. Then in the October 2004 issue of PC World magazine said DataPlay was back! But here it is
2006, and I don’t see it anywhere. The DataPlay
disc is capable of holding 500MB of information in a format about the size of a
US quarter. According to the article some small South Korean and Chinese
companies were working on DataPlay-based devices and the technology is being
evaluated by some of the region's largest electronics companies, It said that
the 500MB DataPlay discs will be sold in Japan
for $4.50. But as Leo points out in the Gadget Warehouse Podcast, these days
you can save much more data on a DVD for just pennies. So
I don’t think we’re going to see DataPlay in any wide distribution channels.
However this is this is strange. It seems that DataPlay discs are for sale
at
Compaq iPaq Mini CD Player PM-1 Just before MP3
players came on the scene I thought was going to be a big market for
mini-CD players. You could burn your favorite music on mini CD discs. With the
music compressed you could get up to three traditional CDs on one mini CD. The
Compaq's PM-1 had an appealing design, came with a lot of accessories and sold
for under $100! 8cm CD-Rs and CD-RWs allowed these devices to be much
smaller than standard portable CD players - 3.9 by 3.9 by 1.2 inches and just
7.1 ounces. The storage capacity was185MB, which Compaq said would allow you to
record up to 80 songs--or six hours' worth of music--to them. Of course less
compression would lead to less music. The PM-1 had Random and Repeat modes as
well as four preset EQs. It came with a handy in-line remote, which
also displays ID tag information on a small built in LCD screen.
Where’s the remote control for the
TV? Oh, here it is, right on my wrist!!
It
was difficult to misplace the TV/VCR remote when you had the Casio Wrist Remote Controller. The
was able to memorize infrared signal codes to control your TV, VCR, stereo and
other infrared remote controlled devices. You couldn’t control everything,
though. Remote control TV functions included power on/off, channel up and down
and volume p and down. The more elaborate Casio Wrist Remote
Controller/Calculator watch added direct channel selection via number input.
Using a window built right into the watch you can use the learning function to
"teach" the watch to control any device with an infrared remote
control codes. It stored data for up to 16 functions. Hmm, it seems like
you still might be able to buy one overseas. Follow the link below.
Where’s the remote control for the
TV? Oh, here it is, right on my wrist!!
It
was difficult to misplace the TV/VCR remote when you had the Casio Wrist Remote Controller. The
was able to memorize infrared signal codes to control your TV, VCR, stereo and
other infrared remote controlled devices. You couldn’t control everything,
though. Remote control TV functions included power on/off, channel up and down
and volume p and down. The more elaborate Casio Wrist Remote
Controller/Calculator watch added direct channel selection via number input.
Using a window built right into the watch you can use the learning function to "teach"
the watch to control any device with an infrared remote control codes. It
stored data for up to 16 functions. Hmm, it seems like you still might be able
to buy one overseas. Follow the link below.
Power LogOn from Access Smart is designed so hackers can't get
access to your personal information. That's because your passwords are not
stored on your computer, they are stored on a Smart Card, so there’s nothing
for hackers to find. It also helps you create complex, random passwords that
Access Smart says can take over 90,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years to
crack. We’re testing that now, so come back in
89,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,999 years and we’ll let you know how we faired.)What I like about the Power LogOn is that I
don’t have to remember or type in passwords. If I wanted, I could have a
different user name and password for every website. That means you can get rid
of those Post-it notes or bits of tape stuck to the computer with your top
secret passwords on them. After the software is loaded as you visit websites
and type in your log-in info, you are asked if you would like Power LogOn to remember it. As with so
many other things, it does not work within AOL. However you can bring up the
name and password for any website and use the drop and drag feature to fill in
the blanks. There’s a desktop version and a PC card slot version. Cost is
$129.95 for either. If you use discount
code DGW (Daily Giz Wiz) you’ll get $30. That brings the cost to under
$100. ($99.95)
Sansa e280 is San Disk’s newest
model. This is a recorder/player with a 1.8-inch TFT color
screen. It plays MP3 audio, let’s you view photos, even video playback. And
something most MP3 players don’t have is a built in microphone which means you
can use it to record meetings, notes in class, or friends at a party!8GB of built in memory, .and an expansion
slot so you can add a 2 GB memory card for a total of 10 GB! Pricing is very
aggressive, under $250!
The self-inflating Key Buoy from Davis Instruments ends the nightmare of keys dropped overboard. Even if your keys are on the Key Buoy, if you drop them into the drink, they sink. But wait about 30 seconds and your keys come bobbing back to the surface! Once you see that inflated orange tube breaking the surface you have approximately 25 minutes to grab them before they sink forever. Since it only costs about $7, I wondered how it worked. The guys at the Davis Instrument booth were happy to explain. When you drop the Key Buoy in the water, a tiny piece of sponge inside the device expands and forces the plastic clam shell to open. When it opens, a tightly folded 14” plastic tube is released. Then a small tablet which contains baking soda dissolves. This creates a gas that fills the tube that floats your keys. The Key Buoy is suitable for items weighing up to 4.2 ounces.
Leak Frog --- As long as we’ve got water, let’s take a look at LeakFrog. It’s a small water alarm that costs under $13, but it can save you a lot more! Behind the cute smile is a brain that knows when you have a water problem. LeakFrog sits patiently day and night - ready to sound its alarm at the first sign of a leak from the sink, washing machine, pipes, etc.
Here's an Inexpensive Way to Get Your Tunes to Play Over Your Car Radio.
ROADMASTER FM MODULATOR.(Model VRFM9) Here’s a way to play your music files through your car radio. But if you don’t have a music player! you canplay your music directly from a USB flash drive or a memory card!A neat innovation is the fully adjustable viewing angle so you can see the LCD window. Of course if you do have a music player a cable is included so you play your iPod, CD Player, etc. through your car’s audio system.
In June 2006 My "Fun For Everyone" Spot will air on Call For Help. Here's what I showed: The first three Spy Gear gizmos won't be out until October, so this is a preview look! But they'll make neat Holiday gifts.
Drive your Remote Control Car into another room and watch via a TV monitor in your headset screen!
Spy Video Car: This is a RC car with video camera, infrared night vision, headset screen and hand-held controls. Recommended Age: 8+ . We’re giving a sneak preview as this is a Holiday 2006 item. It should in stores by October for early shoppers! Price will be about $100 to $160 Canadian /.$99 - $159 USD Digital Spy Camera - These sunglasses have a built-in digital camera, come with a pocket remote, and USB cable. Recommended Age: 8+ / Available: Holiday 2006.
Spy Camera Glasses!
The tinted, impact-resistant sunglasses house a retractable digital camera that stores 18 color photos. Transfer the images onto your computer using the USB cable and decide if you will expose the evidence or keep it in your back pocket for future bargaining. The pictures have 640 x 480 pixel resolution. $29.99 to $39.99 Canadian. / $24.99 to $34.99 USD
Protect all your valuable stuff!
Door Alarm Kit. Records times of intrusion, comes w/ 2 all-access card-keys and Velcro. Recommended Age: 6+ Holiday 2006 Simply Velcro the alarm to the different places you desire to protect. The digital screen is adjustable so it can be read from any angle and used on any door – regardless of the direction it opens. Just swipe your card-key for easy entry without sounding the alarm. The Alarm Kit features a parent-approved speedy shut-off button that puts a quick stop to the siren. $13 to $20 Canadian. $9 to $14 USD
Here's a fun way to get kids to wear their safety helmets!
Nogin Sox – A fun way to cover your safety helmet.It’s a fun way to make sure kids wear their safety helmets when they bike or skate. New models include Nail Head that looks like an industrial accident gone mad. Made of soft lightweight foam. Under $20, Under $25 for the lighted versions. I'd spend the extra $5 because they look neat. Go to their website and check out "the brain" with the pulsating red LED's!
The Party Blimp is really "The Life of the Party!"
Party Blimp – Fill this 3’ blimp with helium and use the included markers and stencils to put a custom message on it. Then attach the triple fan gondola and actually fly it! It comes complete with remote control that not only controls the blimp but adds remote controlled flashing lights and music! Under $100.
And do a web search for price. It should be available for about $80 US on the web.
Photo courtesy of Sean Curruthers. Thanks, Sean!
Light up your life! This one of the Call For Help Shows I was on I showed Leo six ways to add LED's to his life! And yours too.
Panther Vision LED Cap – About $20. Advanced Ultra Bright LED’s built right into the brim. Ideal for repairs around the house, reading in the dark, hobbies repair, etc. For anybody who needs light without the use of their hands.
Inova Microlight. – Small enough to hang on a keychain this light is multi-function. It has high power, low power, stroke and click to signal. Visible up to one mile.
Bright Feet Slippers. $40. Move around a darkened house without tripping over objects. If there’s a power outage you can use Brightfeet to locate candles or flashlight. Light sensor alerts LED to come on only in darkened conditions. After removing the slipper, a built-in timer delays LED shut-off to allow time to see your way safely back to bed.
PupLight – About $20. Keep track of your dog and lights your way when you walk your dog at night. Three ultra-bright LED's - light up to 200 feet ahead. Rugged, water resistant construction - gives years of service to even the most active dogs. Easy-on adjustable elastic band - assures a proper fit for any size dog.
