A nifty new card reader from Kingston.

It’s the Kingston MobileLiteG2, their second-generation portable Flash card reader. What’s nice about this card reader is it shows up as two separate devices on your system. That makes it easier to transfer data between Flash memory cards using only one USB port. This would be a good way to move files off your phone’s micro-SD card onto the computer, or onto a full sized SD card. The MobileLiteG2 comes with retractable covers on each side. Slide one end out to protect the USB connector. The other end slides out to protect the memory cards from damage. It ships with a short USB extension cable in case the USB port you’re going to use is hard to reach, or in case the card reader might block another open port or hit another plugged in USB device. Prices are really good! The card reader alone is about $11. But there’s a better bargain if you buy one of “package deals”.  For $28.50 (about $20 on Amazon) you can get the card reader bundled with a 4 GB SDHC card. For $46 (About $28 on Amazon) you get it bundled with a 8GB SDHC card. Dimensions: 2.45" x 1.16" x 0.646" (62.15mm x 29.40mm x 16.40mm) Weight: 18.90g    And it weighed only .08 ounce on my Ultra-Ship scale. Supported formats: SD, SDHC, microSD, microSDHC, Memory Stick PRO Duo (M2), Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo (M2) and Memory Stick Micro (M2).

http://www.kingston.com/flash/mobileliteG2_reader.asp

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw948

Hey, I Invented Something Just Like This!

The gizmo is called FakeTV and yes, it’s designed to make it look like someone is home watching television! The company says the effects of scene changes, fades, swells, flicks, on-screen motion, and color changes and more are faithfully reproduced, and look just like they came from a real TV. The computer controlled, super-bright multi-color LED light output equivalent to a typical 27" HDTV LCD television. And they point something you may not know: Most digital televisions do not work with timers-- they turn on with push buttons. So that means you can’t use your own TV to go on & off when you’re not home. What I did years ago was put a bunch of flashing Christmas light on some tin foil. It was to decorate a fireplace in the summer, but one night I left it on when I was out. When I came home it looked like someone was inside watching TV! The commercial version is called FakeTV. It can be set to DUSK +4 HRS or DUSK +7 HRS or just plain ON. Just place it in a room so that you can see the light from the FakeTV from outside, but you cannot see the FakeTV unit itself.  Plug into the wall using the included adapter.  The built in light sensor will turn FakeTV on at dusk, and the unit turns off after a switch selectable 4 or 7 hours. The company could be right when they say: Burglars will almost always circle a home once before entering.  They are looking for the easiest way in, and looking for signs of life.  FakeTV gives them just those signs!  Few burglars will enter a home that they think is occupied. There’s a video of the product at the company website. It sells for $39.99, but do a web search. Sometimes other sources like Home Shopping Network sell it for $10 less!

http://faketv.com/

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw926

A Clever Green Device, The Reduce Compactor Can.

The Reduce compactor Can is a new product I found at the Gift Show while I was in San Francisco. It’s an attractive stainless steel trashcan that comes with a built in manual compactor. It’s manual because it’s the owner who pushes down on the lid, which compacts the trash in the can easily and safely. A heavy silicone rubber baffle extends as you press down. This means you no longer need to put your hand or your foot into the trash to make more space. The company says you can fit two times more trash into a trash bag with this trash can, so you’ll use half as many plastic trash bags as you normally would use. This cuts in half the amount of trash bags going into landfills, and the time it takes for the garbage to be picked up and processed. Now when I wrote this on September 20th, the Reduce Compactor Can was not yet on sale. At the show the company spokesman said this device might sell for as much as $200, but that seems high to me. I checked Bed, Bath & Beyond to price a regular stainless garbage can. They had a 30-liter model for $70. This can is 40 liters, but I’m hoping they settle for a lower price than $200 to get people to start using these clever devices. The company has other “green devices” in the marketplace already, so check out the other products on their website.

http://www.reduceeveryday.com/reduce_products/product.php?id=83

 A little demo of the Compactor Can:  http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=20070370809

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw923

A New Hard Drive That Features An "Always On" Display.

Here's something brand from Verbatim. It’s the InSight Portable USB Hard Drives with Always On Display. To prove that the “always on display” was really always on, when I opened the box, the screen read: “Verbatim 297GB free”. That’s what the InSight Hard Drive does, displays drive name and available free space, even when disconnected. It has a sleek piano black finish. You can customizable the drive name, so if you have several drives one could be “business”, one “music”, one “photos”, etc. This new palm-sized external hard drive lets Windows and Mac users instantly add 320GB or 500GB of removable memory to their notebook or desktop system.  Your personalized drive’s name, along with the free space, shows on the 32 x 128-pixel display even when the drive is unplugged from everything. Both the 320GB and 500GB drives include Nero BackItUp Essentials. This software allows full, automatic system backup and restore functions. Nero BackItUp Essentials also features data encryption with password control options. So you can have peace of mind when traveling or storing the drive. The InSight Portable Hard Drive weigh less than 6 ounces (164 g), and measure 6 in. X 3.4 in. X 0.63 in. (153 mm x 87 mm x 16 mm). The 2.5” drives have a 5400rpm spindle speed and 8MB of cache memory to optimize performance. USB 2.0. Available through Verbatim or retail partners such as Best Buy. Suggested retail prices are US$119.99 for the 320GB drive and US$149.99 for the 500GB drive.

 www.verbatim.com

 Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw929

Handy Dandy Zune, but That's Not What The HD Stands For!

He I like the new Zune HD. It’s easily the best Zune Microsoft has come out with. Rather than update the old Zune, it seems they wisely threw it out and started over. The high tech-look black metal back, and 3.3” vivid 16:9 OLED display is bright and attention getting. It weights just 2.6 ounces and is only 8.9 mm thick. A press-once on/off button on the top and a home button at the bottom of the screen are the only controls on the front. Once on, use the touch screen to slide your screen-saver up and the navigation screen choices are revealed. You can wirelessly buy, stream, and update your music and games via a WiFi connection. You also can stream songs over WiFi directly to your Zune HD. With my so-so eyesight websites seemed small, but you can tap the screen to zoom in and make things bigger. You type via a QWERTY touch-screen keyboard. It took a few minutes for me to get the hang of where to hit the screen to type the letter I wanted. A unique feature is the built HD Radio. You get better sound, a lot of choices and it’s free. There are two models right now. The Zune HD 32 GB ($220)holds up to 10 hours of high definition video; 48 hours of standard definition video; 8,000 songs; or 25,000 pictures. Double that for the 64GB (Platinum) model ($290). You can use your Zune to watch 720p HD movies on your HDTV. To do that you’ll need the optional (About $90) Zune HD & AV Dock. (It’s video out only, you can’t use the dock to record shows to the Zune.) The Zune HD also plays your HD videos on the go on its own bright OLED screen. But on the player videos are downscaled to 480 x 272.  Music wise, Leo loves Zune pass. You pay $14.95 a month to play all the music you want. Like other play & pay systems when you stop paying, you lose your music. But, Zune Pass has a nice difference! You get to own 10 songs you downloaded forever! So it’s more like paying $4.95 a month assuming you buy a lot of songs monthly. There is a ton more features, which you can read about here:

 www.zune.com

 Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw921