A fast way to make an excellent cup of coffee.

Over the years of doing the Giz Wiz Leo Laporte & I have talked about lots of coffee makers. (We’ll find out what OMGChad uses to make coffee when we record this episode.) But in all those years I never reviewed a K-cup maker. That changes with my review of theKeurig Elite K45 Single Cup Coffee Maker. It’s selling just under $100 (MSRP $120) so it’s probably the most affordably priced Keurig kitchen brewing system. (There’s an under $80 version, but it’s more for dorms and doesn’t offer many features.) You can use K-Cups to brew coffee, tea, and hot cocoa. The Keurig Elite K45offers three-cup sizes and a programmable Auto On/Off switch. The 48 oz. removable water reservoir holds up to 8 cups before refilling. The 3 cup-size options are 6oz, 8oz, and 10oz. And the machine can accommodate travel mugs. You can make a really great coffee fast, without the mess of grinding coffee beans and loading grounds into coffee filters. Although making a cup costs about 50-55 cents, that’s way lower than the cost of a coffee house brew. And you have the convenience of brewing it instantly in your own kitchen. Also the variety of coffees and other drinks is huge. The Keurig system offers hundreds of K-Cups varieties. There are companies making 95% biodegradable K-cups, and you can even buy a reusable K-cup and use your own ground beans. My favorite so far is Green Mountain Dark Magic Extra bold. The Elite 45 is available in black, white and blue at $99.99. 

Company website: www.keurig.com  

Leo & I love the AeroPress. We both have them. Here’s some info:

Fast and convenient, the AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker makes one of the best cups of coffee you'll ever taste. This innovative uses the ideal water temperature and gentle air pressure brewing to produce coffee and espresso that has rich flavor with lower acidity and without bitterness. It makes 1 to 4 cups of coffee or espresso (enough for 1 or 2 mugs), features a micro filtered for grit free coffee, and takes just 1 minute to make coffee (actualpress time takes only 20 seconds). It's not as fast as a K-cup coffee maker, and involves about 4 different steps, but it does make great coffee. It's about $30 and can be found online.

A unique stand & speaker system for your smart phone.

I’ve reviewed a lot of smart phone holders, and lot of smart phone Bluetooth speakers. But theBoomerang Mini is the first combo Bluetooth Speaker/Smart Phone holder I’ve reviewed. It measures 5.91 x 6.12 x 1.49-inches and has 4 watts of output power. In addition to Bluetooth it has built-in NFC technology for fast pairing. It also has a line-in input for playback from devices that don’t have integrated Bluetooth. The Boomerang Mini folds for storage or carrying. Unpacked it resembles a pair of headphones, but it’s not for wearing over the ears. It seems strange, but in addition to holding your smart phone at various angles and providing excellent sound for its size, the Boomerang Mini can be worn around the neck. After wearing it that way I found I like the idea. You can carry your music with you and listen to it, but still hear the phone, the bell and other sounds in the room because nothing is covering your ears. But wait, there’s more! The Boomerang Mini also features an integrated microphone so it also functions as a speakerphone. On a full charge the folks at Favi Entertainment say you’ll up to ten hours of playback. The Boomerang mini is $59.99. There’s a larger version for tablets, that I haven't heard or seen in person. That's the Boomerang, which retails for $79.99. Amazon Link for the mini:  

FAVI Entertainment Boomerang Mini Wireless Surround Sound for Smartphones with Bluetooth NFC (Black) 

Giz Wiz YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/1nIIGR2h0YQ

Company website: 

http://www.favientertainment.com/Boomerang-Mini-p/boom02-sm.htm  

See or hear the show where Chad & I talked about this gadget: www.twit.tv/giz1460  

An Amazing Chair from The Luxury Technology Show in NYC.

As I entered the Luxury Technology Show I was stopped in my tracks when I saw one of the most awesome work-environment chairs I had ever seen. Called the Emperor XL, it is one awesome piece of tech. The scorpion-like stable steel structure has tilting capabilities, integrated 5.1 audio system, LED lighting, light therapy, and even an ionic air filtering system. Everything is touch screen controlled; designed for high-end home and office hardcore computer users. As WMElab puts it: “The Emperor offers functionality that enables the user to experience unprecedented comfort and quasi total immersion through strategically positioned monitors, audio system and accessories. The result is a complete computer office, ergonomically optimized, with a minimal footprint that improves overall performance and productivity.” And the price of the Emperor XL? MSRP: $21,500 US. Not enough features for you? Available options include: Rotating pedestal, Laptop tray, Massage, Side tables, even more (two) monitor mounts. If all this is too much for you, MWElab has office environment chairs that start at about $6,000. This chair not hae enough features for you? They also have a more deluxe model that cost almost $50,000!  

Giz Wiz Video: http://youtu.be/uV55xqw1ccE

Company Website: www.mwelab.com 

See or hear the Giz Wiz show where OMGChad & I talked about this chair: www.twit.tv/giz1458

A new way to fly a paper airplane - via Bluetooth!

Okay, what’s one of the most basic toys you most likely played with as a kid? You don’t have to think about it because I’ll save time and tell you. The paper airplane. It was free, easy to build and fun to fly. At Toy Fair I met the inventor who brought the paper plane into the world of high tech with his PowerUp 3.0 Bluetooth Controlled Paper Airplane. Inventor, entrepreneur and part-time aviator Shai Goitein created what is probably the ultimate paper airplane. The PowerUp 3.0 Smartphone Controlled Paper Airplane is Bluetooth controlled by your smartphone. About 15 minutes of charge time will give you about 10 minutes of flight. Shai said it will fly up to 160 feet away, and then glide to the ground if it goes out the Bluetooth range. It’s an incredible success story. Shai set all kinds of Kickstarter records for shattering his sales goal. He was looking to raise $50,000 and he surpassed his goal by $1.2 million! I guess people never forgot the joy of paper airplanes. The PowerUp 3.0 will ship in May or June for under $50. 

http://www.poweruptoys.com/   - Company website. 

Giz Wiz Toy Fair Paper Airplane Video:http://youtu.be/pawfKm0Ksrs 

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1456

More toys from Toy Fair that I showed on ABC's World News Now: http://gizwizbiz.squarespace.com/world-news-now-abc/

This new little robotic MiP from WowWee can do a lot of impressive things!

WowWee’s MiP robots were at CES, but I didn’t have time to play with them. So I was glad to find them at Toy Fair 2014. Equipped with GestureSense technology, you can use hand motion controls to control MiP. You can also program it to do up to 100 movements in a row. You’ll see a mini demo of that feature in the video I shot. They have a built in speaker and a built in microphone. So they can dance to music that’s on your smartphone, which will play right on, MiP, or MiP can dance to external music and follow the beat heard through its internal mic. But wait, there’s more! There' also a free app that lets you drive MiP, play games & more. I was impressed how MiP can carry stuff like a can of soda, or another MiP while balancing on two wheels! It kind of looks like a robotic Segway with a head and arms. Available Spring 2014 for $99.99. It will be a Best Buy exclusive for three months, and then it will be widely available. You can pre-order it now on the WowWee website, but it’s $119.99 there.

http://wowwee.com/mip/

Giz Wiz Toy Fair WowWee Video: http://youtu.be/j_2WLkOtxik

More toys from Toy Fair 2014 on this Giz Wiz show: www.twit.tv/giz1456