Weekly Daily Giz Wiz – Week of April 9nd, 2012, Netcast 1360

Here’s a phrase you don't hear often. Most likely, you’ve NEVER heard any one use the phrase: “street-legal airplane!” Well there is one, and it’s on display at the NY International Auto Show until Sunday, April 15^th. (Javits Convention Center.) According to the company, the Transition Street-Legal Airplane is now a significant step closer to being a commercial reality after completing its first successful flight at Plattsburgh International Airport on March 23, 2012.  This bizarre, but I guess, now practical gizmo was developed by Terrafugia, Inc. The Transition is a two seat personal aircraft with folding wings, capable of driving on roads and highways. It can fit in a single car garage, and use unleaded automotive fuel for flight. Of course on the road, and especially when filling it up at a local service station, you can expect your auto-plane to really get a lot of attention. At the auto show it had quite a few people checking it out. Terrafugia will continue its testing program, as they get ready to deliver their first plane within the next year. After their first flight Terrafugia CEO/CTO and co-founder Carl Dietrich said: "This is a very exciting time for Terrafugia.  We are on our way up – literally and figuratively!" The first flight was modest, but it was a proof of concept flight. The Transition reached an altitude of 1400’ above the ground and lasted eight minutes while staying in the vicinity of Plattsburgh International Airport. Didn’t the Wright Brothers first flight last like just seconds?  The Transition demonstrated the controllability and safe operational characteristics of the aircraft. And now for the bad news: The Transition aircraft also has a highflying price, approximately $279,000. But a spokesperson said the company has already 100 deposits, so there are some serious customers out there. The Transition Production Prototype is on display at the New York International Auto Show till Sunday April 15th at the Jacob Javits Convention. Lots more info at the company website:

www.driventofly.com

Video of the week --- Let there be light. Red, White & Bright!

With the warm weather approaching you might be looking for a useful outdoor light. The Coast Light Dial fills the bill. It can be used in lots of situations. As an LED emergency area light, as an under-hood light for doing car repairs on the road, tent light, etc. Using Coast Variable Light Technology, you can adjust the light from a full bright white light at 375 lumens to a low white light at about 100 lumens. (Not every LED can be dimmed. You need a special dimmer to do it, and this light has one.) There are two other lighting options.  A sold red light, or a flashing red light for emergencies. The Coast Light has recently been redesigned to put out about three times more light than the original. It runs on four D batteries. Checking the latest press release, I see the maximum burn time at low light level is about 80 hours. It does not give maximum burn time at full brightness, but obviously it would be a lot shorter. That's why the Variable Light Technology is so useful. You use just the amout of light you need for the situation at hand. The light is 8.25 inches high, with a fold up handle at the top. MSRP is $39.99, but I see it on Amazon for about $29. Coast makes a lot of lights, this is model number CE7124HGB.  And, as you might have guessed, the 4 D batteries are not included. At the Amazon link below it's $28.99 plus S&H. I haven't bought anything at that e-tailor, but I buy on Amazon at lot:

http://www.amazon.com/Coast-CE7124HGB-Lantern-Emergency-Light/dp/B003V1WGWK

Giz Wiz Video: http://youtu.be/fyMcJLHbJ9g

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1360

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.

A Multi-Plug Adapter for those who travel overseas.

Adding to our products with long names list is: The Conair All-In-One Adapter with USB.

When you stay in a hotel, one of the first things you’ll most likely notice, especially if you’re a gadget freak, is that there are very few outlets for your toys. Several companies have addressed this problem for AC powered devices here in the US, but how about if you’re an International Traveler? That’s why the Conair Travel Smart All-in-One Travel Adapter with USB can save the day, and your trip. (It also can be entered into our list of products with really l-o-n-g names!)  ... The Conair Travel Smart All-in-One Travel Adapter with USB you will let you plug-in three appliances at once – and that includes four most common adapter plug configurations; grounded/non-grounded, polarized/non-polarized plugs from Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, North and South America. There’s also built-in surge protection. Conair makes it clear that this device is not a transformer or current converter. It’s for devices that don’t need them. But wait, there’s more. The Conair All-In-One Adapter with USB Port will also let you charge one USB device. It can charge most smart phones, iPods and iPhones, but not iPads, which requires a higher power USB charger. List price is $29.99, but do a web search and you should be able to find it at a discount. This plug is new to the market and Conair makes a wide range of travel plugs; this model is the TS238AP.

www.conair.com

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1360

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.

Leo’s Turn The Table Turkey –

Yes, it another cell phone, but in a way this one is very different phone. It’s the first big intro from Microsoft and Nokia. It’s the Lumia 900 Windows phone and Leo likes it a lot. He said it’s easily the best Windows phone ever. The Lumia 900 has a 4.3 inch AMOLED display that Leo finds excellent. Although it has a single core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Leo (and Alex who also tested the phone) found it responded quickly and had plenty of power for any app available on the Windows Marketplace that they tried. The Lumia 900's plastic (polycarbonate) case feels solid and well built. The phone comes in black, white, and cyan. It has an 8 megapixel camera (still and video), and a front facing camera (1 megapixel).  The rear camera has Carl Zeiss optics with a 28mm wide-angle lens. It includes dual LED flash, and auto focus. Leo said the camera lens is located more in the center of the phone, unlike other phones, where it’s up in the corner. I like it better where Nokia located it, since you’re less likely to accidentally have a finger ruin your shoot. Also a very nice feature is that the camera comes on with the push a button, even if the phone is on the locked position, so you can grab a shot really quickly. It also shoots 720p (HD) video. The Lumia 900 runs on AT&T's LTE 4G network, although Leo isn’t in an ATT 4G area. Alex is the only one at TWiT (who employees 20 people) who uses a Windows phone, and he likes this phone a lot. Leo agrees, especially at the knockout price. While most smart phones sell in the $199.99 to $299.99 range with a two-year contract, the Nokia 900 is $99.99 with a two-year contract.

http://www.nokia.com/us-en/products/phone/lumia900/

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1360

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.

Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse

Ever buy a gadget just because you know friends will look at it and say: “Wow, where do you get that?” Back in 2006, the USB Doomsday Device Hub was one of those gadgets. Although it functions as a normal everyday 4 port USB hub, it has a key, toggle switches, a red light pilot light and the red “doomsday button”. The doomsday button is located under a plastic cap, which pictures a skull & crossbones! All those fun things are certainly not needed for a USB hub -- and that’s why this thing was an instant sell out, even though it cost $60! The case is black and the “doomsday” top panel is brushed aluminum. To operate the device you just plugged it into a computer with the attached USB cable. You now had a four port operating USB hub. But for the fun part of this device to start, you would flip switch 1 to on, then 2 to on, then you had to turn the key marked “3” to on. If you did steps in the proper order, the bright red warning light would go on. Then you lifted the plastic cover over the big red button and pressed it. A very short sound effect of a rocket launch is heard, followed by an explosion. Because the sound comes from a tiny speaker in the bottom of the small box, it’s not room-shaking. Actually, it’s a bit of a disappointment, but still fun! Think Geek sold the Doomsday USB Hub for $60, but I saw it on sale for as much $80! For a long time back in 2006, you could hardly find a place that had one is stock. Today, several websites still list it, but most say: “no longer in stock”. But there is one at Dick’s Gadget Warehouse!

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1360

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show.