The Smart Pen Get Smarter with the new Echo model!

Wednesday, September 1^st, 2010 Netcast 1168 

We talked about the original version of Livescribe Pulse Smartpen just about two years ago, on September 10th, 2008, Daily Giz Wiz 653. (Link to hear that show is below.) Like the original, the new Echo Smart Pen records everything you write and simultaneously records audio, which it synchronizes it to the writing! Can’t remember what those notes you made refer to? Push the pen down on a word in your written notes, and it finds the matching recorded audio! Once you upload your notes to your computer (as PDF files) you can search them quickly by “keyword”. The Echo features an OLED display and a built in speaker. You can save notes to your computer, or send them over the web as "pencasts". (Pencasts, clever, eh?) This new Smart Echo Pen is easier to hold and has a "no roll" design. (Customer feed back indicated that the original pen could roll off the desk when it was put down.) You charge the pen via the included USB cable. Using that same cable, you can download apps to the pen that include translators, games, dictionary, etc. Some are fee based and some are free, like one that teaches you how to play the guitar! You can draw a mini piano keyboard with the Echo Smart Pen and then play it!! The Echo has twice the memory of original 2 GB model, so it's now 4 GB. (A 8GB version is also available.) And this new model includes free web space to store your notes so you can read and download them from any computer  – or share them with others. Optional software can turn your writing into text you can edit. The pen has a built-in video camera and uses special paper to know exactly when & where the notes were taken. But you’ll never run of paper, because in an emergency you can print the paper at home. The new Echo model is the same price as the original Smart Pen, $169.99. An 8 GB model is also available for $199.99. The original 2GB pen is still available for $129.00. Available on the web and at many retailers, so discounts should be available with a web search. 

www.livescribe.com 

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1168 

Netcast on the original Smart Pen, Sept 10, 2008: www.twit.tv/dgw653

Monitor video of your home or business from anywhere in the world via the web or on your mobile device.

TTTT, Tuesday, August 31^st, 2010 Netcast 1167

On this Turn The Table Tuesday Leo shows us The Dropcam, a small easy to install, and easy-to-use webcam. The setup is simple because there’s no software to install. You connect the camera to AC and your router. Then you go to the Dropcam website, register and enter the code from the camera. Within a minute or two you’re up and running. Now you can monitor your home or business while traveling. If you want, you can receive automatic alerts to activity while you're away. The Dropcam automatically detects motion to record important events that happen when you’re not around. (You need an optional recording plan for that.) When something happens, you receive an email or text immediately. Leo set his up during this very episode so you’ll see how easy it was. He then showed us the output of the Dropcam on his iPhone. It’s pretty neat. No matter where you are in the world, as long as you can get on the web you can see video from your Dropcam. I tried one too and it works great. I just may set up my Dropcam at Gizneyland Studio to find out who is stealing my New York Times! With the online timeline you can see exactly when various events took place. All Dropcams come with free email alerts and viewing on your computer and iPhone. If you like, you can add online recording starting at $8.95/month. The basic color Dropcam has no audio and costs $199.00. You can get an audio enabled version for $279.00. Watch a demo and see actual video from various Dropcams at the company website: 

www.dropcam.com 

Hear or SEE this episode: www.twit.tv/dgw1167   

Logitech introduces a HD portable webcam.

Daily Giz Wiz, Monday, August 30^th, 2010 Netcast 1166 

Leo loves the Logitech C910 that I use weekly to record the video version of the Daily Giz Wiz. TWiT often sends one of those C910 web cams to guests who are going to on shows often in order to ensure good video quality. But now if you need a webcam that can go wherever you go, Logitech introduces the HD Webcam C510. It has a neat fold-and-go design. But there’s more! It also a feature I love and really needed! The C510 features 360-degree rotation so you can swivel the webcam around to include more people in your video calls and recordings. This something I really need when I have guests at the Gizneyland Studio. Since this was the gadget of the day, I installed it and used it to record this episode. Leo thought the webcam picture looked even better than the C910, even though the higher end model has a Carl Zeiss lens. So the C510 is the webcam I’ll be using from now on. It features HD 720p video calls on Logitech Vid HD, or any service that supports HD video calling.  Something Logitech calls Right-Light and Right-Sound do a good job of making your picture and sound look even better. There’s one-click upload to Facebook, and YouTube so it’s real easy to record and share videos. In addition to HD video you can shoot 8-megapixel photos. Although the camera comes with software that only works on Windows machines, I’ve heard from MAC users that they can use this webcam with no problem. You just won’t have all the software features you can use on a Windows machine. List price $59.99, but do a web search. It’s on Amazon for about $55. And that price might drop as the webcam gets into more and more locations. 

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-communications/webcams?sort=s4&filter=f1697 

Hear or SEE (using the Logitech C510 webcam) this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1166

Ever try to find your eyeglasses when you wake in the middle of the night?

Friday, August 27^th, 2010 Netcast 1165  

It’s happened to all of us who wear glasses, even if they’re magnifiers. You wake up in the middle of the night and you feel all over the night stand for your glasses. You hate to turn the light on because it could blind yourself or a sleep mate. The Eye Lite was designed to solve this problem. I discovered it at Hammacher-Schlemmer, probably around 1987 or 1988 -- some 22 years ago. The idea is simple. It has a small light in the base. On top the of the base is a little shelf big enough to hold a pair of folded eyeglasses. When you go to bed, you put your eyeglasses on the little shelf. The weight of your glasses pushes the shelf down which triggers the light to come on. Now when you wake up in the middle of the night it's easy to see exactly where your glasses are. They’re sitting on top of the clear, illuminated shelf! It's AC powered. I think this is a great idea, but I never saw it for sale any place but at Hammacher-Schlemmer. Eye Lite has not been available for more than 20 years, but Hammacher Schlemmer still sells unusual gizmos at www.hammacher.com. And who knows. Maybe someone will see or hear this episode of the Daily Giz Wiz and  reintroduce a new form of the Eye Light. 

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1165 

The only wire you need with this all-in-one computer is the AC plug!

Thursday, August 26th, 2010. Netcast 1164

It's the new Gateway ZV6900-01e Under $1000 –  a hot new All-In-One Computer that's gotten some great reviews. It's great for cramped dorm rooms because everything is built in! There's a wireless keyboard & mouse. It's powered by the new Intel i3 Processor and has a 640 GB Hard Drive. The 23" high def Touch Screen Display can be operated with just a touch of your finger for many applications. Other features include 4GB Memory, built in webcam, mic, even a built in combination BluRay Player/DVD Burner! There's an HDMI output so you can use the BluRay player to show movies on a big screen HD TV (It has Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD). The Gateway One ZX6900-01e also includes a Multi-in-1 media reader, built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n) and 6 high speed USB ports! Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit operating system preinstalled. The high tech glossy black case has chrome and clear plastic accents and it looks like to cost far more than it does. People often guessed it cost twice the price you can purchase it for. Only complaint is that the stand in the back is a little akward to use, but once you set it to the angle you want, it works fine. List price is $1019.00. There are several models in this line, but the 6900-01e is the top-of-line. (For now anyway.)

Best Buy is currently selling this model for $930.00

UPDATE: In the Sunday newspaper, August 22, 2010 Best Buy ad shows the price cut to $899.99.

Best Buy: http://tinyurl.com/2d8dkfv

www.gateway.com

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1164