The Giz Wiz for the week of August 7th, 2012, Netcast 1376

Nostalgia comes to the counter-top! Gadgets I found at BlogHer 2012, an event aimed at women who blog held at NY Hilton, August 2-4, 2012. (But men were welcome too!)

When I went to the BlogHer 2012 exhibit hall, a spokesperson at the BEST BUY booth told me nostalgia kitchen gadgets were now available at their stores. There were five retro gadgets, but I particularly liked the Red Retro Series Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster. This is an all-in-one hot-dog/bun toaster. You drop a hot dog in the each of the two round slots and two buns in the larger slots. Then you adjust the timing knob, and press the lever down. It works just like a toaster. Once cooked, the hot dogs and the buns pop up and the toaster shuts off. It's so simple a kid can do it, and that who I think this appliance is aimed at. Other features include quick-cleaning drain trays, and mini tongs for safe removal of hot items. Something to be aware of is that this retro device is designed exclusively for standard-size hot dogs and buns. I’ll come back to that in a minute. Since they weren’t actually demonstrating the Red Retro Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster, I decided to check review out online. Wow, it seems folks either hated it, or loved it. From what I read parents who have kids love the Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster, because their kids love it. The main complaint I read is that the frankfurters don’t cook as quickly as the buns, so you either get burned buns, or under-cooked franks. That’s why the instructions say you should use “room temperature” hot dogs. And big complaint is that franks expand when cooked and often get stuck in the toaster. I guess that’s why they provided mini tongs with the unit. If you buy one, you should make sure you can return it if you don’t like. Even though I buy tons of crap, I’m going to pass on this one because although I like the looks of it, I’d probably use once or twice a month. So I don’t want an appliance that takes up space with very little usefulness. At Best Buy the Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster is $24.99, but it seems to be all over the Internet for as little as $19.00! Here’s a place that sells it for $19.00. I haven’t bought anything here.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005Q8X6IO/?tag=twnene-20

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/dgw1376

A new place to listen to Pandora.....your refrigerator!

A WiFi enabled refrigerator? Samsung says, "why not". This Samsung 28 Cu Ft French Four Door Refrigerator (Model: RF4289HARS) has a built-in 8” LCD. And it comes with special apps designed especially for your refrigerator. Right there on your refrigerator door you can leave notes for your family, which you enter via the virtual keyboard, or write directly on the LCD screen. Display photos from your Picasa library, mobile phone or SD card. Stay up to date with all your family activities with Google Calendar. Access hundreds of recipes from Epicurious. Plus, get the latest weather and news via Weather Bug and Associated Press. And listen to Pandora music - yes, this refrigerator even has built in speakers. But wait, there's more! Under the two French doors that open to the right and left, there's an additional drawer. You decide what you what to use the drawer for - additional beverages, party snacks, etc. The drawer has it own temperature settings: Meat/Fish, Cold Drinks, Deli/Snacks, and Wine/Party Dishes. That means you have separate temperature controls for the refrigerator, the drawer, and the freezer The LED interior lighting brightens every corner of the refrigerator. And of course LED lights emit less heat and are more efficient. And how about this? If you want, when you put new items in the refrigerator you can bring up a screen and enter the date you added them. You can also enter the expiration date manually or rely on a built in database. (I'm not sure who has the time to do all this, but it's available.) The screen will alert when that food is reaching its expiration date. And when it's time to make a meal for the family, you can also use the built in LCD screen as a cooking assistant. Just list what you have on hand inside the refrigerator and freezer. An app will tell what you can make with what you have! Cost? As you can imagine, this isn’t a bargain priced appliance. MSRP is $3599.00. But it looks like you can knock off about a $1,000 of that price by shopping Amazon and searching other websites. More info on the Samsung site:

http://www.samsung.com/us/appliances/refrigerators/RF4289HARS/XAA-features

And it's here on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XQHBHC/?tag=twnene-20

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/dgw1376

Video of the week - A viewer takes on an amazing project!

Every week we show a video from a fan. (See the link below on how to submit your own video.)  Although Michael didn’t invent the electric truck, he sure impressed us on how to take his own gasoline powered truck and electrified it! Even his video editing skills are good. Here’s his email:

Hi Dick and Leo:

In the summer of 2009 I converted a Ford Ranger truck to all electric. I got info from the Internet on how to do it. As part of the project I had to solve a number of problems including how to connect the motor to the transmission. That is the main topic of my video.  I haven't had any engineering or electronics training other than growing up on a farm with a lot of old equipment to keep working. I am a Circuit Court Judge. You have a great show and I watch everything on the Twit Network. Leo you have created a great place to stay informed, learn and be entertained. Thank you.

Michael Clary

P.S. I filmed and edited the video using only my IPad. You can check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9w2SNIynrQ

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/dgw1376

Want to submit your own video for our show? It can be on a variety of topics. All the info is

here: http://gizwizbiz.squarespace.com/dicks-blog-log/

Leo’s Turn The Table Turkey – or Turn The Table Treasure?

A little over a year ago I reviewed the iWow 3D from SRS Labs and way to greatly improve recorded audio. But it only enhanced the audio coming from your iPad, iPhone iPod, or iPod Touch. That’s because it only shipped with the Apple 30-pin connector. But now there’s a version that works using any standard 3.5mm headphone jack, so it will work with your Android phone, MP3 player, portable TV, etc. SRS labs are the folks famous for knowing how to get the best out of almost any audio source. The SRS iWOW 3D connects between your headphones and your audio device. Even though this gizmo is small, it utilizes many of the patented SRS technologies designed to bring sound to life. Recorded music that sounds “canned”, comes to life with the iWOW 3D. A push of the single button on the device turns it on and off. When the button is illuminated, it’s on. But you’ll know for sure it’s on, by the amazing sound. The name is said to come from people saying “wow” when turning on an SRS audio enhancement device. Leo did a nice little demo by playing music without the iWOW 3D, and then clicking it on. The difference is amazing, as you’ll hear for yourself when you listen or watch this episode. The music sounds more “open”, richer and it certainly has more bass. There’s has a free app to let you customize the sound. The SRS iWOW App lets you select headphones, speakers or car and optimizes the sound accordingly. There’s an “advanced mode” that lets you increase bass, increase treble and add a widened surround sound effect. Each of those three choices are either turned on or off, there’s no fine adjustment. While there are two models for iOS devices, there seems to be just one for non-Apple electronics. The kit includes the SRS iWOW 3D audio enhancement adaptor and  five interchangeable color faceplates so you can customized it to match your player. Retail is $79.99, but I saw it here for $10 less ($69.99) on Amazon. I haven’t bought anything at this website:

http://www.amazon.com/HD-Quality-3-5mm-Surround-Adaptor-silver/dp/B007T9TKBK/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/dgw1376

Vote on Leo’s “What Piece of Crap should I buy from the Sky Mall Catalog to use as another next Turn The Table Turkey?” http://strawpoll.me/1929

From the Gadget Warehouse, the Amazing Wayfinder Electronic Compass!

It’s about 20 years ago when Precision Navigation introduces the Wayfinder, an electronic dashboard compass. It was so innovative it even made the pages of Popular Mechanics, as you can see. It had a memory function, which according to the write-up "stores a direction of travel so you can retrace your steps"! Yep, it sounds like it can remember one single event. By today’s standard that's joke material! And yet, back then the retail price was $99.95.

I guess the Wayfinder was not a big hit, because here’s what a trademark search brought up:

On Friday, November 15, 1991, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for WAYFINDER by PRECISION NAVIGATION INCORPORATED, Mountain View 94043. The USPTO has given the WAYFINDER trademark serial number of 74223621. The current federal status of this trademark filing is ABANDONED - NO STATEMENT OF USE FILED. The correspondent listed for WAYFINDER is Joseph H. Smith, San Jose, CA 95127. The WAYFINDER trademark is filed in the category of Computer & Software Products & Electrical & Scientific Products . The description provided to the USPTO for WAYFINDER is directional compasses.

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/dgw1376

Have some old gadget you hate to part with? Why not share it with the TWiT audience?

Here's how to submit your own video for our show. It can be on a variety of topics. All the info is

here: http://gizwizbiz.squarespace.com/dicks-blog-log/