The Weekly Daily Giz Wiz, Week of December 5th, 2011 – Netcast 1343

A Waist Pack with some unique features.

Most any waist pack has room for your keys, phone, camera, wallet and more. But the iSafe Waist Pack adds something none of the other waist packs have. The iSafe Waist Pack is equipped with a powerful (LOUD!) concealed alarm system. This can offer personal safety and protection in dangerous or harmful situations. In addition to the alarm, there are four flashing red LED’s that activate along with the alarm. This is a great way for people to see where the sound is coming from in the dark. The Waist Pack joins the existing line of iSafe products: the iSafe Backpack and iSafe Messenger Bag. The alarm system is incorporated seamlessly into the waist pack. No one will know it’s there until you activate it. The iSafe Waist Pack weighs less than a pound including the batteries. The built-in alarm system is shock and water-resistant. If you find yourself in a threatening situation just pull down on the inconspicuous activation cord. That sets off the audible alarm and flashing red lights to attract attention. It should really startle any would-be attacker. I was expecting to hear the alarm when I tried the alarm function on a product sample, but I was still startled by how quickly the alarm went off and how piercing the sound is. You silence the alarm by replacing the pin. If you are in a strange or isolated area, the company recommends keeping one hand one hand close to the activation cord.The flashing LED’s can also function as a rescue beacon in the event of an accident or other emergency. The alarm can run continuously for up to two hours on two 9-volt batteries. Alternatively, the alarm can be switched on and off in intervals to conserve battery power. The one size-fits-all iSafe Waist Pack is available in black and blue/gray and comes with an adjustable belt strap for child and adult use. Dimensions: 11" x 6.5" x 5.5". MSRP $39.99.

www.iSafeBags.com

See or hear this Netcast: http://www.twit.tv/dgw1343      

This link usually goes live on Sunday afternoon, the day after we record the Netcast.

Video of the week - Something Quirky.

Ventu – A really Quirky Gadget

I have a colander on my wall. No, not calendar, although I have that too. Colanders are used to strain the boiling water from pasta. Some folks also use them to waste fresh produce, but I don't need to wash my produce since 99.9% of the time it arrives in frozen form. Not only are colanders on the big side, they don’t have  much use. And they don't look very techie either. That’s why the new Ventu bowl via the folks at Quirky, changes things big time. It’s a strainer, serving bowl and storage container in one.  It’s quite handsome, crafted from brushed stainless steel with acacia wood handles. It holds up to 20 cups. Here’s how it works. After the pasta is bowling, dump it and the hot water into the Ventu. Then push down on one of the pivoting wood handles. The opens a sliding door at the bottom of the Ventu, and a strainer drains off the hot water. Yes, be sure to do this over the sink!!! Once the water drains from the pasta, lift the handle back up to close the no-leak seal strainer. You are now ready to add your sauce and serve. When this was first presented to Quirky, their staff and the Quirky community voted on it. It got positive reviews, so the next step was to see if 1700 people would “commit” to buying one when and if it was produced. Those folks were eligible to buy it for $49.99 once it was made. The normal price is $54.99. Reaction was very positive and work to produce moved ahead quickly. It's not a real Quirky product. Dimensions: Diameter, handle to handle: 12.3” Diameter of bowl: 9.7” Diameter of base: 5.6” Height: 6.6”. Packaging for the Ventu was almost complete when Dennis Wunderlin and I shot the video for this week's show. The folks there said it will hopefully be on sale by Christmas. There’s more info at the Quirky website below. That's where you can also find about presenting an idea for an invention you might have. You don’t have to be an inventor yourself to participate. You can comment on other people’s invention ideas and also ways to improve them. If your idea is accepted, you share in the profits. The cost to present an invention is tiny, $10. The man who invented Pivot Power (also at the link below) will make a few hundred thousand dollars this years from his invention!! 

www.quirky.com

See or hear this Netcast: http://www.twit.tv/dgw1343 

This link usually goes live on Sunday afternoon, the day after we record the Netcast.

Small gadget, big fun -- Tankbot!

Tankbot  This could easily be this season’s hottest new Executive Toy! But anyone who plays with it will love it. First you fold down the built in USB dongle, the plug your Tankbot into an available port on your computer to charge the internal battery. When the two blue LED’s go out, it’s charged. The tiny Tankbot has three distinct operating modes. In the first mode, an optical navigation technology lets it navigate around obstacles. Build a maze of books, or just junk on your desk and watch Tankbot run around and turn quickly to avoid hitting things. (Hint: the mini navigation system doesn’t really see the color black, so it’s best to use lighter color objects for your maze.) In mode two, Tankbot just dances, spins and does what it want, all the time making cute sounds. And in the mode three, you can use your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad to control your Tankbot. You get a free controller included with the kit, and the app you download is free too. But the controls are rather basic, forward, reverse, turn, speed and stop. But for under $25, this is really fun. Radio Shack may still have it for a special price of $19.99.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12249382

See or hear this Netcast: http://www.twit.tv/dgw1343     

This link usually goes live on Sunday afternoon, the day after we record the Netcast.

Leo's Turn The Table Turkey!

For this week’s TTTT Leo picked the Kogeto Dot. This strange device is a 360-degree lens that snaps onto the back of an iPhone 4. You use it to shoot 360-degrees video. As Leo showed, once you install it, you hit the video record button, and then get out of way. If you’re at a sport’s event you can record the teams and the spectators. On a road trip leave Dot on the dashboard and record your complete highway adventures. No matter what you're recording, Dot sees everything! Once you record a scene, you play it back using the special free Looker app player. The amazing thing is you can look at any part of your video; the front view, the back view, the side views ---any viewpoint in the 360 degree video that’s there. Leo showed us how he could scroll around the entire 360 view by swiping his finger on the iPhone 4 screen. You can also upload the clip to various social networks. The Kogeto Dot camera began as a teacher’s aid, as a similar much higher tech device named “Lucy”, which cost $1,000 and up. Then it became a Kickstarter project for a consumer version. It has just now entered the marketplace. Kogeto's compact and durable iCONIC lens works with just the iPhone 4/4S HD video camera and there is no need to stitch frames together. Leo said the video is certainly not HD, but it sure offers a unique 360-degree view of everything you record. Dot is a lightweight and doesn't require batteries or external power. Installation involves just snapping it onto your iPhone 4/4S. It comes with a Microfiber pouch that doubles as a lens cloth. Cost is about $80.

http://kogeto.com/dot.php

See or hear this Netcast: http://www.twit.tv/dgw1343     

This link usually goes live on Sunday afternoon, the day after we record the Netcast.

Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse for Casio's 1st Digital Camera.

Since we’ve been reporting on so many new, semi-high-end digital cameras on the WDGW, I decided to revisit Casio’s first digital camera, the QV-10. I originally talked about on March 10th, 2006, episode 15 of The Daily Giz Wiz. The Casio QV-10 was introduced in 1996. It was said to be the first under $1,000 consumer digital camera. The introduction price was a “low” $650. For that price you got a camera with a whopping 2 MB of non-removable memory. It had no flash, and it offered a resolution of 320 X 240. At that resolution the QV-10 could store up to 96 pictures! But some 15+ years ago this camera was the "gee wiz" talk of all my friends. There was an endless stream of people into my office so people could peer at their digital image on the 1.8” LCD color screen. The QV-10 had a novel flip-over lens so you could see and shot a picture of yourself. But with no removable memory the one thing had to be avoided at all costs was accidentally turning the camera off, or interrupting the AC power while it was processing a digital image. That could cause the camera to display FATAL ERROR. Fatal Error back then was really severe. It meant you could not reboot the camera. Only Casio Tech Support could do, so you had to send the camera back to them! Pretty archaic, no?

See or hear this Netcast: http://www.twit.tv/dgw1343     

This link usually goes live on Sunday afternoon, the day after we record the Netcast.

Here's where you can play & hear the 12 Days of Daily Giz Wiz gadgets that ended this show:

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