OMGChad & I pick out what we feel was our 'best & worst' gadgets of 2014.

Forget that big, heavy lead-acid jump starter device!

The folks at Cobra have been making car travel gadgets for a long time. But I’m particularly impressed with their new JumPack device. Cobra says you can use this small, lightweight device not only to charge your mobile devices, but also to start your car when the battery under the hood won't! It packs 200 Amp Starting Current, 400 Amp Peak Current, which they say is enough to jumpstart most cars, even those with V-8 engines. And you can jumpstart your car multiple times on one charge. I carry one of these on my boat, waiting for the day I need it. The day arrived when I came down to my boat to find the battery that starts my 225hp Yamaha four-stroke, dead. (Yes, I have a battery for the bilge pumps isoldated from the starting battery.) I hooked up the Cobra JumpPack as instructed, hit the key, and by golly --- my engine started up immediately! Wow, no more lugging that lead-acid battery-up device around. It was usually dead when I needed it anyway. Besides starting boat and car engines, the JumPack also has a 2.1 Amp USB port to rapid charge your portable devices including cell phone, smartphone, tablets and other mobile devices. But wait, there’s more! There’s a built-in superbright LED flashlight, plus strobe and S.O.S emergency blinker. 7500mAh Lithium-Cobalt Battery. Unlike a lead-acid battery jumper device, which loses power quickly, the JumPack will hold 80 to 90% of its charge for about a year. The device is about the size of a small paperback book (5.04” H x 2.87” W x 0.98” D) and weighs only 11 ounces. It comes with a 12-volt cigarette lighter plug charger, 110-volt charger and jumper cables. Charging or recharging the JumPack takes just a few hours. Model CPP 7500. MSRP $129.99  

Cobra company website: http://www.cobra.com/

There are much newer versions than this one.

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1499

Chad pick's as one of his 2014 favs - Socker Boppers

Chad’s picks is Big Time Toys Socker Bopper. These are inflatable boxing pillows. Here’s what Amazon says about them: More fun than a pillow fight. Air-inflated for soft, safe fun. For boys and girls. Indoors and outdoors. Patented double-cavity air chamber cushions wrist and hand. Oversized deluxe no-leak air valves for quick, easy inflation. Super heavy-duty 12-gauge vinyl for rugged durability. Fun for all ages. A sure winner for everyone. No more feathers flying around for you to clean up after the sleep over pillow fight. 

And Chad’s Take? Chad and Jeff did a little 'play' fighting with the Socker Boppers. It seems they're fun, but you could hit someone hard with them and it might hurt. So they're definitely not for hostile play. At the about $13 with shipping, Chad thought they would have been cheaper. So I guess it's a 'do be careful' warning if you buy them.

Big Time Toys Socker Bopper (Colors May Vary)- As an Amazon Associate Giz Wiz Biz earns from qualifying Amazon purchases.

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1499

Giz Wiz Worst of 2014 - The 20X Magnification Power Glasses; Powerfully Bad.

While looking around Amazon for fun gadgets to talk about, I found the 20x Magnification Power Glasses. Here’s what Amazon says about them:

“Loupe location is adjustable on the frame for your comfort. Mounted on a black eyeglass frame for hands free use. Bright LED bulb is adjustable to illuminate viewing field. Perfect for installing & repairing camera, watch, and other electronics. 20x magnification power. Please note: The product need to simply assemble by users. Please close to the object when you use, and it is not stereoscopic, the two sides cannot focus on the same thing meanwhile.” 

And after I got them in the mail, here’s what I found. There is no diopter adjustment, so I couldn’t use these over my glasses. Actually, there are no adjustments at all for the lenses on the 20X Magnification Power Glasses. And you have to be really, really, close to the subject you wish to magnify before it comes into focus. Since you will probably be less than an inch from what you are viewing, they’ll be nothing much you can do to what you’re looking at, except view it. This will make trying to work on a project close-up rather difficult. Contrary to what it says on Amazon, there is no assembly required. You just may have to bend the frames back in shape because it’s not carefully packaged and it comes from overseas, so delivery will take a while.   

Watch Repair Magnifier Loupe 20X Glasses With LED Light- As an Amazon Associate Giz Wiz Biz earns from qualifying Amazon purchases.

Giz Wiz Magnifier Glasses Video: http://youtu.be/_b-DVFxnmhE  

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1499

From the worst list: LED Ice Cubes.

Continuing with this month’s theme of “things that light” Chad has picked something that looks neat, 12 LED Decorative Ice Cubes. Amazon says they have one-push button to change functions, they’re water submersible, and multi-color: blue , green , purple, etc. It also says “rechange battery”, so I don’t know if that should read “rechargeable” or not, but we’ll find out from Chad. $7.77, not Amazon Prime, but free shipping.

And what did Chad think of them? Chad thought they were  neat looking, but he wondered about how well they were made. His thought was NOT to put them in drinks for guests because he thought they might leak whatever is in them. Also one arrived 'dead' and wouldn't light at all, and another one pretty much died on air. But as a way to decorate for a party, a few of these in glasses blinking on and off would look pretty good. By the way you don't actually use these as ice cubes and they don't go into the freezer.  

Water Submersible Decorative LED Ice Cubes - 12-pack Multicolor As an Amazon Associate Giz Wiz Biz earns from qualifying Amazon purchases.

This is the show the LED ice cubs came from: www.twit.tv/dgw1468 

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Giz Wiz Good List: A Bluetooth Speaker that can take a dunkin'!

See the video of The Giz Wiz Dipping a high tech Bluetooth Speaker into the Hudson River!

Fugoo's unique "Core plus Jacket" modular design lets you customize the speaker to your taste and lifestyle. In my video, I tested the Fugoo Tough Jacket version, which is crafted from fiber-reinforced resin and solid aluminum. On World News Now, I dropped a Fugoo Style Speaker in a jug of water. Fugoo speakers aren't water resistant, they're waterproof! So you can take them lots of places. I used a bungee to bounce the Fugoo Touch Jacket Speaker up and down in the Hudson River, so check out the video. But wait, there’s more! The built-in omnidirectional microphone gives you full-duplex speakerphone functionality so you can answer a call right from the speaker. And something else rather unique, speakers on all four sides offer what Fugoo calls 360 sound. The speaker's upward tilt and symmetrical positioning cancels vibrations so the Speaker won't "walk" across the table like other speakers might do. Price is under $200 with the Sport or Style jacket, and under $230 with the Tough case, which is the one in the video below. It is one impressive rugged speaker system. There’s a 3.5mm jack too in case you want to use it with a device that doesn’t have Bluetooth. And playback time – an amazing 40 hours at half-volume after about a 3.5 hour charge! 

Company website: http://www.fugoo.com/ 

Giz Wiz Fugoo Speaker Video:http://youtu.be/jjhZ2079s8Q 

Here's the link to our best/worst show:  www.twit.tv/giz1499