This is the 1st Daily Giz Wiz Episode of year 5! And people said it would never last!

Monday, February 22^nd, 2010, Netcast 1031

SEALEGS – A Totally New Concept in Power Boats!

Of all the boats I saw at the Miami Boat Show, I’d have to say Sealegs was the most unusual. The company says they specifically designed and developed it to take all the hassle out of the boat launching and retrieval process. And how did they do that? It’s an inflatable boat (they make two models in the 20 foot range) with motorized, retractable and steerable wheels! A Sealegs boat can be driven from a storage location, down a boat ramp or beach and into the water - all with the occupants staying in the boat and remaining completely dry! Once in the water, the Sealegs wheels are retracted into the "UP" position where they are completely out of the water. The boat is then driven and used as normal. When approaching land, the Sealegs wheels are lowered into the "DOWN" position while still moving in the water. Then the captain slowly moves towards the beach and when the Sealegs motorized wheels touch the bottom, he/she can drive the boat up onto land. The occupants can then disembark, totally dry and safe. The Sealegs boats use two kinds of engines. The motorized wheels which give a user variable speed of 0-10km/h (forward and reverse) are powered by an on-board 24hp Honda driven hydraulic power-pack motor. In the water, the boat is powered by an outboard motor starting at about 90 hp. It can hit a top speed of about 35 knots, which is equal to 40+ mph on the water. The Sealegs system utilizes all submersible components and is Salt Water ready. I asked what the market would be for a boat like this, and they said mostly military, police, and commercial. I figured the boat was not “street legal” and it’s not. The construction looked top notch and they had impressive video at the booth, some of which you can see on the company’s website. A Sealegs craft is not inexpensive. They start at $69,700. That includes the motor for the pumps & wheels, but not the cost of the outboard, which is about $12,000 to $20,000 depending on the size of the engine.

www.sealegs.com

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1031

Ever heard of a Motorola cell phone with iTunes?

Friday, February 19^th, 2010, Netcast 1030 Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse

It was back in September 2005 when I was invited to a huge disco/nightclub called Webster Hall for a ‘major announcement’ from Motorola. The rumors were rampant that the announcement would be that Motorola would be introducing new an iTunes capable cell phone. Hmm, I never recalled up to that point that Apple really liked to work with outside companies, so I had a ‘wait & see’ attitude. With music blaring and DJ’s playing we were introduced to the Motorola ROKR E1. (ROKR as in Rocker.) Yes, the rumors were true. You could use it with iTunes, but so it wasn’t too much like an iPod, there was a tune limit. You could only transfer 100 of your favorite songs from the iTunes jukebox on a Mac or PC to the ROKR. Another not too exciting announcement was that this new phone was exclusively available with Cingular service. (Now ATT.) The Motorola ROKR had a color display for viewing album art, dual built-in stereo speakers (which sounded very decent) and stereo headphones that doubled as a mobile headset with microphone. But there was another musical drawback to the ROKR. Although you could now use a version of iTunes on this phone, you could not listen to your music library via Bluetooth stereo headphones. No protocol to do that was included, and you also needed an adapter to use regular 3.5mm headphones. The cost was $199.99, which was quickly reduced to $149.99, which didn’t seem to help much. The phone was available for about a year before it disappeared.

www.twit.tv/dgw1030

The Amazing – and Cheap Keychain Mini DVR.

Thursday, February 18^th, 2010, Netcast 1029

A fan sent me an email about this Keychain DVR. I wish I could find their name to give them credit, but I went through more than 500 emails and can’t locate it. But I did buy one & I love it. Actually I ordered two more. Here are the details from the Ebay website:

The car key Chain mini DVR is the smallest DVR in the world. The video is still very clear and vivid even if you are moving when you record video because it is 100% 720 X 480 pixels and 30 frame/second. Dimension:  1.2 x 1.95 x 0.4 inch   (3cm x 4.9cm x 1cm) Weight: 15g ( including battery) Real time recording in AVI Video format. Takes 1280 x 960 JPG photos. Color video with voice lets you clearly see who’s there & hear what they say. Playback video on Laptop or PC Time stamp on video. Built-in Memory: None. Micro SD card support︰ 128MB to 16GB (No card included) USB adapter charging cable. Battery build-in: 280mAH, charges via USB. Record Time︰ Around 70 minutes. Kit includes camera, usb cable and Instructions.

The camera looks exactly like a key fob for your car. There are two working and two fake buttons. One button turns the cam on/off. The other button does all the operations. One quick click shoots a photo; or hold the button down until the LED light blinks 3X, which indicates you are in video recording mode. I paid $16.90 including shipping, but Leo found one on the web for only $12 including shipping! I have heard there are knock-offs of the original and that some of the lower priced knock-offcameras can only take 2 or 4 GB Micro SD cards and don't focus as clearly. I don’t know if Leo will get the exact same camera I have, although they look alike. To be safe, I reordered the exact camera I first ordered & paid the full $16.90! (Not a bad price for the amazing quality!!)

Here’s a 1-minute video clip I shot at MAD Magazine with the camera I bought:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=bK_zJIvqwj4&v=OIm8Z2OQbOs

Here’s where I bought mine:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180467377034

Hear this show: www.twit.tv/dgw1029

Seagate meets Pogoplug.

Wednesday, February 17^th, 2010, Netcast 1028

DockStar Network Adapter shown with optional FreeAgent Go portable drive.Seagate has a line of FreeAgent Go portable hard drives. They can automatically back up files and folders on your computer with the software on the drive. And now you can combine a FreeAgent Go portable hard drive with Seagate’s new FreeAgent DockStar. It’s a combination of a docking station and network attached storage device. It allows for the data stored on a Seagate FreeAgent Go drive and up to three other USB connected hard drives to be shared via a network connection. It gives you an easy way to share and access digital photos, videos and files anywhere you can find an Internet connection. You can also access files from any networked PC or Mac computer in your home. Or access and share files with friends, over the Internet —no special software required. You can enable friends and/or family to upload content, creating a comprehensive share space. It appears as a local drive whether at home or accessed through the Internet. It’s just simple drag-and-drop access. The device keeps your workspace neat by letting you dock a FreeAgent Go drive and then connect up to three additional USB storage devices. If you like, you can send pictures straight from your iPhone to the FreeAgent DockStar network adapter. Now you’ll notice in my heading to this gadget I mentioned Pogoplug. That’s because this device uses Pogoplug technology for the Ethernet connectivity and file sharing. Seagate made a licensing agreement with them, which means they pay a fee to Pogoplug. They offer the Pogoplug service to buyers for free for the 1st year, but then there is a $29.95 annual fee after that. You don’t have to pay the fee if you just want to use the docking station as a networked device in your own network, but not over the Internet. Or you can buy a stand-alone Pogoplug, which does a little bit less, and looks a lot less techie for about $99.00 - and pay no monthly fee. But be warned: The current Pogoplug is available only in glowing pink for some strange reason. (Check it out at the link below.) The FreeAgent DockStar lists for $99.99, but do a web search and you can usually find it a bit cheaper. I saw it on Amazon for $79.99.  You can team your FreeAgent DockStar with a FreeAgent Go Portable Drive. There are now 7 models in various colors that run from 250GB to 1TB. They start at about $70 for the 250 GB model. 

More info and video demo at the Seagate website: http://www.seagate.com/www/products/network_storage/freeagent_dockstar

Here this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1028

Here’s the Daily Giz Wiz on the original Pogoplug: www.twit.tv/dgw817

Learn more about the current Pogoplug: http://pogoplug.com/

Leo loves anything tech, even tech gloves!

Tuesday, February 16^th, 2010, Netcast 1027  Another Turn The Table Tuesday

The openings are there on purpose! So you can control your gizmos while your hand stays warm. For this Turn The Table Tuesday, Leo demonstrates his new AquaTech Sensory gloves.  Sensory Gloves? What do they do? I asked the same question and Leo did a mini demo showing us how he could dial his cell phone and surf the web with this AquaTech Sensory gloves on! You see these gloves not only keep your hands warm like normal gloves, but they help keep you in control of your gadgets. How? Well this is the “tech” part – they offer instant exposure of thumb and Index for fine control of iPods, iPhones, MP3 players, etc. Yes, Leo almost seemed giddy as he exposed his fingers on “live Internet recording of The Daily Giz Wiz!” They also have a waterproof breathable outer shell, and double fast drying breathable insulation layers. But wait there’s more! Other features includes silicon palm for superior grip and wait there’s still more!!! And adjustable wrist lanyards. They’re available in your choice of Small, Medium, Large & Extra Large, but you get no choice when it comes to the color. All the sizes are black/moss. (Moss, as in green.) $49.95. I did a quickie web search and it seems for right now, discounts are not available.

www.aquatech.net

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1027