Leo flew home from CES with his Victorinox "knife" and had no problem with at airport security.

TTTT, Tuesday, February 8^th, 2011  Netcast 1282

I’m sure you know what Victorinox is famous for. Yes, they made a huge line of Swiss knives that also might contain tools, flashlights, nail files, openers, etc. At CES Leo learned that business at Victorinox suffered when airport security started banning pen knives. So the company started altering their line to include non-knife gizmos.  For his Turn The Table Tuesday this week Leo showed his Victorinox Flash Flight Alox. It looks exactly like a small Swiss knife but inside the durable aluminum housing is a neatly concealed USB drive. There’s no knife blade, so it’s perfectly fine to go through security at the airport.  In use, just remove the drive from the housing and you have yourself a nifty, tiny flash drive with 2, 4, 8, 16 or the latest – 32GB of memory.  That’s the one Leo has, 32GB. He’s taking on his three week trip so it will give him a ton of memory to store hours of HD video and thousands of photos. It even has LED lights on the Victorinox logo to show you when the flash drive is working. It blinks red when the drive is reading or writing, and turns green when the drive is in the write protected mode. Available in aluminum or red plastic case. Prices start at about $30 for the early 1GB model and run up to about $170 for the 32GB Flash Flight Alox. It’s best to do a web search for the lowest price.

http://www.victorinox.com/category/1/100/1007

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1282

Do you want to be noticed wherever you go? This gadget can make that happen!

Monday February 7^th, 2011  Netcast  1281

Now that programmable name tags aren’t that rare anymore, a newer kind of name tag has come to the forefront. It’s the Video Name Tag. Yep, you can walk around wearing a mini 2.8” OLED color TV screen which can display anything you download onto the 2GB of internal memory. If you’re walking toward someone wearing a 2.8” color TV set, you’re probably going to be get noticed. But how about when you’re walking away from them, and a person can’t see the front of you? At CES, a guy who works for Video Name Tag got a LOT of attention from the back! How? He was walking with 20 – yes, I counted them – 20 2.8” color TV’s on his back. They attach to your clothing with magnetic clip. Another guy wore a bunch of these Video Name Tag TV’s on a Abe Lincoln-type hat and got a ton of attention as he roamed the aisles too. If you don’t want to use the magnetic clip you can hang it around your neck with the included Lanyard. It’s great for promoting yourself and/or your company/product. It can run continuous video content or photos. Just about anything you upload. Kit includes AC power charger, USB connection and software. The company says the video will run for about 8 hours on a single charge. Side controls allow for ON/OFF, Repeat, Fast Forward, Next File Folder, and Pause. File folders allow you to run different content from separate folders. $198.00.

www.videonametag.com

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1281

“Home Theatre” in its early stages!

Friday, February 4^th, 2011, Netcast 1280

For this Friday's Back to Dick's Gadget Warehouse we go back to 1998. Some 13 years ago home theatre systems weren’t anywhere near as sophisticated as they are today. Of course back then I was using my home theatre system with a “giant” 25” tube TV. Living in a 2.5 room apartment I didn’t need anything that could rattle the walls - and the neighbors! So I picked the low end of the Aiwa line. It was the model AV-X120 Stereo Receiver. It had an AM/FM tuner, and put out 70 watts a channel for the front speakers, 35 watts per channel for the rear speakers and 70 watts for the center channel. And of course since I was attracted to it, it had its share of lights and buttons. There was a built in Electronic Graphic Equalizer (back then a graphic equalizer demanded capital letters!) To use it you pushed a button to select presets for rock, pop, jazz, classic or BGM. What the heck is BGM? I had to ask too. Turns out it’s BackGround Music.  It also featured DSP Surround Sound and Dolby Pro Logic. But wait, there’s more! It also had a BBE System, more initials I didn’t understand. Turns out that’s a sound technology licensed from BBE. And finally it had a T- Bass system for what else, more bass! There were 3 Video Inputs – one for Laser Disc --- another for video MD – no idea what MD stood for – and the third input which I used for the audio out from my TV. This same system was available from Aiwa in ever increasing power output ranges but as I said, I bought the bottom of the line. I think I paid a bit under $300 at The Wiz, (now a long defunct discount electronics retailer and no connection to me.) My Aiwa AV-X120 system still works, still lights up, but is light-years behind the curve compared to today’s 7.1 & 7.2 surround sound technology. And my 25" Tube TV has been replaced with a 37" flat screen. (Yes, that's small, but I still have a 2.5 room apartment!)

SEE or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1280

An old toy favorite joins up with a new electronic favorite.

Headcase Etch-a-Sketch Cases

Now, the Worlds Favorite Drawing Toy, (they sold 150 million of them!) the Etch A Sketch, meets up much newer gadgets from Apple. Yes the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad have come together in the form of Headcase’s officially licensed Etch A Sketch cases.  Celebrate Etch A Sketch’s 50th anniversary and fool everyone in the office into thinking you bought an electronic Etch A Sketch.  These cases are more than just great fun and cool looking gadgets!  They’re designed to protect and enhance your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.  Made of impact resistant plastic, they’ll protect your device as a hard case should. Strategically placed windows allow for easy use of all your iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch switches, ports, and buttons.  You might consider them a touch on the pricey side, but I bet some of that price has to go to Ohio Art in order to icense the official Etch A sketch branding. iPad case: $39.99. iPhone or iTouch versions $24.99. Available at Amazon.com or at the company website:

 www.getaheadcase.com   

See or hear this Netcast www.twit.tv/dgw1279

Have a lot of electronic gadgets you need to keep charged on the road? Read on.

From i.Sound comes Power Max 8000. iSound says this is the only back up power supply you will ever again need while on the road. One thing’s for sure, with its compact design and 8000mAH battery, you’ll certainly be able to keep up the charge on multiple devices. Unlike other battery/charging device, this one offers 5 USB ports. This allows you to charge and power almost all your small USB powered devices. (iPods, cell phones, PDA’s, etc.) And the company told me it will even charge the iPad! I learned this info since we recorded this episode. (It will not charge a laptop which requires a lot of power!)  The included USB to mini and micro USB cable means you don't have to carry around cables for each device. An LED indicator with four lights lets you know how much power is remaining from 25% to 100%. And there’s yet one more thing! A flashlight’s built in to help you in the dark. The one drawback of this device is that the 100 / 240V AC / DC adapter is not built-in, but it is included. My guess it would have made the unit way bigger and heavier! However, with the large capacity of the battery, you won’t be carrying the AC charger around much. On short trips, you can just charge the Power Max 8000 before you home and forget about bring the adapter.. MSRP $79.99. But do a web search for discounts. iSound also offers a 16,000 mAH version which can charge an iPad! It has a MSRP of $129.99. Again, discounts should be available.

http://www.isound.net/shop-by-type/accessories/i-sound-portable-power-8000-mah.html

See or Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1278