Now you can wear your heart (rate) on your sleeve!

Wednesday, January 12^th, 2011 Netcast 1263 

Leo gets on a WiFi enabled scale and Tweets his weight to the world. Now, if you like, you can use a new device, the Heart Rate Receiver, to send signals to fitness applications that compare heart rate data with speed, distance and location. Then you upload them to web, facebook, dailymile and twitter! The Heart Rate Receiver plugs into the headphone jack on your iPhone3GS (running iOS 3.2 or later), iPhone 4, iTouch 4G and the iPad. There’s a pass through for your headphones so you can listen to music while still receiving heart rate. The Heart Rate Monitor is compatible with Polar and other standard analog heart rate monitors. Or you can buy a kit which includes the device and a chest belt. So if you want to know what your heart is doing as you work out, this device shows continuous heart rate, time spent in heart zones and total time of your workout. That way you can focus your exercise in the Fat Burning, Aerobic or Anaerobic zones. You customize the device by setting your zones based on your age, max heart rate or your own settings. There’s a manual section to help you calculate your heart rate to determine the specific workout zone. I used it at the gym before writing this and it worked fine, with a couple of exceptions. I haven’t find a convenient place to wear it yet. The Heart Rate Monitor, about the size of a book of matches, sticks out of the headphone jack, and I kept hitting it. And the iPod Touch screen is so sensitive, I would inadvertently shut off the application by bumping it. It will take a bit of time and practice to use it correctly. The 60beat app is only for Apple now, but Android, Blackberry and other devices are coming soon. The Heart 360 Monitor alone is $29.99, or you can get the Monitor with a chest belt for $49.99.  

www.60beat.com  

SEE or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1263 

Now you can turn your Smart Phone into a device that can accept credit card payments!

 Tuesday, January 11^th, 2011, Netcast 1262

When Leo said his pick for this Turn The Table Tuesday was a piece of free hardware that could be used with a free app, I was really interested! Turns out this device is pretty neat, especially if you’re a person who likes to sell things from time to time and would like to be able to take credit cards. Even though a majority of payments has moved to plastic cards, accepting payments from cards for the small businessperson is not easy. It requires long applications, expensive hardware, and an overly complex experience. That why Square was born! It’s a tiny device less than an inch square that fits into your Smart Phone. (Apple & Android Apps available.) It has a slot in one side that copies all the info needed from a customer’s credit cards when you swipe it through. (Your device needs to be connected to the web when you swipe the card.) The best part? There are no activation, gateway, monthly, early termination, or hidden fees. Here’s a bit of info from their website: Square allows you to accept *unlimited* payments, period.  There are no limits on transaction size or transactions. As a new Square user, we will immediately deposit your first $1,001 of sales per week to your bank account, which means you have access to the money by tomorrow. Any remaining amount will be transferred to your bank account within 30 days of the transaction. And the cost: 2.75% + 15¢ for swiped transactions and 3.5% + 15¢ for keyed-in transactions. (Keyed in is when you don’t use the credit card swipe.) It seems like a great idea for a person who wants to take credit cards without a big-deal set-up. Check out the Square website for all the details. 

http://squareup.com 

SEE or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1262   

Your own iPod Touch Hot Spot.

Monday, January 10th, 2011 Netcast 1261

New from Sprint is the ZTE PEEL. This device lets Apple iPod touch users carry their own Wi-Fi hotspot. It connects to the Internet via Sprint’s nationwide 3G network. Now this is important. The ZTE PEEL lets you lock in second and third generation iPod touch so it looks like one single case. Although it works fine with new 4^th generation iPod Touch that I have, it lays in the cradle, without locking in. That’s because the newer model is a touch slimmer. To use your Touch anywhere there’s Sprint 3G service, just press the power button on the back of ZTE PEEL. Five green LED lights that show how much battery is left when you power up. A single blinking green light lets you know you’re connected to the Sprint Network. The Peel has cutouts for the power and volume buttons, but you have to use the supplied mini-dongle to connect headphones with the case in place. You’ll also have to remove the Touch 4G from the PEEL to use the iPod’s rear-facing camera, which is absent on versions 2 & 3 of the Touch. If you’re wondering why the dock connector doesn’t help hold your Touch in place, it because the Peel doesn’t use a connector. The Peel is merely providing Wi-Fi for your Touch. Actually you get support for up to two Wi-Fi enabled devices to be connected at the same. It’s compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP and Macintosh OS 10.5 and 10.6. Security through WEP 64 Bit (Open or shared). As soon as you turn on your Touch, ZTE PEEL shows up as a connectable option in WiFi settings. There’s no software installation required. Inside the device is a 900 mAH Li-Ion Battery, which Sprint says offers up to 3 hours of active use time. The PEEL is charged separately from your Touch since they are not physically connected. The PEEL is $79.99 + $29.99 monthly for 1 GB of service. As Leo mentioned, 1 GB may turn out to far less that you’ll. Oh, there is no contract required for this device. 

www.sprint.com 

SEE or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1261 

Here’s a gadget that was very popular in the 80’s & 90’s.

Friday, January 7^th, 2011, Netcast 1260 

The Sansui RG-710 Sales Brochure!If you had a big Stereo system back in the 80's & 90's, you needed to have a separate equalizer to impress your friends and to fashion the sound to your liking. (Today equalization is mostly done with software.) Yes, even back then I liked lights, sliders, visual color displays, etc. Among the many units on the market was the Sansui Stereo Graphic Equalizer RG- 710. This came into the marketplace around 1983-84. It was not only an equalizer, but a reverb unit, and a dynamic processor. The Sansui RG-710 was one of the most elaborate analog processors you could buy for your home audio system! The built-in "Multi-Dimension" processor featured a 7-band graphic stereo EQ for the main audio signals. Then there was a built in electronic analog reverb unit. But wait, there’s more! The Reverb Depth control had a multi-color display that looked 3D-like. And it had it’s own 5-band graphic for varying the reverb sound. And then – yes, more! There was another separate 5-band graphic tape/video equalizer! I can’t remember what the list price was, but I think I paid about $240 for it.  If for some bizarre reason you want one, there was one on Ebay recently for $18! It just may still be there!

SEE or hear this Netcast: www.twitlive.tv/dgw1260  

It’s not really a magnet, but a Magneat!

Thursday, January 6^th, 2011, Netcast 1259 

This gadget started out as the mystery “What the Heck Is It?” gadget in the Nov/Dec game. Since we recorded this version of the Daily Giz Wiz on New Year’s Day, the same day as the identity of the gadget was revealed, I thought I’d make it the gadget of today’s show. The Magneat is a unique management solution to tangled headphone or ear bud cords. Here’s how it works. It’s a two part system. Start by separating the rear part from the front by sliding them apart. Place the front part on your clothing where you want the wires to your headphones to lead up to your ears. The rear magnet goes behind the front underneath your clothing. Now it will then hold the Magneat in place. This gives you convenient place to wrap the extra cord that normally gets in the way as you work out, jog, etc. When the cord has been adequately shortened you lock it by inserting in the slot on the front of the unit. Plain colors, plus black or white Magneats are $12.90, plus S&H. They are now many custom designs and they sell for two bucks more, $14.90, plus S&H.

 www.magneat.com

SEE or hear this Netcast: www.twitlive.tv/dgw1259