Before we go looking for the newest stuff at CES 2013....

Here's a look at what we liked and hated from 2012.

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It's our first show of 2013! So Leo & I talk about our favorite and least favorite gadgets of 2012! Show 1397.

This is our New Year's Day show. Here are the links to the products we talked about on the 2012 wrap-up show.

Why have one remote control toy, when you can have two?

Battle Tracker gives you not one, but two remote control toys in one exciting package. The Air Hogs Battle Tracker offers head-to-head interactive combat for one or two players. There's a Remote Control Disc-Launching Helicopter that can be tracked by A.R.T, the Automated Robotic Turret. That’s means, as you have to fly your helicopter you have to prepare for evasive maneuvers. Because if you don't dodge the (soft) missiles aimed at you, you'll be knocked right out of the sky. (Well, the sky in living room.) Once you get some practice commanding the helicopter, you can fire back and disable the A.R.T before it gets you first! There's auto mode for a single player. That's where you fly the helicopter as the A.R.T tracks your every move with its advanced intelligence tracking system! In 2-Player manual mode one person handles the helicopter and the uses the A.R.T remote control. Both the A.R.T and Disk Shooting Helicopter can be controlled independently. Battle them against other Air Hogs vehicles and become the ultimate battle-ready sharpshooter.Air Hogs Battle Tracker is recommended for ages 8+. It uses 6 AA batteries which are not included. MSRP $99.99. But it's $11 less here.  I haven't shopped at that etailor.

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007X93IZ0/?tag=twnene-20

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Here's the show where we talked about it: www.twit.tv/giz1382

Leo has a helicopter from Sky Mall he likes too. He bought ten of them!

This week The Giz Wiz audience voted on the iPhone Helicopterfrom Sky Mall. So Leo bought one. Actually, he thinks he accidentally type in wrong number because ten of them showed up at the Brick TWiT House! What does Leo think of them? First, here’s the Sky Mall description.

It's up, up and away with commands from your Apple device. 20-foot flying range!

The iPhone Controlled Helicopter is now one of the most popular toys of all time! Use your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to control a modern, fast, and stable helicopter. Download the free app and control the chopper using the intuitive buttons or simply tilt your device and the helicopter will follow your commands! Includes two extra rotors and tail rotors and USB charger. 9"H x 6"W x 3-1/4"D. $39.95

Leo opened one of the iPhone Helicopters and tried to charge it. The charge lights didn’t do what the instructions said they were supposed to do. That’s when he found a sheet in the box which said the instruction book was wrong, and THESE were the correct instructions. So Leo started charging the helicopter the right way and opened a second helicopter to take out the charger so he could also charge the controller at the same time. If you buy one of these you'll have to use the one charger included to charge each unit separately. (No big deal.) Once everything was charged Leo let it fly! At first it seemed to crash everywhere – without breaking – so it’s pretty rugged. Then OMGChad told Leo the ‘copter used infrared technology and was a ‘line-of-sight’ flyer. Leo’s later flights were much more controlled. Actually Leo kept flying the iPhone helicopter again and again - with rousing music dropped in by producer, Jason Howell! Leo said he liked the helicopter a lot! Folks in the chat room said that people should do a web search if they want to buy one, because you can find the same iPhone Helicopter on other websites for a lot less than $39.95. For some reason Leo thinks he paid only about $20, but the Sky Mall page does show $39.95.

http://www.skymall.com/shopping/detail.htm?pid=204440913&c=

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This is on both Leo's 'best of' list and mine too.

Leo (and me) have the Samsung Galaxy S3. Leo said this was going to be one hot phone and he was so right. It started with 9 million preorders before it was available. The Galaxy S3 has a 4.8 inch high-resolution Super AMOLED inch display, which Leo says is just amazingly clear. It’s also a big device, but as Leo showed us, it’s also amazingly slim. Leo also said that Samsung own refinements don’t do anything to detract from the phone’s operation. The camera is the Galaxy S3 is the same as the S2. Leo loves the panoramic mode where it can take 8 photos and stitch them together into one seamless shot. It also shoots full HD 1080p video. If all these features use battery power, you’ll be glad to know this device has a replaceable battery so you can easily carry a spare as Leo and I do. Leo said he thinks this the best smart phone to date! (We'll hear what he thinks now (end of December) when we record this year-end 2012 show.) The brushed polycarbonate case is available in either 'Marble White' or 'Pebble Blue'. Retail is $199.99 with a new two year contract at all four of the major wireless carriers.  

www.samsung.com/global/galaxys3/ 

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And Leo's Take on the Galaxy 3.

LEO SPEAKS! 

Now that we recorded this show, it turns out the Galaxy 3 is no longer Leo's phone of choice. But he hasn't left Samsung. Leo has moved onto larger Samsung Galaxy Note 2.It moves up from the 4.8" Galaxy 3 screen to a 5.5-inch screen. If you're wondering if a screen that big will drain the battery quickly, Leo points out it has larger battery than the Galaxy 3. And like the 3, the battery is replacable. It's faster too with a quad-core processor. This is Samsung's top-of-the-line-phone (this is before CES 2013) and it ships with 4.1 Jelly Bean. The Note 2's also ships with an onboard S Pen stylus. This deluxe features boost the price by a third. The Galaxy 3 is $199 with a two-year contract, the Galaxy Note 3 is $299 with a two-year contract. It's available across many wireless carriers. 

http://www.samsung.com/us/the-next-big-thing-galaxy-note-ii/?cid=ppc- 

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