Four steaks and each person wants theirs cooked differently. Now what?

Thursday, June 24^th, 2010 Netcast 1119

Raw? Medium? Well-done? It’s no problem with Steak Station. This is a neat little new device I discovered at the Hot Housewares Holiday Preview. (It’s a show in June designed so glossy magazines with a long lead times can find gift suggestions for their holiday issues.) Steak Station is a digital meat thermometer that can monitor four steaks at the same time. That way the chef in charge of the grill can cook multiple steaks, each one cooked to the desired degree of doneness.  A monitor allows for quick and easy evaluation of how much a steak has been cooked. Four removable color-coded stainless steel probes measure temperatures from 115°F to 170°F. A bar indicator on the Steak Station indicates rare, medium, well and in-between. This device can also be used in the oven as a regular meat thermometer. It should be out by mid-summer and it will be about $30. I haven’t shopped here, but the etailer at link below will sell it:

http://tinyurl.com/33tqr9j 

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1119

It’s Officially Summer. Time to take out the Sanyo Synergetic Hybrid Bike.

Wednesday June 23^st, 2010 Netcast 1118

Yes, that’s what Sanyo calls their Eneloop bike, a synergetic hybrid. This is a different kind of electric bike. It has an integrated electric motor, but the motor doesn’t actually power the bike while you sit back and relax. I know because I got to ride a Sanyo Eneloop bike back in January at CES. First I pedaled this bike in the “manual” mode. It pretty much felt like pedaling a non-racing bike. Then I turned on the motor. With the motor on and pedaled again. Now I suddenly felt like someone was helping me pedal. On this bike, you don’t stop pedaling, you just accept the assist. The 250-watt motor is designed to help the rider pedal without effort. Looking at this bike, you hardly notice it has a motor. And although it might look like one at first, it’s not a girl’s bike. This easy-to-mount bike has what’s called a step-through frame. With its wide tires it has a retro look coupled  with modern technology. There are two modes of pedal-assist.  Standard pedal assist mode gives you 1:1 ratio. The motor equally matches the effort you put in pedaling. In the Power Up mode, the motor helps out with a 2:1 ratio. This is good for help up steeper inclines. Regenerative energy charges the battery when you brake. So it creates an "energy loop" while you ride – so hey, why not call it The Eneloop Bike! Something that might not please you is the price: $2499.99. (I said $2299.95 on the show. It seems to have jumped $200. But do a web search. I’ve seen it for under $2,000.)  Although this is the only version available in the US right now, a new version has been announced in Japan. I spoke to the folks at Sanyo and they said they had no plans for the newer model to be introduced or marketed in the US at the present time. That mid-June 2010.

http://us.sanyo.com/SANYO-Store/eneloop-bike-CY-SPA600NA

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1118

Now you can turn your iPad into a full-featured GPS!

TTTT, Turn The Table Tuesday, June 22^st, 2010 Netcast 1117

Leo Does Software For This Week’s Turn The Table Tuesday which is good. It means one more week where he doesn’t do his section of 2 X 4 as his pick. The software he picked and really loves is the MotionX-GPS Drive HD It turns your iPad into a full-featured GPS. And it’s really inexpensive for what it does. It's $2.99 to download, and you get a month of turn-by-turn directions included in that. Then, if you want, you pay either $25 for a year of full turn-by-turn, or $3 for a month— only when you actually need it. Turn-by-turn direction add an additional $2.99 a month or $25 a year, or you can pay just when you use it. Now I don’t have one of these, so you’ll have to listen or watch this episode to get Leo’s every thought. But here’s some info from the company website: MotionX-GPS Drive HD turns any iPad 3G into the next-generation car and pedestrian navigation solution. Superior to any personal navigation device, it re-defines the category. MotionX introduces new features not yet seen on mobile devices, including “door-to-door” personal navigation tools, user interface innovations that greatly simplify the navigation experience, and integration of live search capabilities. Exclusively designed for the iPad 3G. (Covers the U.S. and Canada) You can use it to search, maps, routing, points of interest, and relevant destination information, such as phone numbers and addresses. Are all up-to-date. This is a significant advantage over on-board solutions which are huge downloads (over a Gigabyte) and have static data which is outdated the moment it is loaded. And MotionX includes 30 Days of Live Voice Guidance. You can subscribe after the free trial. But Leo liked the voice navigation too. (Check out the iPhone version too.) 

Company website: http://news.motionx.com/category/motionx-gps-drive/ 

iTunes preview: http://tinyurl.com/3844ygg

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1117

I'm ready for my close-up now. In HD!

Monday, June 21^st, 2010 Netcast 1116 

Logitech seems to be at the head of the pack when it comes to new webcam technology. And so they stay there they just introduced a whole line of HD-capable webcams. (HD = High Definition) So “there’s something for everyone” the new Logitech HD line runs from about $50 to $100. Even the under $50 webcam is HD, it just lacks some of the features of the higher end models.  To record hundreds of Daily Giz Wiz episodes I’ve been using the Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000. TWiT often sends a Logitech Pro 9000 to guests who are going to be on the Network because the glass Carl Zeiss lens offers great quality for under $100. Now the new matte high end model is the HD Pro Webcam C910. It offers full 1080p video for recording and 720p for video chats. It also had an integrated stereo microphone. And it features their exclusive Right Light & Right Sound technology.  I started using the C910 to record the Daily Giz Wiz with this episode. Leo says it the best video he’s seen from a consumer web cam. Logitech ships the cameras with its own HD videoconferencing software they call Vid HD. It designed to take full advantage of the output of the new HD cameras. You can make video calls to friends and family even if they don’t have a Logitech web cam. The person you call just has to download the free Vid software on their computer. The cameras are being released in July and August. The new top-of-the-line C910 is just under $100, the same price as the older Pro 9000. http://tinyurl.com/26rto93

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1116   Video versions on iTunes, mediafly or:

http://feeds.twit.tv/dgw_video_large          

 http://feeds.twit.tv/dgw_video_small

Here’s a locomotive that whistles & chugs to announce a phone call is coming in.

Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse, Friday, June 18, 2010, Netcast 1115

The Locomotive Phone is from TeleMania. They are famous for making every sort of novelty telephone imaginable. The Locomotive Phone is styled after the Crescent Train of 1925. Some 20 years ago at CES when I first saw this phone I asked someone from the company how they were able to product such a detailed model. He told me they bought the plans from a company producing model locomotives and just added the electronic components. Even though TeleMania no longer makes it, you can still buy it at many places online. (Maybe another company picked up the rights to manufacture it, but mines been in the warehouse for more than 20 years.) If it wasn’t for the phone cord coming out of the back, this could easily pass for an expensive model train sitting on your desk. (You can use it as a model by just removing the phone cord entirely as in this photo.) But when the train sound effects – steam, whistle, choo-choo sounds kick in, it means the phone is ringing. You can use a switch on the bottom to make it ring like a regular phone, but why would you want to? It has other modem features too like electronic push button dialing, redial, mute and even ringer on/off. The boiler lifts off to and becomes the handset to answer the call. The keypad is under there too. It requires 2 AA batteries. You can still buy one here for $54.95:   

 http://www.2getitnow.com/telemania_locomotive_train_phone.html

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1115