Weekly Daily Giz Wiz – Week of July 2nd, 2012, Netcast 1371

Pictures in a minute? Yes, Polaroid is still aroung.

Last year there was the new Polaroid Z340, a camera that combined digital photography with their famous “picture in a minute” printing ability. I like the idea of being able to shoot digital photos and only print the ones you really want. Because even with modern Zink Printing technology, it still costs 50 cents to print a single picture. It’s a year later and Polaroid introduced another new camera, the Z2300 at the CEA Line Show. The line show is a mini CES, but it’s in New York City, so there’s no travel involved for the hundreds of reporters who attend. Like many Polaroid products, the Z2300 is not actually manufactured by Polaroid. A company who has a licensing agreement to use the Polaroid name and colors offers it. (Not too long ago I saw light bulbs bearing the familiar Polaroid name and colors.) The new Z2300 takes 10 Mega Pixel photos and produces 2-by-3 inch prints. When I remarked that I liked the earlier model’s 4” X 6” pictures, a spokesman at the Polaroid booth said the Z2300 was pitched toward the youth market, because the mini-prints are actually stickers. The printing process uses the Zero Ink Printing Technology from Zink Imaging. It’s a dry ink process and the finished prints come out of the side of the camera in under a minute. Although my picture, shown here was okay, you can see the color is off. It’s probably do to the florescent lighting in the exhibit space. The Z2300 also shoots 720p video, but the only zoom available is digital. There is a mic and speaker built into the camera too. The camera has a bit of onboard memory, but uses an SD card to hold the majority of your photos. You can do some minor editing in the camera and print the ones you like. The Z2300 will retail for $159.99. It ships in mid-August and the camera body will be available in either black or white. If you sign up to get info on the release date of the camera, you will get a code good for a $50 discount, so the camera will cost you $109.99. The paper, which includes an adhesive backing, is available for $15 (pack of 30) or $25 (pack of 50). So you need to buy the $25 pack to get pictures for 50 cents. 

http://store.polaroid.com/product/9/538436/POLZ2300/_/Instant_Digital_Camera_-_Z2300

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1371

Video of the week --- Are you ad-libbing, or reading that speech?

Teleprompters are a lifesaver for people who have to give speeches, act out scenes or deliver a presentation with a long list of facts. Once set up a Teleprompter projects your script on a mirror directly in front of the camera lens. The cameras see through the 2-way mirror, and although you’re reading, you are looking directly into the camera! Normally used only by professionals, because of the high cost, there is now a version that is down around the $300 mark. Now just about anyone producing video podcasts, sales presentations, or their own feature videos can have the convenience of a teleprompter. The Tiffen Listec PromptWare PW-04 is a 4.0" teleprompter that attaches to your compact video camera via one of the 5 included lens adapter rings. Once it’s attached to your camera, you download the free PromptWare Plus software. This software lets you use your iPod Touch, iPhone or Droid smart phone just like a professional teleprompter. The Listec PW-04 kit comes with the prompter, 5 adapter rings, software and a handheld controller. You can adjust the speed of your script with the PW-04 custom wireless remote and have complete control of your scrolling speeds and pause. It also has a built-in keyboard.

www.tiffen.com

Giz Wiz Video: http://youtu.be/dXWq4Yg6CTM

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1371

A safety device designed to wake just about anyone when your smoke detector goes off.

This device has been around for a couple of years and was on display again at the 2012 mid-year CEA Line Show. I hesitated talking about it, because it seems to be extremely high priced. But then I thought people should know about it, and then make up their own mind as to whether it’s worth the money. SafeAwake is a safety device that works in conjunction with your own working smoke alarm system. The company (and a spokesperson at the show) says that in addition to conventional smoke alarms, tactile response is proven more effective in saving lives. The SafeAwake is designed to work in partnership with a properly installed, properly working, traditional smoke alarm. When activated, a smoke alarm sends out a 0.5 second T3 pattern that instantly triggers the SafeAwake. It wakes you, triggering all your senses with a motorized bed shaker, a flashing light and a low frequency sound you can actually hear – and that even the hearing impaired may hear. When seconds could mean the difference between life and death, the SafeAwake provides a significant edge, a serious margin of safety. The device has a test button, an automatic shutoff and restart, a turn-on indicator light, a battery backup in the event of electrical failure; and even a system to tell if the batteries are weak. It works anywhere. It’s light, compact, portable and simple, They say SafeAwake is good for homes, hotels, motels, hospitals, senior citizen residences, independent and assisted care facilities. Although every bed should have the SafeAwake, it is critically vital for senior citizens and especially those with hearing disabilities. It’s made in the U.S.A. and comes with a 2-year warranty. And the price? $299.95. If there is something you worry about sleeping through the sound of a smoke alarm going off, then the price probably won't matter much.

www.safeawake.com

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1371

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show. 6/30/12

Leo’s Turn The Table Turkey – or Turn The Table Treasure?

Faster than a speeding bullet – well, a lot faster than a USB 2.0 flash drive!

Leo likes things that move fast. That’s why he decided to do a speed test comparison on two new USB 3.0 high-speed flash drives. For this mini competition Leo had the Cosair Voyager GT 64 GB USB and the Kingston HyperX 64GB Data Traveler. To compare them, he downloaded the Black Magic Disk Speed Test from iTunes. This is an easy to use tool that lets you quickly measure and certify disk performance for working with high quality video! Simply click the start button and Disk Speed Test will write test your disk using large blocks of data, and then display the result. Disk Speed Test will continue to test writes and reads from your disk so you can evaluate both performance and readability over time. Leo showed us the trick interface of the Black Magic Disk Speed Test which looks like two high-tech tachometers. You should watch the video version to see the results first hand. But briefly, both units wrote way faster than any 2.0 USB flash drive. But Leo gave the speed prize to the Kingston HyperX 64GB Data Traveler. He said it cost about $26 more than the Cosair, but the speed advantage was worth it. The Cosair 64GB is $95 on Amazon and the Kingston 64 GB is $121.00. The Black Magic Disk Speed Test is free on iTunes. Check Amazon for the lowest prices on the 3.0 USB drives. Here are two links I found doing a web search to get you started:

Cosair Voyager GT: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Flash-Voyager-Drive-CMFVYGT3S-64GB/dp/B007MFY3LS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1341110660&sr=1-1&keywords=Corsair+Flash+Voyager+GT+USB+3.0+64GB+Flash+Drive

Kingston HyperX: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0068INUOQ/ref=asc_df_B0068INUOQ2077829?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B0068INUOQ&hvpos=1o1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1019173531347118582&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

 The Black Magic Disk Speed Test:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blackmagic-disk-speed-test/id425264550?mt=12

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1371

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show. 6/30/12

Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse: "SeeEye2Eye".

After I had a demo of the LesTec teleprompter device above, I seemed to recall some other kind of teleprompter device I had in the warehouse. So off Dick’s Gadget Warehouse where I did find the 5 to 6-year old See Eye 2 Eye. It's described as an “eye contact device for web cams”.  Checking Google, it turns out the company is still up and running, rare in these days of fast technology turn-over and burn-out. The company says their device works with almost any external web cam or other video camera. There’s a second model designed to work with built-in laptop web cams. When you place the See Eye 2 Eye device over your web cam, a set of mirrors beams the picture of the person you're talking to onto an optical-grade beam-splitter glass, which sits in front of your web cam lens. You can see the reflected image, but the other party isn't even aware you're looking at anything but your web cam. See Eye 2 Eye is useful for desktop teleprompting and direct eye contact in video chats. You can also buy Teleprompter software so you can read scripts while staring directly into your web cam. Strangely, while the See Eye2Eye unit seem reasonably price: the one for built-in laptop cams model: $59.99, and for external web cams $49.99. But the ProPrompter Software costs $150 to $250! They do mention a program called freePrompter, so that would be a good place to start. I tried See Eye2Eye a couple of times. Depending on your web cam, it can take some jury-rigging to set it up correctly, because there are not a lot of adjustments. Also it cuts off the edges of a picture if you’re using one of the newer wide-screen web cams. But once you have it set up, it does a lot to help you look directly at the person you’re talking to at the other end of a video chat. If you need a more professional set-up with plenty of options check out the LisTec teleprompter above.

http://www.bodelin.com/se2e/

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1371

This link usually goes live Sunday, the day after we record this show. 6/30/12