The Giz Wiz, Week of June 25, 2013, Netcast 1422

You're at Miami Internatioanl Airport. Is your checked luggage there too?

Where exactly is your luggage right now? You’re at Miami International. Hopefully your luggage is too. But no matter what airport it ended up at,Trakdot will let you know. The company says this is 1^st ever luggage-positioning system that keeps track of where your luggage is. Here's how it works from Trakdot: Trakdot Luggageis constantly monitoring the cellular network to determine its city location. When you fly, Trakdot Luggage knows and goes to sleep. Upon arriving at your destination, Trakdot Luggage wakes up and reports its new location. Depending on your preferences, a text-message or email is sent to you confirming that your luggage has arrived with you. Text-Messaging charges may apply from your cellular carrier. Not all cellular carrier's support international text-messaging. Call 611 from your mobile phone to speak with your carrier's customer support department before your travel abroad. Our optional mobile apps make use of your mobile data plan. Depending on your data plan, you may incur additional data roaming charges when traveling outside your local coverage area. Trakdot, $49.95, one-time activation fee $9, plus $12.99 annual service fee. (Available about the time you’re reading this, end of June, 2013.) 

www.trakdot.com

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1422

Giz Wiz Video Of The Week: Yet another new tablet from Samsung!

Samsung is on a roll-out roll! They’ve been releasing an amazing amount of interesting products in the past several months. At June 20^th’s Pepcom Event in NYC, I got to see the 1^st US showing of the new Samsung Ativ Tab 3 Windows 8 tablet. A Samsung spokesman said the Ativ Tab 3 is the world’s thinnest Windows 8 tablet. It sure looks thin, measuring only 0.32-inch thick. It’s no heavyweight either at 1.2 pounds, with polycarbonate construction for ruggedness. An Intel Atom Z2760 dual-core processor powers it. There’s 64GB of storage, and if that isn’t enough, there’s the welcomed SD card slot. You can use that to add yet another 32GB of storage. An interesting feature the spokesman showed me was Samsung SideSync. This lets Samsung phones users display and share data between the tablet and their Samsung phone. The Ativ Tab 3 also supports the built-in, slide-out S Pen, Samsung's own high-tech stylus. The tablet comes bundled with Office 2013. For the North American Market, the Samsung spokesperson said it will ship with the fitted case and built-in Bluetooth keyboard you see in the video. In addition to the microSD card slot, there’s a micro HDMI and a micro USB 2.0 port. The price is expected to be $699, including the keyboard/case. 

Giz Wiz Video: http://youtu.be/zho8p1j3abk 

Samsung Website: http://www.samsung.com/us/windows-8-pcs/intel-ultra-thin-tablets/ 

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1422

Traveling to a dry or hot climate? This is a great travel gadget to bring along.

Satechi USB Portable Humidifier attaches to the top of most water bottles. To use the Satechi USB Portable Humidifier, simply fill an empty bottle or glass with purified water, place the humidifier into the opening of the container, making sure the filter is submerged in water, and plug the humidifier into a USB port for instant comfort. To turn off the humidifier, unplug it or wait until it automatically shuts off after eight hours. You can then refill the bottle and plug the humidifier into a USB port to turn it back on. But wait, there’s more! Fill the bottle with cold water and you use the humidifier as a mister to cool you off. The company says you can also add liquid fragrances or essential oils to the water for the ultimate relaxing environment. I was also able to operate the Satechi USB Portable Humidifier using one of my portable power USB devices. $29.99. 

Company website: http://www.satechi.net/index.php/satechi-usb-portable-humidifier

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1422

Leo does his own “What The Heck Is it?” gadget.

When Leo first showed this gadget still in the plastic bag, my guess was “a device to floss elephant teeth”. I was wrong. You could say Leo’s gadget sort of concerns teeth, but more in the ‘use this too many times properly loaded may not be good for your teeth” kind of way. Leo’s gadget today is The dipr. The dipr is a spoon-like gadget that holds your sandwich cookie while you dip it in milk or other liquid. The dipr cradles the cookie by the cream and prevents the cookie from crumbling when dunked. Leo’s cookie of choice, and probably yours, was Oreos. Leo risked life and limb to show us how he could hold and dunk Oreos in Tonx coffee, or even milk! He showed us how you can eat cookie right off The dipr with no more sticky fingers! It cost $2.99 (+ S& H) and is available in 5 colors. We have to thank Jeff Needles at TWiT again for finding Leo’s pick of the week. A fun gadget that pretty much demanded Leo eat a lot of Oreos in order to demo it properly. 

http://www.thedipr.com/#sthash.rvHYXPnK.dpuf

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1422

Dick's Gadget Warehouse & Another Viewer's Video. Plus how to submit yours!

A video submission always starts with an email, just like this:

Please consider my contribution for a video under the category "A Gadget

Made In The USA Which I Cannot Live Without And Which Also Makes A Lot Of Noise". It's my beloved Unicomp keyboard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irUBd_sfJtU

(signed) Johnathan Rabkin

Unicomp Keyboard Webpage:http://pckeyboard.com/page/category/UKBD

See or hear this show: www.twit.tv/giz1422

++++++ 

We'd love to include your video in an upcoming Giz Wiz Show. Here's what we're looking for:

Your home made Videos -- two to three minutes long - (four maximum) in the any of the following categories:

I bought a piece of crap! Did you buy something you ended up hating? We won't get you a refund, but we might be able to give a platform to vent your disappointment. Remember, "family friendly" language applies.

I Invented This! Did you invent something? (Or did a friend or relative invent something.) We can't market it for you, but we can help get the word out. Show us what it is, and how it works. Even if it's a prototype, you can get our (and the audience) reactions.

My Gadget Warehouse! Okay, so you don't have a warehouse. It doesn't matter. Just tell us about your favorite old gadget(s). When and where you bought it, and why you're still hanging on to it. 

My favorite gadget of all time! Show us what it is, tell us what it does and why you love, or loved it! It can be something you just bought too.

Post them on YouTube and send our producer, Jason, the link! We'll do the rest. (Or possibly nothing, but that's unlikely.) Remember, videos should be just 2 to 3 minutes long, 4 MAX! Low production value is fine. Even welcomed! That way our stuff doesn't look bad by comparison. We've set the bar low. Don't trip over it.

NEW! NEW! NEW! If we select and show your video on The Giz Wiz you will now be awarded with some sort of prize. It's Leo's way to get rid of all the "crap from Sky Mall" he's collected. So there's one more (so-so) reason to send in your video!

All show submissions go to gizwiz@twit.tv