Uro Club, Say “hello” to the Uro-Mug

Thursday April 1^st, 2010, Netcast 1059

Although the Uro-Mug is not available just yet, I did get info on it from their website: It's New! It's Novel! It's Neat! It's the only way "to go"!  It's the brand new URO-MUG!

(Yes, there's a sort of similar product made for men golfers to use on the golf course. But that's the problem. It's only good if you're a man and you have to "go" on the golf course.)  Uro-Mug is for anyone!  It's for going anywhere, anyplace, any time in the great outdoors! There's a "his" & "her" version of the Uro-Mug. Hers has a handle! His holds more! Plus the "hers" version comes with something we prefer not to show here. And it comes with a detailed diagram too! Both versions come with a beautiful (and water-repellant) plaid "privacy tablecloth"! No matter where you are it's big enough to get under and answer “the call of nature.” The company claims (wisely, I might add:) We've made the Uro-Mug logos nice and large so you don’t accidently get it mixed up with one of your regular coffee mugs! Not available in stores!  Come back & pre-order soon! Retail: $19.99 each, plus shipping & handling. And remember each Uro-Mug comes with it's own plaid privacy tablecloth! It's perfect for those times when you find you have to keep going and going and going and going and......  Will the Uro-Mug make it in the marketplace? Well Diga-Vina is still going strong: www.digi-vina.com 

And so is the famous Spear Hat: www.spearhat.com

Pre-order now: www.uro-mug.com 

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1059

A fan of the Daily Giz Wiz suggests a really dazzling LED keyboard.

Wednesday, March 31^st, 2010, Netcast 1058 

Mike Herron sent me a email about an amazing customizable illuminated keyboard. He saw it at Think Geek and suggested I view the video demo. (Link below.) I spoke to Ty at Think Geek and he said the Luxeed Dynamic Pixel LED  was one of the most amazing keyboards he had ever seen. It has 430 LEDs capable of individually lighting each key in your choice of color. But wait there’s more! You can do some amazing tricks like an animated rainbow across all the keys, or if you like you can make each key light when you press it by using the “Spark” mode. There are four "preset" buttons you can use to choose between different customizable-lit skin presets. Set-up a glowing skin for your favorite game with different colors to indicate each key action... or create illuminated patterns and designs. Now the Luxeed doesn't have a tiny screen on each key like the legendary Optimus Maximus, but it's about $1250.00 cheaper! This is important if you’re looking for maximum dazzle: The Luxeed is available in black or white. The keys of the white Luxeed have a semi-transparent look and light up more brightly than the black keyboard. The black Luxeed has a stylish treatment with only the letters being illuminated. Both keyboards look the best in dim lighting of course. No driver software is necessary and it works with any OS. All the controls for setting the color of keys, modes and storing key presets are built into the hardware. Uses a standard USB connection. Keyboard Dimensions: 15" x 7.5" x 1". $139.99 for the black version  & $149.99 for the brighter white keyboard.  

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/cb22/ 

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1058

Unbelievable, but Leo comes up with another really interesting gizmo!

TTTT Tuesday, March 30^th, 2010, Netcast 1057

Leo has yet another new computer as his choice for this Turn The Table Tuesday. It’s the new Asus Eee PC 1201N Seashell. And it's the perfect compromise between a notebook and a netbook. At just 3.21lbs, it has a bright 12.1-inch 1366 x 768 LED backlit wide screen and  the new Intel Atom N330 dual core processor. Leo especially like that this machine is equipped with NVidia Ion graphics, so watching video is seamless. Now this part is a little tricky. Asus says: “750GB of Hybrid storage.” What that means is that there’s a 250GB hard disk in the unit and you get 500GB of ASUS WebStorage space. This silver beauty (it's also available in black) has a full sized ergonomic keyboard with Chiclet-style keys and Windows Home Premium. (Check carefully before you buy because some websites indicate it ships with Windows 7 Starter, which is really too basic. There's 2GB DDR2 (expandable to 4GB). More features include a built in mic, webcam & wireless N. This is a lot of computer for not too much money. By the way, the company says you can expect up to 5 hours of battery life. $499. But it’s $479.00 at the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/Seashell-1201N-PU17-BK-12-1-Inch-Black-Netbook/dp/B002ZLOR56/leoville0f-20 

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1057

An inexpensive gadget that can charge your EXPENSIVE gadgets!

Daily Giz Wiz, Week of March 29, 2010, Netcast 1056

I bought one of these gadgets after I received one of those “Deal of the Day” email offers. It was about $12, including shipping. The device is called the Encore Music Power Dual USB Port Charger. Although the battery is not marked with its actual capacity it was advertised as the “Extended Rechargeable Battery”. This is the only device charger I know of that has a replaceable battery. That’s the good news. The bad news is there is no place listed to buy a replacement battery for this unit. But for the price, it’s still a good deal. The company says the rechargeable battery from Encore provides extended play for your iPod or other audio player provided it charges with a USB cable. It doubles your runtime and provides 2 USB charging ports to keep you powered up where ever you are. (Provided you charged the Encore!) It’s a fairly thin unit with a folding AC plug in the back for greater portability. On one website it says: 500mA output at each USB port and on another website it says 500mA output at the USB port. There’s one LED light that changes from green to yellow to red to give an idea of the amount of power left. The unit is totally self-contained and you provide the USB charging cables for your devices. Just before we recorded this Daily Giz Wiz episode I thought I’d check to see if the price was still $12. Surprise! I found it for a lot less! It's just $8.54 at Wal-Mart! This seems like a really decent price for a unit you can easily carry around to charge several different portable devices. I read a large number of customer reviews and most everyone was very happy with their purchase. There was one negative comment, which I also found with this unit. It doesn’t sense when the unit it’s hooked to is fully charged. If you don’t disconnect when your phone or MP3 player when it shows fully charged, the Encore stays on until its battery dies. It’s not a deal breaker, just something to keep in mind. You just need to recharge it again.  

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Music-Power-Encore-Rechargeable-Battery/5750793#ShortReviewTitleBar 

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1056

Update on March 29, 2010 by The Giz Wiz

I've received a few emails that there seems to suddenly be a price war over this gadget. First the price was lowered on Amazon and then on Wal-Mart.  Was it due to the Daly Giz Wiz? Who knows, but I do know that Wal-Mart has already dropped their low price by another buck to $7.54.  

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Music-Power-Encore-Rechargeable-Battery/5750793#ShortReviewTitleBar

Here’s a gadget from the warehouse that’s still very much in production!

Friday March 26^nd, 2010, Netcast 1055 Back to Dick's Gadget Warehouse!

Before I tell you the name of the product, here’s a little background on this company. Around 1999 a major apparel brand customer asked FiberLok to increase its capacity and expand their factory in order to handle more business from them. (The company was mainly embroidering graphics for a wide range of national customers like UPS.) After two years and a $2 million expansion this apparel brand announced it was moving sourcing to Central America and Asia. That left the company to determine how to survive. Fiberlok President and product inventor L. B. Abrams was charged with developing a way to use and pay for the new capacity. Combining a previous work stint with the Rug Corporation of America with a passion for well-designed textile graphics, the idea came to L.B. Abrams to bring his career around full circle by returning to the rug business with the development of MouseRugs. MouseRugs look and feel just like giant floor rugs, but they’re just big enough to provide ‘floor space’ for your mouse, about 7 x 12 inches, including fringe! There are a huge variety of MouseRugs, and new designs are constantly added as old ones are retired. I have about 3 MouseRugs that I’ve been using for about 8 years! Another the company makes is Wrist Rugs, tiny rugs that cover the write support on your laptop! MSRP of a MouseRug is $19.95. (But if you do a web search you can find them at a discount.) 

http://www.mouserug.com/mousgal.html 

I saw them here for $16.95, but I haven’t shopped here: http://www.christalaccents.com/ormomopadde.html

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1055