Panther Vision comes up with newly designed LED reading glasses.

Daily Giz Wiz, Wednesday, November 24^th , 2010, Netcast 1228 

I love my Panther Vision LED lighted reading glasses. They’re great for working on projects in dark corners, or under furniture. Or for when the lights go out. Well now they have a new version called LightSpecs. Panther Vision says these are the most durable and brightest lighted reading glasses available! I can vouch for the fact that they are indeed bright, and they do feel sturdy and well made. Since you wear them exactly the same way you wear regular glasses, they shine lots of ultra bright light where ever you look. You can read or work in bed without disturbing your partner -- repair small parts or build a model -- great for sewing, crafts or home improvement projects. And your won’t disturb your seatmate when traveling by plane, train, bus or car. Unlike the earlier version glasses where the battery compartment and LED light was added to the outside of the frame, this new version has the two ultra-bright LED’s hidden inside the eyeglass temples. Really nice! LightSpecs are available in diopters from 1.00 to 3.00 in .25 increments so you can get the EXACT magnification needed. The company says you can expect 50+ hours of battery life. Yes, batteries ARE included, and they’re easily replaceable with no tools needed. Prices range from $24.99 to $29.99. One website sells them for $24.99, and offers free shipping over $25! That annoys me! For the penny, they won't ship them for free!? Okay, I’m not mentioning their website here! Do a web search for the lowest price. And if you see similar lighted glasses from Foster Grant, it’s okay, they’re licensed from Panther Vision. 

www.panthervision.com 

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1228

Ho hum. Leo gets ANOTHER cell phone. But wait, this one’s different! Read on.

Daily Giz Wiz, Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010, Netcast 1227 

This time Leo’s cell phone is different because one of the first Windows Phone. Several different Win Phone 7’s were introduced, but not with the hoopla of a new iPhone. Leo said the morning the phones became available, he went to his local AT&T store where he was the only one waiting for the doors to open. When they did, Leo bought phone number one of the two phones the store had in stock! But guess what? Leo really likes his Win7 phone, the Samsung Focus! It’s highly recommended as the best of the new Win7 phones by fellow TWiT host Paul Thurrott. Leo says the Samsung Focus has a beautiful 4” Super AMOLED screen with bright colors and great detail. There’s a customizable opening screen. You can pin specific apps you like to the home screen. Since it’s from Microsoft, it offers some exclusive content like an Xbox Live and mobile versions of Office.  Since it’s new, there aren’t a lot of apps available right now. But Leo said that’s understandable with a brand new phone operating system and that the list will continue to grow. (They have a long way to go to catch up. There are about 300,000 apps for Apple products and about 100,000 Google Android apps.) All is all Leo likes his Win7 Samsung Focus a lot. Cost is $199.99 with a two-year AT&T contract, in line with most other newly introduced smart phones. 

http://www.tinyurl.com/39ukhxe 

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1227

Did you ever think your cell phone may harbor a major amount of germs?

Daily Giz Wiz, Monday, November 22nd, 2010, Netcast 1226 

Violight says your cell phone is probably one of your most often touched electronic devices; you use it everyday wherever you are. The warmth of your phone creates the perfect environment for germs to live. That means many germs are lurking there! One report said your cell phone could have more germs than your toilet seat. Ugh! Not to fear! Now you can sanitize cell phones and other small devices like Bluetooth headsets, earbuds, and MP3 players in just minutes with the Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer. The company says germicidal UV light eliminates 99% of germs and bacteria. (UV light is widely used in hospitals to kill germs.) Place your cell phone is the Violight Phone Sanitizer, slide the top on and it works automatically. With dual UV bulbs it sanitizes your device in less than 5 minutes and then shuts off automatically. There are two safety switches so it only operates with the cover in place. You also get an accessories basket to sanitize small devices like headphones, MP3 players, and cell phone headsets. It works on 3 AA batteries so you can operate it anywhere. (Batteries not included.) It won’t work on flip or slider phones, but it will work for cell phones with the following maximum dimensions: 3 L x 0.75 W x 5 H inches. Remember this is a sanitizer, not a washing machine. At a recent demo I heard one reporter remark: “I can still see fingerprints”. It doesn’t remove fingerprints, but the ones that are there should be “germ free” fingerprints! Under $50. If you do a web search you’ll probably find it for less. 

http://violight.com/viuvcephsa.html 

www.twit.tv/dgw1226

Like cats? How about the CueCat?

 Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse, Friday, November 19^th, 2010 Netcast 1225

I owe Daily Giz Wiz listener Carey Kitson a thank you for this week’s gadget warehouse item. I always wanted a CueCat, and now I have one, thanks to Carey. The CueCat was a short-lived optical barcode reader in the shape on a cat. It plugged into your computer’s PS/2 port and it came with a special cable that had a dongle so you can also plug your PS/2 keyboard into the same port. Once the software was installed, you merely swiped the glowing red "mouth" of the CueCut across a special barcode and your computer would bring up info automatically. For a short time, early in the year 2000, this device was offered free at Radio Shack. Yep, free! It was designed to work with a special Radio Shack catalog which featured some items with barcode identifiers. So as you looked through the Radio Shack catalog and saw something you liked, a quick swipe of your CueCat would automatically bring up the company website, or more info on the gizmo you were looking at. Sometimes some high-end magazines would run ads with Cue codes that would let you buy an item, make a wish list, or just get more info. Even though the CueCat vanished after about two years, there’s still plenty about it on the Internet, including ways to hack it. I even received an email from a fan that says she still uses her CueCat. She said it's easier to use than her smart phone, because it’s always hooked up to her computer ready to go.

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1225

You’ve heard of Road Rage? How about Wrap Rage?

Daily Giz Wiz, Thursday, November 18^th, 2010 Netcast 1224 

 Daily Giz Wiz, Thursday, November 18th, Netcast 1224

Don’t you hate trying to open those sealed plastic packages with the edges that seem like they’re welded together? OpenIt! is a big help. We reported on the first version a couple of years ago, but now there’s a new, improved version. The original was a four-in-one and the newer one is a five-in-one. OpenIt! features a set of incredibly sharp blades that will cut through the toughest plastic packaging. The company says it will cut like a hot knife through butter. I don’t quite agree with that, but it sure will make your life easier!  Its recessed blade design protects your hand from plastic "shards" as you cut. There’s also a built in retractable utility knife to slice open CDs, DVD’s, and boxes. (But use the blade with care. It is not replicable.) And once you get the kid’s toy out the plastic tomb, you can open the battery compartments with the concealed double-sided screwdriver – slot and Philips. You can even crack open a cold beer with the built-in bottle opener. That’s the newest addition. But although you can probably live without that, the whole design is new.  It’s smaller and easier to grasp. My estimate is that it’s about 20% smaller than the original. And now the hidden screwdriver is removable. In the older model, it folded out and you had to use the whole device to turn a screw, which was a bit awkward at times. The cardboard back on old packaging used to be scored for easy removal, but it’s not on the new package. But someone told me to squeeze the package to pop it open. Price is about the same, anyway from $10.99 to $12.99. The new one is the 5-in-1.  It's also at Bed Bath and Beyond,Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Walgreens, and Kroger as well as Amazon.com. At the company website, the older 4-in-1 is on sale - 2 for $14.99.  

www.enjoyzibra.com/openit     

See or Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1224