This mini MP3 player was kind of a forerunner to the new iPod Nano.

Dick’s Gadget Warehouse Friday, September 24^th, 2010 Netcast 1185 

Every few weeks I get an Email that asks: “Is there anything in the gadget warehouse that was new and cutting edge when the DGW first started in 2006? Good question. And the MobiBlu is a perfect example of something that was SO HOT when it came out, that is pretty much gone here in 2010. I first talked about in episode 17 of the Daily Giz Wiz. Get this, the show was 6 minutes long! The MobiBLU DAH-1500i was the world’s smallest MP3 player. It has a built in FM Radio and the whole gizmo weighs less than one ounce! And how tiny? It was about the size of a candy caramel! It’s so small the easiest way to carry it is to wear it! MobiBLU made that easy by providing a lanyard with built in earphones! (They also double as the antenna for the FM radio!) This tiny guy is big in the features department! It plays MP3, WMA and protected WMA files, has a built in clock, graphic equalizer and voice recorder! But wait, there’s more!  As small as it is, it comes with a four-line OLED display! OLED, or organic LED provides a bright, easy to read display under most conditions. The headphone jack doubles as a USB 2.0 port. A lot of thought went into this tiny gizmo! Price: $99 for 512 Mb; $130 for 1GB. And a 2 GB unit was coming along for about $160. But looking for it on the web in September, 2010, I found this comment made in 2006: The one-man company mobiBluAmerica, went out of business. The Korean arm of mobiBlu seems to have produced more mini MP3 players into 2009. And if you do a web search you can still find one or two MobiBlu MP3 players for sale. 

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1185

Here's a “portable safe” that's inexpensive too.

Thursday, September 23^rd, 2010, Netcast 1184 

Although it’s made of Polycarbonate Plastic, the same material as many football helmets, I’d consider the Go Vault as a good ‘temporary’ safe. It’s ideal for places where you leave your wallet, keys, camera, etc. and “hope” no one steals them. Like at a picnic, the beach, the park, the dorm, etc. It’s a good, pretty inexpensive, way to have some peace of mind and not worry about your valuables being stolen. The included cable wraps around any secure item, wire fence, park bench, dorm furniture, street pole, etc. Once looked, no one can pick up and run. They have to take bring some tools and probably take a bit of time trying to get your valuables. Hopefully they’ll see the cable and just move on to personal items less protected. It’s good for dorms, because using it shouldn’t damage college provided furniture. List price is $29.95, but it’s under $20 at dormco. 

www.dormco.com  

See or Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1184

Do you have a wallet full of loyalty cards? I do.

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 Netcast 1183 

The nümi key is a new tiny device that allows consumers to carry all their loyalty/frequent shopper cards on one digital device. That was it can be used at any checkout lane with a laser bar code scanner. The company says the average US household has more than 14 loyalty/frequent shopper cards and it’s growing. How does it work? The nümi key converts any bar code to light that imitates a bar code when beamed into any existing laser bar code scanner. It has very successful read rates with bar code scanners. In contrast, smartphones that generate an image of a bar code often have less than 50% successful read rates at bar code scanners. Adding cards to the nümi key is simple. There is no software to install. Just go to www.myloyaltycards.com , connect your nümi device to your computer with a USB cable, select your retailer from a pull down list, type in your cards’ numbers as they appear and load them to your nümi key. This is something I’m waiting for: In the very near future Mobeam will offer the ability to add digital coupons and gift cards on the nümi key. I'm not so much interested in the coupons but I always end up passing on buying something in a store because I know I have a gift card sitting in the dresser at home. With numi key, I'd always have it with me. List price is $35.00, but it's on special for $19.99. At the link below, click on the buy button for the sale price.

www.mobeam.com.   

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1183

Here's a Turn The Table Tuesday I Really Looked Forward To! And I wasn't disappointed!

Turn The Table Tuesday September 21st, 2010 Netcast 1182

Leo preordered Apple's sixth-generation iPod (Multi-touch) Nano as soon as the order line opened online. And it arrived in time for this week’s Turn The Table Tuesday. This Nano is tiny, just an inch and a half square and 0.35 inch thick. Leo likes it because he can use it as a high tech watch when he's not using it  for other apps. Leo said it’s also great for working out because there's a secure clip on the back just like on the iPod Shuffle. Of course Leo bought the 16 GB version, which was $179. Since you can’t add memory he wanted the most memory available. There’s an 8 GB version for about $30 less. Apple says battery life is rated at 24 hours of music playback. Leo only had it for a day or two before we recorded this show so he has no idea what it will be in real life. He said the touch screen is remarkable for a device so tiny. The screen includes icons for music, photos, settings, Nike+, clock, radio, and iTunes Genius Mixes. And yes, it plays audiobooks and podcasts! Add in features like VoiceOver track information, FM radio and fitness pedometer and you get a lot for the money Leo said. It’s available in seven colors (silver, gray, blue, orange, pink, green, and a iTunes Store only special (red) with a bit of the price going to charity.) It comes with free engraving too, but Leo showed us that engraving is really tiny!

 http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_nano?mco=MTM3NTEyNzg  

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1182  

A tie like no other you own. Great if you like to goof off at work.

Daily Giz Wiz, Monday, September 20th, 2010 Netcast 1181  But first this important announcement!

Are you joining us for a New York City Giz Wiz Meet Up? It’s October 10^th, 2010 - 2 PM to 4 PM Boat Basin Café…www.boatbasincafe.com  More details are here:

http://gizwizbiz.squarespace.com/dicks-blog-log/

Leo did some Geek Ties last week on his Turn The Table Tuesday show. This week I'm doing a tie most likely like no other tie you own. First you need to know the slogan the company prints on each tie:  Because most functions that require a necktie deserve to be slept through -- that’s the idea behind Pillow Tie. These designer ties have a little internal bladder that you can blow up to make your tie into a mini-pillow. Now you’re really not going to use this tie for a pillow for more than a few minutes because it’s not all that comfortable. But hey you really didn't buy it for sleeping, did you? But you do get a decent tie and a lot of laughs when you wear one or give one as a gift. At $20.00 it serves as a real business tie. Yes, you can remove the bladder if you want. But I guess this is something their lawyers asked them to do: Offer this warning: Heed this warning: Pillow Tie is NOT to be used as a flotation device! One note:  I did have trouble blowing mine up at first. I used a push pin to get the bladder moving and then it was fine. There are a lot of available patterns, many of them really nice! $20 plus S & H.

www.pillowtie.com 

The Giz Wiz with his Pillow Tie on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMAnEk4y44U

Hear or SEE this Netcast:  www.twit.tv/dgw1181