A great travel clock, especially if you have to give presentations.

Roadshow Alarm, shown open (right) closed (left)The complete long name for this clever producer is the Roadshow Companion Travel Alarm & Presentation Timer. But I’ll just call it the Roadshow Travel Alarm. Yes, it a regular travel clock, but it also allows folks who give talks, addresses and boardroom presentations to keep track of their time through its unique LED lecture timer functionality. While picturing your audience in their underwear is said to help alleviate the stress of being in the spotlight, the Roadshow excels at alleviating the other half of the fear of public speaking: wondering if you’re staying with the presentation’s allotted time. Here’s how the Roadshow Presentation Timer works: there are six color LED lamps across the top of the clock that illuminate sequentially (in Auto mode) or change at intervals of your choosing (in Manual mode). In the auto mode, enter the time your lecture or talk is supposed to take, say for example 30 minutes. The clock divides this into six equal segments. For 30 minutes they’ll be 5 minutes each. For each 5 minutes of talk, a green LED sequentially lights. At the half way mark, a yellow LED comes on, then 5 minutes later, the next yellow LED light. At five minutes before the end of your talk, a red LED lights. This simple and unobtrusive visual pacing device helps keep your presentation on track. Flexible settings allow the Roadshow to work whatever your time needs. (I think the max is four hours, but your audience will have left long before then!!) Note that the LED’s are sequential. In order words, when the next LED down the line lights, the one before it goes out. You don’t end up with 6 LED’s on at once.) Of course Leo already ordered one. He has no fear of speaking in public, but he does like to know the timing for certain events where he has to be on and off the stage at a preset time. Another thing I like about this clock is that it shows both the time of day and alarm time, plus a big ON or OFF for the alarm. And there’s a snooze feature. Normal price for the Roadshow is $29.95, but right now it’s on special at their website for $19.95. I contacted the company, American Innovative, and asked them if could please hold the sale price for a couple of weeks until folks get to hear this Netcast. In case it meets their needs, the price break is great. They kindly said they would. 

http://www.americaninnovative.com/products/roadshow.php# 

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1051

The Magic Wand that can tame your GIANT HDTV!

Don’t worry; The Wand tames Low Def TV’s too! Didn’t you wish you were a wizard when you were a kid? Or even right now as an adult? Well, guess what? You can be a wizard in a very short time! Imagine the surprise (and yes, the envy) on your friend’s faces when you say: “Let’s watch TV”. Then you pick your magic wand wave it at the flat screen and the picture springs to life! Another wave and you change channels, adjust the volume, do whatever you want. The Wand is the ultimate device when you want to be in control. But is it truly magic? (Yeah, right!) Of course now, but it’s wildly clever! The Wand can learn up to 13 commands from your existing remote controls and key them to particular magical motions. Flick the wand from side to side to flip the channels, twist the wand to turn up the volume, etc. Yes, there is a learning curve, but once you master the movements, you will be a real wizard to all those around you! The Wand helps you learn by vibrating in your hand. As you learn each movement properly, the wand will vibrate the number of times indicated on the included instruction sheet. Then the Wand vibrates to tell you each time it has learned a function from your remote control correctly. It can learn from pretty much any IR remote in your house and once you master its 13 movements, you can mastermind a symphony of electronic enjoyment from the comfort of your couch. It’s compatible with almost all makes of TV, DVR, or really anything with an IR remote! Buttons are sooooooooooooooo out. Wands are in! $89.99 

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/home-entertainment/cf9b/images/4907/ 

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1054

A great gadget to charge your small portable electronics - and under $10!

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

If you like flashy keyboards -- this is the brightest I've ever seen!

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

Add a ton of new memory to your existing DVR.

If you like movies and record of the, especially in high def you'll discover that you can fill up the hard drive on your DVR (Digital Video Recorder) qute fast. Western Digital’s new 1TB My DVR Expander. can add a ton of memory to many DVR's. Now you don't have to erase haven’t watched yet because there’s no more space on your DVR. My DVR Expander adds a ton of extra memory to the very popular DVR model 8300/8300HD box from Scientific Atlanta. (It works with TIVO too, but check with your cable provider if you have any doubts.)  The 500 GB Western DVR Expander can add up to 300 hours of standard video and up to 60 hours of high def video storage! It uses a single eSata cable (external Sata) cable, which is included. The newest DVR Expander adds 1TB of memory! That’s about 600 hours more digital recording, or up to 120 hours of digital HD recording. The list price is only $159.00 for 1 TB of storage, but web search found it for about $20 less. There is also a USB version have Time Warner Cable and until about 6 months ago their software didn’t work properly with the DVR Expander, but it does now after the last upgrade. . Get all the details at:

http://tinyurl.com/yl5ertt

Hear the Netcast I did on this gizmo: www.twit.dgw1011