Private about your weight? Then you DON'T want this scale!

If you want everyone to know your weight however, this scale could be for you! Ths is a different kind of scale. You could display it on your coffee table instead of hiding it in the bathroom! That’s how smart and high tech it looks.  It’s the Withings Connected Body Scale. It not only measures your weight, but by sending a tiny bit of voltage through your body, it also lets you know fat mass, and lean mass. Actually, if you like, it can let EVERYONE know everything about your body mass. It can not only send info from the scale to your own personal area of the company's website via WiFi, it can send it to TWITTER for ALL to see. It runs on four AAA batteries and gets connected to a PC or MAC just for the initial set up. Then it’s wireless and operates anywhere your WiFi area is active. It can keep track of up to four people in the family. And as you might expect, yes - there's an iPhone app too! You can receive data about your weight, fat mass, etc. on your iphone so you can show it folks who don’t follow your body on TWITTER!  The Withings scale is far more expensive than a normal bathroom scale, but it sure does a lot more. I guess the fact that you let so many people follow your progress encourages you to do your best to reduce, or maintain your weight once you get to where you want to be. Since I weigh myself at the gym only when I’m sure no one is looking, this is a device I won’t be running out to order. $159.00

www.withings.com    

A greeting card so unique, the card can also be the gift!

Pandigital debuts Digital Photo Greeting Cards. Here’s an electronic card you send the old fashioned way, via snail mail. But these cards let you quickly and easily load up to 50 digital photos of family, cherished memories, vacation pictures, etc. right into greeting cards. Each card turns on and off as the card opens and closes. If the card is left open, it will automatically turn off after five minutes to preserve battery life. Each card will last for up to two and half hours of total battery life. This is the only greeting card I ever heard of that has its own built-in LCD screen that can show digital photos. The 50 digital photos automatically play as a slideshow on the 1.44 inch color digital photo screen. These cards are available for most special occasions and are so unique that the card can actually be the gift.” Each card comes preloaded with easy-to-use photo-transfer software that’s both Mac and PC compatible. Just use a USB cable to connect the card’s mini USB jack to a home computer. (You supply the cable, but most likely you have a bunch of them lying around!) From there just follow the few easy steps to select the photos to be shared on the card. The cards accept JPEG, GIF and BMP photo formats. If you want to send the card just as a gift so the recipient can load photos, there are demo photos already on the card. (You can easily erase them.) The Pandigital Digital Photo Greeting Cards come in a wide selection of styles and designs including sentiments for love, thinking of you, anniversaries, congratulations, birthdays, happy holidays, and later this year, season’s greetings. They are just being introduced (early March) so the line will grow over the next couple of months. Suggested retail price is $9.99 each.

http://www.pandigital.net/galleries/324

Look in my lap! It's a desk, it's a speaker system, it's a fan!!

Actually, the new Logitech Speaker Lapdesk N700 is all three. And why do we need that? "More and more people around the world are enjoying fantastic entertainment on their laptops - but with mediocre sound and comfort," said Denis Pavillard, Logitech vice president of product marketing for laptop accessories. "In fact, according to our research nearly 50 percent of laptop users report being dissatisfied with the sound quality of the built-in speakers. The Logitech Speaker Lapdesk N700 helps transform your laptop into a private theater in the cozy confines of your lap."  Hmmm, “private theater, I’m not so sure about that, but with two built-in speakers with 2-inch high-performance neodymium drivers, it most likely will outdo the ones built into your laptop. They’re positioned on either side of your laptop to give you maximum separation in a small space. Hook-up is easy because they connect through a single USB cable. That means there's no cable clutter or the hassle of moving and setting up external speakers. Whether you're on the couch or in bed, the viewing angle of your screen and the padded base help you sit in a more comfortable position. And then there’s a quiet, efficient fan circulates air under your notebook. The heat-shielding design helps keep laptop heat off your legs and lap. The fan has it’s own on/off switch and it does sound quiet. There's no software to install and no need for batteries. (But do remember it is running off the power of your computer battery.) In addition to the fan switch the Speaker Lapdesk N700 offers volume controls for the speakers. It’s available for pre-order on Amazon for $79.99. It should be shipping soon, even though Amazon says: “June”.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/notebook_products/cooling_pads/devices/6564&cl=us,en    

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1039

A boat with legs. They call the craft: Sealegs!

Of all the boats I saw at the Miami Boat Show, I’d have to say Sealegs was the most unusual. The company says they specifically designed and developed it to take all the hassle out of the boat launching and retrieval process. And how did they do that? It’s an inflatable boat (they make two models in the 20 foot range) with motorized, retractable and steerable wheels! A Sealegs boat can be driven from a storage location, down a boat ramp or beach and into the water - all with the occupants staying in the boat and remaining completely dry! Once in the water, the Sealegs wheels are retracted into the "UP" position where they are completely out of the water. The boat is then driven and used as normal. When approaching land, the Sealegs wheels are lowered into the "DOWN" position while still moving in the water. Then the captain slowly moves towards the beach and when the Sealegs motorized wheels touch the bottom, he/she can drive the boat up onto land. The occupants can then disembark, totally dry and safe. The Sealegs boats use two kinds of engines. The motorized wheels which give a user variable speed of 0-10km/h (forward and reverse) are powered by an on-board 24hp Honda driven hydraulic power-pack motor. In the water, the boat is powered by an outboard motor starting at about 90 hp. It can hit a top speed of about 35 knots, which is equal to 40+ mph on the water. The Sealegs system utilizes all submersible components and is Salt Water ready. I asked what the market would be for a boat like this, and they said mostly military, police, and commercial. I figured the boat was not “street legal” and it’s not. The construction looked top notch and they had impressive video at the booth, some of which you can see on the company’s website. A Sealegs craft is not inexpensive. They start at $69,700. That includes the motor for the pumps & wheels, but not the cost of the outboard, which is about $12,000 to $20,000 depending on the size of the engine.

www.sealegs.com

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1031

Forget "puppy treats". This is the new "puppy tweets!"

Most likely you send Tweets, but now your dog can send Tweets too. How? Mattel's Puppy Tweets is a new gadget that allows your pet to send you a cutesy tweet via Twitter every time they move, bark or sleep. No, they don’t have to know to type. The device is pre-loaded with over 500 phrases that are designed to put an amusing spin on a mundane activity. Your pet barks - you get a message saying - “I bark because I miss you. There I said it. Now hurry home.” Your pet wears a tag that sends a signal to your computer via a special USB receiver (included), every time your pet moves. This in turn sends you a text via Twitter. You simply set up a Twitter page for your pet and once the tag is fitted, it starts generating tweets. The pre-loaded tweet phrases are designed to inform or amuse you about what your pet is up to while you are out. A movement might generate a tweet like: “It’s hard to tweet when you’re all paws” or 'I finally caught that tail I've been chasing, and . . . OOUUUCHH!' The amount of movement helps the device pick the Tweet it sends. So you don’t get Tweets constantly from a very active dog, the device can be set at timed intervals. Your pet can “follow” fellow animal Tweeters. Pet owners can also see how popular their pet’s tweets are by the number of followers they collect. Extra tweets will be available for downloading at a later date. The device is 7.5 x 1.5 x 7.5 inches and weighs 6.4 ounces. It is available in pink or blue and sells for US$29.99. It’s not available just yet, but it can be pre-ordered from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Mattel-T7005-Puppy-Tweets-Blue/dp/B0037W6TX0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1266643958&sr=8-1

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1033