Something brand new from Clickfree!

We’ve done many Clickfree devices on the Daily Giz Wiz. This company is like SanDisk, constantly coming up with clever new gizmos. The latest is the Clickfree Transformer for iPod. It's a Transformer that lets you backup computer files to unused storage space on your iPod or iPhone. And Clickfree makes it clear it's just for backing up files. It’s not for backing up programs or any part of your operating system. When I plugged my little transformer into a USB port on my computer and then connected my iPod to device, a message popped up to say: "your iPod is set to read only. Please download iTunes.” Since I have a tiny 1GB Shuffle, I decided not to move forward since there would be very little space to save anything on my Shuffle. But today’s iPods and iPhones have far more robust memory capacities. You most likely have iTunes on your iPod/iPhone and plenty of spare memory. Clickfree will use that spare memory as a place to backup files that you select via on an on-screen Clickfree menu. That’s great for folks always on the road because you'll have your music, contacts, and your backed up files. Then there's something Clickfree called a "bonus feature” which is very useful. It sort of works in reverse of the first operation discussed here. Instead of copying from your computer to the iPod/iPhone, Clickfree lets you copy music from your iPod to your computer. Works on Vista, Win XP & Win 2000. Price is $49.95. I did a web search & although several websites said you can “pre-order” today (8/11) is official on sale date.

www.clickfree.com

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Get a workout WHILE you eat!

For years we’ve been told that you if you slow down while eating you won’t eat so much. True or not here’s something that will slow down even the fastest eater and give them a bit of exercise at the same time! The Knife and Fork Lift is a combination of utensils and dumbbells! Yep you read that right! These dumbbell utensils can serve as a constant reminder that eating puts weight on and requires exercise to take it off. Lifting food with these utensils is like doing curls with dumbbells because each one weighs 1.5 lbs! So if you’re cutting a piece of steak you’re working with 3 pounds of stainless steel. Knife and Fork Lift’s inventor, Tom Madden says. “Everybody approaches it as a joke, but when you think about it, it does require you to eat more slowly.” Eating more slowly, say health experts, allows the brain time to register feelings of satiety, resulting in eating less. That’s when Tom came up with a knife and fork encased in a dumbbell-shaped handle. I ate with these things and you definitely feel you’re lifting some weight! They’re beautifully made and can be used a table centerpiece if you don’t want to actually use them. They can stand on end as a silent reminder to slow down and chew! Heck, there's even a medical warning about using them to exercise on the company website! $19.95, plus $6.95 shipping and handling.

 www.knifeandforklift.com

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Vinyl makes a big come back.

Yes Vinyl as in records! Coming back too are those trusty turntables from the early days. (Vinyl sales have grown 15% year-over-year in 2007 and 89% in 2008. Recently, major record labels have re-mastered and re-released marquee titles with their original artwork and packaging.) One of the biggest name in turntable is back with the recently introduced Stanton T.55 USBturntable. It’s a reliable and user-friendly belt-drive turntable that features a straight tone arm, for superior tracking. Features include a USB and RCA output so you can easily use the deck to transfer the music on your vinyl records onto your PC or MAC to create music files for use with CDs or MP3 players. Also included is the software needed to transfer and edit the music files, so you can remove any pops and clicks that are common when playing vinyls. The T.55 USB comes with the professional Stanton 500.v3 cartridge for ideal sound quality and perfect compatibility. Not just a tool for vinyl transfer, this deck is also a perfect fit for the novice or intermediate level DJ. The Stanton T.55 retails for $199. (There is also the T.92 USB a professional-quality turntable featuring a high-torque direct drive motor for the ultimate in stability. It’s $299.)

http://www.stantonmagnetics.com/v2/prod_t55.asp

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A Netbook with a nice, full sized keyboard.

The Acer Aspire One AO751h is a dandy litte Netbook with some big features. It has a bright LED-backlit 11.6-inch high-definition screen (16:9 ratio) and a full-sized keyboard. I had no idea how powerful a Netbook would be so I put the Aspire One through a couple of mini-tests. It has an integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam and built in mic, so I downloaded Skype and make a couple of calls. Skype worked well. My second big test (for me anyway) was downloading Slingbox. Nothing makes me feel more at home when I travel than watching my own cable box programs. There were a few glitches here and there, but in general the audio & video was fine and I was able to watch an old movie on my home DVR. Now as you can image, the speakers in this unit are small, but in a hotel room, the sound is fine. On an airplane you’ll be listening through headphones so you’ll be able to enjoy the Dolby Headphone technology. There’s a Multi-Gesture touch-pad that enables you to pinch, flick and swirl your fingers for photo viewing, sort of like using a touch screen. The AO751h-1192 (I wish it had a model name instead of letters and numbers) is powered by the 1.3 GHz Intel Atom Intel processor. Acer says you can expect about 7+ hours of computing from their 6-cell battery. Other features include a 160 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM, a multi-format memory card reader, WiFi networking (802.11b/g), and three USB ports. This model comes pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows XP. It’s one-inch thin and weighs less than 3 pounds with the extended life battery. Display resolution is 1366 x 768-pixels, which Leo said, is higher than most other Netbooks. Although some press materials say the price ranges from $349.99 to $379.99, depending on the battery, it seems to be selling for closer to $399.99 at most online stores. Once this Netbook gets into wider distribution, the price is apt to come down a bit. So far, I love this Netbook!

http://www.acer.us/showrooms/aspireone/

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Nifty, new digital pocket camera from Casio.

It’s the new Casio EX-FS10 and it has a lot of features. There’s a slow-motion movie mode and a high-speed burst mode that can shoot 30 images per second.  In the high-speed mode, it shoots photos at 6 mega pixels, not the full 9.1 megapixels the camera is capable of. On the Wine Train I shot some slow motion video, which looked neat. There’s a separate button for slow motion, which I accidentally pushed, but I liked the results. (Of course I didn’t bother looking at the instruction book first.) Other features are High Speed Anti-Shake and High Speed Night Scene. I didn’t try any nighttime shooting. The camera body is less than 0.65 inches thick. Casio says the EX-FS10 is the world's smallest High Speed camera. (Wonder how long that claim will last, but it’s a lot of camera for such a thin design! There’s a 2.5 inch color LCD screen and a optical zoom. The zoom works totally inside the camera case, so nothing sticks out the front even when you’re shooting photos. If you like to show off your videos, there’s a YouTube Capture Mode! And finally a couple more neat features: Face Detection, HD Movie, and of course, regular movie mode. It’s uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Unfortunately, the battery charger uses its own docking station, with a heavy-duty power cable. I wish this mini digital camera had one of those mini battery chargers with a flip out plug that requires no cable at all! There’s a little bit of built in memory, great if you forget the memory card at home. Otherwise it takes SD memory cards. When I showed this camera to Leo he said it would be ideal for his son, Henry, who wants a tiny, easy-to-pocket digital camera. And this is small! Dimensions - 3.8 W x 2.4 H x 0.6 D (97.1 x 59.4 x 16.3 mm) Weight - 4.3 oz. (121g) Casio says the “street price” is $299.00. But I did a web search, and at B&H photo it’s only $235.00 once you put the camera in your “cart”.

http://tinyurl.com/nw72zy

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