Which gadgets in your home use the most energy?

Ever wonder how much it costs to leave your air conditioner on all day when you’re at work? Or how much to leave that space heater on the basement? The Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Cost Monitor can tell you that, but it does more. It helps you measure the true impact of your energy use on your utility bill - and the environment. Just plug in any one device to find out how much energy it uses -- including watts, cost of operation, and the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. See exactly how much electricity is used by devices like computers, televisions, kitchen appliances, etc. The monitor also shows the carbon dioxide emissions produced as a byproduct of your electricity usage. It can also measure "vampire" power, the power an appliance uses when it's off! These days many appliances never really go truly off. Installation is so easy, Unplug the appliance and plug in the Energy Cost Monitor. Then the appliance gets plugged into the device. You do need to make one setting when you first use the device. You need to tell it how much you pay per Kwh for electric. Don’t worry, that figure is printed right on your electric bill. Under $30.

http://belkin.com/conserve/

Hot, New, Overlooked Gadgets From The Consumer Electronics Show 2012!

Here's the Giz Wiz video spot as seen on ABC's World News Now:

http://abcn.ws/AzWqe1

Spare One Emergency Phone Under $50. What do you do when you break down in your car and your phone is out of power. Just power up your Spare One phone. This emergency phone runs on 1 AA battery. It comes with an Energizer Ultimate Lithium battery, which can hold its charge unused for up to 15 years. But it can use any standard AA. Just insert your SIM card & you can have up to 11 hours of talk time. The phone will make emergency 911 calls without one, but all it can do. For calling other numbers you’ll need an SIM card to put into the Spare One phone. You can use your own SIM card or purchase one from any GSM network carrier, like T-Mobile or AT&T. (Verizon customers don't have SIM cards in their phones ) The phone’s design is super simple. An emergency number can be programmed into the center button. If you need to call that number, just hold the red button for 2 seconds to call. You can also add speed dial numbers for emergencies. And finally, there’s one other safety gadget built in – a small LED flashlight. Retail will be about $50, and it will be available some time in March. You can read more about this the Spare One and be put on the “notify me” email list at the company website:

http://www.spareonephone.com/product.html

Want a Droid phone with a physical keyboard? The Droid 4 would be a good choice.

The Motorola Droid 4 according to Motorola, is the thinnest and most powerful 4G QWERTY smartphone on the market. Well, on the market soon. The Droid 4 should be available late January, early February 2012. It runs on the Verizon 4G LTE network, has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. There’s a bright, beautiful 4″ screen, a front facing camera for video chat and an 8MP rear camera. If you prefer a Droid phone with a keyboard, this Droid 4 could be for you. I really like the slide out five-row PC-like keyboard. The keys are both back and edge-lit for fast, precise typing, even in the dark. A light sensor activates the backlight when it's too dark to type. I only had about a day to play with this impressive phone and it’s a great performer. As a little web speed test, I used a Droid X2 on Verizon’s 3G network as a comparison. I loaded web sites with the phones side by side. I’d say the Droid 4, using Verizon’s 4G LTE network, loaded web pages about 20 to 25% faster. At least that’s my estimate. Video looked great too. Available soon. Price TBA. At CES most folks were guessing between $200 & $300 with a 2 year Verizon contract. Therefore I’ll go with $249.99 as my guess! It’s not on the Verizon website yet, but it should show up there soon:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/index.html

Here’s a way to charge up to four electronic devices easily.

Photo via our friends at Chipchick.comThe Joy Zip Mini Charger is a small, sleek black, 3 inch round magnetic charging pad. Charge multiple devices at the same time with its “ZipTail” charging dongles. It’s simple to use. Just plug a mini Zip Tail into the phone, PDA, iPod, iPhone, etc. Then hold the dongle near the charger pad and the ZipTail is automatically locked in place magnetically, and then the charging starts. The Joy Factory says they designed the Zip Mini to offer consumers the ability to easily charge an arsenal of mobile devices including smartphones, cameras, and e-Readers effortlessly, without the clutter of bothersome cords and cables. Keep in mind that it can only charge devices that use a micro or mini USB or 30-pin iOS cable (for iPod, iPhone, and even the iPad.) The Zip Mini comes with a starter kit that includes one micro USB and one Apple 30-pin connector. Additional receivers can be purchased separately. The Zip Mini will be available shortly at the MSRP of $49.95.

http://thejoyfactory.com/product/pau101

A full-featured sound bar designed for smaller spaces.

Companies at CES were showing huge sound bars with room filling sound, but the Haier 20” Soundbar is designed for the small apartment, bedroom, kitchen or any place you have a flat screen TV. It offers great sound for it’s size, from iPod, iPhone, the built-in FM radio, MP3 player, and your TV. (It has component sound in jacks.) Haier’s 2.0 Channel Soundbar enhances your device’s sound experience with its twin 3” full range speakers and 20W of power. It’s wall-mountable, so it’s a great accessory for any small flat-panel tv that needs better sound. The SBC20 Soundbar dock can charge and play iPod/iPhone/or iPad and make use of functions like the FM tuner through the included Haier Audio App. It also ships with a remote control, AC Adapter, 2 x AAA batteries, RCA stereo cables, 3.5mm to RCA Y adapter, component video cables, wall mount guide paper, wall mount screws. (Every Apple device that the Soundbar is compatible with, is on the Haier website. MSRP is $99.99, but it’s shipping now and should be available at a discount.

http://www.haieramerica.com/electronics/soundbars/20-2-0ch-core-soundbar