Geek News Central Special Media Feed

It can be very difficult to get through your work day when you haven’t had enough sleep. Sleepace can help you! They launched their Dream Life solution at CES 2018. Scott spoke with David from Sleepace at CES 2018. Sleepace focuses on sleep monitoring and sleep improvement. Their Smart Sleep monitor fits across a mattress underneath the bed sheet. The Smart Sleep monitor can be secured by a belt. It is not a wearable device. When you lay down on the bed, the Smart Sleep Monitor captures and records your heart rate, breath rate, and body movement. In the morning, the Sleepace app gives you a sleep report and some tips on how to improve your sleep. The Sleepace Dream Life Solution includes the Smart Sleep Monitor ($149), the Nox Smart Sleep Light ($149), and the Nox Aroma Therapy device ($129). All are available on Amazon and the Sleepace website. Scott Ertz is a software developer and video producer at F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.

The Amazon Echo Show might be getting all the headlines, but it’s not the only show in town. Here we have the Clazio Spark, the most powerful smart speaker on the market – it’s a mini-media centre with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Todd and Dake discuss getting the right colour for the rear of the device. Previously known as Clarity, the Clazio Spark is an all-in-one smart speaker that combines a 7″ Android Nougat tablet with a professionally developed speaker and both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice services. The HD screen (1920 x 1200) is set into a retro-modern design and when combined with a 4K HDMI out, creates a lovely media centre that can play music, show films, make video calls. If you can do it with an Android tablet, you can do it on the Spark with the additional benefit of Alexa. The Spark isn’t tied to a power cable as the 4,800 mAh battery gives around 5 hours of music and about half that for video. There’s a 5 MP front facing camera for video calls and a microSD card slot for more storage. Is there anything the Spark can’t do? After successfully crowdfunding on Indiegogo in early 2017, the Spark is preparing to go into retail with an expected price of US$269. You can still contribute to the Indiegogo campaign with “pre-orders” to get some good deals but the usual caveats regarding crowdfunding apply. I’m with Todd on the colour. Become a GNC Insider today!

Having friends round to your house for multiplayer games is always fun, but the more there are, the smaller each player’s screen becomes as they share part of the TV. Split even a big screen into quarters and the immersive effect is lost. But what if all the players had the same large screen? MirraViz have got it covered. The MirraViz projection screens are highly reflective but brightly reflect the light back in a tight cone, rather than scattering the light widely as a nomal white screen would do. When used with a video projector, this means that only someone sitting close to the projector sees the image. Think of the screen like a reflective street sign in the distance lit up by headlights: only the driver and passengers see the bright reflection from the sign. As light beams don’t interfere with each other, the screen can reflect light back from multiple sources without distortion, so several projectors can be used with one screen. As a result, each player sees only their gameplay…..but on the full sized screen. Whoa! It’s kind of hard to imagine, but think of walking round in front of the screen. Only one gaming screen is seen at a time but as you walk round the screen changes between players. Don’t worry, it takes Don a little time to get his head round it too. The screens are entirely passive – there’s no electronics – and the video projectors don’t have to be massively powerful because the reflectivity is so good. Personal or pico projects with less than a thousand lumens are fine. MirraViz sells combinations of hardware and screens for home entertainment or gaming setups, and they sell the screens on their own too. A 52″ screen costs US$699, 75″ is $899 and 94″ is $1299. Available now. Don Baine is the Gadget Professor and gives lectures at TheGadgetProfessor.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

The adult entertainment industry has a strong influence on what type of technology survives. Naughty America is the only adult entertainment company that is allowed to showcase at CES. This year, Naughty America showcased a refinement of their VR adult entertainment and introduced an AR app. Scott spoke with Ian from Naughty America at CES 2018. Naughty America has refined their VR adult entertainment. Their VR rig has been improved from a 4K resolution to a 5.6K resolution. The rig is also smaller, which enables it to be used in more enclosed spaces. Their directors have become more comfortable with Naughty America’s VR technology and this results in more creativity. Naughty America is also including an alternative point of view in their VR entertainment. Naughty America has over 200, 45-minute, VR videos and 8,000 2D videos – many of which are in 4K. A subscription costs $24.95 a month. In addition, Naughty America premiered their safe-for-work augmented reality app (AR). It has not yet been released. They are currently seeking beta testers. The app will be free to download, with some avatars included. They will release additional avatars as in-app purchases. Scott Ertz is a software developer and video producer at F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.

Avid anglers who enjoy participating in fishing competitions are typically not allowed to use live bait. Instead, they must use an artificial lure. Econet has created Eco-Popper, the world’s first digital popper. Scott Ertz spoke with Dani from Econet at CES 2018. Dani presented the Eco-Popper, a new category of smart lure. (The one demonstrated at CES 2018 had its hooks removed, for safety.) Anglers use a lure to entice fish. The fish think the lure is food, and they bite it. Eco-Popper is unique. It has a small computer inside of it, and a camera at the back of the lure. The Eco-Popper can show a live stream of what is happening under the water. The video can be instructive for those who failed to catch a fish. They can watch the video later and learn what to do differently. The Eco-Popper also has sensors that record the water’s temperature and salinity. The video can be put on YouTube. The app becomes an automatic social media network for people who fish. Eco-Popper can be purchased from the Econet website. The retail price is $239, but they currently are offering a pre-order price of $179. Scott Ertz is a software developer and video producer at F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.

OrCam has a mission to help blind and visually impaired people achieve increased independence. The OrCam MyeEye 2.0 can discretely read text to a person who is wearing the device. Todd spoke with Rafi from Orcam Technologies at CES 2018. Rafi gave a demonstration that shows the range of useful things that the Orcam MyEye 2.0 can do. OrCam 2.0 is the world’s most advanced artificial vision device designed to help people who are blind, partially sighted, or who have reading difficulties. The device attaches to the arm of a glasses frame. The front of the device has a camera and a light. The back has a small speaker. OrCam takes a photo of text from any device or surface, converts it to audio, and discretely relays that information to the wearer of the device. OrCam 2.0 can also recognize people’s faces, identify products by their bar codes, identify colors, and discern denominations of money notes. It can also tell the user the time and date. OrCam 2.0 is available now from the OrCam website. It is priced at $4,500. You can request a free trial of OrCam by filling out a form on the OrCam website. Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

Many people find it difficult to lose weight. Counting calories is tedious and you might make mistakes with your math. The amount of calories you consume does play a part in weight gain, but there are other pieces to the puzzle that you may be unaware of. Healbe solves these problems with its GoBe2 – the only complete smart-life band. Todd spoke with Artem from Healbe at CES 2018. The GoBe2 smart band can automatically measure the calories that you consume. It also keeps track of your hydration, your activity level, and how much sleep you had. Together, all of those factors play a role in weight loss or weight gain. The GoBe2 has an accuracy rate of 85%. The GoBe2 app can show you your data. At a glance, you can see how many calories you consumed, and compare that with how many calories you burned. The goal is to have a negative number at the end of the day. The GoBe2 makes it easier for you to reach your weight loss goals. The GoBe2 is available on Amazon and is priced at $199. Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

Diabetes is a disease that affects increasing numbers of people in developed countries where obesity, lack of exercise and genetics are causing epidemic levels of the condition. Simplistically, the pancreas becomes unable to manage blood sugar levels as it (usually) can’t to produce the right amount of insulin. Don and Nicholas discuss the problems facing diabetics and how DiabiLive‘s new app can help manage the disease. Winner of a CES Innovation Award, DiabiLive have a developed a smartphone app which calculates the correct amount of insulin to inject based on three parameters (physical activity, diet, sugar level). In addition, the app plans ahead based on past history to warn of possible low sugar levels. The app’s algorithms are based on medical science and protocols: the app is awaiting FDA approval, hopefully within 2018. Don Baine is the Gadget Professor and gives lectures at TheGadgetProfessor.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

Tracking environmental conditions is important for many industries, particularly food & drink and pharmaceuticals. Often products have to be kept below a certain temperature and any deviation above this means that the product has to be disposed of. French firm Yes It Is is working hard to provide a continuous unbroken record of the environment surrounding the goods. Sandra shows Allante the prototype of their sensor tag module. Traditionally the recording of environmental conditions is done by equipment installed in the building or the refrigerator. To match the data to a particular product means that the time in and out needs to be recorded so that relevant periods can be checked. Wouldn’t it be better if the sensor was small enough and battery powered so that it could be packaged in with the product? There would then be a complete and unbroken record of the environmental conditions from production to use. Yes It Is are working hard on this problem and are developing tags that have a year’s worth of battery life, record the environmental data and can be scanned by a smartphone to retrieve the data. The plan is to have the tag small enough to fit in a label within a year! Allante Sparks is a video producer at PLuGHiTz Live Special Events. Become a GNC Insider today!

Today, many people use essential oils as part of their management of a variety of health conditions. Every person is different, and that means what works well for one person might not be the best choice for someone else. Oblend gives people the power to make their own, customized, blend of essential oils. Todd spoke with Nicole from Altoba. She pointed out all the things that the Oblend device can do. Oblend gives people the power to create a variety of healthy products that include essential oils and botanical oils. Oblend can create vapes, tinctures, culinary oils, massage oils, lotions, drinks, aromatherapies and supplements. Use the Oblend app to find a recipe that you want to try. You can search the app for specific medical conditions or issues. Select a recipe, and Oblend can blend it for you. The unique thing about Oblend is that you can customize and make your own individual recipes. Save the recipe on the app so you can use it again. If you like, you can share your recipe with the Oblend community. The Oblend device comes with 24 pre-filled essential oil cartridges that consumers can use to make hundreds of essential oil blends. People who have a specific health related issues may want to purchase additional cartridges of the essential oils they find to be helpful for them. The list price for Oblend is $949 (which includes the 24 cartridges). The company does offer discounts and promotions. Those who are interested can enter their first and last name, and their email address, into a box on the Oblend website to be notified when the Oblend pre-sale begins. Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

When people say IoT, they are often thinking about the devices that they use in their smart home ecosystem. People tend to overlook the other aspects of IoT, including the businesses that are involved in it. Todd spoke with Keith from the IoT M2M Council. They are a non-commercial trade association that is based in London. They have 25,000 rank and file members, in 24 markets, and 300 new members every week. Their mission is to prove the business case for IoT. They bring buyers and sellers together in creative ways. IoT stands for Internet of Things. M2M stands for Machine for Machine. The IoT M2M Council uses those terms interchangeably. Keith pointed out the industrial side of IoT which has the potential to really change people’s lives in regard to IoT devices. He sees system level changes happening over time with important things that have a big impact on a person’s day to day life. These changes could involve water supply, power grids, the health care sector, and more. Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

Smart homes can make your life a little easier because they allow you to do things through an app instead of manually. Problems happen when the devices in your IoT ecosystem are not all on the same protocol. This could result in multiple hubs in your home, with a separate app for each of them. B One Hub simplifies your daily living with one hub that can control all IoT products. Todd spoke with Sridhar from Blaze Automation at CES 2018. The B One Hub is a multi-protocol gateway. It is a combination of Z-Wave, Zigby, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and more. B One Hub can replace all your other hubs. The B One Hub also has IFTTT protocol, which means you are less dependent on the internet. If your internet goes out, you can still control your devices through the B One Hub. With the B One Hub, you can control different devices, with different protocols, with one action. B One Hub is currently on the market in Australia and Japan. It will be coming to the U.S. market by March of 2018 and will be priced at $199 USD. Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

The products that are a part of your smart home ecosystem can connect to each other and work together. How does that happen? The simple answer to that question is Z-Wave. Todd spoke with Mitch from Z-Wave Alliance at CES 2018. Mitch gives an easy to understand explanation of what Z-Wave is and what it does. The internet of things (IoT) is powered by Z-Wave. Consumers can look for products that have a little Z-Wave logo on them. When you see that, it means that the product is going to work with all your other IoT stuff. In addition to explaining what Z-Wave is, Mitch and Todd discuss some of the ways it is currently being used. They also talk about how Z-Wave might influence products in the future. Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

Are you sure those leftovers are still safe to eat? You may have forgotten how long the food has been in the refrigerator. This causes us to throw away food – that might still be good – because we are afraid of getting sick from it. Ovie solves this problem with their smart food storage products. Todd spoke with Stacie from Ovie at CES 2018. Ovie created smarterware – smart food storage that is designed to help you track, remember, and use the food that is in your fridge before it goes bad. It is a system of smart tags, containers, clips, and bands. Put the tag on your food container and push a button. Tell your favorite digital assistant (Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri) to tell Ovie what the food is. This will trigger Ovie to track the food for you for four days. A green light on the tag indicates that the food is safe to eat. A yellow light indicates the food should be eaten soon. When that happens, you will get a notification on your phone reminding you to eat that food. In addition, you will get a recipe recommendation that uses that food and that is based on the foods that you already have at home. Ovie makes any fridge into a smart fridge. Ovie is planning a Kickstarter. Those who are interested can get on a list and be the first to know when the Kickstarter launches. They estimate they will start shipping product in fall of 2018. A set of three smart tags with the universal mount will be $59. A set of three containers (with the tags included) will be $89. Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com. Become a GNC Insider today!

People who ride their bikes on the street must share the road with cars. Wearing a helmet can protect your head. If you need to signal a turn, you have to take your hands off your handlebars. LIVALL has solved this problem with Helmetphone. It lets you keep your hands on your bike. Marissa spoke with You Cheng from LIVALL at CES 2018. A traditional bike helmet protects your head. Helmetphone can do that, and also has many other ways to help you stay safe on the road. Helmetphone has LED lights on the back of the helmet. Use a controller that is mounted on your handlebars to control the LED lights. This allows bike riders to easily let the people behind them know that they are about to make a left turn, or a right turn. Helmetphone has speakers and a microphone on the inside. This allows bike riders to take a call while they are riding, without having to take their phone out of their pocket. Use the controller to take the call, to end the call, and to control the music you listen to. The speakers allow you to hear your music and to hear what is happening on the street. If you fall, Helmetphone can automatically send a message to your emergency contact. Helmetphone is waterproof. Charge it for three hours and you can use it for a whole day. Helmetphone is priced at $159 and you can purchase it from the LIVALL website. Marissa Schiereck is a contributor to F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.