Host David Coursey talks with Davis Instruments’ Frank Velasquez about the company’s CarChip (www.carchip.com) “black box” for monitoring automobile performance and driving, and its Vantage Pro 2 weather station (www.davisnet.com). CarChip is a way for parents to monitor their children’s driving (or employers to monitor employee driving). The newest model will sound an alarm when the vehicle is driven above a certain speed and records events such as hard braking. The Vantage Pro 2 is what David uses at his www.tracyweather.com site.
Cingular announced a streaming video service today that will rely on its new high-speed HSDPA network. It'll have the usual kinds of news, sports, and entertainment content we've been seeing from Verizon and Sprint. The problem is, they haven't yet announced any phones that would be able to view the video. That's pretty odd. The video announcement comes along with a hook-up with HBO to put branded content from various popular HBO shows on Cingular phones, like "Sex and the City" trivia games. Those, you'll be able to get right away.
Cingular's whole 3G strategy has confused me for a while. First there were phones but no network. Now there's a network and services but no phones. C'mon, guys, get it together. Announce everything at once. Competition is good, so I'd like to see Cingular put as strong a product out there as they can. I'm hoping to see them put their real 3G game face on at CES, the big trade show in January.
NewSoft, a software company that probably wishes it had chosen a less "soft" name, has introduced new hardware products. One of them is a device for converting analog video and audio to DVD with real-time capture and real-time burn that sells for "just $59.95," the company said.
"In two easy steps, NewSoft’s Presto! Digital Converter transfers audio and/or video from any playback device with AV-out or S-Video-out, to be simultaneously recorded to standard DVD without going through the computer’s hard drive."
After establishing the connection between the video source such as a VCR or camcorder using the “S-Video input” or “Composite video input” end of the included cable, the Presto! Digital Converter user connects the cable’s USB 2.0 connector into any standard DVD burner-enabled notebook or computer.
The included software offers users one button recording with the option to choose either the Convert Mode, which converts the entire contents of the videotape to DVD, or the Record Mode, which enables users to record multiple video segments from videotape to DVD. To find the desired clips, users can scan for the desired recorded moment using the software’s preview window.
Presto! Digital Converter Features • One click burn without going through the HDD • Real-time capture and real-time burn • Video preview window • Supports DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW and DVD+R Double Layer Recording • Add additional content to DVD+RW discs
Clarity, a division of Plantronics, and supplier of assitive products for the hearing-impaired, recently introduced what it's calling "Digital Clarity Power" and the rest of us call proprietary digital signal processing technology that it says can "make phone conversations markedly clearer for millions of individuals worldwide."
"DCP technology is life-changing for the growing number of people who are hard of hearing and are unable to communicate effectively or clearly by telephone," the company said. "Up until this point, all standard and amplified telephones have been analog-based which means they simply transmit whatever sounds are broadcast into a receiver. Some phones have used digital signal processing and digital spread spectrum technology, but not in a way to make calls easier to hear and understand for hard of hearing users. In contrast, DCP-enabled telephones can distinguish between background noise and eliminate unwanted sounds from a user's conversations."
Many people who experience a hearing loss find background noise and unwanted sounds can make normal telephone calls difficult or even impossible to understand. Standard amplified phones may even compound this problem by amplifying static, sudden sounds and other distracting noise.
A computer chip inside a DCP-powered phone, in contrast, runs various algorithms to improve listening conditions. For instance, one algorithm eliminates constant noise, such as air conditioning or static, "creating a clear sound that is more conducive to conversation," according to the company.
Digital signal processing technology was first used in hearing aids in 1987 but the technology took nearly a decade to revolutionize the hearing aid industry. Today, DSP technology is considered essential for any user of a hearing aid. Clarity say it is the first telephone supplier to incorporate this patent pending technology into its products and is set to revolutionize the amplified telephone industry. Additionally, DCP telephones are the first in the world specifically designed to include settings for those users with and without hearing aids.
Clarity offers two phones featuring the patent-pending DCP technology. The corded C2210 ($179.95, above right) and the cordless C4205 ($149.95, above le telephones can be purchased from authorized Clarity distributors or on Clarity's website at www.clarityproducts.com.
T-Mobile may not be the biggest wireless carrier, but they're the best for international travelers. They carry a lot of quad-band phones, which work in more parts of more countries than tri-band phones do. They're also open to activating exotic phones from abroad, and after 90 days they let you unlock your phone to use on foreign cellular systems at lower rates than roaming would offer. Sure, they don't have the industry's best coverage, but they're far more honest about coverage than their competitors are thanks to their online Personal Coverage Check. And their prices are great. Check out the Motorola V188, a phone I won't review because I'm just too busy – though that's not the V188's fault.
Motorola V188 (T-Mobile) Lowest price: $10 (sort of; if you buy one for $29.99, you get two more free) Key features: Speakerphone, quad-band global roaming, MP3 ringtones, EDGE semi-high-speed data Pros: Cute. A good set of voice-focused features for the price. Cons: No camera. My favorite add-on: Motorola Mobile Phone Tools software and a USB cable turn this into an EDGE modem for your laptop. Surf at double dialup speeds anywhere T-Mobile has signal – whoo! Would I recommend it based on my very little information? Yes. This looks like a little winner of a voice handset for T-Mobilizers.
NASCAR fans will either love or hate the Cisnet NASCAR PC. Sure, it's decorated with all things NASCAR, but I think it's more for the "obsessive" fan than anything else! I mean, look at the keyboard and CPU alone! Every possible nook and cranny is filled with race cars and tracks. And it doesn't stop there.
You get NASCAR-themed desktop wallpaper, the "Gentlemen, start your engines!" announcement when you boot up your PC, car-related desktop icons, the NASCAR theme on the windows in Internet Explorer and Windows in general, and on Windows Media Player Skins.
It is pretty powerful for something at this price, too: an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor, 512MB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD writer, and ATI integrated Radeon Xpress 200 graphics.
The only thing missing? A TV Tuner to watch NASCAR races!!
Most people I see in and around New York City seem to want to flaunt their iPods, not hide them; you see pod people on buses and subways, holding their iPods in their hands, maybe casually flipping them from palm to palm instead of tucking them into a bag or a pocket.
Those who feel this might be risky behavior must check out these pulp-novel hardcover cases from Bennie and Olive, available for $69 at Virgin Threads. They'll not only hide the iPod; they'll disguise it! And I enjoy the contrast of vintage and way-way-modern. Note the public-library-style envelope attached! Very nice detail.
So you've visited www.donotcall.gov and think you're on the "do not call" registry that is supposed to keep most telemarketers from bothering you. I sure did! But, guess what? I signed up in the early days of the registry and my numbers didn't get on the list. I know this because I wanted to complain about some calls I've been getting recently, including one mortgage company that has repeatedly told me that if I will merely "press 2" that I'll be removed from their list. Well, I've been doing it almost daily for weeks now.
On the Federal Trade Commission's site, users can verify whether their numbers are on the list. Mine didn't show up, so I (re)registered by home and home office numbers, as well as my cell phone. I'll recheck in a few days and see if they really do get added this time.
Meanwhile, I remain a big believer in the TeleZapper, which emits a special tone when you answer the phone (or your machine answers) that tells many computer dialing systems to hang up and delete your number from their list. The only problem with this is that sometimes people hear the tone and think your answering machine has picked up. You might want to answer with more than just "hello" so these folks will realize a real person has answered.
At $29.95 (RadioShack, etc.), the TeleZapper makes a great present. A single unit will serve all the phones in a home.
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