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A CES 2020 Innovation Award Honoree in two categories, Sabinetek showed off the SmartMic+ – a new wireless microphone that is small enough to fit in your pocket, and allows you to capture the sound for your phone, DSLR, mixer, or any audio source.

About the Smartmic+

This mic is half the size of a pen, and can clip in a pocket, or on a lapel. The Smartmik has a 110mAh battery inside, and powers over Bluetooth for audio that is only a few feet away.

The Smartmic uses a phone to pair the audio, which can then be sent out to another adjoining Smartmic+ attached to another source – camera or mixer.

The device can also recieve two audio devices to the mobile. If you’re a solo musician, you can mic yourself, and your guitar, then send to the phone. The SMike+app for iOS or Android will give you a better sound.

AI Features of Smartmic+

The SMike+ app also can translate, closed caption, and record video in 16:9, 9:16, 4:3 modes.

Smartmic+ is available for $159. Get Smartmic+ on Sabinetek.com.

ZAGG acquired Braven about a year and a half, and released a lineup of speakers and headphones. I got to check out all the speakers, headphones, their case line, and charger line (that can also jump start a car!)

About the ZAGG Braven

Braven comes in many styles for your need – speakers and headphones.

The speaker line, also called BRV, are portable and rugged for your outdoor use. Starting with a small, portable speaker in the BRV-105, up to the BRV-XXL/2 power speaker.

I got to see 3 versions of the speaker – the BRV-MINI, BRV-XL, and BRV-XXL.

The Mini looks like a mini-soda can. It’s a waterproof speaker that can be paired for stereo sound. Each cost $39.99

Get the BRV-MINI

Get the BRV-XL

The XL comes in black and grey, it’s 40 Watts, and has a 16 hour battery. The line is also waterproof, and rugged enough to survive a dive or fall. Get it for $119.99

The one thing I really like about the XL and XXL is they both have the power to not only pump out your favorite music, but could also be small practice amplifiers for your music.

The XXL/2 has 4 full range drivers, a down-firing subwoofer, and dual passive radiators.

Your phone can be up to 100 feet away from the XXL/2 for connection. The BRV-XXL/2 also allows for pairing with up to 98 other BRV-XXL/2 speakers. This means you can have one music source, and many different speakers projecting.

If you did a drive-in style movie, this would be perfect for each car.

The XXL/2 is $399.99

Get the BRV-XXL/2

Get Braven on Amazon

There’s a lot more from ZAGG, check out their website at ZAGG.com for more.

Dell Infinity Edge

There was a lot to see this year at Dell Experience. This is a pop-up area at CES to showcase everything that Dell and Alienware have to offer. I got to see some of the new, and innovative products Dell will be offering this year.

Dell XPS with Four-Sided Infinity Edge Display

The new ultra portable computer from Dell is a 13.4 inch laptop completely redesigned. Dell showed off the laptop, and how it was made via each station.

CNC machined aluminum, carbon fiber, and woven glass fiber make up the casing for the Intel 10th generation Ice Lake processor. All within 2.64 lbs.

Add in 32GB RAM, i7 processor, and up to 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD drive, you’ve got a pretty powerful machine. It rounds out with Thunderbolt 3, WiFi6, and Bluetooth 5.0 features.

Dell Mobile Connect

I used to have this feature with my Windows phone. You could get an emulation of the phone on your desktop. That way, you don’t have to pick up the phone to find photos, take calls, send text messages, and more.

The software connects with your phone, and shows up in a window on your laptop screen. This year, they added iOS support, and app mirroring – calling up apps on your device.

Dell 9510

Lattitude 9510 2-in-1 Laptop

This laptop also has the 10th generation Intel Core 10 i7 processor with vPro technology. 15 inch Infinity edge touch screen, and a battery life up to 30 hours.

vPro is a platform that brings performance, security, manageability, and stability. For example, if an application is freezing the computer, vPro will learn and adapt to help keep the computer from stalling.

Another feature includes the intelligent audio software that is going to determine the noise in the room, so it can clean things up for you to hear, and be heard by others.

Alienware Second Screen Concept

Alienware Second Screen Concept

If you are a gamer, you might want to see how your machine is performing while playing. Make sure it’s not overheating, or you’re getting a frame issue.

That is where second screen comes in. You can keep constant tabs on these things as you play. Android or iOS phone compatible, wired or wireless.

Future updates will allow for lighting, and other controls you might need on the fly.

Alienware 25, 27 Gaming Monitors

Dell and Alienware brought out some powerful monitors for gaming and business, including the 25 Gaming monitor. With a 240Hz refresh rate, 1-ms response time, and NVidia G-Sync technology, the monitor will be perfect for the competitor.

More in the Video

Check out all the gear I saw at the Dell Experience.

CES 2020 at Dell

Dell at Amazon

Alienware at Amazon

Nreal is working on AR glasses so you can keep your eyes in reality while your glasses take you elsewhere. I got to try them on at CES and see what this hi-tech visual can do for the future of eyeware.

Nreal is a chinese start-up ready to enter the market. Their glasses are the size of a pair of sunglasses, and can be connected to an Android smartphone. The phone turns into a controller for the content on the lenses.

The one thing I love about mixed reality is what you can do with the real world. Walk down the street and get visual directions. Look at a product and get info about it.

Even watching a movie, call up information like actors, extra features, possible enhancements to the movie including 3D effects.

Developer kits are available right now starting at $1,199. You can order at nreal.ia

A couple years ago, I got to talk with Singular Sound’s BeatBuddy at NAMM, and found out about this great product. Now it’s in the shop, and I am playing around with all the great songs I can play solo using it.

What is BeatBuddy

This is a pedal that adds a drummer to your solo, duo, or practice. It uses real sounds, but also uses MIDI to create beats, and help control your pedal.

BeatBuddy simply adds more than a simple drum beat for your songs. The pedal can change the feel of the drums, tempo, and more.

The pedal fits right into you pedalboard, and has stereo input, stereo output, MIDI, footswitch, and headphone inputs.

The pedal does run on an external 9V power. It will work with your pedalboard’s power strip.

* One press to start the drum beat* One press to add a fill* Long press to change to a chorus or bridge* Double-tap to end the song

With the additional footswitch (sold separately), you can add drum hits (like cymbals), or stop the music altogether. All buttons are programmable to what works best for you.

Add in the MIDI Maestro if you need more buttons to control your sound.

Make Your Own Beats

With BeatBuddy, you can connect to a computer, and create your own beats. The editor allows you to re-arrange verses, choruses, and endings, along with add new songs and parts. You can go into the MIDI editor to create a beat, or import MIDI patterns from your favorite program.

All drums are real recorded sets. Switch from a rock sound to a jazz sound, alternate set, and more. You can also record the sounds of your drums, and put them into the pedal.

BeatBuddy is $299 and available now.

BeatBuddy on Amazon

BeatBuddy at Sweetwater

BeatBuddy at Guitar Center

The 3D Facebook photo is a fun thing to come up against in Facebook, it can really make an image pop out at you (pun intended). The only issue is your phone needs a depth chart to make this happen – therefore, only phones that could do portrait mode (in certain iOS and Android devices) would give you this feature.

What if I told you that you can make these photos even if you took them on a non-digital camera?

How the 3D Photo Works

When you put out a photo for 3D, you are technically sending two parts – the photo itself, and a photo that maps the depth in a black-to-white spectrum. This is called the z-index, and will determine what item in the image is more towards the front, and which is more towards the back.

When you have a photo that is not as busy, it can map the depth a lot better. The more defined lines in a photo to make the 3D image, the better.

Keep in mind, a .png photo will have more detail than a .jpg. The higher definition of the image, the better the look simply because there’s more information to help merge the two files.

I took a simple screenshot of my face to show how the process works.

Photo is entitled “Jeff.jpg”Second photo MUST be called “Jeff_depth.jpg”Creating the photo, and the depth image

Naming the Two Files

In order for Facebook to stitch these two images together, you must name the second one with “_depth” after the name. Therefore, the first image is jeff.jpg, and the second is jeff_depth.jpg.

Right now, you can only do this on a computer browser. iOS will treat them as two different files.

When you move over the files, Facebook will render them together. If it cannot, you’ll get two separate files (meaning the naming is off), or it will error out. That means you’ll have to do some more work on the depth image.

Playing with the Concept to Make Cool New Images

I thought it be fun to put a hidden meaning in my image. I created it using a simple pun. Can you see the text?

Natalie 2 by Charles Barnard

What Will You Create?

Show me what you do with Facebook 3D photos. These were quick ideas; I’ve seen some great photo examples out there, and I believe we haven’t tapped the 3D photo true potential.

Maybe Live photos will get the 3d touch? Video? It’s very possible in the future.

Your security camera is going to get smarter as you go. Hoop debuted at CES 2020 to show off their range of home security cameras. Adding AI, the camera can do a lot more than just record and contact you if someone is suspicious around your home.

The Hoop cam learns to identify friends and family. When you create a profile, you can upload photos so Hoop recognizes if they come to the front door, or into your home.

The newer Hoop Cam + rotates and tilts to a 360 view of a room. The camera pans 350 degrees, and tilts 45 degrees with the adjustments from your smartphone app.

You can also teach Hoop routines and notify you when they happen. When the kids come home from school, you’ll get notified. If you come in the door and it’s trash day, you’ll be notified to take out the trash.

Hoop will motion tag, give you real-time voice communication in the proximity of the camera, switch to night-vision, and store it all on their Cloud in 1080p for 8 days with the free plan, and $12.99/month for up to 3 cameras.

The initial hoop camera starts at $89 with Hoop Cam+ at $129. For more information, go to MyHoopHome.com

Get Hoop at Amazon

I loved the fact these models were completely acrylic, allowing for us to see the components involved in autonomous driving. That is what ZF does – create those options for your hands-free and safe ride to wherever you want to go. Their Level 2+ system with ZF coASSIST is ready to equip vehichles, including a major Asian manufacturer that has not been named yet.

Level 2+ is semi-automated driving. It is a series of driving and safety features, run by a supercomputer in your vehicle.

This means you will still be behind a wheel, and actively driving. Level 2+ will take over simple functions – lane changing, parking, exiting the hiway, and yes – auto-pilot functions. The advanced part of Level 2+ will plan the drive turns and merges, looking ahead to any possible issues on the road.

There is a 3rd layer of Level 2+, which is a vehicle assistant that will communicate with you who is driving, what to pay attention to, and help adapt so you get to your destination safely.

Level 4 is a plan for fully autonomous vehicles in passenger, and cargo options. A delivery truck, or a bus are examples of what Level 4 will contain.

We look at the vehicle features ZF is working on to make your drive safer. For more information, check out ZF.com

Geekazine has used and reviewed products from IK Multimedia for a few years now. Each product continues to show us that digital music is changing the way we record and perform music. Modo Drum is no different. This is a drum virtual instrument that allows you to create drum sounds, full kits, and studio-grade grooves all at home.

Modo Drum Modeler

This is a stand-alone software that also acts as a VST instrument for many different DAW programs. Whether you are bringing the drums in through Logic Pro, Cubase, Cakewalk, Reaper, Ableton Live, or simply through Garage Band, you can get the drum sound you desire.

Requirements

Modo Drum works on Mac and Windows machines with an i5-style processor or better, and 8GB RAM or better. Your machine will need to support Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX).

How Modo Drum Work

The interface helps you choose, and customize drum kits. You have 10 different kits to choose from (no electronic kit sounds, though), and you can mix and match as you need. Pair a Metal Bass drum with jazz toms, a pop-rock snare, and a variety of cymbals. All for that custom sound you might be looking for.

Each drum / cymbal can be customized further. Shell diameter, depth, type of drum head, type of drum stick, where the stick hits the head, and a lot more.

The mixer allows you to further culture the sound with effects, EQ, levels, and more.

Use With Your Favorite MIDI Instrument

Whether drums, keyboard, or pads, you can customize the paths-to-drums fairly easy. Call up the drum, choose the midi icon, and then hit the pad,or key that you need. In the video, I used an Axiom Air32 keyboard, and a Yamaha DTX-Multi 12 drum pad.

Insert into Your DAW

You can bring in multiple kits on separate tracks, or even separate the drum kit on different tracks for easy mixing. In Garageband, the MIDI track is recorded, so you can change out your sounds if the desire changes.

I outline the whole program in the video. Modo Drum is $299.99, which is not bad for what you get in this package. For more information, check out IK Multimedia’s page.

Modo Drum at Sweetwater

Modo Drums at Adorama

Get IK Multimedia at Amazon

At CES 2020, I got to talk with Stern Pinball, one of the leaders in home pinball machines. They debuted a new machine, licensing the hit Netflix show, Stranger Things. Some cool new ideas come with this new pinball machine, and the gameplay is not that bad.

Stranger Things Pinball Machine

THe machine comes in 3 editions (Pro, Premium, Limited Edition), each with different graphics on the cabinet. Premium and Limited Edition versions use a projector on the play field, adding animation to more of the playfield.

Another feature of the Premiere and Limited edition models include hand-drawn art, and a custom sculpted, interactive Demogorgon toy. There are only 500 limited edition models available.

I consider myself to be a decent pinball aficionado. I got to play the Premium model, which was really enjoyable to run. The ball could be controlled, the ramps were not that difficult to hit, and I did not see any center “drop” zones (where you lose a turn without being able to save the ball). The multi-ball was challenging, yet fun to get to.

Battling the Demogorgon was a fun task. The telekenisis mode to multi-ball was also enjoyable to work on.

This machine can be purchased for in-home, or arcade use. The come with coin use option, so you can charge your buddies if you want.

Prices start at $6,099 for the Pro, $7,699 for Premium, and $9,099 for Limited edition.

Stern Pinball on Amazon

Stranger Things at Stern Pinball