PLUGHITZ Live Presents (Audio)

Whether you are looking to buy or rent, finding the right property can be a challenge. It seems like getting useful information can be difficult, and comparing a property to its surroundings can feel impossible. A new real estate community portal, Immoshoot, is trying to solve this problem by bringing together different sets of data, as well as access to real estate professionals.

One of the biggest decisions that can be made in life is the purchase or leasing of a property. The best way to make an informed decision is to have all the pertinent information. When you are out and find a property that interests you, simply take a photo of the marketing material. This could be a for sale or lease sign, simply take a photo and upload it to the platform. Using the information in the photo, the platform will find the information about the property. This includes traditional listing data, along with community information, such as lifestyle and cultural data. Once a shoot is created, it is stored in your profile. You can easily return to the listing and even share it with others.

The shoots are also maintained on a collaborative map. Everyone on the platform can explore the listings around them, including the listing and community information. This allows you to see properties that are currently available, but it also allows for a unique way to get to know your surroundings. It can be helpful as a potential buyer or leaser, but it can also be interesting as a new member of the community. You can get an idea of the state of the area around you and explore the local area.

To learn more about Immoshoot and to try out the platform for yourself, head over to their website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

The world is experiencing a pair of population changes that, when combined, creates a big problem. First, the percentage of elderly people in the population is rising. As we age, we need extra time and care. However, the second change is the lowering number of nurses per capita. Together, a growing population in need of a shrinking amount of support means a bigger need for ways to maximize nurses' time. One great way to do this is with Smardii smart diapers.

While there have been other connected diaper technologies, Smardii sets itself apart in a really unique way. The company has managed to develop a sensor array that is so small and inexpensive that it can be embedded in disposable diapers without changing the price of the product by more than a penny or two. Then, connected to the outside of the diaper is a reusable and rechargeable communication puck, that is able to power the sensors as well as communicate the readings back to the system.

The sensor array is able to detect a variety of metrics, including humidity, temperature, position, and motion. These metrics can then be used to determine the state of the diaper, making it easier for caretakers to keep track of patients without having to add extra work to their rounds. But, the device can also provide a lot more information for medical professionals. With the position sensing, they can determine if someone has not moved in an extended period of time. This could indicate unreported pain, and detecting it early can prevent bedsores. The motion tracking can detect if the patient has fallen or moved in an unusual way and alert staff.

To learn more about the Smardii platform and how it might help your healthcare experience and to contact the company, check out their website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Managing your groceries can be a real challenge, especially when there are multiple people in your household. We've all reached into the pantry to grab an ingredient we need and it is empty or almost empty. That's always a difficult situation, especially when you're halfway into cooking something and can't run out to replace it. It would be way better if you knew before you started cooking or, even better, when you were last at the grocery store, that you needed more. That is precisely the situation that PantryOn is here to help solve.

PantryOn is a shelf liner with individual spots for each item in your pantry or closet. Each spot has a scale built-in to determine the current weight of each item. You place a fresh container of each item on the slots and tell the connected app what is on that spot. Then, as people use the product, the weight will decrease. When the weight hits a particular threshold, the app will alert you to the current state. It can also automatically add the item to the shopping list built into the companion app.

There are a few important technological pieces to know about the PantryOn. The first is that it obviously requires electricity to work. That means that you will need to have power available in the pantry or closet in which you plan to use it. Because it is a connected device, you will also need availability for Wi-Fi. Depending on the setup of your home, you may need to test the Wi-Fi signal strength in your kitchen to ensure the cabinets won't cause too much of an issue.

The PantryOn is priced like an appliance, with each unit running between $500 and $700. To learn more, check out the company's website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

If there is one experience that everyone in the developed world can come together on is the low quality of wireless signal strength in the house. The technology is so questionable that phone companies have worked out ways to offload some or all of the load to Wi-Fi connections when you are in a known location. But, Wi-Fi is not always an option, so sometimes you just need to improve your cellular signal. Thankfully, SureCall makes that easy.

Whether you're trying to boost the signal quality in your home, office, or even an RV, a signal booster or repeater from SureCall can help. If you've ever used a signal enhancer for a television antenna, then the concept will be familiar to you. On the outside of the structure, you place an antenna. Depending on your needs, the antenna may be small, like an old car phone, or larger, like a digital TV antenna. Than antenna runs inside to a signal enhancer, and then to a repeater. That repeater broadcasts as if it were its own cellular antenna, and your phone will connect like normal.

In addition to personal use, this can be a nice feature to add to a commercial property. For businesses that invite the public in, such as retail or grocery, where metal roofs and strong steel structures can inhibit signal strength, offering a signal booster can make the experience better. This is especially important for a business where making a call or texting is a normal part of the process, such as in retail.

The company offers a wide variety of product options, ranging from small and portable setups for trucks and RVs that supports a few devices, up through large commercial options that can support large quantities of devices. To learn more about the company's product offerings, check out their website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

When most people think of companies like Kwikset, they think of home security. This is likely because of the fact that they are the largest maker of consumer door locks in the world. What they might not think of is consumer electronics, but that is changing, as many products in the home are becoming connected devices. Locks are no exception - in fact, they are one of the leaders in the trend.

The company's connected locks are designed to make managing your home's security an easy process. Using the existing Halo lock, you can manage who can and cannot unlock the door, and when those permissions are in place. You can also see who has come and gone and when, making sure that people who are supposed to be in your home at certain times, such as your kids, really are. You can also assign temporary access for house guests, contractors, or even rental properties. All of this is done with a direct Wi-Fi connection, meaning there is no hub required. Of course, all of this is backed up by a traditional key.

The upcoming Halo Touch will maintain most of these features and add in the increasingly popular biometrics feature. It replaces the keypad on the standard Halo with a fingerprint sensor. Using the same technology that powers the fingerprint ID unlocking capabilities on your phone will allow you to unlock your front door. The lock allows you to enroll up to 50 users on the biometric feature, with up to two fingerprints per user. This would be enough to even secure a small office, church, and the like.

The Kwikset Halo is available now in several looks and finishes. The sets are priced in the $200 price range. The Halo Touch is coming soon. For more information on the company's connected locks, check out their website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Trying to maintain a household can be difficult, and the more people in it, the more difficult it becomes. What night is soccer? When are we visiting the grandparents? What date does the school year end? Trying to keep all of these dates and times in your head can be a challenge, and holding it on your phone means only one person has the full schedule. In the past, families have used the fridge, but there's a lot more going on now. The Lyf Board is intended to help alleviate those issues.

Billed as "the dashboard for your family life," the Lyf Board is a smart screen that keeps track of everyone's activities. It shows a schedule of events, as well as the aspects of the world that might impact those events, such as weather. The information is presented in a way that is both informative and fun, looking somewhere between an 8-bit style and a Lite Bright.

In addition to scheduling information, the Lyf Board can also give other family-related details. For example, you can have it sync to your FitBit account and show off how everyone is doing towards their daily and weekly step goals. This creates a fun atmosphere of family competition, encouraging everyone to do a little better every day. As time goes on, the company promises even more integrations to help tie more of the family experience together on one screen.

The Lyf Board is currently in the final development stage, with test devices in the wild today. The company plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign once they are confident with the production schedule, and are offering a 40 percent discount for those who sign-up for notifications now. To sign up for an alert when the Kickstarter goes live and to find more information about Lyf Board, check out the website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

These days, privacy and security are an important topic. Whether you're trying to keep your phone physically secured, or hiding away a flash drive, there are few ways to do it while maintaining an appealing visual. Safes and lockboxes tend to be functional without any regard to the look and feel of the products. But, we still want our homes and offices to look good, and not like the center of a bank. This is where TROVA comes in.

The company's products are designed to not only protect valuables and important items from prying eyes, but they do it while looking good. The boxes have a nice diamond cut to them, with a small peak on the top. Having the box look attractive is more than just a feature of aesthetics, though. It also means that it can disguise itself as a decorative item, allowing you to hide important items in plain sight. Unless someone is aware of the TROVA products, they would likely look right past it on a table, dresser, or desk.

Discretion is not its only security feature, though. These boxes are secured lockboxes, protected thorough biometrics and paired Bluetooth. You must have the correct, paired device in your possession to begin the process of unlocking the TROVA boxes. You must also use the app and your device's built-in biometrics to verify your identity before it will open up.

With the TROVA GO, you can even take the privacy and protection with you. This is a great option for travelers who want to keep their medications and other private items protected while going through security, the airport in general, and in a hotel or rental property.

The TROVA GO is available now for $249, and the TROVA HOME is available for pre-order at $699. You can learn more and purchase your device at the TROVA website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

In the past few years, the popularity of bicycles has grown quickly. We've seen new styles of bikes, including electric and hybrid bikes. However, there is one common thread that ties them all together - the surface on which you ride. That is not a limiting factor for the hydrofoil bikes made by Manta5, though, as their bikes are designed to be ridden on the water.

If that sentence surprised you, you are not alone. Even our host Don Baine was surprised when he was told. When you think about it, though, the concept starts to make more sense. Kayaking has also grown in popularity over the past few years, for a variety of reasons. One of the main reasons is the ability to go to places and see aspects of nature that you might normally miss. The Manta5 hydrofoil bikes allow for the same opportunities for exploration and beautiful views, but with a different workout. While a kayak will give your arms a workout, the hydrofoil bikes will give your legs a workout.

These hydrofoil bikes don't look like a traditional bicycle. When in the water, they look similar to a stationary bike, with the pedals attached to a solid center section. It also doesn't have wheels, as they wouldn't help a lot in the water. Instead, when you take it out of the water, you can see that it has a propeller on the back above a tail fin. In the front are another fin and a leveling bar. While this may seem like a small detail, it is important to note that the bike also sits upright when out of the water, making it easy to store and transport.

The Manta5 hydrofoil bikes are available for pre-order now, with a retail price of $7,490. You can pre-order yours and learn more about the product on their website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Over the past few years, the cost of projection technology has come down significantly. That has been paired with the size of the technology getting smaller. On Black Friday 2019, we saw pico projectors being offered for less than $100. However, these devices don't provide a lot of value for most consumers. That's because the way we interact with our computing technology has changed, as well.

Most people expect the screens in their life to be touch. Nearly all laptops, definitely all phones and tablets, and even a lot of desktop (all-in-one) computers offer touch input. Projection screens, however, still require external input - that is until now. MicroVision has developed the Interactive Projection Engine - a very small hardware array that allows developers to produce devices with touch-enabled projection.

The demo device we got to see allowed for nearly any standard video input and computing output to connect to a device. We saw the projector connected to a phone with impressive touch recognition capabilities. But, the possibilities are endless, especially when connected to a computer. Even in our portable broadcast studio, this projector would make traveling easier, because it would eliminate the need for monitors.

Imagine being a business traveler, maybe you're a salesperson. You don't know what your client might have in a conference room. You don't want to pack a full projector, but the pico projectors tend to be too dim. This technology, however, is laser-powered, making it possible to use it in standard lighting. We even saw it on our wall in the studio with our lighting and the light of the convention center.

The demo device is available for developers through an application. The company is working with manufacturers to produce commercial products based on the technology. For more information, check out the company's website.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Everyone has been in a situation where you're having trouble coming up with a gift you want to get for a friend or family member. Some people have a smaller number of interests, and the things they want are more expensive. Being able to shop together with others, and each person purchase contribute part of the gift, has never been particularly easy. Fortunately, there is a new platform call Giftapart, which is aimed at making that experience pleasant.

Imagine your niece, Christina, is graduating from high school and headed off to college. She is likely to need a laptop, but no individual family member is able to pay for the device. What she can do is go onto Giftapart and register for the device that she really wants. Then, family and friends can go to her registry and contribute to the purchase. When the laptop is fully funded, Christina gets the laptop, and everyone gets credit for their part.

For anyone who has ever been the one to foot the bill for a group gift and never been paid back, this service is aimed at you. No longer does one person have to pay for the whole thing and hope that everyone else pays their share. Instead, all of the money is held individually until the purchase is ready to be made.

This is a perfect option for not only graduates but wedding registries, housewarming gifts, and more. Now people can register for the items they really want, regardless of the overall price. The platform currently offers over 25 million products, ranging from a Kitchenaid stand mixer to a Microsoft Surface Book, and everything in between. If there is an item you want to register for, it is probably available on the platform.

For more information on the Giftapart platform, check out their corporate website.

Interview by Marlo Anderson of The Tech Ranch and Daniele Mendez of The New Product Launchpad.

Daniele is a student at Florida Polytechnic University who is studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. In High School, she was introduced to the science and technology world through the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a robotics foundation where students of varying ages can compete through tasks that their robots perform. With help from mentors she met through FIRST, she became interested in programming and developing. Today, Daniele is a special events host for F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and PLuGHiTz Live Special Events and a co-host for both The New Product Launchpad and FIRST Looks.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.