PLUGHITZ Live Presents (Video)

As serious wine connoisseurs know, you have to let red (and some white) wines breathe after opening, allowing them to aerate for the best aroma and taste. As a generalization, the younger the wine, the longer it needs to rest before drinking. Very young wines might need a few hours, but half-an-hour is the minimum. Simply taking the cork out doesn't count: the wine needs to be decanted (or double-decanted back into the bottle) for proper aeration. If this sounds like too much effort, then take a look at Aveine, a connected aerator and winner of a CES Innovation Award. Don and Matthieu get every wine tasting its best.

Thanks to the connected aerator Aveine, you can immediately taste any wine in ideal conditions without having to wait 30 minutes or more. Place the aerator on the bottle, scan the label with your smartphone and serve. The smartphone checks for the wine in its database, connects to the Aveine and adjusts the aeration so that the aerator breathes the right amount of air as the wine is poured allowing it to breathe in an instant. Any red wine will benefit and there's no waiting around or pouring into decanters.

The Aveine aerator is launching on Indiegogo in March - signup for notifications at Aveine. Retail pricing is expected to be $200 with deals on Indiegogo. Delivery in June.

P.S. This is possibly the funniest CES video - a few things are lost in translation.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

When you think of cameras, KODAK is likely one of the first brands that comes to mind. They have a long history of providing innovative cameras for professionals and hobbyists. KODAK PIXPRO showcased several of their next generation cameras at CES 2018. Todd spoke with Tracy from KODAK PIXPRO about their digital cameras. The cameras they showcased offer a lot of technology for a great value.

KODAK PIXPRO Orbit360 4K VR camera has a single body with two lenses on it. It is compact, freeze proof, dust proof, shock proof and can be dropped six feet and still be ok. In addition to being a 360 camera, it is also a 4K 197 degrees of view camera that can be used as an action cam. You can upload 360° videos and photos to Facebook and YouTube. Camera packs are offered with a variety of included accessories, and are available starting at $499.

In addition, Tracy pointed out the features of several other KODAK PIXPRO cameras. This includes an inexpensive point-and-shoot camera, the newest Astro Zoom bridge model with a 102x zoom, and a professional action cam.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

In the United States, many people make purchases with their credit card, though contactless payment is growing in popularity, in the US and abroad. Barclays has a mantra - to give its customers a choice about ways to pay. The choices include contactless payment via a chip that is located inside a common object.

Todd spoke with Adam from Barclays at CES 2018. Barclays Bank has always been at the pioneering end of innovation. They are integrating contactless payments into normal form factors. Barclays has the smallest contactless payment card on the market. They use it to make non-smart devices smart.

The Barclays contactless payment card is small enough to be integrated into items you already use, such as fitness bands, watches, vehicle key fobs or jewelry. Companies who make those items partner with Barclays, and the result is that people can make small contactless payments with these items without having to enter a PIN.

Barclays contactless payment option is currently available in the United Kingdom. It is not yet available in the United States.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

Personal digital assistants are useful, but they have their limits. For example, some have difficulty understanding a person who has an accent. There are tasks that personal assistants are simply not ready to do yet. This can lead to frustration. Wiidii solves this problem with the first hybrid personal assistant.

Todd spoke with Anissa from Wiidii at CES 2018. Wiidii (pronounced "weedy") is a personal hybrid assistant. It is an application on your phone that combines an artificial intelligence with human personal assistance. Wiidii has a machine that is able to understand human language in a way that most other assistants cannot. No matter how you ask a question, the way you talk or the accent you have, Wiidii is going to understand what you are asking. The machine personal assistant knows its limitations and is able to turn your request over to a human personal assistant who can complete tasks such as making a dinner reservation at a restaurant for you.

Wiidii currently understands French, English, Chinese Mandarin, German and Spanish. Wiidii sells their service to partner companies who either use it internally or sell it as a service to their customers or providers. The service is not directly available to individual consumers.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

Today, families stay connected to each other through smartphones and the internet. We post family photos and videos on social media websites, and our family members who live far away can see it. Grandparents who don't use the internet or a smartphone miss these moments. Hopen Family has a solution that will bring grandparents back into the center of the family.

Todd spoke with Nelly from Hopen Family at CES 2018. They created a smart device that bridges generations and distance. Plug the Hopen Family smart key into your grandparent's TV and you can send photos, videos and short messages to their TV.

Your grandparent can view and watch those photos and videos right from their TV. The content will scroll for them, or the grandparent can control the device with a TV remote - which they already know how to use. This makes it extremely easy for older family members, who are not internet savvy, to stay connected to the rest of their family.

The Hopen Family smart key can connect through Wi-Fi (or 3G in some countries). In the United States, it is priced at $79. Hopen Family offers three service plans: Discovery, Family, and Tribe. Visit their website for more details about each plan.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

Smartwatches have become popular. There are several brands and styles that you can purchase, based on your personal style and preferences. One61 Studio makes superhero smartwatches that geeks will find appealing. Todd spoke with Anand from Know Things at CES 2018. Know Things builds development tools that accelerate IoT and connected devices development. They partnered with One61 Studio to help them solve problems that developers face while creating a smart product.

One61 Studio has created a superhero smartwatch line. They started with the Batman smartwatch, which is based on the Batman played by Adam West in the '60s. The Batman smartwatch can be used to take calls, get text messages and everything else you expect from a smartwatch. Know Things managed the Bluetooth layer to extend battery life, so you get 18 to 24 hours of battery even while actually using it. In addition, they added some gamification. They call the Step Counter "Crime Fighting". Take a certain number of steps, and the first villain Batman catches is The Joker.

The Batman smartwatch is available now for $125, and a smartwatch based on The Flash is also available now at $125. The Wonder Woman smartwatch will become available in April for $150, which will be a round smartwatch that includes heartbeat detection (which is not a feature of the square smartwatches.)

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

There are plenty of smarthome devices on the market to choose from. The difficult part is getting everything to work together in your smart home. U-Finder provides a solution to this problem. They have a professional smarthome system.

Todd spoke with Mark from U-Finder at CES 2018. U-Finder Technology Limited focuses on smarthome automation. Their smarthome product is called the U-Finder System. It can be used by hotels, offices, nursing homes and in the homes of individuals and families. U-Finder helps you create a smart new life.

The U-Finder smarthome solution is completely modular and easy to set up. It is ready for plug-and-play not only in new environments but also in existing buildings. In addition to the professional smarthome system, U-Finder has over 200 products that can become part of that system.

U-Finder's newest smarthome solution makes use of 3D and VR technology. Use their app to turn on your lights by touching the light in the app. You can also turn products off or on by voice command.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

If you're from England, or a fan of old BBC series, the Root Robotics turtle might transport you to the early 80s, remembering the BBC Micro 'B', Logo and Turtle. While the user interface is definitely better, the patterns on the paper look just the same! To be fair to Raphael and Root Robotics, their turtle does do a bit more - it has over 50 sensors and actuators.

Root's approach is to use the robot as a fun way to introduce coding to children and young adults. The coding environment has three modes, with simplest using big colourful blocks, through to the most complex which uses Swift, Python and JavaScript. The robot itself retains the pen for drawing patterns but today's turtles are magnetic for sticking to white boards and have a dry eraser to wipe off pen trails. The robot has over 50 sensors and actuators so it can move and draw, but it can also sense touch, measure light levels and feel edges and walls. It'll play music, respond to button presses and flash lights. Very impressive.

The Root robot will be shipping in June 2018 for $199. Pre-orders are open.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

There are a variety of hubs on the market for people who have smarthomes. Those hubs are specialized to coordinate with the products that make up your IoT. You need another device if you want to make use of a digital assistant, a smartphone for calls and a computer for games and music. SmartBeings puts all this together - and more - in WooHoo.

Don spoke with Joe from SmartBeings at CES 2018. WooHoo is the first truly artificial intelligence smarthome hub; it is the next generation of AI assistants. The device can identify users by facial recognitions through its HD cameras, and through voice authentication based on voice print. This allows WooHoo to differentiate between users.

The camera has motion sensors that will allow it to turn 360° to face a user that is behind it. It also has an infrared camera inside it for low light situations. The devices knows who you are based on information stored within the device.

WooHoo also has a smart hub inside it what has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigby and Z-Wave, as well as 4G LTE. You can hook up your HDMI TV to WooHoo. It is also possible to surf the internet on Woohoo. You can communicate with WooHoo verbally (like you would with other digital assistants), through its dashboard or with a gesture.

WooHoo will be on the market in April of 2018. You will be able to purchase it through most phone companies.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

The nature of work today is often one of multi-tasking. An hour on this project, a teleconference with some clients, a few hours on a proposal and by the time it gets to the end of the day, it's tricky to get the billable time down. TimeFlip have a simple and effective answer to this in the shape of a large gaming dice. Todd and Ilya spend some time understanding the solution.

The TimeFlip is a dodecahedron (12 sided object) about the size of a coffee mug. The shape is hollow and has a Bluetooth-enabled circuit board inside which is designed to determine which side is facing up. On the sides of the dice are symbols or words representing work activities. To accurately record time spent on a project, it's simply a case of making sure that the particular activity is uppermost. At the end of the day, sync via Bluetooth to the TimeFlip app for a complete record of work activities and durations.

Aiming at both B2C and B2B, the TimeFlip can come in a couple of different polyhedrons, and there are versions available for download and 3D printing. The TimeFlip CRAFT is available from TimeFlip for $49 and the TimeFlip MAGNET is available from TimeFlip or Amazon for $59.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.