PLUGHITZ Live Presents (Video)

The gaming experience has steadily improved since Pong. Each generation of console and processor brings more detailed graphics, faster framerates, improved sound, force feedback vibration, virtual reality, augmented reality and more. They're all designed to make games more immersive and realistic without actually injuring the player. The latest addition to the gaming word is Vortx from Whirlwind FX: Todd takes the heat with Timothy, Founder and CEO.

The Vortx brings greater realism to the player by blowing hot and cold air in response to on-screen action. Imagine a demon throwing fireballs: as the player dodges a fireball, the Vortx blasts hot breath at the player as the ball slips past. Or imagine an adventure game, climbing through frozen mountains: the Vortx chills the air as the player climbs higher. It's impressive.

About the size of a desktop speaker (9" tall), the Vortx connects to a PC via USB and works with the Whirlwind FX engine. It uses object recognition and analysis to automatically trigger heat or cold, so Vortx can be used with any PC game without modification.

The Vortx is available for pre-order now at $119, with shipping expected soon.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

The efficient use of electricity is a win-win: it both saves money and saves the planet. At home, energy-efficient LED lightbulbs have all but replaced incandescent bulbs, which means the quick wins are gone. The next step is to identify the big energy consumers in the home and that's where Smappee comes in. Stefan and Don save the world.

Smappee is an energy monitoring system that identifies the energy usage and behaviour of major appliances in the home. Each fridge, AC unit, cooker, TV has a unique electrical "fingerprint" and over time the Smappee monitor works out which appliance is starting and stopping, sometimes with a little help from the homeowner. With this information, Smappee shows the running cost of each one in the complementary Smappee app. Anything that consumes more than 20W can be identified but really the wins are with devices that use kilowatts of power.

Smappee doesn't require an electrician to install Smappee as it uses a sensor clamped round the live cable coming from the meter. Nothing needs to be cut or permanently installed.

Smappee Home is available now for $250 and the Smappee Solar is available for $350.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

People want to protect their privacy online, but some are not certain about how to do that. Others might know how to do it, but the process can be tedious and time consuming. InvizBox makes a variety of products to help people keep their privacy online.

Don spoke with Paul from InvizBox at CES 2018. InvizBox makes products that are easy to use for cyber security and privacy protection. Connect your phone, laptop or other device to any InvizBox product over Wi-Fi and all your internet traffic is encrypted before it is sent across the internet. InvizBox will take care of the rest.

InvizBox Go can be used at home, abroad or on public Wi-Fi anywhere in the world. In addition to functioning as a VPN, an ad blocker and a Wi-Fi hotspot extender, it also functions as a power bank so you can charge your phone. The InvizBox 2 and InvizBox Pro connect to your home router. Simply connect your laptop, phone, smart TV and other devices over Wi-Fi or a wired connection and all of your internet traffic will be encrypted.

InvizBox Go is available now. The price ranges from $199 to $279 depending on how many months of VPN you want to purchase. InvizBox 2 is priced at $149, and InvizBox 2 Pro is priced art $219. Each comes with 12 months of VPN. It is estimated that those products will start shipping in April of 2018.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

People who want to have a healthy lifestyle might change their diet or increase the amount of time they spend exercising. Romy Paris helps you extend your health awareness to your skin with a cosmetic formulator called Figure.

Don spoke with Ann from Romy Paris at CES 2018. The Romy Paris Figure is a personal cosmetics lab that creates your own healthy, fresh and personalized skin care. You can place it in your bathroom and it connects to the Romy App, which analyzes data relating to your environment and recommends the care that best meets your skins needs in real time. The Romy App can be downloaded for free.

The Romy App identifies the best Romy Paris capsules to add to your formulator for a fresh, tailor-made, healthy skincare product in just a few seconds. The Figure formulator can be used by women or men.

Figure is priced at €890. It comes with primary face care, washing solution, and each of the ten active ingredients. Each package of capsules costs between €12 and €15 and includes ten capsules.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

The IoT devices you have in your home are designed to make your life easier, but connecting them all together can be very complex. Products from one company might not work well with products from another. Otodo simplifies your IoT with their smarthome solution.

Don spoke with Eric from Otodo at CES 2018. The Otodo smarthome solution uses two products: the Otodo One and the Ugo. The Otodo One is a hub that allows you to manage many commercial connected objects, and also older remote controlled devices (such as lamps and thermostats) from different brands. It functions as the bridge between your internet provider and all your home IoT objects.

The Ugo is an aesthetically pleasing smart pebble remote that helps you to interact with all your connected devices at home. The Ugo stays in your house (you may want to put near your door). Use the app to pre-program a specific location and associate it with one IoT device (for example, a light). Pick up the Ugo pebble and tap it twice on that location and the light will come on.

The Ugo pebble can only be used by the people in your family, but the Ugo will not function if an unidentified person picks it up. It is very specific, so you won't have to worry about accidentally turning off your neighbor's lights.

Otodo is expecting to have these products in the United States later this year. Otodo One will be priced at approximately $30 to $40. Ugo will be priced at $69.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

When a person becomes injured, or gets very sick, they need to see a doctor. This might involve an expensive ride in an ambulance and a big bill to pay. A person who lives in a rural area might not have a local doctor. Telemedicine is a way for a remote patient to be assessed by a physician. Nomadeec has created a solution that is the future of telemedicine.

Don spoke with John from Nomadeec at CES 2018. Nomadeec is the first integrated, connected and mobile solution for clinical examination for all field practitioners. They are based in France, where their system is already being used. Nomadeec will arrive in the United States in the beginning of 2019.

John explained how the Nomadic solution works. A person requires medical attention. An EMT is sent out. The EMT is wearing a specialized headset that has holographic functionalities and video conferencing. The headset is hands free, which allows the EMT to keep their eyes on the patient. Everything that the EMT sees is sent to a physician - who is not at the scene. The patient receives an expert opinion on their medical situation.

Nomadeec works in a business to business capacity. Their entire platform is $15,000.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

What's on your USB drive? You might have a mixture of work related information, personal photos and other things that you wouldn't want to get into the wrong hands. USB drives are small, and that makes them easy to lose. Kingston Technologies offers encrypted USB drives that can help keep your data secure.

Don spoke with Ruben from Kingston Technologies at CES 2018. Ruben brought several encrypted USB drives that showcase Kingston's latest technology. Some are designed for individuals to use, while others provide the enhanced security that is needed by the government, corporations and financial institutions.

Kingston's encrypted USB drives require the user to put in a password before they can access the data that is on the drive. The DataTraveler 200 has buttons on the USB drive that you use to enter your password. Put the DataTraveler Vault Privacy 3.0 encrypted USB drive into a computer, and it will immediately put up a window and ask for the password.

All of Kingston's USB drives have hardware based encryption. The board is dipped in epoxy before it is put in the case. The higher end USB drives also have the case filled with epoxy. All of Kingston's products have brute force protection. If you enter the password more than 10 times incorrectly, it is going to wipe the drive clean.

The retail price of encrypted USB drives range between $40 and up to $600.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

Cameras offer a level of home protection that many people find comforting. Outdoor cameras can show you who is at your door, who has been in your yard and if your package has arrived. Panasonic offers a line of smarthome connected security cameras called HomeHawk, that provide safety and peace of mind.

Don spoke with Etsuko from Panasonic at CES 2018, where they discussed Panasonic's HomeHawk line of outdoor cameras. One model is a dedicated front door camera with a very wide view. Another is a small outdoor camera which you can place wherever you need it. The cameras are powered by batteries that last an average of three to four months (assuming you record two minutes per day).

These HD cameras are weather resistant and have LED lighting. They offer a super wide view in full color during the day and in color night vision when it is dark outside. The front door camera allows for 2-way talk, which means you can speak with delivery person - or dissuade a thief from stealing your package.

A starter kit, which offers the recorder, a front door camera and an accessory camera is currently available for $399, with other configurations available as well, and additional peripheral cameras run $179.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

Ozobot is on a mission to prepare kids for the future with the ability to collaborate with and control robots. They believe that, in the future,robots will be a huge part of almost every profession. Ozobot has created a fun way to teach kids how to write code that will make a pocket-sized robot do something. Creativity is encouraged. Don spoke with Joby from Ozobot at CES 2018. Joby demonstrated some of the things that the Evo robot can do.

Each Evo has optical sensors and, right out of the box, without being app-connected, a child can start playing with Evo. First, a child draws a line on a regular piece of paper with a marker and Evo will follow it, no matter the line that is drawn. Kids can learn some simple programming skills by creating a line that includes colored dot sequences that tell Evo how to move. In addition, Evo can be used to make music or to play games. The little robot can follow your finger around, and can even play an "Escape" game where it tries to avoid your hands.

In addition to the robot, Ozobot gives kids the codes for all of Evos tricks and encourages them to hack it. They can earn points by making Evo do different things and the points can be used to buy avatars.

Evo is available now from Amazon and the Ozobot website. It costs around $90 and comes in Crystal White or Titanium Black, or in special edition Iron Man or Captain America pack. Evo comes with instruction cards, markers, a free iOS/Android app, and access to OzoBlockly Programming.

Interview by Don Baine, The Gadget Professor.

This episode was originally published on Geek News Central.

This week, we're at the Synapse Innovation Summit Tampa Bay 2018. We are located in the STEM Pavilion at Amalie Arena where we get the opportunity to speak to a variety of makers, ranging from renewable streetlights to 3D printed rockets.

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.

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.