PLUGHITZ Live Presents (Video)

Philips is set on keeping their customers satisfied with new products this year. They are targeting different consumer needs from a durable active-wear to high quality fashion headphones.

Philips is making an active lifestyle easier and more convenient for customers by creating their new sports headphones, Wireless Freedom. This product is purely Bluetooth and gives the user a sense of running freely without feeling like they are wearing headphones at all. While being light weight, they are still extremely heavy duty and robust. Wireless Freedom has a long lasting battery life that lasts up to 4 and a half hours of playtime. Philips cares about the health and fitness of their customers and wants them to perform their best while working hard.

Philips is also targeting people who want to look glamourous while listening to their music and they can with the new Everlite Headphones. It says it right on the box, "Streamlined to shine, clear and crisp." They are quality sounding headphones, made with a convenient built in microphone. The Everlite comes in an attractive rose gold color while looking great and sitting comfortable. They are even compact and easy to put away.

If you are more into listening to music with no distractions, the Active Shield Pro is for you. Philips took noise cancellation by storm with a new and unique headset that eliminates 99% of background noise. The Active Shield Pro offers a no pollution, clean sound without having to crank up the volume to distract yourself from the outside world. You can enjoy them wireless or not with the ability to use the Bluetooth capability. Without a wire, the battery life can last up to 15 hours with Bluetooth and noise cancellation but also comes with a wire to plug into if the battery is too low so the music continues to play.

These products are already available for purchase at Philips.com with the Wireless Freedom on sale for $69.99, the Everlite for $49.99, and the Active Shield Pro for $169.99.

Interview by Daniele Mendez of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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.

Gibson Guitars is excited to release their new High Performance Series based out of Nashville, Tennessee with the most innovative electric guitar they have ever made. This series has generated a lot of excitement and interest at CES. New features from this series include a unique contoured neck heel called the Soloist Neck. The Soloist Neck allows players to hit the highest notes on the neck board comfortably. This series also includes a height adjustable titanium nut that gives the player access to adjust how high they want their strings.

Gibson has also updated their G Force self-tuning system with the ability for alternate tuning. The updated system is faster and more accurate than ever before. You could tune a guitar with just the press of a button and a strum of the strings. It is also the first time that Gibson has released a self-tuning acoustic guitar in the Progressive Series due to the feedback from acoustic players who also want to use the easy access G Force system. These acoustic guitars are hand crafted in Bozeman, Montana and are made of solid wood.

These guitars are available for purchase now at any local Gibson authorized dealer like Guitar Center, Sam Ash, or Amazon. The High Performance Series starts at $1099.99 or if you aren't interested in the self-tuning system, you could purchase an electric guitar from the Traditional series starting at $739.99. The Progressive Series acoustic guitars starts at $1499.99.

Interview by Daniele Mendez of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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.

Connected devices are an interesting idea for kids. Many parents will give their kids a tablet or smartphone with educational games and videos, but there is a problem with that: these devices are designed for fully developed adults.

CogniToys is a new connected toy designed especially for growing kids. Powered by IBM Watson, this toy can listen for questions and commands and respond with answers, stories, jokes and more. Using Watson's machine learning, the toy is able to learn and grow along with the child. Most importantly, it is designed specifically to help the child learn, with vocabulary, math and more.

CogniToys are available for preorder for $119 right now.

Interview by Aylee Nielsen of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

If you've ever been to CES, you know the pain of limited or no reception in one of the halls. That certainly makes it difficult to communicate with the rest of your team to keep your agendas synced. This is also a common issue at music festivals, camping and more.

goTenna is a product that allows you to communicate in a peer-to-peer method without the need for cellular connectivity. Simply carry a goTenna with you and let it communicate with other users of the device. You can do much of what you can do with a cellular connection, only limited to the broadcast radius of the goTenna and the other users.

goTenna is available now for $199 for a pair.

Interview by Aylee Nielsen of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

Have you ever had a friend or significant other who complained that you didn't spend enough time with them? How about a friend you feel you spend too much time with? Most of us have been in these situations, and so were the creators of Concepter.

This little devices allows you to keep track of exactly how much time you spend around others who also have one of these devices. Now you and your significant other have actual evidence that you spend a lot of time together, or you have proof that you really do spend too much time with your friend.

You can get one of these devices soon for $29.

Interview by Nakia Mann of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

If you have ever lived through a hurricane in Florida, you know that there are 2 things that happen. People lock themselves in their homes with the prepared items, or flee the area entirely. But before that, they party. There is a lot of stuff that won't survive the possible power outage, so meats, cheeses and other perishables are consumed in quantity. These parties can also happen after the power goes out, while the weather is calm.

Eton, the company that made technology an integral part of emergency preparedness, has enhanced their products to make those times more enjoyable. For example, several of their radios now come equipped with Bluetooth, allowing you to play your own music instead of what little might be on the radio. They have also added large solar cells to power the radio, as well as the phone, in the absence of power. Of course, no Eton device is quite complete without the hand crank, so you can still keep powered even when the sun is gone.

Eton's extensive range of camping and emergency radios are available now.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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 Internet of Things has created a fascinating collection of new connected devices. For most, though, smart lightbulbs are the first connected device they encounter. This is because the cost of ownership is far lower, and the installation far easier, than a thermostat or security system.

The problem with these bulbs is, to interact with most of their interesting features, you either need to have your phone or tablet out, or you need a voice control system. AwoX has a product that allows you to control your light without either of these devices - instead with a gesture controller.

This controller will be available this year from the company and their retail partners.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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 thing that Scott looks forward to, it's visiting the Wireless Power Consortium. Last year, he and co-host Daniele were so impressed with what they saw, they awarded them a TPN Pick for the 1 kilowatt transfer standard.

This year, we saw a version of the standard that sits between the models available today and the prototype we saw last year. With the new 15 watt charging pad, some new things are possible. For standard electronics, you can charge them faster than the current models. More importantly, though, it enables larger devices to charge, like tablets and possibly even netbooks and laptops in the future.

In addition, we saw one of the features Scott has so longed to see: longer throw distances. Using these new coils, you can place the charging pad further below the surface of a desk, table or counter without having to drill and sand perfect holes. The drawback is that the chargers are less efficient, but that could change with additional time.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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 thing that Scott looks forward to, it's visiting the Wireless Power Consortium. Last year, he and co-host Daniele were so impressed with what they saw, they awarded them a TPN Pick for the 1 kilowatt transfer standard.

This year the company showed us some of the new technologies and features that are made possible because of the existing Qi standard. Included in these technologies are the customizations of a room, a desk, a car and more.

While these technologies are possible right now, they have a problem: they require a lot of power from your phone. By integrating those features with the Qi standard, the power problem is no longer existent, and instead these features become simple.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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 2016 it may seem strange to be reading about turntables, but the interest in vinyl has been growing in popularity the past few years. With that trend, it's good to be a company like Crosley who has specialized in turntables since they were founded.

The company has been known for their self-contained turntable systems, occasionally featured in movies, but as the industry reemerges, there is demand from customers for a traditional component-style turntable. This year, they are showing off several, including one prototype for a future model.

The C10 belt-driven table is available for $399, the C100 belt-driven table is available for $199, the C200 direct drive table is available for $279, and the C20 prototype is hoping for a 2017 release.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology

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.