With a new generation of sensors and artificial intelligence, iRobot's Roomba J7+ can avoid solid pet waste.  Guaranteed.   The scoop in this Techstination interview with Product Management VP Hooman Shahidi.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.   At home or in the office…good sound makes a big difference when you have online meetings.  Anker’s new PowerConf S500 Speakerphone is Zoom certified and offers lots of versatility.  There are four microphones that utilize what Anker calls VoiceRadar technology to help reduce background sounds.  You can connect through USB C, Bluetooth or via a dongle for your computer.  And the speaker is rich enough for music as well.  The company’s Adam Weissman..says the S500 is rechargeable too..

“There’s a built in battery.  It has 16 hours of talk time.  You should be able to last all day long.  I guess there are some people who talk for more than 16 hours.”

The impressive PowerConf S500 sells for about 220 dollars.  Find more at www.Anker.com.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  The U.S. Open Tennis tournament heads into its final days…and once again the USTA has partnered with IBM to bring fans closer to the sport.  IBM Power Rankings with Watson has produced daily rankings of player momentum while Match Insights with Watson offers fact sheets on matches.  And for the first time this year, IBM and the USTA have offered Fantasy Tennis.  Noah Syken is VP of IBM Sports and Entertainment Partnerships…

“We’ve used artificial language and natural language generation to produce content for people to understand more about the tournament and the players.”

IBM’s Watson is also integrated into ESPN’s Fantasy Football app.  There is also a partnership with The Masters golf tournament and more.  There’s more info at www.ibm.com/sports.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  Some of the best earphones in the world….are coming out of a company called Campfire Audio in Portland Oregon.  We’ve talked about some of their new consumer priced models…the Satsuma…at 200 dollars and the Honey Dew…at 249 dollars.  They produce great sound with amazing clarity.  But we’ve also had a chance to hear the 13 hundred dollar Ara.  If you’re a perfectionist about design…and sound….these in ear monitors with titanium shells…will make you smile.  VP Caleb Rosenau..

“What we wanted to do was make a product that you could plug into your pack, plug into your set up and really get the sound that is tailored to what you want from them.”

When it comes to sound…I heard details for the first time in songs that I’ve listened to hundreds of times before.  It is clear that Campfire Audio knows its business well.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  Back to school also means more time back behind the wheel for many parents…and teen drivers.  Chevrolet worked with Harris to conduct a survey and found many of those parents are concerned.  Chevy Safety Engineer Tricia Morrow…also a mom to a teen driver…says safety technology in vehicles can help…

“With my teen on the road I’m able to get in touch with her…able to in many cases..she where she is and where she’s been.”

Even how she is driving…

“We really talk about the importance of using some of that in-vehicle technology like Bluetooth pairing, Apple Carplay, Android Auto.  Everything is set so that she doesn’t have to handle the phone while driving.”

And features like lane keeping assist and automatic emergency braking can make vehicles safer too.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination Week is a compilation of this week's Techstination reports with tech journalist and host Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  Tesla’s AI Day this year was designed to help recruit more of the best people working in the field to come work for the company.  In the view of Princeton’s University’s faculty chair of autonomous vehicle engineering, Alain Kornhauser, Musk succeeded in delivering the message.  On Episode 230 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast, he was joined by Tim Higgins of the Wall Street Journal, author of  POWER PLAY…Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century..

“The fight for AI talent in Silicon Valley is brutal.  There’s just not enough of these really smart people who can do these kinds of things.”

And Tesla’s AI Day gave Musk and his team a chance to show why the company is the place to be to help create the future of mobility.  And while at it…he promised to deliver a humanoid robot prototype…in 2022.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

With millions of people in need of hearing assistance, an innovative company called Noopl has created a plug in for iPhones that make use of AirPod Pro. Noopl's Paul Burchfield joins Techstination's Fred Fishkin.

It is crunch time in the effort to pass a national paid leave policy and online is playing a big role.   Paid Leave for All Director Dawn Huckelbridge chats with Techstination's Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  Hydroponic home gardens have been growing.  And some are beautifully designed.  Just Vertical is a company co-founded by Kevin Jakiela…who has a Master’s degree in Sustainability Management.  He taught at an indigenous community in the Canadian Arctic and got a first hand look at food insecurity.  About what Just Vertical enables..

“We have a little germination seedling kit.  You plant the seeds..let it grow for about two to three weeks..and then you transplant those little pods right into the system itself and then you let it grow.  You don’t touch it from there."

The design is impressive too…looking good almost anywhere in the home or apartment.  Pricing starts at about six hundred dollars..but the investment can pay for itself over time delivering fresh, pesticide free food.  Find more at www.justvertical.com.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.