It's easy to break your budget when buying online as the holidays approach.  SoFi manager of financial planning Brian Walsh chat with Techstination's Fred Fishkin.

Goodbye boring Zoom or Facetime calls between grandparents and grandchildren.  Kinoo aims to bring generations together with fun interaction and play.   Tech and learning entrepreneur Jim Marggraff heads the start-up and chats with Techstination's Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.    Predicting the future and future technologies can be a hazardous undertaking….so futurist  Chunka Mui has taken a bit of a different approach.  He has co-authored a book titled A Brief History of a Perfect Future: Inventing the World We can Proudly Leave Our Kids by 2050.  In it…he talks about the technology advancements that are here or on the way…that can really make a difference…

“What kind of world can we build, based on the predictable, technological capabilities we have in our hands.  And what should individuals, what should organizations and what should governments do in order to move us towards that world.”

That’s not to say we’ll necessarily make all the right choices to get to those outcomes…but Mui is convinced…and being a Dad he’s optimistic…that we will have the tools.  It’s a thought provoking read.  A Brief History of a Perfect Future.

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

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  GM’s OnStar has been in the business of providing emergency help and peace of mind to drivers for many years.  And now, through the OnStar Guardian app…GM is offering many of the features and peace of mind to anyone…regardless of the type of vehicle they drive….or are a passenger in.  We have found it smart and simple to set up…and allows sharing among five family members…even if they aren’t in the same household for fifteen dollars a month.  There’s an opt in way to be able to see where family members are for safety…and says OnStar’s Laura Thornton…

“So we know if you’ve been in some sort of vehicular crash no matter what car you’re in.  Your app and your smartphone will start to do the work just like we do integrated in the GM vehicle.”

To get you help and stay in communication.  Soon the app will offer help at home and will work with Amazon Alexa.  Find more at www.onstar.com.

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.  How do you bring electric vehicles to all of the fleets out there?  Ford is trying to tackle some of the issues…like those surrounding charging…with a new Mobility Studio partnership with  Newlab.  It will be based at Ford’s Michigan Central innovation effort where Roshni Shokar leads startup and entrepreneur engagement.  And the announcement by Hertz that it is purchasing 100 thousand electric vehicles is a wake up call..

“It’s a huge shift and I mean fleets converting to EVs is really how we’re going to get to scale.  That’s how we’re going to start to see a larger quantity of vehicles moving from gas power to EVs.”

And the hope is some of the start-ups Ford will be working with will help solve some of the difficult issues…like providing enough clean energy to charge all of the new EVs.

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

Google Pixel Pass is a plan that gets you a new Pixel phone every two years...along with some of the top Google services.   Product Manager Chris Breithaupt joins Techstination's Fred Fishkin for a closer look.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  BlendJet is back with more designs in its portable blender line for the upcoming holiday season.  The USB C charged powerful BlendJet2…can handle just about any kind of smoothie or chore on the go…the new designs look great too.  Co-founder and CEO Ryan Pamplin is on a mission to promote healthier eating…after a severe accident nearly claimed his life and way of living.  He left the world of high tech and VR to create BlendJet..

“So we’ve made convenient food healthy…but it doesn’t seem like it. The marketing is not about health, the marketing is about convenience and it is getting people excited.”

And prompting knock-offs too…which Pamplin says is why the company doesn’t sell on Amazon.  They are in many stores and at www.BlendJet.com.

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

From showing older adults how to use the Uber app to almost any subject under the sun... the GetSetUp.io community is flourishing.  Promoting learning while alleviating loneliness.  And it started during a chance meeting in the Himalayas.  Co-founder Lawrence Kosick chats with Techstination's Fred Fishkin.