Techstination

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  What role might autonomous transportation be able to play when it comes to providing mobility in circumstances like we are in now with the Coronavirus.  On demand…driverless transportation….is available to some thanks to Waymo in the Chandler, Arizona area.  And while most of Waymo’s vehicles still use safety drivers….some of those contracted workers have concerns about being exposed to riders.  And what about sanitizing truly driverless vehicles?  At Princeton University, the faculty chair for autonomous vehicle engineering, Alain Kornhauser….says there are potential solutions..

“Maybe what you put in there is, I don’t know, maybe there’s an automatic sanitizing system that somebody’s going to design for this.  And so every time a vehicle is made empty you sanitize the whole thing for maybe fifteen seconds.”

Professor Kornhauser calls it an opportunity for innovation.

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

Unibuddy virtually connects prospective students with universities: CEO Diego Fanara in Techstination interview. 

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  The spread of the Coronavirus is disrupting our lives in ways that would have seemed unimaginable just weeks ago.  And for many…the loneliness of being separated from friends, loved ones and even co-workers..is difficult to deal with.  But technology is helping to alleviate at least some of that.  I know my spirits were instantly lifted when I got a video call …enabling me to virtually be with family members….who are now working from home…going to school from home….even exercising from home…thanks to technology and the Internet.  Take advantage of those personal connections if you haven’t already.  Add video to that phone call.  Let’s hope our Internet connections are up to task…of keeping us connected…and providing all of that streaming entertainment as well.  In the meantime, stay healthy.

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

Sales of bidets shoot up with toilet paper scarce: Daniel Lalley of Brondell chats with Techstination.

Work at home while keeping an eye on the kids. EZViz affordable solutions.  Hans Velasco of EZViz in Techstination interview.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  The 2020 editions of TurboTax have added new features that make tax preparation easier than ever…whether you use a smart phone, tablet or computer.  In fact…using a smart phone app can speed things along by letting you snap photos of W2 or even 1099 documents.  Lisa Greene-Lewis is a TurboTax CPA and tax expert…and says working with investments is easier too…

“For the first time in ten years, we fully redesigned our TurboTax Premier product and we addressed some of these pain points.  Now our customers can import about 15 hundred investment transactions at one time. “

And cryptocurrency transactions can now be imported as well.  Filers with simple returns can even use TurboTax for free.  You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Don't ignore sanitizing your phone: Catalyst's Chris Herbert in Techstination interview.

RAYCOP UV sanitizing vacuums effective against 99.9 percent of bacteria & viruses.  Founder Dr. Michael Lee and CEO Hiro Suzuki chat with Techstination...

Codecademy offering scholarships for online learning: Founder Zach Sims in Techstination interview.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  Envision is bringing its smart AI app designed to give more independence to the blind and visually impaired…to the latest smart glasses created by Google.  Co-founder and chief engineer Karthik Kannan says it is designed to be able to provide reading and voice cues about surroundings…without the need to hold a smart phone…which is how the Envision app currently is used.  The AI is very much like what is used in autonomous vehicles..

“It uses the exact same technology.  In fact we have a feature within the Envision glasses called find objects..which allows you to look for different objects in your surroundings and it works in a very similar way to how an autonomous car works.”

Pre-orders are being taken now for the glasses… and you can test drive the smart phone app for free. Head to www.letsenvision.com for more.

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