Techstination

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear. I’m Fred Fishkin. SkyWorth continues to bring entertainment into the great outdoors….or anywhere around the house for that matter with the Companion 24 inch portable display with Google TV. It can run for about three hours on battery power, features 1080p resolution, WiFi connectivity and can be voice controlled as well. . Director of Sales Michael Gleason..

“The coolest part about this is that it’s got Google streaming. So you can stream anything. You can stream YouTube, You can stream NetFlix, Prime, Disney, Apple TV.”

With Chromecast built in you use a mobile device for streaming. 8 watt speakers offer pretty decent sound and the screen is anti-glare. We love the versatility. The Companion Portable display with Google TV sells for about 400 dollars. Find more at www.skyworthusa.com.

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

Even tech savvy GenZers are being targeted by online scammers. What can you do now to improve cybersecurity? Google security expert Grace Hoyt chats with Techstination's Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.   I’m Fred Fishkin.      American Home Shield from Front Door is in the business of selling warranties to help cover repairs and replacements for home systems and appliances.    Typically the warranty plans are in addition to traditional homeowners insurance and director Meredith Sprecher says they can provide peace of mind..

“Insurance helps cover things that might happen.  Things like damage from a fire or a natural disaster like a hurricane or a tornado.   A home warranty covers the things that will happen.  Such as your AC or your refrigerator going out.  You’re actually about 25 times more likely to use a home warranty than to use your homeowners insurance.”

Plan prices vary depending on what you want to cover .  You can even opt to have computers and gaming systems in the plan as well.    There’s more at AHS.com.

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

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.   I’m Fred Fishkin.        Ome is now out with a smartly redesigned knob for electric or gas stoves…to help prevent the leading cause of house fires in the U.S…unattended cooking.    The new generation is easier to set up and easier to charge…typically every several months via USB C.  And the Smart Knob can automatically shut off after a specified period of time…or be turned off via an app…iPhone only at the moment…but Android is coming soon.   And there is Alexa control as well.   Founder and CEO Akshita Iyer says Gen 2 is smaller to fit a wider range of stoves..

“We need to make sure that we could get the size down and that we could create a product that could easily install.”

The price…to the company’s credit…has been made smaller too.  Find more info…at www.OmeKitchen.com.

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

In an effort to help consumers, top quality heated apparel maker Gobi Heat is making permanent price cuts. More on the why and how from Founder and CEO Jaye Genung in this Techstination interview.

Riding in vehicles with seatbelts can cause pain for many breast cancer mastectomy patients. Ford is doing something about it with a new SupportBelt it is offering for free. Vehicle Accessibility Design Manager Emily Obert chats with Techstination's Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.   I’m Fred Fishkin.       Reducing kitchen waste that goes into the trash is a good idea.   If you have a yard and a garden a composting bin can be a worthwhile solution.   But for some…including apartment dwellers…that may not be an option.   We’ve been checking out the FoodCycler Eco 3 and have found it to be a clean…not smelly at all…way to manage food waste.   You can put in just about any kind of food waste…except for beef bones….and over several hours it grinds and heats the contents of the 3.5 liter bucket….leaving you with what looks pretty much like dirt that can be more easily disposed of or used as fertilizer for plants.     It isn’t cheap…at 500 dollars…but uses less than one kilowatt hour of electricity per cycle.   Find more at www.foodcycler.com.

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

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.   I’m Fred Fishkin.      Some tech help is on the way for scoring in Pickleball.    A start up called Dropshot has run a very successful Kickstarter campaign for an electronic scoreboard that can be controlled via a remote or an Apple Watch app.  Founder Josh Brown says it can help avoid confusion…or arguments…during play about just where things stand in the game…

“The game is incredibly addicting, playing Pickleball.  It’s something that’s really easy to start playing from day one, but gets really hard to become really good.   And so where it gets you on day one is that you’re trying to remember the rules, you’re trying to remember where you’re supposed to be standing, where you’re supposed to be serving.”

You’ll find a link to the Kickstarter deals at www.godropshot.com.

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

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.   I’m Fred Fishkin.        Those stainless steel thermal cups with plastic lids have been popular for years now….and if you haven’t noticed….they can get less than clean from time to time….even if you are just drinking water from them.   UVCeed, which has been on the market with an app controlled portable UV sanitizer…is tackling the problem with a Smart Disinfecting Lid.   Co-founder Justin Beyers..

“You get a little bit of stuff growing in them.  It’s hard to clean them.  And so what we wanted to come up with is a way that you could use ultra violet light to clean the devices and also clean fluids in it.  And then using the phone app, you just connect to the device, connect, and then there’s a thing inside of here that says disinfect my bottle.”

Well done…and can make that water safer to drink too.   Find more at UVCeed.com.

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