Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It’s free!
Fish ‘N Flush Provides Bathroom Ambience
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Smart Home, Misc. Tech,
If you want to make your bathroom more than just efficient, what better way than by incorporating the Fish n’ Flush into your schematics. Designed by AquaOne Technologies, the 2.2 gallon two-piece aquarium tank comes with a dual filter with pump, artificial plants, a workable flushing system, flush valve, and fill valve. All you need to add is water, fish, and food.
The company claims that the tanks are fully functional, impact-resistant, and designed to fit directly against a companion tank reservoir. It’s available online for $299.99 and for another $25.00 you can add LED lights. We’re thinking that if you are contemplating world peace in your tub, the Fish ‘n Flush’s inhabitants would make great companions.
Read More 
| AquaTechnologies
Move over, Bob The Builder. Dr. Behrokh Khoshneivis is leading a team at USC to create a “home-bot” that can build your next house with no help from humans. The bots only utilize gypsum and concrete to spray layers which form floors, walls, and roofs. The first prototype is slated to erect a 2-story home in only 24 hours this April. At a cost of $1.5 million, Khoshneivis claims it will increase production and drop prices to a fifth of what they are now. Imagine the ramifications of putting this puppy to work in New Orleans.
Read More | Techopolis
Advertisement
December Sales Rise With Electronic Buys
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech, Video Games,
If you got yourself a flat screen TV, a Playstation 3, or a Nintendo Wii for the holidays this year, you are not alone. AP reports that sales went up 3% in December, and that most of them came from retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City. The Commerce Department has reported that all that holiday shopping made combined retail sales rise a total of .9%, the highest since last July. Although the 2006 6% sales increase indicates that we are beginning to invest in new electronics again, figures also reflect that it was still less than the 6.9% total in 2005.
Read More | AP
Latest Gear Live Videos
One of the oddest participants at the CES 2007 was Taser International. Amnesty International reports that at least 70 people have died as a result of Taser shocks since 2001. Nonetheless, company president Tom Smith would like their C2 series to become available to more consumers, such as professional women and college students. To prove their point, they are offering them in black pearl, electric blue, metallic pink, and titanium at prices starting at $299.99. You can find them available at the Taser webstore beginning Monday if you can pass the background check and live in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, or Hawaii.
Read More | Taser International
Invoca Remote is KNG’s Gift to Couch Potatoes
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Accessories, CES, CES 2007, Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech, Wireless / WiFi,
KNG (Cash N Gold), another featured exhibitor at the CES 2007, has taken the universal remote to a whole ‘nother level. The Invoca 3.0 voice-activated remote has the ability to learn commands from your existing remote no matter what language you speak or what accent you have. It is preprogrammed with 4 voice commands: “power,” “power up,” “power down,” and “previous.” Input the brand name of your current remote and it will automatically find the model number. The Invoca comes with rechargeable batteries and a charging case, and is available at retailers at a MSRP of $49.95.
Read More | KNG America
Make R-Gator Love, Not War
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: CES, CES 2007, Misc. Tech, Science, Transportation,
Now that Bush has decided to send 20,000 more troops off to war, we would suggest a much safer alternative. iRobot, another company that attended the CES 2007, has created the unmanned R-Gator in cooperation with John Deere. It can act as scout, “point man,” perimeter guard, and pack/ammo/supply carrier. The bot features teleoperation, autonomous waypoint navigation, obstacle avoidance, and manual operation. Released in 2006 in limited numbers, we think it would be an interesting idea to spend tax dollars on robots that cannot be killed as opposed to humans that can.
Read More | iRobot
NAIAS 2007: The Need For Speed
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Toys, Transportation, Video Games,
Not only were the MINI Coopers fun to sit in, we found about 6 more excuses to stick around that area. This remote car racing game was consistently full of business men in CIA-looking suits.
Another tabletop game was more fun to crash and burn than to stay on the road. Finally, Mike had some difficulty finding which way to go in Volkswagen’s “Need For Speed.”
The point here is that if you get a chance to visit the NAIAS, head for the BMW/MINI Cooper/Volkswagen corner.
Read More | NAIAS 2007
NAIAS 2007: Sync Goes Silent
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Internet, Misc. Tech, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Transportation,
The Ford Focus will be one of the cars being issued this fall that will feature Sync, and they are keeping it on the downlow. We couldn’t get a price, (“It will blow away the competition,”) any pictures of it in a vehicle, or even mention the name of the dude who was telling us what we weren’t supposed to know. Maybe Microsoft is saving the info for the CES. All we were told/shown was that Ford has the exclusive rights until 2008, that it will play and/or recharge your iPod via USB, interrupt your tunes if you have an incoming call, and has text message/voice recognition capability.
Read More | Ford
Andru, Sparky, Nate, Jesse, and Chris get to hang at the CES this week, and since some of us had to keep the domestic front safe, Photographer/Artist Mike Wrathell and I decided to get on the action at this year’s NAIAS (North American International Auto Show), even if North American International is a contradiction in terms. Entering the Cobo Center we found Sirius and XMR on each side of the main doorway, and all we got was this lousy key chain. That product placement was rather clever of them, considering most of the cars we saw either already have or will soon be offering optional satellite capability.
Chub City i-Playaz - Welcome to the Hood
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: CES, CES 2007, Misc. Tech, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Toys,
Enough of the cutesy iDogs and iFish. How about a Jada Chub City i-Playaz who can move and groove to your MP3 player or CD tracks? With his interactive sounds and lights you can mix your own tunes with beat and scratch buttons. Featured at the CES 2007, Chub C. stands 5.5-inches, has audio in and output jacks, and needs 4 AA batteries (not included) to jam. He’s available for $20.99 at Target and other retailers.
Read More | Jada Chub City via CES 2007
