Andy TaylorLeave a commentComputers, Consumer Electronics, Entertainment, Hardware, Media Center, Movies, , , ,

Are You a DVR Hoarder?

A recent article found on the Verizon Website points at trends in use for consumers with DVR Service and discovered there are battles brewing over DVR Hoarding in households.  Let’s face it, DVR’s can only store so much and even though OnDemand services may offer the same programs you recorded – having a full season of a favorite show stored on the DVR’s Storage drive is almost as nice as your DVD Collection on display for all to see.

It takes some of us back to the days of Video Cassette Recorders and trying to find a tape to record a special event or show, trying to make the decision to record over a program already recorded on the Video Cassette. Now fellow family members have to decide which shows to delete when they receive the DVR Storage message. At least with DVR technology, a Wedding Video isn’t getting erased.

Even though Hard Drives in DVR Boxes have gotten larger, Cable and Satellite providers have been feeding on consumers desire to record a multitude of channels and in HD which can rack up some serious storage. The battles will rage on as more is done to increase storage and delivery methods. Check out this very interesting article on the Verizon Website 

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Guardians of the Galaxy! See the Trailer!

Tune in Tonight (Tuesday 02/18/2014) to Jimmy Kimmel Live, for a sneak peak of the trailer for Marvel film “Guardians of the Galaxy,” set to arrive in theaters August 1st!

Photo of the Guardians of the Galaxy - Courtesy TWDC
Photo of the Guardians of the Galaxy – Courtesy TWDC

If you Miss it Tonight you will be able to catch it on  Jimmy Kimmel Live’s YouTube channel for 24hours! Very Cool cast in this film which stars Chris Pratt,  Zoe Saldana, Benecio Del Toro,  Lee Pace and Jon C Rielly,  Glenn Close as Nova Prime Raeland and one of our favorite bad guys Michael Rooker. Guardians of the Galaxy also stars the Voices of Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and others

Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” first appeared in comic books in Marvel Super-Heroes, Issue #18 (Jan. 1969 )

 

Andy TaylorLeave a commentBluetooth Technology, Computers, Consumer Electronics, Entertainment, Hardware, Health and Fitness, TechtalkRadio, Zensorium, , , , , , , , , ,

Jim Barry from the Consumer Electronics Association

Jim Barry, the Digital Answer Man from the Consumer Electronics Association visited with Andy Taylor and Mark Stine on KMSB Fox 11 Daybreak to share some of the latest gadgets and talk about the trends during the show.

We also get a chance to first hand see what some of the awesome new technology we may see this year or coming in the next few years!

We talked about the growth in Technology on our vehicles and some of the announcements focused on this technology inside vehicles!

From the Mobile In Car, we talked about Mobile Wearable Technology. Some of the Products we took a look at in this first segment were:

The Scosche Rhythm  – This wearable technology allows you to wear this pulse monitor to check and manage your pulse rate, calories burned during a workout, the distance of your workout and of course others such as speed, rate or repetition and your pace.  Many people listen to music while working out and The Rhythm allows you to not only monitor your workout pattern but at the same time control your music within the Rhythm interface.  More Info at http://www.scosche.com/rhythm

The FitBit Flex – This Wearable technology not only helps to monitor your activity but can be used to monitor your sleep! The FitBit can monitor how often you wake up, how long you slept and can even gently wake you up with a slight vibration in the wrist unit! The FitBit Flex doesn’t just report, it gives you goals to hit. Pre set your activity levels and as you approach these goals, LED lights will illuminate to show you are working towards your goal! More Info at http://www.fitbit.com/flex

The Tinke from Zensorium – In the Wearable Health category we also took a look at the Zensorium Tinke which plugs directly into your iOS or Android Device and then monitors your Heart and Respiratory Rate as well as a few others checks for keeping you aware of your wellness and fitness.  You can find more info at http://www.zensorium.com/tinke/

During the segment we also talked about Wireless Technology with Wireless Speakers, one that looked like a large coffee mug from iCreation called the Speecup. It’s design makes it not only handy to fit into a coffee cup holder in a car or as Mark Stine put it, In a golf cart – great for the ride on the greens  but also resonates some great sound in this small form. The Speecup also can be used with gesture technology which means not having to fumble to push a button, a gesture of the hand across the top can perform functions such as answering a call with this Bluetooth connected device. For more info check out http://www.icreation.com

Jim is always a blast to have on the show! Part Two will be posted in a few days!

Andy Taylor2 CommentsEntertainment, TechtalkRadio, TTR Website, video games, , , , ,

Call to Service – Call of Duty Black Ops

It would appear that the long awaited title Call of Duty Black Ops is exceeding sales figures of the last year sequel release to Call Of Duty Modern Warfare. COD Black Ops, I will call it that because something seem wrong about calling it COD BO. It’s far from Stinky and the sales of the game released this week have exceeded about 5.6 million copies. With a little under a couple of months left for the holidays to wrap up, Call Of Duty Black Ops will no doubt be a continued Best Seller of both Concole and PC titles. Even with strong competition from Fable III and Fallout New Vegas as well as a variety of Bond titles, the first week indications have been tremendous.

At the launch party for Call of Duty Black Ops, the CEO of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick announced the donation of One Million dollars, a portion of the sales from the new title, to go to the Call of Duty Endowment which provides job training and placement for returning veterans of any branch of military service. While the estimates of joblessness for the Veterans is bleak, this endowment continues to educate and inform the American people on efforts within thier own communities and globaly to help our servicement.

The Star studded launch party included Scrubs star Zack Braff and Basketball legend Kobe Bryant who was featured in one of the most creative commercials for a Video Game title to ever air. The Call of Duty Black Ops TV Spot also features an appearance by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Activision Blizzard has shared some of the footage from the Launch party which was help November 4th in Santa Monica California, although we didn’t get to see any of the concert footage from Metallica! Check the video out and find how you can help spread the word about the Endowment and learn of ways you can help out from your very home!

–Andy