The Giz Wiz

This week, Dick is back with a gadget he saw at Showstoppers during CES. The Manta5 Hydrofoiler XE-1, world’s first production hydrofoil bike launched in the U.S. at CES. Using the same technology as America’s Cup sailboats, and seven years in development, the Hydrofoiler is the first bike of its kind to replicate the cycling experience on water. The New Zealand-based company sold out the initial pilot production run in six months, after their short video of the hydrofoil prototype went viral, amassing more than 350 million views on Facebook.

Most folks know the iPhone 11 & 11 Pro take spectacular photos, but, being of the phone, the flash is limited. This new Anker MFi flash accessory uses the Lightning connector for tight synchronization with the iPhone rear camera & works with the native camera app and 3rd party apps. Anker says it helps illuminate objects at 2x the range and 4x brightness. It ships with a detachable diffuser and a soft carry pouch. 10,000 shots per charge. Enables off-axis and direct fill flash lighting effects both with and without the detachable diffuser.

Dickie D joins Leo to talk about CES. Dick goes every year, and he loves to see the craziest gadgets, the ones that will never see the market.  One such device is the Wow Cube. 24 LCD screens that look like a Rubix Cube. $249. There's also the Ember Labs Wrist Watch that can cool or heat your body.  Then there's the WELT Smart Belt. It's a belt that will predict if you're going to fall and warn you. It also measures your daily activity. $250.

Back in the days of disco, Dickie D used to mix his own cassette tapes. Now he wants to digitize them for his computer, tablet, phones, etc. That's where this Cassette Player, Cassette Tape to MP3 Converter, Via USB Portable Cassette Tape Converter comes in handy.  Amazon adds: Captures MP3 Audio Music, with Headphones, Convert Walkman Tape Cassette Compatible with Mac / PC / Laptop. Here are some of the features via Amazon: Convert cassette tapes to MP3 Format.

Dickie D is back with Smart Phone Disco Lights! It doesn't rotate, but the flashing colorful disco lights inside give that illusion. It can be powered by your smartphone, an external battery charger, or even plugged into a computer. Once plugged into a power source it lights up to the rhythm of your music or even your voice! As you'll see in the video it does give off quite a bit of light for something that small. On Amazon, they are only $12.00 for three of them! But wait, there's more. Each one of the three came with adapters for micro-USB, USB-C and a lightning connector.

There's a new dog in town...  And it's a new Sony Aibo.This is a totally updated version of the original Aibo we saw at CES 2009. Sony is definitely not marketing Aibo as a toy. To show what their thinking is, here's some info from their Aibo website: Aibo is a one-of-a-kind autonomous companion robot designed to bring fun and joy to your household. Owners can form a friendship as they raise aibo and watch as it develops its own unique personality through everyday interactions.

The Black + Decker with Pria, a new automated medication management system designed for loved ones who desire to maintain independence while staying connected to their families. Pria is a voice-enabled tabletop device that can let caregivers know if loved ones at home have been taking their proper medication. It verifies identification through facial recognition or a PIN code, Pria before dispensing a scheduled dose into the pill cup. There's a back-up battery so the device can work during a blackout. Pria can hold 28 dozes of medication.

The Lumicharge Smart LED desk lamp 2.0 is loaded with useful features. First, it's a convenient place to charge your phone and other small electronic devices. The new 2.0 version adds a universal charging dock with a10W wireless charger for phones designed for charged wirelessly. The LED has three lighting modes: bright white, soft white and soft yellow. Within those modes, you have 10 degrees of brightness adjusted via up/down arrows. A built-in motion sensor turns a built-in night light ON when you enter a dark room and that feature has it's own on/off switch.

This week's gadget s the VR3 Phone Line Charger + Night Light.This device plugs into your telephone jack. But it will only work with a working copper phone line, not with fiber. Once you plug it in, you use the jack on the side of the device to plug your phone in. That way this device is always getting power to charge the internal 1800 mAh battery. When charged a light sensor turns the built-in night light goes on and off automatically. On the front of the device is a USB-A port is to charge your device.

Jooki is a music player that lets kids play parent-approved music and stories from Spotify & more. It comes with 5 characters (like fox, whale, etc.) that link to various playlists. When a kid pop one of them in the center ring of the Jooki, it starts to play the music, story, etc., that has been uploaded to that character. The company says there's 8-hour of battery life (there's no screen to suck up battery juice), which means very long playtime outdoors or on the go. There's a small amount of onboard memory but there's an SD card slot to add more.