Category: Gadget

Your Buddy for the Golf Course

Golf is one of those of things that is better done with a friend. It is enjoyable to take in the fresh air and shoot the breeze, and a friend can come in quite handy when you have to find a lost ball.

And now you can have an extra buddy on the course with GolfBuddy World Platinum Edition, the first GPS rangefinder to offer preloaded courses with no annual membership. The new version can store up to 40,000 courses, and it arrives preloaded with courses from around the globe, with no membership fees and no hidden costs. It is almost like the next best thing to a personal valet or caddie.

“It’s truly a technological marvel,” said Harry Jung, CEO of GolfBuddy. “We’ve added several new features that have never before been seen in GPS Rangefinders and made it just as easy to use as our previous models. The World Platinum’s name depicts its power. It puts the world’s courses in the palm of your hands.”

The handheld device features a high resolution color touch screen, which was developed with the serious golfer in mind. The screen offers an intuitive interface that makes it easy to navigate and best of all can be used whilst wearing a golf glove. With 50 channel satellite reception users can get quick response and data on the current course. The GolfBuddy World Platinum Edition further features several views of the hole as well as four player score tracking, along with full statistical analysis module. It is all enough to make your golf friends jealous of your new buddy.

GolfBuddy Official Website

SNOWBoarding Comes to the Pad With HD Photos

The board is on the pad, or more accurately TransWorld SNOWboarding magazine is now available in app form for the iPad. The current iPad version features the Photo Annual, the yearly issue that wraps up the year in snowboarding. Photo Annual comes jam packed with the best action photos of the year in unreal clarity, depth and more full-screen images than any other issue!

From the iPad readers can practically take to the slopes and enjoy hi-def photography, as the Photo Annual showcases an impressive look back at the sport in 2010. Highlights from the issue include: “The Best Biggest Greatest Trip Ever”, an Alaskan photo feast with boarders Travis Rice, John Jackson and Mark Landvik dropping sheer cliffs and clearing canyon-size gaps; “A Chilean Volcano Venture”, riding a live Andean volcano with DCP, Lucas Debari and Xavier de Le Rue– splitboarding to the extreme; and “The Top Ten Photos of the Year”, which are the best daydream and powder-envy inducing images of the year.

The app is available now for free download, while Photo Annual issue is available for $2.99, from the Apple App Store.

Best Buy to Get Into Health and Fitness

It is hard not to love Best Buy. As a guy I love everything Best Buy, from the huge TVs to mobile phones, computers to even the appliances.  But the truth is that Best Buy has also sort of been one of those stores that made me feel a little guilty too. It has so much stuff that I love; but yet very little “active” type products for on the go. While there are plenty of digital cameras, GPS devices and now tons of video games that claim to inspire fitness, the truth is that Best Buy remains about those big, big TVs that draw you in, where you just want to sit back on a couch and let the day pass you by.

However, the retailer has announced a new national rollout of health and fitness products at 600 Best Buy stores across the country as well as online at Bestbuy.com. This is truly a good thing, as it should help inspire – dare we say “guilt” – visitors to do something besides sit on a couch whilst enjoying Blu-ray and HDTV. This also comes just in time for all those New Years’ resolutions that we hope readers will keep.

“We were encouraged by the enthusiastic response we saw from our customers during the initial pilot of these health and fitness products,” said Chris Koller, vice president of the Portable Electronics Solutions Group at Best Buy. “We clearly tapped into a desire for Best Buy to provide the latest and greatest technology to enhance health regimens, and to help people discover how they can integrate these devices with other personal technology to monitor and share their progress, and to stay motivated.” Continue reading Best Buy to Get Into Health and Fitness

Flippin’ With the NHL

There are many ways to show your team spirit. You can paint your face, dress up like the team’s mascot or you could really flip for your team. Cisco and the NHL have teamed up to offer team-designed Flip Video Cameras, which include 30 uniquely designed NFL versions. The line includes the Flip UltraHD, MinoHD and SlideHD.

“Hockey fans are in a class of their own when it comes to diehard loyalty,” said Dave McCarthy, NHL Vice President Integrated Marketing. “Owning a Flip video camera representing their favorite team is a great way for fans to show support and more importantly have fun sharing their passion with fellow hockey fans and friends around the world.”

The NHL Flip video cameras are a great holiday idea for that hockey fan, and what we like about these is that they also encourage users to get out and capture the moment whilst showing their team spirit.

NHL Flip Official Website

Strolling With Your Palz

There is no denying that in this digital age that kids probably aren’t getting quite as much physical activity as they should. But GeoPalz might have a solution to help keep kids trim. The company has introduced a line of kid-friendly pedometers featuring unique designs including hearts, peace signs, fairies and even “Skulls and Guitars.” These simple devices are hip, while meant to be worn on the hip, and more importantly help encourage kids to wear them daily.

Each one has a unique 8-digit code that is can be used to login into the GeoPalz website, which tracks the steps kids make during the day. As the users progress further in the GeoPalz virtual world they collect a “point” for every real mile they walk. These points can be redeemed for free items including hacky sacks, plush soccer balls and Frisbees. “Milestone” Awards can further be printed out and hung on the fridge or on a bedroom wall. Continue reading Strolling With Your Palz

Sleeptracking the Night Away

Ever have those times where you know you need to get up around a certain time, and sometimes you drift out of a deep sleep, wake up and avoid that sudden jarring of the alarm clock from a total dead sleep? According to some sleep experts, that is actually the best way to wake up and feel actually refreshed. The problem however is that your body actually isn’t the most reliable alarm clock, and for that reason you typically need an alarm to wake you. The next problem is that if the alarm sounds when you’re in a deep state of sleep it can be completely jarring, causing you to feel anything but refreshed.

Instead of using a traditional alarm clock, you could use the SLEEPTRACKER Elite (MSRP: $179, Sleeptracker.com), which is a watch that works much like a monitoring device. But instead of monitoring your calorie burn and activity, it – as the name suggests – monitors your sleep. You don’t set an exact time to wake up, but rather a range. The SLEEPTRACKER then detects the movements associated with light sleep stage and wakes up at this time.

The wearable device can even connect to a PC via USB each morning so you can further track your activities, allowing you to see what might have had a negative effect on your sleep cycles, whether it was a late night, too much alcohol or just a bad bed. With this helping you get a good night’s sleep you can wake up refreshed, hit the gym and not feel worn down by the afternoon.

Sleeptracker Official Website

aG Control Comes to aboutGolf

Indoor golf centers can take better control of their aboutGolf Simulators. And not just control, but aG Control, a multiple simulator management tool that is designed to help business owners remotely manage users and rounds on the simulators, as well as monitor rounds while they’re in progress. This provides active simulator screens, where users can send messages to the simulators, retrieve information, analyze usage and even remotely access the simulators and view and print scorecards.

“We are in the people business. We’ve got to know each one of our customers as they arrive,” says Steve Graves, owner of Play-A-Round Golf near Philadelphia and early adopter of aG Control beta. “With aG Control we can better identify and manage each customer and enhance their golf experience.”

This control should no doubt help indoor golf centers and in turn help players have been control on the course.

aboutGolf

SPOT On With CES Innovations Award

The Consumer Electronics Show is still more than a month away, but at the recent CES Unveiled press event in New York City the DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT Satellite Communicator was named winner of the CES Innovations Award. The Innovations Design and Engineering Awards program recognizes the most innovative consumer electronics (CE) across 35 of industry categories.

The Earthmate PN-60w was recognized as it the world’s first handheld GPS capable of sending custom text messages using SPOT satellite technology, and is thus ideal for outdoor enthusiasts (as well as international relief workers).

“DeLorme is deeply honored to receive this prestigious award, and especially excited to showcase the PN-60w with SPOT to the worldwide market at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in January,” said DeLorme Vice President Caleb Mason.

The Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT Satellite Communicator previously received a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award and a National Geographic Adventure Gear of the Year honors.

DeLorme

SPOT

Hunting Calls Goes High-Tech

In the old days hunters used their hands, bits of straw and wood to emulate the sounds of their prey. Eventually this gave way to the plastic calls that hunters used for generations. My grandfather had many of those and frankly they sounded more like a cartoon character than a real animal, but maybe the old man never used them right.

He also never really understood the concept of a digital camera and always asked me where the film went too. He probably tried rewinding many a DVD. So I’m sorry that he didn’t get to ever try out an electronic game call. Those would probably have thrown him for a loop. Having heard a few I have to say they sound pretty convincing.

Cass Creek Calls has a line of products including the Mini Coyote Squeaker, a companion to the larger Mega Amp Coyote Call. This is the newest product in their line of light and compact callers that fit comfortably in the hand. These can also be strapped to a firearm, belt or pack. These feature an easy to use push button operation with Instant Interrupt. The Mini Coyote Squeaker provides five authentic animal sounds to attract coyotes, including Turkey Polut, Rat Distress, Pup Whine, Grouse Distress and Rodent Distress. Apparently coyotes go after animals in distress, and I thought all you needed was a road runner!

Cass Creek Electronics

Kinetic(Mis)Shift: Where’s the Rope?

We’ve seen these for a while now. We get the idea; it is like jump rope but with the rope. Instead of a rope the JumpSnap uses little balls on a short string and this “simulates” a jump rope. The device counts your jumps, timing and calories. That’s all good, but the counting part is easy enough to do already, the timing part of jump rope is sort of the point and any heart rate monitor will count the calories. And while the video says “in less time,” we wonder, does not having a rope really speed up the exercise somehow? About the only thing we see as a benefit is that you can’t have a misstep and somehow trip yourself – but if you’re that uncoordinated you probably have bigger issues to deal with it.

Kinetic(Mis)Shift are products that we think deserve to be called out for their utter lack of fitness benefits.

Turn the iPod Nano Into an Awesome Fitness Watch

Apple’s new iPod Nano is the ideal fitness gadget. It plays your digital tunes, of course, and now with the FM tuner you have access to the radio when you’ve grown tired of the music you own. It’s also smaller than before, making it light and unobtrusive in your pocket when you’re working out. Plus, a built-in clip means you can easily attach it to your shirt while running. As if those features aren’t enough, there’s a pedometer you can use to track your steps and the Nano works with the Nike+ feature to track your fitness progress. Unlike the even smaller iPod Shuffle, the Nano has a touchscreen that lets you see and control it.

But you know what? It’s hard to justify spending $149 to $179 for another music player, especially since many of us already own an MP3 player and/or iPhone or similar device. That is until we saw the Griffin Slap, a flexible wristband case for the Nano that turns it into a watch. You won’t have to worry about accidentally losing your Nano by forgetting it on the treadmill or getting it detached from your shirt during exercise, since it’s on your wrist the whole time. And, at only $25,  it turns the Nano into an awesome watch.

Griffin

RunPhones, Music to Cold Weather Runner’s Ears

Music is essential in most workouts. Yet there can be a danger with headphones that block traffic and other noises. Headphones can also be a nuisance when they bounce on your ears or earbuds that don’t stay in your ears. There are a few headband-style headphones, and now AccousticSheep has come out with RunPhones, a headband with removable earphones built into the fabric. Continue reading RunPhones, Music to Cold Weather Runner’s Ears