Did you Miss These Great Products?
By Richard Sherwin, Richard Macias, Ted Mayo, Amy Eller, Bob Plunkett, Jennifer Auspitz and Susan Davis

With all hoopla of the new Apple IPhones and IPads and Apple TVs, all over priced and mostly hype over substance, several manufacturers delivered really productive, educational, useful and truly entertaining products during the lemmings run to Apple months.

A revitalized brand and company that defied its critics who seem hung up on the Apple mystic was Motorola, the Lenovo owned mobile phone and smart watch maker whose new mobile phone and smart watch, out performs any IPhone or Apple watch both in technology, looks and performance in our rent tests.

The smart watch dubbed The Moto 360 Collection — has more styles, more features and more battery life — offers countless design possibilities to suit your tastes, plus new experiences that will free you up to do more of the things you love. The watch face can change in an instant and is designed for men, women and fitness enthusiasts. Available now at Nordstrom, Best Buy and Verizon. Availability and ship times vary by style. Prices vary by design and range from $299.99-$429.99. It’s the only Smart watch that can read and analyze your heart beat right from the watch. Others heart beat monitors require a separate belly band or extra wrist monitor.’

The biggest winning feature here is that you can customize everything in the watch even choosing which software (all android) runs the device. Moto 360 2 offers 360 customization options and it is available in a number of sizes: two versions for men at 42mm and 46mm and women’s model (or small person) that offers 42mm wrist straps. There is also a Moto 360 2 Sport model which includes a reflexive “AnyLight” hybrid display for better readability when using the smartwatch in direct sunlight. We ran the non-sporty model in the sunlight and just raised the background light a smidge and the regular model was quite visible in any conditions. Our other fav feature was the workout plans, which again NOT like Apple had many different Apps to choose from.
The email, phone call, date calendar reminder pops up unless you just want the straight watch front and the cradle charger was very convenient for night charging and home visibility. More details on the new Motorola Pure Phone in the next edition

Sony’s Comeback Runs through All Categories
Sony, which downsized its consumer product categories, took heat for not keeping up with Apple in many areas, but vowed not to diminish its R&D for new categories, really blew us away with its 4K TVs recently and its digital cameras which kept the business afloat the last few years are better than ever. But what really impressed us was its entry into the fitness arena with a headphone set called the Smart B-Trainer™, an all-in-one training device and application that features intelligent music playback based on heart rate monitoring, various training plans, and real time voice coaching . Developed for avid runners but we tested it on a bicycle and fast walking and in gym equipment, with the help of Asics, the shoe company, the Smart B-Trainer™ comes in a non-slip, neckband-style housing to provide maximum freedom of exercise movements. It differs than anything Apple makes in that it has more custom audio storage, while its sports companion integrates Sony’s latest audio advancements with sensor and software technologies to provide a holistic exercise experience.

Backed by a terrific Asics Footwear company App, it consists of the SSE-BTR1 headphone-integrated device that is packed with six types of sensors – heart rate, acceleration, GPS, compass, gyro and barometer – and measures, as well as records, eleven types of running logs – heart rate, burned calories, distance, time, speed, pace, cadence, steps, stride, running route. Our favorite feature was the fact that this tiny device was not just comfortable but held tons of music so your playlists can match your exercise running route. Our favorite feature was the fact that this tiny device was not just comfortable but held tons of music so your playlists can match your exercise. Based on a preset user profile and heart rate goal, the Smart B-Trainer™ measures your heart rate and automatically selects music for efficient training. Music tempo analysis is carried out by Sony’s 12 Tone Analysis technologies, which extracts a variety of metadata through signal and statistical processing to analyze music waveforms. When your heart rate is higher than your targeted speed, a song with slower tempo will be automatically selected to guide you to slow down, and vice versa when your heart rate is lower than the targeted speed. Additionally, runners can also adjust the tempo of the song to match running moods and styles.

Jet Focus Technology powers Dyson’s latest Hot + Cool

When we first saw the suggested retail price, we thought we could buy a half dozen non famous portable heaters or coolers for the original price, but now available for under $250 and engineered for use all year round, AM09 is a really good buy. Dyson’s latest Hot + Cool machine is now quieter, than previous models and much of its competition, the AM09 switches between cooling and personal or whole room heating.
The first fan heater to use Jet Focus technology, AM09 provides personal comfort control just for you, or a wider dual flow to heat an entire room. No matter the season, AM09 projects smooth, powerful airflow when and where you want it.

The Coanda effect, which causes air to change direction as it travels over a surface, inspired Dyson engineers to develop AM09’s Jet Focus Technology. For concentrated personal heating and cooling, air is released from a jet and accelerated over an airfoil shaped ramp to produce a narrow flow of air. For a whole room effect, a second jet of air joins the first, broadening its angle, to produce a wide stream of powerful air.

And with improved airflow pathways and a new aerodynamic diffuser that reduces unnecessary turbulence, AM09 comes with a new, streamlined remote that allows for simple switching between heating and cooling, and personal and whole room modes, as well as a sleep timer for temperature control in heater mode while you rest. But please remember to take the machine off of automatic otherwise it will start to cool or heat without any notice.

SINGTRIX MAKES IT EASY TO SOUND GREAT

If you are from 8 to 80 and enjoyed singing and Karaoke and computers, you probably used Guitar Hero. Now the creators of the original Guitar Hero®* comes Singtrix®, the next-generation karaoke machine that makes bad singers sound good and good singers sound amazing! We tried it with our kids and grandkids, and this system provided more fun than almost any video game system. With one twist of the easy to use voice changing system, the kids went from Taylor Swift and their parents and grandparents went from Dylan to the Eagles. And for once the advance publicity was right on. One member of the family, who is notoriously off-key all the time, sounded like the Beatles. And it doesn’t matter what type of music you like. I never did rap before the cadence and background sounds made this style of music a new experience. And I thought I was in the church choir when the Gregorian chants started on the real sounding Speaker/Amp
The system really made us all sound like our favorite stars with hundreds of professional vocal effects, live backup harmonies created from your own voice & natural pitch-correction. It works with any music and any audio device. We found that regardless of natural ability. Singtrix® instantly gave us the voice we’ve always dreamed of having. Sing in-tune with fuller tone and greater vocal control without hours of practice or expensive vocal lessons. The systems is a simple plug & play design – just play a song, turn the effects dial, and start singing… Select a skill level, create instant karaoke tracks from standard songs and kick in live harmonies and other dramatic effects.

Singtrix® App Option
Although the Singtrix® karaoke machine works with any type of music (YouTube® or your existing music library), the Singtrix® karaoke app for Apple® iOS and Android™ devices is an optional source for karaoke music content. The Singtrix System is priced from about $125 to $350 depending on extra microphones and accessories.

Rover lets you work out without guilt

Sort of the Air BNB for Dog sitters and their customers, now that you have more time to do your workouts, you don’t want to neglect the important members of your household, the dog or cat.
Rover.com, the nation’s largest network connecting dog owners with dog lovers for hire, today announced a $25 million round of funding, led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), a leading provider of capital to growth-stage companies in the technology industry. With this funding round, Rover takes another meaningful step in redefining the dog-boarding category through the power of the sharing economy
● Rover has now connected dog owners to more than 40,000 sitters in the United States and members in 10,000 cities.
● The company’s employee base has almost doubled over the past year. Rover currently has 80 full-time employees.

PetSmile

This is OZ. OZ He is 14 years old and a rescue from Hurricane Katrina, who was so sick the shelter didn’t think he wouldn’t make it even for 30 days. Fast forward, a diet of organic veg and grass fed beef combined with countless hours of training and he is an amazing specimen. To keep his teeth clean, Oz gets a frozen marrow bone, of course from a grass fed cow! That said at 14 the teeth and breath could use some attention. Really, whose teeth and breath couldn’t benefit from some attention? So when Petsmile asked if OZ would like to give the product a try. I said yes.

Petsmile Professional Toothpaste is brought to you by the creators of Supersmile for us two leggers. Petsmile is approved by the VOHC, The Veterinary Oral Health Council. You can go to www.petsmileusa.com and review the ingredients.

Have you ever tried to brush your dog’s teeth? Luckily a small dab of the beef flavor paste on my finger had him intrigued and he licked it right off. This was a good sign. I opted for the finger rather than the swab and for a week Oz graciously allowed me to shmear Petsmile on his choppers. No arguments from him and no pleading on my part for him to settle down for application. I will say that his breath seems fresher. As far as whitening goes, I don’t notice any improvement.

For older dogs it’s a pleasant way to get fresher breath and it’s a great stocking stuffer for your best friend and you can include some Supersmile for your two legged friends as well! Check it out at www.petsmileusa.com.

Epson Expands Award Winning Cinema Line

Epson, the number-one projector manufacturer in the world, expanded its award-winning lineup of 3LCD home entertainment projectors with the addition of the Epson® Home Cinema 640. Epson projectors offer up to 3x higher color brightness than leading competitive projectors1. The Home Cinema 640 boasts 3,200 lumens of color brightness and 3,200 lumens of white brightness2 for vibrant image quality. The affordable 3LCD projector displays images up to 300-inches – 25 times the size of a 60” flat panel – bringing big-screen fun to any home. In addition, the Home Cinema 640 also features built-in sound, versatile connectivity and flexible setup tools for instant setup virtually anywhere at an affordable price.

Featuring an all-digital HDMI® port for versatile connectivity, the Home Cinema 640 allows users to view content from a range of devices including a cable or satellite box, Blu-ray® player, gaming console or streaming device. Users can also select from one of four built-in special color modes optimized to display the best possible quality and color in any environment, allowing users to enjoy their favorite movies, TV shows and videogames. Additionally, the Home Cinema 640 offers built-in sound, easy setup and installation for flexible placement with horizontal image correction and Easy-Slide control technology.

The Home Cinema 640 ($359.99 MSRP) will be available soon through select retailers nationwide and the Epson online store. The projector comes with Epson’s top-of-the-line service and support, including a two-year limited warranty with toll-free access to Epson’s PrivateLine® priority technical support and 90-day limited lamp warranty.

Another Epson winner

While DFA loved the preview of the new projector, an existing model the 600 was used in our office as an instructional interactive TV, video player and giant computer screen. In addition one of our reporters took the unit to his French class where it served as the best instruction tool he ever saw.
Some of the specs are similar, but here’s the lowdown on the
The Epson® PowerLite® Home Cinema 600.
This unit is also compact and versatile as the Cinema 600 makes it easy to enjoy content on screens up to 25 times larger than a 60-inch TV screen with 3,000 lumens of color slightly less than the new model. It was extremely portable literally taking it from one classroom to another was easy and then to home where we set it up to be an affordable home theater. With all-digital HDMI connectivity for access to movies, sports and games, users can easily plug in a Blu-ray® player, gaming console or streaming media player to create an immersive viewing experience with super-sized videogames, movies and more. Prices have dropped on this model slightly but it is very hard to get because of its popularity with critics and home video experts.

Roku Streams into 4K with travel features too

Roku introduced its fourth generation streaming device that adds higher definition performance for both 4K Ultra HD (UHD) and HD TVs. With access to one of the biggest streaming channel lineups, including 300,000 movies and TV episodes and the industry’s most comprehensive and only unbiased universal voice search, finding what to stream is simple with the new Roku 4. Plus, now consumers will no longer need to look for their remote control with the new Remote Finder feature.

The Roku 4 runs the new Roku OS 7 which is filled with new discovery features that give consumers more access to entertainment choices. With a major update to the Roku Feed consumers can now follow movies, TV shows, actors and directors to receive automatic entertainment updates about pricing and availability. Those at college or who travel and want to stream will now be able to use the new Hotel and Dorm Connect feature for quick wireless connectivity in locations that require log-in credentials to access the network. In addition, the redesigned Roku mobile app, which DFA has been calling for, brings more control to the Roku experience from a mobile device, and soon will feature an on-the-go mode that allows for access to features such as the Roku Feed while away from home.
The stats:
• Improved picture and stunning performance for both 4K UHD TVs and HD TVs
• Quad-Core processor, up to 60 fps 4K streaming, HDCP 2.2 and Optical Audio Out
• Sleek 1080p home screen and user interface
• 802.11ac MIMO Wi-Fi for optimal wireless
• Access to more streaming channels for 4K entertainment than any other streaming player with
• Curated 4K Spotlight channel exclusive to Roku 4 offers instant access to 4K movies, TV shows and more
• 4K UHD category within the Roku Channel Store to make finding streaming channels with 4K entertainment quick and easy
• Remote control with voice search, headphone jack for private listening, and Remote Finder

The Roku 4 is available for pre-order today from www.roku.com and major retailers for a MSRP of $129.99. Roku OS 7 will be rolled out to current-generation Roku players and Roku TVs through software update beginning in mid-October and is expected to be completed in November.

Seek Thermal brings Next Gen Imaging to Mass Market

This was the easiest new product to set up and while Apple has promised this technology in the future, this young company dubbed Seek Thermal actually has a nice product out there now. Simply Plug Seek Compact directly into your Android phone or your IPhone (different model) and in seconds you can see the heat all around you. The advanced thermal sensing technology lets you detect a massive range of temperatures—from -40° up to 626° Fahrenheit—and locate specific sources of heat instantly. Use Seek Compact in broad daylight or total darkness. Detect heat through walls, pipes, brush, and bad weather. Share and store the images and videos you capture. What you Seek is completely up to you.
• Compact, portable, and lightweight thermal imaging camera plugs directly into your smartphone
• See what’s hot and cold all around you—detect heat through walls, foliage, even in total darkness
• Pinpoint energy loss, air leaks, clogged pipes, and electrical hazards
• Thousands of everyday uses—perfect for homeowners, contractors, inspectors, and more
• Includes a pocket-sized, waterproof carrying case
• Priced around $249

LW-600P Is the First App-Enabled Label Maker

DFA loved Epson’s other label makers and in fact ranked them above Brother and Rubbermaid and many other devices for ease of use, printing features and even label quality. The LW-600P from Epson is an all-new smartphone and tablet-based Datacom and Cable Labeling solution. The solution includes Epson’s new Datacom and Cable Labeling app and Epson’s Bluetooth®-enabled label printer, the LabelWorks® LW-600P. Together, the app and the highly portable label printer has the power IT professionals and or heavy duty home user. Used in conjunction with the app, Epson’s LW-600P utilizes Bluetooth connectivity and AA batteries (AC adapter also included). The LW-600P wirelessly prints durable adhesive labels in tape widths of 6mm (~1/4”), 9mm (~3/8”), 12mm (~1/2”), 18mm (~3/4”) and 24mm (~1”). The printer can fit easily in a toolbox or equipment bag and comes with an automatic cutter that reduces waste and saves money. The unit is under $200 at most office supply stores and at Amazon.com.