2MinTech EP 0018 - Galaxy Note 7 and Pixel Phones

Both Samsung and Google have announced new phones that will push the limits of current technology. If you are looking for a new phone, you might want to wait and see if there is something here that is a must have 

(NOTE: the Galaxy Note 7 has been recalled, and production stopped because they were blowing up! You read that right, they explode. If you purchased a Note 7 return it to the place of purchase for a full refund, and a bonus from Samsung, for your trouble.)

2MinTech EP 0010 - Anker Powerhouse

It seems like everything these days has to be plugged into a USB power source. There just are not enough outlets for all of the USB bricks that come with your devices. In comes Anker, with the powerhouse adapter that gives you up to 6 USB ports and variable power that allows both phones and tablet devices to get enough power to charge up quickly.

2MinTech EP 0009 - WeMo Home Automation

Belkin makes a line of home automation devices called WeMo that give you an affordable and easy to use way to automate some aspects of your house. Available modules include wall switches and outlets as well as bulbs and even a crock pot! The entire system works with Amazon's Echo voice control, but it is not HomeKit compatible for Apple devices. 

2MinTech EP0006 - Eero mesh network

The eero mesh network is one of several "mesh network" solutions being marketed to home owners with the expressed plan to solve poor coverage areas in your home. These gaps in coverage, are wholly dependent on the location of your router and placement of walls within your home. The mesh router is basically a way to overlap multiple coverage areas with multiple devices so that every location within your home is covered by wifi signal so that you never experience a connection drop out. While the concept is sound, and many more vendors are getting on the bandwagon with mesh solutions for the home, I am dubious of this being a solution in each of a need. Most connection issues are down line from the router in the house and a more dense coverage inside a home is not a panacea. That said, if your home is designed such that it has poor wifi from your single router, you can add a wifi extender device, or try setting up a mesh network which thanks to eero, is easy and does exactly what it is advertised to do. If you have poor coverage in your house, eero is a good candidate and one you should consider as a replacement system.

2MinTech EP0005 - Garmin BC30

The Garmin BC30 is an add-on that works with many of the Garmin GPS systems, turning them into back up cameras for your vehicle. I got mine at Amazon for about $150 and had it professionally installed at a local Best Buy store for another $50. The system works great. 

After a back injury, I find it hard to turn and look back when parking my car in busy lots. Newer cars offer backup cameras, but I was not ready to buy a new car. This was the perfect solution. The Garmin BC30 is a bright camera, that provides a clear view of everything being my vehicle and a wide view as well. When backing into my driveway, I can easily see both right and left walls when inside of 5 feet from the garage. In my case, it also has an adjustable guide line that I use to line up when backing using the camera as my means of looking back. Even with the wide view, I still look up and check right and left to be sure traffic is not coming beyond the camera view, but once this was installed, I had used it every time I drive my car. This device is highly recommended.

2MinTech EP0004 - Back to school tablets

Here are several options for tablet computers for you student to get ahead at school. These options run the gamut from $50 affordable devices to $299 high end devices. Check with your students school to see if they have a recommended brand or model, and also check on the wifi constraints which will affect the usability of the device at school.

2MinTech EP0002 - Smart Tattoos

Now your body art can have functionality that you might not have imagined. The art of metallic tattoos have been around for a while, but now you can have a small switch or controller embedded in the tattoo. Smart tattoos allow you apply controllers that can turn on lights, adjust brightness and pretty much anything you can do in your smart home. If you have smart home appliances or other controllable electronics, you can look into a smart tattoo, to make them go. they currently last for less than a month, and they are not permanent, but as the tech marches forward with time, look for smart tattoos to get smarter.

2MinTech Ep0001 - Nissan variable compression engine

Nissan has created the holy grail of gasoline engines by creating a variable compression engine, that can effectively change its power output as needed while driving. This is not the same as variable cam engines or variable cylinder engines that have been around a while. This engine changes the compression pressure of the combustion chamber within the motor while you are driving. Using a computer to control the process, the nissan motor will increase or decrease the power output of the engine for economy, or speed or torque as needed, depending on the driving conditions. It remains to be seen how durable this engine is, and how it will perform in real world situations, but you can look for variable compression in a Nissan motor soon, and if successful, it will be sure to flow to other manufactures quickly.