Gadgets

Dickie D says that with summer coming, that means grilling season is right around the corner. And a clean bbq is a happy bbq. That's what his gadget is this week with the Grillbot. It's like a Roomba for your BBQ. Press a button to set the amount of time you want it clean and place it on a hot or cold grill. A built in alarm tells you if the grill is too hot for the device. A mini-LCD screen lets you to choose a light or deep clean. Three motors power three wire brushes.

The Giz Wiz just got back from the National Hardware Show and saw some cool, and strange, tools. The one he really liked is from General Tool and it's a motor driven precision tool driver for working on small devices in spaces like computers. The 100+ RPM motor features forward and reverse controls, and the quick-change chuck allows for effortless swapping between 1/8" Slotted, Phillips and Torx bits. It's $35 from General Tools.

For travelers, our gadget of the week is the Sonic Alert Sonic Shaker clock. It's designed to fit under your pillow and vibrate to wake you up. It also buzzes at 90 decibels. It has a folding digital clock interface as well. Price is around $25.

Dickie D is back with another gadget and this one is for dogs! It's called the Bark & Activity Counter. It keeps track of how much barking and running around your dog does when you’re away from home. Worn around the dog's collar, it can store up to 3,000 sessions (99 minutes each). After each session, the unit is connected to a computer detailed charts are provided, showing the time of day and the duration of each barking occurrence. Cost is $71.00.

This week's gadget from the Giz Wiz is an iPhone case called the Linkase, which extends the signal of the phone's WiFi. It has a slide out WiFi antenna and it connects and boosts the WiFi in weak areas. Polycarbonate, under $50.

This week, the Giz Wiz brings along the EpiShock, a small surface vibration speaker device that plugs into any music source with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Simply put Epishock down on any hard flat surface like a desk or table and you will be amazed by the sound quality. It has a volume control and comes with a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery providing 6+ hours of playtime. You can daisy chain them, and according to the company, the more you plug in the louder they can get.

The craziest gadget that Dickie D has ever shared with us may be the Glove Handset, which is a glove that is also a bluetooth enabled phone! Warm knit gloves woven with conductive fibers let you operate those touch-screen phones like Androids, iPhones, Windowsphone, and Blackberries - but with extra-added Bluetooth capabilities! In the left glove's thumb is a tiny speaker, and in the pinky is a wee microphone. By extending them both in the usual hand-gesture, you can chat with your friends for up to 20 hours on a charge! It gives "talk to the hand" a whole new meaning.

This week's gadget is the Brolly Texting Umbrella. Leo says it looks like an umbrella with a pair of brass knuckles on it. Dick says that's what makes it easy to hold on to the umbrella and text with your phone at the same time.

This week's gadget is The Matrix Audio Qube. The QUBE is small enough to fit pocket or computer carry case and loud enough to let you enjoy movies on your laptop when you travel. It’s also perfect to listen to music or audio books in the hotel room. The QUBE has a built in rechargeable battery that offers up to 8 hours of continuous playback. You can recharge it via USB in about 2 hours. It comes with a carrying case and a combo cable.

The Giz Wiz's Gadget of the week is the BuQuTech Magnetyze Charger - it uses magnetism to charge your phone. It's a two piece setup - case and magnetic charger. You use their case and then when ready to charge, you just place the phone onto the charger plate. You can even rotate it because the magnet keeps the connection. The kit comes with a magnetic charging cable for use in the office or on the go.