Newstips Electronic Editorial Bulletin             Issue # 2010-10c

                 New Picks for Bricks & other news

In this issue:
  New Antec LanBoy Air is a very upper case... Franklin Roadie goes
  long where handhelds come up short... Iconosys Drive Reply on
  Android goes Spanish... Brookstone in line for unique Boogie
  Board design... AFI students get big Tiffen filter donations...
  New Zoom Freedom modem means freedom from stupid contacts...
  Special Report: the economics of morale... Reviews: WowWee One
  portable speaker, GEOX Respira jacket, Dr. Scholl's orthotic
  inserts, Kahtoola Micro Spikes... plus our commentary on
  Announcing Picks for Bricks

New Antec LanBoy Air is a very upper case
  Gamers aren't the only users who can crowd a computer case & the
  ritzy new Antec LanBoy Air case ($220) breathes like no other
  with a "naughty nighty" black mesh skin, support for up to 15
  120mm fans & a radiator, a slide-out PSU cage, six 3.5" bays,
  three 5.25" bays & two 2.5" bays, top handles, a front panel
  storage bin & more. Ask Veronica. Contact: Veronica Feldmeier,
  Antec Inc. (Fremont, CA) 510-770-2150 vfeldmeier@antec.com
  http://antec.com

Franklin Roadie goes long where handhelds come up short
  Handheld players or handsets are designed for earphones or
  close-listening but aren't terribly good at out-loud audio. The
  new 3-piece Franklin Roadie - amplified speaker, SD card media
  player & power unit with built-in LiIon battery - is about the
  size of a bottle of water but delivers sound by the bucket.
  Acoustic coupling at the base lets the surface it's standing on
  act like a sound board & a tweeter at the top delivers crisper
  highs that most totable speakers. Ask Aline. Contact: Aline
  Boutin, Franklin Electronic Publishers (Burlington, NJ)
  609-386-2500x4434 aline_boutin@franklin.com http://franklin.com

Iconosys Drive Reply on Android goes Spanish
  Iconosys just launched a Spanish-language version of DriveReply
  ($17/year) for Android, its app that detects driving speeds,
  silences a handset & auto-replies with a variety of "busy now"
  messages. Ask Wayne. Contact: Wayne Irving II, Iconosys Inc.
  (Laguna Hills, CA) 949-335-5350 wi@iconosys.com
  http://iconosys.com

Brookstone in line for unique Boogie Board design
  It was a Brookstone Father's Day placement that triggered the
  rush of Boogie Board buys; now Brookstone is having Kent create a
  special version of the Boogie Board just for you-know-when; ask
  Kevin. Contact: Kevin Oswald, Kent Displays (Kent, OH)
  330-673-8784x161 koswald@kentdisplays.com
  http://KentDisplays.com

AFI students get big Tiffen filter donations
  Tiffen is delivering a vast array of their filters to the
  American Film Institute, donated for use by AFI students to help
  them understand the roles that filters can play in capturing a
  desired look or feel. Those students may use more kinds of
  filters than you knew were out there, but there are some that any
  consumer should consider; ask Hilary. Contact: Hilary Araujo,
  Tiffen Company (Hauppauge, NY) 631-609-3216 haraujo@tiffen.com
  http:/.tiffen.com

New Zoom Freedom modem means freedom from stupid contacts
  Terry notes that the more rapidly mobile broadband plans shift,
  the more stupid it is to get locked into anything long-term, like
  the 2-year contracts the carriers love to push. The Zoom 4597 3G+
  Freedom modem ($99) for GSM/SIM carriers (in the US, AT&T & T-Mo)
  is BYO hardware that lets you buy an inexpensive prepaid or
  pay-as-you-go short-term service plan. Since it's an unlocked
  modem, you can shift between carriers at will. Just plug one into
  a USB port to connect to up to 7.2Mbps. It's reviewable now; ask
  Terry. Contact: Terry Manning, Zoom Telephonics Inc. (Boston, MA)
  617-753-0087 terrym@zoom.com http://zoom.com

Special Report: the economics of morale
  We've been studying behavioral marketing, from which context the
  ability to sell anything is entirely dependent on a prospective
  purchaser's emotional commitment to buying. A Nobel Prize went (a
  few years back) to the authors of a treatise on behavioral
  economics, from which context the same phenomena affecting wider
  groups or populations can effect economies. The dire, dismal
  economic outlook that was already years old in 2008 (huge debt,
  imploding housing markets, a failing car industry, failing banks,
  frozen credit) gave way to hope of recovery in 2009. Slowly but
  progressively, public morale & the economy both brightened (or at
  least lost some of their dimming), but which is cause & which
  effect? DOW averages that plummeted from 14 (thousands) to 8 are
  now back up above 11, retail sales are up, local station ad slots
  have been sold out all year & 4Q projections are strong, but
  there's a skunk in the woodpile. Thanks to a Supreme Court
  decision earlier this year, Americans are being barraged at
  all-time record levels by messages that say (paraphrasing) any
  named candidate should be feared and not trusted and will lead
  you down a path to ruination. The election is closer than the
  Holidays, so hopefully, the doom & gloom weighing down the
  national morale will evaporate in the glow of Rudolph's nose.

Special Report Bonus Review: WowWee One portable speaker
  The WowWee One Power Bass Portable Speaker is a small black slab
  with a rubbery bottom that it calls a "gel audio" driver. A
  battery inside (recharge via a USB power connection) powers its
  amplifier to drive its speaker for up to 20 hours. The idea is
  that in addition to the sound that comes out the speaker, the
  vibrations at the base will acoustically couple to the surface it
  rests upon but that the gel will keep it from rattling. It does
  that & what comes out is recognizable but far from exquisite;
  tabletops are notoriously unpredictable as speaker diaphragms.
  Bottom line: if you want to hear what's playing without those
  buds in your ears, the WowWee One Power Bass Portable Speaker is
  a one-piece way to get that to happen.

Special Report Bonus Review 2: GEOX Respira jacket
  Our editorial call for winter tech brought in an interesting
  outerwear item, the GEOX Respira. It's a heavyweight down jacket
  with a removable, separately wearable liner. The tech angle is in
  the design of the shoulder, where a mesh construction lets
  humidity vent. The result is less moisture to dampen (ergo chill)
  your torso underneath. We tried it in less than chilly weather &
  found that while it did a great job of warming, we didn't find
  any sweating. Bottom line: the GEOX Respira down jacket is worth
  considering as a way to keep the chill off your chest.

Special Report Bonus Review 3: Dr. Scholl's orthotic inserts
  We confess to being intrigued by the in-store devices that, when
  you stand in the right spot, map your foot pressure in color then
  suggest a Dr. Scholl's Custom Fit Orthotic Insert to address
  elements of your step that it perceives. For us, those elements
  were low arches & high foot pressure; the recommended type CF440
  insert, we note, is their beefiest model, one step short of
  "humans only, please" on the display. We tried it in 3 pairs of
  shoes: one athletic shoe plus both old & new pairs of same-SKU
  shoes; therein lays a tale. The old pair was a comfy workhorse
  that was walked to near-death; its replacement should have been
  identical in every way bot for some reason, varied enough that
  wearing that pair for even a few hours led to days of foot &
  ankle pain. That was the acid test for the orthotic inserts & we
  were amazed that even that nasty new pair is now comfortably
  wearable (had they not been, they were fated for the donation
  box). Bottom line: Dr. Scholl's Custom Fit Orthotic Inserts
  worked well for us.

Special Report Bonus Review 4: Kahtoola Micro Spikes
  When we made a slippery sidewalks editorial call, we expected to
  find some new tech in snow or ice melting or clearing gear; we
  smiled & said yes to a pitch for Kahtoola Micro Spikes. These fit
  over your shoes; step through a mostly circular rubbery ring & a
  mesh of short chain segments & spiked steel brackets points down.
  We like how low-maintenance a task that present going on & coming
  off, even for frigid fingers; if common sense was common we
  wouldn't have to add, don't wear these indoors. They seem very
  sure-footed for normal icy-pavement walks; if you have something
  more challenging in mind, test cautiously first. Bottom line:
  Kahtoola Micro Spikes can help your butt maintain its altitude on
  icy pavement.

Announcing Picks for Bricks
  This one won't be an event, but since the elements that make for
  a successful Cherry Picks haven't yet come back together, we're
  running a new contest for exciting new consumer electronic
  products: Picks for Bricks. There's no cost to enter. We'll
  review every product that comes in (though we may not publish
  every review). Those that we believe are good candidates for
  brick & mortar retail shelf space will get a fast, assured path
  to being there. If you know about products that are really cool,
  should be in brick & mortar retail stores but haven't yet made it
  there, tell them to get in touch. Contact: Martin Winston,
  Newstips (Novelty, OH) 440-338-8400; marty@Newstips.com
  http://Newstips.com

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Newstips Bulletin [Novelty, OH] +1.440.338.8400 http://Newstips.com