reel

ReelSonar Bluetooth bobber finds fish, maybe sea monsters

It seems to me the point of going fishing is to get away from the hustle and bustle and have some quiet time with yourself, a fishing rod, and an implacable expanse of water. There's never a smartphone involved in my imaginary ideal fishing experience. I'm going to have to revise my idea of a good day fishing if ReelSonar reaches its Indiegogo goal.

ReelSonar is a combination of hardware and an Android and iOS app. A Bluetooth Low Energy-equipped bobber sends sonar signals down into the water. The information, including the depth of each fish, is relayed to your smartphone.

The app also lets you map the waterbed and share the location of your fishing hot spot with your buddies, if you're the type who doesn't hoard your secret fishing areas. There's even a bite alarm, which should wake you up if you snooze off with the bobber out on the water.… Read more

Power Fish'n hybrid reel catches fish on autopilot

Fishing is supposed to be relaxing. Kick up your feet, have a cold domestic brew, and wait for the little swimmers to nibble on the bait. This calm experience is sometimes rudely interrupted by the flurries of energy required to reel in a fish.

If you have a Power Fish'n Pro Hybrid Reel from Rock Island Equipment Company, you won't even have to set down your beer to catch a bass. It's the ultimate fishing relaxation-enhancement gadget.

The Power Fish'n Pro uses a standard Shakespeare spinning reel with a motor that activates at the push of a switch. The motor is quiet enough not to scare away your prey. You can still set it to manual mode if you want the full thrill of the hunt. It runs on four AA batteries.

This isn't a case of another gadget for lazy Americans. It's aimed at people with disabilities and senior fishers that could use a little extra assistance. … Read more

Get ready for 'Minority Report'-style sales pitches

Swedish phone company Hi3G Access wants to reach out and touch everyone with a new "Minority Report"-style video chat system through which its staff can shuffle graphics around with their hands.

As seen in the vid, 3LiveShop is a Flash-based multitouch system through which Hi3G staff can pull up images with the flick of a finger while video chatting with customers.

Developer B-Reel, a production company in Stockholm, says the system is the first of its kind in the world. The products are shown in a separate stream from the video for better resolution.

Staff can also create onscreen bills to show costs associated with phone models. After a customer selects a phone, it gets dropped into a cart for checkout in the e-commerce system.

The multitouch screens, developed with Teenage Engineering, include mirrors and high-end cameras. There are only three workstations with the system at the moment, but the company is thinking of expanding it to other countries if it's successful.

I think using a mouse would be a lot easier on the sales staff's arms, but of course it wouldn't look as cool. … Read more

Natali Morris blooper reel

Today's episode of Loaded has no links. It is a yearly end-of-year blooper reel. Have a laugh at my expense. Happy holidays!

ReelDirector enhances iPhone 3GS video editing

Apple's iPhone 3GS introduced video recording, trimming, and sharing by adding a higher quality camera and iPhone OS 3.0. These new features introduced a simple way to edit videos, but they won't be replacing iMovie on the Mac--the phone's video-editing capabilities are far too simple, since all you can do is simple trimming and no special effects.

ReelDirector (iTunes link), a new app for the iPhone 3GS by Nexvio, attempts to fill out the iPhone's video editing toolbox by adding advanced video editing features. It sells for $7.99, works best with iPhone OS 3.… Read more

Spooky slot game

Pro Reels Haunted House offers a simple slot machine game with some spooky surprises. While its controls could have been improved, this game is a fun diversion for those who like gambling with imaginary money.

The program's interface was a mixed bag. While it was stunningly professional-looking, with its cartoon graphics and haunted house theme, its controls demanded a visit to the Help file's brief instructions because we'd have been lost without them. We were disappointed to find that we needed to use the F1 and F4 keys, which felt primitive and didn't inspire confidence. However, … Read more

132 years of audio history

Legend has it that on December 4, 1877, Thomas Edison was the first person to record and play back the human voice. Maybe not.

The Video Interchange site notes that "a possibility exists that Edison himself, in fact, might not have been the very first person to have recorded and played back the human voice. This was most likely made by his two key assistants: Charles Batchelor, his chief assistant, and John Kruesi, his head machinist."

You can see Edison's machine on the Video Interchange Web site. And while you're there, check out a few of the fascinating but obscure audio formats on display.

Video Interchange offers transfer services for a vast range of ancient and recent audio formats. For example, Video Interchange can transfer 78 rpm records to CD.

Show Us Yours: Keeping it reel

David Weddle has a pretty sweet home theater, but the thing that caught our eye was his vintage 1969 Teac reel-to-reel system. It's not all old school, though, as his well-rounded home theater includes a 60-inch HDTV, an Xbox 360, and a window-shattering subwoofer (literally). Check out all the photos from David's home theater in this Show Us Yours slide show.

Previous Show Us Yours showcases Show Us Yours: More gear than God Show Us Yours: Man cave Show Us Yours: The miniplex Show Us Yours: Who's the boss?

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