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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: The fake Brad Pitt, a solar beach umbrella & hat and a pothole-jumping hypercar

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: The fake Brad Pitt, a solar beach umbrella & hat and a pothole-jumping hypercar
Steve Caplin tells the salutory tale of a woman conned out of a fortune by a fake Brad Pitt online before turning to a second batch of wacky gadgets on display at the Consumer Electronics Show. There's a solar beach umbrella and a (giant) solar hat with charging ports. A new AI robot is essentially just a lamp on a walking coffee table. A flying motorcycle might not work but a helicopter carried in a van appears to. The head of an AI app confesses he has no idea how his product works. The Power Mole will transmit wireless power through windows. And the Chinese Yangwang U9 hypercar will jump potholes or metal spikes - providing it is going fast enough.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: AI failings, Meta abandoning fact checkers & bonkers CES products

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: AI failings, Meta abandoning fact checkers & bonkers CES products
In our tech show, Steve Caplin discusses some of the mistakes made by Apple's new AI and how Meta is getting rid of fact checkers. He reports on some of the devices on show at Las Vegas's annual CES. There's a TV to keep an eye on children and pets, a robot with an arm for picking up shoes and socks – slowly, a lamp that is also a projector, a toaster-like phone battery swapper, a giant monitor with a shoulder strap, a way to keep all your rechargeable batteries in order, an air purifier that doubles as a cat perch, and a tiny, cat-shaped robot for cooling your coffee. Only one of these tickles his fancy as a possible purchase.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: 40 years of mobile calls, finding lost luggage & weird patent applications

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: 40 years of mobile calls, finding lost luggage & weird patent applications
Steve Caplin kicks off the year by reminding us it is 40 years since the first mobile phone call: but do you remember the celebrity who made it? Motorised skis will get you up a mountain. Apple's AirTags could help you locate missing luggage. A Chinese spherical security robot put Steve in mind of The Prisoner. Chat robots add video but don't impress. You can play Xbox games on an Amazon Fire Stick. There's an electronic belt. And there's a roundup of some of the weirdest patent applications in 2024.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos 2024 Review: AI Grannies, butter made from air, spying air fryers and much more

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos 2024 Review: AI Grannies, butter made from air, spying air fryers and much more
Steve Caplin looks back over the good, bad, ugly and bonkers of the tech world in 2024. He admired the AI scam-baiting granny, the rocket that eats itself, the underwater kite, butter made from air and the benefits of red wine and dark chocolate. He wasn't keen on Chinese spying air fryers, the flamethrowing robot dog, the airline computer that couldn't cope with a 101-year-old and AI cheating at Diplomacy. And he is still scratching his head at the bike lane sweeper that sits behind the bike and the billionaire who wants to launch a replica Titanic.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: Google's quantum chip, rocking beds, solar paint & a security football

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: Google's quantum chip, rocking beds, solar paint & a security football
Steve Caplin updates Simon Rose on the latest tech. Sadly, OpenAI video generator Sora won't be available in the UK. However, Google's GenCast could soon be predicting weather more accurately while its quantum chip can do in 5 minutes what the fastest computers would take 10 septillion years, threatening the safety of encryption. The VR DropTower will give gamers an enhanced experience, including turning them upside down. A podcast lists the top 100 tech achievements: can you guess the top 5? A bed rocker imitates the motion of a train. A new security robot resembles a football. There's a thermal imaging camera that will plug into a phone. The Tank Pad adds ruggedness for tablet users in difficult environments. And Mercedes have developed solar paint to add range to your EV.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: Christmas gift guide

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: Christmas gift guide
Steve Caplin gives Simon Rose a plethora of tech ideas for Christmas gifts, for others and for yourself. He finds some bizarre advent calendars. The top toy for kids appears to be a Fart Blaster. From the Chinese version of Amazon, Alibaba, he recommends heated gloves, a vacuum phone holder, a portable ceiling fan, sewing needles that thread themselves and a car charger with retractable cables. There's also a camera drone, an impressive iPhone case, rechargeable LED work lights, colour changing LED bulbs, magnetic tool holders and an avocado slicer. He was delighted with his game-playing SteamDeck and also recommends Bridge Command, where you can immerse yourself in a Star Trek-style experience.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: Powered legs, octopus-suckered dentures & spaghetti bandages

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: Powered legs, octopus-suckered dentures & spaghetti bandages
In the world of tech, Steve Caplin looks at powered legs like "the electric bike but for walking". There's a 37mph electric surfboard while scientists have discovered patterns that make sharks less interested in surfers. The mosquito parasite that causes malaia has been genetically modified into a vaccine. The principle of octopus suckers is to be used to help retain dentures. The world's thinnest spaghetti, thinner than hair, can make bandages. High speed internet apparently makes us fat. Pigeon droppings trapped German drivers in an underground car park until 3am. And Korean scientists think ships could dock with suckers instead of rope.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: Stretchable screens, sterile mosquitoes & an AI scam-beating granny

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: Stretchable screens, sterile mosquitoes & an AI scam-beating granny
Steve Caplin discusses the latest tech with Simon Rose. LG improve their bendable LED screens so they can now stretch too. Scientists improve the chances of sterilising mosquitoes. Glasses for the deaf will project text onto the lenses. AI headphones can make it easier to hear in restaurants. Virgin & O2 have invented an AI granny to waste scam callers' time. Dyson have filed a patent for a robo-dog to vacuum, mow, water plants & mop. There's an eScooter which is solar powered and a hand pump to desalinate water. There's also a spurious tech limerick.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: Replica Batmobiles, robotic art, repairable kettles & barcoding zebras

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: Replica Batmobiles, robotic art, repairable kettles & barcoding zebras
Warners are making driveable Batmobiles, says Steve Caplin, though they aren't street legal. In California, there's a beautifully-designed solar-powered car. A picture painted by a robot has just sold at auction for over $1m. A Mattel doll from the Wicked movie had an unfortunate mistake on the packaging. A student has invented a repairable kettle. There's a crowdfunded thermal-imaging dashcam available now. A new retro eBike comes with a sidecar. And in Kenya, they're using drones to keep track of zebras, using their stripes as barcodes.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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Simon Rose

Gadgets & Gizmos: Detecting spoiled milk, slow mobile internet & an inflatable toilet

Simon Rose
Original Broadcast:

Gadgets and Gizmos

Gadgets & Gizmos: Detecting spoiled milk, slow mobile internet & an inflatable toilet
Steve Caplin dives into the world of gadgets. Rolls-Royce have produced a one-off car to celebrate 60 years of Goldfinger. An Australian app can detect if milk is off, while mathematicians there have proved that monkeys couldn't write the works of Shakespeare. The biggest Dutch publisher is using AI to translate books into English. The UK has the 49th worst mobile internet speed, behind Azerbaijan and Kosovo. If you're caught short, there's now an inflatable toilet. And Steve explains why your air fryer might be spying for China.
Guest:

Steve Caplin

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