Roku announced today that the new Roku Express 4K+ can now be preordered, and will be available May 16th.

The new Roku features what Roku is calling “Smooth wireless”, saying that it uses dual-band wireless for a fast connection and smooth streaming.

It comes with a voice remote with TV controls, a “find my remote” feature, and an HDMI cable and will retail for $39.99.

via Roku.com

Arcade1Up Infinity Game Table

Arcade1up announced a new product today, the Infinity Game Table. It’s a way to play digital games locally or with other people over the Internet. They talk about licensing Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and more. There will be two options, 24″ and 32″, and include Wi-Fi connectivity, removable legs (so you can just set it on your own table).

I think this would be a lot more interesting if they start licensing some of the sort of games you can find at BoardGameGeek.

So, we just bought the Gold’s Gym Cycle Trainer 400 Ri. This thing was a real chore to get put together, but I was finally able to do it. After the peddles were in place, I sat down, pressed a button, and got three beeps from the console. No matter what I pressed, three beeps.

The top layer says go their website to activate the console; so I do that, and guess what? They want my credit card, and after the free trial, $15/month to use the features on the bike.

Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. The bike was a pain to put together, and now it says it wants a credit card? Surely (don’t call me Shirley!) there’s a way to use this bike and screen without paying an extra $15 a month for their app and workout program.

Turns out, you can. You have to press the “Bluetooth” button and hold it. The first thing you’ll notice is nothing happens…keep pressing! Then a green light will go on. Keep pressing! Finally, the screen will turn on. From there, you can pedal away. Turn the fan on (and off, by hitting reset).

The screen will turn off after a period of inactivity. The next time you want to use it, just start pedaling and the screen will come on.

If you want to use their workout program, by all means, set it up. But if you don’t, follow the instructions above.

I hope this helps you!

Synology announced an affordable NAS for home at CES 2020. The Synology DS420j costs just $299. It’s a diskless NAS, so you’ll have to supply your own disks. It has room for four disks, a 64-bit 4-core 1.4 Ghz processor. If you’ve been looking for an inexpensive NAS, you’ll want to check it out!