- Iconic videogame publisher Acclaim is back after a long hiatus. Learn what to expect with Acclaim’s CEO Alef Josef
- One of my favorite apps just got better. Get the deets on WeWard, which rewards you for walking, and hear what’s new with the Co-Founder and CEO, Yves Benchimol
- Guitar players, you’ll want to “tune in” to my chat about JamStack 2, a portable guitar app (with effects), when I catch up with Chris Prendergast
- Thank you to Visa and Sandisk for your support!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Check it Out can help make some sense
of it all. Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak. Technology columnist, author,
and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week
for every listener, Mark tackles the latest news, reviews, and
how toos.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
To help you understand what's hot, what's not and why.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Hey everyone, welcome to check it out. This is episode
four ten. Hope you're all doing great, and yeah, we're
well into September. Still not fall yet. I keep hearing
people say it's the fall. That's not officially until the
twenty second. So I hope you're enjoying the last remaining
days of your summer. So I'm recording this show in
(00:45):
a hotel room again. I've been traveling like an idiot lately.
If you're a regular listener to this show, you know
two weeks ago I was in Cologne, Germany for a
video game convention called games Com. Last week I was
in Las Vegas. My youngest son twenty one, so the
family took them to celebrate there. Right now, I'm in
Vancouver at an electric vehicle event starting tomorrow called Everything
(01:09):
Electric Vancouver, and next week I'm going to see the
iPhone launch from Apple Coopertino, California, the iPhone seventeen, the
iPhone seventeen Pro, the Promax, and the iPhone seventeen Air
and a bunch of accessories like watches and earbuds and
some devices for the home as well. So looking forward
to that. By the time you hear this radio show
or podcast, that event may have already happened. And so
(01:32):
on next week's teck it Out, I will give you
a full review of the new iPhone family and we'll
record an interview with General Motors about its self driving
technology that we'll play next week on this program while
I'm here at Everything Electric Vancouver. But today we've got
a packed tech it out for you as well. Any
video gamers in the house, well you probably remember the
(01:53):
name Acclaim. It's an iconic video game brand from the
eighties and nineties mostly. Well they're and we're gonna have
the CEO on the show in about sixty seconds from now.
His name is Alex Joseph to hear what the new
Acclaim is all about, how it's going to honor its
heritage but look to the future. After that, One of
my favorite apps, as you may or may not know,
(02:14):
is called Reward. It's kind of like a reward, but
it's we ward, and it rewards you for walking. You
earn virtual coins that can be redeemed for real prizes.
You can get cash like PayPal deposits in your account,
or gadgets things like Apple watches and such. So we're
gonna have the CEO and co founder of Reward back
(02:37):
onto the show. His name is eve Benjamal from France,
but we've caught up with him in New York and
we're going to hear what's new with the app. There're
a partnership with Venus Williams and a new community related feature.
But I love this app. You got to try it.
It's free for iPhone and Android. And then finally on
the program, if you're a guitar player or know someone
who is, you're going to want to tune in. It's
(02:58):
to learn about the jams too. This is a portable
guitar app that you could even wear like on your hip,
like on your jeens. You know, let you play your
electric guitar while you're walking around your home or I
don't know, you're downtown. If you like and it's loud
and clear. It's got special effects through an app, kind
of like stepping on those guitar pedals for effects, but
(03:20):
it's all done through an app. Very cool. We're going
to learn about jam Stack as well, so a very
busy tech it out for you, powered by Visa, which
I'll tell you more about shortly. But let's officially kick
off the show with our first interview. If you're a gamer,
you no doubt remember acclaims iconic titles from yesteryear like NBA,
(03:40):
Jam Puzzle, Babble, Mortal Kombat, WWF, Raw Burnout, Turok, Dinosaur Hunter,
and Crazy Taxi just to name a few. Well, Acclaim
is now back, as we're going to hear from Alex Joseph,
CEO of the company. Great to have you on the show, Alex,
I haven't seen you in a while, but we go back.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Huh yeah, thank you so much. Mark, It is awesome
to be here, and yeah, we do definitely go back,
so it's fantastic to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
I was really happy to hear you become CEO of Acclaim,
a company with a lot of Acclaim over the years,
with those titles that I mentioned, just as a small
sampling of the kind of pedigree we're talking about. Before
we hear what's new with the company, why don't you
bring us up to speed about Acclaim, the brand and
a bit of the history of the company for those
who aren't too familiar with it.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
For anyone who's not familiar, and I'm sure a lot
of people are, A Claim was just one of the iconic,
defining publishers of the late eighties nineties from the East Coast.
They really were known for sort of action oriented, sort
of boundary pushing games. They had very clever marketing programs,
(04:52):
and as you mentioned a number of the classic games
like Nbajam or Tocombat, etc. Just very edgy campaigns and
really cool games that really made a lasting impression and
a lasting cultural mark in all of gaming. And that
whole spirit of taking risks and standing out in a
(05:12):
crowd is what we're aiming for today.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Awesome. Yeah, I've been covering the gaming space for over
thirty years and it's great to see a Claim back
in the headlines. So you're again now CEO of the company.
Tell us about your upcoming play Acclaim showcase. What could
we expect?
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah, so that is going to be really exciting. It's
basically the first opportunity that we have to showcase our
upcoming games to the gaming audience, so I'm super excited
about it. It's going to be on September tenth. We'll
be live streaming, and we're partnering with various folks to
help us with live streaming and some media outlets, and
(05:52):
we're going to have a showcase of games and a
couple of surprises in store as well, So I hope
everybody tunes in for that.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Okay, September ten. We do have one radio station in
the New York area that will air this on the
eighth and the twelfth, so this will be past tense.
But nonetheless, how can people tune into the play Acclaim showcase.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
All of our socials or play acclaim and our YouTube
channel as well, and that's where it will be featured.
Is hosted on the YouTube channel, It'll be on a
few other various sites that are co streaming with us,
like I mentioned, and then also they can give additional
information at the playaclaim dot com.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
All right, so it's a reboot of a claim? Is
that fair? And can you tell us a bit more
about the direction. This is like in the spirit of
these titles that I've mentioned, like Turak and Crazy Taxi,
but not remakes or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Yeah, I wouldn't say it's necessarily a reboot. It's a
little bit of a renaissance. We're not kind of a relic.
But this is this whole vision for the new Acclaim
is really about honoring the old, honoring the rebellious, creedive
DNA of a Claim, and also giving today's indie creators
of global platform. So it's about pairing legacy with innovation,
(07:04):
so players get games that feel bold and unforgettable and
they are reintroduced to the Acclaim brand.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I've read a phrase in some Acclaim materials called retro
future nostalgia. That's one word. Is that you, Alex, did
you come up with.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Super Super Califragules XP, retro future and astrology?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yeah? Well, I was in Germany last week for Games Common.
It's not unusual to see a twenty letter word, but
retro future nostalgia is all one word. What does that
mean and how does that tie into the Acclaim of today?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Sort of like our zeitgeist, our north Star, the energy.
You know what we're doing. We're taking styles, feelings, and
sort of the energy that people remember from the past
and then blending them with the creativity the technology of today,
but not looking at repeating history. So it's really about
(07:55):
creating something new that feels timeless, and the is sort
of our internal way of saying these games could exist
in any era of the claim. So the term also
harkens back to kind of any potential older IP that
we might look at in the future and something that
will resonate with old audiences and new audiences alike.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
IP, of course stands for intellectual property. These are some
titles that, perhaps including the ones that I mentioned, could
see a new iteration of some of those classic IPS
like Burnout or Crazy Taxi, NBA Jam and so on.
We are chatting with Alex Joseph. He's CEO of a Claim.
The company is back with a new vision, but very
(08:41):
much ingrained in what made a claim, So a claim
to begin with that reminds me of the Austin Powers line.
Please allow myself to introduce myself, So can you tell
us a bit more, Alex about these new games? Maybe
you can share So you're very much going to be
publishing some cool independent titles under the Acclaim banner. Can
(09:01):
you share anything? Is it too early? I saw teaser
video but it didn't really reveal too much. But on
YouTube there's a new Acclaim channel, So what could we expect?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yeah, I think we're not chasing remakes just for nostalgia's sake.
We're looking at ways to sort of again pay homage,
reimagine beloved ideas while focusing heavily on fresh new indie voices.
Definite focus on Indye. I think you can expect games
that surprise you, that feel a little bit risky but
(09:34):
in the best way, and that are enjoyable and fun
to play. We're not looking to be everything to everyone,
but I think that we're going to feel the void
for a lot of gamers out there.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Any platforms in particular, you'll be doubling down on.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Of course, PC and all console platforms.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Okay, don't know if we'll go towards mobile at all,
if it makes sense for anything, but I think we're
going to be primarily PC and console.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And when do you expect your first title to debut?
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Twenty twenty six, So our games are slated to release
starting in Q one of twenty twenty six. Definitely tune
in for the showcase on September tenth. We may have
a surprise in store there, so definitely important to check
it out and hear what's going on. And otherwise, expect
some really solid games coming in twenty twenty six and beyond.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And then finally, where can we learn more about Acclaim?
You did mention a couple of URLs a few minutes
ago tied to the play Acclaim showcase. What's the best
call to action for our listeners?
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Absolutely, you can get information all about us at playacclaim
dot com. Also follow us across all the social media
channels at play Acclaim. Behind the scenes will also have
rollouts for each of the game, additional trailers and interviews,
and of course the next play Acclaim Showcase, which will
always be the best place to see what's coming next.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Alex, great to chat with you as always, and congrats
on the brand new Acclaim coming to living rooms everywhere.
A very exciting time. Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Thank you very much, appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Mark.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
We're going to learn all about the reward app and
how it rewards you for walking with real passion prizes
and what's new from the company. When we return on
check it Out. Stay with us, We'll be right back.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
Listen to check it Out whenever you want to find
the check it Out podcast, did I Too, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Welcome back to check it Out. We cover cybersecurity a
lot on this program and how you can best protect
yourself in the digital age, even if you're not super
tech savvy. One part of the solution is securely shopping online,
and so I'm thrilled about my partnership with Visa on
Tech it Out as they've made some significant investments in
fraud prevent over the past five years, as much as
(12:02):
ten billion dollars Yes that's billion with a B, to
support Visa's brand promise to protect the financial information of
individuals and businesses. Zero liability means peace of mind when
you shop online using your Visa card. There can be
no half measures when it comes to cybersecurity, which is
why the company takes an aggressive and multi layered approach
(12:22):
to combating the rising threat of malicious software and other
threats by well funded and global criminal enterprises. Read more
about Visa and how securing the world's payments is priority
one at Visa dot Com. Slash Security that's Visa dot
Com Slash Security. Just over a year ago, I shared
the news about an app that motivates people to walk
(12:45):
with virtual rewards that you can redeem for cash or
gifts or donations to charities. The app is called Reward,
kind of like Reward, but it focuses on the Wii
rather than the me In fact, fast forward a year later,
and not only has we Ward hit new usage milestones,
which we'll get to, but they've launched a new feature
(13:05):
called Communities, again focusing on the Wii, joining us to
explain how we Ward works. On the line, we've got
Eve Benjamal, CEO of Reward. Hi, Eve, good to have
you back on the show.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Fie. It's a pleasure to be back.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I'm a huge fan of the app. I've been using
it for tomorrow. It'll be four hundred consecutive days. I
haven't missed a day that I actually and I can't
say that for many apps that I have on my phone.
I've got, like many of my listeners, hundreds of apps,
but very few you open up daily. But this is
one that I really like. So with that in mind,
please tell us what we Ward is all about. Then
(13:40):
we'll get to what's new.
Speaker 7 (13:41):
Yeah, sure, so for those who doesn't know the app,
So it's a much interotional heart that will incentivize you
to an increasing number of steps.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
But the concept of the app is very simple to
wally count your steps like all the type of apps
that can do that.
Speaker 7 (13:56):
But the main difference is like, we're going to give
you some reward based on the number of.
Speaker 5 (14:01):
Steps you do every day.
Speaker 7 (14:02):
The more you work, the more you will earn points,
which is called the words that you can convert into
cash into give cabout donation to charities. On top of that,
you will also have challenges little more some gamification into
the app that will have the ability to give you
more points, but also to make it fun to work
every day. So the streak, the fact that you have
(14:24):
four hundreds the consecutive dates in the app, it's called
the streak. So it's a way too mutilates people to
every day come their steps and try to like to
increase this number. And yeah, and you will see hopefully
that like mark, that the app will help you to
get moving a bit more every day and will help
(14:45):
you to be in a better shape.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Ok, yeah, thanks for that. If no, definitely it works
because It motivates me to walk around, not only because
I can earn PayPal cash or a gift card to
say Amazon, or other things that you can earn, but
I also like the gamification. When it comes to walking
in your neighborhood. There are these like little virtual cards
(15:07):
that are placed around that you can collect packs, and
they're based on geography, right, so you've got multiple cities
or countries from around the world. There's over I think
six hundred now to collect. That includes what's called the
Vintage collection, and that has some seasonal ones like Halloween
and the holidays. But I love that. So I can collect,
for example, the Vienna pack, which maybe eight or ten cards,
(15:29):
and then I can swap with my wife Kelly when
she needs a card for say Montreal, and then we
collect these cards that are virtually placed around the neighborhood,
so they're not there in real life, but kind of
like the game Pokemon Go, it's as if you just
stepped over a card which you can redeem. I think
it's just so clever, Like you said, to motivate people,
you're gamifying walking. How popular Eve is the app today?
(15:51):
I think you recently hit a new milestone.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
Yeah, so the was originally built in friends and we
reach significant limestones and friends and we extend the in thudy.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Countries, like approximately two years ago.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
And now we reach twenty five million users that used
the app, so, which is a significant milestone for a
hundred million people use the app. And in the US
two million people know subscribe to the app so, which
is also advise.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Wow. All right, so twenty five million downloads for the
reward app, congratulations, of which two million are now in
the US. And you just launched last year in Canada
as well in twenty twenty four in the summer, So yeah,
really you're growing. Can you tell us the kinds of
things that you can redeem forwards? I assume that it
would vary on the country. You may have partners with
(16:40):
different brands and stores and such. Can you give us
some examples?
Speaker 5 (16:43):
Yeah? Sure, So of course it depends on the country.
And if you.
Speaker 7 (16:47):
Based in the US, you can get PayPal directly, you
can you can convert into a PayPal transfer. You can
also get some digcalves and so you name it, but
Amazon Giscal sometime, you have Nike Gift Out.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
You can have a different type of brands.
Speaker 7 (17:05):
You can also have bigger gift if you have more
and more points up to a travel or even like
an iPhone. And yeah, and also one part of they
really like is that you can give your counts to
charity if you wants. And if you give your points
to charity, it will build directly to charities and you
can sup off projects just by worlking. So different type
(17:29):
of projects. It can be a reserve station if you
want to do to plant trees. You can be also
ecological project, a humanitarian project. It can be also research project,
especially on the medical aspect. Like we have some charities
we work with, so depending on your country will have
different charities and different type of projects.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Awesome. I'm just looking through some of the things that
I can redeem my words for you mentioned things like iPhone,
Apple watch se is fifty five thousand words, so you
can also redeem for a watch based on where I live.
But I think a lot of people like the element
of cash, so it really depends on what you want.
When we continue on, teck it out a little bit
more with e benchamal to learn about the reward app,
(18:11):
so stick with us more check it out coming right up.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
After this, I want to follow mark Google, Mark with
a C and Saltzman with a Z. Breaking down geeks
peak into street speak.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
This is check it out.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
To check it out with technology columnist, author, and TV
personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Welcome back to check it out. We're learning about the
reward app that rewards you for walking with virtual coins
called wards, that you can redeem for real cash like
a PayPal withdrawal or gadgets like a smartphone or smart watch.
We've got on the line the CEO and co founder
of the company eve Bench. Welcome back to the show. Now,
(19:01):
before the break, eve we were talking about ways to
earn cash, but there's one that I wanted to mention
as well. When you aren't walking, you can also play
games and fill out some surveys and all that and
earn wards that way. So you have some partnerships with
some games and other apps on your phone that will
reward you for playing those games too.
Speaker 7 (19:20):
It's a way for you if you want to accumulate
to als a more faster we will give you the
ability to do it by interacting with some of our partners.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
All Right, so we've talked about the fact that when
you walk, you earn wards. You can also collect virtual
cards by walking around your neighborhood, and there's other ways
to earn wards like gaming. Now let's pivot and talk
about what's new. I understand that there's a new social
element to reward. Please tell us about it.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
So one of the multivational factors for people to work
out is like to compete with their friends, so we
launch and also to work together. So this is why
we launch the Community Future. So the Community Future is
basically a way to work together for the same cause.
So you can put your words in commons, so you
(20:10):
can put your word in the same balance and work together.
And it's also a way to compete between each other.
So everyone can create a community, bring friends, bring families,
being whoever he wants on the community, and the number
of the community can choose if they want to allocate
their wards to the same goal. And also you have
the ability to see the number of steps of everybody
(20:31):
in the community, to see how how many they step
they did, send them a push notification. This kind of
a really cool features and it will hopefully with much
of it's you to be the first in the competition
and the of the same goal.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
All right, So I'm looking at the social tab at
the bottom of reward and now it'spread new communities. It's
a startup reward community and bring people together for a
cause you care about. So you can create a community
when you walk and you earn wards for something that
matters to you. Do you need to be in the
same city or country as other people walking, Like I
(21:09):
have friends on we Word from around the world, like
in Europe for example. Could they also be part of
my community?
Speaker 5 (21:15):
Of course, you understand them the link of the code
of the community. And a community can be a group
of people.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
It can also we have a community in someone in
the company, so it can be a sort of a company.
It can be a charity that want to bring on
board the people that follow the charity. It can be
an influencer that it wants to build to make people
work together.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
So it can be anyone on around the world. And yeah,
and you just it's very easy to create. It's very
easy to join.
Speaker 7 (21:41):
So today we have multiple thousands of communities that has
been created. It's start to become like very successful featured
and there are people join community and work together. Sorry,
I encouraged everyone like to use it because it will
mutivate you to work, but also much of it's all
to be more active and be in the better shap.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
We are chatting with Eve Benjamin, CEO of Reward. This
is an app that rewards you for walking and you
can redeem real world items like cash and gifts, or
if you prefer, you can also donate your ward for charities.
Just one more question about communities. If you earn wards
as a group as a community, does that take away
(22:21):
from your own personal wards that you may want to
earn to redeem something or is it separate?
Speaker 7 (22:26):
Yeah, So basically you can choose to give like the
future world that you will accumulate it. Basically what happens
that you can choose to allocate ten percent and so
it will be dedicted from your own balance, so you
will not earn these points. These points will be directly
allocated to the community.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Got it. Okay. Finally, there's a big celebrity you've gone
on board that serves as an ambassador for Reward and
serves is the keyword there. Tell us about the US
open angle and who's on board to support we ward publicly.
Speaker 7 (23:01):
Yeah, so Venice Williams choose to join the company as
investor and ambassador of the company.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
We are very lucky.
Speaker 7 (23:08):
To have such an icon in the US but all
around the world in the sports industry. She is currently
still playing because she's at the US Open on the
quarterfinal in double So that's amazing to have a venue
with them at forty five years old that support the
company and support the fact that basically people have to
(23:29):
move there every day and people have to still be active,
and it's like basic steps that people sometimes forget, just
the simple behavior of walking. And yeah, we are lucky
to have for supports in order to reach more people
all along the world to join the app.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Yeah, awesome. Venus Williams. I saw that a few months
ago when she signed on to be an ambassador, and
I recalled our first interview a year ago and I thought, wow,
that's awesome. How big the app is getting. Congratulations Eve again.
We word as the name the app. If you want
to look for it at the App Store on iPhone
or Google Play on Android, it's simply we w r D.
(24:07):
Can you just share maybe what you're working on next
before we let you go.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
We're going to continue to motivate people to work.
Speaker 8 (24:14):
But I can tell you that the mini features will come,
especially on the social aspect with the community, So stay
tuned and you would see a new stuff coming into
the app and hopefully you're going to enjoy.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Okay, a little vague, but that's fine. You want to
hold your cards close to your chest. I understand your
collectible reward cards. I get it. Thanks so much, Thanks
so much, Eve. Great to chat with you again and
congrats on the success of Reward.
Speaker 5 (24:39):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Before we continue on with check it out and don't forget,
we're going to learn about the jam Stack portable amp
for guitar players. That's kind of like a Bluetooth speaker
on steroids, but you can even mount it to your guitar.
You can like wear it on your belt and you
can jam and walk around. So we're going to get
to all that. But speaking of smartphones, I wanted to
give a shout out to sand Disc. They have a
(25:02):
really clever product called the sand Disk Phone Drive USB C.
It is, as the name suggests, a little thumb drive
that you can plug it into the bottom of your
iPhone or Android. It'll launch the official sand Disc app
and make backups of your irreplaceable photos and videos and
other files like contacts. That way you won't run out
of storage on your phone, and you can put away
(25:24):
that thumb drive for safekeeping just in case you lose
your phone, and also so you don't have to pay
for a cloud service, which can get pretty expensive over time,
and once you stop, you're without those files. This sand
disc phone drive USB C is also ideal for transferring
files between devices, so after it backs up all your files,
you can then unplug it out of your phone and
(25:44):
plug it into the side of a laptop or a
desktop and transfer everything over. I love that offline solution.
It's got a little area where you can clip it
to your keychain, and they're affordable. They're just thirty five
dollars to start, and storage goes all the way up
to one terabyte, which is huge. In fact, you can
even load movies onto this thing from your computer and
then plug it into your iPhone or iPad or Android
(26:05):
phone or tablet and watch a movie off the drive
itself without taking up any extra storage. Love it. Sanddisk
dot com has more all right. When we return on
check it out jamstackpro for guitar players. Stick with us,
we'll be right.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Back breaking down GeekSpeak into street speak. Check it out.
Closted by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Welcome back to check it out. Electric guitar players, listen up.
If you've been looking for something to help share your
talent with others wherever life takes you, the jam Stack
Too is now available. It's an attachable amplifier, but it
could do so much more than that, and more than
its predecessor, the jam Stack as well. Joining us from
the company to explain is Chris Prendergast, founder and CEO
(26:58):
of Jamstack. Welcome to the Chris, good to see you.
Also at the Collision conference the other week.
Speaker 9 (27:03):
Thanks so much, Mark, Yeah, that was a real pleasure.
I'm glad I spotted you in the crowd there.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Love that you're walking around with this stuff. That's what
it's all about is being able to play either for
yourself so you can hear your electric guitar without having
to lug a huge amp, but also to play for
others as well. So with that in mind, at a
high level, what is the jem stack too all about?
Speaker 9 (27:21):
Yeah, in a high level, it's the answer to a
question of can you make an instrument amplifier remove all
of the friction that you currently have to experience when
you go to play your instrument, primarily guitar, but without
any compromise. So can you have something that's super fast
to get started, has all of your effects, you can
take it anywhere, you can play it anywhere as seamlessly
(27:44):
as possible, but without having to not be happy with
how you sound or be limited in any way. That
was the attempt. So removing friction without compromise is kind
of our whole mission as a company, and I think
we've accomplished it with the Jamsack too.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
All.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Right, of looks like a bluetooth speaker that many of
my listeners would be familiar with something you bring to
the beach or to the pool, but it connects to
your guitar, right.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
That's right.
Speaker 9 (28:08):
So yeah, if you're if you're trying to visualize it,
it's about eight inches wide. It's got two speakers, so
it's you know, very similar to one of those you know,
premium stereo bluetooth speakers. We've got a few things that
are really unique about it. Like you mentioned, it has
a mechanism on the bottom of it that allows you
to attach it onto your guitar. This is where we
started actually with the jams Tack one. It was we
(28:29):
were kind of the first to do this. And why
that's so fun is multi faceteding. It kind of you know,
you can walk around which end busk for example, or
it kind of it just feels like an acoustic guitar,
which was the kind of the feeling that I that
I was wanted to provide, So that feeling where you
can just pick up and start playing. It's already kind
of a part of your instrument if you're in a jam,
if you're outside, you don't have to worry about where
(28:51):
it is. And it's really fun. Now some of our
customers don't attach it and some of them only attach
it and everything in between. So it's one of our
unique features, but certainly something that you have to do.
It's also wireless, so you can you can go completely wireless.
We have the sell these little transmitters you plug into
your guitar which can actually cast out to multiple and yeah,
(29:13):
the whole effects engine built in, which is also different
than you know, a traditional Blueto speaker. Imagine a computer
running all of your guitar pedals, you know, amp simulation,
all that stuff Tooah, I was going to ask you, Chris,
what separates it from a regular Bluetooth speaker.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
So, one, you can mount it to your guitar if
you want. The second is that you can plug your
guitar right in with like a quarter inch jack like
a typical guitar cable, right or you sell something that
can turn an electric guitar into a wireless one, and
it uses I guess Bluetooth technology.
Speaker 9 (29:41):
So we actually don't use Bluetooth. It is a Bluetooth speaker,
like if you just want to, yeah, Bluetooth, but yeah,
this is actually a proprietary wireless technology. It's called SKA.
You can look it up SKAA. It's kind of you
can think of it as a high performance competitor to
Bluetooth in some ways. It's super low late and zeep.
So it's nineteen millise, which is, you know, less than
(30:01):
your nervous system can dettack well super long distance, and
it's finding its way into lots of products actually, so
there's actually dozens of products on the market that are
compatible with the jam stack too, just because they already
have SKA built into them. So you know, think subwlopers.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
That and not only is it wireless, but you don't
have to. We should clarify this is also a portable speaker.
You don't have to plug it into the wall. It's
got a built in battery. No, I'll ask you about
battery life in a moment. But the other distinction between
a regular Bluetooth speaker, then, Chris, would be what you
touched on. It has the built in effects that you
would otherwise have to spend money on those pedals that
you step on when you're performing live or just jamming
(30:39):
that changes the sound of the guitar, like a distortion
pedal or a wah wah pedal or something like that.
Speaker 9 (30:44):
Right, that's exactly right, delay, echo, reverb, all of those
things that And we have a bunch of presets as well,
so you can, you know, just press one button and
take over that entire tone. But if you want to
get real nerdy with it, you can add and remove
and tweak any pedal that you want. And the big
different with us is that there's there's no distinguishable difference
between the real thing, like you know, I challenge someone
(31:06):
yeah to play you know, the real the real pedal
and and and what we provide digitally, and you can't
tell the difference and that's where the compromise part comes in.
Speaker 5 (31:14):
It's very hard to do.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Yeah, I've heard it. It's it's awesome. And the app
is another part of the story.
Speaker 9 (31:20):
Yeah, because this thing's so small, right, that's really your
window into the speaker. So we had we've got this
really you know, intense control app. So imagine you know,
you can see a digital version of your pedal board
in front of you, and you can select each one
and you've got all these sliders that you can you
can save those presets, you can save them into the AMP,
you can text them to a friend. As I mentioned,
(31:40):
we've got a bunch of presets there for you to try.
We're going to be releasing more all the time. You know,
it's really smart. It connects automatically, it shows you if
your Bluetooth connected, it does all of those yeah, really
really fun things just to so it's imagined. You know,
it's almost like your amplifier has this awesome touch screen
on it that's always in your pocket.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Now, Chris, I had a demo of the original jam Stack.
It was done during the pandemic, so I don't know
if you remember, but it was over zoom and if
I remember correctly. You can not only record yourself playing
guitar through the app, but also jam along with music
and record both the original song and you're playing on
top of it if you want to do like a
guitar solo on top of something.
Speaker 5 (32:19):
Is that right?
Speaker 9 (32:20):
Yeah, And we're the only kind of product in the
market that you can do that now that you can,
it's even better with the Jamstack too. Yes, for the
first time ever, you could you know, play a track
on Spotify for example, and you can play your instrument
at the same time, and you just plug in your phone,
open up the default camera app on your phone, hit record,
and you can record yourself and the track at the
(32:42):
same time. It gets baked right into the video file
and it's ready to upload to you know, to or
to share to a friend. So yeah, it's the really,
really easiest way to make content.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
So cool. There are even other features that we haven't
gotten to yet. So when we return on teck it
out a few more that's to learn about the jam
Stack too. We're going to get to a few more
things that you can do with this thing. If you're
an electric guitar player, you're going to want to tune
in stick with us. We'll be right back with more.
Check it out.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram. Listen
to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
We are chatting with Chris Prendergast. He is founder and
CEO of the Toronto based company jam Stack. They've got
their new jam Stack two out now for guitar players,
which you can attach to your guitar. You can put
it in front of you if you like. I've seen
people wear it like on a belt kind of thing,
like on their jeans. And how long does that battery last?
Speaker 9 (33:44):
Yeah, so we've got we've got nine hours of battery.
And this is not like you know, at like ten
percent volume. This is like eighty percent volume, you know,
us using the control app. So you know, I've yet
to ever see it die, you know, within a three
day period, like you know, you won't be able to
kill it. So more more than you need and again
really easy to reach art just like you would have
(34:05):
Bluetooth beer.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Is it hard to attach to the guitar or is
it pretty straightforward?
Speaker 9 (34:10):
No, it's a ninety degree twist. So we actually borrowed
a mechanism. It's now public. It's like the garment. I
don't know if you've ever seen those garment bike computers.
They have like a ninety degree twist and snap. It's
really secure. It's meant to hold like a thousand dollars
computer on your bicycle. So that's what we've utilized. So
it's super secure and yeah, it won't come off. You know,
(34:31):
you feel, you feel really confident moving around and it
takes you know, just a second test snap in place.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Obviously, you've got an electric guitar on a strap around
your your shoulders, around your neck, so it's not going
to add too much weight anyways, right.
Speaker 9 (34:43):
That's right in fact, you know, so it doesn't add
you know, you can't really tell it it's with you
if you got your strap. If you're sitting and you
don't have your strap on your shoulder. On almost all
standard guitars, it doesn't tilt up, so it kind of
just balances out, you know, your neck of your guitar
would normally kind of down right, and it kind of
just balances it right in the middle, right, so you
(35:04):
don't have to worry about the weight of it on
your guitar.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
That was cool.
Speaker 9 (35:09):
That was kind of our budget.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
If you can, Yeah, begre with that.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
So, Chris, I know jam Stack two cost six ninety nine.
I see it at the website. Is that the best
place to get going.
Speaker 5 (35:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (35:20):
It comes with a hard case, all the cables, the
bracket to attach it, all that fun stuff. Right now.
You can find it on our website www dot Jamstack
dot io and mea we ship pretty much everywhere in
the world.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
All right, jamstack dot io for the jam Stack too, Chris,
thanks so much for your time, really appreciate it, and
best of luck with the second generation jam Stack.
Speaker 9 (35:42):
Thanks so much, Mark's pleasure.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Hey, if you want to reach out on social media
to say hi, let me know what you're up to,
what you think of tech it out, Maybe you've got
suggestions for upcoming guests or topics, anything you don't like
about the show. You can hit me up on social media.
I'll spell my name in a moment, but you can
find me on x threads, Instagram, Blue Sky, Facebook, YouTube,
(36:06):
TikTok and LinkedIn. It's Mark Saltzman, m A R C
SA L t Z M an so it's Mark with
a C Saltsman with the Z. You'll find me on
all those platforms. Also, let me know where you're tuning
in to the show from. I always like to hear
what town or city you're tuning in from, in some
cases what country you're in, because I get some messages
(36:28):
from all around the world. Very cool. But also how
you're tuning in. Are you listening on your favorite local
talk radio station, and if so, what are the call letters?
I'll give you a shout out. Or maybe it's in
podcast form, Not sure if you're a Spotify listener or
Apple Podcasts formerly iTunes, or maybe Amazon Audible or iHeartRadio
speaker tune in and so on and so forth. Always
(36:50):
intrigued to know how you're tuning in and where you're
tuning in from. If you are not much into social
media and you prefer to send me a private message,
you can email me from my web site, which is
just my name, so it's simply Mark Saltzman dot com.
But again Mark with the C. You'll find how to
email me from there, and I'm usually pretty good at replying,
even though I have been traveling like crazy. And yeah,
(37:12):
speaking of which, next time on the show, don't forget,
I'm going to give you my full take on the
new iPhone seventeen family heading over to Apple Park in Cupertino, California,
in the Bay Area to get my hands on the
new devices. I'm pretty stoked about that, and if my
messages or any indication, a lot of tech and out
listeners are as well. So yeah, I'm going to give
you this skinny on the iPhone seventeen Air, allegedly a
(37:36):
five point five centimeter thin smartphone. Thank you again to
my guests, Acclaim, Reward and jam Stack. Great to have
all three of you on the program, and I wanted
to give a shout out one more time to Visa.
Thank you for being such an important partner on the program.
Did you know that shoppers are three times more likely
to enter an unfamiliar store if it displays a Visa logo,
(38:00):
and customers are five times more likely to think a
merchant is reputable. This is because Visa has invested billions
over the years in fraud prevention, so you don't need
to think twice about shopping at retail or online with
your Visa card, nor should businesses be concerned about secure payments.
Visa is deploying advanced technology to ensure customer data is
(38:21):
not vulnerable no matter where transactions take place. This includes
a technology called tokenization, which was pioneered by Visa as
one part of the solution to reduce the risk of
identity theft. Why because this technology replaces your actual cardholder
info with a random alphanumeric code, so the merchant never
sees your actual card number, yet it ensures a fast
(38:44):
transaction as well. To learn more about Visa's work in
protecting you and your purchases, head on over to Visa
dot com slash security. That's Visa dot com slash security.
I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your
day and I look forward to catching up with you
next week and for another episode of Check it Out.
Be well, everyone, chot for now.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the ever changing world
of technology? Check it Out can help make some sense
of it all. Breaking down geeksbeak into street speak. Technology columnist, author,
and TV personality Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week
for every listener, Mark tackles the latest news, reviews, and
how toos.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
To help you understand what's hot, what's not and why.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Hey everyone, welcome to check it out. This is episode
four ten. Hope you're all doing great, and yeah, we're
well into September. Still not fall yet. I keep hearing
people say it's the fall. That's not officially until the
twenty second. So I hope you're enjoying the last remaining
days of your summer. So I'm recording this show in
(00:45):
a hotel room again. I've been traveling like an idiot lately.
If you're a regular listener to this show, you know
two weeks ago I was in Cologne, Germany for a
video game convention called games Com. Last week I was
in Las Vegas. My youngest son twenty one, so the
family took them to celebrate there. Right now, I'm in
Vancouver at an electric vehicle event starting tomorrow called Everything
(01:09):
Electric Vancouver, and next week I'm going to see the
iPhone launch from Apple Coopertino, California, the iPhone seventeen, the
iPhone seventeen Pro, the Promax, and the iPhone seventeen Air
and a bunch of accessories like watches and earbuds and
some devices for the home as well. So looking forward
to that. By the time you hear this radio show
or podcast, that event may have already happened. And so
(01:32):
on next week's teck it Out, I will give you
a full review of the new iPhone family and we'll
record an interview with General Motors about its self driving
technology that we'll play next week on this program while
I'm here at Everything Electric Vancouver. But today we've got
a packed tech it out for you as well. Any
video gamers in the house, well you probably remember the
(01:53):
name Acclaim. It's an iconic video game brand from the
eighties and nineties mostly. Well they're and we're gonna have
the CEO on the show in about sixty seconds from now.
His name is Alex Joseph to hear what the new
Acclaim is all about, how it's going to honor its
heritage but look to the future. After that, One of
my favorite apps, as you may or may not know,
(02:14):
is called Reward. It's kind of like a reward, but
it's we ward, and it rewards you for walking. You
earn virtual coins that can be redeemed for real prizes.
You can get cash like PayPal deposits in your account,
or gadgets things like Apple watches and such. So we're
gonna have the CEO and co founder of Reward back
(02:37):
onto the show. His name is eve Benjamal from France,
but we've caught up with him in New York and
we're going to hear what's new with the app. There're
a partnership with Venus Williams and a new community related feature.
But I love this app. You got to try it.
It's free for iPhone and Android. And then finally on
the program, if you're a guitar player or know someone
who is, you're going to want to tune in. It's
(02:58):
to learn about the jams too. This is a portable
guitar app that you could even wear like on your hip,
like on your jeens. You know, let you play your
electric guitar while you're walking around your home or I
don't know, you're downtown. If you like and it's loud
and clear. It's got special effects through an app, kind
of like stepping on those guitar pedals for effects, but
(03:20):
it's all done through an app. Very cool. We're going
to learn about jam Stack as well, so a very
busy tech it out for you, powered by Visa, which
I'll tell you more about shortly. But let's officially kick
off the show with our first interview. If you're a gamer,
you no doubt remember acclaims iconic titles from yesteryear like NBA,
(03:40):
Jam Puzzle, Babble, Mortal Kombat, WWF, Raw Burnout, Turok, Dinosaur Hunter,
and Crazy Taxi just to name a few. Well, Acclaim
is now back, as we're going to hear from Alex Joseph,
CEO of the company. Great to have you on the show, Alex,
I haven't seen you in a while, but we go back.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Huh yeah, thank you so much. Mark, It is awesome
to be here, and yeah, we do definitely go back,
so it's fantastic to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
I was really happy to hear you become CEO of Acclaim,
a company with a lot of Acclaim over the years,
with those titles that I mentioned, just as a small
sampling of the kind of pedigree we're talking about. Before
we hear what's new with the company, why don't you
bring us up to speed about Acclaim, the brand and
a bit of the history of the company for those
who aren't too familiar with it.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
For anyone who's not familiar, and I'm sure a lot
of people are, A Claim was just one of the iconic,
defining publishers of the late eighties nineties from the East Coast.
They really were known for sort of action oriented, sort
of boundary pushing games. They had very clever marketing programs,
(04:52):
and as you mentioned a number of the classic games
like Nbajam or Tocombat, etc. Just very edgy campaigns and
really cool games that really made a lasting impression and
a lasting cultural mark in all of gaming. And that
whole spirit of taking risks and standing out in a
(05:12):
crowd is what we're aiming for today.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Awesome. Yeah, I've been covering the gaming space for over
thirty years and it's great to see a Claim back
in the headlines. So you're again now CEO of the company.
Tell us about your upcoming play Acclaim showcase. What could
we expect?
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah, so that is going to be really exciting. It's
basically the first opportunity that we have to showcase our
upcoming games to the gaming audience, so I'm super excited
about it. It's going to be on September tenth. We'll
be live streaming, and we're partnering with various folks to
help us with live streaming and some media outlets, and
(05:52):
we're going to have a showcase of games and a
couple of surprises in store as well, So I hope
everybody tunes in for that.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Okay, September ten. We do have one radio station in
the New York area that will air this on the
eighth and the twelfth, so this will be past tense.
But nonetheless, how can people tune into the play Acclaim showcase.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
All of our socials or play acclaim and our YouTube
channel as well, and that's where it will be featured.
Is hosted on the YouTube channel, It'll be on a
few other various sites that are co streaming with us,
like I mentioned, and then also they can give additional
information at the playaclaim dot com.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
All right, so it's a reboot of a claim? Is
that fair? And can you tell us a bit more
about the direction. This is like in the spirit of
these titles that I've mentioned, like Turak and Crazy Taxi,
but not remakes or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Yeah, I wouldn't say it's necessarily a reboot. It's a
little bit of a renaissance. We're not kind of a relic.
But this is this whole vision for the new Acclaim
is really about honoring the old, honoring the rebellious, creedive
DNA of a Claim, and also giving today's indie creators
of global platform. So it's about pairing legacy with innovation,
(07:04):
so players get games that feel bold and unforgettable and
they are reintroduced to the Acclaim brand.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I've read a phrase in some Acclaim materials called retro
future nostalgia. That's one word. Is that you, Alex, did
you come up with.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Super Super Califragules XP, retro future and astrology?
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yeah? Well, I was in Germany last week for Games Common.
It's not unusual to see a twenty letter word, but
retro future nostalgia is all one word. What does that
mean and how does that tie into the Acclaim of today?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Sort of like our zeitgeist, our north Star, the energy.
You know what we're doing. We're taking styles, feelings, and
sort of the energy that people remember from the past
and then blending them with the creativity the technology of today,
but not looking at repeating history. So it's really about
(07:55):
creating something new that feels timeless, and the is sort
of our internal way of saying these games could exist
in any era of the claim. So the term also
harkens back to kind of any potential older IP that
we might look at in the future and something that
will resonate with old audiences and new audiences alike.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
IP, of course stands for intellectual property. These are some
titles that, perhaps including the ones that I mentioned, could
see a new iteration of some of those classic IPS
like Burnout or Crazy Taxi, NBA Jam and so on.
We are chatting with Alex Joseph. He's CEO of a Claim.
The company is back with a new vision, but very
(08:41):
much ingrained in what made a claim, So a claim
to begin with that reminds me of the Austin Powers line.
Please allow myself to introduce myself, So can you tell
us a bit more, Alex about these new games? Maybe
you can share So you're very much going to be
publishing some cool independent titles under the Acclaim banner. Can
(09:01):
you share anything? Is it too early? I saw teaser
video but it didn't really reveal too much. But on
YouTube there's a new Acclaim channel, So what could we expect?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yeah, I think we're not chasing remakes just for nostalgia's sake.
We're looking at ways to sort of again pay homage,
reimagine beloved ideas while focusing heavily on fresh new indie voices.
Definite focus on Indye. I think you can expect games
that surprise you, that feel a little bit risky but
(09:34):
in the best way, and that are enjoyable and fun
to play. We're not looking to be everything to everyone,
but I think that we're going to feel the void
for a lot of gamers out there.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Any platforms in particular, you'll be doubling down on.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Of course, PC and all console platforms.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Okay, don't know if we'll go towards mobile at all,
if it makes sense for anything, but I think we're
going to be primarily PC and console.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And when do you expect your first title to debut?
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Twenty twenty six, So our games are slated to release
starting in Q one of twenty twenty six. Definitely tune
in for the showcase on September tenth. We may have
a surprise in store there, so definitely important to check
it out and hear what's going on. And otherwise, expect
some really solid games coming in twenty twenty six and beyond.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And then finally, where can we learn more about Acclaim?
You did mention a couple of URLs a few minutes
ago tied to the play Acclaim showcase. What's the best
call to action for our listeners?
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Absolutely, you can get information all about us at playacclaim
dot com. Also follow us across all the social media
channels at play Acclaim. Behind the scenes will also have
rollouts for each of the game, additional trailers and interviews,
and of course the next play Acclaim Showcase, which will
always be the best place to see what's coming next.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Alex, great to chat with you as always, and congrats
on the brand new Acclaim coming to living rooms everywhere.
A very exciting time. Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Thank you very much, appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Mark.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
We're going to learn all about the reward app and
how it rewards you for walking with real passion prizes
and what's new from the company. When we return on
check it Out. Stay with us, We'll be right back.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
Listen to check it Out whenever you want to find
the check it Out podcast, did I Too, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
Welcome back to check it Out. We cover cybersecurity a
lot on this program and how you can best protect
yourself in the digital age, even if you're not super
tech savvy. One part of the solution is securely shopping online,
and so I'm thrilled about my partnership with Visa on
Tech it Out as they've made some significant investments in
fraud prevent over the past five years, as much as
(12:02):
ten billion dollars Yes that's billion with a B, to
support Visa's brand promise to protect the financial information of
individuals and businesses. Zero liability means peace of mind when
you shop online using your Visa card. There can be
no half measures when it comes to cybersecurity, which is
why the company takes an aggressive and multi layered approach
(12:22):
to combating the rising threat of malicious software and other
threats by well funded and global criminal enterprises. Read more
about Visa and how securing the world's payments is priority
one at Visa dot Com. Slash Security that's Visa dot
Com Slash Security. Just over a year ago, I shared
the news about an app that motivates people to walk
(12:45):
with virtual rewards that you can redeem for cash or
gifts or donations to charities. The app is called Reward,
kind of like Reward, but it focuses on the Wii
rather than the me In fact, fast forward a year later,
and not only has we Ward hit new usage milestones,
which we'll get to, but they've launched a new feature
(13:05):
called Communities, again focusing on the Wii, joining us to
explain how we Ward works. On the line, we've got
Eve Benjamal, CEO of Reward. Hi, Eve, good to have
you back on the show.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Fie. It's a pleasure to be back.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I'm a huge fan of the app. I've been using
it for tomorrow. It'll be four hundred consecutive days. I
haven't missed a day that I actually and I can't
say that for many apps that I have on my phone.
I've got, like many of my listeners, hundreds of apps,
but very few you open up daily. But this is
one that I really like. So with that in mind,
please tell us what we Ward is all about. Then
(13:40):
we'll get to what's new.
Speaker 7 (13:41):
Yeah, sure, so for those who doesn't know the app,
So it's a much interotional heart that will incentivize you
to an increasing number of steps.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
But the concept of the app is very simple to
wally count your steps like all the type of apps
that can do that.
Speaker 7 (13:56):
But the main difference is like, we're going to give
you some reward based on the number of.
Speaker 5 (14:01):
Steps you do every day.
Speaker 7 (14:02):
The more you work, the more you will earn points,
which is called the words that you can convert into
cash into give cabout donation to charities. On top of that,
you will also have challenges little more some gamification into
the app that will have the ability to give you
more points, but also to make it fun to work
every day. So the streak, the fact that you have
(14:24):
four hundreds the consecutive dates in the app, it's called
the streak. So it's a way too mutilates people to
every day come their steps and try to like to
increase this number. And yeah, and you will see hopefully
that like mark, that the app will help you to
get moving a bit more every day and will help
(14:45):
you to be in a better shape.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Ok, yeah, thanks for that. If no, definitely it works
because It motivates me to walk around, not only because
I can earn PayPal cash or a gift card to
say Amazon, or other things that you can earn, but
I also like the gamification. When it comes to walking
in your neighborhood. There are these like little virtual cards
(15:07):
that are placed around that you can collect packs, and
they're based on geography, right, so you've got multiple cities
or countries from around the world. There's over I think
six hundred now to collect. That includes what's called the
Vintage collection, and that has some seasonal ones like Halloween
and the holidays. But I love that. So I can collect,
for example, the Vienna pack, which maybe eight or ten cards,
(15:29):
and then I can swap with my wife Kelly when
she needs a card for say Montreal, and then we
collect these cards that are virtually placed around the neighborhood,
so they're not there in real life, but kind of
like the game Pokemon Go, it's as if you just
stepped over a card which you can redeem. I think
it's just so clever, Like you said, to motivate people,
you're gamifying walking. How popular Eve is the app today?
(15:51):
I think you recently hit a new milestone.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
Yeah, so the was originally built in friends and we
reach significant limestones and friends and we extend the in thudy.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Countries, like approximately two years ago.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
And now we reach twenty five million users that used
the app, so, which is a significant milestone for a
hundred million people use the app. And in the US
two million people know subscribe to the app so, which
is also advise.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Wow. All right, so twenty five million downloads for the
reward app, congratulations, of which two million are now in
the US. And you just launched last year in Canada
as well in twenty twenty four in the summer, So yeah,
really you're growing. Can you tell us the kinds of
things that you can redeem forwards? I assume that it
would vary on the country. You may have partners with
(16:40):
different brands and stores and such. Can you give us
some examples?
Speaker 5 (16:43):
Yeah? Sure, So of course it depends on the country.
And if you.
Speaker 7 (16:47):
Based in the US, you can get PayPal directly, you
can you can convert into a PayPal transfer. You can
also get some digcalves and so you name it, but
Amazon Giscal sometime, you have Nike Gift Out.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
You can have a different type of brands.
Speaker 7 (17:05):
You can also have bigger gift if you have more
and more points up to a travel or even like
an iPhone. And yeah, and also one part of they
really like is that you can give your counts to
charity if you wants. And if you give your points
to charity, it will build directly to charities and you
can sup off projects just by worlking. So different type
(17:29):
of projects. It can be a reserve station if you
want to do to plant trees. You can be also
ecological project, a humanitarian project. It can be also research project,
especially on the medical aspect. Like we have some charities
we work with, so depending on your country will have
different charities and different type of projects.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Awesome. I'm just looking through some of the things that
I can redeem my words for you mentioned things like iPhone,
Apple watch se is fifty five thousand words, so you
can also redeem for a watch based on where I live.
But I think a lot of people like the element
of cash, so it really depends on what you want.
When we continue on, teck it out a little bit
more with e benchamal to learn about the reward app,
(18:11):
so stick with us more check it out coming right up.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
After this, I want to follow mark Google, Mark with
a C and Saltzman with a Z. Breaking down geeks
peak into street speak.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
This is check it out.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
To check it out with technology columnist, author, and TV
personality Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Welcome back to check it out. We're learning about the
reward app that rewards you for walking with virtual coins
called wards, that you can redeem for real cash like
a PayPal withdrawal or gadgets like a smartphone or smart watch.
We've got on the line the CEO and co founder
of the company eve Bench. Welcome back to the show. Now,
(19:01):
before the break, eve we were talking about ways to
earn cash, but there's one that I wanted to mention
as well. When you aren't walking, you can also play
games and fill out some surveys and all that and
earn wards that way. So you have some partnerships with
some games and other apps on your phone that will
reward you for playing those games too.
Speaker 7 (19:20):
It's a way for you if you want to accumulate
to als a more faster we will give you the
ability to do it by interacting with some of our partners.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
All Right, so we've talked about the fact that when
you walk, you earn wards. You can also collect virtual
cards by walking around your neighborhood, and there's other ways
to earn wards like gaming. Now let's pivot and talk
about what's new. I understand that there's a new social
element to reward. Please tell us about it.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
So one of the multivational factors for people to work
out is like to compete with their friends, so we
launch and also to work together. So this is why
we launch the Community Future. So the Community Future is
basically a way to work together for the same cause.
So you can put your words in commons, so you
(20:10):
can put your word in the same balance and work together.
And it's also a way to compete between each other.
So everyone can create a community, bring friends, bring families,
being whoever he wants on the community, and the number
of the community can choose if they want to allocate
their wards to the same goal. And also you have
the ability to see the number of steps of everybody
(20:31):
in the community, to see how how many they step
they did, send them a push notification. This kind of
a really cool features and it will hopefully with much
of it's you to be the first in the competition
and the of the same goal.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
All right, So I'm looking at the social tab at
the bottom of reward and now it'spread new communities. It's
a startup reward community and bring people together for a
cause you care about. So you can create a community
when you walk and you earn wards for something that
matters to you. Do you need to be in the
same city or country as other people walking, Like I
(21:09):
have friends on we Word from around the world, like
in Europe for example. Could they also be part of
my community?
Speaker 5 (21:15):
Of course, you understand them the link of the code
of the community. And a community can be a group
of people.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
It can also we have a community in someone in
the company, so it can be a sort of a company.
It can be a charity that want to bring on
board the people that follow the charity. It can be
an influencer that it wants to build to make people
work together.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
So it can be anyone on around the world. And yeah,
and you just it's very easy to create. It's very
easy to join.
Speaker 7 (21:41):
So today we have multiple thousands of communities that has
been created. It's start to become like very successful featured
and there are people join community and work together. Sorry,
I encouraged everyone like to use it because it will
mutivate you to work, but also much of it's all
to be more active and be in the better shap.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
We are chatting with Eve Benjamin, CEO of Reward. This
is an app that rewards you for walking and you
can redeem real world items like cash and gifts, or
if you prefer, you can also donate your ward for charities.
Just one more question about communities. If you earn wards
as a group as a community, does that take away
(22:21):
from your own personal wards that you may want to
earn to redeem something or is it separate?
Speaker 7 (22:26):
Yeah, So basically you can choose to give like the
future world that you will accumulate it. Basically what happens
that you can choose to allocate ten percent and so
it will be dedicted from your own balance, so you
will not earn these points. These points will be directly
allocated to the community.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Got it. Okay. Finally, there's a big celebrity you've gone
on board that serves as an ambassador for Reward and
serves is the keyword there. Tell us about the US
open angle and who's on board to support we ward publicly.
Speaker 7 (23:01):
Yeah, so Venice Williams choose to join the company as
investor and ambassador of the company.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
We are very lucky.
Speaker 7 (23:08):
To have such an icon in the US but all
around the world in the sports industry. She is currently
still playing because she's at the US Open on the
quarterfinal in double So that's amazing to have a venue
with them at forty five years old that support the
company and support the fact that basically people have to
(23:29):
move there every day and people have to still be active,
and it's like basic steps that people sometimes forget, just
the simple behavior of walking. And yeah, we are lucky
to have for supports in order to reach more people
all along the world to join the app.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Yeah, awesome. Venus Williams. I saw that a few months
ago when she signed on to be an ambassador, and
I recalled our first interview a year ago and I thought, wow,
that's awesome. How big the app is getting. Congratulations Eve again.
We word as the name the app. If you want
to look for it at the App Store on iPhone
or Google Play on Android, it's simply we w r D.
(24:07):
Can you just share maybe what you're working on next
before we let you go.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
We're going to continue to motivate people to work.
Speaker 8 (24:14):
But I can tell you that the mini features will come,
especially on the social aspect with the community, So stay
tuned and you would see a new stuff coming into
the app and hopefully you're going to enjoy.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Okay, a little vague, but that's fine. You want to
hold your cards close to your chest. I understand your
collectible reward cards. I get it. Thanks so much, Thanks
so much, Eve. Great to chat with you again and
congrats on the success of Reward.
Speaker 5 (24:39):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Before we continue on with check it out and don't forget,
we're going to learn about the jam Stack portable amp
for guitar players. That's kind of like a Bluetooth speaker
on steroids, but you can even mount it to your guitar.
You can like wear it on your belt and you
can jam and walk around. So we're going to get
to all that. But speaking of smartphones, I wanted to
give a shout out to sand Disc. They have a
(25:02):
really clever product called the sand Disk Phone Drive USB C.
It is, as the name suggests, a little thumb drive
that you can plug it into the bottom of your
iPhone or Android. It'll launch the official sand Disc app
and make backups of your irreplaceable photos and videos and
other files like contacts. That way you won't run out
of storage on your phone, and you can put away
(25:24):
that thumb drive for safekeeping just in case you lose
your phone, and also so you don't have to pay
for a cloud service, which can get pretty expensive over time,
and once you stop, you're without those files. This sand
disc phone drive USB C is also ideal for transferring
files between devices, so after it backs up all your files,
you can then unplug it out of your phone and
(25:44):
plug it into the side of a laptop or a
desktop and transfer everything over. I love that offline solution.
It's got a little area where you can clip it
to your keychain, and they're affordable. They're just thirty five
dollars to start, and storage goes all the way up
to one terabyte, which is huge. In fact, you can
even load movies onto this thing from your computer and
then plug it into your iPhone or iPad or Android
(26:05):
phone or tablet and watch a movie off the drive
itself without taking up any extra storage. Love it. Sanddisk
dot com has more all right. When we return on
check it out jamstackpro for guitar players. Stick with us,
we'll be right.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Back breaking down GeekSpeak into street speak. Check it out.
Closted by Mark Saltzman.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Welcome back to check it out. Electric guitar players, listen up.
If you've been looking for something to help share your
talent with others wherever life takes you, the jam Stack
Too is now available. It's an attachable amplifier, but it
could do so much more than that, and more than
its predecessor, the jam Stack as well. Joining us from
the company to explain is Chris Prendergast, founder and CEO
(26:58):
of Jamstack. Welcome to the Chris, good to see you.
Also at the Collision conference the other week.
Speaker 9 (27:03):
Thanks so much, Mark, Yeah, that was a real pleasure.
I'm glad I spotted you in the crowd there.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Love that you're walking around with this stuff. That's what
it's all about is being able to play either for
yourself so you can hear your electric guitar without having
to lug a huge amp, but also to play for
others as well. So with that in mind, at a
high level, what is the jem stack too all about?
Speaker 9 (27:21):
Yeah, in a high level, it's the answer to a
question of can you make an instrument amplifier remove all
of the friction that you currently have to experience when
you go to play your instrument, primarily guitar, but without
any compromise. So can you have something that's super fast
to get started, has all of your effects, you can
take it anywhere, you can play it anywhere as seamlessly
(27:44):
as possible, but without having to not be happy with
how you sound or be limited in any way. That
was the attempt. So removing friction without compromise is kind
of our whole mission as a company, and I think
we've accomplished it with the Jamsack too.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
All.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Right, of looks like a bluetooth speaker that many of
my listeners would be familiar with something you bring to
the beach or to the pool, but it connects to
your guitar, right.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
That's right.
Speaker 9 (28:08):
So yeah, if you're if you're trying to visualize it,
it's about eight inches wide. It's got two speakers, so
it's you know, very similar to one of those you know,
premium stereo bluetooth speakers. We've got a few things that
are really unique about it. Like you mentioned, it has
a mechanism on the bottom of it that allows you
to attach it onto your guitar. This is where we
started actually with the jams Tack one. It was we
(28:29):
were kind of the first to do this. And why
that's so fun is multi faceteding. It kind of you know,
you can walk around which end busk for example, or
it kind of it just feels like an acoustic guitar,
which was the kind of the feeling that I that
I was wanted to provide, So that feeling where you
can just pick up and start playing. It's already kind
of a part of your instrument if you're in a jam,
if you're outside, you don't have to worry about where
(28:51):
it is. And it's really fun. Now some of our
customers don't attach it and some of them only attach
it and everything in between. So it's one of our
unique features, but certainly something that you have to do.
It's also wireless, so you can you can go completely wireless.
We have the sell these little transmitters you plug into
your guitar which can actually cast out to multiple and yeah,
(29:13):
the whole effects engine built in, which is also different
than you know, a traditional Blueto speaker. Imagine a computer
running all of your guitar pedals, you know, amp simulation,
all that stuff Tooah, I was going to ask you, Chris,
what separates it from a regular Bluetooth speaker.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
So, one, you can mount it to your guitar if
you want. The second is that you can plug your
guitar right in with like a quarter inch jack like
a typical guitar cable, right or you sell something that
can turn an electric guitar into a wireless one, and
it uses I guess Bluetooth technology.
Speaker 9 (29:41):
So we actually don't use Bluetooth. It is a Bluetooth speaker,
like if you just want to, yeah, Bluetooth, but yeah,
this is actually a proprietary wireless technology. It's called SKA.
You can look it up SKAA. It's kind of you
can think of it as a high performance competitor to
Bluetooth in some ways. It's super low late and zeep.
So it's nineteen millise, which is, you know, less than
(30:01):
your nervous system can dettack well super long distance, and
it's finding its way into lots of products actually, so
there's actually dozens of products on the market that are
compatible with the jam stack too, just because they already
have SKA built into them. So you know, think subwlopers.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
That and not only is it wireless, but you don't
have to. We should clarify this is also a portable speaker.
You don't have to plug it into the wall. It's
got a built in battery. No, I'll ask you about
battery life in a moment. But the other distinction between
a regular Bluetooth speaker, then, Chris, would be what you
touched on. It has the built in effects that you
would otherwise have to spend money on those pedals that
you step on when you're performing live or just jamming
(30:39):
that changes the sound of the guitar, like a distortion
pedal or a wah wah pedal or something like that.
Speaker 9 (30:44):
Right, that's exactly right, delay, echo, reverb, all of those
things that And we have a bunch of presets as well,
so you can, you know, just press one button and
take over that entire tone. But if you want to
get real nerdy with it, you can add and remove
and tweak any pedal that you want. And the big
different with us is that there's there's no distinguishable difference
between the real thing, like you know, I challenge someone
(31:06):
yeah to play you know, the real the real pedal
and and and what we provide digitally, and you can't
tell the difference and that's where the compromise part comes in.
Speaker 5 (31:14):
It's very hard to do.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Yeah, I've heard it. It's it's awesome. And the app
is another part of the story.
Speaker 9 (31:20):
Yeah, because this thing's so small, right, that's really your
window into the speaker. So we had we've got this
really you know, intense control app. So imagine you know,
you can see a digital version of your pedal board
in front of you, and you can select each one
and you've got all these sliders that you can you
can save those presets, you can save them into the AMP,
you can text them to a friend. As I mentioned,
(31:40):
we've got a bunch of presets there for you to try.
We're going to be releasing more all the time. You know,
it's really smart. It connects automatically, it shows you if
your Bluetooth connected, it does all of those yeah, really
really fun things just to so it's imagined. You know,
it's almost like your amplifier has this awesome touch screen
on it that's always in your pocket.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Now, Chris, I had a demo of the original jam Stack.
It was done during the pandemic, so I don't know
if you remember, but it was over zoom and if
I remember correctly. You can not only record yourself playing
guitar through the app, but also jam along with music
and record both the original song and you're playing on
top of it if you want to do like a
guitar solo on top of something.
Speaker 5 (32:19):
Is that right?
Speaker 9 (32:20):
Yeah, And we're the only kind of product in the
market that you can do that now that you can,
it's even better with the Jamstack too. Yes, for the
first time ever, you could you know, play a track
on Spotify for example, and you can play your instrument
at the same time, and you just plug in your phone,
open up the default camera app on your phone, hit record,
and you can record yourself and the track at the
(32:42):
same time. It gets baked right into the video file
and it's ready to upload to you know, to or
to share to a friend. So yeah, it's the really,
really easiest way to make content.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
So cool. There are even other features that we haven't
gotten to yet. So when we return on teck it
out a few more that's to learn about the jam
Stack too. We're going to get to a few more
things that you can do with this thing. If you're
an electric guitar player, you're going to want to tune
in stick with us. We'll be right back with more.
Check it out.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Follow Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram. Listen
to check it out whenever you want.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
We are chatting with Chris Prendergast. He is founder and
CEO of the Toronto based company jam Stack. They've got
their new jam Stack two out now for guitar players,
which you can attach to your guitar. You can put
it in front of you if you like. I've seen
people wear it like on a belt kind of thing,
like on their jeans. And how long does that battery last?
Speaker 9 (33:44):
Yeah, so we've got we've got nine hours of battery.
And this is not like you know, at like ten
percent volume. This is like eighty percent volume, you know,
us using the control app. So you know, I've yet
to ever see it die, you know, within a three
day period, like you know, you won't be able to
kill it. So more more than you need and again
really easy to reach art just like you would have
(34:05):
Bluetooth beer.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
Is it hard to attach to the guitar or is
it pretty straightforward?
Speaker 9 (34:10):
No, it's a ninety degree twist. So we actually borrowed
a mechanism. It's now public. It's like the garment. I
don't know if you've ever seen those garment bike computers.
They have like a ninety degree twist and snap. It's
really secure. It's meant to hold like a thousand dollars
computer on your bicycle. So that's what we've utilized. So
it's super secure and yeah, it won't come off. You know,
(34:31):
you feel, you feel really confident moving around and it
takes you know, just a second test snap in place.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Obviously, you've got an electric guitar on a strap around
your your shoulders, around your neck, so it's not going
to add too much weight anyways, right.
Speaker 9 (34:43):
That's right in fact, you know, so it doesn't add
you know, you can't really tell it it's with you
if you got your strap. If you're sitting and you
don't have your strap on your shoulder. On almost all
standard guitars, it doesn't tilt up, so it kind of
just balances out, you know, your neck of your guitar
would normally kind of down right, and it kind of
just balances it right in the middle, right, so you
(35:04):
don't have to worry about the weight of it on
your guitar.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
That was cool.
Speaker 9 (35:09):
That was kind of our budget.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
If you can, Yeah, begre with that.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
So, Chris, I know jam Stack two cost six ninety nine.
I see it at the website. Is that the best
place to get going.
Speaker 5 (35:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (35:20):
It comes with a hard case, all the cables, the
bracket to attach it, all that fun stuff. Right now.
You can find it on our website www dot Jamstack
dot io and mea we ship pretty much everywhere in
the world.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
All right, jamstack dot io for the jam Stack too, Chris,
thanks so much for your time, really appreciate it, and
best of luck with the second generation jam Stack.
Speaker 9 (35:42):
Thanks so much, Mark's pleasure.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Hey, if you want to reach out on social media
to say hi, let me know what you're up to,
what you think of tech it out, Maybe you've got
suggestions for upcoming guests or topics, anything you don't like
about the show. You can hit me up on social media.
I'll spell my name in a moment, but you can
find me on x threads, Instagram, Blue Sky, Facebook, YouTube,
(36:06):
TikTok and LinkedIn. It's Mark Saltzman, m A R C
SA L t Z M an so it's Mark with
a C Saltsman with the Z. You'll find me on
all those platforms. Also, let me know where you're tuning
in to the show from. I always like to hear
what town or city you're tuning in from, in some
cases what country you're in, because I get some messages
(36:28):
from all around the world. Very cool. But also how
you're tuning in. Are you listening on your favorite local
talk radio station, and if so, what are the call letters?
I'll give you a shout out. Or maybe it's in
podcast form, Not sure if you're a Spotify listener or
Apple Podcasts formerly iTunes, or maybe Amazon Audible or iHeartRadio
speaker tune in and so on and so forth. Always
(36:50):
intrigued to know how you're tuning in and where you're
tuning in from. If you are not much into social
media and you prefer to send me a private message,
you can email me from my web site, which is
just my name, so it's simply Mark Saltzman dot com.
But again Mark with the C. You'll find how to
email me from there, and I'm usually pretty good at replying,
even though I have been traveling like crazy. And yeah,
(37:12):
speaking of which, next time on the show, don't forget,
I'm going to give you my full take on the
new iPhone seventeen family heading over to Apple Park in Cupertino, California,
in the Bay Area to get my hands on the
new devices. I'm pretty stoked about that, and if my
messages or any indication, a lot of tech and out
listeners are as well. So yeah, I'm going to give
you this skinny on the iPhone seventeen Air, allegedly a
(37:36):
five point five centimeter thin smartphone. Thank you again to
my guests, Acclaim, Reward and jam Stack. Great to have
all three of you on the program, and I wanted
to give a shout out one more time to Visa.
Thank you for being such an important partner on the program.
Did you know that shoppers are three times more likely
to enter an unfamiliar store if it displays a Visa logo,
(38:00):
and customers are five times more likely to think a
merchant is reputable. This is because Visa has invested billions
over the years in fraud prevention, so you don't need
to think twice about shopping at retail or online with
your Visa card, nor should businesses be concerned about secure payments.
Visa is deploying advanced technology to ensure customer data is
(38:21):
not vulnerable no matter where transactions take place. This includes
a technology called tokenization, which was pioneered by Visa as
one part of the solution to reduce the risk of
identity theft. Why because this technology replaces your actual cardholder
info with a random alphanumeric code, so the merchant never
sees your actual card number, yet it ensures a fast
(38:44):
transaction as well. To learn more about Visa's work in
protecting you and your purchases, head on over to Visa
dot com slash security. That's Visa dot com slash security.
I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your
day and I look forward to catching up with you
next week and for another episode of Check it Out.
Be well, everyone, chot for now.
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Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Charlie Kirk Show
Charlie is America's hardest working grassroots activist who has your inside scoop on the biggest news of the day and what's really going on behind the headlines. The founder of Turning Point USA and one of social media's most engaged personalities, Charlie is on the front lines of America’s culture war, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of students on over 3,500 college and high school campuses across the country, bringing you your daily dose of clarity in a sea of chaos all from his signature no-holds-barred, unapologetically conservative, freedom-loving point of view. You can also watch Charlie Kirk on Salem News Channel