More CES Impressions

Posted by Tim Hillebrand on 01/30/08 in CES

I’m still recovering from the Consumer Electronics Show and could probably write about it for the rest of the year. Let me share with you some of the highlights or at least what caught my attention as noteworthy.

Wi-Fi was everywhere at CES

Decent Wi-Fi access at CES was almost impossible, thanks to the teeming masses of attendees and exhibitors. For this reason, the press room had hardwire connections for the likes of me, which I appreciated greatly.

Wi-Fi was, however, certainly evident in myriad products from HDTVs to digital cameras, game consoles and MP3 players. There was Wireless 1080p HDTV streaming in several booths. I saw oodles of new Wi-Fi-equipped digital photo frames along with a couple Wi-Fi hard drives. D-Link went announced a partnership with SkinIt to wrap its routers in designer skins of your choice for $15 each. Now you can have matching skinned devices, such as your router, laptop, mobile phone, and iPod. Arrggghhh…

New Media Extender

HP unveiled a very interesting new HDTV-capable Media Center Extender box called the MediaSmart Receiver x280N which will cost $300 and be available soon. The MediaSmart X280N works with the Windows Media Center software in Vista Home Premium and Ultimate, as well as certain XP Media Center PCs. This box puts your PC’s Media Center interface right on your TV, so you can access movies, TV shows, music, Internet radio stored on your PC or streamed from the Internet. This HP Receiver has an optional removable hard drive for storing media independently of your PC, which puts it ahead of competing extenders lacking this feature. It has an HDMI output for top quality 1080i/720p support and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

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CES 2008 - not all serious stuff!

Posted by Jack Cook on 01/23/08 in CES

CES is quite a show to visit encompassing a vast array of electronic items from the biggest innovators in the industry such as Microsoft, Samsung, HTC, and Nokia but there are also a slew of smaller companies that come to display their products too. CES has been know to be the must-attend event for new technology. For years we have seen almost every major consumer electronics advance at CES such as the first handhelds, the DVD player, HDTV, satellite radio and on and on and on.

Each year as I walk the floor, I always enjoy the displays from the “big guys” … it truly is amazing to see what is new and where the future lies but it is also a great experience to walk through the areas that have the “small guys” and to see the items they are displaying. I always try to dedicate some time to wander, look and enjoy. This year was no exception and I did dedicate some time to explore what was new. As I went up and down the isles, one display from Dream Cheeky caught my eye. Possibly it was the bright red color in the display or the great smile the young woman had as I looked over but what ever it was, I stopped to look at the items they were showing.

Now there was nothing there that was really “high Tech” but rather an array of those “fun” items that you might give to someone or even have on your desk at work. Things like a USB Aquarium, a USB Green House, and a USB Fridge were there as well as a USB Wireless Launcher. That did catch my eye because I had just seen a “wired” version at a friend’s office just before CES. You would walk into his office and all sorts of alarms would go off then “pop”, a rubber missile would hit you in the chest.

So a conversation began and as we chatted she recognized my Boston accent, asked where I was from and then we discovered that we were from the same town …. it’s a small world! So for the next hour we chatted about “home”, the school she and my son went to and her eventual move to Singapore. It was an amazing story! I was so pleased to spend time with her that day and to see a “local kid” achieve success in her career and it was even a greater pleasure coming home and sharing the wonderful conversation I had and a picture of her at the booth with her parents.

I had mentioned that a friend had a wired USB Launcher on his desk so when I left, Julie gave me a wireless one to take home. It’s “cool”, it works and is fun. I don’t think I’ll keep it but it will get its final resting place on the desk of a friend …. I know he will get a kick out of it.

So what is the USB Wireless Launcher?

Find out after the break

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CES 2008 - Amazing vehicles … Incredible Sound

Posted by Jack Cook on 01/20/08 in CES

There was not a lot of new “stuff” for Mobile Devices this year but there was an amazing array of other very cool items. One HUGE area was sound systems for automobiles and there were a few that particularly caught my eye. I spent a lot of time one afternoon gazing at some spectacular vehicles that had some amazing sound systems … now if I could only figure out a way to justify doing this to my car…

This Mustang was very cool and I am sure Chris would have been thinking of how he could do the same thing to his beloved Red Mustang.

Inside the trunk …

If it were only Candy Apple Red …

More pictures after the break

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CES 2008 - Slickness is a Zune Original

Posted by Jack Cook on 01/14/08 in CES, Zune

When I got my first Zune, I chose to get it at a local computer store … because they had it and I would not have to wait. After seeing what a Zune “original” looks like, there is no question in my mind that my second Zune will have this little touch. It is just simply slick!

Here are so shots of some Zune originals and make sure you click the see more after the break …. there are some very cool framed pictures of some of the “Originals” you can get embossed on your Zune … very cool!

More pictures after the break!

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CES 2008 - A place to meet up with friends

Posted by Jack Cook on 01/14/08 in CES

Although CES this year was not exciting for new devices or exciting breakthroughs there are several advantages for going. One of the advantages is the opportunity to meet up with “old” friends, share experiences and talk about what’s happening in the “mobile world”. Again, this year, I had the pleasure of meeting up with a variety of folks, have lunch and share experiences. Last year I met and had lunch with John Philips from Astraware and Judi Lipsett from Gear Diary. This year we had a “reunion lunch” scheduled but unfortunately John came down with the flu and was down and out for the almost the entire show.

But Judi and I met up up again along with Jerry Raia and Scott Jordan from SCOTTEVEST. So Judi and I had to re-do our “pose” eating those great French Fries from Quarks at the Hilton.

I had lunch at Piero’s while in Las Vegas and again met up with Judi and Jerry from Gear Diary as well as Steve Hughes from Boston Pocket PC, Mike Temporale from Smartphone Thoughts, and fellow MVP Eric Hicks who is a frequent contributor at Boston Pocket PC. The waiter took the group shot … ah, next time he’ll learn how to focus the shot but you get the idea!

The renewal of friendships was a terrific experience but the discussions on devices, trends and what we might expect in the future make it an invaluable opportunity.

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Little Devices Make Big Hit at CES 2008

Posted by gasusan2005 on 01/14/08 in CES, Intel, MID, Mobile Internet Device

From Channelintel:

New mobile Internet Devices are hitting the market and at CES 2008 they stirred a big buzz. The full Internet experience in a nifty little device. See for yourself

Source: Channelintel

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Gear Diary gets some hands on time with the new i-mate at CES 2008

Posted by gasusan2005 on 01/14/08 in CES, I-mate

In September we saw the launch of i-mate 6150 and 8150 and in October we had some specs fpr the i-mate 8502 and 9502.

At CES 2008 last week Judie Lipsett and Jerry Raia of Gear Diary had a chance to have a meeting with i-mate and get some hands on time with i-mate’s 8502, 9502, 6150, and 8150 (select device to go to i–mate page with official specifications for each device)

No word on release dates or prices but they look and sound great!

Visit Gear Diary to see MANY MORE photos and then come back and tell us which one is your favorite and why!

I like the 9502 best (photo credit Gear Diary)

Source: Gear Diary

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Crave update on Gizmodo

Posted by gasusan2005 on 01/11/08 in CES

From Crave:

In reaction to “Gizmodogate,” the gadget blog’s prank of shutting down flat screen displays on the show floor and during demos at CES (see Bloggers behaving badly), the conference’s organizer, the Consumer Electronics Association, sent me this statement:

“We have been informed of inappropriate behavior on the show floor by a credentialed media attendee from the web site Gizmodo, owned by Gawker Media. Specifically, the Gizmodo staffer interfered with the exhibitor booth operations of numerous companies, including disrupting at least one press event. The Gizmodo staffer violated the terms of CES media credentials and caused harm to CES exhibitors. This Gizmodo staffer has been identified and will be barred from attending any future CES events. Additional sanctions against Gizmodo and Gawker Media are under discussion. “

Source: Crave

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Gizmodo: What were they thinking?

Posted by gasusan2005 on 01/11/08 in CES, Rants

I would have loved to have had the time and finances to have attended CES 2008 (one child in college and twins to start college next year have put some restrictions on the budget). I did what I could and covered press releases.

I wasn’t aware of the following until this morning when I read my friend Judie Lipsett’s post on Gear Diary titled Total and Utter Crap: Gizmodo’s Stupid CES Prank on Motorola and Us Bloggers

In a post titled “Confessions: The Meanest Thing Gizmodo Did at CES“, Brian Lam - Editor of Gizmodo- basically bragged about committing corporate sabotage.

and

This was not just a stupid high school prank that had been perpetrated on a faceless victim. This was sabotage that had been done to companies with massive financial investments in their CES appearances. The potential for lost sales, loss of good will, and loss of face was huge.

To find out that this was a deliberate stunt pulled by a group of delegates from the #2 tech blog in the world…I have nothing but a complete loss of respect. What Gizmodo did was simply wrong and quite frankly, in my opinion immoral.

I agree 100% with Judie. I am appalled by their actions and see no humor in what they did. If I hadn’t already quit following their RSS feed because of questionable content months ago, this stunt would have made me unsubscribe.

Check out Judie’s full article here

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