CES - Tech for you and tech for me.

January, 2011, Las Vegas - It would be easy to get caught up in the thousands, really thousands of things going on in the Las Vegas Convention Center during the CES convention. From smart washing machines to every imaginable accessory for iPods, iPhones, etc.  In the past, CES was comprised of computing technology and electronics, merged here and there.  Guess what? The computers are gone - they are now built into most devices and those devices are mobile and tiny. Unlike past CES shows, I didn't arrive for the big blast of a beginning, I came for the final two days of the show. It is still very crowded, but I had a better opportunity to browse and do what I wanted with some of the attendees tired or gone after the first few days.  I saw some amazing things, many breakthroughs that won't go mainstream or make a difference to most of us for over a year. When they do, you'll be somewhat knowledgeable as to how and why as a result of skimming this posting.

• Intel's newest chip w/graphics processor onboard. Its the tiny thing in her hand.Intel has successfully incorporated the graphics processor on the main CPU chip of a computer.  This is a HUGE leap forward. Nothing processes as fast as elements on the same slab of silicon, now the speed and power you need for graphics and display are directly put on the main brain of the computer. Today your system has a graphics card that has it's own memory, takes up an expansion slot in your machine and must be made compatible to your motherboard.  In the soon to be upon us future, no need for this. Memory for the computer will assist graphics and the speed will be incredible. Think super high definition, very fast refresh rates and 3D.  

• Heart rate monitor for the iPhone or iPod Touch? Yes... Scosche produces a wristwatch-like band called My Trek that allows you to incorporate the screen and processing power of an "i-Product" to be the readout for your heart rate information. Neat!

• Comfy little pointer device for portablesSwiftpoint Mouse device - Because Microsoft designed a two button mouse in the early 90s means we have to keep that shape forever? Not so says Swiftpoint, designer of a GUI pointing device that fits between the pointer finger and thumb and allows for control of your screen cursor as would any mouse. Touted as a tool that won't lead to carpal tunnel syndrome, its ergonometric design fits naturally in your hand and feels like a natural match for computing. Using the little click buttons takes a sec to get used to, but I see this catching on if they can include it with new systems and get it into popular retailers so folks can try it and feel the difference.  I still use regular mouse products, but would use this Swiftpoint mouse for my laptop or desktop.

• Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse - I tried this one, too! It's a mouse designed for portable use, it retracts to be a flat wallet-like object when your not using it. This fits easily into your pocket or laptop bag minus the lumpy bulge a regular mouse would deliver. Plus, like the touch pad of a laptop - it has a strip of metallic material that allows you to scroll up and down minus a roller wheel. As tablets become more the norm, my only question is could this product have arrived two years late?

• Powered by office lighting?Logitech wireless solar keyboard - Wireless keyboards are cool, 'til the batteries run low or die.  How about one that charges and stores power through two solar panels on its top side? Good idea, but how many of us have an office with a window or compute outdoors? Solved. The solar units are capable of using ANY light, indoors in an office or home! That's a winner.

• Fuseproject Mint - A robotic floor cleaner and vacuum. Kinda like Roomba but Mint does wet mopping and vacuuming.  They claim it uses the latest technology for guidance around your home, chair legs, tables, etc. to "never miss a spot."  I did not try this myself, but saw plenty of people at the booth marveling over it.  I have tile floors, this thing would be very nice to own.

• Ty Handset fob ID chips - Do you have valuables and electronics that you fear misplacing or losing? This product answers most of that concern. You load the provided app on your smartphone (not yet available on iPhone) and attach the small round chips to things you value.  Examples shown in Vegas were a camera, wallet, car keys, a child and a pet collar.  If the objects go outside a 50ft range of bluetooth communication with your phone, an audio or visual alarm triggers in your phone notifying you of the instance.  You can set the alarm to fire off at one of three sensitivities, depending on how close you'd like the objects tagged with the little round fob chips to wander.  You get 7 ID chips to attach to your possessions. The Ty system also and most importantly warns you with LED lights and a buzzer if you leave your phone behind, which is important if you plan on using this phone-based system.  Ok idea, but they need to add iPhone functionality.

• Samsung LED TVs are brilliant!TV tech - Larger TVs were NOT the rage this year. The sizes were the same as two years ago as far as I could tell. 3D was the big push last year, so for 2011 content and Internet integration was the sparkle in many manufacturer's offerings. Samsung had brilliant displays, their 8000 series were LED and featured thin, sleek brushed stell bezels.  Want, want, want.  They claimed the first TV app store, Samsung's Smart Hub system, which made app-like icons for premium channels, sports subscriptions, Netflix, etc. as well as managing your personal media, photos, videos and music.  Sony had Google TV running with the help of their Blue ray players. Neat, but the real prize for TV/Internet mingling goes to Logitech for their Revue product. It is a small box with wireless keyboard that connects wirelessly or wired to your home Internet connection, then to your TV and cable/satellite provider.  Using Google TV logic, it allows searching of all media, external hard drives plugged into Revue, the TV directory, and the whole Internet for content. Picture in picture allow you to watch a show, bring up Google or any other web page, shop, search, update Facebook during commercials, anything you would do with a laptop or tablet while watching TV. Only difference is this is all happening on your big HD TV display with surround sound. (If you have a big HD TV and surround sound of course, that not included with Revue!)  IT is an amazing product that will be normal in all homes in 3 years, as normal as cable and satellite service.  Logitech and Google got this one right. Unfortunately for me, upon arrival back home, I learn my 65" TV is HD but 1st generation, before HDMI was the standard.  That's the only way Revue connects to your TV, so for me its' not just $299 for Revue, it's a new TV with HDMI hookups as well.  :(  This was the best product I saw at CES though!

• USB 3.0 - It's time for a new connectivity option, right? USB 3.0 is the same type of "connect on the fly" interface but it is 10 times faster than current USB 2.0 you have on your laptop or PC.  That's significantly more than you can wrap your imagination around, especially when you see what that type of speed means to new peripherals and devices.  See next item for an example...

• Enterprise monitor uses USB 3.0 to make magic!About the only thing that hasn't gone wireless over the years are monitors, right? How could you possibly transmit that much data over the air to update and refresh today's nice big hi-res screens? Answer: USB 3.0.  Samsung's line of Enterprise monitors are starting to come with a USB 3.0 dongle that attaches to your laptop. The advantages of enterprise monitors are that they are big and can change orientation to portrait or traditional landscape.  So pull up to your desk with a comparably smaller laptop screen and what happens? If you have Samsung's latest, you put the USB 3.0 dongle in the laptop and when it's close enough (A few feet is close enough) your laptop screen takes over the enterprise monitor's screen and you have a whopping big display! See picture for example - this is what USB 3.0 will bring to us. Wireless printing even faster, photo downloads, gaming, it will be a significant difference.

More to follow... next we'll look at the clearly non-business and fun side of CES. With 2700 exhibiting companies, it can't all be suits and penny loafers, right?

-dm

CES - Cameras, video & such...

Shoot me, shoot anything, point and shoot will ya? Digital cameras and their video cam counterparts are experiencing a big upheaval in their usability.  The 2011 CES was proof that things are changing for photo fans and professionals alike.  

I attended with the intention of seeing what was new. Features, add-ons, more mega pixels, what's happening photo-wise this year. Guess what? The standalone handheld digital camera is in trouble.  I saw evidence of it across the show floor. Companies were demonstrating cameras, but fewer "camera only" devices were touted by the exhibitors this year.  The convergence of devices that do more than just take pictures was evident. We all know what our smartphones are now capable of, more on that in a sec.  How's this for a stat -  Eighty (80) different tablet devices were introduced at CES. Knowing that the main weakness of the iPad is that it does not have a camera (forward or rear facing), camera features were included with many tablets as an entry point.  For example, the front runner in cool "all you can do" tablets was clearly the Motorola XOOM tablet. It has two digital cameras built in, a 5 mega pixel rear facing camera for Facebook and Twitter use, and a 2 mega pixel camera that faces the user for Skype.  Other manufacturers like RIM/Blackberry incorporated two cameras into their Playbook  tablet... soon to be a common feature I imagine.  Just look at the iPhone 4, it has two cameras that produce very nice results, plus an LED Flash!  Does the average user need more than that? Not just iPhones, many Droid devices feature very impressive cameras, things that as stand alone devices would easily serve you well.  Good zoom capabilities, autofocusing, time delay shutters, they have really come a long way.  I own a Nikon D90 SLR and love it.  I may now be past the point of needing a smaller camera to take with me that doesn't have a changeable lens option, why carry a mono-purpose camera-only device?  I cannot post my photos to Facebook and Twitter without a wireless feature or mobile phone service, so my gem shots languish on an SD card til I make the switch to mem card reader, hard drive, then upload to social media site.  Too many steps for 2011 dude!  The SLRs have add on capabilities, flash, a myriad of lenses, speed motor, external batteries, etc.  I think the days of having "just a camera" in your pocket are going to be behind us very shortly.

Tiffen Steadicam for iPhone.Photography also took center stage at Canon's both, where they showed off the industry's leading SLR bodies and lenses. My camp, the Nikon folks, had a sales office somewhere in the back of the South Hall that I never found [:( ], but nothing like what Canon brought. Canon had demo stations that attendees could engage, digital signage touting newest features, they came to impress and it worked. Polariod had a fun-inspired booth where you could use their latest cameras and yes, get the pictures to take home.  There's still something neat about watching the developing happen and keeping the picture in it's hardcopy format.  Kodak had several new products, a small video camera that was the size of a credit card, the Mini Video Camera.  No award for creativity on the naming of the product, it was neat to play with and it only retails for $70. An HD version is available for $129 They also had an underwater video camera, the Playsport, Kodak's first in that market. Perhaps trying to capture the growing action sports photo & video market, this should sell for under $150 I was told.  GoPro, the current choice for the active minded videographer, had their array of accessories to accompany their HD grade mini video cam, the HERO.  Have a look at what HERO does for yourself, rider, surfer, skydiver not included! See HERO videos What makes their offerings so appealing are the different mounts for the camera, from a helmet cam, chest cam strap to bolt on fixtures that allow for bicycle frame mounting of your HERO cam.  My final piece of impressive CES camera equipment was the Tiffen Smoothee, a balanced handle mechanism designed to allow for very reliably shake-free video.  Tiffen makes professional level Steadicam tool for movie and video use, now they've turned their attention to the casual iPhone or Flip Camera user.  Making anyone a "panning across the scene" expert, this tool helps you create videos that won't have your viewers running for the medicine cabinet.  I tried it on the show floor and it really was easy to load the iPhone into it's cradle and begin taking smooth videos.  It's price is $179-$199, depending on which Internet retailer you select.  A good tool for amateur video folks, like me!

Things have changed since CES 2009.  We have cameras and tiny video on our phones, and the use of both has expanded. Now  what we take as memories is commonly published in minutes to social sites.  The new tolls have it, the older ones remain at home in their cases or in a desk drawer...

-dm

Re-entry...

World Expo 2010I've been missing from these parts - concentrating more on Facebook and Twitter posts and updates. I am overdue for commenting on what I see happening and how I feel about events.  We succeeded in throwing the conference we call Expo 2010 Orlando, producing a great show, working with suppliers and adding kinship to an admittedly smaller group than I'm used to seeing.  I feel those that attended the show came back to their businesses with an advantage. They said,"Yes", paid to attend, did flights, hotels, travel, and put themselves in the right spot to grow. The feedback I've received about the event was very positive. You'd expect me to say that, right? I thought that the "best of the best" believed enough of what we had said about the importance of the event to show up and build. The franchisees that are less "in tune" and "in touch" usually don't come to the event - not a surprise. They have a problem being fed more of what they heard at training, which they most likely didn't follow, so our Expo is like salt - sprinkled delicately into the wound. The cash-strapped (which is a taller number than in previous years) couldn't make the decision to spend more. We made phone calls trying to persuade them to come and help find resources and the remedies, but it's easier to not chance it and say, "Next year." I hope they make good on that statement!

I didn't spearhead the Expo this year, which felt peculiar. I knew what was going on, what should be happening, but didn't have the "keys to the building" as in years past. I thought it would be easier, attending, participating, having more time to be involved with our franchisees, all that.  I was correct until about a month before the event - that's when the Expo committee saw potential holes in the itinerary and needed help. The common theme of,"Dave's not running the conference this year, he can do that" rang through their heads. I had so many diverse things to do that all required different skills, what a crush this became as the Expo grew closer.  For example, I was responsible for the Saturday Roundtable Sessions, from getting the best topics to matching franchisees and Corporate staff with their proper tables and scheduling. I was responsible for the technology and A/V equipment that we brought to Orlando - cyber cafe, registration printers, laptops, projectors, computers and things all over the trade show.  Find a guest speaker? How about Dana M. Nelson, that was a bunch of fun for me, but time consuming, too.  Do a General Session technology update, as usual. Emcee the event with Brenda? Yup, got that one, too. I had to be very organized  and aware of what was happening at all times - for fear I'd miss something I was supposed to be doing! 

I'm glad I was a part of Expo 2010, this year from a different vantage point. To those franchisees that attended, I've already heard from so many of you thanking us and saying what a good event it was. I always enjoy the down time with friends from around the world - we do that well, don't we? (You know who you are people!) If you didn't attend, we have plenty of the materials on out new UFGtv site, downloadable through OSCAR, pictures on Flickr, all that. Expo was a whirlwind of planning and executing as always.  I have never missed one, Europe, Australia, USA, all notched off!  It's good to be back, even if in a different role.