CES 2017 in Pictures
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- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
CES was fantastic as usual. Here is a preview of a few things that we thought were hot, and we hope to review for you soon.
Best of CES 2009
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
The
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is always our
favorite event of the year. Because this show is held annually, many of the
product announcements are for gadgets that are just prototypes, slated
for delivery later in the year. Therefore, in many cases, we
really don't have the opportunity to fully review the technologies
before writing about them. However, we do make sure that we have a chance to at least play with a prototype at CES, and we only include a product in the Best of CES if we are are confident that it will actually ship as announced and specified by the manufacturers.
Here then are our choices for the Best of CES 2009:
Top 10 New TLDs from NamesCon 2014
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- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
The first-ever NamesCon event in Las Vegas in 2014 was also the largest-ever domainer conference, attended with great anticipation by hundreds of people who make their living buying and selling domains. The big buzz in the domain world in 2014 is the introduction of hundreds of new domain extentions, which is potentially a fundamental shift in domain name dynamics.
Since domainers started buying and selling domains 20 years ago, the game has pretty much remained the same - good .com's are like beach front property and everything else is swampland, but in 2014, taking a queue from Dubai, .google is one of dozens of new man-made islands that google will soon own and control, more private, more control, you decide who can visit or stay.
Best of Tech Crunch 2008
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- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
This year's Tech Crunch event expanded to 50 presentations in three days. Last year, the original scope was supposed to be 20 presenting companies, but it quickly grew to 40 by the time the event launched. In 2008, the submissions grew to more than 1000 and the event grew to three days, probably as big as they want it to ever grow. Tech Crunch is one of our new favorite events, touting to be the Sundance Film Festival of the Investment community, compared to DEMO, which I suppose represents the Hollywood insiders. While the presentations at DEMO are definately better, probably because the presenters pay hansomly to get there, I think investors are more likely to discover diamonds in the rough at Tech Crunch.
For 2008, our favorite products and presentations were:
- FitBit Tracker - a small unobtrusive health and fitness tracker based on 3D motion sensing technology.
- World Camera - a vision of real world tagging by a Japanese content.
- Swype - tap-free typing up to 50 WPM on a touchscreen keyboard.
Best of CES 2013
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Michael Todd
In the early years of consumer electronics, CES used to happen twice per year, once in the summer in Chicago where companies would introduce and take orders for their holiday season offerings, and then again in January which was more of a business show offering mostly posturing and prototypes and concepts for the coming year. Now that we have only one show a year, the offerings are a bit of a mixed bag, including established products introduced during the previous holiday season, and new products which are still months away from delivery.
Choosing a Best of CES list, therefore, is a bit of a challenge, because we can use 20-20 hindsight from the holiday season to assist with establish products, but with the future products, we can't really know as much as we would like about the product before reporting on them. Beginning this year, however, we decided to bite the bullet and choose more "future" products for this year's list, including:
- Google Nexus One - The most exciting cellular introduction (so far)
- Skiff eReader - Largest Format eReader (but is the revenue model work?)
- YoGen Ripcord Charger - A human-powered charging solution
- Neato XV-11 - A smarter robotic vacuum cleaner
- Beamz - Now anyone can conduct beautiful original music
- CarMD - Diagnostic tool for the family car and to help you buy a used car
- Sony 24.5" 3D OLED - Only a prototype for now, but a peek into the future
Best of CTIA Wireless 2008
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
CTIA Wireless started out a bit slow this year. We showed up early for some pre-event press gatherings, but didn't find ourselves dumbfounded by a dizzying array of new technologies. However, after digging a bit deeper, we did find a few new technologies that amazed us, including:
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Magic Jack VOIP Device - This USB plug-in module costs $20 plus $20 per year for service, and includes a phone number and unlimited calling in the US and Canada. What makes it unique is the portability of the device and the 3 simultaneous ring numbers.
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Marisol Displays - A new LCD display technology by Qualcomm for mobile devices, with significantly lower power drain, and much better outdoor visibility.
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Walking Hot Spot - Connect up to five laptops or other WiFi devices to the internet via your HTC Windows Mobile or Nokia Symbian Smart Phone.
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Samsung Instinct - This iPhone competitor coming soon to the Sprint network has some advanced features that iPhone users WISH they had, including powerful speech command, embedded voice GPS mapping, and use of industry standard expandable memory.
- Sound ID 300 - Lightest blue tooth earpiece with best sound quality and dual microphones for background noise removal, made by a company that specializes in hearing aids.
Best of CES 2012
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Michael Todd
In the early years of consumer electronics, CES used to happen twice per year, once in the summer in Chicago where companies would introduce and take orders for their holiday season offerings, and then again in January which was more of a business show offering mostly posturing and prototypes and concepts for the coming year. Now that we have only one show a year, the offerings are a bit of a mixed bag, including established products introduced during the previous holiday season, and new products which are still months away from delivery.
Choosing a Best of CES list, therefore, is a bit of a challenge, because we can use 20-20 hindsight from the holiday season to assist with establish products, but with the future products, we can't really know as much as we would like about the product before reporting on them. Beginning this year, however, we decided to bite the bullet and choose more "future" products for this year's list, including:
- Google Nexus One - The most exciting cellular introduction (so far)
- Skiff eReader - Largest Format eReader (but is the revenue model work?)
- YoGen Ripcord Charger - A human-powered charging solution
- Neato XV-11 - A smarter robotic vacuum cleaner
- Beamz - Now anyone can conduct beautiful original music
- CarMD - Diagnostic tool for the family car and to help you buy a used car
- Sony 24.5" 3D OLED - Only a prototype for now, but a peek into the future
Best of CES 2008
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
The Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas every January is always our favorite show, but often the most difficult to select a Best-of List from. Because this show is held only annually now (it used to be held twice per year, once in the summer in Chicago), a good portion of the product announcements are for gadgets that are just prototypes, slated for delivery much later in the year. Therefore, in many cases, we really don't have the opportunity to fully review the technologies before writing about them.
For 2008, however, we did find several items that we considered to be revolutionary, including:
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Logitech Duet - Controlling your computer's audio library through your home entertainment system.
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Bug Labs - An open source platform for creating computer projects and toys.
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EchoStar TR-50 - A DVR for the rabbit-ear over-the-air TV crowd.
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MagicJack - Unlimited phone calls for $20 per year, incuding a phone number and forwarding.
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Dymo DiscPainter - A dedicated printer that "paints" full color CD or DVD discs in under a minute.
- Intermatic Home Settings - Powerful z-wave controllers and modules for controlling lighting.
Best of CES 2011
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Michael Todd
In the early years of consumer electronics, CES used to happen twice per year, once in the summer in Chicago where companies would introduce and take orders for their holiday season offerings, and then again in January which was more of a business show offering mostly posturing and prototypes and concepts for the coming year. Now that we have only one show a year, the offerings are a bit of a mixed bag, including established products introduced during the previous holiday season, and new products which are still months away from delivery.
Choosing a Best of CES list, therefore, is a bit of a challenge, because we can use 20-20 hindsight from the holiday season to assist with establish products, but with the future products, we can't really know as much as we would like about the product before reporting on them. Beginning this year, however, we decided to bite the bullet and choose more "future" products for this year's list, including:
- Google Nexus One - The most exciting cellular introduction (so far)
- Skiff eReader - Largest Format eReader (but is the revenue model work?)
- YoGen Ripcord Charger - A human-powered charging solution
- Neato XV-11 - A smarter robotic vacuum cleaner
- Beamz - Now anyone can conduct beautiful original music
- CarMD - Diagnostic tool for the family car and to help you buy a used car
- Sony 24.5" 3D OLED - Only a prototype for now, but a peek into the future
Best of CTIA Fall 2007
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
- AT&T Tilt by HTC
- Palm Centro - Smallest QWERTY Phone
- Verizon Juke - Switchblade design with 2GB and Night Vision Camera
Best of CES 2010
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
In the early years of consumer electronics, CES used to happen twice per year, once in the summer in Chicago where companies would introduce and take orders for their holiday season offerings, and then again in January which was more of a business show offering mostly posturing and prototypes and concepts for the coming year. Now that we have only one show a year, the offerings are a bit of a mixed bag, including established products introduced during the previous holiday season, and new products which are still months away from delivery.
Choosing a Best of CES list, therefore, is a bit of a challenge, because we can use 20-20 hindsight from the holiday season to assist with establish products, but with the future products, we can't really know as much as we would like about the product before reporting on them. Beginning this year, however, we decided to bite the bullet and choose more "future" products for this year's list, including:
- Google Nexus One - The most exciting cellular introduction (so far)
- Skiff eReader - Largest Format eReader (but is the revenue model work?)
- YoGen Ripcord Charger - A human-powered charging solution
- Neato XV-11 - A smarter robotic vacuum cleaner
- Beamz - Now anyone can conduct beautiful original music
- CarMD - Diagnostic tool for the family car and to help you buy a used car
- Sony 24.5" 3D OLED - Only a prototype for now, but a peek into the future
Best of SEMA 2007
- Details
- Category: Trade Show Lists
- Written by Rich McComas
This year, three of our Gadget Gurus attended the SEMA show in Las Vegas, which drew more than 130,000 people, a new record. SEMA stands for the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer Association, and it is all about automotive aftermarket products. Our favorte event-within-the-event was the AutoFocus press event held the night before SEMA opened, and from this single press event, we drew more than half of our best-of list for SEMA, which includes:
Who are the Gadget Gurus?
Gadget Gurus technology reviews are heard and read by millions of people across the United States, including more than a dozen print publications, dozens of tier-one radio stations, on third-party websites, and more than ever, online at our own website.
NEWS: This year, you will see a number of exciting announcements from Gadget Gurus, including podcasts, our syndicated "Gadgets-in-a-Minute" broadcasts, and our ever-expanding "Best Of" lists. Also, you will be seeing our portfolio of magazine "gadget pages" growing into a number of vertical markets.
TECH2 LAKE HOUSE
UPDATE - The exterior of the Technology Lake House is complete and we are now working on interior finishing and electronics. Last year, San Francisco's Channel 7 ABC News ran a special video report on the construction progress of the Technology Lake House, and we expect them back for a follow-up soon. Click HERE for a DLINK Live Video Feed with pan and zoom features (userid=user, no password, daylight hours only).
Ron Rosberg's current project home, the Technology Lake House, is currently under construction on the shores of Clearlake in Northern California. Even though the house is a wireless demo house, we have installed more than seven miles of wires in the walls for dozens of flat panel TVs, speakers, control panels, and sophisticated lighting. So far, more than a dozen technology and fixture manufacturers have agreed to sponsor this project, which has been simmering in Ron's head since he attended the first CES show in New York in 1967. The 7,500 square foot project (plus three existing rustic cabin guest houses) is being built on a five-acre Honeymoon Cove resort with 500 feet of beach directly across from Konocti Harbor Resort. This summer retreat will host technology gatherings annually, inviting Western states home builders, contractors, and technology consultants for a live open house showcasing the latest in home technologies. There is room to park plenty of boats, so plan on coming up for some lake fun after the project is complete. For more info, send email to ronald@usa.net, or call 707-995-2683. To see the latest photos, visit Ron's Flickr gallery.
We are currently looking for products to evaluate in these areas:
- Home automation: lighting, security, and entertainment
- A/V technology for the 500 SF home theater media demo room
Hot News on Cool New Features: The ENTIRE front of the home is made of 21 sliding NanaWall glass panels that fold into the walls, opening the entire home up to the lake during demo days.