CES 2012 Coverage - Day 1

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I watched (no, listened mostly) to the Qualcomm keynote in the morning.  Is it me, or does it seem like the video was not very well presented.  Maybe it was the speaker, or the content?  I just didn't feel the enthusiasm (even at 8:30 AM).  Well, even the Jabbawockeez performance wasn't all that great... (yes there are quite a few celebs here).

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CES 2012 Coverage - Day 0

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Press line up for the Nokia Press Conference @ CES 2012

CES officially starts tomorrow January 10th, 2012.  Day 0 is typically for the press conferences and early appointments with vendors and exhibitor final day setup.

This is the first time I've arrived this early for CES.  There was no traffic on the freeway, no wait at the buffets, and generally no crazy traffic jams.  That was nice for a change.

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One card to rule them all - introducing Card 2.0

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I don't know about you, but I've amassed quite a few plastic cards which I rotate in and out of the wallet.  I hate walking around with a big fat wallet.  I do not appreciate the bulge that it makes, or the fact that it presses up against psiatic nerves and can lead to some serious health problems.  Just to name a few:  I have my drivers license, my check card, credit card, club cards, gas card, Starbucks coffee card, rewards membership card, library card, movie rental card, etc.  And I'm fairly certain there are those of you that try to carry them all in one wallet or your purse.  Hopefully, there is one card that can replace them all.
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Kodak Kiosk prints from facebook and picasa

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If you haven't printed out your photos at a local kiosk in a while (like me), you may be surprised to find a Kodak one that is social-network friendly.  

I got a chance to test one out at the CES 2011 show using some facebook pictures.  You basically enter in your facebook login and it connects you to your facebook photos.  If you have a lot of albums and photos, be prepared to be at the Kiosk a while as you search through them.  I didn't want to spend a lot of time so I just picked ones that used to be my profile pictures and used one of their smart frames.

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Blackberry Playbook - its fast, and supports flash

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They were showing off the Playbook at CES.  My first impressions were that it was zippy but clearly had a lot of issues that need to be worked out before release.  There was some freezing and non-responsiveness during the demonstration at one of the booths.  Blackberry reps said this due to the fact that they had all the things running in the background (apparently using up their 1 GB of RAM).   

 

Said reps also didn't allow people to really use the tablet and get down into the nitty grittys to check out stuff like the tethered blackberry apps.  Full on flash support was awesome!  I didn't realize how much I missed that on Apple devices until I pulled up some flash intensive sites on the Playbook.

 

I'm going to stick to my iPad / upcoming iPad2 thank you very much.  I confess it's primarily because I don't hold much confidence in Blackberry Apps or any reasonable pricing / licensing of software made for the Blackberry platform.  Time will tell.
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Gadgets that can save your life

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The Spot connect is a brand new product to be released next month that alerts people of your situation from just about anywhere in the world through satellite.  You must have a service plan (like a phone) and there are additional services that you might want to tack on as well.  What looks particularly interesting is the GEOS member benefit for the true adventurer completely backed by a facility that is nuclear bomb bunkered and running 24/7.

SPOT Satellite Communicators at Amazon

 

 

New leader in portable visor mount bluetooth speakerphone emerges - DriveNTalk BHF-2000

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DriveNTalk is releasing the best portable Bluetooth hands-free car kit next month for an amazing $99.99.

The BHF-2000 is the most feature-rich Bluetooth speakerphone in its class. It combines almost everything I liked about my favorite bluetooth speakerphone, the Jabra Cruiser SP-715, with the completely hands free capabilities of the Blueant S4 and almost eliminates the need to plug in a cord to charge it.
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Sifteo - thinking outside the cube

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I first heard about the Sifteo cubes last year when I was forwarded the TED conference talk about the concept of the product from a friend that works there.  A couple days ago I got to visit Sifteo at the consumer electronic show convention booth and see them in action and try them out for myself.
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