We just happened upon MMT’s Monitor2Go at CES’s ShowStoppers event here in Vegas, and… well, it’s a Mimo monitor, but huge. The new version — which is expected to ship in a few months here in the US for $279 — lacks the number pad that was on last year’s model. That one was aimed primarily at accountants on the run, whereas this DisplayLink-equipped version is aimed at everyone else. You can catch up on all of the specifications and such here, but the actual display felt satisfactorily light, the swiveling hinge was rock solid and the screen itself was acceptable for a secondary solution. The low resolution won’t dazzle anyone, and it’s certainly no replacement for a legitimate monitor, but it’s definitely easier to lug around than a new ST2220T. Head on past the break for a quick video demonstration.
Transparency and flexibility are qualities you look for in a person, but how about a screen? Samsung showed off two prototypes at CES that we’ll soon see in cell phones, computers, and TV.
Do we deliver or what? Just as promised, we went back for seconds with the Samsung 9 Series laptop, and man, it is one beautiful laptop. As you already know, it is incredibly thin, but it also has a very rigid construction thanks to its duralumin build. (Fun fact: apparently they build planes out of the same stuff.) As you will see in the video below, the design is very clean and the sharp edges have been designed to make the system look even slimmer. The lead designer of the system YeoWan Yun told us that the 9 Series was inspired by nature’s beauty, including waves, leaves, and water. But it’s not just the outside of the system that’s beautiful — the matte 400nit, 13-inch display is incredibly bright and crisp and the viewing angles are just top notch. Below that screen is one very nice chiclet keyboard with matte keys. Sammy’s gone with a single button ClickPad, which in our short time with the laptop seemed fine for navigating with our index finger while keeping our thumb on the bottom. Naturally, we weren’t able to get a real sense of the Core i5 performance, but we did notice that the system resumed from sleep rather quickly thanks to its 128GB SSD. Truth is we haven’t been this excited about a Windows ultraportable since the Dell Adamo XPS, we just hope the 9 Series really brings the brawn and battery life with the beauty.
It’s the first official day of CES 2011 and we’re joined by our buddy Clayton Morris of Fox and Friends who takes a moment out of his busy day to show us a couple cool gadgets he saw today. We always enjoy a game of show and tell, and Clayton doesn’t disappoint with the Steadicam Smoothee, a handheld steadicam that you can use with an Apple iPhone, a Motorola DROID, or a Flip Mino video camera.
Next up in the rundown is a show favorite that seems to be making ripples throughout CES- it’s the official Angry Birds board game by Mattel!
If you’re a non-gamer like myself, Angry Birds is the insanely popular virtual game currently available for digital download on mobile devices like the iPhone and Android phones, but the creators, Rovio Mobile, and Mattel have just announced a physical board game version here at CES 2011.
The analog game plays just like the virtual phenomenon: set up the obstacle course according to the card you choose, place a a bird in the catapult, and take aim at the familiar green pigs trying to steal your precious eggs. As Natali says, the game is rated for ages five and up since it contains small pieces that could be harmful if swallowed, so take caution if you have children or child-like gamers in your life. Angry Birds the board game will be available for purchase in May for $14.95.
And speaking of games, Jeff was treated to a preview of the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming console today, and it sounds like the little guy will definitely live up to the hype. The 3D effects pop the moment you pick it up, and Jeff’s demo of the game “Pilotwings” effectively showed off the 3D slider that lets you adjust the degree of 3D intensity. Alternatively, you can also turn off the effect altogether if you have children under 6 that Nintendo advises should not use the device.
While Jeff and Wilson are giddy about gaming, I find myself shifting focus to other that appeal to my own lifestyle. Enter the Campbell Soup wireless cooking cup. It’s being shown off at the Wireless Power Consortium and it stands to change the way we think about cooking soup.
All jokes aside, the technology behind the idea is pretty sweet- the soup container uses eCoupled wireless charging technology to heat up the soup from inside the package according to one of three power settings: low, medium, or high. We’re not sure how this will ultimately aide in the heating of foods that aren’t pre-cooked, but any device that saves me from washing a pot is a showstopper in my book.
Polaroid has officially gone off the deep end, as a willing accomplice in Lady Gaga’s crazy schemes. The new Grey Label line also includes a rebirth for Polaroid as an instant camera company, with a sexy new GL30 Instant Digital Camera with built-in printer, a separate GL10 Instant Mobile Printer, and Lady Gaga’s bizarre triumph: the GL20 Camera Glasses (pictured), which include a built-in camera and dual LCDs which appear to cover your eyes when you’re wearing the oversized shades. This CES marks a full year of Polaroid’s collaboration with Lady Gaga, and while the glasses are possibly the least commercially viable device to be announced this year (in the best possible way), the classy new camera and printer might just make up for it. Both devices are using Zink technology for the instant printing, which Polaroid has been using in a much uglier way in its OneStep cameras, but the new devices have a retro sort of look that we’re really digging. For the most part specs are light, including the GL30’s megapixel count, but the GL10 printer will be out in May for $150, while the GL30 camera and the GL20 glasses don’t have prices and will be available “later this year.”
Hardcore Doctor Who fans might argue that the faulty chameleon circuit is to be blamed here, but really, this mini TARDIS is just a forthcoming Speakal iPod speaker dock that also doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and an IR remote control. As pictured above, the dock connector lies in a pull-out tray at the bottom-front of the device, with the stereo speaker drivers hidden behind the front windows. There’s also a bass chamber inside the box, and we could see the opening through the back windows, along with the volume dial and power switch at the bottom. We were told that the final product will actually be slightly smaller than this prototype, and the lamp at the top will also have an IR emitter installed, which can control your TV via an iOS app (presumably via Bluetooth). Anyhow, expect to see this blue box on the shelves for around $130 to $150 come April.
This article was written on March 19, 2008 by CyberNet.
Google has decided that they want their users to help make Google Maps as accurate as possible and so they have bestowed upon them editing rights. Now any user who is logged in to their Google account will be able to edit a place on the map, including move the marker. At this point, only those living in the United States, Australia and New Zealand can make edits. To me, this is an open invitation for vandals to come and wreak havoc on the maps, but Google says they’ve taken steps to protect accuracy.
To make editing changes to the maps, just go to http://maps.google.com and search for any type of location whether it be a street name or a complete address. From there you’ll notice a new link that says “Add a place to the map.” Clicking that will bring you to the page where you can add a place, move a marker on the map, or edit details.
The editing details page looks like this:
As you enter the type of place that it is, a drop-down menu will appear with different examples of what you could enter. Read Write Web noticed that while you can enter in any information you’d like, that doesn’t mean Google will accept the changes. They tried to change the web address for a location to something totally unrelated and it wouldn’t allow the change. This must be part of what they’re doing to help protect accuracy.
Speaking of accuracy, Google says that you’ll always be able to see the original listing information. Additionally, users will be able to view the history of changes that were made. If something didn’t seem quite right, a quick look at the history could explain a lot. At this point we’re a little skeptical about how this is going to work, but if people don’t abuse the system and Google has enough checks and balances in place to prevent abuse, it could turn out to be a great tool.
When it comes to the proliferation of fancy infotainment systems into cars there are two schools of thought. Some, like Ford, believe that these systems should start at the lower range cars and spread across the brand. Other marques, typically higher-end ones, go the other way ’round, and Audi is definitely guilty, launching its MMI on the higher-end sedans and SUVs, like the A8 and Q7. That’s changing with the next version of MMI Touch, starting on the (relatively) attainable A3.
NVIDIA was quite proud to show off the system, with Tegra providing the power behind the scenes as we saw last year. That means lovely rendering of Google Earth, in 3D no less, and of course responsive performance. According to Autoblog it looks like the system’s capacitive touchpad is being integrated into the scroll wheel, which should offer a solid usability improvement. No word on when we’ll get to experience it, though, but we wouldn’t be surprised to learn more next week in Detroit.
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