Hasta La Gadget!

[CES 2013] We’re not entirely sure why recent bluetooth conference call speakerphones seem are often shaped like UFOs, but who are we to comment on design choices of accessory manufacturers as we’re sure they have a good reason to create such futuristic speakerphones. ION is another manufacturer who thought their new bluetooth conference call speakerphone would benefit from a UFO design.

ION’s Talking Point is a conference call station for mobile phones whose microphone captures voices from any angle, which we’re sure is exactly why they decided for a UFO design. The Talking Point’s speaker is top-facing, which makes it easy for users to listen to the call as well as communicate clearly.

The Talking Point has a minimalist design that is highlighted by touch-sensitive controls where you can simply place your finger on top of the control, and the Talking Point will perform the action without needing you to push down your finger. You’ll be able to higher or lower the volume, mute the call, change Bluetooth devices and answer / end the call.

ION’s Talking Point will be available this June for $149.99 and will come in two colors: white and black.

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[CES 2013] With the recent official launch launch of Windows 8 we have seen our share of new PCs and laptops, however there are more to come at CES. HP is coming to the show with two new AMD-powered Sleekbook running Windows 8, the HP Pavilion TouchSmart Sleekbook (multi-touch version) and HP Pavilion Sleekbook (non-touch).

Both devices sport a 15.6-inch high-definition display (1366×768) in a thin, light and elegant body and runs an AMD Ultrathin A6-4455M Accelerated Processor (2.1GHz up to 2.6Ghz) with 4GB DDR3 SDRAM (max supported 8GB).

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[CES 2013] The HP U160 is a USB powered notebook monitor that can be folded inside a very practical case which acts as a stand when unfolded. The thin, light and elegant body weighs only 3.4 pounds and is only 1.02 inches thick.

The HP U160 looks like the perfect monitor to have when on-the-go, and during the briefing with HP, we thought that it could be a useful gadget to bring for our trips to international conferences like CES, MWC or CEATEC, to increase our productivity. The 15.6 inch LCD display features 1366×768 resolution, 16:9 ratio and is powered via USB 2.0 or above. When we saw it in action, the responsiveness was good and the framerate was fluid.

The u160 will be available in January for only $179 (starting price), I am sure that the attractive price and design will make it one of the sought-after device for road warriors. Last but not least, the device is ENERGY STAR qualified, meaning it is quite eco-friendly: it is made with arsenic free glass and BFR/PVC free plastics and mercury-free LED backlighting.

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[CES 2013] The TV segment has always been an innovative one, and it is definitely not one industry that is willing to rest on its laurels. Well, Toshiba intends to expand their reach and muscle their way into the Ultra HD market thanks to the announcement of their LG-rivalling 84-inch 4K LED TV. Coming under the umbrella that is the L9300 series, this bad boy will also be made available to those who do not have such deep pockets, where it will arrive in 65-inch and 58-inch models as well.

Out later this summer, there is no word on pricing details just yet, but you know for sure that none of these are going to come cheap or affordable at all. A Toshiba representative claimed that the secret to Ultra HD would be the processing, although there would not be much native content at launch. Underneath the hood would lie a CEVO 4K Quad+Dual Core Processor and CQ Engine. We look forward to this monster of a TV ship later this year, and hope that resolution of media content would be able to catch up with the resolution count in due time.

Image courtesy of Engadget.

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We were rather stoked when Liquipel brought its “watersafe” nanocoating service from California to South East Asia in fall 2012, but it turns out that the Santa Ana-based company had another surprise lined up for us later on. At Startup Debut 2013 in Las Vegas today we saw the announcement of Liquipel 2.0, which claims to have “significant advancements in durability, corrosion resistance and water protection” than its predecessor. Specifically, the new version is “up to 100 times more effective… while maintaining component integrity and RF sensitivity.” Obviously we had to see it to believe it, and to our surprise, this time Liquipel had a demo that let us submerge a 2.0-coated iPhone 5 under two feet of water — you can see us going bonkers with it in the video after the break.

According to Managing Director Sam Winkler, a device thoroughly treated with Liquipel 2.0 can actually achieve a liquid protection rating of at least IPX7: immersion at a depth of 1m for 30 minutes. While the iPhone 5 we tortured did eventually take in too much water and thus disabled the touch panel, it quickly came back to life after we shook off some of the water. Winkler added that his company’s now offering its 4ft x 4ft “Liquipods” for shops that want to provide the Liquipel treatment themselves, but it’ll be a while before all existing partners — mostly outside the US — can be upgraded to 2.0. That said, interested customers can already get the 2.0 treatment in the US.

One final note: it turns out that Jaybird also uses Liquipel during the assembly of its sports headphones. Hopefully we’ll see more products treated with the same goodness in the near future.

Myriam Joire contributed to this article.

Continue reading Liquipel 2.0 nanocoating debuts with improved water protection, matches IPX7 and beyond (video)

Filed under: Misc, Science

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