Looks like Netgear isn’t the only one bringing its Powerline data-over-power line devices to Las Vegas this week! Our fine friends at GDGT have just hepped us to a couple new D-Link boxes, including the DIG-1320, the company’s first Powerline router — with 802.11n WiFi to boot!. If using the ominous power of electricity to watch The Fall Guy on Hulu seems a bit much, the company has also unveiled DIR-632, its first consumer dot-n router with (count ’em!) 8 Ethernet ports. No word on price or release date, but if any of these things “fall off the back of a truck,” we’ll drop you a line. We know a guy.
With a down economy and high/rising energy costs, Sanyo figures it’s the perfect time to introduce electric bicycles to the U.S. market. The world’s largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries has been selling them in Japan for 15 years, and now the company has brought the Eneloop (“Energy-Looping”) electric bicycle to the U.S. It was officially introduced here late last year, but many journalists got their first-up-close glimpse of the ride-assist bike at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where it was named CES’s number-one green product for eco-design and sustainability.
The bike looks a lot like a rugged, slightly old-fashioned bicycle. Under the wide, comfortable seat is a rechargeable battery–you remove it to recharge. Sanyo execs said the Eneloop is actually a sophisticated melding of the company’s three core competencies: motors, rechargeable batteries, and electronics. Together, they give the bike torque sensitivity, the ability to charge while you’re coasting and braking and to give you a significant boost as you’re pedaling.
The Eneloop can travel up to 46 miles on one charge at speeds of up to 15 miles an hour. The bike does not drive on its own, but as soon as you start pedaling, it assists: Soon you’re traveling at 15 miles per hour, which feels faster than you might think. Stop pedaling, and the bike slows down, like an ordinary bike.
Don’t worry, you don’t need a license. Thanks to a U.S. law passed in 2008, any vehicle that has pedals, uses less than 1,000 watts, and travels at less than 20 MPH is still considered a bike.
The Eneloop is available through Best Buy and costs… wait for it… $2,299.95. Being green ain’t cheap, but think of all the money you’ll save on gas in the long run. Watch the video for my full hands-on report.
We now know that Natal is going to make it out before the end of the year (if all goes well), but the company is still keeping a lot of secrets about the technology and being rather stingy with hands-on time. Natal lead developer Alex Kipman is spilling a few notable beans, however, indicating that the team has gathered terabytes of photos and video of people playing games, amassing a library of data that the system uses to anticipate where you might move next. Because of this the system can predict your hand position, even if it’s obscured, based on the location of other parts of your body. He also indicated that the software required for all this will only take up about 50MB on your Xbox’s (probably near-full) storage device, and that the algorithms it uses will suck down about 10 to 15 percent of the 360’s overall processing power. That’s certainly a substantial hit, but this is the price you pay for getting to kick virtual balls with physical feet.
We’ve been hearing a lot about Marvell lately driven, in part, by the rapid growth in e-reader devices. Now it’s teamed up with Hearst’s ambitious venture, Skiff, to create the Skiff Reader Development Kit (RDK) designed to allow manufacturers to quickly create inexpensive reading devices using Marvell’s Armada System-on-a-chip with integrated electronic paper display controller. Naturally, the RDK includes built-in software support for the Skiff eReading service and digital storefront. Interesting, very interesting. It’s becoming clear that Skiff’s approach to toppling Amazon’s early e-reader / service juggernaut is to flood the market with devices hooked into a compelling value proposition for publishers and content owners and then ultimately (sometime later this year), consumers. Hold tight kids, this could be Apple (Amazon) vs. Microsoft (Skiff/Hearst) all over again.
Parrot is perhaps more known by most consumers as the manufacturers of Bluetooth and wireless calling peripherals, but the company came to CES with some high-end designer peripherals that looks and sound fantastic. Parrot’s Zikmu wireless iPod dock and speakers have been on the market for a while, but Parrot announced four new colors of their high-end home audio product specifically for CES.
The Zikmu, which previously came only in glossy black, is now available in white, gray, and lime. All of the colors are available now, and support an iPod or iPhone via the docking station at the top of the speaker, or streaming audio from your PC or Mac via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
When Cowon’s latest leaked back at the beginning of November we knew just about everything we really needed to know except for one crucial bit of intel: what it looked like. Now the company has thoughtfully taken care of that, throwing up a teaser page for the product that shows off a simple, sophisticated brushed metal exterior punctuated only by a pair of buttons on either side and three LED status lights. It’s perhaps a bit chunky, with a wide bezel and a little more depth than we’d like, but it should be reasonably comfortable to use whenever it releases. The 4.8-inch, 1024 x 600 touchscreen LCD is confirmed, backed by a 1.3GHz Intel Atom processor that is probably going to struggle a little bit to keep up with Windows 7, which the company has chosen to bless this device’s (unannounced) storage with. That’s all we know for now.
ASUS brought a number of new products to CES, including several new EEE PC netbook models and designs aimed at improving battery life and drawing in more users who are looking for portable computers in more than solid colors and spartan designs.
ASUS unveiled its new EEE PC Seashell KR Collection, a series of laptop and peripheral designs produced in collaboration with designer Karim Rashid.
One such competitor is Kia, which has officially launched its UVO mobile entertainment system. Automobile reports that UVO is based on an embedded version of Microsoft Windows–just like Ford Sync.
UVO can recognize two different operator voices, and also creates personal profiles for each person in order to develop shortcuts, even in several languages. Kia designed UVO to adapt over time via over-the-air updates, as new cell phones, MP3 players, and other devices hit the market with new technologies.
A 4.3-inch LCD lets users access music, phone books, vehicle information, and an optional backup camera. The first car to get UVO will be the 2011 Kia Sorento this summer.
Here we go again, eh? Vizio‘s hitting us up with yet another round of wares here at CES, starting with a trio of Razor LED sets that are designed to watch mobile TV. The 9-inch VMB090 and 10-inch VMB100 are among the first to use the new ATSC-M/H standard and ship with an HDMI 1.4 input, while the 7-inch VMB070 holds it down on the low end. The whole trio arrive in enclosures that are less than 1-inch thick, though you’ll only really enjoy the integrated antenna if you live in a spot where the broadcasts are available. Speaking of, none of these will be available until “later this year,” with prices set for $149.99, $199.99 and $229.99. Moving on, the company’s outing 2.1 and 5.1 channel wireless surround home theater systems, wireless headphones and stereo Bluetooth headphones, and if you’re super interested in learning more about the bevy of options there, give those source links a tick of your attention.
Schlepping a laptop into a coach seat is bad enough — lugging along a fatty power adapter to boot is adding insult to injury. Kensington has got your back, or its trying to save it a little strain at least, with the Ultra Compact Notebook Power Adapter. It weighs 7.1 ounces with dimensions of 4.5 x 2.2 x 0.8 inches. Slinky indeed, and with adapters for most types of notebooks (Apple is notably absent), plus adapters for mini and microUSB, it looks to be very useful. There are two models, the $99 K38066US and the $119 K38067US, which also includes an adapter for use in suitably equipped airline seats. Jet setting with a full battery and a little more room in your man purse? It doesn’t get much better.
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