Hasta La Gadget!

Live in Tornado Alley? Just generally afraid of being swept away by a cyclone? You may want to cast those eyes in the general direction of the La Crosse 810-163TWR weather alert radio. The walkie-talkie-like device is up to all of the NOAA standards, tuning you in to national weather alerts. You can set an alarm on the gadget that’ll turn radio alerts on any time there’s a national disaster. New this time out is a devoted tornado button. Click that and it will only trigger when faced with that specific disaster. The device is due out in April and should you around $50. Sadly the unit present here at CES was just a dummy, so if there are any tornadoes in the area, we’re all out of luck.

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Lost luggage is a seemingly unavoidable inevitability for the frequent traveller. Millions of bags either get left behind, sent to the wrong city or simply disappear completely every year. GlobaTrac has created Trakdot Luggage to give the constant flyer a little more of a sense of security. The palm-sized plastic device slips discreetly into your duffle or suitcase and updates the owner on its location via an app, SMS, email or the Trakdot website. Sadly the apps are not live in Play or the iTunes app store, so we can’t tell you much about their functionality, outside of some specialized alerts that are promised, like a notification when your bag hits the claim carrosel. On the site you can set up customized text and email notifications or view location pins via Google Maps.

The preproduction box we handled was stunningly light, though we wouldn’t be surprised if the device packed on a little weight when the final version hits shelves in March. Rather than rely on battery draining GPS, the Trakdot Luggage relies on a quad-band GSM chip and triangulation, which allows it to last up to two weeks on a fresh pair of AAs, which are generously included in the packaging. The Trakdot luggage will $49.95, though a one time activation fee of $8.99 and an annual service fee of $12.99 will be required to keep it functional. Check out the gallery below and the PR after the break for more.

Continue reading Trakdot Luggage hands-on: find your lost bags

Filed under: Misc

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The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix has been a known entity for some time, first showing up on the company’s Israeli website and more recently stopping by the FCC with AT&T LTE in tow. The device is no longer an enigma, as Lenovo is pulling back the curtain on the 11.6-inch convertible Ultrabook, which will go on sale in late February for $1,499 and up.

Like the famously flippable ThinkPad Yoga, the Helix can be used in several different positions. Tablet and Ultrabook modes are a given, but users can also flip the tablet 180 degrees and snap it back in to the base, essentially providing a stand for using the device as a slate. In addition to supporting touch input, the Helix offers a bundled pen (complete with a slot for storing) for tapping away at the 1080p Gorilla Glass display. Speaking of the panel, it boasts IPS technology — and Lenovo says it’s “the brightest screen in the ThinkPad brand portfolio.”

Along with the just-introduced ThinkPad Edge E431 and E531, the Helix sports a new trackpad that forgoes the secondary buttons meant to be used with the TrackPoint. Instead, these buttons are built into the clickpad, though the pointing stick is still on board. We imagine this change will upset many ThinkPad devotees, but given that we haven’t seen a final production unit, we’re not ready to pass judgement on the update.

The highest-end configuration will run a Core i7 processor, and Lenovo says you can expect up to 10 hours of battery life. Other specs include a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-MP front-facing shooter, NFC for tapping to share and — as expected — LTE connectivity. The tablet weighs 1.8 pounds on its own, and the whole Ultrabook comes in at under four. Take a closer look at this convertible in our hands-on gallery.

Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad Helix official: 11.6-inch reversible screen, arrives next month for $1,499+

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

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Don’t call it USB 4.0. Here in Las Vegas, the USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced the development of a SuperSpeed USB (that’s USB 3.0, if you’re curious) enhancement that will “add a much higher data rate, delivering up to twice the data through-put performance of existing SuperSpeed USB over enhanced, fully backward compatible USB connectors and cables.” This supplement to the USB 3.0 specification is anticipated to be completed by the middle of this year, bringing along a new 10Gbps data rate, improved data encoding for more efficient data transfer, and of course, compatibility with existing 5Gbps hubs and devices (and even USB 2.0 products). We’ve yet to hear of any device makers trotting out new gear that’ll handle the new spec, but hopefully we’ll hear more at CES really gets rolling.

Continue reading USB 3.0 enhancement to bring 10Gbps transfers, backward compatibility in mid-2013

Filed under: Peripherals

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Source: Marketwatch, USB-IF

The days preceding CES are like an easter egg hunt, with clues of future products everywhere. Easily revealed near the cabstand line of the Las Vegas Convention Center is a billboard proudly displaying the Huawei Ascend D2 we’ve been expecting. We will have to wait until tomorrow at 1pm ET for the Huawei press event for the official details, though, which we’ll of course be covering live.

[Thanks, anon]

Filed under: Mobile

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