SmartParts Goes Big and Small in Picture Frames
Let’s start with big…
SmartParts was showing off this huge 32 inch LCD picture frame. Nope, it doesn’t work as a monitor, and no you can’t use it as a TV, but it is WiFi enabled and works with Microsoft’s new Live Frame It service. It also comes with 256MB of memory onboard, compact flash and SDHC card slots, a USB port for mass storage expansion and an RF remote vs. an IR one so you can operate it around the corner. As nice as the picture is, at $999, I have a hard time spending that on something that only shows me pictures. Maybe if you’re bawlin’ and have enough regular monitors and TVs, you could give this a try.
The company also showed off a series of smaller frames that you can take with you. From ones that seem well suited to the small confines of your cubicle to ones that would be great for your locker at work, it seems that SmartParts is pushing hard into this space. We’ll definitely be looking forward to putting their products through the grind.
What Was Seagate Up To?
It was interesting to see Seagate branching out into a couple of different product areas. Both of which are related to your TV set…
First up was this little box called the FreeAgent Theater. This device is for those poor souls that don’t have a Media Center PC or a game system, but still want to view their pictures, videos and music on their HDTV. The device is outfitted with one of Seagate’s portable hard drives and does a pretty good job with the material on the screen. You can even hot swap the drive with another one of Segate’s FreeAgent Go portable drives. I can’t recall the price, but I remember remarking that you were basically buying the drive so it was pretty inexpensive. The only weird thing was that it only contained component video and no HDMI. Expect it to hit the shelves sometime in February.
One thing that might be interesting to those with storage challenged PVR’s is the Seagate Showcase external hard drive. This device was made specifically to work with PVRs provided by your service provider. Anyone that has ever failed at adding external storage to augment their piddly PVR drive will love this. The devices is built well and comes with it’s own active cooling system while the drive inside is optimized for quiet. ETA was not available.
Too Many Gadgets, Too Little Time
The Las Vegas Convention Center was bustling with geeks, nerds, and dweebs as they congregated toward the most incredible technology available on the planet today. We got to see the latest chips from Intel, the emerging powerhouse of Windows 7, and massive HDTVs that even entered the third dimension. During CES week, the LVCC is clearly the place to be. Not that you should ignore the Sands Convention Center, but the LVCC is just so much bigger and has so much more to offer. Like animatronic Albert Einstein figures. *Shudder*
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