Just as we did with CES Unveiled earlier this week, the Futurelooks crew made its way over to Digital Experience for another all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of the latest and greatest technology this industry has to offer. Many notable names were in attendance, showing off their most treasured products and innovations. Here are a few things we keyed in on that you might find interesting.
More Flash Memory in the Same Sized Card
From digital cameras to music phones, portable media players to digital photo frames, we have a lot of consumer electronics that make use of the standard Secure Digital memory card. The regular SD card standard tops out at a mere 2GB of storage capacity and this doesn’t really cut the mustard if you need the extra space for high-definition videos or a reasonably-sized music collection.
For now, we’re making do with the SDHC (high capacity) memory card format, because it can take us as far as 16GB on a single drive. Not surprisingly, the SD Association is gearing up to the next generation with the introduction of the SDXC memory card standard. The XC part of the name does not stand for anything eXtreme. Instead, it stands for eXtended capacity, pushing the postage stamp sized card to a theoretical maximum of 2TB. Yes, two terabytes.
Data transfer speeds will be at 104MB/sec at launch with plans to push it to 300MB/sec in the future. The first SDXC memory cards won’t be two terabytes either. The first ones, which won’t launch until some time next year, will likely be offered in 32GB and 64GB capacities, along with their microSDXC counterparts. Naturally, you’ll have to wait for devices that support SDXC too.
OQO Model 2+ UMPC Ups the Ante
Everyone else may be pretty excited about the rising popularity of netbooks like the Asus Eee PC and MSI Wind, there are still proponents of the UMPC (ultra mobile PC) format, like OQO. These are smaller than netbooks, but offer nearly the same functionality as a full-fledged PC.
The newly announced OQO Model 2+ is probably one of the best UMPCs available today… when it hits retail channels in May 2009. The more affordable $999 model gets a 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor, XP Home, 60GB HDD, 1GB RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 5-inch WVGA LCD touchscreen. The real star, however, is the more expensive $1,499 model. That one bumps up the Atom to 1.86GHz, increases RAM to 2GB, adds a 120GB HDD (or 60GB SSD), and Windows Vista Business.
Oh, and it has an incredible 5-inch WVGA OLED touchscreen. Yes, OLED. This offers some of the most amazing contrast ratios, power efficiency, and vibrant colors available today. While the native resolution is only WVGA, OQO has outfitted the OQO Model 2+ UMPC with interpolation technology for a higher resolution.
Growing Just the Right Plants for the Conditions
One of the more innovative products at the event was this product called the PlantSense easyBloom. This product, based on technology used in the NASA Mars Missions, allows you to take the guesswork out of gardening. It does this by measuring environmental conditions like soil, moisture, temperature and recommends plants that would thrive in this location in as little as 24 hrs.
The device is inserted into the soil and begins to take readings immediately. Once those readings are taken, you then plug the device into a USB port on your PC or Mac and it will download those findings and compare them to an online database that makes suggestions based on what it finds out. The product is even smart enough to help you diagnose why a plant is sick and can help you make it well. It can even help you resurrect a dying plant (or at least tell you what’s killing them).
Retailing for around $59.95 US, it’s a cheap way to improve your green thumb. If you tend to kill a lot more plants than you’d like to admit, it can even save you money.
Griffin Technology’s Portable Power Solutions
When it comes to the iPod accessory market, one of the best known names has got to be Griffin Technology. Not surprisingly, Griffin was on hand at Digital Experience as well.
Two of the superstar products from Griffin, in my mind, are the newly announced PowerJolt Reserve and the PowerBlock Reserve. The former is designed to work with a car’s DC power outlet, whereas the latter works with a regular AC wall outlet. The functionality between the two is essentially identical. What you get is a way to charge USB devices, like certain cell phones, without having to deal with an actual computer.
What makes the PowerJolt Reserve and PowerBlock Reserve so special is that both come with an extra battery pack that can then be detached from the chargers themselves. This internal battery essentially turns into an extra portable power pack for your iPod or iPhone. This is similar to the Ecosol Powerstick, except with the added ability of converting AC/DC outlets into powered USB ports.
Nokia E63 NAM Sells For Cheap
The Nokia E71 is probably one of the best QWERTY smartphones that the company has ever created. It looks great and comes with some terrific features, including a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera and integrated GPS. Unfortunately, some people don’t want to spend that much money for an unlocked phone (though it is available through certain GSM operators in locked form).
Nokia tackled this issue by creating the Nokia E63, which is basically a lower-end version of the E71. Unfortunately, the original release of the unlocked E63 still cost $500 and it didn’t have North America-friendly 3G bands. Well, Nokia has tackled those issues too with the new Nokia E63 NAM (North America version). It’s got 850/1900 for HSDPA and it’s priced at under $300 direct from Nokia.
You lose a few things compared to bigger brother E71, of course. The 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera is replaced by a 2.0 megapixel fixed focus camera, you lose the GPS, and the choice of materials is downgraded. Most of the important stuff stays intact, though, like the aforementioned 3G connectivity, quad-band GSM radio, microSD memory card expansion slot, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.) with A2DP, Symbian OS 8.2 (Series 60 v3.1), 3.5mm audio jack, and media player.
You can choose between the Ultramarine Blue or the Ruby Red version. I’m thinking that if Nokia wants to market the E63 as an affordable alternative to business professionals, it would be in their best interest to create a gray or black version as well.
Linksys Fills Your House With Audio
Linksys unveiled quite a large number of products at the show. All of which serve to fill your house with glorious audio without the use of wires. One of the devices on display called the DMC350 is a complete, portable, self-contained wireless music system that can be used to bring music to any room of the home. It features an LCD touch screen for easy navigation through your music library and an integrated CD player to play those songs that you have not digitized yet. They had another unit called the DMC250 which still uses an LCD, but is controlled via a remote control and loses the CD player. It sports a 50 watt internal amplifier so you can attach your own speakers. This trio is completed by an even simpler unit called a DMP100 that basically contains an on and off switch, but allows you to extend your music to any existing audio system.
As you start rolling these units across your home, it might be nice to be able to control them remotely, even when out of sight. Well, Linksys has also released the DMRW1000 Wireless Home Audio Controller that ties all these units together via a high quality color touch screen.
A Real Digital Experience
Even before the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show officially opened its trade show doors, Futurelooks had the opportunity to check out a lot of cool stuff. CES Unveiled was fun, but Digital Experience was a heck of a lot bigger and came with a nifty ’50s diner theme. Too bad I didn’t have time to grab a milkshake and a greasy burger as Futurelooks had to jet off to host the legendary “Night Before CES Party” which took place at the ultra posh Palms Place (coverage to come). More pictures from this event are available in the gallery on the next page. Stay tuned to Futurelooks for more coverage from CES 2009!
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The Futurelooks Digital Experience 2009 Photo Gallery
