Jamming with Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker
Know one of those guys who is always acting like he’s strumming the air guitar while listening to music? Well then this $29.99 toy is the perfect gift, the Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker.
Not only is George a sales guy working the CES floor, he’s also an accomplished air guitarist capable of riffing just like Tony Iommi or Eddie Van Halen. The Air Guitar Rocker comes with 10 tracks that are loaded on a cartridge — certainly a model to support expansion for new genres or additional songs. Take the special pick and wave it in front of the Air Guitar Rocker’s Flying V belt buckle and out screams the distorted guitars. Match your strumming to the correct tempo, and you’ll play a perfect “More Than A Feeling” solo, just like Boston’s Barry Gooudreau.
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Wireless Charging with Powercast
Powercast’s chief inventor and CEO John Shearer is pitching manufacturers on a wireless vision: a world where gadgets and devices are powered and charged without all the hassle of wires. The Powercast Wireless Power Platform includes a Power Caster and a Power Harvester. The Power Harvesters are attached to something like an iPod or cell phone and can draw power from Power Casters by bringing the device within close proximity.
Powercast was shown off at CES 2007 and now in 2008 they have added more wattage. Hopefully for those of us who hate packing chargers and attaching wires, Powercast will find partners that can leverage their platform.
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Cyrstal Clear Calls with ClearOne
ClearOne, a Salt Lake City-based company, holds a majority of the global market share in the professional audio conferencing systems category. It should come as no surprise that their conference phone products for the desktop and individuals wouldn’t include significant technology enhancements that set them apart from the “el’cheapo” models you see on eBay. With full-duplexing, noise canceling, noise reduction, high-quality microphones and industrial design to enhance a voice, ClearOne products pack the best in audio technology.
Brad Baldwin learns about ClearOne from Kurt Olsen during the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Olsen shows off the Chat 50, which lets the mobile executive place calls via her cellphone or plug into a laptop via USB for Skype or softphone use.
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How to Pack a 62 Inch Monitor in Your Briefcase
When you hit the road and can’t squeeze your 62 inch monitor into your briefcase, you may want to reach for your Vuzix iWear. So if you’re watching a movie on your laptop or iPod or looking to join multiple friends in a first-person shooter game, Vuzix delivers a big experience with a mobile form factor. For gamers, the glasses-like displays will provide video, audio, microphone and even 3D sensors that allow you to move an on-screen character’s field of view by moving your head.
Paul Travers, CEO of Vuzix, talks with Brad Baldwin from the show floor of 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) about the products and the awards they have received.
Specs for the Techie:
- Virtual 62” screen viewed from 9-feet
- Advanced Video Frame Buffers, allowing for up to four 62 inch virtual screens
- iWear 3D Enabled for automatic 2D/3D control as well as field sequential 3D video files
- Twin high-resolution 640×480 (920,000 pixels) LCD displays
- Flicker free 3D video support for most field sequential 3D video files
- 32-degree field of view
- 24-bit true color (16 million colors)
- 60 Hz progressive scan update rate
- Removable, integrated speakers
- AccuTilt™ viewer with 15 degrees of angle
- Console Video Splitter with NTSC, Component & HDMI video in and out
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I Am Tiger Woods — with Electric~Spin
If you’ve got the winter golf blues, Electric~Spin has the cure. Electric~Spin’s Golf Launchpad Tour is a unique golf simulation device that allows users to play golf in the convenience of their home, with their own clubs. The golf Launchpad Tour can be used with a PC, Mac and Sony PlayStation 2 & 3 systems.
Golf Launchpad Tour measures user’s swings (clubhead speed, path and angle) and translates it into information that EA Sports Tiger Woods PGA Tour software translates on-screen with breathtaking realism and accuracy. Not only is the Tiger Woods PGA Tour experience enhanced with the Golf Launchpad Tour, but so is the swing analyzer, with its increased accuracy and 3D shot visualization!
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Bob Metcalfe, Mr. Ethernet, Discusses Home Automation with Control4 CTO Eric Smith
For a highly reliable and secure automated home, networking devices and systems is a core requirement. Eric Smith, a co-founder and CTO at Control4, talks with Robert (Bob) Metcalfe, the founder of 3Com. Known as a gifted technologist, “Mr. Ethernet,” a venture capitalist, and board member at Ember Corporation, Metcalfe is placing bets on a new networking technology know as ZigBee, a 2.4GHz wireless standard - IEEE802.15.4 - aimed primarily at monitoring and control rather than data transfer. In addition to Ethernet, Control4 solutions leverage ZigBee to connect systems where wires just aren’t practical.
In between making predictions for the future of the Smart Home, Smith and Metcalfe joke about the challenge of changing a thermostat to adjust for daylight savings time and the reliability of Windows and PCs compared to a stereo receiver.
VideoSkullcandy Links Cell Calls and Music
Rick Alden, CEO and founder of Skullcandy, created a lifestlye technology brand that integrates cell phone and audio switching so the active lifestyle can easily switch from tunes to voice calls. The patented Skullcandy Link(TM) is available in Skullcandy-branded products and is also integrated into Giro helmets, Camelback packs, Burton headwear, Sessions snowboard clothing, and more. Rick’s 15 years of snowboard event and protour planning allowed him to understand the psychographics of the Skullcandy target customer and create an authentic alternative and lifestyle brand. Alden discusses how the company name was created out of a need for a memorable web domain.
Skullcandy hosted Supernatural as a booth attraction at CES. Supernatural holds the world’s record for the longest a freestyle rap at over nine hours. Check out the video of Supernatural working the CES crowd and CEO Alden rocking with the crowd.
Naked Gadgets — Thanks to InvisibleShield
ShieldZone founder Phillip Chipping and Robert Pedersen, CEO, sit down with Brad Baldwin to talk about the benefits of protected, “naked” gadgets. Industrial designers are working hard to create the sexiest and sleekest products. Why hide the design behind a bulky, unattractive case?
Chipping took a protective film developed to protect helicopter blades and turned it into a consumer-friendly product that keeps iPod screens looking new and fragile cellphones enshrouded in a wrap-around case. With “shields” for over 600 different products — from cellphones to gaming devices to MP3 players to GPS units to laptop screens and more, ShieldZone differentiates itself by “staying invisible.”
Control4 Talks About Enabling Remote Access to Your Automated, IP-Based Home
Ed Ryan, Vice President of Product Marketing, and Fred Geiger, Product Manager, at Control4 talk about their 4Sight service. 4Sight enables remote access to your home via the web so it’s easier to interact with the automated features of your home. They talked to us about how you can lock down your Wii to only work from 5-7pm and how you can set alerts if your garage door is still open past 10:00 am. And your Contol4 dealer can remotely interact with and customize your home features. Today there are over 10k IP-based automated homes, and Control4 is leading the way by enabling the everyday homeowner to have a smart home.
Supernatual Rapping at the Skullcandy Booth during CES
Supernatual is an “interactive DJ” who holds the world record for longest time continous rapping (something like 9 hours). Rick Alburn, CEO of Skullcandy based in Park City Utah, can be seen jamming to the beat.
Supernatual adds a just-in-time plug after being handed a Rocky Mountain Voices sticker 1:50 into the song. If you’re at CES, stop by and see the Skullcandy booth in the South Convention Hall 4 35308.
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