CES: Day 1 Wrap-Up

Next up was iGo. They do a variety of chargers that detect whether or not devices actually need power, and if they don’t they cut it off. This saves on overcharging, thus cutting down on your electrical bill, energy waste, as well as eroding batteries. The mobile attachment plugged into their laptop charger, and offered connectors for LG, Samsung, and Palm handsets, although my Bold got a bit of a booster shot from the miniUSB plug just fine. Combined with those eco-friendly batteries I saw around (Samsung?), I think green tech is going to be a significant part of the show. 

After that I talked to some of the folks who organize USB, and were talking about a new wireless technology that they say will be able to crank out speeds upwards of 460 Mbps. They only had nice to things to say about Bluetooth, and that the two would happily coexist – one as the bulk file mover, one as the lower-power, fine-detail worker. Apparently some phones will be have the technology on demo tomorrow, so I’ll have to check that out. 

Parrot had a bunch of accessories that mostly revolved around the iPhone. Everything was very elegantly designed, even their digital picture frames, but those wireless speakers/iPhone dock really took the cake. Paired via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled, these things would be perfect for quick drop-and-play tuneage at home. Personally, I still like the idea of the BlackBerry Remote Stereo Gateway which streams music from your device to the home sound system wirelessly, but there was something about that dock that was just plain classy. Parrot also had a car kit which provided handsfree calling and music to your ride’s speaker system which looked pretty solid. A track display screen as dashboard-mountable, as was the control module.

The most potentially tacky thing at CES Unveiled was Tri-Spec’s stereo Bluetooth sunglasses. We had seen stuff like this before and it was prett uncompelling, but after trying them on, I could see their utility. Given these kinds of shades weren’t my style, they actually provided all the phone and music functions you would expect from a standard stereo headset, while also managing to stay reasonably stylish. The retractable earbuds come in two styles (I think the inner-ear ones are higher quality), and all of the controls are right there on top with some very distinctive textures. The lenses themselves could be subbed out for prescription and even bifocals. Not bad at all for the fashionista gadgeteer. 

After that, CES Unveiled started to die down. A solid intro to the show all around, but I have the sneaking suspicion that there’s a hell of a lot more to see in the coming days. If there’s anything in particular you’d like us to cover, drop a comment!