|
Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
|
|
Checking Out This Fall's Gadgets: Pepcom's Holiday Spectacular Press Event
Yesterday, two members of the Thoughts Media team, Suhit Gupta (of Digital Media Thoughts) and Janak Parekh (of Pocket PC Thoughts) visited the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular Press Event in New York City. After the poorly-attended CeBIT conference (Kati's, Janak's and Suhit's report) and the associated Press Event (Suhit's report) 6 months ago, we were not really expecting much at this event. However, we would like to say right off the bat that we were definitely pleasantly surprised by the excellent turnout yesterday by both attendees and exhibitors. There were over 50 companies there, most notably HP, IBM, Canon, Nikon and Motorola. We got to play with several gadgets that have been announced in the last few weeks and have taken several photographs to give you guys a better idea of their scale and look 'n feel. Join us for the tour of what we saw. 
Figure 1: HP F2304 23" LCD monitor
First off, HP had one of the biggest booths there and we happened to hit it first. They have made some major announcements in the last two weeks (cameras, printers, monitors, etc.) and was showing off all the new items. First up was their new 23" LCD monitor, HP F2304 which looked incredible at the max resolution of 1920 x 1200. We fired up two copies of Internet Explorer side by side (with DMT and PPCT open, of course ;-)). We could certainly get used to this.
(Note: Most of these pictures were taken with Suhit's Canon 10D camera. Click on any picture for a higher-resolution version, and if you want really high-res pictures, contact him for the original images.)
Figure 2: Another look at HP's 23" widescreen LCD monitor
Here's a picture without flash to get an idea of the brightness. Interestingly, HP had the unit running at a low resolution until we tweaked it.
Figure 3: HP Photosmart 2710 All-in-One
The HP Photosmart 2710 All-in-One unit was there all in its glory. Suhit posted on this a few weeks ago -- it's a fantastic little device that can print 30ppm (draft mode)/12ppm (normal quality) and has a 2400 x 4800 dpi scanner + copier, plus the regular media card readers. But most impressively, it can be connected to your network wirelessly.
Figure 4: HP Photosmart 8450 photo printer
The HP Photosmart 8450 photo printer prints looked great and the price point for this printer is fantastic at $299. Some of the sample printout were on matte quality paper and the printer was able to do a great job with the images on a rough surface.
Figure 5: HP Photosmart 375B Compact Printer with Battery
The 375B is a really compact device. Note the USB wireless stick (we didn't check if it was Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) sticking out of the top of the printer. The device struck Suhit as looking a lot smaller in person than in pictures, and the LCD screen is extremely clear and bright.
Figure 6: HP's iPAQ hx4705
Here you see Janak handling the HP iPAQ hx4705. We only had a minute or two to play with it, as there were lots of people, so in brief, Janak was reasonably impressed -- the form factor was decent and the unit was comfortable to hold. Suhit was a bit underwhelmed; in his opinion, Janak's e805 had brighter colors. Janak noted that the flip cover ONLY attaches to the left side, and cannot be shifted to the right side. Incidentally, the unit is officially now shipping from HP's perspective.
Figure 7: Comparison shot of the iPAQ hx4705 and Janak's Toshiba e805
Note that the e805 in this picture has an extended battery, and as such appears thicker. Both units were set to full brightness. The overall form factors of the two are very similar.
Suhit's biggest nit was the touch screen response on the hx4705: when dragging the stylus against the screen, the liquid flows around as if a laptop screen was being poked. We haven't seen that on Pocket PCs in years. The HP representatives suggested that this was normal. 8O Janak hopes this is just a preproduction unit, but for Suhit, the hx4705 might be off his list of VGA devices to consider.
Figure 8: HP iPAQ rz1715 vs. iPAQ rx3715
Both the rz1715 and rx3715 have only 240x320 screens, but they're bright, clear, and don't have the yellowing effect like some of the current iPAQ models.
Figure 9: Another shot of the HP iPAQ hx4705
Another shot of the hx4705, with its flip-cover closed.
Figure 10: The HP Pocket PC lineup: The iPAQ hx4705 with flip cover open, the iPAQ h6315, the rx3715 and the rz1715 -- it's hard to keep the model numbers straight!
We finally got our hands on the 6000 series iPAQ and it is very comfortable to hold -- however, it has the same screen as the iPAQ 4xxx and 194x units and yellows at an angle. None of the other iPAQs that we saw there do this. The snap-on thumbboard seems quite easy to use, although we didn't play with it extensively.
Figure 11: HP iPod and assorted skins
So we finally got to ask HP the ultimate question about the HP iPod - "why?". Their response: "Because I Can". ;-) (Just kidding) They claim that this gives the iPod more of a reach as HP has many distribution channels that connect to retail, giving a broader store presence. Hmm, maybe it is time for iRiver to team up with Dell (if only Dell did not have their DJ). Anyways, HP had on display several skins to accessorize your HP iPod. Interesting, although Janak thinks they look kinda cheesy.
Figure 12: Rave-MP MP3 player
We finally moved past the HP booths realizing that there were other companies. Rave MP was showing off their latest MP3 players. The crimson colored AMP 128 is small and remarkably light. It is pager-size and has an FM receiver, a voice and FM recorder, a slot for adding storage via SD or MMC card, and an AAA battery. When we picked it up, it actually felt almost hollow inside.
Figure 13: Rave-MP AMP along with the ARC?
We're guessing the second device is the ARC. We believe Rave-MP only has two MP3 players and since the booth was very busy, we did not get a chance to ask. The device pictured above doesn't look like the ARC from screenshots seen in the past, but it is still a tiny little MP3 player, and if it is really the ARC then it has a whopping 2.5GB or 5GB drive. We're not sure, and in retrospect, we should have gotten more information on it. 
Figure 14: Sonos Digital Music System
Next up was a booth by Sonos. They were displaying their Digital Music system that enables you to remotely play music from your desktop all over the house, and you can control it all from the palm of your hand using their Sonos Controller. The idea is that each room gets a Sonos ZonePlayer which is attached either via Ethernet or 802.11g (it acts as a base station/repeater, as far as we can tell) to your existing home network. Each ZonePlayer is then hooked up to your speakers to produce output.
Figure 15: Sonos ZonePlayer and Controller
Sonos supports playback of WMA, (non-DRM) AAC, OGG and MP3, covering the entire spectrum of popular audio compression formats.
Figure 16: Sonos Controller alongside a 3G iPod
The controller has an interface similar as that of the iPod's, which struck us as rather interesting. The controller speaks wirelessly with the ZonePlayer, and while both the ZonePlayer and the Controller are wireless/802.11 capable, it is their own proprietary wireless protocol implementation on top of it. Both the ZonePlayer and the Controller pick up an IP address so you should have a NAT running. The ZonePlayer sees the music on your computer via an SMB share. The controller itself is a reasonably slick embedded Linux solution.
Figure 17: Sonos Controller UI
One of the other cool features of the ZonePlayer is that it can serve as a repeater so even if one of your nodes is outside the range of your PC, it will be able to communicate with your PC as long it is able to see another ZonePlayer which can ultimately see your PC. Suhit speculates about the security implications, but we'll have to find out more before we can draw conclusions about that.
Figure 18: The I/O of the ZonePlayer. Note the Ethernet ports!
Overall we really liked the Sonos solution. The ZonePlayer will set you back $499 USD while the controller is expected to cost $399. There will be a package deal for $1199 for 2 ZonePlayers and 1 Controller.
Figure 19: Logitech's MediaPlay mouse
Logitech was showing off several new input devices. Unfortunately, they did not show their new MX1000 laser mouse nor the new LX700 multimedia keyboard (which is not a split-key keyboard). However they had a new mouse on display called the MediaPlay mouse. A very sleek device, with media controls built on the mouse itself, thus saving a user valuable seconds in a music changing emergency. ;-)
Figure 20: Side view of the Logitech MediaPlay
The mouse is light and seemed very comfortable to use. Logitech was also showing off several controllers for the X-Box as well as the PC. They also displayed version 3 of their Digital Pen input technology. It seems to have come a long way since the bulky, awkward pen they used to always display at such events. Their new pen is light and quite sleek, given what it does.
Figure 21: Lexmark P915 printer
We breezed past the Lexmark booth, though we caught a glimpse of the new Small & Medium Business-targeted printers. The first printer is the P915 which is a nice, inexpensive photo printer capable of 15ppm at 4800 dpi. Looks like a very clean cut design.
Figure 22: Lexmark P6250 printer
The P6250 is their new all-in-one printer which can print up to 22ppm, has a 4800dpi flatbed scanner and is PictBridge compatible.
Figure 23: Nikon D2X camera with Fisheye lens
We were seriously hoping for the big name camera vendors to be present and were not disappointed. Nikon brought their new professional D2X digital SLR and Suhit, ever the camera geek, was amazed. It has a 9 point AF and is super fast. You see it here with a 15mm fisheye lens (costs about $1K). DMT has already posted more details on the camera; it will be retailing in the $4-$4.5K range.
Figure 24: Nikon D2X camera body
So as much as Suhit was impressed by the wicked speed of the camera and the really large buffer, he did not like the design of the camera; in reducing the camera body size, they made the unit thin, and as such he's uncomfortable holding the unit. This is a minor nit, though, and other than that it is awesome. Suhit wishes he could have played with it longer but in the brief time that he spent with it, it seemed very customizable and the large LCD screen in the back was of very high resolution and quality.
Figure 25: Nikon F6 camera body
Suhit was so enamored by the D2X that he almost forgot about the other cameras they had on display. But here's a quick shot of Nikon's flagship film SLR, the F6 (yes, believe it or not, film SLRs still sell ).
Figure 26: Sony Ericsson P910
The Sony booth had a lot of little gadgets that interested us. The Sony P910 has a fantastic screen and feels extremely good in the hand. It's extremely similar to the P900, but has one addition: the thumbboard.
Figure 27: Using the Sony Ericsson P910 with its integrated thumbboard
Since the P910 is so small, the thumbboard is very tiny -- noticeably smaller even than the one on the Treo 600. It is definitely usable, however, Suhit found it hard to operate the tiny keys with his massive thumbs. ;-) Janak's thumbs, as pictured, can operate it, although you're not going to peck that fast at a unit like this. The keypad/thumbboard is securely attached and the flip feels very secure. Too bad the P910 has a Memory Stick slot and no Wi-Fi.
Figure 28: Ultra small Sony East Asia cell phone
As always, Sony had an amazing cell phone that's not available in North America. Here's an ultra-tiny cell phone that is to be released in East Asia (Suhit recollects that the rep said Korea, but Janak's convinced it was to be released in Japan). Let's hope we see it in the US -- it was truly a featherweight device. The phone is less than half the size of Suhit's Ericsson T68.
Figure 29: Sony Ericsson's new camera phone, the S700i
The S700i, which is slated to hit the US in the fourth quarter, is a unique camera phone with supposedly a high-quality 1.3MP sensor and a form factor to match. To use it as a camera, you use the screen as a viewfinder, as the camera itself is on the other side. You hold it sideways like a camera and hit a button on the side of the unit to snap pics.
Figure 30: View of the S700i's rear
We didn't have time to do any picture tests, but the form factor is certainly unique and quite compelling.
Figure 31: The S700i's keypad, exposed
There is a keypad that can be accessed by swiveling the top around.
Figure 32: Sony's T610 replacement, the T637
The T637 is the popular North American equivalent of the T630. It has an improved display over the T610 and a slightly more comfortable form factor.
Figure 33: Side/rear view of the T637
That said, the T637's camera isn't anything to write home about. Still, it's a nice little device.
Figure 34: Sandisk 2GB and 4GB CF cards
Sandisk has a nice collection of all their latest cards; most notably, the 2GB and 4GB CF cards were on display. Sandisk (as Suhit mentioned on DMT earlier) claims that this is a high speed card with transfer speed of about 10MBps and they will be retailing for around $220 and $500 respectively. When asked what the new models will be, the Sandisk representatives hinted at larger sized (and high speed) SD cards.
Figure 35: The VoQ smartphone
Sierra Wireless made waves with their announcement of the VoQ Smartphone 2003 device, and they had it on display. The unit is quite comfortable in the hand, albeit a bit tall. Of course, the one compelling feature is its flip-out thumbboard.
Figure 36: The VoQ with its thumbboard exposed
The thumbboard seemed pretty useable. When you flip out the keyboard, it launches a "rapid-lookup" program capable of searching any piece of data on the Smartphone, making access rapid. Unfortunately, this GSM device is not available from any carrier; it must be purchased through third-parties in the channel.
Figure 37: Viewsonic wide-screen LCD - N2700W
The Viewsonic N2700W, the 27" LCD TV/monitor was on display connected to a wireless receiver (note the little box to the bottom right of the TV).
Figure 38: Viewsonic Wireless Media Transmitter W/ Hard Drive
So the Wireless transmitter has a built in drive which had several MPEG 2 movies on the drive. A user is able to scan the network using the receiver (display of controls on the TV) and scan for all the transmitters on the network. Once found, through a proprietary interface (which looks an awful lot like Windows Explorer ;-)), a user can browse through the files on the hard drive and then view the appropriate media on the TV. We had the pleasure of seeing a couple of minutes of Legally Blonde. :-P
Figure 39: Jabra's new Bluetooth headset
Jabra recently announced a new BT headset that's noticeably more compact than their previous offerings. This unit should be coming in the next few months.
Figure 40: Rear view of Jabra's new BT headset
Another angle for the upcoming Jabra headset. Suhit also asked Jabra if they were investigating BT earbuds and we seemed to get the impression that they are working on something like it. It would be very cool to have stereo earbuds that communicate with a personal music player over Bluetooth.
Figure 41: Canon EOS 20D
Canon was up next, much to Suhit's delight. After being amazed by the Nikon D2X, he was looking forward to some Canon relief. The Canon representative just smiled when he asked for information on the EOS 1Ds Mark II. But they did have the EOS 20D (the successor to the 10D) on display.
Figure 42: EOS 10D (left) vs. EOS 20D (right)
As most of you (at least most on DMT) know, Suhit has the EOS 10D (most of the pictures in this article have been shot with it), and we got to take good comparison shots of the two cameras. As you can tell they look very similar.
Figure 43: EOS 10D (left) vs. EOS 20D (right)
The 20D is wider than the 10D, but is thinner and much lighter. It has 9 AF points and is much faster than its predecessor, both in focusing as well as in taking pictures.
Figure 44: EOS 10D (left) vs. EOS 20D (right)
The 20D improves over the 10D with an 8.2MP sensor but the interface and the controls seem identical. Unsurprisingly, Canon said 'NO' to Suhit's request to swap his for a new 20D. :P
Figure 45: Rio Carbon
What an incredibly sexy gadget! Suhit thinks that it puts the iPod mini to shame. It is very tiny, with a clear, very readable display. The obvious criticism is the interface since the iPod mini has the scroll wheel, but the Rio Carbon was quite easy to navigate with its own thumbwheel in the corner. Janak concurs -- the device is very comfortable to hold in the hand, the only nit is that the display isn't as big and the UI as convenient as the Mini.
Figure 46: Rio Carbon with iPod (3rd gen.) and iRiver iHP-140
We placed the Rio Carbon side by side with Janak's iPod (3rd generation 30GB) and Suhit's iRiver iHP-140 and there is no question about the fact that it is much smaller, much lighter. Of course, it's only 5GB.
Figure 47: Rio Carbon with iPod (3rd gen.) and iRiver iHP-140
Another shot of the three devices to show just how small the Rio Carbon really is. For those who don't know, the Rio Carbon is a 5GB MP3 player in the $250 price range, ergo direct competitor the the iPod Mini.
Figure 48: Rio Forge
The brand new Rio Forge was on display. It's an MP3 player available in 128MB, 256MB and 512MB formats. It too is very small, very pager like, and extremely light. It seems like a perfect device for gym-goers.
Figure 49: Rio Karma
The 20GB Rio Karma completed the different Rio players on display. This is a device we have seen for many months now, and the design looks just as weird in person as it is in those pictures that you have all seen. When asked if that will be worked on, we seemed to get the impression that Rio will be doing something different in the next revision, but they refused to elaborate on "future product offerings".
Figure 50: Rio Carbon packaging
We've talked many times about how Apple really concentrates on the UI and the look and feel of a device. One thing that's often overlooked is the packaging -- Apple's is particularly easy to open and navigate. Sadly, both the iRiver (and now the Rio) use difficult-to-open plastic packaging. Ugh!
Figure 51: Rio Karma and Carbon
A final shot of the Karma and the Carbon, side-by-side.
Figure 52: Casio Ultra-Slim EX-S100
Casio is well known for their ultra-slim cameras that were about the thickness of only a few business cards held together. The S100 is the new 3.2 MP digital camera that combines a 2.8x optical zoom in a camera body that is a mere 16.7mm thick -- a size previously only reserved for non-zoom cameras.
Figure 53: Casio EX-S100
Here you see the optics of the camera when actually on. It is incredible how they fold all of that into a tiny little body like that of the Exilim's. The unit also utilizes a ceramic lens. We didn't have time to take pictures, so we're not sure of the picture quality, but the unit is amazingly small.
Figure 54: Casio Ex-S100
Just a quick front shot of the camera. It is a very clean design. A perfect camera for those who are constantly on the go, but don't want to deal with the awful picture a cell phone camera takes. Janak is convinced this is his next camera.
Figure 55: Casio EX-Z55
The Casio EX-Z55 is their new 5MP camera. Suhit bought the Z40 for his sister about a year ago (i.e. the 4 MP predecessor to the EX-Z55) and if the Z40 was any indication, the Z55 will do very well. We were definitely impressed by the incredible battery life this camera offers, even with a tiny little battery like that in the Z55.
Figure 56: Casio EX-Z50
The Casio EX-Z50 is a camera very similar to the EX-Z55, except that is has a slightly lower battery life and only has a 2" LCD display instead of the 2.5" in the Z55, but at $100 less than the Z55. Casio had some interesting PowerPoint slides on explaining how they overcame some of the technical challenges of fitting such a large LCD in a camera the same size as the Z50.
Figure 57: Casio's Exilim Engine
On display was the chip that drives the Exilim cameras. They also had on display the chips they have used in the past (not pictured here) in their Exilim cameras and the miniaturization over the years was striking. Interestingly, Casio actually uses the same engine in all of their Exilim cameras.
Figure 58: Casio EX-S100 (bottom) vs. Canon Powershot S230
Here is a quick comparison shot featuring the new EX-S100 and Canon's Powershot S230 (which used to be, many years ago, the smallest 3MP camera on the market, but which looks like a brick in comparison).
Figure 59: Casio EX-S100 (left) vs. Canon Powershot S230 - side views
A side view of the two camera truly shows how much slimmer the S100 really is in relation to the S230.
Figure 60: Casio Exilim EX-P600
The EX-P600 is a larger 6MP unit that Casio has been selling since early 2004. It is supposed to be quite fast and take decent quality 6MP pictures, and features a 2" LCD screen.
Figure 61: Casio EX-P600 LCD
The 2" LCD is very nice. There were some complaints about the yellowness of the LCD screen in the Exilim Z40 which appear to have been fixed in this camera. In both this picture as well as the one above, Casio is showing off some of the software that is built in the camera to assist the amateur photographer. The above picture shows a large array of assistive areas that the user would scroll through. There is also a running histogram of the scene. In this picture, they are showing off what a user would actually see once they select one of the broad range of areas. Their assistant programs can also give side-by-side image comparisons with features turned on and off.
Figure 62: Full array of Casio Exilim Cameras
A final picture of the entire array of Casio Exilim products.
Figure 63: Altec Lansing 5.1 in 3.1 speakers
Altec Lansing had a set of 3.1 speakers that were built such that (they claim) they're able to produce 5.1 surround sound with just a 3.1 design. The idea is to have the main speakers produce sounds for both the front and the rear channels and the physical design (i.e. broken up with two perpendicularly angled faces) on each speaker apparently produces the desired effect.
Figure 64: Altec Lansing inMotion MP3 player speaker sets
Altec Lansing was also showing off their compact foldable speaker sets. While they're primarily designed for the iPods with dock connector, they can also be used with a third-party MP3 player with the auxiliary input jack in the back (but of course this setup is far less convenient). They are actually planning a release of a speaker set that will connect with other top portable MP3 players, by the beginning of Q2 2005 (the hope is that said top players will be the Creative, iRiver, etc.). Time will tell.
Figure 65: Nokia's 9300 Communicator
Next up was Nokia. The first device we played with was the 9300 -- this is planned to be released in the US, and features most of the features of the 9500, but lacking Wi-Fi and a camera. The unit is surprisingly smaller than their older Communicators and can be pocketed without too much effort. Suhit found the 9500 to be quite usable in terms of size, however the price (around $1K, presumably without contract) was prohibitive. The 9300 is rumored to sell around as much as a top of the line smartphone so it would solve that problem, although it's still going to be a substantial monetary investment.
Figure 66: The 9300, sideways view and closed
The unit is designed to operate in two modes: as a phone with the unit closed, and as a clamshell PDA. It doesn't have a touch screen, but does feature a full keyboard and a small joystick. The colors are vivid and very clear. Apparently, it's also quite readable in bright sunlight.
Figure 67: The 9300, opened
Opening it yields a very high-resolution 640x200 screen. The keys are not perfect, but certainly comfortable. The joystick is a little too sensitive. Janak's biggest nit was that it's not a touch screen, unlike his Pocket PC Phone. Suhit liked the unit very much, but as we'll describe later, the Blackberry 7100t takes the cake.
Figure 68: Close-up of the 9300 opened
Nokia had a few other cameras on display, but they were less interesting and have been discussed ad infinitum on other sites. It was also getting late, so we moved on to Pentax's booth.
Figure 69: Pentax's new Optio X
Pentax recently announced this compact camera, which has created buzz particularly because of its split screen/LCD design, enabling one to easily take pictures at a variety of angles and for self-portraits. The device is light, and the spindle feels very sturdy.
Figure 70: The Optio X, with the screen rotated to the lens side
Too bad the Optio X doesn't "fold closed" with its spindle setup.
Figure 71: Motorola's latest lineup
Motorola had all of their interesting devices on display. Here, you can see the Motorola A630, their next-gen StarTAC (currently only a Korea model), the MPx220 Windows Mobile Smartphone, the RAZR v3, and of course the MPx. Yummy, we want them all. Suhit finds the MPx to be an awesome device but it is a bit too big to be held up as a phone. The hinge also seemed like it was a bit flaky; we're sure it's been through tradeshow abuse, but it remains to be seen how well it'll hold up in actual use.
Figure 72: Motorola's latest lineup, flipped open
All of them have bright, beautiful screens. The new StarTAC is intriguing, but Motorola has no plans to sell it in the US at this time. The RAZR phone was also extremely interesting due to its incredibly thin, light design.
Figure 73: Motorola's latest lineup, MPx flipped open in landscape
The MPx is dual-hinged, and can be opened up in landscape. This unit matches what we've seen in previous development units: only 22MB of memory is available on the unit. Hopefully this'll be boosted, and with the unique program memory architecture on the MPx will serve to be a useful setup.
Figure 74: IBM's micro projector
IBM didn't have too much new, although this small projector is always photogenic. We could use one of those in our office.
Figure 75: Samsung MM-A700
Samsung was showing off several new phones, most of which we liked. The one that stuck out is the Samsung MM-A700 which is a phone that is currently being offered through Sprint. This seemingly generic camera phone actually surprised us when we found out that it has camcorder capabilities. It is able to record up to 15 seconds of fairly high frame-rate videos and then play them back.
Figure 76: Samsung MM-A700
It is also capable of streaming videos down from a remote site and view them on a really nice, high resolution screen (the only limitation here is battery life). Yet another surprise on the phone was the built in LED flash that you see in this picture.
Figure 77: Kodak Printer Dock Plus
Kodak's booth was among our last stops. They had several of their Kodak Printer Dock Plus printers on display. Each one was connected to a different camera to show off the versatility of their printer. We have noticed that several readers on Digital Media Thoughts have this printer and really like it.
Figure 78: Kodak Printer Dock Plus
Here is another shot of the printer.
RIM
Last but not least was RIM and their new Blackberry 7100t. This was at the end of the show, so we didn't have time to take pictures, but we walked away very impressed with the unit. SureType works extremely well -- adding new words to the dictionary is quite straightforward -- and the unit is very comfortable to hold up to the ear. The screen is extremely bright and clear -- amongst the highest-DPI screens on smartphones today. Apart from the keyboard and the phone ergonomics, the unit works a lot like existing Blackberries: there's a thumb wheel and an escape button. The unit will be integrable with Blackberry Enterprise Server, Blackberry Desktop Redirector, and a web client will be offered through T-Mobile.
The $199 price with a T-Mobile contract is also very compelling -- enough that Suhit practically begged the rep to give him one. In fact he claims that his search for a "perfect" always-on email phone which had supposedly ended with the Sidekick II has actually been changed to the Blackberry 7100t (even though it doesn't have a camera phone or Wi-Fi). The 7100t does have Bluetooth, but it appears that one cannot transfer data from the 7100t to a computer via BT. She couldn't do that, but she suggested the unit would be out in about two weeks, which pegs the release date in early October. Janak, on the other hand, is still thinking of getting the Sidekick II to complement his Pocket PCs. He still hasn't figured out, though, how he's going to fit the entire mess in his pockets.
Conclusions
The Holiday Spectacular Press Event was chock-full of fantastic digital media and handheld technology. We would have taken more time setting up the shots, but we barely managed to fit everything in the three-hour window as it was. The booths were packing up as we left around 9:10pm. Hopefully, you found our preview drool-worthy -- we're looking forward to see more of these products hit the market.  There were only a few prerelease things shown, and the manufacturers asked us not to post on it. Stay tuned when the most interesting of the bunch hits the market next week.
|
Linear Mode
