Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com - CES Archives tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2011-06-02:/blog/rich-tehrani//13 2013-03-09T17:40:25Z Communications and Technology Blog - Latest news in IP communications, telecom, VoIP, call center & CRM space Touchfire 2.0 Shows iPad IS a Content Creation Device tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50816 2013-03-09T17:17:00Z 2013-03-09T17:40:25Z When the iPad was first introduced so many pundits explained what a niche product this tablet would be as it didn't possess a way to create content - in volume anyway. This of course was a huge surprise to... Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ When the iPad was first introduced so many pundits explained what a niche product this tablet would be as it didn't possess a way to create content - in volume anyway. This of course was a huge surprise to me because I did immediately create blog entries and articles on the device. After a while I did feel pain in my fingers from repeatedly hitting the glass surface, in-part, this is the reason I looked for solutions to my problem. Touchfire was a Kickstarter project I backed and covered - once to introduce it to my readers and another to discuss how long it took to actually get the product.

The product is a rubberized transparent keyboard which can be connected and disconnected easily from the device while fitting under the standard iPad cover. It is obviously not for everyone and has already sold 10,000 units. Is this a big number? I would say yes - not compared to the hundreds of millions of iPads sold of course but I would say it is still an impressive figure.

The Touchfire team has announced version 2.0 (see picture) of its project - the new device will have more transparent keys, be more resilient to dust, look more polished, attach more securely and sport new surfaces which make typing more fluid.

One takeaway from the news is just how lucrative it is to augment the iOS or Android ecosystem. The other of course is the iPad and to some degree all tablets are content creation devices. They certainly can be less convenient than a laptop or Ultrabook in some ways - not running Flash, Microsoft Word, etc - but their increased portability seems to more than make up for these challenges.

Speaking of keyboards, the ZaggKeys PROplus is an amazing cover and keyboard for the iPad 4. Another great benefit of the device is the keys are backlit. The one downside is the iPad 4 is too heavy for the keyboard - meaning if you aren't careful the tablet could and will slip out. From a productivity perspective however the combo of an iPad and this keyboard is enough to substitute for a laptop in most every application. See pictures below.

 

]]> Is Apple Too Sexy for MWC? tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50726 2013-02-15T11:53:46Z 2013-02-15T14:43:35Z Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ right-said-fred.png
In deciding not to exhibit at the Macworld events, CES and MWC, Apple has shown the world that it doesn’t need others to be successful. It can control the conversation far better when it holds its own press conferences which are invitation-only by design.

While this philosophy was very successful for a number of years, what Apple didn’t count on was the innovation gap between its products and the rest of the market closing to the point where a large-screen Android smartphone is actually preferable by the masses to the company’s iOS based phone offerings.

In other words – the “Apple attitude” we’re too sexy for your trade show was a great marketing concept for a number of years but now it seems like a bad choice. In just over a week as tens of thousands of movers and shakers descend on Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, we will see every competitor Apple has – we will witness launch after launch but nothing from Apple.

In fact Samsung is expected to make a major splash and launch a Galaxy S4. Last year they dominated the city as you may remember from my posts on the matter relating to the special art exhibit they had in the center of town and launch of the Galaxy Note 10.1. The S4 in case you are wondering is expected to contain a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED+ screen and possibly an 8-core processor.

You could make the argument that Apple has everyone it needs at its own press conferences but this just isn’t the case. In the age of citizen journalism you need to reach every influential citizen. These people, to the dismay of Apple, go to non-Apple events in far larger numbers than they do the company’s press conferences.

Now it’s up to Tim Cook to make Apple change with the times. Will Apple still think it’s “too sexy” to be at MWC and other events after Samsung and others steal the show? We’ll see.

 

]]> Ferrari By Logic3 Impresses With High-End Audio at CES tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50598 2013-01-23T22:50:50Z 2013-01-23T22:55:14Z At CES 2013 one of the more exciting booths was Ferrari By Logic3 where the company showed off an all-in-one docking system with 350W of audio power. It looks gorgeous and sounds amazing. Yes, it will give Bose a run... Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ _0040_250w-hero.png

At CES 2013 one of the more exciting booths was Ferrari By Logic3 where the company showed off an all-in-one docking system with 350W of audio power. It looks gorgeous and sounds amazing. Yes, it will give Bose a run for its money and you might mistake it for artwork.

After the interview (see below) I listened to the Cavallino GT 1 Air, and was blown away at the realistic and powerful sound. I played C’Mon (Tiesto vs. Diplo) on the system which is a great reference song to use when looking for audio weaknesses – especially in the low range.

In short, the Cavallino was awesome and sounded great.

]]> Tactus: The Huge Smartphone Advance You Don't Know About tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50573 2013-01-18T18:14:20Z 2013-01-18T18:19:15Z Ever hear of Tactus? The company develops an ultrathin membrane that sits over the display of any touchscreen device that is also essentially invisible when not in use. But should you abruptly desire the use of actual keyboard buttons beneath... Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ Ever hear of Tactus? The company develops an ultrathin membrane thattactus1.jpg sits over the display of any touchscreen device that is also essentially invisible when not in use. But should you abruptly desire the use of actual keyboard buttons beneath your fingertips, the Tactus membrane will suddenly spring into action on demand and magically create a raised and fully operable 3D set of keyboard buttons for you. Suddenly your touchscreen has an actual keyboard on it. The membrane's size is unlimited and can be applied to the smallest mobile touchscreen or even Lenovo's brand new 27 inch table touchscreen PC.

What's more, the membrane doesn’t offer a fixed capability. Any kind of key, any key arrangement and numerous underlying key shapes and sizes can all be configured. Nor is this a haptic touch illusion of any sort. You end up with real tactile keys beneath your fingers where before there were none. When a user is ready to go back to touchscreen use, the keyboard simply disappears.

Tony Rizzo has a great piece on the company on TMCnet’s sister site TechZone360 where he describes what the technology can do and wonders about the potential pitfalls. Ultimately this is the perfect hybrid between glass and keyboard and reminds me a great deal of the TouchFire keyboard from Kickstarter. (See also Kickstarter, a solution for the patient). The only difference is in this case the keyboard disappears (to some degree anyway) when not being used. In the case of TouchFire, you remove the keyboard manually if you don’t want to see it.

My thoughts are – assuming this technology doesn’t have any of the drawbacks Tony discusses, it will be a solid addition to the future of computing and numerous vendors are hopefully going to roll out solutions with this tech embedded into it. Hopefully it will be coming soon to a smartphone and tablet near you.

]]> New Bluetooth Tech Lets You Find Anything tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50557 2013-01-17T02:00:18Z 2013-01-17T02:00:19Z With the tens of thousands of people roaming around CES its amazing that I ran into contributing writer to TMCnet - Doug Mohney. I actually saw him twice - without any planning. But now that I read one of... Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ With the tens of thousands of people roaming around CES its amazing that I ran into contributing writer to TMCnet - Doug Mohney. I actually saw him twice - without any planning. But now that I read one of his pieces from the show regarding tracking devices that will use low-power bluetooth and not run out of battery for a whole year, I have to wonder if he stuck one on me.

According to Doug:

Based in Florida, SSI America has been developing Bluetooth devices for over 12 years for large companies. Rebranding itself as Stick-N-Find Technologies, the company is rolling a number of solutions around Bluetooth Low Energy.

Its name-brand Stick-N-Find Stickers are barely bigger than a CR2016 coin cell battery, at 0.16 inches thick. A fresh battery will last for about a year with the device, which includes both a light and a buzzer to help people find devices in the dark.

To find a sticker, you load up a free "Radar" app – IOS and Android both supported and if you remember the motion tracker from "Aliens," you know what the user interface looks like – to track and find stickers. Multiple stickers can be tracked at the same time, with users able to select a buzz, flashing lights or both from the radar screen.

Additional modes include a "Virtual Leash" and "Find It." The Virtual Leash triggers an alarm if a sticker moves out a selected distance while the Find It feature will alert you when a sticker comes within range.

Max range for the sticker is around 30 meters, and the company recommends you track no more than 20 devices.

How amazing is that? It seems the Internet of things is becoming a reality - before our very eyes. Now I have to find some glue remover - I expect to see him at ITEXPO in 2 weeks and don't want to make it that easy for him to find me again. :-)

 

]]> Tehrani's Best of CES 2013 tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50554 2013-01-16T23:03:30Z 2013-01-16T23:06:51Z Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ 2013-ces.png

There was so much to see at CES – here are some of my favorites. Qi wireless charging, impossibly thin televisions and the smallest electric vehicles on the market are some of my top picks. I hope you like the video.

]]> I Want Xbox IllumiRoom Now! tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50549 2013-01-16T11:46:43Z 2013-01-16T11:55:04Z Microsoft really differentiated itself with Kinect and now it's touting IllumiRoomn as the next step in immersive gaming. The idea is images will be projected in your room beyond the display - allowing for the offline world to merge with... Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ ITEXPO some years back the company showed a video on the keynote stage of a desk where a screen was projected and interacted with items on the surface like a coffee cup.

The same technology was on display this past week at CES actually - just not from Redmond.



Is IllumiRoom a product we will see in the future or just a gimmick with a short shelf life? I am not sure. It seems really cool - but then again I remember a manufacturer came out with a TV which projected the color displayed on a TV screen to the surrounding wall and it didn't gain much traction.

Still, this tech looks leading-edge and I'd love to try it out.]]> How CBS Just Ruined the Integrity of CNET tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50538 2013-01-15T17:33:27Z 2013-01-15T17:37:24Z Recently the editors at CNET were about to give the best of show award at CES to Dish Hopper. The trouble started when CBS alerted CNET to a legal conflict over this ad-skipping product which shows recorded programs on iPads.... Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ dish-hopper.png

Recently the editors at CNET were about to give the best of show award at CES to Dish Hopper. The trouble started when CBS alerted CNET to a legal conflict over this ad-skipping product which shows recorded programs on iPads. As you might imagine, bringing notoriety to a product which destroys the revenue of your parent company was seen as a suicidal move by CBS. On the flipside was the integrity of the journalists who believed this product was the best in show.

The problem was, even though this product had already won, the directive was given from above that it had to be disqualified from consideration.

As a result of this embarrassing situation, Greg Sandoval quit in protest, taking to Twitter to say that he no longer had "confidence that CBS is committed to editorial independence." He also said, "I just want to be known as an honest reporter," adding "CNET wasn't honest about what occurred regarding Dish."

CNET Editor Lindsey Turrentine had the following to say on the matter:

After the vote, we communicated the winners, as we always do, through normal channels. CNET immediately got down to the business of preparing for a massive stage show the following morning and preparing a press release.

Later that evening, we were alerted to the legal conflict for CBS. All night and through to morning, my managers up and down CNET and I fought for two things: To honor the original vote and -- when it became clear that CBS Corporate did not accept that answer -- to issue a transparent statement regarding the original vote.

Ultimately, we were told that we must use the official statement and that we must follow corporate policy to defer all press requests to corporate communications.

Here is that official statement:

The Dish Hopper with Sling was removed from consideration due to active litigation involving our parent company CBS Corp. We will no longer be reviewing products manufactured by companies with which we are in litigation with respect to such product.

We were in an impossible situation as journalists. The conflict of interest was real -- a legal case can impact the bottom line of our company and introduce the possibility of bias -- but the circumstances demanded more transparency and not hurried policy.

I could have quit right then. Maybe I should have. I decided that the best thing for my team was to get through the day as best we could and to fight the fight from the other side. Every single member of the CNET Reviews team is a dedicated, ethical, passionate technology critic. If I abandoned them now, I would be abandoning the ship.

I certainly see why CBS would react the way they did – after all who wants to have part of your company help drive sales of a product which will directly decrease your profits. But the challenge for CBS now is they have damaged the CNET brand in a big way. Whether the market will once again believe the brand can report independently remains to be seen.

]]> Body Painting Crossed Line at CES? tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50525 2013-01-14T19:03:33Z 2013-01-14T19:09:34Z Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/
Remember the CES trend I cited last week about hot DJs and body painting? Well it seems at least one of these items may have crossed the line – and I’ll give you a hint, it has nothing to do with music. You see there is a backlash taking place over Hyper’s use of women as “sex objects” at the recent 2013 CES. The reality is however that sex sells. If you have a male audience, using attractive women to sell products works. If it didn’t, companies wouldn’t do it.

And it sells both ways. Attractive men are often used to attract a female audience as well.

Still, if you are offended at Hyper’s use of body painted women at CES, check out this piece on CBC News or Business Insider for more.

One final thought – the “booth babes” as some of the women at shows are referred to, typically wore more clothes than the majority of women walking around Las Vegas in general. And consider this is at a time when temps outside reached below 30 degrees at night.

]]> CES: Sharp Shows Off 8K TV Prototype tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50524 2013-01-11T18:55:09Z 2013-01-11T18:55:09Z Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/

]]> CES: LG Jumps into Wearable Computing tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50523 2013-01-11T17:52:10Z 2013-01-11T17:52:10Z Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ ]]> CES: Another Booth, Another DJ tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50517 2013-01-09T17:20:08Z 2013-01-09T17:20:08Z Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ image.jpeg ]]> The CES 2013 Trend? Body Paint and Hot DJs tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50513 2013-01-08T19:36:08Z 2013-01-08T19:36:08Z Here at CES 2013 there is a trend towards hot female DJs instead of or in addition to booth babes as well as body painting and logo tattoos on booth personnel. The fight to get the attention of attendees... Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ image.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpeg ]]> FERRARI by Logic3 At CES tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50512 2013-01-08T19:25:20Z 2013-01-08T19:25:49Z Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/

]]> Ford Makes Big CES Splash tag:blog.tmcnet.com,2013:/blog/rich-tehrani//13.50511 2013-01-08T18:48:08Z 2013-01-08T18:48:08Z Here at CES 2013 Ford has a major presence and is pushing its gadget-friendly vehicles with a drawing for prizes.... Rich Tehrani http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/ Here at CES 2013 Ford has a major presence and is pushing its gadget-friendly vehicles with a drawing for prizes.


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