This week in San Diego (the same city where, incidentally, TMC’s Internet Telephony EXPO will be held a fortnight from now), technology companies are gathered to show off their latest innovations at the DEMOfall 2006 show. Perusing through the list of products on display, a few caught my eye that relate to the wireless/mobility arena.
First up is Dash Navigation, Inc.’s simply named Dash product/service, which delivers real-time information to people while they’re driving in their cars. To me, the coolest thing about Dash is that it “creates a network of drivers who help each other avoid traffic and share information about their destinations.” I’ve read about SMS services in Europe that alert drivers about traffic jams, and this appears to be along the same lines. Seems like a very useful feature. Now if only we could figure out how to reduce the amount of traffic without continually widening our roads every few years...
Speaking of in-car technology, Mvox Technologies is displaying its Duo, “a hands-free car kit, Bluetooth headset, mobile conference phone and VoIP headset—all in one small wearable device.” Duo uses small array microphone technology to deliver “hands-free, loud and clear conversations anywhere without sacrificing road safety.” That is, is if really is possible for people to give full attention to phone conversations and driving at the same time.
Speaking of speaking, Pinger, Inc. is displaying its Pinger voice messaging system for cell phones. The product enables users to “send voice messages to someone instantly, with no ringing, no greetings and no lengthy prompts.” I guess you could think of it as tying together the features of e-mail, voice and instant messaging.
If your ultimate nightmare is being stranded somewhere without any access to digital entertainment, then Headplay, Inc.’s Personal Cinema System (PCS) may be just the ticket. PCS is “a portable, visual headset and media center that delivers an immersive, high-resolution, cinematic viewing experience for gaming, movie watching and Internet use.” PCS can be connected directly to game consoles, DVD players, iPods, personal computers, and cell phones, and is compatible with both Compact Flash and USB storage media.
Several months ago, I wrote an article about how different features, including contactless payment, are being incorporated into cell phones. So Jton Systems’ product, MobiWallet, caught my eye. This is “a complete hardware and software system that allows carriers to offer in-phone, contactless instant payments.” Phones equipped with MobiWallett can be used to instantly pay for such things as transit fares and e-tickets.
On a completely different front, Moixa Energy Holdings’ USBCELL is designed to help people cut down on their energy consumption. It’s “a low-power, renewable-energy alternative through new reusable battery technology.” USBCELL has potential for all energy-using devices, including MP3 players and cell phones.
Finally, here’s something from yet another wireless-related area, this time the food segment of retail. W5 Networks designed an electronic shelf label (ESL) system specifically for supermarkets, which the company says “manually change hundreds of thousands of paper shelf labels each week,” costing “millions of dollars in labor each year.” W5’s ESL system “is capable of updating and displaying prices and promotions chain-wide within minutes through a unique, long-range, low-power wireless network.”
Spotted any cool, new wireless/mobility products out there? Let me know.
The technology for the car is really interesting to me. In fact, I think there's a lot of untapped potential for excellent technology in this arena. Wireless technology in the car, like what you mentioned (traffic reports, motorists being able to communicate traffic issues with each other) is an excellent idea. Expensive cars, like BMW and Mercedes, are employing this kind of technology into their cars, so that like cars will speak to each other. So, if a BMW gets stuck in a traffic jam, when it drives past another car it tells the other car about it, and immediately the driver's GPS warns the driver. These kind of ideas can really go a long way, in my opinion.