I spent a lot of time at CES in the eBook pavilion, looking at the various options. While I found most of the hardware to be knockoffs of the popular Kindle and Sony lines, there were one or two that caught my eye.
I got to take a look at the Alex from SpringDesign on Thursday, offsite at a traditional Italian restaurant called Piero’s. In retrospect, while I enjoyed the Italian lunch, this wasn’t the best place to host the event. The lighting was incredibly dark and the ceilings were low, leading to poor photo, video, and sound. But I did my best.
Alex is a dual-screen Android-based eReader and it fully integrates web browsing and reading. The 3.5″ color lower LCD screen on the Alex browses the web, but also allows you to manage your library. SpringDesign has announced deals with Borders and several other content providers. The neatest thing, for me, about Alex was the ability to pull a web page from the small (color) bottom screen to the large top 6″ eInk screen. You lose the color, but you gain in size. The Alex browser and virtual keyboard provide access to email, calculator and will accommodate a growing number of programs from the Google Android community.
Alex can connect with WiFi, 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM. It will cost $399 and be released on Feb 22 on the SpringDesign web site.
Below you’ll find a dark and loud video, 10 minutes, of the Alex demo’d at the Piero’s luncheon.
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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by her day job.
CES is gigantic. In fact, I think gigantic is a bit of an understatement. With so much to do, see, and learn, there can be a bit of sensory overload. I was about numb by the time I landed in the North Hall at the end of yesterday afternoon. A girlfriend of mine took one look at me and dragged me over to the Paro booth. That’s where I discovered Paro, robotic harp seals created to be therapeutic robots.
The "pacifier" is plugged into a battery charger.
The seals make cooing noises and respond to petting and loving. If you walk away, the seal tries to follow. It wags its tail and really enjoys chin scratches. The seal opens and closes its big black eyes (complete with long eyelashes) and is responsive to its name and several other greetings. The seal even gets sleepy at night and knows when it should be awake.
Playing with the seal, it was easy to forget that this wasn’t a pet and actually a robot, with chips and wiring making it work. The seal was created for medical therapy. Placed in nursing homes, used in rehabilitative wards, and used with Downs Syndrom and Cerebral Palsy patients, everyone responds positively to the seal. In many hospitals and nursing homes, pets aren’t allowed because of hygeine and can cause injury to patients. The seal, as a robot, provides a lot of the same benefits as animal therapy, without the cause for concern.
Of course, the seal costs $6000 – ouch! Especially if you’re a non-profit rehabilitative center.
I plan on ending every day at CES playing with the Paros. They certainly brought a smile to my face at the end of a long day.
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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by her day job.
Yesterday at CES, Plastic Logic debuted the QUE ebook reader. This is more than just an ebook reader however; it borders on personal organizer.
Squarely aimed at type-A CEOs, the device comes in at $649 for the 4GB model with wifi and $799 for the 8GB model with wifi and AT&T 3G. The QUE is oversized, more like the Kindle DX than the Kindle 2. They demo the device with several business publications loaded, including the Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business Review. Plastic Logic has a content deal with Barnes & Noble.
The design is absolutely gorgeous. QUE design was inspired by a piece of paper. The size of a pad of paper, about 1/3 inch thick, and weighing less than many periodicals (about a pound), QUE features a 10.7-inch shatterproof plastic display—the largest display in the industry. The display screen is rimmed with a shiny black frame. It’s gorgeous, but I suspect it would attract fingerprints – a small complaint really.
The QUE does more than just read newspapers and books. The screen displays your latest emails and calendar, pulled from Outlook. It also displays your favorite subscriptions and books so that you can access those with one touch instead of moving to a Table of Contents screen. In the midst of all this is also the content you are reading. With one touch, you can move from the Organizer style home screen to your content.
When we asked what formats the QUE supported, I laughed. This device is so geared at business that the rep told us “Word, Powerpoint, and Excel.” Upon further inquiry, she added GIF, JPG, PNG, BMP, TXT, and HTML as well as RTF, Visio, PDF, and ePub. (Right now, I’m almost positive that the Kindle is the only eReader on the market that does not support ePub. Get with the program Amazon – time for another firmware update.)
The QUE is a beautiful device. They clearly put a lot of effort into everything from the design to the one-touch navigation. However, I don’t think it will make a dent in the ever-growing ereader market. From what I saw at CES, only the Alex ebook reader really had some features that can compete with the Kindle, the Nook, and Sony. The QUE is aimed at an affluent, niche market. It’s lovely, but for us average folks, it’s not really practical.
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Cheers!
Tweet Michelle @writetechnology, send her technology news at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, visit her wine blog when you’re thirsty, and drop by her day job.
The blogosphere is buzzing this morning about the news that Polaroid has teamed with Pop Diva Lady Gaga. Last night at a press conference (and in a press release issued last night), Polaroid revealed that Lady Gaga is its new Creative Director. Polaroid plans to collaborate with Lady Gaga and introduce a specialty line later this year.
This news is definitely bubblicious, but it doesn’t surprise me and just seems like a natural next step for her as she grows her Haus of Gaga, which includes music, fashion, photography, and technology products. Last year she introduced heartbeats by Lady Gaga, in-ear headphones developed in conjunction with beats by dr. dre and Monster.
Lady Gaga was not in attendance at the press conference last night, but she will be at Polaroid’s booth today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center through Sunday.
Only time will tell if Lady Gaga can help Polaroid rise from the ashes. But one thing is for sure, she is one smart, beautiful and talented lady!
Looks like 3D TV will be making a huge push in 2010 with the news coming out today ESPN and Discovery are launching 3D programming this year. Discovery has already been involved with incredible IMAX programming over the recent years and the move to the small screen seems logical.
Sports on HDTV has brought an incredible element to live broadcast events and the announcement by ESPN adds more to the overall “being on the sideline” feel and will surely be a welcome addition to both casual Super Bowl viewers to hardcore sports enthusiasts.
ESPN plans on bringing its first live 3D event during the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match between host South Africa and Mexico on June 11. Other events planned for 3D include the 2011 BCS National Championship Game, college basketball and football contests, up to 25 World Cup matches and the Summer X Games.
As of now, you will need to have an HDTV with built-in 3D technology to be able to enjoy 3D programming, with plenty of manufacturers showcasing the new sets at CES this week. For those who haven’t jumped into the HDTV arena yet, Mashable’s Christina Warren points out a great point, the slow adoption of HDTV may benefit the 3D set vendors as consumers may hold off on their purchase until 3D technology is integrated into the industry.
It’s a long way from my first experience with 3D TV with a local UHF station showing “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” in 3D back in the early ’80s. I remember my Dad having to mess with the TV color controls and wear the old red and blue lens cardboard glasses to get a slight 3D feel. There is truly nothing that can compare with the immersed IMAX 3D experience but I am looking forward to seeing this 3D technology on the small screen version. I am hoping some eyewear designers take notice and offer some more appealing versions of 3D glasses. It would be nice to sport a pair of stylish Oakleys instead of the functional, yet ugly 3D glasses out there right now.
