The Buzz

Who won the race for best gadget at CES? Al Gore, that’s who. Well, not specifically, but there was a decidedly “Green” tint to this year’s judges’ choice for ultimate winner.

The Phillips Eco TV, a 42″ fat panel that lets you adjust the amount of power that you use is a nice nod to the idea that many of the products that we saw at CES 2008 will not only cost you big money for wanting have the biggest and the fanciest, but they’ll also eat up your power bills.  Not eco-friendly at all. To emphasize this point, The New York Times  Magazine ran  an article Sunday on where old cellphone go to die, and the vast amounts of valuable minerals mined and then discarded when we throw away one phone to get the coolest new thing. According to the piece, some 220 pounds of earth must be manipulated to gather the materials needed for every one cellphone. The Phillips product smartly plays to the audience that is legitimately concerned about the impact of technology on the environment.

But is the Eco-TV really the Best Product of CES? In my opinion, not really. So in these next few items, my personal best of CES….

The Clix: An MP4 Video Player, Music Player, FM Tuner, Voice Recorder and Text Viewer that comes in 2BG, 4GB and 8GB versions.

iRiver’s W7 - a GPS/MP3/FM Tuner/Floor Wax (kidding) - won the CES Award for Best Designed Music Player device. I’d agree with that, as would most of writers who attended CES.

So why so few pictures of it reports? Years ago when MP3 players were first launched, iRiver (along witH Creative) came out with competing players to the iPod that were, in nearly all functions, not only competitive but generally better. But Apple has the marketing magic and iRiver fell off the radar a bit. Now they’re back, better than ever, with industry standard design - but still, apparently, no marketing savvy.

Some ill informed PR person decided to go the way of Panasonic, Sony and some of the other biggies who can afford to make media do extra work and neglected to make product photos available to bloggers and the like. Fine for the first couple of days, but when it looks like you’re about to win major industry recognition, you figure someone would get it together. After a signficant amount of jostling with people clearly don’t share my sense of personal space, I got this photo.

Back in Chicago from CES and still trying to take it all in. Overwhelming is an undertstatement. Much much more on the end of CES later, but for now and answer to a question that’s been vexing me since leaving Las Vegas. A commenter by the name of Jean posted this query: “Where can I buy these $100 laptops? Poor children right here in the US need computers too!”

The short answer, Jean, is sorry, you can’t buy one. You may, however donate one to one of the designated places of need. The reasons take more explanation and understanding. Here goes:

1.  You’re too late..

The One Laptop Per Child project used to run a Give 1/Get 1  program that rewarded donors who gave a laptop with one of their own. For reasons of supply, that program has ended.

2. You already have one, you just don’t realize it…

Some people, most prominently, Bill Gates, argue that we already have a $100 laptop in the U.S. - it’s called the cellphone. This thinking is at the heart of why Gates jumped out of the project (at least that’s what’s been stated publicly). And had you attended CES this year and seen the many advancements in cellphones (see my upcoming post on iRiver’s W7), that’s what new cellphones essentially are - mini computers that do much of what a laptop can do, and in some functions,  more.

I don’t completely buy that argument, at least not in a practical use sense. I could not imagine doing homework on a 2″ screen, but I’m not a teenager either. Still, technologically  that claim is accurate - but only in the developed world. In many places in the developing world, cellphone towers are non existent.

3. Gaming Systems

Many kids whose parents have balked at buying $2000 laptops, have said yes to Playstations and XBoxes and cellphones, and those households may also have a digital cable/internet bundle. If I were a scold I’d say get rid of all of those in trade for a laptop, but game platforms are much more intelligent devices that we use them for. A smart kid, with not too much effort, can combine these technologies to do pretty much all they need to do with a laptop.

4. Access.

Again thanks in part to Bill Gates, the majority of America’s libraries offer free access to computers.

5. Poverty is Relative.

The second half of your question is what vexed me.  It reminds me somewhat of the criticism steeped upon Oprah when she opened her school in South Africa. Yes indeed we do have many children in need in the United States, but these computers were developed for the need level in the third world, something hard to comprehend if you’ve never visited. Poor children in the States may not have immediate access to technology, but there will be something in relative proximity. Those who don’t still have access to book, television, radio and other media tools that, while not explicitly educational, do inform in ways that can be helpful is used correctly.

Now take all that away - the books, the free press, the radio, the pencils, the electricity, the free school meals, the running water. That’s who the XO laptop is designed for.

6. All that said, soon enough you might be able to get one anyway..

In a breaking development, one of the creators of the XO laptop is leaving the non-profit One Laptop per Child, reportedly to work with commercial companies in developing a laptop that costs even less than the XO and would, presumably, be readily available on the open market. Stay tuned…

Hard to explain, but let’s give it a try:

Panasonic’s Living Wall projects a customizable living room/mural onto your wall space (complete with virtual fireplace, aquarium and flat panel TV. The mural is actually an interface with which you can control through motion detection your music, movies, home security and (if you have complimentary cameras for the system) call up live pictures from any room in the house and lets you, for example, watch the baby while doing the dishes or entertaining.

The virtual TV and aquarium are linked into multimedia, so when you kids want to have fun they can wave at the aquarium on the wall and it turn the entire wall into a virtual Great Barrier Reef that they can navigate around. Ditto for the TV, which will be linked to travel documentaries that will take to the top of mountains or let you explore Beijing streets.

In a word, remarkable. Will it ever come to market? And does anybody even have a wall big and bare enough for it to make sense. No telling, but you can dream…

Talked about for years but now come to fruition in a greatly improved state is the XO laptop, the tool touted as the single best opportunity to bring information to children and families in the developing world, with a major focus on Africa.

While Microsoft and Intel jumped out of famed One Laptop Per Child launched by Nicholas Negroponte at MIT, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has taken over the chip-based role in the project and aggresively moved the concept further.

The devices share a “mesh network” that connects the devices to one another without the need for Wi-Fi. The laptops also address the uniqueness of weather and usage conditions, with  a design that limits dust prevention, holds up under heat and is resistant to water. In locations without power, a crank system that operates similar to emergency radios, can power the PC for infinitely sustainable battery usage.

Better still, the program has launched a fundraising program that allows individuals to not only donate but choose which country you want to the computer to go to.

A CES session on the technology in the developing world is revealing interesting applications of the kinds of technologies that most of us take for granted. In the midst of plenty where most manufacturers are blending several technologies into single devices, it’s a dose of reality to remember that a vast majority of the developing has no access to any single one of those technologies.

And example of innovations in this new market:

Malian company Mandobo has developed an application of SMS messaging to enable farmers to negotiate with middle men to bring small bunches of foodstuffs to market. The cellphones address major issues of transport and fair pricing.

 
The Argo Cinema 2 3D Private Viewer, billed as the world’s first private entertainment system, takes the idea of tuning out to a new level. An inspired mesh of 3D glasses meets earphones meets  DVD player, the Argo’s screen can only be seen by you, letting you watch R-rated movies on the airplane without getting dirty looks  from the person sitting next to you. From company 22moo International. The set will retail at $549.00.

Most ubiquitous product of CES? iPod Docks. Chinese company 3NOD Systems did the best of doing something different. This desk set/dock has cup holders, pen holders and storage for business cards. Invisible speakers are in the raised part of the set.

From 3DV Systems, the ZCam uses high speed, high resolution body-tracing technology and uses it to eliminate both the gaming system and the controllers from video gaming. The system captures your real time movements and puts you image in the game in 3D. In this demonstration, a tester challenges a boxer blow for blow.

ZCame doubles as a web conferencing tool, but that’s nowhere near as fun.