Pepcom, a popular CES venue, held their ghoulish-holiday-themed show at Moscone Center in San Francisco this week. The horror of it all was that the event was not well attended.
Journalists usually flock to see the big name vendors up close and personal along with some newer companies all lined up booth-to-booth in one room. Not this time.
Free booze and tables of diet-destroying hors d’oeurves didn’t even draw a crowd. When the show closed, the leftovers could have gone into doggie bags for everyone who did attend.
Open bar on the left didn’t guarantee attendees.
Vendors had their wares spread out on 4×8 tables to draw everyone’s attention. We’ll briefly talk about a few things before doing more in depth coverage of those items that caught our interest.
Lenevo’s Yoga 2 tablet comes with an f2.2 8MP rear camera with Auto focus and glare reducing glass. There is also a 1.6M HD front camera. The tablet runs the Intel Atom Processor Z3745 (2M cache, 4 cores, up to 1.86 GHZ) and Android 4.4 KitKat. Sound projects from twin large chamber front facing Dolby Audio speakers. The Yoga 2 claims a battery life of 18 hours on a single charge.
Aimed at the business world, Lenovo’s ThinkPad Helix for business comes with Windows 8.1 (64 bit) and runs an Intel Core M processor. It has a digitizer pen and optional finger print security.
For both business and play, take a look at the Horizon 2s, an all-in-one tabletop PC at 15mm thin. It has an Aura multi-user interface and Android compatible multi-device sharing. Plus, it comes with more than 40 multi-user gaming and education applications.
Plantronics’ Voyager Legend UC headset can be used with multiple devices: PC, smartphone or tablet. The voice command menu lets you vocalize commands, such as answering calls, checking battery level, and redialing. Noise cancellation is accomplished with enhanced DSP (Digital Signal Processing).
Creative’s Sound Blaster is always a favorite for gamers and audiophiles. The Inferno and X7 were on hand for inspection. The Muvo mini was shown in four colors. It is a wireless, portable, and water proof speaker that passes IP66 standards for weather conditions.
LifeTrak wearables include the Brite R450 featuring light exposure monitoring, advanced sleep monitoring, ECG heart rate, and fitness tracking. Its claim to fame is that the device needs no recharging and is waterproof. The light exposure reading is important as it checks exposure to overall and blue light levels, letting you know if you need more or less natural light which can enhance your mood and energy levels during the day as well as prepare you for a good rest at night.
Charlotte Johs, Logitech global vice president of computer peripherals, said of their wireless mouse M320: “We used a handcrafted process … and this design technique allowed us to achieve a dynamic, curved shape with a soft rubber grip that is naturally comfortable for the hand.” It efficiently puts itself to sleep automatically when not used to preserve battery time.
If mousing is getting to you, the Logitech Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard K480 can be used with your computer, smartphone and tablet via its Easy-Switch dial. The universal keyboard connects to three different Bluetooth wireless devices simultaneously. They can be a Windows, Mac or Chrome OS computer and an Android or iOS tablet or smartphone.
Escort is for those bad boys who try to beat the system. Their Passport radar detectors strive to be a stay-out-of-jail device with English and Spanish voice alerts to help you hit the brakes in a timely manner. The sticky-cup, windshield-mount detectors are designed around the company’s DSP patent and promise fewer false alerts. Their latest model the Max2 retails for $599.95.
A smart camera with Wi-Fi video keeps tabs on Tabby, but only alerts you if there is human – or zombie? – encroachment. Face detection technology eliminates movements of pets, cars, trees, and other non-human forms from its alert system. Simplicam streams live video to your smartphone from the Closeli Cloud and alerts you of any human movement entering our home. Images are saved in the Closeli Cloud for one, 11, or 21 days depending on the yearly subscription you prefer with rates of $49.99 to $229.99. Peace of mind, priceless. The video shows how it works.
Stay tuned to BSN* for more Pepcom coverage.
