Home automation and wearable computing hits at Pepcom

7 January 2013 by Steve Blum
, , , , ,

The FitBit is the bit that fits inside the wristband.

Along with Alabama, Pepcom was a winner tonight. The second of the three major press group gropes at CES, it featured a tailgate party theme and the Notre Dame/Alabama game on big screens. Nearly 200 companies set up small displays at the MGM Grand, showing new products and new brand positioning.

Nexia was in the latter category. It's a re-branding of the Schlage Link home automation system.… More

One OS to rule them all

7 January 2013 by Steve Blum
, , , , , ,


Built for ARM and x86 processors.

Ubuntu will be the next major player in mobile and desktop operating systems, if it delivers on its promise of releasing a fully integrated platform by April 2014.

Founder Mark Shuttleworth put the mobile version of the company's Linux distribution through its paces at the Pepcom event at CES 2013 tonight. Running on a Samsung Galaxy – for no particular reason except it's a convenient development platform, he said – Ubuntu did all the things you'd expect from Android or iOS.… More

Electric skateboard wins investor pitch crown at CES

7 January 2013 by Steve Blum
, ,

Made in Modesto.

CES's first start-up beauty pageant tiara went to ZBoard this afternoon. The Modesto, California based electric skateboard manufacturer was declared the winner of the inaugural Showstoppers Launch.It competition, which has been designated the official investor pitch event of CES.

Eight companies competed for the blessing of a panel of five experienced early stage investors, led by tech guru Guy Kawasaki.

The four minute presentations ranged from crisp to baffling. My favorite quote of the day came from a guy who struggling to explain exactly what his company did.… More

DISH hops out fighting

7 January 2013 by Steve Blum
, , ,


Joe Clayton takes a combative stance.

“If skipping commercials is illegal, I guess we're all just a nation of outlaws,” said Joe Clayton, DISH CEO. He was speaking at a CES press conference today, defending the AutoHop feature on DISH's Hopper set top boxes and calling for change. Change in the pay TV business model, change in the attitudes of networks and change in industry attitudes towards consumers.

Clayton was positioning himself as a consumer advocate, saying the industry was moving toward “a tipping point” on programming costs.… More

A little something for Android, a little something for Windows from Intel today

7 January 2013 by Steve Blum
, , , , ,

Intel is aiming for the low and high ends of the mobile processor market, seemingly leaving the big middle to ARM competitors and edging even closer to Google's Android operating system.

“We've built this device targeting emerging markets,” said Mike Bell, vice president and general manager of Intel's mobile and communications group, as he showed a smart phone built on top of the new mobile chip announced today. “It's a no-compromises smart phone.”


India's Lava supporting Intel's Lexington chip.… More

CES Unveiled 2013 highlights

6 January 2013 by Steve Blum
, , , , , ,


Now your plants can talk to you.

Three different approaches to home automation and a sleek wearable video eyepiece and camera stood out from from the crowd tonight at CES Unveiled. More than 70 companies demonstrated new products at the annual pre-show press event. Mostly, it was headphones, speakers, big displays, mobile phone cases and various other accessories.

The new OLPC XO 4 tablet/computer was a delight, more about that here.

The other standouts were…

… More

Sneak peek at the OLPC XO 4.0

6 January 2013 by Steve Blum
, , ,

The newest One Laptop per Child (OLPC) device made its debut at the CES Unveiled event in Las Vegas tonight, although it might have been by accident.

Marvell was demonstrating its Smile Plug e-learning platform, with the newest OLPC device just sort of sitting on the table, apparently as eye candy. Well, it certainly was that.

The OLPC XO 4.0 sports a touch screen and keyboard, and folds three ways: as a tablet, a netbook or a well protected carrying case.… More

On my way to CES

6 January 2013 by Steve Blum
,

The first official CES events are today. There are a couple of CEA press conferences about the state of the industry, then at 4:00 p.m. CES Unveiled begins. It’s the first of three PR group gropes. Tomorrow evening is Pepcom and Tuesday is Showstoppers.

All three follow pretty much the same format. They set up a ton of small display stands in a big ballroom, lay out some food and set up a bar. The place is packed with company PR people and, frequently, executives, reporters and analysts.… More

New CPUC map eases the burden on CASF applicants


CPUC’s mobile broadband field testing results show lower-than-claimed performance and significant gaps.

The latest California interactive broadband availability map is up, and it has some pleasant surprises. Working with Chico State University, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) scrapped the Flash based platform it launched on last year and rebuilt it using modern technology. Performance is blazing.

Not so fast, though, are mobile broadband speeds around the state. At least not as fast as the mobile carriers would have you believe.… More

Three over-the-horizon trends at CES

4 January 2013 by Steve Blum
, , ,

Cuanza River, Angola. Open source opens markets.

Everything about CES keeps growing, except the number of big players out on the show floor. Every year, there are fewer mega-booths and seemingly more small companies and start-ups taking 10×10 spaces or tinier ones in group exhibits. Plus side displays in mega-booths set up by big technology partners like Qualcomm or Intel.

That’s a good thing. It’s more work to find the truly new and interesting stuff, but there’s more of it.… More