Arriving at Las Vegas.
Between Comdex and Consumer Electronics Show, this is my 31st year of electronics or computer trade shows in Vegas. If the first day is any indication, it could be a banner vintage.
OK, there is the usual share of weird stuff that leaves you scratching your head, so let’s get that out of the way. Sketchers is going to launch their kids shoe line that features a version of the “Simon Says” game on the shoe itself. Why? I have no idea. But just in case there are some kids out there that still lack stimulation and distraction, they can now play with their shoes.
Now, let’s get to some of the cooler stuff that actually has a reason to be here.
Dlink, who has a major share of the Wifi router market is about to launch their Ultra series of routers. For people who need better coverage all over their homes or offices (yes, even the backyard) , be able top accommodate more devices like tablets, TVs, music systems and computers and higher bandwidth to accommodate Netflix and other content streaming to entertainment systems, DLink has the answer.
Dlink went all out with their design and came up with a router that looks like it jumped off the screen of a sci-fi movie. The first to arrive in Canada will be the DIR 890L which is a tri-band AC3200 router with built-in intelligence to sense what each device needs in terms of speed and power and assigns the right level of service. The cool black chassis is standard and is available in Canada in the next two weeks. The bright red edition will be available in limited quantities online around the same time.
And if you don’t have AC standard Wifi on your computer, they have a small adapter you can plug into a USB 3.0 port and upgrade your Wifi without buying a new computer. The baseball sized device bears a striking resemblance to the Death Star in Star Wars: aka Geek Chic
A new trend found at CES this year is the development of Bluetooth BT. Typically, BT devices are paired one to one. A number of devices such as the peripherals about to be launched by Logitech will be able to be attached to 2 or 3 devices. What does that mean? For instance, the Logitech K480 keyboard, allows you to put your smart phone and tablet in the holder, attach both and switch back and forth between the two. You can even have a third device attached off on the side and switch to that when you want to. Three devices using the same keyboard and simply switch between them with a turn of a dial.
Some other cool stuff?
Lenovo is known more for their Thinkpad computers that are ubiquitous in the corporate world. They are preparing some great gaming oriented notebooks, the Y series. It will be interesting how many corporate users will be adding these gaming systems into their “corporate” approved equipment list. Something to do on those boring business trips that doesn’t involve watching yet another movie.
TTFN from Las Vegas.
More tomorrow.
Cedric Tetzel
@cedrictetzel
