Intel Demos WiMAX (With Video)

While the super flu is not fun, a super fast wireless network is.  If you are road warrior or someone that hates having to drink a cup of Joe to access to your e-mail when out of the office or away from home, there is a new 4th generation networking standard called WiMAX which just might make your day.

Just about a month before CES got underway, Seattle’s WiMAX network turned on.  In the Seattle area, Clear.com, runs the network but you can get access to it by purchasing the service from Comcast and Sprint.  I found this new 4G service to work very well around Kirkland, Seattle, Mercer Island, Redmond, and Bellevue. Averaging around  5.3Mb/second for downloads and upload speed of 1.1Mb/second in some areas those speeds would hit 12Mb/second for downloads and just shy of 2.0Mb/second for uploads. In short, much better speed than you would get in almost all of the public hotspots around the area. (My tests were based on using www.speedtest.net)

In Las Vegas during CES, I found it to be a life saver.  Most of the hotels and other public networks fail under the demand of all of the people needing to be on the Internet during CES.  Clear’s WiMAX network did slow down a little as the show went on during the week but was it still very fast.  Beside saving me extra fees for the hotel’s very slow Wi-Fi network, it also allowed me to be on the show floor more since I could file anywhere I could sit down.

Tim Sweeney of Intel Demos WiMAX

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What Makes It Different from Wi-Fi and Cell Modems

WiMAX is a cousin of the Wi-Fi which may of us use in homes and laptops today. Instead of covering an area the size of a house or an office, WiMAX is designed to cover a city or large area. This also makes it perfect for bringing broadband to rural areas where offering DSL or cable Internet to is just too costly.

In most cases you will need to get a WiMAX modem, but some of the newer laptops are getting WiMAx modems built-in just like what has been done in the past couple of years with cellular modems.

When compared to cellular Internet service, WiMAX has better speed. Plus with most of the WiMAX plans there are no bandwidth usage limits, unlike cellular where it is common for most data plans to have a 5GB usage limit and/or fees for going over 5GB a month.  WiMAX gives peace of mind you going to find a huge over limit change on your bill.  With the faster speed, you can do things like play high action video games and video conferencing which rarely work well on 3G cell data services.

If you are a road warrior, a real estate agent, in construction or any other type of job where getting access to your mail and other data is a must - you own it to yourself to looking in the availability of WiMAX in your area.

Disclosure: After CES Intel informed that I won an Atom based netbook from them in a contest they held in conjunction with Foursquare during CES.

Technorati Tags: 4G, Broadband, CLEAR, Comcast, Demo, Intel, Internet, Max, Portland, Sprint, WiMAX

Moshi - Products That Listen

This year at CES, some of the most interesting things I saw came from companies that produce small electronics.  Items that are all about convenience and fun, that won’t take the same bite out of your budget as the big guy’s 60 inch 3D television.  One of my visits at CES was with Moshi. Moshi has a line of products, mostly centered around alarm clocks that are controlled via their innovative voice recognition technology.

Known as Technology that Listens or Voice Control (VC) Technology, it utilizes a blend of two separate models, which in comparison differ from any other voice recognition application. Moshi’s combination of Neural Net and Hidden Markov Modeling (HMM) Phonetic Speaker Independent (SI) Recognition Software is designed to allow anyone to be able to control their electronics using their voice alone.

The HMM recognition is a statistical model that is designed to require no training or setup. The combination of the HMM and Neural Net model is supported and trained to recognize over 1,000 different recorded voices. Moshi spent 3 years traveling to each region of the United States to record every signle different voice type. This allows all of Moshi’s products to be able to understand a large vocabulary of voice recognition commands. The technology is speaker independent making all Moshi’s products capable of understanding almost anyone right out of the box. Moshi’s technology even accommodates a wide variety of accents too.

Moshi was highlighting two new release products during my visit with them, the first one is their Voice Control Bluetooth Car Speakerphone (BTHF205).  The unit requires no special installation and is completely voice operated with special commands.  It also uses text to speech capabilities to provide stat and caller id information.

Some of the commands include

• What Can I Say? - Provides a list of commands for the unit
• Enter Pair Mode - Pairs the unit with your phone
• Am I Connected? - Tells you the units current connection status
• Redial - Calls the last outgoing call
• Call Back - Calls thew last incoming call
• Call Favorite 1-5 - Calls speed Dial 1-5

The unit has 7 hours of talk time and 460 hours of standby time.  It uses a rechargeable battery and comes with a car charger.  The unit will be released in February 2010 and will be priced at $79.99.

The second product featured during my visit was one of Moshi’s new Voice Controlled Digital Clock Radios. It uses voice recognition to set all of the functions with easy commands.  It has two different alarms with 3 alarm and 3 sleep sounds and a 9 minute snooze timer.  Sound is provided via a 2 channel speaker system with an AUX-IN jack for your MP3 player.  The AM/FM radio has 6 station presets to give you instant access to your favorite tunes.

Some of the voice commands used to control the clock’s functions include:

• Hello Moshi - Puts clock in listen mode
• Time - Tells you the current time
• Set Time - Allows you to set the time
• Alarm - Tells you the wake up time
• Set Alarm - Allows you to set the alarm
• Turn Off Alarm - Turns Off the Alarm
• Snooze -  Lets you Sleep Longer

The radio will be released later this spring.

The voice control on both these products provides a handy way to interact with them.  It’s intuitive and friendly for people whether you are a gadgeteer or not.  You can find more information on these and Moshi’s other product at their website http://www.moshilifestyle.com. I look forward to seeing and hearing more from Moshi in the future.

Technorati Tags: Bluetooth, Car Acessories, CES 2010, CLocks, Gadgets, Moshi

AMD Releases ATI Radeon HD 5670, Performance at a Great Price Point

Today AMD has released the ATI Radeon HD 5670, which includes most of the features of the other cards in the 5000 series but costs only $99.

This is a great card for those you who are on a budget when it comes to gaming or have a machine with a small power supply.  The card performs very well at resolutions 1,920 by 1,200 pixels and below. It supports the new DirectX 11, as well the older DirectX 9, 10, 10.1, and OpenGL 3.2.

While I did not get to run performance tests, the 5670 looked very solid in the demos when I visited with AMD at CES.  But I did not.  I am not a very good player when it comes to Left4Dead 2.

The 5670 includes support for up to three monitors with independent resolutions, refresh rates and color controls. There is also support for ATI’s Eyefinity technology, which lets you stretch your display over multiple monitors; ATI Stream, which can unite the power of the GPU and CPU for certain computing tasks such as video transcoding (converting your home HD  movies for your iPod) and improve/sharpen video playback. The HD 5670 also has support for Windows 7 DirectCompute 11. DirectCompute enables applications in Windows 7 to take advantage of GPU computing to accelerate applications

Fast Specs

• 620 GigaFLOPS of compute power
• Core clock speed of 775 MHz
• 400 stream processors
• GDDR5 memory

On the audio side there is an integrated HD audio controller which supports high bit rate 7.1 channel surround sound over HDMI 1.3. Audio formats supported include AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats.

The low power needs and audio capabilities make the HD 5670 a great choice for a media center PC or blu-ray movie viewing. The 5670 draws only about 61 watts of power (14 watts when idle), so it does not need an extra power source besides power drawn from the card slot.

MSI is now selling the  R5670-PMD1.  It is a 1 GB video card which is based on on the Radeon HD 5670 chip.  In addition to HDMI and DVI,  the MSI R5670-PMD1G supports DisplayPort, the next generation video interface.  Other manufacturers are shipping video cards based on the HD 5670, as well.

Since DirectX 11 games are coming much faster than DirectX 10 did, it might be time take a look at a card like the Radeon HD 5670.

Technorati Tags: DirectCompute, DirectX 11, Gaming, MSI, video card, Windows 7

Scosche Delivers Cool Accessories at CES 2010

This year at CES there was an entire section devoted to iPhone and iPod accessories,  Many different kinds of speakers, carriers, cases and chargers.  One of the leading innovators in this product class is Scosche Industries.  The company was founded in 1980 and got their start manufacturing car audio products.  From their they expanded into portable audio(particularly iPhone/iPod accessories), GPS and Bluetooth. I took a tour of their booth while I was at CES 2010 and got to get acquiainted with several of their newest products.

The newest addition to Scosche’s Listen line are the IDR655m earphones with tapLINE II Remote and Mic. The new and improved noise isolating IDR655m earphones feature 11mm drivers toimproved performance on highs, mids and powerful bass. Scosche has placed the IDR655m’s tapLINE II control surface where the earphone wires split, making switching tracks or adjusting the volume easy for users. The earphones also feature an integrated microphone for handsfree conversations, voice command and recording memos. Scosche includes small, medium, and large single and dual flanged silicone inserts which are deigned to provide listeners with better noise isolation and comfort.  The phones are lightweight and comfortable, producing great quality sound. They come with a sheepskin travel pouch. 

 

Scosche will be upgrading their Power line with a new, smaller version of reviveLITE charger. The reviveLITE II will offer an additional USB charging port, which is designed to let you charge other USB powered devices at the same time that you are charging iPod or iPhone. Like the original model, the reviveLITE II conveniently charges your iPod or iPhone without the mess and hassle of cables, making it ideal for travel. THe sping hinge on the docking mechanism adjust to the weight of the item you are charging so even very lightweight devices are held snugly.  It also features an LED nightlight to help avoid stubbing a toe in an unfamiliar and dark room.

In 2009 Scosche won The CES Innovations Award with their tapSTICK product.   It will now be offered in a clear shatterproof polycarbonate case, allowing Gen 3 iPod shuffle owners to show off their shuffle’s vibrant colors. The tapSTICK returns play/pause, volume and track control to the body of the Gen 3 shuffle with a three button design that make it easy to control your shuffle with just a touch. You can also can pair the new clear tapSTICK with any earphones that you like, something you can’t do when using the shuffle without it.  The folks at Scosche showed it to me with their IDR355m earphones, which include 6 interchangeable color caps that match the colors Gen 3 iPod shuffles.

Though it was a small thing, I was really excited to see Scosche’s new flipSYNC keychain charge and sync cable for the iPod and iPhone. The flipSYNC, is about the size of a car alarm remote control, so no mare carrying around that pesky white cable that always seems to be tangling itself up in my backpack.  The flipSYNC provides give you a convenient syncing cable when on the go and it fits comfortably on any keychain. Scosche plans to launch another flipSYNC model in early 2010 with mini & micro USB connections for the Blackberry and other smart phones, so that will get rid of one more cable for me, Go Scosche!.

To see these and a host of other cool products from Scosche be sure and check out their website http://www.scosche.com.

Technorati Tags: Accessories, flipSync, IDR655m, iPhone, Ipod, reviveLITE, Scosche, tapStick

AMD Vision Opens Your Eyes When it Comes to Buying a PC

For too many people buying a PC can make going to the auto dealership look fun.  For the non geek, you just want to have computer that will do certain things and do them well.  You might want to edit photos, make home movies, run Word, or just browse the Internet and do Facebook.  The problem is when you hit the store, it’s giga this and mega that.  At least on the showroom floor you can easily see how many cup holders the car has.

AMD is well aware of this problem.  At CES I sat down with them and heard about their answer called Vision.  Yes, it is a new effort by them, so it is easy to think it will just be a smoke and mirrors marketing game,  but during the demos they gave me I got to see enough meat that I don’t think it is just a new marketing plan.

In a nut shell, AMD is not branding computers with CPU names and performance specs, but with a naming system that tells you what AMD and the computer makers have aimed for the computer to do.  The Vision naming system correlates to the tasks the computer will be good at performing. Since AMD makes both CPUs (brains) and GPUs (Graphics), the branding is based on whole systems - the CPU/GPU combination.

So new AMD-based PCs will be now branded primarily as either Vision, Vision Premium, or Vision Ultimate.  Later this year AMD will also later be introducing a Vision Black edition for “high-end, top of the line systems”

VISION Logos

VISION - These are systems aimed at entry level tasks such as e-mailing, surfing the Internet, viewing photos, or watching DVDs and online videos.  In the notebook market you may see systems with this brand for a little more than netbooks powered by Intel Atom processor, but offering greater performance.

VISION Premium - This is branding is for main stream laptops and desktops. Machines  with this branding will perform well showing blu-ray movies (when equipped with a blu-ray player), playing online HD video, playing most games, working with office suites, converting videos to watch on a portable media player and converting CD to MP3.

VISION Ultimate - These are high-end multi-core processors systems with discrete graphics cards that feature DirectX 10.1or DirectX 11.  These machines will excel at high end HD video editing, multi-track music software like Pro-tools the latest high end video games and CAD software.

Will it Help?

In general this is a great step forward in making PC shopping easier and more enjoyable. But there are times where specs do come in handy.  The weakness to this logo system can be in  transition times like we are seeing with new video cards supporting DirectX 11 over DirectX 10.1.  Two machines could have the same logo but one does DirectX 11 while the other doesn’t.

The Vision Ultimate and the upcoming Vision Black edition of the logo program are aimed at the high-end of the market where many people are primarily concerned with specs. But as along as the manufacturers and AMD do have the old style specs handy when comes down to picking between 2 or 3 machines with the same logo class, these concerns will be easily addressed.

Overall the program gives the consumer a great starting place to find a machine that meet their needs and desires without the headaches of the past.

Technorati Tags: AMD, CPU, DirectX, GPU

Mac Quicken is Real and Set for 2010 Release

The Mac has been gaining market share the last few years but one of the biggest money management programs, Quicken, has been AWOL with updates since 2007.  To be honest, I thought Intuit was just going to let it die without giving it a funeral. I wasn’t alone in that view.  Many others believed Intuit was giving up on a client-based application for the Mac in lieu of its online service

That is about to change this year with a new version with native Intel support.  I took a break from the CES madness and sat down with Aaron Patzer, the VP and GM of Personal Finance at Intuit.  Aaron came to Intuit when they bought Mint.com for $170 Million where he was the founder/CEO.

Aaron gave me a sneak peak of the new version, and while I am under the hand shake agreement to not rattle off what it fully does, I can say it looks to be promising and feature rich.  The other great thing to see is the management at Intuit are letting Aaron do his magic and build great products.  There have been many promising and great product teams bought by larger firms which were killed by neglect and politics once taken over by the larger firm.  WebTV comes to mind as one.  This is great news for the Mint Fans out there, since it is loved by young people who have different financial goals than the older users of Quicken.

Aaron did say the importing of data from the PC versions of Quicken has been a top priority.  They know many of you switchers out there have been keeping a PC around or using Parallels or VMware to just do your finances with Quicken and have large amounts of data which you want to take with you from your from past version of the product to the Mac.  From our talk it looks like Intuit with be moving forward on both a package software and an online products for the foreseeable future.

I am looking forward to reviewing Mac Quicken product soon.  After the talking to Arron,  it looks like he is driving the both Mint and the Mac version of Quicken into great products with great futures.

Technorati Tags: Mint.com, Money, Personal Finance, Quicken

Vuzix Shows Evolution at CES 2010 with the Wrap 310’s

When you go to CES nearly every year, you get the chance to see a product or a category grow over time.  With the huge push that 3D was receiving at this year’s CES, I decided to visit Vuzix booth to see how their glasses compared to the ones the TV firms were using for 3D when it came to comfort and adjustment options.  Plus, I wanted to see what improvements they have made since I last took a look at them at CES 2008.

I have to say I have fell in love with the Wrap 310 model.  These glasses support video from a wide range of sources; Apple iPod / iPhone / iPod touch, portable DVD players, camcorders and even a VGA (PC) with the optional Wrap VGA Adapter. As a bonus the 310 supports both NTSC and PAL sources.

When worn they are equivalent to watching a 55-inch TV as though you are positioned ten feet away and they have 24 bit color.  You can view video content in both the 4×3 frame of standard TV or the 16×9 frame which HDTV is broadcast in.  The 310 supports stereo sound and you can use your own headphones if you like.  Onscreen display for video display adjustment such as brightness, contrast, hue and color saturation makes customizing the video to your tastes easy.

When it comes to comfort they use ultra-thin cabling, an adjustable hypoallergenic nosepiece, and independent +2 to -5 diopter focus adjustment. While I don’t wear eyeglasses yet, I had a few friends try the 310 over the course of the show and none had problems getting them to fit over their glasses.

So why did I did not go ga-ga for them 2 years ago?  Well first of all they are more comfortable than they were in 2008.  Vuzix also understands the need for upgrades and accessories to let the 310 fit your personal taste and style.  At this CES, Vuzix launched a line of accessories.  Included in the launch are the Wrap Style Lens which come in 3 colors or a mirrored finish.  While you do get six hours of video play back with 2 AA alkaline batteries, there is also a Wrap CV Recharge Pack.  It is a lithium ion rechargeable battery pack which you can recharge through a USB connection or the included AC adapter. It is a green way to go-on both your wallet and the planet.

Second, there is the way we travel. We are flying less and staying closer to home.  There are around 30 states which don’t allow video screens in autos where they could be seen by the driver.  Since most adults like riding in the front seat next to our travel companion, the 310 lets you enjoy a movie on your iPod and not be breaking the law. Plus you keep the sound to yourself, which reduces driver distraction even more than just having a video screen which can only be viewed from the back seat.

When we do fly, the airlines have cut back on services.  So why not watch the movie you want without anyone getting in the way of the screen. You can with the Wrap 310s and an iPod.  It is easier and more enjoyable to do in flight than watching a movie on a netbook.

I found the 310 to be a great value for those of us looking to watch video on the go at a reasonable price - $249.95 SRP.  The video is sharp and clear and comes from a wide range of sources.  The Wrap 310s are easy to adjust - both in video settings and to fit your face.  With the 30 day money back guarantee, you really should give them a try.

Vuzix makes a wide range of video glasses aimed for medical, military and consumer markets, so do take the time to look at their web site - www.vuzix.com

Technorati Tags: 3D-Glasses, CES 2010, Ipod, Travel, Video

Control4 Releases Home Monitor Apps for Android/BlackBerry

Control4 today announced new mobile apps for the BlackBerry and Droid, making the Control4 Mobile Navigator available for users across all leading smartphone platforms. These new applications, developed by Control UI, build on the success of Mobile Navigator for the iPhone/iPod Touch, which was introduced last year and has since been adopted by thousands of Control4 users. Control4 and Control UI are demonstrating the BlackBerry and Droid applications for the first time at CES in Las Vegas.

“Homeowners increasingly require access to their connected home when they are on the go,” said Will West, Chief Executive Officer of Control4. “As an operating system for the smart home, we are committed to offering easy-to-use applications across mobile device platforms to provide flexibility and choice for the growing market of home control customers.”

In a Control4 enabled smart home, Mobile Navigator allows users to control security, lighting, temperature, music and video with a mobile device in the same way they would control these systems through a Control4 touch screen. Offering a visual representation of the Control4 system, the Mobile Navigator application for BlackBerry, Droid, or iPhone/iPod Touch gives consumers an easy way to manage all of the important systems in their home. Mobile Navigator uniquely identifies and authenticates the homeowner’s Control4 system to their mobile device(s) to eliminate unauthorized access.

With the release of Control4 O/S 2.0 in early 2010, Mobile Navigator will be packaged with an upgraded Control4 4Sight remote monitoring subscription to enable full home control directly over the 3G network with the same full featured, easy-to-use interface that is available over local home Wi-Fi networks today. 4Sight includes email notifications for homeowners alerting them to any event of interest (i.e. garage door left open, attempted access with invalid code on a Kwikset ZigBee deadbolt, etc.) along with full home control of lighting, thermostat, and even A/V devices over the internet.

The Mobile Navigator application is a free download from the smartphone or mobile device provider’s application store (i.e. iTunes App Store, BlackBerry App World, Google Marketplace) and a Mobile Navigator/4Sight subscription can be purchased through Control4.

Beginning with the release of Control4 O/S 2.0, the Control4 Mobile Navigator/4Sight bundle will allow homeowners to take advantage of all of the rich features of 4Sight remote monitoring and control for $9.99 per month. Homeowners can access 4Sight from multiple mobile phones with a complete user interface and functionality for no additional fee.

Existing Control4 customers with active 4Sight and Mobile Navigator accounts will be able to migrate to the combined functionality when they upgrade to the Control4 O/S 2.0 environment.

Technorati Tags: CES 2010, Control4, Home Automation, Home Security

Monster and Dr.Dre Debut Diddy Beats

Monster and Beats by Dr. Dre, co-founded by legendary artist and producer Dr. Dre and Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine, are proud to announce the official introduction of Diddy Beats (MSRP: $179.95), the latest addition to the Beats by Dr. Dre headphone family from Monster.

Created in conjunction with music entrepreneur and fashion icon Sean “Diddy” Combs, Diddy Beats integrate Dr. Dre’s club-level bass, amazing clarity and sonic power into an elegant, sophisticated in-ear design.

Diddy Beats in-ear headphones incorporate a host of today’s most advanced sonic technologies with design elements that echo the sensibilities and trendsetting style of the artist’s critically acclaimed international fashion label Sean John. As such, Diddy Beats are a 21st century combination of sophisticated styling and cutting-edge technology. Sporting a high-tech aluminum and leather-wrapped housing and high-polished enamel, Diddy Beats embody a celebration of pop culture and high fashion that truly exemplify how “sound is life.”

“My mother played music for me as a child, and I grew up loving the way music made me feel. It brought out joy and pain. It was my first career, my first love. No matter how many roads I travel, my heart always takes me back there. Music is my life, and Diddy Beats is an expression of how great sound makes me feel,” said Sean “Diddy” Combs.

“What Diddy has done with Sean John is incredible,” said Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records. “His marketing genius combined with his sense of design and fashion is unparalleled in the music business. When you think of how rare it is for someone who comes from the entrepreneurial creative side of music to turn it into something as extraordinary as what Diddy has done with Sean John – the air is very thin. We felt it would be great to bring that sensibility to Beats by Dr. Dre headphones; the fact that he also happens to be a great record producer made the fit all the more perfect.”

Head Monster, Noel Lee noted: “Throughout his entire career, Diddy has been a trendsetter in both the music and fashion worlds. The launch of Beats Diddy is an ideal merging of these two worlds, and we’re both fortunate and proud to have worked with such a major and influential talent on their creation.”

Diddy Beats come in an exclusive Sean John-inspired travel case and with an assortment of eartips to ensure maximum comfort and fit for every wearer. They also feature Monster’s exclusive matching flat black cable design that not only integrates into the overall look and feel of the headphones, but also makes them tangle-resistant.

Diddy Beats are being made available with “with Monster’s ControlTalk headphone cable, which can be used with iPhone and iPod for music playback control as well as to take hands-free calls with iPhone and many smartphones. The special Monster ControlTalk headphone cable features an integrated high-grade microphone and answer button and allows users to access their music and answer phone calls without having to reach into their pocketbook, backpack or pocket.

Technorati Tags: Beats by Dr. Dre, CES 2010, Ear Buds, Headphones, Monster

Syndiant and Foryou Demo High Res Pico Projector at CES

Syndiant and Foryou Multimedia Electronics are showing a prototype 1024×600 pixel accessory pico projector at CES. The shirt-pocket sized prototype was jointly developed with Hong Kong’s ASTRI R&D labs.

“Foryou is very excited about the pico projector market. Syndiant’s 1024×600 SYL2061 panel enables a resolution that is ideal for accessory pico projector applications such as laptops and netbooks, which benefit from higher resolution. At the same time, the small size and superior color quality enable a pocket-sized device with exceptional color and brightness. The efforts of ASTRI’s R&D team have enabled Foryou to quickly prepare this prototype,” said Jefeng, Marketing Manager at Foryou.

“We are very pleased to be working with Foryou and ASTRI,” said Mark Harward, CEO of Syndiant. “The SYL2061 panel is the first in our family of pico projector products targeting higher brightness LED illuminated accessory pico projectors. Our patented VueG8 all-digital smart panel technology allowed accomplishing this milestone – which is just the next step in our path toward providing HD resolution in pico projectors.”

Technorati Tags: CES 2010, Foryou, HD, Projectors, Syndiant

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