There’s a reason why the Consumer Electronics Show is the world’s second largest trade show (CeBIT sits on top of the throne). Just about anyone remotely related to the consumer electronics industry shows up, proudly displaying their latest creations and in the case of some companies, their older products because they’ve got nothing new to offer. Of course, the latter group receive far less attention than the former, and for good reason! We want the latest, the greatest, the freshest and the newest. CES is also home to a lot of cool gadgets and new gizmos so here’s a look at three very different companies, each showcasing a very different set of products at this year’s CES.
Corinex Communications Corp.
Corinex is a company that wants to offer “anywire connectivity” to the masses. In a nutshell, they make it possible for you to have a wired Internet connection from any power outlet. This is definitely handy for people who don’t want to mess with the security issues and complexity of a home wireless network, because getting hooked up to the web is as easy as plugging in an Ethernet cable.
Their new product announcement for CES 2008 is GameNet, a solution that they call the “simplest and fastest way to connect your game console to the Internet, from anywhere in the home!” It functions in much the same way as prior Corinex products, but it has been specifically designed with gamers in mind. This jumps all over the recent trend toward online console gaming, like that found on the Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii. Afterall, lag kills and wireless networks are laggy.
The goals with GameNet are to simplify the process of getting connected and to improve performance. If you have your game system in the basement, attic, or anywhere that gets a weak signal from your wireless router, there’s a good chance that you’d experience some serious lag while gaming online, assuming that you get anything at all. With GameNet, you get a “fast alternative with no lag.” If you ever move your console, moving your online connection is remarkably easy.
They say that this is four times faster than wireless, gets installed in two minutes, and it is guaranteed to offer a stable connection (up to 200Mbps). For more pictures of the product line, check out our CES 2008 Corinex Photo Gallery.
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Q3 Innovations, LLC
Some firms may tell you to soar like an eagle, but it seems like the crew at Q3 Innovations have a thing for the hawk. Meeting with Megan Lawler on the trade show floor, she had three sets of products to highlight from their collection.
The AlcoHAWK Breathalyzers sound like the kind of thing that only a police officer would want to know about, but I was told that there is significant interest in other areas as well, including but not limited to schools, construction sites, and even concerned parents? Imagine telling your teenage daughter to blow on this! The newest unit is the AlcoHAWK PT500, and it boasts the new PT Core electro-chemical fuel-cell sensor. This is supposed to be faster and more accurate than previous units, but it sure didn’t look like anything special.
Speaking of law enforcement, the RadarHAWK SM radar/laser detector might help you avoid a speeding ticket or two, but you really shouldn’t be gunning down a busy street anyways. What makes the RadarHAWK SM a little different from other similar devices is that it has been outfitted with solar panels covering almost all of its top cover. Since it sits on your dash, it’s harnessing the power of the sun throughout the day. You’ve just got to wonder about people who only park underground and only drive at night. The RadarHAWK SM detects X, K, and Ka radar bands and it offers complete 360-degree laser detection.
Rounding out the trio is the ThermoHAWK line of digital thermometers. What’s cool is that these are actually touchless infrared thermometers that can (almost) instantly give you the surface temperature of just about anything. If you’re working on your car or cooking dinner, a quick tap and read-out could prove to be pretty useful. The display works in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. You can take it a little further with the ThermalHAWK PRO series, but these are more expensive and less compact.
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VUZIX
VUZIX has been manufacturing and developing virtual reality type headsets for quite some time. In fact, since 1997, they’ve been developing devices for the entertainment, defense and medical markets. They’ve also have been winning CES innovation awards since 2005 for bringing the big screen to portable devices. At this year’s CES, they’re targeting console gamers with their latest product, the AV920-C
Vuzix CEO Paul Travers “The AV920-C adds a new dimension to multiplayer games. Instead of viewing all four players on the one screen, the AV920-C allows users to select their half or quadrant of the display screen and view it blown on their own personal 62 inch screen. With the ability to daisy chain the AV920-C’s together, up to four players can game without distraction or fear that an opponent can view their screen. This will change how local or in-home multiplayer games are played”.This goes without saying as players can no longer see where their opponents are in multi-player games.
Though the hardware was all ready to go and they were even showing it off at the show with a bit of first player shooter action on multiple console platforms, the actual driver for the hardware is still wasn’t quite ready for release, though they do expect to release it shortly.
Although I wasn’t able to pry the controls away from anyone, I was able to check out some flight sim action on the PC. The last time I tried one of these systems, I got pretty ill, which was why I was so surprised with the performance of their new product. Messing around with FlightSimulator X and the head tracking capabilities of this system, I quickly became aware of how much more fun and immersive the gaming experience could be. For FPS shooters, this would be a great way to ditch the mouse and go heads up all the way. Hopefully, we’ll be able to check out this product for a long term test at Futurelooks later this year.
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