‘CES Unveiled’ Offers Sneak Peek at Tomorrow’s Trends

One of the early highlights of CES is an event called “CES Unveiled” where new (and old) companies have a chance to show off some of the more innovative product concepts before the CES open on Thursday (and the larger CE companies dominate the media’s attention during Wednesday’s press conference circuit).
We had a chance to scout out some of the more interesting toys for a couple of hours this afternoon. Here are some of the highlights:
Those involved in producing events where competitors where goggles will want to check out the MX Goggles Impact Series from Liquid Image (www.liquidimageco.com). The goggles have built-in video cameras that can record 720p images at 60 frames per second on a micro SD card. Video is recorded using MPEG h.264 with a lens angle of 136 degrees. At least in the demo it offered up some great “you are there” first-person perspective of skiing down a course, scuba diving, and snowmobiling. And price for a 1080p version? $400.
We also got a kick out of a glasses-free handheld 3D display from LG Electronics. The best part? It as receiving an over-the-air 3D signal transmitted by KLAS Las Vegas via the ATSC Mobile Digital TV Standard. The seven-inch screen had decent viewing angles and resolution and can also receive 2D images at 416×240 resolution.
The Open Mobile Video Coalition stand was consistently busy during the event as members of the media checked out the 3D display plus an Apple iPad and iPhone outfitted with a small Mobile DTV receiver that featured an antenna that was a small flexible loop instead of a more traditional metal antenna.
Tablet PCs were also found in all corners of the ballroom. For sportscasters in the field who need a Windows form factor the Motion CL900 is an option. It weighs 2.1 pounds is 10.9 inches wide (and 7.07 inches high) and most importantly has a USB port as well as a video out (micro HDMI) and an SD card slot.
And speaking of USB ports, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) demonstrated its latest advances in USB transfer technology. A signaling rate of 5 Gbps allows for 27 GB HD movies to be downloaded in 60-70 seconds and for 16 GB of data to be transferred to a USB thumb drive in 40 seconds. In other USB news, LaCie’s FastKey was on display, a 30 GB USB 3.0 key that can transfer content at 260 MB/s.
Lastly, for those looking to use an iPad in a studio environment the GorillaMobile Ori for iPad, from Joby, offered a sleek look and sleeker functionality. A continuous hinge allows for the viewing angle to be customized and a quick swivel allows for the iPad to be rotated seamlessly between landscape and portrait mode.

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