January 8th, 2009, 10:13 am by Gadgetress
 Quirky gadgets at a tech show always catch my eye. I had to stop and find more about PlantSense’s EasyBloom Plant Sensor, which looks like a plastic cartoon flower with a fork on the end.
The idea is if your flowers and vegetables are dying, you stick the EasyBloom sensor among the flower beds for at least 24 hours. It collects information like soil moisture, temperature, sunlight and humidity.
When you’re done, pull off the tip to expose the USB port and plug it into your computer (Mac and PC compatible). It takes the information gathered and tells you pretty nicely why you are killing your plants (click images for larger view). The computer-screen image below explains why the ground isn’t so perfect for cucumbers. Lots of details at the company’s Web site, too.
It’s already available at stores like Amazon and Buy.com for about $60.
  
Earlier reports from CES 2009:
Posted in: CES • CES • CES 2009 • gardening • plants • USB | Post a Comment »
January 8th, 2009, 8:23 am by Gadgetress
 The first day of the Consumer Electronics Show has arrived and I am already exhausted. I’ve been here in Las Vegas since Tuesday afternoon, covering early show announcments and attending press-mainly events.
So far, it isn’t as crowded as past years. But it’s still early. What I have noticed is that CES isn’t plastered all over Las Vegas. Taxi cabs are mostly advertising Vegas shows, though a few sported ads for Toshiba’s Regza TVs. Over at the Fashion Show shopping mall on the strip? A loop of the same Apple iPod nano commercial playing over, and over, and over.
Press day was pretty full, though.
Some 4,500 reporters and bloggers are expected, which sounds about the same number as prior years. But on press day, the day before the show opens, these folks had fewer press conferences to attend. The major Japanese electronics manufacturers (Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba) hosted events, as did Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. But absent were Pioneer Electronics and Philips.
With fewer scheduled press conferences, the media packed into as many as they could. Some companies, like Cisco, had to turn away hundreds of reporters.
Tech trends so far, at least according to the press conferences: Widgets for your TV, green/alternative energy to power consumer gadgets, corporate electronics recycling programs for consumers and faster TVs.
Last night’s keynote speech with Microsoft’s Steve Balmer was packed, but if you looked, you could still find a seat (more on the keynote later). Hotel rooms are still available, though prices have inched upward for tonight. Prices are still nothing compared to 2006 when Bally’s hotel hit $400-plus for the first night. Bally’s, for example, is now $199/night after offering $139 for Jan. 8 if you booked by Christmas.
Today, attendees will learn whether CES will be smaller, cheaper and better. Check back for my reports from the show floor all day. If you need to reach me, try e-mailing at thegadgetress@ocregister.com. Here I go …
  
 
Earlier reports from CES 2009:
Posted in: CES • CES • CES 2009 | Post a Comment »
January 7th, 2009, 8:45 pm by Gadgetress
DVD players are no longer very big, but when it comes to high-definition Blu-ray players, there is room to shave. Samsung offered the best looking redesign. Its new BD-P4600 is 1.5 inches thick, which Samsung believes makes it the slimmest Blu-ray Drive player in the industry.
Bonus: Includes a Wi-Fi dongle that plugs into one of two USB ports. So, technically, it’s wireless. Also, this player plays CDs, upconverts regular DVDs and supports BD Live (to access more videos from the Internet). Being so skinny, Samsung offers a way to mount it on the wall for those folks who really want to keep things tidy.
I didn’t see it in person — only through slideshows during Samsung’s press conference. Release date and price were not available. Here are some better photos provided by Samsung:
More CES 2009 coverage:
Posted in: CES • Video & TVs • Blu-ray disc • CES 2009 • Fashionista • HD • Samsung | 1 Comment »
January 7th, 2009, 6:01 pm by Gadgetress
At past Consumer Electronics Shows, the Japanese TV makers had their fun competing with one another to build the biggest HDTV. This year, it’s the battle of the bulge, or lack thereof.
Panasonic showed a working model of a plasma TV that is just 1/3-inch thick. With my point-and-shoot camera, I recorded a quick video to give you an idea of how skinny this baby is:
This so called “Neo-PDP” (Plasma TV display) is triple the brightness and yet uses one-third the energy of regular plasma TVs. This is a future product so don’t expect it in stores tomorrow. Price? Ha! Companies don’t like to talk about such pertinent information until the product is already out.
More pics: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: CES • Video & TVs • HDTV • panasonic • plasma • skinny TV | Post a Comment »
January 7th, 2009, 4:35 pm by Gadgetress
 A 240 Hertz TV? Toshiba says it’s possible with software. As higher-end TVs moved from the standard 60 Hertz to 120 Hertz last year, videophiles who demanded absolutely no blur during fast-moving video made the switch.
Translation: Less blur for fast-moving video, like sports and video games. Most TV viewers have 60 Hertz TVs, so viewers typically see 60 frames of video per second. While that’s pretty fast, the split second where the frame updates the image could cause a blur. Hence, 120 Hertz, or double the images in 60 seconds. The 120 hertz is becoming more prevelant in higher-end TVs today.
While it would take a finely tuned eye to see any blur at 120 Hertz, there, apparently, is some, causing Tosbhia to introduce “ClearScan 240.”
 Now ClearScan 240, said Scott Ramirez, Toshiba’s vice president of marketing for the TV group, isn’t really 240 frames of video per second. Rather, using backlight scanning “you perceive two frames for every one,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Since it’s not technically 240 hertz, Toshiba calls it “the 240 Herz effect.”
(Note: After Toshiba’s announcment, I stopped by press conferences for Samsung and Panasonic. Both, too, say they are or will offer TVs with a 240 Hertz refresh rate. I will have to explore this later.) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: CES • Video & TVs • CES 2009 • HD • HDTV • Toshiba • TVs | Post a Comment »
January 7th, 2009, 12:08 pm by Gadgetress
Cavium Networks, a Mountain View chipmaker, demonstrated a wireless TV system that could convince gamers to opt for a wireless TV someday.
While wireless TVs today solve the cable clutter issue since attached cable and DVD boxes are linked wirelessly and out of sight, the problem is that wireless can be a bit slow. That’s a game ender for players who can’t wait a second or two to react to fast-paced events onscreen.
The reason for that delay? Today’s wireless TVs encode a video frame as soon as they receive it, but that can be too late for some sports and game lovers. Cavium’s solution is a chip that encodes video before it receives the full frame. Plus, it’s based on the H.264 video compression standard, which Blu-ray video and other high-definition video streams are based on.
During an early CES event, Cavium demonstrated its Cavium PureVu Video Processor CNW3602 chip together with Wi-Fi chips from Ralink Technology Corp. It was sending 1080p-quality, high-definition video over a standard Wi-Fi network. The result: No stops or stutters. It looked like my own wired HDTV at home. Read the press release for more about the technology.
It’s an interesting technology that could finally pave the way for wireless TVs to become mainstream. And neat freaks everywhere will welcome a clean living room with no cables cluttering the view.
More CES 2009 coverage:
Posted in: CES • Cavium • CES • CES 2009 • chips • HD video • Wi-Fi • wireless TV • wireless video | Post a Comment »
January 7th, 2009, 7:14 am by Gadgetress
One of the more interesting gadgets I spotted at CES so far was Powermat, a wireless charging technology.
Using magnetic induction as the power source, anything from iPods to cell phones to laptops to PlayStation Portables can get their batteries recharged by setting them down on a magic mat — no cables, no electricity, no power outlet necessary. Charging occurs at the same rate for all devices on the mat, says the company.
But, of course, you can’t just drop all your gadgets on a mat to get charged. Each gadget must have an adapter. The adapter interacts with the flat Powermat to get charged. In the demonstration I saw, a Motorola RAZR cell phone was placed on the mat and started charging immediately. (See more photos below.)
But the phone was in a snug matching black case, which was connected to the phone’s charging port. On the back of the case, Powermat’s flat adapter was what interacted with the mat and allowed the gadget to charge when the adapter and mat touched. See images below.
Various pieces are needed to make ‘wireless charging’ work.
 But imagine, if this idea takes off, I will happily kiss my cables good bye. If cell phone and gadget companies started building these Powermat adapters into their products, then I just need a Powermat mat to take on the road. No more moving furniture around in the hotel in search of enough power outlets to charge all my gadgets!
At CES, the company announced 15 products that range between $50 to $149. |
Tamara 'the Gadgetress' Chuang
