Join Unify4Life uses BlackBerry to control home theaters and garage doors
For years, I have been wondering why I can do almost anything with my mobile phone, but when it comes to my television or garage door, I have to resort to another remote control entirely. Why can’t I control everything with a mobile like my BlackBerry? This is the question that Unify4Life is answering with two new devices: the AV|Shadow and the Garage|Shadow.
The AV|Shadow allows for switching channels, selecting chapters for a DVD, and even allows for adjusting the volume on the user’s audio receiver. It uses Bluetooth Technology, so the user doesn’t have to point at the screen or any other video device.
The user can customize their own settings, and the interface is set up in a circular pattern, perfect for the BlackBerry Trackball. The AV|Shadow is set up for TV, Satellite, Cable, Apple TV, TiVo, DVD, DVR/PVR, VCR, Blu-Ray, iPod, Mircosoft Media Center, even gaming consoles like the PS3.
The AV|Shadow is enough inspiration for any company, but Unify4Life also has another useful application called the Garage|Shadow. This device turns a BlackBerry into a garage door opener. It is easy to install and use, and now the user doesn’t have to worry about losing their RF remotes any more.
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Westinghouse Digital has new TVs on display at CES
You’ll be hearing me talk a lot about CES for the rest of this week, at least. I guess I just visited too many booths while I was in Vegas. One of them was Westinghouse Digital, whose booth was so fine it was in another location entirely. Yeah, they had to have a car come pick me up, and the Stirling Club was the ideal place to view of TX and SK series of televisions.
The TX Series are a series of 1080p LCD HDTVs with a 120Hz refresh rate. For those who don’t know what a 120Hz refresh rate is, it is a way of showing fluid motion not seen on 60Hz. Westinghouse Digital had a side-by-side demonstration, and now that I’ve seen motion of the 120Hz, I don’t want to go back. The TX Series include the 37 inch TX-37F510Z, the 42 inch TX-42F970Z, and the 55 inch TX-55F350Z.
As for the SK-Series, it appears the Westinghouse Digital intends these 720p models to create a “comfort zone” with many HDMI inputs and DayBright panel technology for daytime or nighttime viewing. These models include the 26 inch SK-26H630S and SK-26H735S, the 32 inch SK-32H635S and 32-32H820S, and the 37 inch SK-37H730S.
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Gabriel Turntable: One fine record-player with four arms
It’s not often that I cover products that are as fine as Angelis Labor’s Gabriel Turntable, but when I saw this gourmet technology at a Venetian hotel suite at CES, I had to write about it.
Angelis Labor is an Italian company, and its name is translated to “Labor of Angels”. Each product is named after an angel, and is made entirely by hand with aluminum, bronze, and stainless steel. Believe it or not, it is from the same factory where they construct precision parts for Ferraris.
Of course, what makes the Gabriel Turntable unique is the obvious four arms. The reason why has to do with audiophiles changing the pick-up cartridges on the arm. Since the Gabriel Turntable has more than one, its setup allows for quick changes. I wish I had more turntable experience to know if this is helpful.
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VIEVU PVR-PRO 2 Portable Video Camera
CES 2009 may be over, but I have enough material collected from the collective booths that I visited for articles for the rest of the month, and longer. For example, when I was passing through the Sands/Venetian portion of the show, I met two representatives for VIEVU.
The VIEVU PVR-PRO 2 is a camera that is small enough to be clipped on to a user’s shirt for home and law-enforcement purposes. There is a small lens there, and the cover can be flipped open to start recording, and shut for stopping it. With every flip, the video footage is saved as a separate file.
The video footage is SVGA and shoots at 30 frames per second with resolution of 640 x 480. The PVR-PRO 2 has an internal 4 GB memory card for over four hours of recording time. After filming, a user can then connect the VIEVU via USB to a PC or MAC for downloading the videos.
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Mr. Fantastic (Robert Muraine) dances for Isis Dei at CES, Fantastic Four not pleased
Isis Dei had a very interesting way of displaying their products at CES as the amazing dancer Robert Muraine (aka Mr. Fantastic) completely busted a move for them at their booth. Isis Dei also had on hand their latest products.
The Pistol Whip is a neoprene case made for PCs and Macs that comes with a set of matching, limited-edition, Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds. The Love/Sacrifice is also a neoprene laptop sleeve, but it is wrapped with a silky lycra blending fashion with designs by Alent Priyandi, famous Indonesian graphic designer. The Riveria is another fashionable laptop sleeve by Malaysian designer Jimmy Tan. The Golden Jimmy is a 24 carat gold toned silicon hardware protection which fits very nicely over the keyboard.
If you have never seen Mr. Fantastic from television, most notably his recent appearance on Superstars of Dance, Mr. Muraine is a man whose dance styles are quite unique. His whole body is quite flexible, hence the name Mr. Fantastic, like the leader of the Fantastic Four.
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Mikey and Eyeball from Blue Microphones
It was too bad that Blue Microphone had their booth way in the back of the Las Vegas Convention Center at CES. There were probably many that missed out on two of their newest and great products, the Mikey and the EyeBall.
The Mikey is an audio recording microphone that is designed to fit into the end of an iPod 4G, 5G, 6G, iPod Nano 2G, 3G, and iPod classic. It has three selectable microphone positions, as well as a built-in speaker for playback. The Mikey is capable of recording from up to 40 feet, which is perfect for college lectures.
The Eyeball is an excellent webcam that has a silver ball-shaped speaker with a pop-out webcam capable of recording HD quality video. The pop-out feature insures privacy as when the lens is out of sight, and is out of your mind. No more accidentally getting yourself caught on online film because you left your camera on.
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Parrot Puts its Best Foot Forward at CES
Parrot always puts out some decent products, so it was natural that they had them on display at CES Unveiled. I found two that are worth talking about, as they were designed by some primo designers.
The first is a set of wireless speakers designed by Philippe Starck, or “S+ARCK”. These horn-shaped guys are designed for the iPod and iPhone, and can connect to a PC via Wi-Fi or by Bluetooth to the Mac or cellular phone. Sync connectors allow connectivity to any audio device for full immersive 360 degree sound and 100W RMS power output.
The second is one that we have reported on before, the Speechio. This is a reflective photo frame designed by Martin Szekely. This mirror really caught me by surprise as the screen just appeared in the middle of it. Parrot had me on the product right there.
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Digital Foci’s Picture Porter 35 unveiled at CES
One of the problems with camera technology is that we have cameras on all our mobile devices, which leads to an abundance of digital photos scattered about on memory cards everywhere.
This is why Digital Foci invented the Picture Porter 35, a one stop place to store all a user’s digital photos. The Picture Porter 35 has a 3.5 inch color screen, and a built-in card reader for CF, SD/HC, MMC, miniSD, MS/Duo, and xD cards.
The Picture Porter 35 has 160GB of storage space capacity, and the user has the option of viewing photos and other advanced file management features including copying files, renaming files, deleting files, even creating new folders and sorting by name and date.
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