Vinci Tablet
This one caught my eye because of some signage that mentioned toddlers and preschoolers as the primary audience. Tablets are everywhere at CES, but this was the first one I’ve seen specifically geared towards kids… young ones. There will be multiple models depending on memory storage (4GB, 8GB) and age of user, and the company will be offering a subscription model that offers new apps each months or a flat monthly fee. This is one of those devices that I’m hoping to be able to provide a more thorough review of later, but I did like what I saw, especially for the toddler age group.
More details can be found at vincigenius.com.
Dropcam HD
This is a product that really got my attention. A Wi-Fi video monitoring system at the low price of $149.00 per camera. The video is streamed via Wi-Fi to a cloud-based service that requires a password to view. You can pay a monthly rate of $10 for a 7-day recording windows (saved for 7 days) or $30 for a month’s worth of video storage. The camera provides night-vision capabilities (black/white) using infrared technology so the company recommends the cameras as a good solution for baby monitoring. Video can be accessed via iOS and Android devices as well. Based on the video quality I saw, I believe this is a great solution for those of you looking for some home or business video monitoring at a reasonable price. I’ve requested a test unit and will follow up later with a more detailed post once I’ve had time to test the Dropcam’s various capabilities.
More information can be found at dropcam.com.
Guitar Apprentice
Of all the test units I’ve requested, this is the one I’m most anxious to get my hands on. It’s a guitar body that holds an iPad (securely) inside and provides training for those wanting to learn to play. Instead of strings, there are thin buttons running down the neck of the guitar that feel solid when pressed. The guitar can be plugged into a standard amp or headphones can be used. I really had my doubts until the guy demonstrating it decided to play some Hendrix on it and then I was a believer. He even showed me how you can change the style of guitar from electric to acoustic and a few other options — the face of the iPad changes to reflect the type of guitar you’re using. It doesn’t ship until June or July, I believe, but I’m hoping to get a hands-on test unit before then so I can try it out myself and give you the details. This is from the same folks that brought us the iCade, by the way, and they have a lot of other music devices that use the iPad, so be sure to check out their website at ionaudio.com.
End of Day 1
In addition to the items above, I also managed to get a look at more tablets than I could hope to count. Believe me, if what I’ve seen today is any indication… there ought to be about 100 different models of Android tablet coming out this year, most of them brands that I’m not familiar with. That’s not to say they’re low quality, as some of them I had a chance to pick up and play with felt solid and worked smoothly as I swiped and tapped apps.
I’m also not that up on automobile tech such as stereo, speaker, and GPS technology, but the vehicle technology exhibitors were out in force. Same goes for the tons of flat screen LCDs; there are so many TVs at CES that it’s a bit difficult to distinguish one from another. The 3D televisions that requires glasses are impressive — I saw some great examples of the current technology. But the 3D televisions that don’t require glasses are, in my opinion, not quite there yet. Maybe next year.
I’ve got all day tomorrow (instead of today’s half day) so I’m hoping to have some more good stuff to share with you. In the meantime, I’ll be tweeting whenever possible when I discover something really cool that I think GeekDad readers will find of interest, so follow me (@JamesFloydKelly) or check out @WiredGeekDad for retweets.
Time for bed — my feet are killing me.
