The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held each year in Las Vegas, was the largest show I've ever attended, with 129,328 attendees and 2,491 companies exhibiting on 1.38 million square feet of exhibit space. There was so much to see and do at the show it was like a Disney World of electronic products, and just about as hard to see in only a few days. The hot buzz at the show this year was about the Bluetooth and GPS products. Here's a glimpse of some of the interesting and exciting things I was able to see at the show.
Fossil gave me a demonstration of their new Wrist Net Smart Watch at the show. I was impressed by its ability to receive MSN Messenger instant messages, Outlook Calendar appointments, stock reports, and more via Microsoft's DirectBand FM network, which will initially be available in 100 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and 13 in Canada. The watch is relatively large, but lightweight and comfortable to wear. You need to charge it every other day using an AC adapter that is included with the watch. Fossil offers Smart Watch models priced from $129 to $179. The less expensive Abacus model is available at major electronic retailers such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and Fry's, or online at http://www.abacuswatches.com. Other models are available at retailers carrying the Fossil brand, or online at http://www.fossil.com.
The Fossil Abacus MSN Smart Watch can receive instant messages, news, weather, stock reports, and more.
Wizcom Technologies (http://www.wizcomtech.com) was demonstrating InfoScan, a very accurate scanning pen that uses its infrared capability to beam scanned text to a Pocket PC or Smartphone. The Windows Mobile device must have Peacemaker Pro (http://www.conduits.com) installed to communicate with InfoScan. This is a lower priced version of the pen I reviewed in the July 2001 issue (http://www.PocketPCmag.com/Jul01/penscanner.stm). The pen rolls across the surface of a page while scanning an image of the page, converts the image to text, and then displays it on a 3-line green/black display. It scans books, business cards, and any text from 6 to 22 point, in normal, bold, italic, or underlined fonts. The InfoScan scanning pen is available for $99.95 at CompUSA (http://www.compusa.com).
Portable text scanning for your Smartphone and Pocket PC.
Haicom demonstrated their Bluetooth Slipper GPS Receiver at the show. This two-piece device includes a GPS receiver, and a unique Bluetooth "slipper." The latter is a small docking station with a CF slot and built-in Bluetooth capability. You insert the GPS receiver (or CF storage cards) into the slipper and access it from a Bluetooth-equipped Pocket PC, Smartphone, or laptop. Price for the CF GPS card and slipper combo, without GPS software, is $225.95. You can purchase it on the BuyGPS Now Web site (http://www.buygpsnow.com).
Double duty: Bluetooth Slipper that will accept GPS receiver or other CF cards.
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