CES: Four Eye-Catchers From Small Companies
LAS VEGAS -- By now, if you've been following PC World's ongoing CES coverage, you're probably aware of what's coming out of the big vendors this year. The Panasonics, Samsungs, Intels, and Sonys of the world are well-covered on these pages.
But what about the smaller guys? Here are some small names with big ideas that caught my eye.
a href="http://zoombak.com/">Zoombak: Zoombak won't tell you who let the dogs out, but it will tell you where your dog's at. This GPS locater slips onto a dog collar and will automatically send you a text message or an e-mail when your pet has wandered outside a specified area. Zoombak will also pinpoint your pet's location on a Web-based map in real time. Additionally, the company offers an in-car GPS device that keeps track of a stolen car or tells you where your teenage driver really is.
OQO model 02: You may well have heard of this pocket Hercules. Back in the early 2000s, OQO was the first company to create a proof-of-concept handheld device that ran a full version of Windows XP long before ultramobile PCs (UMPCs) were a catchphrase. UMPCs still haven't caught on in the mainstream, but seeing OQO's new high-end OQO model 02 handheld PC had me thinking about buying one. It's available with a 64GB solid-state flash hard drive(!) or a 120GB hard-disk drive. It does EV-DO, Wi-Fi, and Sprint's new Xohm WiMax service. It runs full-on versions of Vista or XP. It has a gig of RAM and a 1.6 GHz VIA C7M ULV processor. The more I lug my full-size laptop around Vegas, the more I crave one of these back-savers.
SpaceTime: It looks like a web browser, but it's really a free app that acts as a 3D front-end for Google and Yahoo search results, RSS feeds, YouTube videos, and eBay and Amazon listings that makes browsing through pages of search results seem like fun. There's a drop-down menu in the top right corner of the SpaceTime window that lets you select which site you'd like to search, and all matching results load and display in a 3D format on your desktop. Other nice touches include a one-click snapshot button for screen shots and a great keyword search tool that jumps to each instance of the indicated word every time you click a button. The best part? It's free. Just download it!
Pacemaker: This 120GB portable music player and mixing tool was created by a Swedish company named Tonium and it looks to be the go-to MP3 player for DJs. It has two audio-out channels, a touch strip that allows you to crossfade from one channel to another, and side buttons that let you set in- and out-points for audio loops. A circular touchpad on the bottom of the player lets you add effects and bend the pitch. The resulting mixes can be uploaded to Tonium's site for sharing. Unfortunately, I felt like I was at a club when I watched the player being demoed, because no one from the company would talk to me. Goes with the territory, I guess.
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They catch your eye but not your willingness to put money on them. What good is full windows if I need to thumb input? That OQO looks like what they came out long ago and it still has not very functional without adding external keyboards, etc. then you might as well get a laptop. They need to update the design and add a real keyboard.