CeBIT 2009 - Part 2
In this edition of CeBIT, we take a slight detour from PC components and bring you some of the latest products and technology from the consumer electronics segment such as mobile phones, cameras and technology in the car. Covered here are HTC, Garmin, Nokia, Sonim, T-Mobile, Canon, Blaupunkt, Dension, D-Teg, Innosat, Clarion, Kramer, Seecode and AC Propulsion.
Mobile Phones - HTC
HTC's booth was buzzing with people.
The real attraction was the sleek HTC Touch Diamond 2
With a larger 3.2-inch WVGA touch-screen and an updated TouchFlo 3D interface, this is one svelte looking phone with a great finish. Special on this phone is a sliding zoom control.
Mobile Phones - Garmin
Garmin's Booth had plenty of navigation devices as usual.
New however is the recent collaboration with ASUS for the nuvifone G60 and the M20. Shown here is the G60. Sports a huge 3.55-inch display, location-based service application known as Ciao for social networking, full connectivity suite such as Wi-Fi, HSDPA and Bluetooth.
The nuvifone M20 has a 2.8-inch VGA display, internal storage of either 4GB/8GB and has download speeds up to 7.2Mbps with its HSDPA capability.
Mobile Phones - Nokia
Nokia is without a doubt a crowd puller with its recent suite of services released and of course the new phones like XpessMusic 5800.
Special appearances by the Nokia N97 kept the crown captivated. Too bad it's not yet ready for hands-on trial.
Here's the new Nokia 6700 Classic. 5MP camera, integrated GPS with A-GPS, Nokia media player and stereo radio.
This is the more basic Nokia 6303 Classic. Has a 3.2MP camera with 8x digital zoom, Opera mini browser, 16.7-million color screen, Nokia media player, stereo radio and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Mobile Phones - Sonim
Mobile Phones - T-Mobile
Digicams - Canon
Canon had a rather small presence at CeBIT, but it sure packed a lot of goodies in the space they had.
Here's the Canon Powershot A1100 IS and A2100 IS cameras in pink and black respectively.
Here's how they look from the rear. The Powershot A1100 IS is a 12.1-megapixel camera, utilizes a 35-140mm lens with up to 4x optical zoom and supports ISO values of up to 1600. The A2100 IS has higher optical zoom values of up to 6x, uses a 12.1-megapixel sensor and a 36-216mm lens.
Here's a trio of fresh new IXUS cameras:- the 110 IS, 100 IS and 95 IS respectively from left to right. The IXUS 110 IS and 100 IS (gold and red), are both 12.1MP cameras, sport the new Canon DIGIC 4 processor and come with a new Smart Auto mode and HD (720p) movie recording options too. The IXUS 110 IS however is better suited for wide angle shots with its 28-112mm lens.
The IXUS 95 IS (in grey), is the successor to the Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS, This new device comes with a 10-megapixel sensor and lets you view your images on a 2.5-inch PureColor LCD II display. It also comes with the new Canon DIGIC 4 processor that should significantly improve image-capturing speeds.
The Canon Powershot A480 (in red) uses a 1/2.3-inch 10-megapixel sensor, is capable of 3.3x optical zoom and comes with a 2.5-inch LCD screen. The Powershot E1 (in white) comes with a 10-megapixel sensor too and is more friendly on newcomers to digital cameras with its Easy mode shooting.
Car Tech - Blaupunkt
Blaupunkt's booth was pretty much all about car audio.
Most notable is this unit called New Jersey 600i. It's claimed to be the world's first Internet car radio system which Blaupunkt partnered with miRoamer (which provides a diverse selection of Internet radio content) to conceive this device. The Internet connection is achieved via Bluetooth pairing with your mobile phone, except that Blaupunkt promises no messy connections ever again. Once the seamless connection is achieved, the driver need only select radio station (through various criteria if required) and then sit back and enjoy. Best part is, the service from miRoamer is free.
Car Tech - Dension
Dension specializes in equipment that interfaces between the car's head unit and a variety of other externally connected devices like the iPod, other USB devices, from auxiliary inputs and more.
The Wi-drive is their latest concept product which they are gathering vendor interest prior to creating the actual product. If all goes well, the Wi-drive will act as Wi-Fi AP device and help you to sync or update your music and other content from your home's network to your car's A/V head-unit or its associated USB storage without having to meddle with anything after the initial setup process. Once you've indicated your personal home network, login details, folder to sync or update from, you're pretty much done. Every time you start your car or are back home and parking your car, it will attempt to log on to your home network and perform the necessary updates. How's that for convenience? Wish I had that already.
Car Tech - D-Teg
Now here's a device that can come in handy in your car in the ever-increasing traffic of our road system. Of course we would never hope to ever rely on it, but if you want to be equipped in case of any incidents, this nifty device, called Smarty, can be an invaluable tool. It is developed by a Korean brand called D-Teg.
(smarty-2) Mounts on your windscreen via a double-sided tape or its equivalent, it uses an SD card to hold all recordings. The device itself has a 0.25-inch CMOS digital imaging sensor (640x480 resolution at 30fps) and activates recording on impact (has an accelerometer built-in) or via the record button as and when you require. Another variant of this unit comes with GPS functionality built-in to log location details.
The unit comes with analysis software as well for further log and details checking.
Car Tech - Innosat
From the folks who brought you the Pet Locator, Inosat has now expanded its consumer product variety with this Car Locator gadget. Using GPS technology, a GPS unit and quad-band GSM terminal, this devices allows you to locate you car anywhere in the world just by logging in to Inosat's online service. No maintenance fees required other than the upfront cost, you can also your mobile phone, PDA or smartphone to track your vehicle. Functions include setting up a virtual perimeter that warns you when the car has breeched the limits, alarms to prevent unauthorized usage and cutting off the engine remotely in the event of theft.
Here are more options utilizing the same technology. Likewise, for logistics needs in businesses, they have their Inofleet suite.
And here's how the Pet Locator unit looks like if you're curious.
Car Tech - Clarion
Clarion had a really swell car to draw in extra crowd. Not that it needed it for it wasn't the star of the show. Instead, something much more smaller and 'powerful' was the star of their booth.
Handling both Internet related tasks such as net browsing, You Tube, My Space and combining these with traditional GPS navigation as well as from Google Maps, Clarion has conjured a storm with the Clarion Mind series.
Powered by an Intel Atom platform, this little device is in fact the perfect MID device which Intel has been touting about ever since such a device segment had been carved out. It has very intuitive touch-screen interface and manages many of the commonly required web and navigation needs fairly well (although we can't say how it would fare in real-life usage).
The basic model known as the Clarion Mind NR1E boasts the following specs:- 4.8-inch WVGA touch-screen, 800MHz Intel Atom, 512MB RAM, 4GB SSD, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS Receiver, rechargeable battery, DVB-T receiver, integrated TV antenna, stylus included, microSD slot, headphones output and two USB ports. It weighs 325 grams and is quite handy in size at 168 x 96 x 27mm. The Premium model NH1E comes with a 3G module for uninterrupted Internet connectivity, 8GB SSD and Bluetooth hands-free telephone. Available in white, red and black colors, this is one MID that you should keep your eyes peeled on. Of course with so much functionality, it's expected to cost around US$800.
Car Tech - Kramer
Kramer technology specializes in touch-screen monitors, navigation software and car-PC systems, which the latter is what drew our attention.
This is their CarPC-System CP-4000. It's a rugged looking PC that's to mounted at the bottom of the seat or in the boot of the car. Specs of the mini PC include an Intel Celeron C140 1GHz processor, 256MB RAM (expandable to 1GB), 20GB notebook HDD (has SSD options), Intel 855GME graphics onboard, WLAN module onboard (GSM module optional) and has a variety of I/O like USB ports, LAN port, VGA, LVDS, DVI and more. This unit weighs about 3kg. Kramer is aiming this unit at those who require complete PC functionality wherever they are, but this is more applicable for a variety of commercial uses like in logistics tracking on the move on more.
Coming up in the second half of the year is this CP-5000 model that's powered by an updated Intel Atom platform and can be mounted within the front head unit of the car for seamless integration. No others specs are available at the moment, but this goes to show the proliferation of the mighty Intel Atom in various other industries just as Intel envisioned.
A variety of their touch-screen displays to accompany their CarPC-System or for other uses.
Car Tech - Seecode
Seecode has some neat option for Bluetooth hands-free units.
This is the Seecode Tube. With its unique rotatable display, it can mount on your car's sun visor and you can read the display comfortably no matter the visor's position. What's more, it can also sync with your phone's phonebook to make outgoing calls without fiddling with your phone (stores up to 300 numbers). Uses an OLED screen, integrates a loudspeaker, battery, microphone and has A2DP and Caller-ID functionality.
This is the Soundwheel Bluetooth steering wheel kit and it mounts to your car's steering wheel for easy and fast control without taking your eyes or hands off the wheel. Has the same functionality as the Tube, but more calling functions and up to 600 numbers storage.
Car Tech - Others
We couldn't help but take a snap at Connexion's strange booth. Unfortunately, they were dealing with business processes this time and not really end-user products.
This is no ordinary Mini...
This is the Mini E - a fully electric vehicle whose electric propulsion and battery technology comes from AC Propulsion. Using AC Propulsion's tzero technology, it provides high performance, high efficiency and fast charging. In fact the 'engine' in the Mini E can generate 150kW of power or 204 horse-power, accelerate from 0 to 100KM/h in just 8.5 seconds, and manages a top speed of 152KM/h.
Here's a closer look at the boxy 'engine' from AC Propulsion. Car charging is done just like as if you were to plug an appliance to the wall socket.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.