I went from the keynote directly to the Digital Experience show over at Caesar’s Palace. Pepcom, who put on the show, offered us media types a ride from the Keynote to the Palace in a fleet of red Suburbans they had on hand, or they suggested we could simply walk across the street. Now, as any normal red-blooded American male with hearty appetites and a mediocre football team representing my alma mater – I’ve been to Vegas a bunch of times. And I know that a recommendation to simply “walk across the street” when that street is the Strip- that’s a fool’s errand. Yet I fell for it anyway.
Also of note, the Augustus Ballroom is not in the Augustus Tower at Caesar’s Palace. Matter of fact, it’s clear on the other side of the building. And in Vegas, that means trouble.
Here’s some photos from the show, mostly of the coming tidal wave of Internet-connected mobile devices.
This is actually not a mobile Internet device, but rather a wireless keyboard. Logitech’s DiNovo Mini looks a little like a makeup compact, but will be pretty handy for Media Center PCs when you don’t want a full keyboard cluttering up the living room.
HTC’s Shift. Wi-Fi and HSDSPA enabled, it weighs about 1.5 pounds, although it seems heavier. First impression? Not wild about it.
OQO’s O2. A full Windows Vista PC in a tiny form factor. They’ve got a 64 GB solid state drive coming, or you can get a regular disk up to 120 GB. The device has Bluetooth 2.0, ABG Wi-Fi and EVDO-Rev A. This one is actually mounted on a docking station, which includes a DVD writer. It’s the first Vista-based computer I’ve used that made me go “Wow.” Of course, so did the price. OQO is also working on a Mobile WiMAX demo with Sprint, which I feel may be the first positive news I’ve heard about WiMAX in quite some time.
Lenovo’s Mobile Internet Device. Intel Inside, Linux based, pretty cool and different to use. Also, won’t be available in the U.S. any time soon.
Another Intel-based system. USI’s MID-100.
The smallest of Lenovo’s new Ideapads, the F11. Very small and light, with a solid state design on the way. Interestingly, the guy manning the Ideapad table totally talked smack about Solid State disks, saying they aren’t ready for prime time. 64 GB disks might be OK, but stay away from the 30 GB ones. You’ve been warned.
The next evolution of Linksys’ home 802.11n routers. This one, the WRT310N is gigabit Ethernet-enabled and has embedded antennae.