Digitallife Breathes New Life into Consumer-Oriented Tech Trade Shows

Michael L. Berman's Blog
www.scrippsnews.com
Sept. 28, 2007

I don't know what they're feeding it, but the folks at Ziff-Davis should patent whatever they're doing to nourish DigitalLife, which has grown significantly in size and scope since its inception only a few, short years ago.

DigitalLife has single-handedly ushered in a revival of sorts for New York City, growing each year to become one of the biggest consumer-oriented computer trade shows in the U.S. This year's event, held at the Jacob Javitts Center in Manhatten, was at least three times larger than last year's show, which was larger than the one before it and so on. Add the "wow" and "gottahaveit" factors and you've created something special.

This year's show rated about an eight on the "wow" and "gottahaveit" scale, with tons of new computers, tech gadgets, games and toys. Here are a few highlights:

Palm and Sprint showed off a new smartphone that has not only shrunk in size, but also in price. The new Treo Centro, priced at $99, has all the features of its larger and infinitely more expensive predecessors, but is more stylish to attract everyone from teens to CEOs.

Erector showed off Spykee, which is a robot that can patrol your house while you're away and be monitored and controlled via any computer with an Internet connection.

Wowee wowed everyone, showing off everything from talking Elvis heads to flying insects as they take toy robotics to a new level.

iRobot showed off their new Roomba 500 Series, which is a bigger, more powerful version of their robotic vacuum cleaner.

Microsoft showed off printers, cameras, routers, etc. that have been Certified for Windows Vista. The wow factor? You don't have to install any drivers for these items to work with your computer. Simply attach the hardware and Vista instantly recognizes it and installs it.

Microsoft also introduced Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008, which is designed to walk children through any project or assignment that confronts them. This also includes Miucrosoft Math 2.0, which not only helps them solve complicated math problems, but will show them how it's done.

Wizards of the Coast is setting up a gamers' Web site called Gleemax.com that will bring gaming back to its roots by setting up ways hard core gamers that used to gather at tables in hobby stores or around kitchen tables can do it again.

Toshiba showed off its new Satellite notebook gaming powerhouse featuring a dual core processor and two Nvidia graphics cards, retailing for only $1,900. They've al;so broken the price barrier on HD DVD players, which will retail for $249 to $499, which is significantly less htan these beauties went for a year ago.

Mio showed off a new line of portable GPS systems, all of which boast tons of features - - - including voice recognition - - - beginning at $249.

Xyber Technologies showed off a line of computers with a unique cooling system that doesn't require a fan or water and is able to run at a fraction of the cost of other computers.

Zipit showed off a Wi-Fi IM communicator with a full keyboard that allows you to use every service from AOL to Yahoo to IM your buddies without using a computer.

Turbine has taken online gaming to a new level with Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, which is one of the few fantasy-based computer games that religiously follows the story-line created by the author.

Quartics has developed a chip that will allow you to wirelessly transmit a signal from your computer to your TV.

Nero, which has become a leader in CD/DVD burning software, annunced Nero 8, which simplifies the burning process and has a few extra bells and whistles.

The list is endless.

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