LCD Keyboards to WiFi VOIP Converters, Gadget Demo Highlights
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Wondering what the next hot new gadgets and technologies will be? Want to see what we'll be computing and connecting with five years from now? You could have done worse than to have attended Demo Fall 2005, where 65 innovative companies presented their visions of the future to a rapt audience. Keep reading to learn about four companies that presented some real gems.
There are times I think I must be located on the wrong coast for my job, and this is one of them. It’s late September, and Demo Fall 2005, held in Huntington Beach, California, just wrapped up. For those who don’t know, it is a bi-annual conference for the introduction of new products and services. It has been going on for 15 years now, and bills itself as “the premier launching pad for emerging technologies.” This year’s conference boasted 65 presenters. Its web page is located here: http://www.demo.com/
Of course, every year many of the presenters show up with gadgets and gizmos to wow the crowd, hoping to catch the eyes of the high-tech investors that make the conference a must-see stop on their busy agendas. For those who are not interested in investing large sums of money in these start-up businesses (or simply not able to), the conference highlights some of the kinds of technologies we may find ourselves using every day in a few years. Some of these devices are almost certain to make a true geek’s heart beat a little faster.
Take United Keys, for example. Not content for users to have keyboards that merely show the letter of each key, the company produced and presented the 205 Pro, a PC keyboard with small LCD displays embedded in the tops of all twelve function keys. These keys can be customized with images that help users to remember which function can be accessed by each key. The small displays change dynamically, updating as new software is loaded or new applications within programs are utilized.
Could it be useful? You bet. United Keys CEO Ronald Brown pointed out that Microsoft alone 950 different keyboard macros. Does this product have potential? Certainly. Gartner and IDC predict that 190 million PCs will be shipped worldwide this year, and of course every one of them will have a keyboard. Most keyboard improvements in the last couple of decades have focused on ergonomics; this one is designed to improve application usability. The company’s patented and patent-pending technology is also designed to work with other electronic input devices, such as mobile phones and automobiles.
Who knows? Games could even make use of this technology, freeing PC gamers from, for example, having to remember complicated keyboard shortcuts for karate moves or other tricky in-game maneuvers.
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