CES

#CES09: Pogoplug Debut – Connecting External Harddrives to the Internet

Pogoplug Debuts at CES 2009, Uniting External Hard Drives  With The Internet to Enable a Truly Connected Lifestyle Cloud Engines will debut the Pogoplug later today at CES. The Pogoplug is a small device that connects external hard drives to the Internet allowing for a mobile and digital lifestyle that allows users to seamlessly access their content from any mobile device or Internet-connected device.

“Consumers are buying millions of external drives to store their personal content, yet extending this content outside the home is overly difficult.,” said Daniel Putterman, chief executive officer of Cloud Engines, Inc. “Pogoplug makes this possible for anyone, with no network setup or configuration.”

Sure, this capability exists today… if you are a geek, but the Pogoplug is designed for simplicity. Setup takes a few seconds and requires no configuration. Users plug the Pogoplug into an electrical outlet, connect the supplied Ethernet cable to their home network router, and attach their external hard drive.

Once you register the product at my.pogoplug.com, the Pogoplug is online and ready for use.

Don’t worry, the product offers plenty for the geek too! Developers can use Pogoplug’s open Web services interface to build new features. Soon, Pogoplug will connect directly to popular sites that offer backup, file synchronization, photo printing and more.

The device is compatible with any external USB 2.0 hard drive or memory stick. Content is accessible with any Web browser, Microsoft Windows® Explorer, Mac Finder, and through the Pogoplug iPhone application.

The Pogoplug has a suggested retail price of $99, with no additional service fees. For a limited time, the company is offering an introductory price of $79. In the United States, the product can be ordered directly at www.pogoplug.com.

#CES09: miRoamer and Blaupunkt team up to make Internet Car Radio

miRoamer is an online portal where you can access a diverse selection of Internet radio content. Blaupunkt makes cool audio devices particularly for automobiles. Put them together and you get a car radio/receiver with Internet Radio functionality.

All you need is a 3G connection (i.e. via your phone) and you tether the radio to your phone (via Bluetooth) to get Internet access. You can add your own stations if you don’t like the ones that it comes with by default.

They were only showing off some prototypes, as availability Stateside will be in the 2nd half of ’09 with tentative prices starting somewhere around 300 Euros. Ouch. Hopefully that changes by then.

#CES09: New Harmony Universal Remote from Logitech

Woot! There will be a brand new Harmony 1100 universal remote control in February. This one boasts a completely revamped software platform, new personalization features and of course, access to the ever expanding database of devices that can be controlled.

As before, this sports palm-sized 3.5″ touchscreen, wireless RF control (using an extender), customizable icons and controls, charging station and Windows/Mac support.

It will list for $500.

#CES09: Tonium rolling out Pacemaker 60GB Portable DJ System

While this is probably not for the masses, it is for the DJ on the go. The Pacemaker DJ system from Tonium is a portable DJ mixer and player that works in effects such as pitch changes, looping, roll, echo and more things that the DJ-newb such as myself know nothing of!

We saw a 60GB Pacemaker that is truly handheld. It has jacks for headphone monitors as well as a crossfader, multiple channels and a USB connection. The cool part of the interface is the touchpad that lets you control many of the functions with your fingertips.

CES 2009: The Geeks Prepare

For the fifth straight year the Geeks are preparing for our annual pilgrimage to the holy land of consumer electronics… the Consumer Electronics Show.  Rather than report on every gadget at CES, we’ll provide our slant on the larger trends and focus on the few groundbreaking gizmos similar to what we’ve done over the past two years.  Stay tuned to the site – best way is to subscribe to our RSS feed.

If you are a fellow blogger coming to the show, learn from our past mistakes and read our articles on what to bring and tips for effectively covering the show.  With technology advances and lessons learned, we plan to update the list of what we are bringing later today.

Jeremy at LiveDigitally has analyzed and has CES down to a science for marketeers and bloggers.  He has a list of why CES this year will be awesome or lame.  Jeremy also maintains a CES survival tips list that is a must read if you are going to CES (chapstick – chapstick – chapstick).

If you are in town for CES and want to meet up at some point with the Geeks, shoot us an email.  This is the best opportunity to network with other CE fans and followers.

Here’s to yet another year at CES… hopefully all our gadget dreams will be fulfilled this year!

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