Yesterday, Pepcom presented their Fall technology showcase Holiday Spectacular. On a seventy degree day in New York City, the folks at Pepcom converted The Metropolitan Pavilion into a winter wonderland. This showcase featured over fifty companies from Logitech to Sony to Tivo to Canon.

Pepcom Holiday Spectacular New York September 19, 2007 Part 1

Author: Tomas Ratas

During the three hours at the event I was able to meet with several representatives from various companies. Some folks I met at the last Pepcom show, Digital Experience, and other people were introduced to DragonSteelMods at this time.

My first stop at the show was Logitech, there I saw some of the newest offerings from them, including the VX Nano Portable USB Mouse, which is the next iteration of the Revolution mouse line. This mouse features a nano USB receiver which is the smallest USB device that I have seen to date. This version features the MicroGear Precision Scroll Wheel found on its big brother, the desktop Logitech MX Revolution. Most importantly, it has a battery life of six months running on two AAA batteries.

Right next to this portable mouse was the Logitech V470 Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks with Bluetooth Technology. This is a two button mouse for those Bluetooth enthusiasts that do not want to worry about dealing with a USB dongle.

For the iPod fans, they were displaying the Pure-Fi Elite High Performance Speakers for iPod which have just been announced and should ship in October. This iPod speaker system features a built in digital AM/FM tuner, LCD screen which displays time, clock or radio information. The speakers include two way satellites, 1 inch dome tweeters and 4 inch high power, long throw woofers.

They also displayed the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere Compact Speaker System for iPod which provides a nice portable speaker setup, plus it comes with a nice protective carrying case to protect them from damage.

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Pepcom Holiday Spectacular New York Continued

Logitech also had on display, the Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro Bluetooth Keyboard for Playstation 3, Logitech Cordless Vantage Wireless Headset for Playstation 3, a new line of laptop cases called the Kinetik Line featuring a 15.4 Backpack and Briefcase.

The last set of items I was able to play around with was the Logitech SpaceNavigator which is from 3DConnexion, a Logitech Subsidiary. This is a true 3D mouse which allows the user to manipulate complex 3D models. The demo was done using Google Earth and was quite impressive. There is a slight learning curve, but it is fairly intuitive. It is universally compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux. One of the best parts, is the price point, it comes in at $59.

Of course, I could not leave without trying the Logitech MX Air Cordless Air Mouse. This Freespace motion control device is designed for the HTPC user in mind. Unfortunately the Logitech drivers were not installed on the demo computer, so only the basic mouse features were active. Even with that the mouse is a neat device and would recommend it to any home theater PC enthusiast.

My next stop was the Tivo booth, where they were demoing the TiVo HD DVR. The feature they were displaying was the Universal Swivel technology, which basically allows you to quickly find everything you want in the world of broadcast and broadband television with a single, powerful search. Universal Swivel search allows viewers to seamlessly link from descriptions of one program to all others that have common elements, including program name, actors, or suggestions based on other viewers feedback.

The rest of the Tivo features are readily familiar to those who have used a Tivo in the past. Now, the Amazon Unboxed programs can be bought directly off the TiVo, itself.

The best part is that the TiVo HD Digital Media Recorder is at a much lower price point that the TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder. It comes priced at a reasonable $299.

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Pepcom Holiday Spectacular New York Continued

Last time the folks at CA were kind enough to gives us a copy of CA Secure and Store Flash Card, today they were handing out the latest version of their internet security suite Internet Security Plus. This version features the CA-Internet Secuirty Suite Plus 2008, which includes anti-virus, anti-spyware, personal firewall, ant-spam, anti-phishing, parental controls and data backup and transfer. Plus they now offer a $10,000 Total Internet Protection Plan. In addition, you can install the suite on three computers each with a one year subscription.

Right next door to the CA booth was the Sony Ericcson table. They were featuring the latest Z-Series, Walkman and Cyber-shot phones. One of the phones displayed was the W580 WALKMAN phone, a slim slider music phone that delivers the full Walkman phone experience along with gaming, imaging and fitness applications.

The W580 also features a 2.0 megapixel camera and functions as a portable photo album and pocket gaming device. Given increasing interest in healthy lifestyles, the W580 also offers helpful fitness features including a built-in sports application that tracks running speed and distance.

The other featured device was the Sony Ericsson K850i. This 5-megapixel autofocus camera has an onboard Xenon flash. This device is as much a camera as a cell phone. While most cell phone cameras are an after thought, this device gives equal weight to both.

Beyond the camera, the K850 is a capable multimedia phone. The new media browser puts all of your stored media – photos, video, music or podcasts – in one place. This unique feature allows you to scroll, sort and access your media from a single point in the menu. The K850 Cyber-shot phone also lets you search for photos by the month taken, view thumbnail images or scroll through in full-picture mode. With the new crystal display, the K850 offers optimal clarity from any viewing angle.

I review many different iPod and iPhone products, so the XtremeMac booth was one of my early targeted stops. Katie from XtremeMac gave me a tour of all the latest offerings from XtremeMac, ranging from new iPod Nano cases to the Sportwrap, a lightweight Neoprene Sport Armband, to the Tango Studio, Compact Room Audio System.

The Luna is an alarm clock and audio system for the iPod. It features a display that mimics the iPod interface for the clock settings. Plus it features two separate alarms.

The MicroMemo is a recorder for the iPod, perfect for recording lectures, interviews, or meetings. There is even a line-in function for those who want to record their instruments.

For those who have AppleTVs, XtremeMac makes a 4 to 1 HDMI Switcher with remote for those with only one or two free HDMI ports. This device has the same footprint and appearance as the AppleTV, so it will aesthetically match your setup.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 coming soon…