CES 2008

Every technology has its time. Nowhere is that more apparent than at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Earlier this month manufacturers introduced a tsunami of new concepts and technologies, as they do every year, some certainly more “ready” than others for the current market. I’ll bring you a few highlights of the best and most likely to succeed in later blogs, but just like the American Idol TV show, there are a few that can be dismissed after a quick audition. This year’s clear loser? The combination MP3-Player/Taser Gun. Perhaps it’s ahead of its time, or more likely it will never have a right time, let’s hope… If you can’t wait, some of the best reviews are on www.engadget.com and on www.cnet.com

Over the past holiday, consumer spending on digital appliances was led by the “GPS” sales – clearly a technology whose time has come (www.garmin.com, www.magellangps.com, www.tomtom.com, www.navico.com). Since the introduction of a new evolutionary software last year, the GPS experience has become far more like a trusted friend with a map in the front seat than their previous more complicated incarnation (released at CES before its time). So consumers are responding now, and the winners are those companies (restaurants & shops) who were early adopters, investing in advertising placements on those GPS software maps (www.mapinfo.com, www.esri.com) before anyone could even guess at how to calculate their value.

Thanks for the feedback last week on “Tell Me” (1-800-555-TELL, www.tellme.com)… Two people said they used the Driving Directions and another echoed the research that women’s voices aren’t as clearly understood yet. But continuing on last week’s theme of useful speech recognition technology, I wanted to share my favorite and most-used technology from last year – the Post-It Note for a new century (my tagline, not theirs) – www.jott.com

This is another completely free service. You call an 800# and dictate any message for up to 30 seconds. That message is then translated into text and you can choose to have it emailed to you, or to someone else, or to a group of people, or even have it posted to your blog or Twitter.* Go ahead and register then "jott" yourself a note – see for yourself. In the interest of fairness, there are other competitors who offer the same or similar services: www.yap.com, www.pinger.com, www.bubblemotion.com, www.simulscribe.com, www.spinvox.com, etc…

* Twitter – Staying “hyper-connected” has never been easier, but it sure is hard to explain if you haven’t experienced it. For more information, see the next BOHAN Byte or check it out yourself at www.twitter.com