Hands-On Report--Walking the MWSF '06 Expo Floor
Like last year's Macworld, the expo is fully contained in the major downstairs hall in Moscone South with the exception of the street-level registration areas in North and South Moscone. This year, the area dedicated to the expo is clearly more crowded, at least in part because there are over 300 exhibitors listed in the program, some 40% more than last year. The crowds the first two days (Macworld runs through Friday) were large. We are sure the exhibitors and expo presenter IDG are very happy about that and we look forward to an official announcement of the attendance from IDG.
There seem to be more iPod accessory exhibitors this year, due no doubt to the surging success of Apple's iPod line. After looking over the lot, we picked up an iPod nano Sportwrap by XtremeMac and a Tunewear nappa leather Prie TuneWallet 5G for our iPod with video.
Before we cover the few gems that we picked out during our walk, which took nearly a day and a half (for those planning future attendance), we had three big surprises, one very good.
The biggest surprise is that Garmin has a large, attractive booth. Garmin makes all kinds of GPS equipment (we have a Street Pilot III and a hand-held Vista) but has long eschewed Mac compatibility. One had to use third-party software to use their equipment with a Mac, either Mac-specific bridging software or Virtual PC--we used the latter. The good news for Mac users is that this is about to change rapidly. Over the next 3-6 months Garmin will be delivering GIS/GPS software designed from the ground up for Mac OS X (press release). Garmin was showing off its great new equipment and betas of its new Mac software. If you are interested in GPS technology, check out the Garmin nuvi 350 and keep watch on Garmin's Web site for Mac software.
The second surprise is that ATI Technology is not at the show. ATI makes graphics cards and their technology has been used in Macs since we can remember, including the new Intel-based iMac and MacBook Pro. This may signal that ATI's latest technology, the X1800 series, is not going to be available for the Mac as a retail option any time soon. Nvidia is also not at Macworld but they only manufacture reference graphics chips.
The third surprise is that the game area is smaller than we've seen in many years. In addition, of the major game houses, only Aspyr Media, Feral Interactive and Freeverse are exhibiting.
One of our favorite iPod items is the iSee 360 by ATO. Slip your iPod into the iSee 360 and it records video off a TV or computer to the iPod and then plays it back on a 3.6" screen. The battery lasts for 4 hours of viewing. It works with most 4G iPods like the 20GB clickwheel iPod (also US edition) and iPod mini, and 5G iPod nano and 30GB iPod with video. The iSee 360 is $249 and available in March.
Another iPod favorite is the TuneCenter from Griffin Technology. The TuneCenter turns your iPod into a home media center for playing videos, photos and songs. It has a very cool design with L/R RCA audio ports, s-video, composite video, ethernet and WiFi. It includes a 14-button remote controller and works with most 3G or later iPods. The TuneCenter is $99.99 and may be pre-ordered.
Keyspan introduced their A/V Dock and Remote for iPod. This is a less expensive iPod media center solution. The A/V Dock fits most iPods with a dock port and all recent ones. It has an s-video port for video and a stereo line-out jack for audio and it connects to a Mac via a USB cable for power. The A/V Dock is $49, comes in black or white and has an optional RF Remote controller for $29. It will be available next month.
The Solio is a portable solar power device that stores energy in an internal battery or powers devices directly. It looks like a mouse in shape when folded but fans out into three solar panels to look like a propeller. It can power or charge iPods, cellphones, digital cameras and GPS units. It takes about 8-10 hours of sunlight to fully charge the Solio but one hour of sunlight can power an iPod for an hour according to the exhibitor. The Solio is $99.95.
SMART Board is an incredible interactive whiteboard for teaching and training. We saw it last year and were very impressed. SMART Technology just issued a new version of their Mac software. The new features of the software include a Gallery keyword search, audio and video support, and more curriculum-based content. The Gallery can include all types of content, including images, audio and video. According to the exhibitor, over 250,000 classrooms are equiped with the SMART Board. If one is a teacher and Mac user, the SMART Board interactive whiteboard is worth looking into.
ATTO is showing off its Celebrity x8 PCI-Express Fibre Channel Host Adapter cards for rapid mass storage. These are 4-Gb adapters with data transfer rates of up to 800 MB/sec. The quad and dual channel cards are available today. A single channel card is due out soon. The Celebrity PCIe FC Host Adapters are $995-2,995.
There is furniture too. Anthro displayed its great ergonomic designs. The eNook is a wall-mounted charging station. Starting at $399, the eNook has a pull-down flat surface for working on your new MacBook Pro and room for charging all of your equipment--a pretty handy desk for a small studio. At the top of the line is Carl's Table. For $9,500, Carl's Table is an integrated work environment with a suede surface and space for four huge monitors or light boxes.
For the small software developer, Primera Technologies displayed its BravoPro among other disc equipment. The BravoPro is a 50-100 disc publisher that burns CDs or DVDs and prints their label using 3 picoliter Lexmark inkjet technology for $3,495 (CD)-3,995 (DVD). Claiming the fastest throughput in the field, it took 1-2 minutes to produce a disk with an elaborate label as we watched.
Speaking of labels, Seiko Instruments has its Smart Label Printers on display. They just came out with Mac-specific software last July. The exhibitor claimed that the Mac software is more advanced than the Windows software. We watched as data were imported from the Mac OS X Address Book, formatted for a label, an image was added (the company logo) and labels produced in 3 sec on the model 430 unit. The software uses any standard image format like JPEG and BMP. The Smart Label Printers are offered at a Macworld special price of $99 ($30 off) for the 420 and $139 ($50 off) for the 430.
BookEndz lives! The port-replicating docking stations are now available for the aluminum PowerBook G4 (12" and 15" -- 17" in February). BookEndz allows one to quickly connect up an Apple 'Book as a desktop with all the peripherals. We remember these great items from another manufacturer when our primary PowerBook was a 2400c some 5-7 years ago. A BookEndz for the MacBook Pro is in the planning stage. BookeEndz for the 12" PowerBook G4 is $179 and for the 15" model is $264.
HardCover Case for the PowerBook G4 (12", 15" and 17") is a simple folding portfolio that covers the laptop. Vecro pads keep the PowerBook from sliding out and the hardcovers prevent damage to it. It can be ordered in many colors and a logo can be added with a hot stamp, leather patch or brass medallion. The HardCover Case is just $40 ($30 Macworld special).
The eLeK Tex Fabric Keyboard is for smart phones and PDAs. Fabric Keyboard is a 12"x4.5" full keyboard made from fabric. It communicates by Bluetooth technology using 2 AAA batteries. Battery life is 10 hours of constant typing. It rolls up into a small (5"x2"x1.2") and light (2.4 oz) portable unit. The Fabric Keyboard is about $40.
MacPractice is Mac software for supporting the practices of doctors, dentists and chiropractors. MacPractice is essentially derived from MediMac, DentalMac and ChiroMac software packages. Version 1.8 came out January 6. We are not a medical professional but the software looked good. In any case it is good to see professional software being produced for the Mac. No price was displayed for MacPractice.
Well, that's it for this year's walk down the Macworld aisles. We've provided short blubs on a few products that caught our eye. However, there are hundreds more exhibitors and thousands more products. We'll report on the official attendance when it is announced.
Saw something? Send a tip
The archive ran on reader tips. What did you see, where, and do you want the credit?