Primarily, we think it's lack of serious newsdraw. Last year's highlights were mid-level at best: iRobot's Looj gutter cleaner, Palm's Centro and Gateway's One. September is already late for companies introducing stuff for Christmas, and two big electronics shows—IFA and CEDIA—already provide far too much expo space just before it.

It may even be that trade shows are no longer that big a deal: A combination of the internet and FedEx is all that online pubs really need to bring you a nonstop stream of gadget news and in-person impressions throughout the year.

I for one will miss seeing all the company reps and catching up, but I won't miss the vast tradeshow floors, booth after booth after booth of stuff we already covered. [DigitalLife]

Update: I must've overlooked Caroline McCarthy's explanation of the cancellation, but my guesses were pretty close to the truth—they just couldn't put together a compelling enough show. Ziff's chief blamed "poor economic conditions," but I'm not sure if he means the country's, the industry's or just his own.

The conceptual system starts with a simple one-touch router which gives free ADSL by having targeted 50+ advertising. Then the "Betty" unit is the comms core, with slots which you pop specialized keys into: a "friend key" means you could easily send a message to that person, for example. Those "friend" keys are given by individuals to their friends, providing a one-stop digital life database and controllable access via a registration website.

While it seems like a great design idea to allow tech-wary people to get online, Jive's got one major flaw that I can spot: not much can beat a real letter or a phone call to your older relatives. [Yanko design]

The only laptop currently capable of running the Ageia PhysX engine, and Unreal Tournament 3's dreaded Tornado Mod (shown in the gallery), it's built for an immersive experience. There's sort of an Ambilight effect going on, something that is apparently best enjoyed when playing games in near darkness: all of the LEDs can be programmed to work with the game engine, so that when you take a hit, or pick up a weapon, the lights in speakers, keyboard and outer shell all react, like this:
It's a heavy machine, starting at around 11lbs, but easily up and over 12lbs once you load 'er up. Dual HDD slots can be used in a RAID array, and Blu-ray will be an option, good for the 1920 x 1280 screen that has a sweet 7ms response time. Here it is, from all angles:

[Official Site]

2:16 Do you believe? He's not turning people into believers of robots. He's turning them into lovers of robots.

2:18 Showing product testimonials. Attribution? Probably his family members.

2:20 A demo of a Roomba working. Not even a new Roomba. This is turning into quite a preamble. He calls a baby a mud machine and a dog a shedding device. Charming.
2:24 Still the demo. No news yet. Channel Steve Jobs, Colin. He's moving on to the Scooba demo.


2:30 iLooj is announced. Details, spilled by the FCC, are here. Available now from iRobot.com and for $99.

2:37 iRobot ConnectR virtual visiting robot is announced. It features mobile teleconferencing and has a camera and mic. Details on iRobot's website already; $500, but for $199 you can drive around the first set of pilot program models (READ: beta).

2:42 iRobot ConnectR UI revealed. Shows angle of lens tilt and zoom. Has a light.

2:44 The first closeup of the ConnectR. It looks like a red toilet seat. It could show some personality with different colors. Uses a recharging dock. Taser hack imminent, instant security droid.

2:47 Warning, the following photos are creepy. Remote play of board games, playing with your pet, etc...


2:49 Here's the FAQ

12:38 Why aren't people buying smartphones? He says it's because they've been big and clunky. (Well, not all, but certainly most Treo smartphones) They're complex. Kudos to Palm, they've been simple. They've been expensive, too, he says.

12:39 The Centro is announced, in red and black, $99 and on Sprint. Called the Centro because it's focused on the center of your life. For the guys with a life outside of work and help at work. For the at-home CEO.

12:44 Messaging is a focus. Text message and IMs. New way of doing it. You get the threaded text messages...like some other phones I know of. Has AIM built in, Windows Live, and Yahoo. All with presence detection.
12:45 Email apps and web stuff is the same.

12:46 YouTube, like Helio, is done through a YouTube site that doesn't use a flash browser. (Still different than the h.264 iPhone youtube.)

12:47 microSD card. Broadband, EVDO, "not an EDGE phone"
12:49 Danny Bowman on stage, President of Customer Equipment, Sprint. Sprint TV support, from 15 to 30 bucks.
12:51 Event Gallery support (server upload of images on the phone).
12:54 Questions.

Both MCE devices require Vista-based Media Center PCs, which means nearly every PC running Vista. One of the best things about the new interface, which looks almost exactly like the Vista MC interface, is that you can actually browse through the DVR schedule and order up shows to watch. It means you can really leave your big ugly PC in the den, but use all of its Media Center functions when you're on your couch. This wasn't really possible before, and especially not in high-def.

Besides the Wireless-N ability to stream HD throughout the house, the beauty of Linksys' dual-band system is that both the high-def video and your ordinary average applications can share the air, without one elbowing the other out of the way (or without one forcing the whole system to a crappier bandwidth).

Both MCEs will be available by the end of the year—you can easily guess which one I'm lining up for. But that wasn't all that the Linksys team had on hand when I paid them a visit. There's a new camera and a pretty insane router, and a previously released NAS product, all which fit nicely in a home-network ecosystem with the MCEs. I don't think Linksys wanted me to spill the beans on the router and camera just yet, but they did let me take some pictures. Have a look—it's good stuff.

Because aside from the finger food and the occasional alcoholic beverage, I look forward to meeting in person with companies that I usually deal with via impersonal email. Face time is critical for this business. A good opportunity to meet, yes, even if it was a little too close for comfort. The show's layout was tight: Reporters (and people who claim to be reporters even though they are not) were herded like water buffalo into a tight rectangular track where all of the money-paying exhibitors had set up shop. If you stopped to talk to someone at any of the tables, you risked being trampled. Fix that, Ziff, and we're solid.

Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic mirror, tell me today. Have all my friends been good at play? I see Vince and John and Peter and...

Here are a few pics demonstrating these shoes that might someday help out those ladies of the evening, giving them single button access to 911, an alarm, and a GPS system so every ho's pimp will always know where she is. It's still a concept, but keep showing us those shoes, gals. More leggy pics after the jump. – Charlie White

As you can see by John's beautiful photography work, the Pepper Pad 3 is a little on the bulky side, sharing a similar form factor with the Atari Lynx. Actually using it isn't so bad, however. Capable of playing back DVD-quality video, it won't exactly replace the iPod as your main portable video device, but surfing the Web on its rather spacious screen was one of the better things at the show. If there was a fault, it was, again, that it seemed a little on the big side, with the final weight of the unit still being determined. Look for it in August, unless they delay it again. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Pepper Computer]

The iFrogz cases are designed in three parts—wrapz, bandz and screenz—, meaning that once you go to the company's Web site, you can mix and match the three different parts' colors to your heart's content. Some even glow in the dark, which most have cost a fortune to develop. Want to mimic your favorite team's colors or match your new sundress? IFrogz lets you do so. Since the band around the case is removable, you can easily access the iPod's buttons and dock.

IFrogz cases can be bought as a set for $24, or you can buy the parts separately for a little more. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [iFrogz]

After the jump - A big Apple yawn, Hong Kong represents, and IT'S a DIGITAL LIFE oh oh ooo.

Then, on Wednesday, October 12, Apple takes over a bingo parlor in San Diego where they'll introduce the VIDEO iPOD and the iBOOK TABLET and the iPORK RINDS, a lovely pork-infused snack. Or maybe they'll just talk about some Powerbook updates and maybe a bigger iPod. What do we care? Give us iTunes Video Store or give us death.

Finally, we wrap up the week with Digital Life, Ziff Davis' attempt at resuscitating the ghosts of PC Expo and giving the professional, sweaty, and sometimes frighteningly fat DanceDanceRevolution hipsters of Williamsburgh, Brooklyn a place to refine their delicate craft. What can we expect to see there? Lots of games, free booze from the ExtremeTech and Sync guys—who are great even though they smoke up at work—and lots of satellite parties including Digital Focus—known for more booze—and ShowStoppers—known for sushi—at the Copa, Copacabana. The shows, while fun to run around at, are not what they used to be. I mean, during the dot com days a body could get a back rub, a bikini wax, two Dell Jukeboxes, and fifty t-shirts ("Rub my distended tummy for luck! CueCat!") just for paying the parking fee.

Then, very far from us, is the Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition) which is different from the Hong Kong Electronics Fair (EmereldGreen Edition) because you're exploring Kanto and you get some Red and Blue Pokemon. What can we expect? Strange, vaguely cool crap like this wine-chiller thing from companies never heard of.

So there you have it: that was the week that is. So consider this when you're reading our rambling and typo-ridden posts—please understand that we'll have been drinking Maker's Mark until our eyes bleed, all in the name of finding out the best gadget news in the whole world—for you!