I hit my first press event last night, the annual pre-show Digital Experience gathering where hundreds of journalists walk around a giant ballroom and either try to avoid PR people, talk with each other (gossip!) or actually talk with tech vendors about some new products. I did a little of each of those, here's a wrapup of some of the cool products I saw at the event.
D-Link: Two products impressed me here – first is the SideStage, a 7-inch USB LCD monitor that lets notebook users get some additional screen space. The display sits on a nice stand and can also swivel for horizontal or vertical display. The idea is that a user would use their main notebook screen for their Windows apps, and then move other apps (such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, or even all their "gadgets," "widgets", etc." onto the smaller viewing display offered by the SideStage. The device offers 800 by 480 resolution and weighs 1.34 pounds, so it might even be somewhat portable for workers on the road. No pricing yet, but D-Link says it will ship later this year. (See video)
The second product I liked from D-Link is their new "all-in-one router", the Xtreme N Storage Router (DIR-685). I've heard the phrase "all-in-one" used on a variety of devices, but this may be the first time I've heard it used for a router. The DIR-685 combines a wireless router (802.11n), 4-port Ethernet switch, and additional USB slots for adding printers (it acts as a print server) and external storage devices. The device includes a SATA drive slot that lets you insert a storage drive to turn the device into a network-attached storage device, and a built-in FTP server will let you share/access files over the Internet. In addition, a 3.2-inch display on the front of the device can act like a digital photo frame. The device is aimed for users who need to have their router on a desktop or in a living room (mine is conveniently tucked in the basement, but I know others who have to have their routers in their living rooms or offices), it's interesting to see this all-in-one router concept take shape. Pricing and availability on this device was also not announced.
Seagate: The storage company is expanding into the home entertainment space by offering users of their FreeAgent Go portable hard drives an easier way of taking digital multimedia files (photos, videos, music) and displaying them on a TV. The FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player includes a docking slot for the FreeAgent Go hard drives, and both component and composite video output ports that you'd connect to a TV. Software on the device then kicks in, and with an included remote control you can now view your photos, listen to music and watch videos (ahem, home videos) on a TV instead of crowding around a smaller computer screen. A nice feature is the ability to create slideshows quickly by throwing photos and music into a separate slide show player, and the system creates the show for you. Seagate also included a USB slot on the device, allowing for connections of other external hard drive devices (nice!). The FreeAgent Theater HD Media player is available in March, and Seagate will sell the unit as a stand-alone item for $130, but will also have bundles with their 250GB ($230) and 500GB ($300) FreeAgentGo devices. (See video)
A Seagate spokesman I talked with about the device says this can be an easy way for parents to send photos to grandparents, instead of having them worry about the Internet or digital photo frames, you can just send them a hard drive and they can pop in the device connected to their TV. Interesting (but possibly expensive) way of solving that problem.
More stuff later as I find time to type – remember to keep watching the Twitter feed for updates from the show (in case I see any celebrities).
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