Monthly Archives: January 2016

My CES Favorite 

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When I walked past the iHealth Lab booth at the CES, I just stopped and stared. I felt like I walked into a candy store for seniors.

    

  
  
The company was offering every product you could ever want in order to maintain good health for years to come. The one that amazed me the most will be ready in just a few months. It’s an ambulatory ECG device. You wear it under your clothes. iHealth is still waiting for FDA clearance. 

iHealth claims this is the “first of its kind wearable, ambulatory ECG that monitors heart activity continuously without cumbersome wires or connections. The electrodes and monitor are ergonomically designed into a single, lightweight device that attaches directly to the users chest.  

“The data can be transferred directly to a user’s mobile device that automatically pushes data to the cloud, allowing for easy access by health care professionals.”

I know a lot of people who would love a device like this because they want to monitor their heart rate or rhythm (arrhythmia). Many folks believe a unit like this can save their lives. All they have to see is a small abnormality and they immediately call their doctor who can view it too. iHealth explains what to look for. 

How amazing it that?

The ECG  uses Bluetooth 4.0 BLE to transfer data to an IOS device or can transfer data to a PC using an USB cable. The product uses a rechargeable battery and stores up to 72 hours of data. 

I will let you know when the unit becomes available.

The Most Expensive Restaurant In The World 

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Whitney has been telling us about Jiro Ono ever since she and Fredrick decided to live in Japan. Jiro is an 85 year old sushi master and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a Michelin three-star restaurant. It’s the most expensive restaurant in the world because it costs 30,000 yen ($300) per person for a 30 minute meal. 

Why am I telling you all this? 

It still amazes me that all I have to do is “Google” the name “Jiro Ono,” and everything I want to know about the restauranteur pops up. I will never get over that. I can get instant access to all of the information I need to know so I can appreciate Whitney and Fredrick’s sensational experience.

Master chefs from all other world agree that Jiro’s has the best sushi you can ever eat. There is month wait for a reservation. Of course, Whitney and Fredrick nailed one and they said the experience was absolutely thrilling. Hence, the above picture.

Whitney told us that there was a documentary made about Jiro, so once again, we had electronic access to his life story. “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” a 2011 documentary film totally profiles Jiro. We learned that Sukiyabashi Jiro is a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant located in a Tokyo subway station. Jiro serves a tasting menu of roughly 20 courses. No menu. You eat what you are served. 

 And I bet sushi lovers everywhere would love every morsel served to them. I definitely would. 

Here are more photos of Whitney and Fredrick in Japan.

          
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The CEO Of CES 

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It’s not often that you get to hear the head of the world’s largest trade show give you specific details on the making of CES 2016. Robert Scoble, a tech futurist, spontaneously interviewed Gary Shapiro at one of the keynote CES sessions last week. I enjoyed the interview because it was the first time I got to hear the enormity of CES and the reason why the parent association’s name was changed from the Consumer Electronics Association to Consumer Technology Association.

Day Two CES

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 Broadway at CES
 
  Virtual Reality Theater 
 Nikon Surround Camera

Intel Sleep Lab.

Scenes From CES

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I’m surrounded by audio royalty. The most respected audiophiles today.

  

A selfie in front of the CES red carpet.

  
 

A service pig. Now I have seen it all.

  

I’m told the pig provides a tremendous comforting service.

     
   

OpenBCI

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I met Joel Murphy while strolling through the aisles of CES. I asked him why he was wearing a funny-looking helmet. He told me he made it with a 3D printer by Lulzbot. It holds all of the components he needs to explore the electrical signals of the human brain and body and to further understand and expand who we are. 

Murphy, and his partner, Conor Russomanno of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, recently conducted a Kickstarter campaign for their company, OpenBCI, so they could raise funds to expand their studies. Murphy said, “BCI stands for open-source brain-computer interface (BCI). The OpenBCI Board is a versatile and affordable bio-sensing microcontroller that can be used to sample electrical brain activity (EEG), muscle activity (EMG), heart rate (EKG), and more. It is compatible with almost any type of electrode and is supported by an ever-growing, open-source framework of signal processing tools and applications.”

Their Kickstarter campaign pointed out that “Understanding who we are will not be solved by a single company, an institution, or even an entire field of science. These discoveries will only—and should only—be made through an open forum of shared knowledge and concerted effort, by people from a variety of backgrounds. We work to harness the power of the open source movement to accelerate ethical innovation of human-computer interface technologies.”

This is what some of their supplies look like. 

    
    
    
   I will update you on their progress when they release information. 

 

               

The Future Is Now

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I was surprised to find Lego Education at CES, but I guess it makes sense. The company is launching an updated version of its WeDo robotics kit, “which is aimed at teaching science and engineering skills to elementary school students.”

I wish I was a kid again. I would have enjoyed working with the WeDo 2.0 robotics kit. It’s based on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning system. It introduces students to robotics, programming and engineering concepts

Lego Education is currently selling a site-wide license to schools and charging them on the basis of pay-per-classroom. Each subscribed classroom will get a specified number of Lego’s robotics kits for $2,000.  

Have fun !!!!

Baby, It’s Cold Outside 

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https://vimeo.com/142613483

I had many false starts writing today’s post. The new gadget that I’m about to describe borderlines on insane and ingenious. What the heck. It’s 2016 and I’m at CES. This is the land of innovation and insanity.

I’m blushing as I tell you there is a new wireless speaker that’s made specifically to play music to a fetus. Ordinarily, there is nothing strange about that. Not this time. Babypod is a small intravaginal device that looks like a tampon with speakers. 

Image from Babypod

Babypod claims unborn children can only hear muffled sounds. “We are really looking out for the best interests of the little fetuses. It’s only natural that we give them the best acoustic experience possible. The only way to do this is to go through the vagina.”

Babypod claims that the device is perfectly safe. “The material coming into contact with the mother’s body is silicone, which does not irritate the skin and is hypoallergenic.” 

If you want to know more about this, click here for the Digital Trends’ take on the whole subject. 

Click here if you are interested in purchasing Babypod.

LG Roll-Up TV

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Tomorrow morning I head out to CES in Las Vegas. Word has already spread that one of the hottest products at the show is a prototype, 18-inch OLED screen that rolls up like a piece of paper from LG Displays. It’s expected to be available to consumers next year. . 

   

When I first saw it, I immediately thought, “Who would want this?” Boy was I wrong. LG said these types of displays are geared for smartphones, tablets, and TVs.” 

OLED uses an organic compound that allows screens to be curved, rolled and bent. According to CNET, “The organic material also emits its own light, eliminating the need for a backlight.”

The interior design community is applauding LG for being so creative. Now they can install a roll up TV screen almost anywhere. Cool beans! 

The video gives you more details.

 Working Girl 

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When Steve Guttenberg, the highly regarded audio editor at CNET, a leading tech site, found out last year that I had attended every CES, he said he wanted to write a story about it. I was thrilled because it is a pretty amazing accomplishment, considering 99.9 per cent of the people I started going to CES with no longer attend the show. They are either retired or have died. 

This week, approximately 200,000 people will attend the show. While I enjoy going to witness all of the new innovative introductions, I do feel the rooms are filled with the ghosts of all of the amazing entrepreneurs who have helped build the electronics industry. These are the folks I grew up with. These are the folks I worked and partied with for decades.

I’m so grateful to Steve Guttenberg for recognizing my participation in the show. It pays tribute to everyone I miss, yet validates all of the important work I still want to do. I am truly honored to have a major influencer in the business focus his attention on me, even for a second.

I cut and pasted the blog post below because I wanted to share it. I also included the link. Click here. Digital posts average 300 to 400 words so it will be a fast, meaningful read. That’s the way the Internet works.