Tag: dispatch

Tech Dispatch from Pepcom’s 2025 Holiday Preview Show

I took a train into New York City on Wednesday to check out Pepcom’s annual holiday preview show. It’s always a little strange to see Christmas decorations everywhere before Halloween, but this event serves as an early look at the gadgets companies are hoping will land on holiday wish lists. I walked the floor to see what stood out.

Check it out in my latest dispatch video!

Withings was there showing off the U-Scan, a health device designed to fit inside a toilet bowl. It analyzes urine to track things like nutrition and kidney health. The system uses cartridges that last about three months and can identify multiple users automatically. There’s also a cleaning and charging station to keep it maintained. It’s a bit unconventional, but it’s another example of how personal health tracking keeps expanding into new spaces.

Remarkable had a smaller version of its popular e-ink tablet called the PaperPro Move (compensated affiliate link). It keeps the same minimalist design but shrinks things down to a more portable size that fits in the hand. It’s designed for people who prefer a distraction-free writing experience without the bulk of a larger tablet.

A company called Neurable caught my attention with a pair of headphones that double as a brainwave reader. The silver pads on the band are electrodes that can analyze brain activity to estimate your “brain age” and track changes over time. They’re also regular headphones, but the focus here is on cognitive health rather than just audio quality.

Xperi—better known for TiVo—demonstrated its television operating system that’s beginning to appear on Sharp Aquos TVs (compensated affiliate link) in the U.S. The interface organizes content recommendations across streaming apps, including Plex, and aims to make finding something to watch a little easier.

Kensington had a few new items, including the Expert Mouse TB 800 EQ trackball. It has adjustable polling rates, multiple buttons, and a sturdy metal design with a satisfying scroll dial. They also showed off a Thunderbolt 5 dock loaded with ports, an M.2 slot for storage, and a compact flash card reader. It’s hefty, but that makes it stay put on the desk. These aren’t shipping just yet but will be available soon at Amazon (compensated affiliate link).

Ambient was demonstrating a bedside clock called the Dreamie that encourages better sleep habits without relying on a phone. It uses light and sound cues to signal bedtime and can play white noise, podcasts, or ambient sounds through the night. A motion sensor tracks how often you get up and records environmental conditions like humidity and temperature. It’s designed to promote healthy sleep without constant screen time.

HP had a lightweight 14-inch portable display that covers the full sRGB color range. It’s bright for a bus-powered monitor and includes a magnetic cover that doubles as a stand. They also had a new version of their HyperX SoloCast 2 microphone (compensated affiliate link), a simple USB mic that’s inexpensive and aimed at beginners who want better sound for podcasting or streaming.

Another HP product on display was a League of Legends–themed Omen laptop, complete with game-inspired design details and high-end specs. It’s targeted at fans of the game who want hardware that matches their interests.

Yubico didn’t have anything brand new, but they noted that their security keys are now available in Best Buy stores (compensated affiliate link), which makes it easier for people to pick one up locally.

Nvidia was at the show too, but there was no sign of a new Shield device—just their GPUs this time.

SanDisk, however, had a few storage products on display, including an ultra-small USB-C drive that fits flush with a laptop port and can transfer data at around 400 megabytes per second. They also had Crayola-branded USB drives (compensated affiliate link) shaped like crayons, with a few colors exclusive to specific retailers like Walmart.

I also came across Napster at the show, though this version of the brand has nothing to do with music. The company is introducing a new AI service built around access to specialized AI experts. You can ask questions and get responses based on the expertise of these AI personalities, and they’re designed to perform certain tasks as well. Napster is also showing a hardware accessory that clips onto the top of a laptop and projects a 3D version of your AI assistant, adding a visual layer to the interaction. But it’s Napster in name only.

That wrapped up my walk through Pepcom’s holiday tech showcase. I’ll be back at CES in January to see what comes next. This event always feels like the calm before the storm—an early glimpse at what we’ll soon see everywhere once the holidays hit full swing.

See all of my prior dispatches (over a decade’s worth!) by clicking here!

A Tech Dispatch from IFA in Berlin, Germany!

I just got back from Berlin, Germany where I attended Showstoppers, a companion event to IFA which is Europe’s version of CES. And just like CES I produced a dispatch from the event!

Check it out here!

Lenovo sponsored my trip again this year, covering travel but not influencing what I covered, and I was able to see a wide mix of concept ideas, shipping products, and quirky tech that you don’t always come across in the U.S.

At Lenovo’s press event I saw a few different concepts and new products. One that stood out was a concept laptop with a pivoting hinge that gives the display extra vertical space, potentially useful for editing, coding, or browsing. Lenovo’s new Legion Go 2 handheld is about to ship with detachable controllers, an OLED display, and robust ports, while their Legion Pro OLED gaming monitors push into high refresh rates and slim designs. Other Lenovo highlights included affordable Idea Tab Plus tablets, higher-end Yoga Tabs, a new aluminum-clad ThinkPad X9 line, and even some concept gear like a Smart Motion dock that physically tracks your face and keeps the laptop pointed at you.

Over at Showstoppers, I came across a number of smaller companies showing interesting devices. DigiEra had a chunky handheld tablet PC called the HoloMax with 3D display capabilities and powerful specs. BlackView showed off a rugged smartphone with built-in VHF and UHF radios, essentially combining a walkie-talkie and phone into one device. Momax introduced inexpensive Find My-compatible trackers with some extra safety features like a loud siren. Ugreen displayed a six-bay NAS powered by Intel’s Core Ultra processors and outfitted with Thunderbolt. Anker had a massive $5,000 portable projector and sound system called the Nebula X1 Pro, clearly aimed at outdoor movie nights.

There were also plenty of niche gadgets and fun experiments: a waterproof point-and-shoot camera for kids from Agfa Photo, keyboards from Epomaker with detachable screens and unusual switches, a SwitchBot robot that plays tennis with you, and the Hover Air camera that autonomously follows you around with no need for a remote control. Belkin had some new budget-friendly earbuds, car chargers, and magnetic wireless chargers, while Charge showed an SSD with integrated cooling and hub functionality.

This event is much more fun to watch than read. Check out the video and see all of my previous dispatches here!

I’ll have a mini-dispatch coming up in late October from a Pepcom event. Stay tuned!

Tech Dispatch from Germany!

I spent this past week in Germany attending some events ahead of the IFA consumer electronics trade show. IFA is the European equivalent to CES here in the United States. Lenovo sponsored this trip, covering my travel expenses. No additional compensation was received.

See my latest dispatch video from the show here!

My report consists of things I found of interest at two press events – one sponsored by Showstoppers that showcased products from 80 different companies, and a press event Lenovo held at a very cool industrial venue called Kraftwerks.

Showstoppers had a few cool gadgets on display, including some neat mechanical keyboards from Epomaker, a monstrous looking modular yard maintenance device called the “Yarbo,” and a bunch of other cool gadgets.

Pre-pandemic, IFA was always Lenovo’s huge showcase event. This year was the first time since the pandemic that Lenovo pulled out all the stops for a major IFA presentation. You can see just how extensive the presentation was in my dispatch video.

Lenovo’s presentation did not have any groundbreaking new product announcements, with the exception of a concept PC featuring a lid that automatically opens and tracks the user’s movements. But they did show off some nice PCs including a number of sub $1,000 ARM windows machines running with Snapdragon X Plus processors.

What was interesting was the fact that Intel is no longer the dominant chip platform for PCs – there was equal billing given to AMD and Qualcomm both in the keynote presentation and in product announcements. All three chipmakers now have PCs compatible with the Microsoft Co-Pilot+ AI specification that allows for on-device AI processing.

I was unable to stay for the rest of the IFA show due to the costs I would incur for full coverage. But hopefully this dispatch gives you a taste of what tech companies will be marketing to European users in the months ahead.

If you liked the style of this video I have hours more of it! See my dispatches playlist for coverage of CES, other regional product showcases and more! If you’re curious about what I use to cover these events I’m now using just my iPhone with a Sennheiser AVX microphone attached. You can see my set up in this video.

My next dispatch will likely be at the end of October for Pepcom’s holiday preview show in New York City. Stay tuned!

CES 2024 Coverage is Complete & Thoughts on the Future of CES..

I flew out to Las Vegas once again this year for the annual CES show! CES is of course the biggest consumer electronics show of the year with over 135,000 attendees from all over the world.

As usual we produced a number of dispatch videos (four of them!) along with a special dispatch covering some enterprise products from our sponsor, SK. While it’s always fun to attend these shows the energy of CES pre-pandemic has yet to return in the post-pandemic era.

Organizers canceled the 2021 show due to health concerns and after so many 2020 attendees fell ill with what was likely early COVID. Many exhibitors canceled their plans at the last minute in 2022 due to the virus. The 2023 show was a bit of a return to normalcy but with a reduced footprint. This year felt a lot like last year. Yes, there were a few of the larger exhibitions but the show didn’t have the same buzz and energy as the pre-pandemic years.

Part of the problem is that a lot of focus is now on artificial intelligence and less on new hardware ideas. So many of the exhibits we walked past in the “Eureka Park” startup exhibition area were just screens demoing some AI app vs. something more tangible.

As a “commodity” YouTuber my videos largely succeed or fail based on what general awareness and interest audiences have about an event or product. The 2019 and 2020 shows were the most exciting ones I attended and that was reflected in the view counts we saw on my reporting.

The lack of pizzazz this year carried over to the performance of the videos I uploaded. My first dispatch did the best as we uploaded it the night before the show officially opened. But the buzz among audiences dropped quickly after that with the second dispatch only garnering a third of the views of the first. The third dispatch only received half the views of the second. The fourth one has just published but so far it looks like audiences have moved on and this one will be the poorest performer of the bunch.

So will I return next year? Most likely yes if we can find a sponsor. But sadly unless the CES organizers and exhibitors make a major push to revitalize the energy of past shows I fear we may be seeing a decline. Perhaps major trade shows like this are becoming a thing of the past?

Lots of New Tech From My Latest NYC Dispatch!

On Thursday I hopped on the train to New York City for the latest Pepcom tech showcase event. I love going to these because they are media-only events that have several dozen tech companies in one place making it very easy to collect a whole lot of content in a very short period of time.

You can see some of the more interesting things I found in my latest dispatch video!

In the video you’ll see about 16 different things that cover a wide gamut of the consumer electronics space. Everything from arts and crafts devices to finger sensing table saws! I also spent some time talking to the folks behind the emerging ATSC 3 standard to relay the concerns that we all have with their DRM encryption. I’ll have more on that in an upcoming ATSC 3 update video.

At CES there’s always a “Mega Pepcom” that has several hundred companies set up like this. It’s one of my favorite events as it gets us access to many big brands all in one spot!

You can check out all of my prior dispatch reports from the field here. In addition to these trade show events I have ISP tours, rocket launches, and a whole lot more!

CES 2023 Dispatch 2 – More Tech from the Pepcom Digital Experience!

My second dispatch from CES 2023 is up! You can watch it here.

In this edition we attended the “Pepcom Digital Experience” where well over a hundred tech companies gathered to show off their new gear. This event is similar to the CES Unveiled event from my first dispatch but this one has different companies exhibiting.

We got some first looks at new HP PCs and then found a whole bunch of cool stuff at varying price points. There’s definitely something for everyone in this latest dispatch so check it out!

This footage came from our activities on Wednesday. We have at least one more dispatch coming up from all of the things we did on Thursday! Stay tuned!

Another Great RetroWorld Expo Trip

A number of years back a small retro gaming show started up here in my home state of Connecticut called Retroworld Expo. The first two years were so successful they had to move to a larger venue at the Connecticut Convention center in Hartford.

The show took a year off for COVID but had a great reopening in November of 2021 followed by this year’s show that took place at their usual time of late August. It’s always a lot of fun to connect with fellow retro gaming fans and creators.

I do a panel discussion each year at the show too and YouTuber Dubesinhower was kind enough to record it for me. The focus of this year’s panel was some tips I’ve learned along the way as a full time independent content creator. Check it out here.

Last week I posted a dispatch video from Retroworld where we take a look at the show floor but also have some interviews with Bob from RetroRGB, EposVox, the creator of the NESMaker, and a look at a cool Knight Rider KITT replica! Check it all out here!