Asus Keyboard to hit the shelves in June

Asus-keyboard.JPG

The most puzzling gadget from CES 2009 looks like it’s about to be up for grabs as word spreads that the Asus Keyboard will be on sale by the end of June.

The computer-in-a-keyboard device created more of a confusion than a storm when it was brushed over fairly casually at the Asus press conference in January. So, just in case your desktop isn’t enough, the Taiwanese innovator is selling a finger tapper with a mind of its own.

It comes with an embedded 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen, and it runs XP on an Atom N270 CPU and a 32GB SSD. It also happens to rock 802.11n wirless, an HDMI-out port, Bluetooth, a set of speakers and even has a microphone as well. I think they’re just doing it to make everyone’s computer feel really dated. “Look,” they’re saying, “even our keyboards are better than your tired old machine.”

Of course, the big question is what exactly am I going to use the thing for? I look forward to the demonstrations.

(via Engadget)

CES 2009: Vuzix Wrap 920AVs

At CES 2009, Dan got his hands (or eyes?) on Vuzix’s Wrap 920AVs that I was getting excited about here. They’re every bit as awesome as promised, apparently, but Dan also managed to wheedle out a price from them – they’re looking at $399 (£274), and a ‘summertime’ release (for the US, presumably).

Vuzix

Related posts: Next-gen Vuzix VR glasses will be unveiled at CES | Vuzix Wrap 920AV audiovisual goggles – the full, actually quite awesome, details

CES 2009: LEGO-inspired kids gadgets coming soon courtesy of Digital Blue

lego-digital-blue-camera-walkie-talkie.jpg

One of the quirkier stories to come out of CES this year was the partnership between Digital Blue and LEGO which will see a number of kid-centric gadgets produced with the iconic plastic brick look.

This isn’t build it yourself, unfortunately, so don’t think you’ll be able to buy a box full of LEGO pieces, a CMOS sensor, LCD and a few buttons and create your own digital camera. It’s just the look, rather than the actual coloured blocks, but that’s probably just as well as it would be pretty irritating to drop said camera and have it break into a hundred pieces…

CES 2009 – Attendance down 22% on last year, down 15% on expectations

ces-2009-empty.jpg

Last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show drew just 110,000 visitors – the lowest turnout in many years. Last year, the show admitted 141,000 people and CES had predicted that 130,000 people would attend, but both of those figures proved unattainable, likely due to the state of the world’s economy.

Even for those who showed up, the show proved disappointing. Although wireless power generation was showed off, and Palm unveiled its most exciting product in years, the show was underwhelming. All the companies started their press conferences with comments on the global economy and talked about how green they are. Then they just talked about networkng as much of their AV as possible.

Are big technology shows sustainable in the long term? With Apple pulling out of Macworld, perhaps they’re not. If large companies pull out, then attendance dwindles, and it’s no longer worth it for the smaller companies, which provide the bulk of the cash to run the show. Unless the economy takes a sharp upward turn this year, 2010 could be a very interesting time for the big expos.

(via VentureBeat)

For more CES shenanigans, see through our eyes at the CES index megapost.