MacMegasite

Although Macworld 2010 was smaller in size than previous years, enthusiasm was high & vendors reported only a slight decrease in attendance. In previous years, Macworld Expo occupied both Moscone’s south hall and the smaller north hall. This year it only occupied the north hall, which in previous years was the home of low-budget smaller exhibitors which usually had the more innovative and fun products.

There were fewer “suits” and more hardcore enthusiasts. Although Apple & Adobe were absent, I was surprised to see Microsoft & IBM with a major presence. The large catalog vendors who usually sold a lot of products were also absent this year. A lot of companies like Smith Micro and Intuit didn’t have booths but were demonstrating their products at their office or hotel suite.

The feature presentations like David Pogue’s opener were a special treat. We even got to see LeVar Burton playing Steve Jobs in a parody of “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

There were very few “must have” products this year. My favorite was Inklet, a $25 application that turns the multi-touch trackpad on newer MacBooks to a Wacom-style trackpad. The largest category of products were iPhone & iPod accessories. A few companies were even selling iPad cases.

Apple stole the show by introducing Aperture 3.0 earlier in the week, which in most years would have been one of the highlights of the show.

Here is my photo slideshow from Macworld 2010. Most of these pictures were uploaded wirelessly from the show floor with an Eye-Fi card in my Nikon D90.

Old Lyme, Conn. – February 10, 2010 – Sennheiser introduces a new addition to its new class of wireless headphones. The PX 210 BT portable mini headphone is equipped with Bluetooth® and new apt-X® coding technology for flawless sound that’s free of interference and wires.

“Music and speech are reproduced in excellent quality, while still allowing you complete freedom of movement,” said Maurice Quarré, head of product management for consumer electronics at Sennheiser.

The PX 210 BT has a transmission range of up to 33 feet, which means your audio source can be stored in a backpack or bag when you’re out and about. Convenient audio controls are located directly on the earpiece. They can be used to activate or deactivate the Bluetooth function, regulate the volume and navigate a playlist. The rechargeable lithium polymer battery provides up to 12 hours of non-stop listening enjoyment before it needs recharging.

No cables and no loss of sound quality

Listening to music is even more fun when you’re not restricted by cables. The PX 210 BT has powerful neodymium magnets that ensure a natural and lifelike sound image with a frequency response of 15 to 22,000 Hertz. Sennheiser’s patented Duofol™ diaphragms almost entirely eliminate standing waves to reproduce brilliant highs and fast, tight low end with impeccable clarity.

The apt-X coding technology for compressing audio data was originally developed for use in the professional audio and broadcasting sectors. Sennheiser is one of the first manufacturers to incorporate this technology into consumer headphones.

“Sennheiser makes no compromises when it comes to the sound quality of its wireless headphones,” said Stephen Wray, vice president of licensing at apt-X. “The use of apt-X means that Sennheiser customers can now enjoy what we call ‘audiophile Bluetooth stereo.’”

The PXC 210 BT can be connected to all Bluetooth-compatible audio sources (listen-only). Sennheiser Bluetooth dongles (sold separately) ensure compatibility with devices that do not support apt-X technology, or that lack Bluetooth audio altogether.

Comfortable on the move

The PX 210 BT not only looks great, it’s also extremely comfortable: with a weight of just under four ounces and small, soft ear cushions, it fits comfortably on the ears. A handy folding mechanism and the included carrying case make it an ideal traveling companion.

The PX 210 BT is available now. The set includes a lithium polymer rechargeable battery, a battery charger with adapters for use in different countries, and an audio cable for traditional listening.

MSRP: $299.95

About Sennheiser

Sennheiser is a world-leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is now a global brand represented in 60 countries around the world with U.S. headquarters in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Sennheiser’s pioneering excellence in technology has rewarded the company with numerous awards and accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For more information, please visit www.sennheiserusa.com.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – February 9, 2010 – Sennheiser, the premium audio manufacturer, announces that it will be hosting free seminars each day at Macworld 2010. The seminars, which cover audio for film, wireless audio and studio/live sound, are open to all attendees of Macworld and will be led by Robby Scharf, key accounts manager at Sennheiser’s U.S. headquarters. The schedule for seminars is as follows:

Capturing Sound for Film (3:00 p.m.):
This seminar, which is geared towards beginner level film students or videographers, covers the basics of microphones used for video and film. Shotgun mics and mic patterns are discussed, along with an overview of wind screens and other accessories.

Wireless Audio Made Easy (4:00 p.m.)
This seminar, which is also appropriate for beginning students or videographers, covers the basics of wireless audio, including transmitters and receivers, how to set up a basic wireless system and gain-staging audio.

Better Studio and Live Sound (5:00 p.m.)
This seminar, which is perfect for studio musicians, live performers, engineers and home-recording enthusiasts, covers microphone basics, including mic patterns and choosing the right mic for the job. In addition, an overview is provided on headphones for mixing and recording (closed ear vs. open ear).

For more information on these seminars and fantastic deals on a range of professional audio gear, make sure to stop by the Sennheiser booth (1254) during regular show hours.

About Sennheiser

Sennheiser is a world-leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is now a global brand represented in 60 countries around the world with U.S. headquarters in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Sennheiser’s pioneering excellence in technology has rewarded the company with numerous awards and accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For more information, please visit www.sennheiserusa.com.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., February 10, 2010 – Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., the market leader in document imaging scanners and services, today introduced the newest addition to its portable ScanSnap product lineup. The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 is the company’s next generation mobile multi-page scanner that provides the same easy-to-use one-button scanning and reliable operation as its predecessors. With enhanced productivity features and added versatility, it is also the first ScanSnap scanner designed for full cross-platform functionality for PC and Mac.
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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. –February 9, 2010– At Macworld 2010, Canson Inc. ® is announcing the launch of the Mac Compatible version of PAPERSHOW®, the innovative interactive digital writing solution, at booth 746. The PC version of PAPERSHOW launched last February and has since been used by many businesspeople, teachers, lawyers and presenters.

The PAPERSHOW Mac version is compatible with the Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard Mac operating systems.

As a new product launching at Macworld, PAPERSHOW will be featured in the First Looks showcase throughout the duration of Macworld, and the video describing how PAPERSHOW works in a variety of settings has been streaming on MacworldTV in the weeks leading up to the show.

“With PAPERSHOW, I’m not limited to an expensive pen-enabled monitor to whiteboard,” said Corey Sommers, Principal of WhiteboardSelling. “We mostly use desktop sharing software to conduct remote whiteboard presentations – you need a way to engage your customers remotely – and PAPERSHOW is the way to do it.”

PAPERSHOW is a timesaving solution that consists of three elements: a wireless Bluetooth pen, a USB Key and interactive paper that work together to allow one to create a digital flip chart or annotate a Keynote or PowerPoint Presentation live. PAPERSHOW is versatile in that it can be used in a classroom, a conference room or through web conferencing. After a meeting, web conference or class, one can save the session, and then immediately print and/or email it to the team.

On Friday, February 12th Canson will be hosting a special presentation from 1:30pm-2:00pm PST at the Main Stage area of the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Dr. Brian Friedlander, Ph.D, Educational Technology Consultant, will be presenting a session titled “Make Your Presentations Come to Life with PAPERSHOW for the Mac.”

“PAPERSHOW is an indispensible presentation tool for those who spend a great deal of time teaching, presenting and holding workshops,” said Friedlander. “PAPERSHOW is easy to use, portable and affords me the opportunity to have a digital flipchart wherever I am presenting. PAPERSHOW has become an essential part of my presentation tool kit.”

PAPERSHOW features six different colors, three different brushstrokes, perfect shapes, lines and arrows all of which bring presentations, meetings and classes to life.

For more information, please visit www.papershow.com

Atlona Technologies, solutions based manufacturer of Audio Video accessories, has consistently created products that will allow users easy and affordable means of connecting their PC to their HDTV without spending a fortune on new video cards or expensive boxes that perform this task as a secondary function. In suit, Atlona has added to their ever growing product line with their newest Switcher/Scaler, the AT-HDVieW. This new unit designed to take both video and audio signal from a PC or Laptop, and upscale it to a digital HDMI output, was specifically made for the retail market. Users looking to upscale their computer viewing experience through their home entertainment center can now use the HDVieW to easily adapt their VGA outputs into HDMI. Operating this device is as simple as plug and play, due to the units ability to automatically sense the native resolution of the desired display and scale the computer’s output to match it.
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Universal Electronic Accessories (“Uniea”), a leading designer and manufacturer of innovative electronic accessories, wrapped up its promotional efforts at this year’s Macworld convention and expo today, declaring tremendous success in promoting its brand name and newest products to an American audience. Uniea’s impressive display, together with the added exposure of being a major sponsor at Macworld 2009, brought a steady cavalcade of visitors by its booth, attracting a wide array of attendees, ranging from distributors, resellers, and professional tech writers to everyday consumers and Mac enthusiasts.

Of particular interest to Macworld guests was the newly revealed Haptique, a hard case for the MacBook that features a uniquely soft and textured feel while still retaining a firm, durable design. Business professionals, writers, and MacBook users alike were highly impressed with both the feel of the Haptique’s unique material as well as the wide range of available colors. Ms. Charlotte Chak, Brand Director for Uniea, commented:

“The Haptique represents Uniea’s most exciting and forward-looking product to date. Its innovative design and construction, which combines the look and feel of a soft case with the total protection of a hard case, appealed to nearly everyone at Macworld who had a chance to see it. Most of the people I spoke to described it as ‘really impressive.’”

With Uniea seeking to make strong in-roads into the U.S. market this year, the Haptique is positioned to help launch the new company into the American limelight. It is anticipated that a many favorable reviews will surface on the pages of leading tech magazines, blogs, and other tech-oriented media outlets over the next quarter, touting the Haptique’s innovative design as well as Uniea’s promising growth as a leading designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics accessories.

About Uniea Ltd.

Founded in 2005, Universal Electronic Accessories (“Uniea”) designs and manufactures high-quality accessories for consumer electronics, including iPod, Laptop, iPhone, and Smartphone. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Uniea is consistently seeking to expand into new markets worldwide and promote our products to tech-savvy consumers who are in search of accessories for their electronics that combine protection and ergonomics with a hip style and look.

Given the unique quality and design of its wide-ranging products, the company is actively participating in various worldwide tradeshows and exhibitions. Instead of being a mere manufacturer of electronic accessories, Uniea is committed to enhancing people’s life with products that speak to people’s needs and capture their imagination. For more information about Uniea, please visit www.uniea.com.

Here are some more Macworld notes, now that I’m home.

North vs. South As usual, most of the major companies were in the South hall and the small, funky booths were in the North hall. There were lots of iPod & iPhone accessories, games, and music software in the North hall. The Acura lounge in the North Hall provided a welcome place to rest, and the John Lennon Tour Bus was a fun place for playing rock band and trying out real musical instruments.

Best Product for the trip home FastMac’s True Power IV for iPhone. I’ll post a more extensive review soon, but it was awesome on the trip home. I charged it overnight and after more than 8 hours, including over 4 hours of music, 1 hour of video, and several games of Frenzic & reMovem, my iPhone was still fully charged and the IV’s battery was still full.

Cool product The Pulse Smartpen from livescribe captures everything you write or say.

Photoshop plugins Topaz Adjust, Simplify, Denoise, and Vivacity make photo touchups easy and let you create great effects like paintings, line drawings, and dramatic colorization.

It’s not about Apple. The real reason to go to Macworld isn’t for Apple; it’s for all of the cool people and cool products from the other companies. Apple’s booth is one of the least interesting, merely rehashing what we saw at the keynote.

Free Macworld Expo 2010 Passes. IDG is offering free expo passes (regularly $25) for Macworld 2010.

Lots of iPod accessories Vestalife was showing their iPod speakers & video screens. I even got a free Ladybug speaker after attending their presentation.

Party Bus Hear Planet’s Party Bus shuttled people between parties.

Lots of parties There were several parties every night, often at conflicting times. The only way to avoid missing a party was by spending a few minutes at one and running to the next one.

Google Dance This was the scene at the Google booth in the final moments of the show on Friday afternoon.

iLife 09 looks cool I use Aperture, but I’m very tempted to switch to iPhoto 09.

An old tradidion The Netter’s Dinner has taken place during Macworld since 1985. A big group treks from Moscone to Henry’s Hunan for a great dinner, interesting conversation, and free swag.

Drive Savers demonstrated graphically what can go wrong with disk drives.

The end At 4PM sharp on Friday afternoon, the lights were dimmed and the crowd was herded out of the hall.

Macworld Expo 2009 is over, and although it lacked a SteveNote, it was still an exciting show with plenty of interesting and innovative products, most of them from companies other than Apple. Here’s a look at some of the show highlights, with more coming in the next few days.
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El SEGUNDO, CA — (January 7, 2009) — At the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, California, hardware and software manufacturer Axiotron® yesterday unveiled the Modbook® Pro, the world’s fastest and largest-screen tablet computer. With its sleek black enclosure made from precision-machined aluminum, powerful graphics processing capabilities and revolutionary Synergy™ Touch technology, the Modbook Pro redefines the tablet computing experience.

An aftermarket modification of the unibody Apple® MacBook® Pro computer, Axiotron’s Modbook Pro offers a 15.4-inch pen-enabled display with a pixel resolution of 1440×900 WXGA, and features a surface layer of the company’s etched, paper-emulating ForceGlass™ for optimum drawing and writing comfort. The screen assembly is flush-mounted in the top bezel, providing a completely level drawing and writing surface and maximizing the Modbook Pro’s on-screen workspace.

In addition to the RF-based pen digitizer components, the Modbook Pro also feature Axiotron’s Synergy Touch, a revolutionary technology that — unlike any other touchscreen computer — employs touch functionality primarily in support of the pen input. Synergy’s user interface, Quicktouch™, appears on the screen as translucent overlays of buttons and pads, permitting users to enter text or keyboard shortcuts with the “alt,” “option” or “command” keys to directly modify pen clicks.

While the Axiotron Modbook Pro completely replaces the original Apple MacBook Pro’s enclosure, it leaves the main system components unmodified, maintaining 100% compatibility with both the system hardware as well as the Mac OS® X operating system. The voided Apple warranty will be replaced by Axiotron’s one-year Modcare® Hardware Warranty, covering the complete hardware solution top to bottom.

As another first, customers can order their Modbook Pro with a partitioned drive preinstalled with Windows Vista® Business Edition. The Modbook Pro also comes with Axiotron’s Quickapps™ suite, including Quicktouch (the pen-supporting touch user interface), Quickclicks™ (on-screen software keyboard and shortcuts), Quickflip (screen rotation utility), and Quickscript (advanced handwriting recognition).

The Axiotron Modbook Pro is compatible with all 15.4-inch unibody Apple MacBook Pro systems, hosting up to a 2.8GHz Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM, up to 320GB of storage on a 7200-rpm hard drive or 128GB of storage on a solid-state drive, and an NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M GT graphics subsystem.

The Modbook Pro is slated to ship in May/June 2009. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for an Axiotron Modbook Pro built from a customer-supplied Apple MacBook Pro base system via Axiotron Modservice™ starts at $3,049. An Axiotron Modbook Pro built from a brand new Apple MacBook Pro base system starts at $4,998. Customers can direct pre-orders through Axiotron’s website at http://www.axiotron.com/buy. Placing a pre-order now will secure a customer’s place in line when the Modbook Pro begins shipping.

To celebrate the Modbook Pro’s unveiling at the Macworld Expo, Axiotron is offering the following discount promotions through January 19th, 2009.

Modbook Pro Promotion:

Customers who pre-order a complete Axiotron Modbook Pro, including those built with a new Apple MacBook Pro base system, will be eligible for a manufacturer’s discount of $399. With this discount customers can get a complete Axiotron Modbook Pro solution that includes the 2.4GHz Apple MacBook Pro for as little as $4,599.

Modservice for Modbook Pro Promotion:

Customers who pre-order an Axiotron Modbook Pro upgrade for their pre-owned 15.4-inch unibody Apple MacBook Pro will be eligible for a manufacturer’s discount of $449. With this discount customers can get a brand new Modbook Pro for as little as $2,600.

Two-Year Modcare for Modbook Pro Promotion:

A two-year extension of the Modcare warranty for the Modbook Pro is available for $549. Customers who pre-order this two-year extension — in combination with their pre-order for the Modbook Pro or Modservice for Modbook Pro — will receive a $150 discount on the warranty extension. With this discount customers can get three full years of complete warranty coverage on their Axiotron Modbook Pro for $399.

Modbook Promotion:

Customers who purchase a complete Axiotron Modbook, including those built with a customer-supplied Apple MacBook base system through Axiotron Modservice, will be eligible for a manufacturer’s discount of $100. With this discount customers can get a complete Axiotron Modbook solution built from a new 2.1GHz Apple MacBook base system for as little as $2,148.

Modservice for Modbook Promotion:

Customers who purchase an Axiotron Modbook upgrade for their pre-owned white or black Apple MacBook through Axiotron Modservice will be eligible for a manufacturer’s discount of $150. With this discount customers can get a brand new Modbook for as little as $1,149.

Synergy Touch for New Modbook Promotion:

Beginning in April 2009, Axiotron will make Synergy Touch available as a hardware and software upgrade to the Modbook for $449. Customers will have the option to purchase their new Modbooks with Synergy Touch, and current owners of the Modbook will have the option to upgrade their existing Modbook.

Customers who pre-order the Synergy Touch upgrade — together with their purchase of a complete new Modbook solution — will be eligible for a manufacturer’s discount of $150. With this discount Modbook customers can pre-order the Synergy Touch upgrade for as little as $299.

Modbook Plus Modbook Pro Promotion:

Customers who pre-order a new Modbook Pro solution — together with their purchase of a new Modbook solution — will be eligible for a manufacturer’s discount of $699. With this discount customers can get a new Modbook right away, and a Modbook Pro once it begins shipping in May/June 2009, for as little as $6,547.

More information about Axiotron, the Modbook, and the Modbook Pro is available at http://www.axiotron.com. Customers can place an order for Axiotron products by visiting http://www.axiotron.com/buy or at any Axiotron Authorized Reseller.

About Axiotron

A high-tech solution hardware manufacturing company and an Apple Premier Developer, Axiotron (http://www.axiotron.com) produces the Modbook, the award-winning tablet Mac solution. Following its unique vision of Customizing Your World™, Axiotron is dedicated to becoming a leading high-tech innovator through the conception and development of intriguing digital lifestyle products. In addition, Axiotron offers its product development expertise to companies in need of custom hardware solutions. Founded in January 2005, Axiotron is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V: AXO) in Toronto, Canada, with headquarters in El Segundo, California.