Tech Texas and BBQ: Pepcom’s Digital Experience!

Posted July 5, 2006 at 10:39 PM by Mickey Katz

Section: Computers, Hardware, Security, Software / Applications, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Lifestyle, Imaging, Camcorders, Digital Cameras, Home Audio, Cellphones, Miscellaneous, Displays, Storage

On June 28th Adam and I had the opportunity to attend Pepcom’s 2006 trade show in Manhattan New York it was properly themed Big City BBQ. It was a great time filled with free food open bar and a mechanical bull. The size of the room was decent, reminiscent of a college job fair with tables set up in every location; each booth showcasing their newest gadgets and enticing you to their table with freebies. I was in it for the freebies, but after about twelve different pens and a tape measurer it got monotonous.

So onto the tech: 44 companies, some big names and some I would say did their best to strike up some noise for the coming year. One of those companies was “Bites, Smile Box,“ a cute new spin on the very popular online picture sharing sites. Smile box allows you to customize your new pictures with fun music and an array of graphics, just set it, create and email to your friends. As usual, Adam was more excited about the new phones coming out from Sony Ericsson; my friends just wait for them, you will not be disappointed. Belkin’s new line of wireless gadgets were great to see, while some companies such as Memorex did not have much to show and their table was bland, but how interesting can a Blu-ray or HD-DVD disc actually be. Out of all the companies we saw and all the new gadgets my personal favorite was Symantec’s new antivirus which is still in beta phase. We have a lot to look forward in terms of protection both in the business world and for the regular consumer. Loaded with more protection then Fort Knox and tighter security then Guantanmo Bay, Symantec’s new anti-virus seems promising. Garmin and TomTom are still working hard to make sure we don’t get lost on the city streets or in the woods, while HP and Lenovo (ThinkPad) were showing off some lightweight, ultra-portable laptops that you can take camping with you. Camera were covered by Nikon, Pentax, and Panasonic: it was nice to hear nothing about megapixel but now about some new advanced features that stabilize the image and let you peep in closer (from farther) offering great spy pictures.

With so many companies to see and so much liquor to drink, I don’t know if it was the beer or the mojitos but time passed quicker then Adam’s ride on the mechanical bull. We look forward to hearing from the contacts we made as well as the products we are so eager to review for all of you.

Click on for a complete list of the companies in attendance:

Akimbo Altiris Belkin Citrix DataViz Diskeeper Fujitsu Garmin GuardID Systems HP Iomega Itiva JVC Kingston Kodak Mobile Lexar Media Memorex MobiTV Motorola Napster NeatReceipts Nikon Nokia Panasonic Pentax PriceGrabber.com ReplayTV Samsung ScreenTek ShoZu Shure Smilebox Sony Ericsson Sprint Symantec Texas Instruments ThinkPad TomTom vMix Western Digital Westinghouse Digital Electronics Xandros