For a conference about getting work done, there are sure a whole lot of toys here at Office 2.0 in San Francisco. Sure many of them are old hat, like the the Nabaztag/tag, but there's some new stuff here too like Pano Logic's zero client desktop. This shiny metal cube is actually a computer--well kind of. Actually it involves setting up a a beefy server to give everyone in your office a full version of Windows sans hardware. Just give give them a keyboard, mouse, monitor and one of these shiny cubes and they're ready to go.
For Skype fans there are also several handheld receivers from iPevo that hook up to your computer via USB and look cooler than wearing one of those headsets. The newer model of the handsets even has a screen to let you access your buddy list and start a call without having to manage your contacts inside the Skype app. The top of the line "Solo" is an entire desktop phone, complete with a keypad that doesn't require a phone at all. Just jack it in with a LAN cable, sign in to Skype, and you're ready to make and receive VoIP calls.
There are also e-Readers on hand, the first generation model from Sony, along with iRex's iLiad that launched last year.
On a side note, all conference attendees had their choice between a brand new iPhone, or a Sony Playstation 3. The few who chose the PS3 were seen (unhappily) lugging around the giant black boxes throughout the day. One Yellow Dog Linux-running PS3 was hooked up to a 40"+ plasma, although only to show off the conference schedule on Firefox--games were nowhere to be found. I've embedded some shots of the gadget goodness below.
The Wi-Fi bunny has done what rabbits do best: multiplied.
Formally known as Nabaztag--it's Armenian for 'rabbit'--the toy from French company Violet that last summer grabbed geek attention worldwide has gotten an upgrade already.
(Credit:
Violet)
The new guy is called Nabaztag/tag, and besides reading e-mails, RSS feeds through a Wi-Fi connection to a computer, acting as an alarm clock or playing music, he can now respond to sound via a voice-recognition device in its belly. That means owners can talk to their bunny, but it also means it knows when its owner is in the room. When it hears voices, it will begin relaying e-mail, text messages and news, weather and stocks.
In addition, the Nabaztag/tag can play sound continuously from Web radio stations, MP3 files, podcasts or books, and has been granted a sense of smell. An RFID tag reader lets owners wave an object in front of its nose as a signal to play cards, read books or, by the "scent" of a person's keys, will know who has just arrived home.
As if that weren't enough, the bunny also acts like a personalized Digg-er, searching the series of tubes for news or nonsense you'd be amused by or at the very least, find interesting.
Nabaztag 2.0 is slightly more expensive than the original, $165 versus $150.
Fellow Craver Daniel Terdiman called the first version "a fun, if somewhat confounding toy."
If confounding fun is your thing, you can adopt one here.
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