2010 CES

No Geek Needed exec says products should be simple to install

Bruce Fredrickson says the the router and video grabber from his company can be installed in less time than it takes to boil an egg. Fredrickson, who is chief marketing officer for No Geek Needed, says he's tired of having to go to neighbors' houses to help them install things.

The company's strategy is to make all the decisions for the user, giving people nothing to think about when they install the product, such as what type of security to add to their router.

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Dave Taylor on CES and the most common tech questions

Dave Taylor is a tech author, journalist, blogger, and question answerer. His Web site, AskDaveTaylor.com, is a place where anyone can submit a question or learn from his many previous answers. Larry Magid asked Taylor about his most common questions, which turn out to be password recovery for people who's social-networking sites were commandeered and iPod issues.

Magid and Taylor also talked about what impressed them at CES. Taylor's response was "smart energy monitoring for the home."

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Harry McCracken talks tablets, slates

CES was awash with nontraditional PCs like tablets, slates, smartbooks, and Netbooks. Harry McCracken, founder and chief blogger at Technologizer and former editor-in-chief of PC World, talks with Larry Magid about the nontraditional PC devices he saw at CES and one device that has never been seen in public--the Apple tablet that is rumored to be announced on January 27.

McCracken thinks that Apple's sofware is what will distinguish its device from the ones he saw at CES.

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Device monitors teen driving (podcast)

There are plenty of things for parents of teens to worry about, but almost nothing is as scary as when your kid ventures out behind the wheel of a car or rides in a car with another teen driver.

Each year more than 6,000 teens are involved in fatal accidents. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for teens.

Still, most parents allow their teens to drive. You can't sit in the backseat every time your kid takes the wheel, but thanks to the Tiwi, a $299 device that mounts to the windshield of your kid'… Read more

Xbox Live Game Room brings back the classic 25-cent arcade

LAS VEGAS--While it was great to get some solid hands-on time playing PS3 in 3D, Microsoft debuted something for the Xbox 360 that we'll actually be able to play in late March; not to mention it's much more practical, too.

Xbox Live Game Room essentially allows you to create your own arcade, offering titles from many classic developers such as Atari, Intellivison, and Konami. When the service goes live in late March, 30 titles will be immediately available, with five to seven new games being released each week.

There's no dashboard update required for Game Room; you'… Read more

HP VP talks laptops, new slate prototype (podcast)

Philip McKinney is vice president and chief technology officer for the Personal Systems Group at Hewlett-Packard, where he oversees the group's long-range technical strategy and research and development. At the Showstoppers press event at CES, McKinney was walking around with a couple of new latops PCs and a new portable VGA pico projector.

Larry Magid and McKinney talked about these products, but Magid couldn't help but ask about HP's slate PC prototype that Microsoft Steve Ballmer showed off during his keynote address. McKinney wouldn't go into much detail about this unannounced product, but Magid got at … Read more

LoJack recovers lost and stolen laptops (podcast)

"Six-hundred thousand laptops are disappearing every single year," Absolute Software Vice President Mark Grace said during this CES interview.

The company is the publisher of LoJack for Laptops, a software product that tracks lost and stolen laptops. The company, according to Grace, has extensive relationships with law enforcement around the world. The product tracks the laptops through the IP address "behind the scenes," according to Grace. "Once that system calls into our servers we get three out of four back...we help get the subpoena and get the warrant and help law enforcement to go … Read more

Plastic Logic CEO on Que e-reader (podcast)

For several years Richard Archuleta has been showing up at trade shows with prototypes of Plastic Logic's as-yet-unreleased Que e-reader. But it's almost ready. Archuleta told Larry Magid that the device will finally ship in April at a starting price of $649 for a 4GB model with Wi-Fi and $799 for the 8 GB model with Wi-Fi and 3G.

At that price, the 3G model (with the ability to download books via a built-in cellular radio) will be more than three times the price of the Amazon Kindle and $310 more than Amazon's 9.7-inch global wireless … Read more

LG's N+ 31 user multimonitor computing setup

LAS VEGAS--Have you ever had the desire to put 31 users on one PC? No? Not even a little? OK, well I guess I'll just be leaving then...Oh, now you're interested once I start walking away? Typical human.

LG's N+ monitor technology supports up to 31 desktop LCD monitors on a single computer. LG is targeting schools, offices, and call centers with the system.

According to LG, these N+ monitors (model N224WA) can be installed in just a few minutes and can reduce the amount of maintenance and IT support needed for a typical office. However, … Read more