I never thought I would say this, but there are more electronic gadgets and toys than I want. While walking the many cavernous show floors of CES, I saw cool bicycle gadgets from iBike (www.ibikedash.com). One device is a case for your iPhone that transforms it 
into a cycling computer. Because it measures wind speed, it actually is more capable than any existing bike computer—it uses data you supply like your type of bike and your weight, GPS info and knowledge of the terrain, and readings on wind speed and your heart rate to calculate your power output. If it works reliably, it would provide data that normally requires a cycle power meter costing a couple thousand dollars. If you are not into cycling, you probably don’t care, but it does show how our phones are becoming the gathering point for a myriad of data sources around us. I definitely need to try one of these out when they become available in March.
I also saw solar panels from Sharp (SunSnap) that have the inverter built in so that they output AC power directly. This gets around the messy inverter and wiring problems of typical panels that output DC power. Now, if I can get my homeowners association to agree, I need some of these.
I also saw TVs that were enormous, like 84-inch LCD, and gorgeous, like the 55-inch OLED, both from LG. I saw Windows 8 tablets and cars and iPhone cases and e-cigarettes. Basically, I reached gadget overload. At least the future of technology does not appear to be boring!
Thanks so much to the folks that stopped by our suite to talk about HDXPRT, the upcoming touch benchmark, and what they see as the future of benchmarking. We will be doing our best over the coming months to incorporate your ideas and suggestions. If you were not able to visit with us, please feel free to drop me an email and let me know what you are thinking.
Bill
