Looking back, I realized there were a TON of things I didn't write about that I should have. In no particular order, here they are in a nice omnibus post:
Cambre Products: I stopped into their booth sunday in the waning hours of the show. They essentially make furniture for electronics. The brand they were focused on at the show is their gaming line. Game On is their line of shelves to hold consoles and games. Stash Box (which sounds like something sold in a pipe store) is where you put your games. Wire Wraps are covers for... wires. They have a nice soft rubber look that color codes to the shelves you buy. Finally, there's the Gear Board which is your upscale pegboard designed to get larger gaming accessories (WiiFit) off the floor. Cambre also makes antibacterial wipes called Dirt Rags that would be ideal for Chuck following the annual GN 4th of July fireworks/LAN party.
Track Scan: These folks specialize in high performance audio for race cars (I hope they don't see my NASCAR jokes littered throughout my other posts), but have also developed a high end audio line specifically for gaming. We'd been following their Vibras Twitter account for some time, but hadn't had a chance to connect for a review of their Vibras product line. The reason I wanted to see it so much was that the controls for the equalizer/mixer/decoder box are clean and simple, and the headset looked very light and comfortable for such a high end unit. Sure enough, in a quick trial at CES, it felt great and produced good sound. We're looking at having a review on this one shortly, and it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against the other players in the true 5.1 Dolby surround sound headset space.
iaPeel: John made the obvious point (he's good at that) as we walked the show Saturday that everyone and their mom are getting into the skins game. They all claim to use the best 3M materials, and have the best IP licenses. Well, they're probably all telling some form of the truth, but what I'm looking for is a way to distinguish between the players. As we've recently seen with MusicSkins, you can order customized skins on line, pay and have them delivered. iaPeel is looking to shortcut that approach through their line of ink-jet based custom skins that you print yourself at home. So not only can you customize the skins, but they come with a tab guided application system. It's not as easy as I hoped, but it is still pretty helpful in lining up the skin to the device. It's also quite a bit cheaper as you get the ability to print 5 skins yourself for about the same price as ordering one. The drawback is that the iaPeel skin is not the same quality of 3M laminate used by MusicSkins and others.
Gunnar: This glasses manufacturer was actually using a small section of the TRITTON booth, and I met them following my meeting there. Gunnar was at the show, showing off their glasses and talking up their affiliation with MLG. I was really impressed with the ideas behind the products as a gamer and 8-12 hour a day computer user. I know my eyes have been effected by my time in front of a screen. Anything that helps reduce stress and strain on my eyes I'm all for. Joe Croft, the co-founder of the company told me a lot about the shape of the optics, and how rounding the lenses reduces strains and also creates micro environments to help keep the eyes clean. The do feel like they help, though I havent used them enough to know if this is just placebo effect talking. But I know I feel cool wearing them, especially with the sample that I was given being the MLG branded units. I guess this is as close as I'll ever be to being a pro gamer.
UltraLast Batteries: As you may have seen in my swag posts, I avoid paper at conventions like the plague. It builds up quickly and weighs you down. Plus it wastes trees. So, in light of my environmental bent to the conference, when I saw a company pushing environmentally friendly rechargable batteries, I had to take a look. Whether through the RBRC program, or because of the post-consumer content packaging the product is all about being green. Especially when you consider the fact that recyclable batteries stop waste simply by allowing us all to not buy disposables is a terrific thing in and of itself.
