Best Of CES! (And notable others)

First of all let's talk about the most exciting product I saw on the show floor this year. It is not a huge product in size, but that is what makes it so special.

Over the years the one fear that stands out above all others for motorcycle riders is the theft of their bike. True, you can spend a lot of money on alarms and you can even add LoJack, but the fact of the matter is that if you are out of range of hearing your alarm and your bike gets stolen the criminal has the jump on keeping your bike. Heck, LoJack only works after it has been turned on and we all know it is a short 4 hours to the border.

So, what we all want is a device that we can track in real time and something that would alert us if our bike was moving when it shouldn't be, right? Well in a nutshell that is what ZoomBak claims their device does. Not only does it cover my wish list of protection, it does it at a very affordable price.

The ZoomBak costs $199 for the Dog unit or $249 for the car unit. Additionally you will buy tracking services at about $10 a month in bulk. It works off of both GPS and Cell/Paging networks so coverage should not be an issue. The system uses a web interface and also can work via text from a cellphone. The system allows for Geo-Fencing, which is an electronic way of creating a zone in which you define that you would want alerted if the device (on your bike of course) leaves that area. You can make the Geo-Fence very small and you can also create one on the fly. That's the key to this product, because for the first time ever you could feel safe leaving a bike in the parking lot.



Hopefully we will have a review unit in hand soon so that we can validate the claims. The promise of the ZoomBak device is something if true, would make me personally encourage its purchase by every rider who wants to keep their bike.

You can check up on the product and its stats at Click for ZoomBak Once we get a unit in hand we will let you know how the product claim line up to reality.

Also, for more photos check the gallery at Click for Gallery

Oh, and the best thing....ZoomBak is shipping now!

Other than the ZoomBak there were a few things that peaked my interest, although unlike that product most were not yet shipping.

While walking around I saw this little camera.


Not a real looker this product, but it certainly is feature packed. It shoots at the resolution needed for YouTube type posts and it is actually motion activated, oh and for $199 they say it will come with a remote. They were also showing it as a personal protection device, but what it shows me is that video capture devices will be getting smaller and even more affordable down the line. Good news if you want to hang them off your forks.




I had mentioned that everyone is getting into Nav and this is an example. Yes, that is a PSP, with a Nav module. Is it shipping? Of course not, but hey it could, right?

One thing is for certain, things are getting smaller and a whole lot cooler!

CES Roundup!

Well, better late than never, right?

I was doing great after CES until Sunday night when I developed a cough after the Supercross event. Well, after a few days in bed I still feel like crap, but it is thing I do to bring you breaking information. Just feel my pain!!

CES 2008

I've been attending the CES show for just over 20 years now and the one thing that struck me about this year (and several others in attendance) was that there was nothing that earth shattering at this year's show. I mean yeah, Panasonic showed off a plasma screen larger than a truck, but big deal it is not really usable.

On the whole I've gotten a lot better at looking at products and not getting too excited until I get the answer to the ever important question. When will it ship? as in years past the answers varied, but the vast majority started with one of the following.

"We are shooting for..."
"Should be around..."
"Spring time delivery..."

All meaning of course....not now.



With that understanding in mind I usually don't even bother with stuff that isn't shipping yet, but even looking at those products, nothing exciting really stood out. Heck, even the booth babes were lacking this year, and I mean if you don't have any exciting product, the least you should do is have good looking women to talk to, right?

Anyway, of the categories that matter to us the motorcycle riders I can say this.

Navigation -

Garmin is still king, both in product design and how the mapping interface works. If you want to look for an alternative you can find one as I think I saw about 10 new companies that were showing Nav systems. The only real motorcycle specific units were Tom-Tom and Garmin.



Digital Media Players -

Holy Crap! There are a ton of these, in all sizes and shapes. In you are not on the iWagon I would suggest looking at Creative or SanDisc as both have player options that are small and well suited for motorcycle use.

Best Of Show

I scoured the halls looking for a products that would stand out above all others and believe it or not one stood out far above all the rest. So much so that I will write another entry just to explain.

The product? It is a little active tracking device called the ZoomBak. And it is unequivocally the best product shown at CES for the motorcyclist.