of its money by operating a CLEC, or Competitive Local Exchange Carrier, that provides voice and data services and is not one of the traditional telephone companies. The CLEC enables TelCentris to collect money for each inbound call from outside networks.
—Qualcomm demonstrated its new personal television for Flo TV, a handheld mobile TV with a 3.5-inch screen. The gadget, which goes on sale Nov. 13, is a dedicated television—unlike the mobile phones sold through Verizon and AT&T that are equipped to receive Flo TV’s satellite-based programming.
—SilverPlus, an Orange County startup founded in 2007, demonstrated a wireless base station that works in the home with a wristband or pendant wireless devices to help seniors better manage their health care and personal living needs. The system can remind a patient to take their medication, turn lights on or off, and automatically call paramedics under certain circumstances.
—Nokia used a lightweight Nokia booklet, a mini-laptop using the new Windows 7 operating system, to demonstrate what it calls a “traveler mobility suite.” It’s unclear to me if this is different from the device that Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo unveiled in New York with Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer in mid-October. Nokia says battery life for the booklet is 12 hours, even while using its wireless Internet connection. The wireless connectivity also can be easily turned off, which makes it easier for users to continue working on the device during takeoffs and landings.
—Climate Minder demonstrated its wireless irrigation control system for agriculture—not exactly a consumer electronics product. The system consists of a base station that connects to sensors in the field that monitor temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and other factors. The base station uses cellular technology to send alerts of changing climatic conditions, such as frost or heat, by text message.
—EcoDog offers Fido, a monitoring device billed as “a home energy watchdog” that connects to the home’s breaker panel to monitor electricity use. The system uses the home’s own power lines to communicate data to a home computer. CEO Pitt described it as “a system that is designed around one thing and one thing only, and that is the bottom line of your [electric] utility bill.” Pitt said EcoDog’s first production run has been sold out; it is being sold primarily to new home builders and solar panel installers.
—The Droid, which was presented by Verizon, was impressive. But the audience raised questions about its meager 256 megabytes of on-board memory. The Droid comes with a 16 gigabyte SD card to help offset that limitation, and a 32 gigabyte SD card is available. The demonstration included fast downloads, and the device features a variety of Google apps, including Maps, Latitude, Voice Search, Gmail, and Calendar.
