Samsung's Fridge Is More Than Just 140 Characters

Now that CES '11 is all wrapped and everyone is back from Las Vegas, we are all trying make sense of the techno-binge that took place over the weekend. There were tons of product announcements, and Dave did a great job of covering some of them.

However, it was impossible for one person to cover everything that was unveiled, so I thought I'd talk about one product in particular that's been getting mixed reactions around the web.

Rather than just saying what the product is (where's the fun in that?), let me ask you the question that this product aims to solve: Have you ever been standing in the kitchen, aching to tweet out to your followers about how the milk spoiled?

That's right. Samsung, the company that brought us one of the top Android smartphone and the first serious competitor to the iPad, announced a new refrigerator...that's connected to Twitter.

And although the tweeting kitchen appliance has been mocked quite a bit since it was announced, the Twitter-readiness overshadows some other features that are actually pretty cool.

For instance, the refrigerator allows you to access Google Calendar, check the weather, and adjust the temperature from the appliance's touchpad. Most interestingly, the refrigerator let's you look up things on Epicurious (a popular foodie website) for recipes and tips.

So while the Twitter capabilities of this refrigerator are a bit over the top in my mind, I believe Samsung has tapped into a few other features that could become big trends in the future.

CES '11, Day 2: 3D is No. 1...But Can It Last?

The following post is from Axiom's own Dave Sniadak, who is down in Las Vegas to be a part of the Consumer Electronics Show.

As predicted, the big announcements at CES today surrounded the flurry of new tablets and Smart Home technology (for instance, a refrigerator that tells you when you need to restock groceries). But the thing that struck me was just how many CE companies are hedging their bets on 3D technology.

I got the opportunity to take a look at two companies in particular. First of all, JVC rolled out a new consumer 3D camcorder, and the image quality is actually quite striking. They don't offer any super-elaborate glasses to view their 3D content, just the standard clunky ones that make you look like Drew Carey. However, the 3D products themselves are still pretty amazing, and as a video guy, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on one of these cameras.

Panasonic is also betting big on 3D technology and had a booth stadium that featured about 200 3D screens running simultaneous content. Overwhelming? That was an understatement.

But does a heavy investment by manufacturers mean consumers are going to buy into this technology? I said this last year, and I'll say it again: until manufacturers can create 3D products that don't require glasses (and a second mortgage to get all the gear), only a fraction of the general population can afford these products.

So, while 2011 offers some spectacular sights and sounds (trust me, it's absolutely amazing here) it's still a lot of hype, with little tangible substance for you and me.

Revving Up for CES

The following post is from Axiom's own Dave Sniadak, who is down in Las Vegas to be a part of the Consumer Electronics Show.

CES '11 is now in full force, and I'm lucky enough to be here in Las Vegas for the next three days to deliver some insight from the show floor as it happens. While the Consumer Electronics Show goes through the weekend, duty calls me back to the frozen tundra of Minnesota. However, while I'm here I'm planning to see a lot of neat things and hope to share a few of them with you.

Things kicked off last night several pre-CES events like the hugely popular media event by PepCom, called The Digital Experience. This years' theme was "Area 51 meets Vegas, Baby," and it was absolutely a sight to see. Over 1,000 members of the media from all over the world (not to mention 180 exhibitors) crammed themselves onto the show floor to show off the latest tech toys and gadgets.

Like Steve mentioned on Tuesday, the overwhelming trend at the year's CES is expected to be tablets. Motorola, Vizio and Asus have garnered the most tablet-related buzz so far, but there's still three days of product announcements left to go so who knows what we'll see.

But it's not all about tablets, with everything from Energizer's power-on-the-go Energistick to updated models of the Roomba and Scooba trying to get the attention of us technology aficionados.

I've also been seeing a lot of headlines about all of the different car companies, like Ford and Audi, who will be speaking here this weekend. That's a big shift from the usual gadget-only focus of past CES events.

Lastly, I also envision 3D technology, mobile apps and SmartGrid appliances to make a big impact this year. With so many great products being announced, I'll see as many as I can and let you know about more of my favorites.

A New Year is Here, and it Looks to be the Year of the Tablet

Now that we've all shaken off the cobwebs from a weekend of ringing in the new year, it's time to look at what's ahead for social media and technology in 2011. First up is the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, which is just 2 short days away.

From January 6-9, tech geeks and gadget fans will swarm to Las Vegas, only to ignore the flashing lights of the Vegas Strip for the dull glow of backlit tablets. And trust me, there will be a lot of tablets.

If you've followed the tech world at all the past couple of months, that isn't breaking news. My RSS feed has been inundated with story after story about upcoming tablets being previewed this weekend at CES. In fact, I've heard rumors about 14 or 15 different companies who will be in Las Vegas looking to bet big money on this emerging tablet trend.

Some of the tablets have definitely peaked my interest (like Vizio's announcement yesterday), while other tablets aren't getting much more than a yawn (sorry, Acer).

However, the tablet innovation I'm most excited for this weekend isn't a tablet at all. Google is expected to unveil their latest, tablet-optimized version of the Android OS (codenamed "Honeycomb") in March, and I'm hoping that they'll have some sneak peeks available at CES.

The 2 main reasons why I'm more excited for Honeycomb than the actual tablets are:

• Most of the upcoming tablets are going to run Android. 
• The lack of tablet-ready apps for Android is, in my opinion, one of the major reason the iPad has maintained its dominance in the tablet market.

Obviously, we'll have to wait until this weekend to see whether or not these rumors will lead to anything substantial. But if you're a fan of tablets, there's a lot of reasons to be hopeful for the future.