Miscellaneous Gadgets, Booth Babes, Conclusion

Miscellaneous Gadgets

There were a host of other gadgets that appealed to the audio and video professionals at the trade show like this Cinetics CineSkate System. This unique camera dolly system is compatible with any type of camera that uses a standard tripod mount and weighs less than five pounds. CineSkates includes a set of three wheels that attach to a tripod to enable fluid video in a compact package. I demo’ed the device, and it was great at tracking and panning video as well as doing time-lapse video. The CineSkates system retails for $285 on their website.

 

Cinetics also had one of their CineSquid systems with a GoPro HD Hero camera mount to showcase how they use durable suction cups and a flexible tripod to attach cameras to contoured, multi-level surfaces. The vendor reps at the event told me the CineSquid system has been used for aerial views from the belly of airplanes to high-speed chases. The entire system only costs around $245 with the additional GoPro mount. 

 

Our readers will get a kick out of Mimoco’s super hero and Star Wars-themed USB flash drives. These drives can be purchased with 2GB to 64GB of flash memory storage in USB 2.0 and USB. 3.0 models. Mimoco has contracts with a host of  companies like DC, Marvel, and Transformers to use their branded characters on their flash drives. The 2GB models start at $12.95 and go all the way to $109.95 for 64GB models.

 

Booth Babes

Coverage of any trade show wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t document the hard-working booth babes handing out t-shirts, keychains, and other promotional material. These two ladies were manning the Liquid Spins booth handing out Bone Daddy stickers.

 

Mophie also had several booth babes showing their line of smartphone cases and portable batteries.

 

There were also a couple booth babes dressed in maid outfits touting mobile apps for the iPhone like this one for Pitapat. Pitapat is a social matching service for people in Japan.

 

Picotube also had a Japanese booth babe handing out fans and describing their website as a "place for people who enjoy online parties with friends in real time".

 

The booth babes at Qubeey booth were dressed in skin-tight blue suits and enticed people to check out their communiations platform that consolidates the user’s social networking experience. It also delivers relevant multimedia content to your "cube" based off your profile and works from your desktop, tablet, or mobile device.

 

Conclusion

This year’s SXSW trade show didn’t have all the flashiness of new, emerging technology like those seen at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, but it was refreshing to see the amount of new startup companies creating innovative products geared toward mobile devices and multimedia professionals.

Many of the new products and applications on hand during my day-long tour illustrated how companies are leveraging new hardware and software available in today’s latest PCs, tablets, and smartphones. They are bridging the gap between social media and professional applications in a way never attempted before. They are blurring the lines between the capabilities of a PC and smart devices.

SXSW continues to grow as a platform for artists and film enthusiasts to showcase their work as well as tech-saavy social media experts who need to stay on the cutting-edge of technology. It will be interesting to see how many other PC hardware vendors will take advantage off these event to reach a new audience with their products. Only time will tell.

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