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American Morning

Cool Gadgets

Aired January 09, 2003 - 09:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: So you want to know what's hot this year in electronics? Well, the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas is the biggest trade show in our country. It's a showcase for the who, what, where and why of the consumer technology industry with over 2,000 exhibitors there, and Daniel Sieberg is among them.
Good morning.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Yes, we're so much on cutting edge here, that we're here in Las Vegas before the even opens, as you pointed out, at the Consumer Electronic Show, and as the name suggests, it's really geared towards consumers. You know, we're talk about gadgets, cell phones, PDAs, MP- 3 players, everything you can imagine. There are going to be about 100,000 people here, and as you pointed out, 2,000 exhibitors. It's easy to get overwhelmed.

So we're joined this morning by Suzanne Kantra. She is the technology editor at "Popular Science" magazine to help us sort through some of these high-tech offerings that are here at the show.

Good morning.

SUZANNE KANTRA, "POPULAR SCIENCE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

SIEBERG: All right, let's start the Garman (ph) here. Now people may be familiar with GPS technology, using satellites to find where you are, but this incorporates that into a PDA and organizer and takes it even further, right?

KANTRA: It does. And this is the first time, as you said, it's been incorporated into a PDA. So what they've been able to do, is if you have an appointment, it knows where that appointment is and can automatically calculate directions.

SIEBERG: So you can click on an address and then it knows exactly where you want to go?

KANTRA: It does. And what it will do is put that on you dashboard and it will give you voice prompts and actually show a map of where you're going.

SIEBERG: Will tell you that you're lost, too, if you're driving down the wrong road?

KANTRA: Well, you're never lost, right, because it automatically recalculates the route.

SIEBERG: Great. From there, let's go to a couple of cameras, people are familiar with digital cameras. This Panasonic one uses DVD as well, right?

KANTRA: Yes, it does, and this is a camcorder, so you are recording your video directly on to a DVD recordable disk. You pop that out, you can put it directly into any DVD player.

SIEBERG: OK, so easier for watching purposes, obviously you can just pop it in. From there, that's obviously pretty small, but this is small.

KANTRA: This is tiny. This is from Panasonic, and it's in their e-ware line, and this is a digital camcorder, it's a digital still camera, an MP-3 player and a voice recorder.

SIEBERG: Look at that, you can see picture on that. Now you're sacrificing a little bit of resolution, right, because of the small size?

KANTRA: You are. So it's great for sharing for friends over the Web or using as a Web cam.

SIEBERG: OK, very small. Now to a couple of ones that are really familiar to people, you've got a cell phone, a PDA, but these take it a bit further, right?

KANTRA: They do. We are talking about convergence, all in one. We have scene the ability to take pictures with a PDA before, but Sony goes one step further and puts two megapixel into it.

SIEBERG: Two megapixels for people that may not know, that means the resolution is OK to print them off, you can actually print your photos off in a small size?

KANTRA: Exactly, great 4x6 prints, you can maybe even go up to a 5x7, and it's $800, which is expensive, but when you think about buying a PDA and digital camera...

SIEBERG: And comes with the flash, as well, right?

KANTRA: It does, which is also a great thing, because now you can take pictures outside at night.

SIEBERG: Right, right, and we've only got about 30 seconds left, so maybe you can quickly mention this Samsung here.

KANTRA: Samsung, we're talking about a refinement of technology. We've seen the cell phone and the PDA come together before. In the I- 500, we're talking about no compromises in terms of size. You are going to want to take this with you whenever you go, and you don't have to wonder, should I take my PDA or not?

SIEBERG: OK, and just a few seconds left, but we've got these speakers here. We should tell people what these are. Flat-panel speakers?

KANTRA: Flat-panel speaker technology has been on the desktop for computers and other types of situations. This is a whole home theater system for under $1,000 from Mission, and it gets great sound.

SIEBERG: OK, Suzanne Kantra, thank you very much for joining us this morning from "Popular Science" magazine. To help sift through all of this, Paula, as you can see, lots to choose from here. It's a gadget lovers paradise in a sense, and of course, we'll be here all week looking at everything they have to offer.

ZAHN: And Give me the range of prices of that stuff we just saw? On the low end or the high end?

SIEBERG: Well, a lot of stuff ranges in price. The mission speakers about $1, 000, is that right, Suzanne, and some of the other gadgets really depends. The PDA from Garment (ph), how much was that?

KANTRA: Right, the Garment (ph) IQ 3600 was $589. The camcorder is about $899. The phone will probably run about $500. This tiny device here is going to be $399.

SIEBERG: OK, so quite a range in prices, really depending on what you want, and idea of convergence may raise the price or lower it.

ZAHN: You brought me into whole new century here, and PDA, and Bill Hemmer is on mind, that has always been public displays of affection. Now we really know what it is. One costs something, the other one doesn't. Thank you. Continue to enjoy your time at the show, Daniel Sieberg.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 9, 2003 - 09:23   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: So you want to know what's hot this year in electronics? Well, the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas is the biggest trade show in our country. It's a showcase for the who, what, where and why of the consumer technology industry with over 2,000 exhibitors there, and Daniel Sieberg is among them.
Good morning.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Yes, we're so much on cutting edge here, that we're here in Las Vegas before the even opens, as you pointed out, at the Consumer Electronic Show, and as the name suggests, it's really geared towards consumers. You know, we're talk about gadgets, cell phones, PDAs, MP- 3 players, everything you can imagine. There are going to be about 100,000 people here, and as you pointed out, 2,000 exhibitors. It's easy to get overwhelmed.

So we're joined this morning by Suzanne Kantra. She is the technology editor at "Popular Science" magazine to help us sort through some of these high-tech offerings that are here at the show.

Good morning.

SUZANNE KANTRA, "POPULAR SCIENCE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

SIEBERG: All right, let's start the Garman (ph) here. Now people may be familiar with GPS technology, using satellites to find where you are, but this incorporates that into a PDA and organizer and takes it even further, right?

KANTRA: It does. And this is the first time, as you said, it's been incorporated into a PDA. So what they've been able to do, is if you have an appointment, it knows where that appointment is and can automatically calculate directions.

SIEBERG: So you can click on an address and then it knows exactly where you want to go?

KANTRA: It does. And what it will do is put that on you dashboard and it will give you voice prompts and actually show a map of where you're going.

SIEBERG: Will tell you that you're lost, too, if you're driving down the wrong road?

KANTRA: Well, you're never lost, right, because it automatically recalculates the route.

SIEBERG: Great. From there, let's go to a couple of cameras, people are familiar with digital cameras. This Panasonic one uses DVD as well, right?

KANTRA: Yes, it does, and this is a camcorder, so you are recording your video directly on to a DVD recordable disk. You pop that out, you can put it directly into any DVD player.

SIEBERG: OK, so easier for watching purposes, obviously you can just pop it in. From there, that's obviously pretty small, but this is small.

KANTRA: This is tiny. This is from Panasonic, and it's in their e-ware line, and this is a digital camcorder, it's a digital still camera, an MP-3 player and a voice recorder.

SIEBERG: Look at that, you can see picture on that. Now you're sacrificing a little bit of resolution, right, because of the small size?

KANTRA: You are. So it's great for sharing for friends over the Web or using as a Web cam.

SIEBERG: OK, very small. Now to a couple of ones that are really familiar to people, you've got a cell phone, a PDA, but these take it a bit further, right?

KANTRA: They do. We are talking about convergence, all in one. We have scene the ability to take pictures with a PDA before, but Sony goes one step further and puts two megapixel into it.

SIEBERG: Two megapixels for people that may not know, that means the resolution is OK to print them off, you can actually print your photos off in a small size?

KANTRA: Exactly, great 4x6 prints, you can maybe even go up to a 5x7, and it's $800, which is expensive, but when you think about buying a PDA and digital camera...

SIEBERG: And comes with the flash, as well, right?

KANTRA: It does, which is also a great thing, because now you can take pictures outside at night.

SIEBERG: Right, right, and we've only got about 30 seconds left, so maybe you can quickly mention this Samsung here.

KANTRA: Samsung, we're talking about a refinement of technology. We've seen the cell phone and the PDA come together before. In the I- 500, we're talking about no compromises in terms of size. You are going to want to take this with you whenever you go, and you don't have to wonder, should I take my PDA or not?

SIEBERG: OK, and just a few seconds left, but we've got these speakers here. We should tell people what these are. Flat-panel speakers?

KANTRA: Flat-panel speaker technology has been on the desktop for computers and other types of situations. This is a whole home theater system for under $1,000 from Mission, and it gets great sound.

SIEBERG: OK, Suzanne Kantra, thank you very much for joining us this morning from "Popular Science" magazine. To help sift through all of this, Paula, as you can see, lots to choose from here. It's a gadget lovers paradise in a sense, and of course, we'll be here all week looking at everything they have to offer.

ZAHN: And Give me the range of prices of that stuff we just saw? On the low end or the high end?

SIEBERG: Well, a lot of stuff ranges in price. The mission speakers about $1, 000, is that right, Suzanne, and some of the other gadgets really depends. The PDA from Garment (ph), how much was that?

KANTRA: Right, the Garment (ph) IQ 3600 was $589. The camcorder is about $899. The phone will probably run about $500. This tiny device here is going to be $399.

SIEBERG: OK, so quite a range in prices, really depending on what you want, and idea of convergence may raise the price or lower it.

ZAHN: You brought me into whole new century here, and PDA, and Bill Hemmer is on mind, that has always been public displays of affection. Now we really know what it is. One costs something, the other one doesn't. Thank you. Continue to enjoy your time at the show, Daniel Sieberg.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com