Gadget Gurus - Best of Tech Crunch 2008

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Best of Tech Crunch 2008

Written by Rich McComas

This year's Tech Crunch event expanded to 50 presentations in three days. Last year, the original scope was supposed to be 20 presenting companies, but it quickly grew to 40 by the time the event launched. In 2008, the submissions grew to more than 1000 and the event grew to three days, probably as big as they want it to ever grow. Tech Crunch is one of our new favorite events, touting to be the Sundance Film Festival of the Investment community, compared to DEMO, which I suppose represents the Hollywood insiders. While the presentations at DEMO are definately better, probably because the presenters pay hansomly to get there, I think investors are more likely to discover diamonds in the rough at Tech Crunch.

For 2008, our favorite products and presentations were:

FitBit Tracker - a small unobtrusive health and fitness tracker based on 3D motion sensing technology.
World Camera - a vision of real world tagging by a Japanese content.
Swype - tap-free typing up to 50 WPM on a touchscreen keyboard.

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TECH2 LAKE HOUSE

UPDATE - The exterior of the Technology Lake House is complete and we are now working on interior finishing and electronics. Last year, San Francisco's Channel 7 ABC News ran a special video report on the construction progress of the Technology Lake House, and we expect them back for a follow-up soon. Click HERE for a DLINK Live Video Feed with pan and zoom features (userid=user, no password, daylight hours only).

Ron Rosberg's current project home, the Technology Lake House, is currently under construction on the shores of Clearlake in Northern California. Even though the house is a wireless demo house, we have installed more than seven miles of wires in the walls for dozens of flat panel TVs, speakers, control panels, and sophisticated lighting. So far, more than a dozen technology and fixture manufacturers have agreed to sponsor this project, which has been simmering in Ron's head since he attended the first CES show in New York in 1967. The 7,500 square foot project (plus three existing rustic cabin guest houses) is being built on a five-acre Honeymoon Cove resort with 500 feet of beach directly across from Konocti Harbor Resort. This summer retreat will host technology gatherings annually, inviting Western states home builders, contractors, and technology consultants for a live open house showcasing the latest in home technologies. There is room to park plenty of boats, so plan on coming up for some lake fun after the project is complete. For more info, send email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call 707-995-2683. To see the latest photos, visit Ron's Flickr gallery.

We are currently looking for products to evaluate in these areas:

Home automation: lighting, security, and entertainment
A/V technology for the 500 SF home theater media demo room

Hot News on Cool New Features: The ENTIRE front of the home is made of 21 sliding NanaWall glass panels that fold into the walls, opening the entire home up to the lake during demo days.

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