Las Vegas – Two dozen Colorado companies developing everything from Internet security software to Frisbees for dogs are in Las Vegas this week, garnering attention from the more than 140,000 attendees at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show.
Companies such as Douglas County-based EchoStar and Golden-based Pentax Imaging have a large presence at the convention center, as they meet with retailers, distributors, fans and the curious.
“It’s been great, a lot of people have come by, and there have been good crowds coming to our presentations,” said Chris Pound, national product sales coordinator for Pentax Imaging. “This is a primary show for our national dealers.”
The company is showcasing two relatively new digital SLR cameras, the K10D and K1000D and a $149, 7 megapixel digital camera, the Optio E30.
Otter Box said turnout has been great as the Fort Collins-based company is debuting a new line of rugged cases for the 80-gigabyte iPod, iPod Nano and the new line of BlackBerry smartphones.
Able Planet, in its second CES appearance, is offering noise-canceling headphones featuring its proprietary Linx audio technology.
The headphones are available on the company’s website, www.ableplanet.com for $249.99.
Golden-based Kwik Tek has been involved in the consumer electronics industry for the past four years, with waterproof cases for cellphones and other electronics. For 12 years prior to that, the company’s focus was on tow tubes for aquatic sports and items for the marine industry.
“We’re looking for distributors,” sales manager Brad Ketai said. “There are several other distributors showing our product lines here. We sell to electronics distributors and wireless accessories dealers.”
Boulder-based Nite Ize is also showing off accessories, such as a carrying case for tiny Bluetooth enabled earpieces, called the Tooth Ferry.
The company has introduced 23 new products at CES this year, including the “Dog Discuit,” a Frisbee for dogs with a durable, flashing LED light in the center.
“Our goal is to make smart lighting items brilliant, more convenient and useful,” Nite Ize owner Rick Case said. “There are LED items in a lot of our flashlight-related items for longer life and efficiency.”
One company in town, but not exhibiting its software at the Las Vegas Convention Center, or any other official CES hotel, is Sereniti, based in Englewood.
The PC security software firm is holding private meetings in a suite at the Renaissance Hotel, directly across from the convention center and is meeting with partners such as AOL and Earthlink.
Sereniti’s flagship product is NetTrooper, a software product designed to work in conjunction with anti-virus and firewall programs. NetTrooper helps people secure their home network, keep software up-to-date and share files on a central network.
“Our focus is providing a detailed view of your network. Few people are working on simplifying technology,” said Fahim Siddiqui, chief executive of the 2 1/2-year-old company. “People need to know someone is protecting them online.”
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-954-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
FROM COLORADO
Otter Box
The Fort Collins-based firm offers rugged waterproof cases for a number of portable electronic devices, including the seemingly ubiquitous iPod.
Able Planet
The Lakewood-based company’s Clear Harmony headphones boast noise-canceling technology that increases perceived loudness without actually boosting the volume.
Buzz at the tech showcase
Big-name executives rolled out new initiatives Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show and the Citigroup Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference in Las Vegas. Among the pronouncements:
Dell
Michael S. Dell, who made his name building computers, said at CES that his company would begin a program called “Plant a Tree for Me,” asking customers to donate $2 for every notebook computer they buy and $6 for every desktop PC. The money would be given to two nonprofit groups that promote ways to reduce or offset carbon emissions, to buy and plant trees. The tree initiative aims to offset equivalent emissions resulting from the production of electricity for computers over three years.
CBS
Fans of CBS shows will soon be able to slice clips from prime-time shows, send them to friends and even “mash” them together in ways that only a short time ago would have triggered complaints of copyright infringement. CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said at CES that his company would embrace products and technologies that allow viewers to “time shift” and “place shift” his network’s shows and interact with them in new ways.
Comcast
Chief executive Brian Roberts said the “next great business opportunity” lies in selling its Internet, voice and video services to small and medium-sized businesses – setting a target of capturing 20 percent of the market in five years. Roberts said Comcast will go after businesses with fewer than 20 employees, of which 3 million are within or near the company’s service area. These companies could yield $12 billion to $15 billion a year in additional business.
DENVER POST WIRE REPORTS
WHAT’S NEW
Kodak
The new Easyshare V1003 Zoom 10.0
megapixel digital cameras. It marks the latest move into digital for the photography pioneer.
LG
LG’s Mobile VX9400 Media Flow mobile phone receives live broadcasts of selected television and cable stations, a service provided by Verizon. The phone and service will be available in the first quarter of 2007.
Seagate
The ultra-compact form factor of the new FreeAgent Go Small (12-gigabyte) data mover USB drive is only slightly bigger than a matchbox. Its “pocket-knife” style USB connector folds back into the solution, and the drive is USB-powered, with no cables to lug around.
MoGo
Frequent travelers who hate the trackpad controls on their laptops may find reprieve. The Mouse X54, left, and Mouse BT are business-card-size devices that store and recharge in your laptop’s PC card slot.
Kodak
A digital photo frame with interchangeable face plates directly accepts memory cards of all types, USB connections and Wi-Fi commands to and from a computer. It can even command a printer to print out a photo.
Myvu
These personal media viewer goggles allow users to watch videos from an iPod. The lightweight device extends the iPod’s viewing time with an ultra-thin battery pack that enables about eight hours of video watching and doubles as a hard protective case for the iPod.
Excalibur Electronics
A remote controlled toy, the Smart Helicopter flies, takes flight on the CES floor.
