Mari Silbey

Mari’s tech career started when she became the default “IT guy” in her first job out of college. Since leaving help-desk duties to the experts, she’s focused on trends in technology as a consultant, writer, reporter, analyst and at-home gadget tinkerer. Her current paid gig is with the non-profit organization US Ignite where she focuses on how networks and digital technologies impact smart cities. All posts on ZNF represent her own opinions and not those of US Ignite. Mari is a sucker for anything in the digital media space and covers interesting happenings in cable, telecom, and whatever else she feels like. Find her on Twitter at @msilbey.

Photo Round-Up from CES Unveiled

The CES Unveiled event last night was a mob scene with only a few truly worthwhile displays. That said, a round-up of photos never hurt anyone. Check out some of the buzzed-about (and not-so-buzzed-about) products below. Captions free of charge. Dexim wasn’t only showing off its Visible Charger, it also had a really cool iPad … Read more

Comcast Live Streaming & VOD Coming to Tablets

We learned last fall that Comcast had some new tricks planned for the Xfinity TV app, and an announcement this morning provides a bit more detail. (Business Insider SAI posted the news first.) Comcast will launch a new “play now” feature later this year for the iPad that gives access to “nearly 3,000 hours” of on-demand … Read more

Dexim Chargers Kill Vampire Power Problem

Dexim’s new Visible G power charger due out in March includes blinky lights and is environmentally friendly. What could be better? Continuing on the green tech theme, Dexim is introducing a new electroluminescent power charger at CES with a cable that glows when it powers up your devices. The glow isn’t more energy being wasted. … Read more

nPower PEG Powers Your Gadgets Using Kinetic Energy

How’s this for cool? The company nPower is showing off a Personal Energy Generator (PEG) at CES that stores your own kinetic energy to use as back-up power for your mobile gadgets. At nine inches tall, and looking like a tiny telescope, the PEG has a 1000mAh lithium Polymer battery that powers up as you move … Read more

Muve Music a Worthy Slacker Alternative?

Anyone who reads this blog knows that Dave and I are huge Slacker fans. However, I’m starting to yearn for direct Internet connectivity on my Slacker G2 device. And as for the Slacker app on my Droid Eris, it just doesn’t compare to the experience on the G2. Enter Muve Music from Cricket. I got … Read more

Starting CES with BodyMedia FIT – A Friendly Competition

While Dave has hemmed and hawed about making the trip out to Vegas, I took him up on an opportunity to replace him in a “friendly fitness competition” hosted at the show by BodyMedia. Along with a dozen other bloggers and tech reporters, I agreed to wear the company’s new BodyMedia FIT Armband throughout CES. … Read more

The Tablets Coming Our Way at CES

Tablets will be on display everywhere at CES this week. It reminds me of digital photo frames and eReaders last year. Everyone had’em. Not that many were very good.

Here’s a round-up of some of the tablet launches planned in Vegas.

Toshiba

Toshiba took the wraps off its tablet entry before the official start of CES. It’s got a 10.1-inch touch screen, NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, and will run Android Honeycomb (aka Android 3.0). CNET’s Donald Bell liked his first hands-on experience with the device, though he only got to check out the hardware, not the software. He said it felt more polished than the Galaxy Tab, and more rugged than the iPad. It also sports two cameras, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (no cellular connectivity), an HDMI port, and removable battery.

Motorola

Motorola, meanwhile, has been teasing its entry tablet device for months. We’ll see the official unveiling at a press conference scheduled for tomorrow, but there are a few details we already know. It too will have a 10-inch screen and run Android 3.0. But the rumor is that it will also have a hardware upgrade option to add LTE. World’s first 4G tablet?

Lenovo Launches New Laptops in ThinkPad Line

Lenovo made a lot of noise at CES last year, only to disappoint when the company scuttled the Skylight smartbook and delayed the Ideapad U1 hybrid tablet/laptop. But Lenovo’s back again with some new goodies to share. The embargo lifted today on the latest products in the ThinkPad line. The ThinkPad E220 and E420 run … Read more