A forklift accident, rather than a publicity stunt by Sharp or some other big-n-flat competitor, was the cause of death for Panasonic’s 103-inch plasma pride and joy. The rumor floated a few weeks ago, but the Gizmodo team in Australia was able to confirm the CeBit Sydney mishap. Not, it wasn’t the first plasma to meet its maker, and yes, Panasonic was insured for the 771-pound, $63,000 TV, but let’s just say our bet is that some forklift operator is scanning the classifieds right now. – Wilson Rothman
Panasonic 103-inch plasma smashed at CeBIT Sydney [Gizmodo Australia] Thanks Séamus!
You’d better sit down…
It’s with a heavy heart we share the awful news that one of Panasonic’s magnificent 103-inch plasma screens died during bump out at CeBIT Sydney.
We actually first heard this news a few weeks ago (tip of the hat to hazchem), but without more sources we let it lie as unsupported rumour (at the time, Panasonic didn’t give us a confirm when we followed it up). Now with a fresh tip from a separate source, we’re in no doubt the screen is dead, and now Panasonic has confirmed to Gizmodo that the screen is indeed pining for the fjords.
At the conclusion of CeBIT while Panasonic was bumping out the 103-inch Plasma, when lifted using a forklift the Plasma fell and was irreparably damaged. The Plasma was fully insured and Panasonic has other exhibition units.
Rest In Peace, beautiful giant plasma. You know what they say, the candle screen that burns twice as bright… -Seamus Byrne
Seriously, this was exactly what this guy (also on the Made in Germany stand) was saying to the kid in the picture. “No, no, it isn’t a game, it is a driving simulator.” Doesn’t that just mean it is a BORING version of a driving game?
But the kid just wouldn’t be dismissed so easily. “How do you score?”, “What’s the goal?”, “Where are the hookers to boost your health?” I made that last one up. Have to give the kid a break, though. There was a pretty serious looking joystick attached to the machine. How could it NOT be a game to a 12-year-old kid? Oh yeah, and he crashed a lot too. He was rubbish at it. -Seamus Byrne
So here are those girls in the spa I mentioned earlier. They were showing off some new mobile phone protective covers called ‘Skins’… basically, large condoms you wrap your phone in before hitting the water, or mud, or jelly. Y’know, whatever.
Another photo follows the drop, showing a small number of the non-stop flow of men hovering around the spa. -Seamus Byrne
Spend a little too long at your desk? Of course you do. These tables will do your back the world of good, letting you raise and lower your desk so you can shift between sitting and standing over the course of the day. Even low enough to sit on a swiss ball or kneel now and then if that takes your fancy. It’s all about saving your back!
Your back, and your rat’s nest of cables too. The arms and legs have cable channels, and under the back edge of the desk you can add an electricals duct, where six power points can live so you only need a single cable running away from the desk to your outlet. Neat, tidy, sexy, smart. And Aussie.
These are made by a crew in Melbourne, and the tables start at $1900 and flow up to over $4000 with all the bells and whistles seen on this desk here. Plus they can do all kinds of customisations to suit your exact needs. My back is already trying to remind me to go order one now. More close up pics around the table after the jump.
[ AME Systems ]
Just across the way from D-Link was the Netcomm stand. I mentioned their NB12WD update on Monday, but outside that most of their range on show was best serving bigger infrastructure needs. There was this rather weird looking outdoor 802.11g access point, though, which looks like some kind of small planter box for a midget triffid.
Good long cable though! -Seamus Byrne
The one that points it all in the right direction! Which finger did you think I meant?
A cool mix of gear on the D-Link stand here at CeBIT for those who want to tweak the hell out of their wireless networks. This omni will help shoot your network into the nastier reaches of your zone. It’s about 3x stronger than standard antennae. Like a bunker buster for Wi-Fi.
More gear for you wireless network nuts after the jump.
Like Panasonic, Sony’s presence was very corporate, the highlight of which was this intelligent video monitoring solution, which would highlight points of motion, effectively picking out people and tracking them in the frame.
There was also a new HD video conferencing system. Why? Because you can!
The HD video system and a close up on the video tracking are both lurking beyond the jump. -Seamus Byrne
PPC was an exhibitor in the ‘Supply Chain Management’ area of the show. Not exactly where I expected to find anything of interest, but the darker parts of the mind leapt into action when I saw this machine.
These guys do all-in-one ID card printers. Every part of the process — magnetic stripes, photos, ID info, all that sort of thing. So you start with a stack of blank cards, and you end up with official IDs. Yes, it’s all in the name of business IDs, but if you had the dough and the creativity, you could have yourself quite the supply of ID to suit all occasions.
I’m just saying. I actually think that would be very dodgy. And illegal if you tried to do anything dumb. But it could be fun for the right joke. Or for starting an official cool kids club. -Seamus Byrne
We checked in on the Google stand, which was little more than signs, a bunch of laptops, and some reps. What does an online company show off at a trade show anyway?
They were really there selling both sides of their ad business — AdWords and AdSense. Riveting stuff. Across the aisle was one of their partners, though, with some cool Google-brand server appliances. Probably the nicest racks I’ve ever seen. Image after the jump… and get your mind out of the gutter. It’s not that sort of rack!
