So yesterday by boyfriend, JH, and I attended the Engadget Reeder meet up. It's like a social and informative event with catered food. Tech companies and other tech sites were in attendance. It took place at a venue called Gustavio's in NYC. It's a nice place. I wonder if it's a restaurant or reception/club spot. It is really inside and out.
A little history, Engadget is a tech blog on the web that has become a leading blog in the industustry. They have on other blog on the same level, Gizmodo. They review products in advance. Tech companies invite them to test runs, send hem prototypes to review. They get ahold of stuff, legally, before it is released to the public. They have a podcast and they have a web show that is taped monthly where they interview tech company employees about their new technology. They started in 2004 and was purchased by AOL in 2005. They currently have staff over 70 worldwide. They recently in last year change editors in chief. The previous one had a bit more personality but the new one is okay. Of course with change, some people left with the previous E-I-C. The blog does have a new feel. However, I stopped reading and let JH continue. He will tell me the interesting stuff. I now read other blogs.
Engadget went all out in preparing a nice atmosphere. This is my second meet up event. This one is way nicer than the last. However, like all Engadget functions, you have to wait in line outside to get in. That part is what I don't like. I don't go to clubs because of this. However, the difference between the two is that Engadget only has the venue booked at certain times and they are still preparing until the designated time. Whereas clubs make you wait outside to make the club look cool. It's just an image thing.
This meet up was solely sponsored by AT&T. Normally they are sponsored by Sprint. Me and JH, being techy, we like coming to these events. You get to see products and play with them. You also get Q&A time with Engadget writers and even Editor in Chief. These people were very accessible to all. Well if you can get thru the crowds of die hard geeks. They also introduce staff from other countries so you can get to know them. The best thing at these events where most people go them for, are the free giveaways.
You receive a raffle ticket upon entering the venue. Throughout the evening they raffles off items. With our luck, JH and I, we never win anything. But we do enjoy the food, the ability to check out the tables and get little freebie stuff from them. I managed to get a t-shirt for JH from the Joystiq game. He was handing goods away. We also obtained sunglasses, chapstick and stress balls from various tables.
The following are companies who had tables at the event:
AT&T - We got to play with some of the new phones they have coming out. We actually were able to mess with an HP Veer. That one may just be gone since HP killed WebOS. You can probably hack it and put Android on it like the TouchPad. I also got to play a little Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation phone. The phone isn't bad but it's a little bulky. It runs Android and it's definitely a gamers phone.
Samsung - This table was very crowded. Had to stay there and bully my way to table through the geeks. When I got to table I got a chance to play with AT&T and T-Mobile phones. Couldn't even get to try out their tablet. I did get chapstick and sunglasses from them.
Mororola - The had their latest phones and their tablet, Xoom. This division was recently bought by Google. The phone quality seems done well, but they sure are big. Here we were able to get a stress ball. Of course I couldn't touch a Xoom. Damn those geeks.
Eastern mountain sports - They make solar powered backpacks and accessories. Handy for those who are outside a lot.
Blackberry - Poor Blackberry. Hardly anyone visited their table. They did have a Playbook to play with. I didn't even bother with the table to be honest. I think they do not have anything new to offer.
HTC - They had their own phones there. We only played with the ones that were on our carriers respectively: T-Mobile and AT&T.
UbreakIFix - This was the most interesting table. They fix broken phones and tablets. They fixed some readers phones who were there. There was also a contest where they pulled a guest on stage to break a brand new iPad 2. This guest will get to keep iPad after Ubreakit fixes it. Lucky her. This service seems very handy.
Joystiq - They didn't have a table, but the E-I-C was roaming the meet up. He went up on stage when he was introduced. I happen to find him when I was roamin around myself. I had lost JH at this point. I did get him a T-Shirt that the guy was giving away.
The Unofficial Apple Webblog - They are another tech blog who's primary focus is on Apple. They do review a lot of accessories and hardware that pertain to Apple. They had a table with accessories they have reviewed. I checked out an iPad case that had a keyboard. It retails around $150. It's pretty, but no thank you to that price.
Western digital - I didn't really stop at their table for too long. The had their typical external storage devices. However, they were focusing on a new external device that is digital storage of your DVDs. It can play video back better than typical streaming. We really don't know that unless you try it. We stream movies from a regular external harddrive without too many streaming issues. So it's just another piece of tech that will just serve a limited purpose.
AC Gears - This table was a bunch of cute and retro accessories. They had USB key drives in cool characters. They had the Android robot, an old school boombox and old school Beetle Van.
Sharp - They showed off a 3D tv. Not much interested in 3D tvs. So I didn't stop there.
Cadence Watch Company - This table they had a bunch of their special watches. They had a survey contest going. You must choose which of the 2 watches the guy was holding did you like better. You write your email address and which watch you liked better: A or B.
Boxee - This company I have ignored at other meetups. This time I got caught by one of the guys manning the table. He explained what it is. I didn't know what it is. He was very nice and informative. It's a free service on their hardware and on the iPad. It's pretty cool. I'm thinking of getting the app on the iPad when I get one in September. The service gathers all video on the next and organizes it so you can watch on your tv. On the iPad, it leaves a plugin where it can extract embedded video when you surf the Internet to view later. Pretty cool.
Get-A-Game - Table was for an App for iOS and Android. It's an app that allows you to look for people to do outdoor activities with, like golf, hiking etc. They do not have an app for Windows Phone 7 or Blackberry. Interesting concept.
That was my run down for this meetup. I enjoyed it greatly. I wish I won a cool gadget but I left happy. Hopefully, he next meetup will be just as nice or better.
No comments:
Post a Comment