Garden State Wizards put on a Show in Sin City

Thursday, January 17, 2008 BY MARTHA MCKAY NorthJersey.com STAFF WRITER

The technorati at last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas sounded lukewarm about the mammoth show. Jeff Kagan, a telecommunications analyst who opines frequently on the state of technology wrote: “CES was bigger than ever, as usual, but as it gets bigger, it seems to get a little duller every year.”

Well, that could be the case for people looking for the proverbial “Next Big Thing.” But when you nose around the place with an eye out for New Jersey innovations, there’s always something interesting to be found. Tucked into booths scattered throughout the show’s improbable 35 football fields’ worth of exposition space, were some fascinating products — of the Garden State variety.

Handy scanner

Like everything else (except those big screen TVs), bar code readers are getting smaller. One of the smallest, weighing in at a mere 38 grams, is made by KoamTac, a Princeton company whose president, Hanjin Lee, is a former Teaneck resident. The device easily fits in the palm of your hand, has a USB port, and can be worn around your neck with no fatigue factor.

Lee says many business people who routinely need to scan bar codes will find the lightweight device handy, including visiting nurses, delivery and trucking workers as well as hospital employees. Both the KDC100 and 200 read a number of different symbologies (aka types of bar codes), and the model 200 comes with Bluetooth wireless as well as a USB port.

The gadgets also have a rechargeable battery, an OLED display and 200 KB of data storage. The KDC100 has a suggested retail price of $299, and the model with Bluetooth sells for $349. The company’s Web site is www.koamtac.com.

This page is dedicated to the memory of Martha McKay.