CeBIT in your words: Turbo, Eye tracking and TomTom

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 7 Mar 2008 at 14:55

Our reporters have been in Germany this week, bringing you the latest electronics news from CeBIT. We take a look back to see what the PC Pro faithful have made of it all.

Turbo Button

Anyone old enough to remember PC cases with Turbo buttons will be pleased to know that they will be making a comeback on MSI laptops, in an attempt to save power and increase battery life.

"I remember when PCs used to come with a turbo button, I'm sure it slowed them down then as well," says Jamesyld.

"Surely it shouldn't be called a Turbo button. Doesn't Turbo mean fast?" says andrewscampling, who makes a good point. However, we can see why it's difficult for marketing departments to announce a new feature that actually slows down a PC.

"I'm still waiting for green screens to come back into fashion," says Jamesyld, before Amnesia10 pointed out that Microsoft is still a fan of the blue variety.

Can eye tracking replace the mouse?

Eye tracking technology will eventually replace the mouse, claimed Tobii at CeBIT, and is already advanced enough for gaming. PC Pro readers, being a cynical bunch, were sceptical to say the least.

"What happens if you cough, sneeze, get grit in your eye, turn to speak to a friend or colleague, or otherwise get distracted?" asks krisjones2.

Accidentally doing something disastrous was also a worry for Amnesia10, who fretted about "accidentally formatting C: by a bizarre combination of sneezes."

Getting right to the point of the question posed in the headline, and showing that Tobii's marketing department has its work cut out, ProfessorF suggested, "No, it can't".

Big brother is watching you drive

TomTom has developed a new way of estimating how long a journey will take, by collecting data on the average speed that users reach on certain roads. It's far more accurate than just using the speed limit blindly, but is it an invasion of privacy?

"How long before the authorities force TomTom to hand over details of cars that appear to cover distances faster than the allowed speed limit?" asks Mviracca, who obviously never breaks the speed limit himself, but is just curious.

"I may be missing something very fundamental, but I thought that GPS was essentially a one-way information transfer mechanism: from the satellites to the satnav unit. No data did (or could) go the other way. So how are TomTom collecting details of driver's routes?", asks JohnGray7581.

"I'm guessing the anonymous data is sent to TomTom when you connect your unit to your PC for updates etc. I think this is a great idea. Anything that helps you avoid the snarl-ups is a great idea," says an enthusiastic PalMal, from the minority.

"I'd prefer that TomTom spent more time and effort getting it's maps right," griped colsmith.

Our reporters are currently finding their way back to blighty. Have a good weekend, and we'll be back on Monday.