LAS VEGAS – One of the biggest head turners at this week’s
International CES is not a mammoth flat-screen TV or new eye-popping
larger-than-life 3D picture. It’s a 2.8-inch organic light emitting diode
(OLED) screen positioned as a “
.”
Recom Group, based in San Dimas, Calif. (New Product Marketplace
booth 1035F) has people walking the show floors wearing the tiny video screens
like campaign buttons, displaying anything from their favorite rap videos to
promotional announcements.
First developed as B2B marketing tools for a variety of
professional applications, the Video Name Tags are now branching out to
consumer applications.
Each screen sells for a $198 suggested retail ($149 as a CES
special) and comes with software, a magnetic fastener to attach the screen on
clothing, a lanyard and an AC adapter.
Recom Group is also offering a variety of optional accessory
holders to turn the screens into electronic jewelry including wrist bands,
“bling” (a broach), and a belt buckle. Accessory items have retail prices
starting at around $79.
Company representatives are even walking the show floors where a
top hat equipped with 16 Video Name Tag screens.
Each Video Name Tag
features a 2.8-inch (340-by-280 pixel) screen, with 2GBs of internal storage, USB
input and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery capable of powering the screen
from up to 23 hours, per charge.
Rob Norden, Recom Group president, said the company is now
selling Video Name Tags through online e-commerce partners including Amazon.com
and New Egg, and is soliciting sales with brick-and-mortar dealers during the
show.
Norden said the products have instantly caught on with show goers,
even drawing raves from rapper “50 Cent.”
“We use a gorgeous OLED screen, not an LCD screen, so you can see
it a mile away,” Norden said. “I’ve had people who are sports fans coming up to
me saying, ” ‘Oh, I’ve got to put my team on this.’ It’s the kind of thing that when people see
it, they flip over it.”
