Ford announced today their move to upgrade their SYNC in-car communications system into MyFord Touch. This all-encompassing system integrates not only your cell phone or portable media device, but now your GPS, air conditioning, audio library, and much more. Multiple touch screens will replace the traditional dashboard of your car, and remember that mobile Wi-Fi hotspot we were talking about before? Seems that this technology will be moving on past MyFord to MyLincoln and MyMercury soon. Although I’m personally holding out for MyDeLorean. → Read More
Not to be left out of the deluge of new releases at CES, Dell is giving us a look at their new 5-inch tablet concept and Android-smartphone for AT&T. There’s also some new laptops and things, you know, if you’re into that. → Read More
Looks like Boxee will release an iPhone App to control its upcoming set-top box, developed jointly with D-Link. The App will be on display at CES next week. Oh, God, CES is next week. With any luck Las Vegas will mysteriously disappear à la “Lost” before the show starts. That would truly be ideal. → Read More
Cydle is launching their new in-car multimedia system at CES this January. Previously only available in South Korea, the Cydle P29 is a portable multimedia player with HD radio and subscription-free Mobile DTV. → Read More
More competition is the color E-book market can only be a good thing. The Nook is just sort of in color, the Kindle is the 800 pound gorilla, no one knows what exactly Apple’s got planned, and now there’s this new guy Paradigm Shift, talking about launching a full-color e-book reader at CES. Bet they wish they’d come to market before the holidays. → Read More
Ford is set to announce the next version of SYNC at CES this year, but an interesting feature leaked early. Apparently SYNC 3.0 will play nicely with USB modems and turn the car into a rolling Wi-Fi hotspot. The official announced hasn’t been release just yet so keep in mind a key detail my be missing, but so far we like it. This solution is dramatically more versatile and consumer-friendly than the dedicated Autonet other manufacturers have been turning too. → Read More
I’ve inexplicably become CrunchGear’s go-to green writer. If there’s a “green” tech story out there, I’m on the scene. Why, I don’t know, especially because my attitude toward the environment is, “Meh, I’m lucky if I hit 70 years old, what do I care?” Don’t tell that to Greenpeace though. The activists made famous by that Seinfeld episode will be at next month’s CES (as will all of your friendly neighborhood CrunchGear writers) to give the lowdown on what companies are green and what companies are a bunch of jerks. → Read More
Get ready, 2010 might just end up being the year of HD radio. Rumor is that we’re going to see something like eight new portable HD radio devices at CES this January. → Read More
We’re all officially home; safe and sound, tired and broken. Another year of not eating all day following by drinking all night, backpacks never leaving our shoulders, our fingers still involuntarily typing even though our notebooks have been shut down for hours.
All in all, it was a good CES this year. → Read More
The hottest ticket in Las Vegas last night was the inaugural 3D broadcast by RealD which featured the BCS Championship game and we were there. After chilling with some big wigs and interviewing Mark Cuban, we settled down in the comfy Paris Las Vegas theater for what we were told was the next big thing. We quickly found out that was a lie; a dirty, nasty lie. → Read More
Skype announced today that it has released a new “thin” client – Skype lite (beta) – available for Android-powered devices and over 100 other Java-enabled handsets from the likes of Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG. The launch of Skype lite also marks the first time a mobile version of the app is available for use in the US. → Read More
Eco is the new buzzword and there is no escaping at CES this year. There isn’t a CE manufacturer out there that wants to be caught dumping toxic materials into consumers livingrooms; Sony is no different. Updated HCFL backlights helps drop LCD power consumption by almost 40%, an ambient light sensor adjusts the backlight appropriately and a motion sensor turns off the set after a period of inactivity. Three LCDs, ranging in size between 40, 46, and 52, are going to be available this summer for a yet to be announced price.
Gallery after the link. → Read More
Sony has a little camcorder aimed at the Internet crowd. The Webbie captures HD MPEG-4 video and 5 MP photos. It has a 5x optical zoom and special software that makes uploads speedy. Content is recorded on Sony’s Memory Stick PRO Duo media. The MHS-CM1 Webbie will be available for order tomorrow for $200 and the vertically-styled MHS-PM1 will drop in April for $170. → Read More
CES brings big changes to Sony’s camcorder offerings. High-def camcorders are getting big HDDs and there are a bunch to choose from with ranging pricing. Non-HD camcorders are getting the same hard-drive treatment too and will start at attractive MSRPs. Don’t want a built-in HDD? Cool, Sony has new HD flash models too. Oh, and there are new DVD models too. Full details after the jump. → Read More
Sony’s 2009 CES booth is showing off some sick, like sickly sick, thin sets. Primarily are these OLED Proof of Technology models that are dead sexy even to me. Chances are none of these will ever see a Euro snob loft. They are just concepts and there is nothing wrong with that. That thin TV, it’s .9 millimeter thick – or is that thin? Hmmm.
Apparently Sony has more OLED news at the CES keynote tomorrow evening. Interesting…Photo gallery after the jump. → Read More
My, oh my. The Sony VAIO P is a popular netbook. After using some Peter Ha-taught ninja skills, I made my way through the crowd to this tiny netbook. Overall, the netbook feels Sony solid. The nub was a tad finicky but it works. The resolution though is astoundingly high on the small screen. I love small font but at the default setting it was too small for me. Thankfully the P Series does support external displays. It’s small, it carries the standard high Sony price, but it does seem nice. If you can get used to the mouse nub and small font, that is.
Photo gallery after the jump. → Read More
These new HDTVs from Samsung will consume 40% less energy than TVs of same size. That’s good because watching TV will kill Earth slower, allowing us to look the “LEDs produce darker blacks that appear endlessly deep to the eye” for a bit longer.
Update: Live pics after the jump. → Read More
By raise of hands, who else thinks that all these anorexically thin HDTVs are dumb? LG’s latest set measures only 6.5mm thick and Sony’s isn’t that much more thick. (pictured)
Who the hell cares Though? Why is HDTV’s latest cockfight over TV thickness? This also applies to Blu-ray/DVD players too, btw. → Read More
Poor Toshiba. While every other major CE player is introducing 4th and 5th gen Blu-ray players, Toshiba is still ignoring the winning format. The company does, however, have some nice flat screens coming out in 2009 with widgets powered by Intel and Yahoo that’s going to work nicely with Windows Media Center. The rest of the mundane are simply too mundane to be worth your time. Oh, how about CELL TVs? → Read More
Logic Wireless (who?) is showing off what it’s claiming to be the world’s first projector-packing mobile phone – the Logic Bolt – at CES 2009. This quad-band GSM, 3mp shootin’ candybar handset is supposedly able to project an image up to 64″ and is expected to do so for up to 2 hours thanks to its 1800mAh battery. It also appears to have an external speaker to help make your impromptu mobile projector sessions fun for the whole family. More pics after the jump. → Read More
