[photopress:IMG_0445.JPG,full,center] My favorite thing to do at the show is hit the odd retailers who sell the crazy junk we all know and love from Sharper Image, Brookstone, et al along with the stuff that ends up in close-outs. Take this weird blue phone, for example. It’s a mini phone! It’s blue! Doug loves it. → Read More
[photopress:apNERL07_PANASONIC_HD_00OLA.jpg,full,center] AP image It’s Day Two of the Consumer Electronics Show—time to start analyzing, looking for trends, seeing what’s hot and what’s not. Right now, we’ll focus on HDTVs. In case you hadn’t noticed, unknown companies from Asia (mostly China) are moving in on the HDTV space, which must frighten the… → Read More
While our liveblogging software worked wonders, our wireless connection did not. Thanks, CES, for repeatedly holding the keynotes in places surrounded by electronic interference and wall after wall of signal-reducing crap. Anyway, here are the photos we couldn’t get to you live, and we’re sorry we could not. Also is the replay, so you can follow along step-by-step, like you were there! → Read More
http://www.crunchgear.com/video/player.swf?movie=gotme.flv Those posers who use wired Guitar Hero controllers suck, don’t they. Those in the know use wireless guitar-shaped controllers. They rock out with the plug out. But the groupies at Jada are working on something beyond the wireless guitar controller: the air guitar controller. Check it out in the video and tell me you don’t want… → Read More
[photopress:lenovo__006.jpg,full,pp_image] Here’s a hands on of all the new Lenovo IdeaPads. Photos by Devin. Above is the 15-inch. → Read More
Not entirely sure how it works, but the picture quality on the 65-inch Laser TV is stunning and produces twice the color of HDTVs today. It’s the first of its kind in terms of laser tech and it also does 3D ala Real D. The Laser TV is also said to be energy efficient, but there aren’t any stats on it. Details are limited and a launch date has not been set other than a vague date of… → Read More
A selection of fine posts from our CG cellars. Please, drink responsibly. Contest: The saddest CES meatball/hush puppy in the world Exclusive Video: CrunchGear gets all hands-on with Surface; I get faced by Microsoft in a good way Hands-on with Garmin’s nu nüvi line of GPS gear Roomba’s misshapen cousin shows its face Alienware’s curved monitor: Dude, seriously? More… → Read More
Wacom had this awesome big touchscreen with a big line to use it. I’m really not much of an artist and probably would have drawn something obscene anyway, so I resisted the temptation to hang around. Of course, Leonardo here was just starting some masterpiece so I probably wouldn’t have gotten a shot anyhow. The screen looked really nice and didn’t appear to have any lag or… → Read More
http://progressive.playstream.com/playstream/progressive/flashplayers/FLVPlayer.swf Hey, look at this doodad. It’s similar to a near-field technology feature that Microsoft showed off a while ago with its Surface technology except this is from Sony. You basically drop your camera on top of that cube, which is actually a media storage device. The cube senses that your camera is there and… → Read More
http://progressive.playstream.com/playstream/progressive/flashplayers/FLVPlayer.swf Follow me here. These little plastic figurines are hooked up to an AV player that plays specially-encoded discs. Whatever the real-life human musicians do on the screen gets replicated by the little plastic dudes. It’s like being at Chuck E. Cheese all over again except that the animatronic musicians… → Read More
Doug and I spotted this forlorn hush puppy/meatball in the CES press room and thought it was the best thing we had seen all day. Granted, we haven’t been drinking and our Danny Gans tickets aren’t until Wednesday. Special bonus: tell us what we should name this thing in comments and one lucky commenter will win a Samsung MP3 player. → Read More
I love these guys. They make good stuff. Their booth was pretty sparse, but the A3 and D2 were looking good in their little enclosures. The A3 (right) I’d seen before, and it was the D2 that caught my eye. It fit my hand well, the touchscreen was responsive, and the display was crisp and bright. It looks like the perfect thing to carry around a ton of standard def videos on — YouTube… → Read More
Product Name: Exilim Pro EX-F1 Description: The EX-F1 is a hybrid DSLR with video cam that shoots 1,200 fps and does burst at 60 fps. A little weak with 6-megapixels but who can really tell the difference? It does 12x optical zoom and shoots in 1080p. Not janky 720p, but full-on HD. Price: $1,000 In-store date:Spring Site: Casio Why it’s cool: A decent hybrid that won’t cost you a few… → Read More
The Voodoo booth was an orgy of exposed PCB, flashy accessories, and some guy with dreds up in a topknot. And rotating in a glass case was this gold thing, which really just seems incredibly impractical, but still awesome. The Blackbird ran Unreal Tournament 3 beautifully, and I killed some fools who thought they could rumble with this. Now, if I were rich, I would buy these products, but I just… → Read More
Sony’s A200 just dropped last night and we got a quick look at it in the booth today. If you’r familiar with the Rebel or the D40 you’ll recognize the A200 as an able, lower cost DSLR for entry level folks. It has 9 point autofocus, a 10 megapixel sensor, and is compatible with the full line of Minolta accessories. They’ll be selling a lens/camera kit next month. → Read More
Not to brag, but I just spent a half hour with Pete from Microsoft and his fantastic Surface device. I’ll be the first to admit that when Surface was first announced I kind of turned my nose up at it. A table with multitouch? Pshaw! But after having seen what it’s capable of, and especially having seen what’s in the video below, I’m more than impressed. Surface isn’t… → Read More
To all those who emailed asking about the meet up I’d like to invite you all to meet at about 9pm on Tuesday, January 8, at the Monte Carlo Pub and Brewery in the Monte Carlo. This place has good beer — it no longer brews its own, sadly — and has some standard grub for hungry CE folks. Look for the CG folks near the front at about 9pm. We’re all on AIM and email so feel… → Read More
A few days ago you guys got the preview of Garmin’s nuvis. Well, I’d like to confirm that they are as slim and featureless as they seem in the heavily-optimized press shots they released. I fiddled around with them for a bit; the touchscreen is responsive but doesn’t really jump, and the display is nice and bright. The 5000 was great and felt really meaty. Garmin had crippled the… → Read More
One of the fun things about expos like CES is seeing what kind of crazy Wi-Fi networks show up. Right now, we’re in the Blogger’s Lounge using one called “BLOGGERS” (yesterday it was “BLOOGERS”). Earlier, I found an OLPC mesh server, but sadly I didn’t have the password → Read More
[photopress:xstreamhd.jpg,full,center] A quickie update on XStreamHD, a new service that aims to bring high-def (1080p) content to your home using geosynchronous satellites and its own set-top receiver. The company has teamed with Seagate, which has had a big day already, and DTS to perfect its soon-to-begin service. Seagate’s in with its hard drives, from 1 to 2TB, and DTS will provide the… → Read More
Hannspree is showing off a few “designer TVs” today. They’re 32-inch and 37-inch HDTVs that seem fairly pedestrian, with the exception of the natural wood paneling. These TVs look great, and there’s no way my camera can capture the real rich texture and look of the wood on the CES floor. In the world of usually ugly HDTVs, I’m for one happy to see something that looks… → Read More
Somebody call the lawyers — I think they might have messed up on the patent application. Either that or they weren’t the only ones who thought up an AI-navigating, robotic vacuum that moves in expanding spirals. You can tell from the prognathic aspect and heavy epicanthic folds that this little robot is from an earlier, more brutal era. → Read More
Tired of your mom calling you and saying “Honey, do I plug in the blue cable to the printer? Or the modem? Or the wall?” Well, you can set her up right now and the only thing she’ll have to plug in and out is a little USB receiver. All the other junk plugs into the cute little hub and the data is served from there. This D-Link thing isn’t too impressive, but it’s… → Read More
Even your parents can make it all work. Well, that’s if your mom and dad have an AV system going and you’re not around to set it up for them. What THX’s Media Director aka Blackbird does is basically turn all your content (games, movies, or music) into ‘smart content’ that sends out its AV settings, which is then dynamically configured for the best playback… → Read More
Passing by a Duracell booth, I had almost skipped it completely but noticed that some of the batteries were small and thin, and said “SD” on them. It turns out that Duracell is lending its brand name to a new set of other small, ubiquitous things. Not sure if you’ll be seeing these in retail any time soon but they looked perfectly sellable. Jump drives after the, er, jump. → Read More
http://www.crunchgear.com/video/player.swf?movie=2kwestinghouse.mov.ff.flv Product Name: Westinghouse’s 64″ 2K ultra-HDTV Description: 1080p is SO 2007, Westinghouse is going ultra-high-def Price: Not announced yet In-store date: Depends, but soon. Site: None yet, likely Westinghouse.com Why it’s cool: With the RedOne rolling out now, ultra-high-definition is the new buzzword in… → Read More
Product Name: Guitar Hero Guitar Skins Description: You can customize your fake axe with these decals. Price: Probably around $20 Site: RedBeard Why it’s cool: All the coolest rockers have custom guitars, why shouldn’t you? You’ll probably be able to print your own ones soon. → Read More
Product Name: ChangHong TVs Description: Low-cost HDTVs that could rival Olevia and Visio when they enter the US retail market for real later this year. Price: Varies In-store date: Our man on the floor wouldn’t say a date, but he said it wouldn’t be until after NAB, which is usually in April. Site: Changhong.com Why it’s cool: Sometimes sold as an OEM, China’s ChangHong is… → Read More
At the Olevia booth, they had this TV with a big line down the middle. On the right was a regular HD feed, and once it crossed the line it entered the enhancement zone. The normal signal actually looked fine, but the image processor really made it pop, as they say. Motion blur was reduced, sharpness of edges was increased, and the contrast seemed better because of the enhanced edges. → Read More
Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins, naturally. It was there to show off TI’s DLP projector technology, but durn it if I wasn’t tickled pink. → Read More
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