Visiting the Consumer Electronics Show last week, the country's largest tradeshow, was a lot easier than in past years. Aisles were less crowded and taxi lines were shorter. Every once in a while there was a huge gap between exhibitors where one had dropped out. Rooms at some of the top hotels were half the normal inflated CES rates and Southwest and CES were offering some flights to Las Vegas at half price.
While there were plenty of new product introductions, few were memorable and many were product enhancements. Trends included devices to move music and video around the home, tiny electronic projectors, and more mass storage devices, including some that can be accessed remotely. Flat screen TVs, one of the biggest hit categories in past years, have become a mature commodity. The next breakthrough will come when OLED technology drops in price. OLED has the highest contrast of any technology and is very thin, requiring no backlighting. Kodak did announce a $1,000 OLED picture frame for those that can't wait.
Here's a sampling of some of the more interesting products I saw.
Palm unveiled its long-awaited and eagerly anticipated new Palm Pre smart phone with its WebOS operating system, as the company attempts to take back share in a market it once dominated.
Palm's new device, Palm Pre is a touch screen phone with a slide out keyboard at the bottom. It's smaller than an iPhone with the keyboard collapsed, and easily slips in the pocket. It's constructed of black plastic with all its corners and edges gently rounded; attractive, but not beautiful. Its touch screen works much like the iPhone with the ability to pinch to zoom in and out, and slide a finger to scan photos. The browsing experience appears similar to the iPhone. Its WebOS is so named because contacts and other information are collected from Outlook, Google, Facebook, and other Web software and integrated into its address book. Price was not announced, but expect it to be about $200. The Palm Pre has the potential to resurrect the company to a serious player once again. (Palm.com)
Netbooks seemed to be everywhere, although reports from the show indicate the category has a huge return rate with purchasers disappointed with their weak performance.
Asus Eee showed a 2-pound PC T91 convertible tablet netbook with a swivel 9-inch LED touch screen that rotates and folds over the keyboard. Also included is a TV-tuner and built-in GPS. No price was announced, but it should be under $500. (asus.com)
HP announced the Mini 2140 netbook that's getting great reviews due to its near full-size keyboard, sharp looking design and long battery life. It is probably the best mini available. ($499, hp.com)
Some companies seemed to be stretching to gain attention. Staples showed shredders that it claims are superior to the competition. What's so special? It centers the paper as it shreds.
SanDisk wins the award for the silliest product names: the "SanDisk Mobile Ultra MicrosDHC" and "Memory Stick Micro (M2) Premium Mobile Memory Cards." I won't attempt to explain them.
Sony debuted its new 1.4-pound Vaio P Series Lifestyle PC netbook computer. What distinguishes it from the competition is its elongated shape with an ultra-wide 8-inch screen with 1600x768 resolution. It costs $1,000, much more than other netbooks with similar performance. (sonystyle.com)
At the high end of notebooks, Lenovo introduced its ThinkPad W700ds mobile workstation that has two screens, a 17-inch main one and a smaller 10.6-inch second screen that slides out from behind the first, and can be adjusted to fit a user's viewing angle, similarly to a car's rearview mirror.
OQO, the pioneer of full-functional handheld Window computers, announced a new model 2+ with an Intel Atom processor, the world's first PC OLED display, 2GB RAM and worldwide 3G capability. It's up to twice as fast as its predecessor and includes an embedded touch screen for easier input. ($999, oqo.com)
While GPS prices are falling to less than $100 for some models, Garmin showed off the Nüvi 775T that guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easier to navigate. It displays road signs and junctions on your route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation. It also provides traffic delay alerts and road construction and lets you detour around the problem areas. ($799, garmin.com)
Cobra has added GPS to some of its radar detectors. The Cobra XRS 9960G detects 12 radar/laser bands and has a color screen. The GPS and its internal database will audibly notify you when you are approaching a traffic camera. I tried a pre-release sample and it did a good job of warning me of the cameras I encountered. ($389.95, cobra.com)
Pentax announced the svelte Optio P70, a full-featured, ultra thin pocket camera for $200. It has a 12-megapixel CCD, 4X zoom (28-112mm), anti-shake and face recognition technology. Smile Capture automatically captures a smiling subject, and blink detection technology alerts you if the subject's eyes are closed during exposure. (pentax.com)
Picture Porter 35 is a new portable digital photo storage device with a 3.5-inch color screen that backs up images from all kinds of memory cards, avoiding the need for carrying a computer. It also lets you move the images to and from another hard drive using its USB connection. (digitalfoci.com)
Cisco's Linksys division that makes networking gear has moved into audio, announcing a system to send music over wireless networks to speakers distributed throughout the home. It appears to be a lot like the highly regarded Sonos system that I reviewed late last year. Linksys also announced a Media Hub that lets you access files on it remotely. (linksys.com)
Real-View announced its 3-D Announces Real View 360° 3-D Desktop Scanner. It's based on 3-D medical image capture technology and provides the ability to scan and capture objects in full topographical 360-degree 3-D. (real-view3d.com)
The captured image can be viewed from any position by using a mouse to position the viewing angle. The scan can be exported into any Web-based document, online catalog or online auction.
Logitech showed the Harmony 1100 that includes a 3.5-inch color touch screen. Tactile guides around the screen help you choose the right commands. It uses one-touch activities, which Harmony invented. It will be available next month for $500. (Logitech.com)
While we're familiar with the term "music fan," Hunter Fan has taken the term literally and has created a ceiling fan with a built-in wireless speaker. Its new Concert Breeze Fan & Sound System combines the fan with wireless technology. (hunterfan.com)
Chumby Industries of San Diego announced plans to provide the personalized Internet content now on its Chumby product to other consumer devices, including digital photo frames, televisions and other connected devices. Chumby offers more than 1,000 widgets in 30 different categories ranging from news and entertainment to music and sports, to such things as an alarm clock and Internet radio. (chumby.com)
My take of this year's CES show? Lots of gadgetry, but more of the same, and nothing of earth-shattering proportions. Best product? The Palm Pre.
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