CES 2008

Definitive's Mythos SSA50: Is single-speaker the future of home audio?

(Credit: Definitive Technology)

You won't find a more institutionally conservative category in the consumer electronics space than home audio. More than any other industry segment, audio is one where technological advances tend to be lamented rather than celebrated, viewed with suspicion rather than embraced. And that's understandable: Subpar speakers are now passed off as good enough and used to listen to digital music, which is often highly compressed compared with CD or (even better) LP equivalents. And the music itself is coming from a dying recording industry, struggling to stay alive in the digital age, and often relegated to background music--fewer and fewer people are actually listening to the music anymore.

That's not to say that there weren't some home-audio highlights at this year's show. As predicted, single-speaker audio is taking off: Boutique manufacturers such as Polk Audio and Definitive Technology are turning their considerable expertise to single-speaker, as are mainstream names like Philips and Samsung. It's not totally new, of course--plenty of options already exist--but the clear desire for consumers to have a décor-friendly audio component to match their flat-screen TVs is undeniable.

One of the attractions of single-speaker units is the desire to cut down on the speakers, and the resulting speaker wire snaking throughout the room. The other alternative is going wireless altogether. It seemed like wireless speaker technologies were everywhere in 2007, with Neosonik's being the

Blu-ray's on a roll--but will downloadable Internet video be a bigger challenge than HD DVD?

(Credit: Philips)

What was arguably the biggest story of CES 2008 occurred three days before the show actually opened for business: Warner Home Video went Blu-ray exclusive, leaving just Paramount and Universal (and smaller DreamWorks) as exclusive HD DVD content partners. Indeed, in the days since, the issue of those studios following Warner's lead seems to be one of when, not if. Blu-ray seems on the verge of a complete victory in the HD disc format war to become the high-def successor to DVD. As a result, combo players--including a newly announced model from Samsung--were greeted more by yawns than by "oohs" and "aahs." Even without HD DVD to nudge it, prices for Blu-ray players seem destined to become more affordable, as evidenced by forthcoming devices from Philips and Funai. That said, with the specification still evolving--Panasonic's DMP-BD50 became the first 2.0 player to be officially announced--there's no reason to rush out and buy one anytime soon.

But there's still a big question as to whether or not the future of home video will be one of discs--or, in fact, physical media of any kind. Online delivery of home video seemed to be everywhere: major companies such as Samsung are getting into the game, while upstarts such as XStreamHD are offering intriguing delivery options and increasingly improved video quality. That's on top of existing hardware solutions

Hitachi's LCDs are just 1.5 inches thick.

(Credit: Hitachi)

The whirlwind of CES 2008 is finally over, and now that we've had a few seconds to gather our thoughts, let's reflect on some of the major HDTV trends we observed at the show.

Thin is in

Flat-panels are popular for a reason, and part of it is people love thin screens. While plenty of people are satisfied with standard 6-inch-deep screens, HDTV companies are betting there's a market for ultrathin sets measured in millimeters rather than inches. The most impressive thin TV tech we saw was Pioneer's "Project Kuro" prototype plasma, which measures only 9mm thin, but unfortunately won't be released in 2008. On the more conventional side, JVC announced the "world's thinnest" LCD--coming in at 2.9 inches deep--while LG showed off an even thinner 1.9-inch thick LCD with a hole in it. Trumping both JVC and LG was Hitachi, with its new superslim LCDs measuring only 1.5-inches thick--although they ditch an internal ATSC tuner to do so. And, of course, no mention of thin HDTV would be complete without OLED...

Sony's 11-inch OLED is coming to the states this year.

(Credit: Sony)

OLED is coming

Sony made a big splash by showing off the 11-inch XEL-1, which will be the first OLED HDTV available in the United States and measures just 3mm thick. Samsung also had a 31-inch prototype OLED on display and there'... Read more

(Credit: Lenovo)

CES 2008 may not have been a show for big wows, but there was plenty to talk about, at least on the computers and hardware front. For starters, Lenovo introduced three IdeaPads, the company's first consumer-oriented laptops for the U.S. market. (Lenovo also announced a corresponding line of desktops, predictably named IdeaCentre, for release in Europe, though we expect the line to reach our shores soon.)

HP caught our attention with the sub-$1,000, HD-equipped SlimLine desktop. Dell gave us a peek into the future with its 16-inch laptop prototype and the XPS 630 gaming desktop. Gateway launched its FX gaming brand into the mobile space with three new laptop configurations, while Alienware showed off its 15-inch gamer. We saw new ultraportables from Fujitsu and Asus, plus UMPCs from Toshiba and Samsung. We even got a glimpse at the tiny, Linux-based Everex Cloudbook. Desktops got smaller as well, if the Asus Nova P22 small-form-factor PC is any indication.

On the component front, Intel made a splash with the announcement of its first 45-nanometer notebook chips, known as Penryn; we shared our early test results for the new mobile CPUs and reported on plans for Penryn from Toshiba and HP. Intel also gave us a look at three high-end PCs that feature its components. Not to be left in Intel's wake, both ATI and Nvidia announced new graphics chips, the latter offering a peek at its Hybrid SLI technology.

Accessories that caught our eye included ... Read more

Tom Merritt shows off Bug Labs' modular gadget on the CNET Stage.

In a year when several of our colleagues felt underwhelmed by the products on display at CES, the emerging technologies category provided some much-needed excitement for the year to come.

Our Best of CES winner, the Bug Labs platform, generated buzz among both CNET editors and readers with its mix of open-source hardware and software, plus an innovative pricing scheme that encourages early adoption. Though we have no doubt the product will at first appeal to tinkerers and hobbyists, we're intrigued by the prospect of a future filled with modular gadgetry.

Other technologies to catch our attention seemed to come straight out of The Jetsons: the Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed promised to cater to our every desire for leisure and entertainment; the Creative InPerson moved us one step closer to a portable videophone; and Pioneer's "Extreme Contrast Concept" showed us a future filled with currently unfathomable picture quality, thanks to its ability to produce absolute blacks.

This year's show also brought a number of consumer applications based on technologies originally developed for the government or military. The SpeechGear Compadre software suite provides instant translation of text, speech, and images. BigStage face-mapping technology has been introduced as a way to automatically create realistic avatars. And 3DV's ZCam uses next-generation 3D imaging to control video games and other interfaces through body movement and gestures.

For a glimpse of more products set to drive consumer ... Read more

Pioneer's AVIC-F500-BT LINC

(Credit: Pioneer)

"If the automobile were invented today, I'm pretty sure it would debut here at CES." So said Rick Wagoner, the boss of General Motors, in his keynote address at CES 2008 before unveiling GM's hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Cadillac Provoq. Wagoner's sentiments were echoed by the show's organizers who, for the first time, dedicated an entire hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center to in-vehicle technologies.

Among the booming bass bins and the pimped-out rides a number of innovative products took our fancy. Pioneer's AVIC-F500BT LINC combines portable and in-dash navigation in one device, complete with next-generation voice-recognition and information on traffic, gas prices and movie times information service from MSN Direct. Azentek's full-fledged Windows Vista-based in-dash PC promises to bring the desktop to the blacktop, while Kenwood showed off its prototype for high-speed in-car digital TV, to go on sale later this year.

The north hall at CES 2008 was dedicated to car technology

(Credit: CNET Networks)

CNET took advantage of the car tech buzz by setting up its own testing lab, in which we installed over a dozen different products over the course of three days, including new all-in-one navigation and multimedia devices from Jensen and Eclipse, as well as a unique digital sound processing technology from JVC and Bongiovi acoustics.

Elsewhere, Ford used the show to make an announcement on its exclusive contract with Sony for car audio, and to show off its new hard drive-based ... Read more

(Credit: iriver)

Every year, we CNET Editors approach CES with a mixture of excitement and some underlying, stress-induced dread. The show is always a lot of work--and spending five days in the dry Vegas climate when accustomed to San Francisco's damp (cigarette smoke-free) air almost guarantees coming back with a cold--but at least we have some shiny new gadgets to look forward to seeing. And yet CES 2008 just didn't quite deliver in the MP3 and PVP category...or several others, apparently.

Don't get me wrong: Senior Editor Donald Bell and I saw plenty of cool gear. However, most of it had already been announced in one country or another sometime in 2007, so you can understand why we came away from the show a bit underwhelmed. Still, it was nice to get my hands on some devices that had heretofore been available only in Asia, such as the iRiver W7, which won Best of CES for the MP3 and PVP category. There's just something I find so appealing about being able to snap a portable media player into a car cradle and get directions. Plus, iRiver's overwhelming showing of 12 new MP3 players at CES this year restored my faith that the ReignCom subsidiary isn't disappearing anytime soon. I'm really hoping some of the players using iRiver's neat new Spinn interface make it to the States before too long.

(Credit: Philips)

We're also pleased to see Bluetooth technology making headway ... Read more

Motorola Rokr E8

(Credit: Motorola )

Another CES is in the bag, and we've successfully fled Las Vegas for San Francisco. Though fewer new cell phones debuted at the show than in the past couple years, we can say that the 2008 show was all about quality over quantity. Also, when compared with the last couple of years, we had some serious competition for the Best of CES award in the cell phones and smartphones category. But after it was said and done, the Motorola Rokr E8 took that prize. Its innovative morphing keyboard gave it the needed mojo to lap the Sony Ericsson W760 super world phone. It was a good fight, and we hope we'll see a similar high-pitched battle in 2009. Motorola also introduced a high-end video phone with the Moto Z10 and it gave us two new entry-level models with the W230 and W270.

Sony Ericsson W760

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Besides the W760, Sony Ericsson introduced two other new cell phones. The Z555 is a design-centric handset with a new "gesture-control" feature, and the W350 is a low-end Walkman model. Though Samsung didn't offer any new phones for North America, it did show some exisiting models it wasn't planning to bring here including the i450 and the SGH-G800 5-megapixel camera phone. Also sitting pretty in Samsung's booth was the company's Armani phone.

Nokia didn't have anything new, either, but we did see the Nokia 3110, which is made partially from ... Read more

(Credit: Jook)

Gaming peripheral maker Razer has decided to try its hand in the social music scene with its subsidiary Jook Inc. The company has developed a new technology--aptly called Jook--that allows users of any MP3 player to share music with others in the same vicinity. It consists of two parts: a transmitter that plugs into any MP3 player (via either a 3.5mm headphone jack connection or proprietary dock based on the player) and an indicator light that hangs from down the front of the user as part of the headphone cable. A button or switch on either the transmitter or indicator will allow users to switch between three modes: Me, Us, and U. In Me mode, the indicator remains off and users listen to only their own music. Us mode let's the wearer broadcast his or her music to others with Jook enabled devices; the ambient light glows red to alert others that they may tune in. If you see another user with a glowing red light, you can switch to U mode to access that person's playlist. A green glow let's the broadcaster know you are listening.

Of course, no social music environment is complete without an online component. Users create a profile to be stored on their Jook-enabled device, and can decide to share this profile with other listeners or broadcasters. This allows them to connect later on the Web, where each person can create a page that contains as much or as ... Read more

Sony Ericsson W760

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

As we told you on Sunday, Sony Ericsson launched three new handsets at CES. The new models range from high-end (the W760) to the entry-level (the W350) with one in between (the Z555a). I got the chance to handle them at a press event at Caesar's Palace and on the show floor. The W760, which was one of our Best of CES nominees in the cell phones and smartphones category, was the most appealing of the bunch. The slider design is uncomplicated, but attractive, and it had a sturdy feeling in the hand. The slider mechanism also seemed pretty sturdy, and Sony Ericsson appears to have avoided one of its usual downfalls by making a solid keyboard. I did have fun with the motion control for playing games that I originally played with on the W910. Yes, it may be a bit gimmicky, but I like it.

Sony Ericsson W350

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

On the other hand, I wasn't quite impressed with the W350. The plastic construction felt pretty cheap and the flap covering the keyboard was flimsy. A couple times I felt it would snap right off. The display looked a little washed out, but as this is a low-end Walkman phone, that's to be expected. I'll wait until a review model arrives to give my full assessment, but at this point I'm a little wary. Fans of thin phones, however, probably will be
... Read more