CES 2009

While Panasonic and Canon look like they're delivering a solid, if somewhat uninspiring, line of camcorders for the first half of the year, Sony emerged from CES with the most newsworthy set of models--newsworthy for what the product line doesn't include, as well as what it does.

What's missing? MiniDV camcorders, for one. While last year's DCR-HC52 and HC62 remain on the market, Sony didn't announce anything relevant to MiniDV--no consolidation of the existing models, as Canon did, or outright declaration of dropping models, as with Panasonic (if not publicly, then at least in conversation). … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Trackballs, keyboards, and Bluetooth car adapters may not be as exciting as many of the products shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, but they are practical and a lot of people buy them. Kensington has been building products like these for years and continues to innovate in these pedestrian but very important categories. Kensington's Leonard Tsang manages to keep podcast host Larry Magid awake and interested as he describes his company's latest products.

See our complete news coverage from CES here

Mio Technology unveiled four new models to its Moov line of portable navigation devices at CES 2009, along with an improved software platform called Mio Spirit.

Calling 2009 a "watershed year for Mio," the GPS manufacturer debuted the Mio Moov S300, Mio Moov S500, Mio Moov S556, and Mio Moov S700, which will all come preloaded with the Mio Spirit navigation software. The revamped interface was designed to simplify map views and searches, including those for points of interest and other key navigation tools. Responding to customer feedback, the new search capabilities make it easier to search for … Read more

Intel has revealed the design for a tablet version of its Classmate PC, a low-powered Netbook designed for use in primary schools.

The tablet-format Classmate, which was unveiled Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, will let manufacturers build Classmate PCs that can be used either as a standard clamshell laptop or--with a 180-degree swivel of the display--as a touch-screen tablet. As with most Netbooks, it will run on Intel's Atom processor.

"Education is one of the best ways to improve the future for individuals, villages or nations," Lila Ibrahim, the general manager of Intel's emerging-markets platform group, said in a statement Friday. "There are 1.3 billion school-age children around the world and of those only five percent have access to a PC or the internet. The IT industry has a huge opportunity to contribute to how technology can improve students' learning and students' lives."

Ibrahim's division developed the reference design for the convertible Classmate PC based on ethnographic research. Child-friendly features include a water-resistant keyboard and a sturdy frame. Another feature is dubbed "palm rejection"--in tablet mode, the user can rest their palm on the touchscreen while writing, without the screen registering the palm's pressure as input. … Read more

People are still lamenting the passing of Polaroid Instant Film into history, but thanks to technology featured in its tiny portable PoGo printer launched in 2008, the company is offering a new shoot-and-print option: the Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera. And despite its parent company's woes, Polaroid has no intention of curtailing product plans in 2009.

Plans for a 21st century Polaroid camera were announced in August 2008, but the product itself was announced at CES 2009.

The camera, which has a certain retro boxiness to it, is pretty big in comparison to most point-and-shoots with its camera specs. … Read more

One of the interesting trends we saw at the lackluster gaming showcase at this year's CES was an abundance of Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis hardware manufactured by third-party companies.

Some booths, which preferred to remain nameless, were showcasing 3-in-1 portable players as well, with slots to play all the above-mentioned consoles. All you need are the original game cartridges.

Perplexed as to how this kind of blatant patent infringement could possibly be tolerated, we asked these booth reps, "How can this be legal?" One booth rep immediately told us that "the patent for these … Read more

Alpine announced an update to its line of mech-less digital media receivers with the Alpine iDA-X305. This new single din unit gets a cosmetic refresh, but there's more to it beneath the surface as this is also Alpine's first "Works with iPhone" certified unit.

While the Nyko Wand took our Best of CES gaming award, we were also fans of a few additional accessories the company announced for the Nintendo Wii.

We really like the Kama Wireless Nunchuk we reviewed a few months ago, and Nyko has decided to improve on the item again. We know Nintendo had a fairly unpublicized grievance with the Kama's striking resemblance to an original Nunchuk, and Nyko wouldn't comment if the Kama Charge Kit was a result as a settlement between the two manufacturers.

The Kama Charge kit not only comes with a new and improved … Read more

In Westinghouse's press materials it states that either of the following monitors would be an ideal solution for a tailgating party. Finally, vendors are starting to give tailgaters the respect they deserve. No word yet if these TVs/monitors include beer holders.

During CES Westinghouse announced three new LCD HDTVs. The 19-inch PT-19H340S, the 22-inch PT-22H340S, and the 22-inch 1080p PT-22F380S. Each display includes support for 720p (1,366x768) resolution, a 16:9 aspect ratio and a purported 5ms pixel response time.

In addition, each display includes connections and support for ATSC/NTSC/CATV/ClearQAM tuner, which allow for … Read more