ces

LAS VEGAS--ViewSonic is mostly known here in the states for its monitors and tablets, but did you know that trio of finches the company uses for a logo marks cell phones as well?

Chances are it's one that's still going to swim below most people's radar. Like so many of the phones we've seen here at CES, the ViewPhone 3 runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The company has added its own skin on it, which includes a rotating carousel of panels for you to easily switch among. One nice touch--each panel (for weather or the clock, … Read more

Weren't able to make it to CES this year? This week's giveaway is bringing CES to you!

We're giving away a nice, big bag full of CES 2012 swag collected by CNET staffers on the ground at the massive show in Vegas. You'll get all sorts of goodies--an iPad skin and iPhone case bearing the CNET logo; an 8GB Samsung memory card; a camera-shaped USB drive from Olympus; a free six-month subscription to Sony's Music Unlimited cloud-based music-streaming service; and a free one-year subscription to Absolute Software's LoJack for Laptops security app, which helps you recover your stolen tech safely. And more.

Plus, all your gear will arrive in a CES 2012 press bag complete with a nice little reporter's notebook where you can jot notes on all your gotta-have gadgets from the Sin City show. We estimate that you'll be getting about $250 worth of stuff. In this case, what happens in Vegas definitely is not staying in Vegas.

So how do you try to win this week's prize? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft's handset partners are finally coming out with some interesting hardware for the Windows Phone operating system.

Nokia and HTC each announced new high-end smartphones using the OS. So which one is best? Ask Maggie shares some advice. Also in this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer some advice to a reader interested in the jumbo-sized Samsung Galaxy Note.

Dear Maggie, I have an HTC Droid Incredible from Verizon Wireless. And to be honest I never really loved it. I've had all kinds of problems with it since … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Day 3 of the Consumer Electronics Show made some companies very happy.

CNET today announced the winners of this year's Best of CES Awards. The winners included a top product in 10 categories; the People's Voice Award, given to the product with the most votes from CNET readers; and the coveted Best of Show Award. This year's top honors went to LG's absolutely beautiful 55-inch OLED television. The LG 55EM9600 OLED TV promises the superb all-around performance of OLED technology in an ultra-thin panel. And when we say ultra-thin, we mean it; it's a … Read more

LAS VEGAS--With Windows Phone 7, we've spent a lot of time waiting.

We started by waiting for Microsoft to upgrade from the stodgy Windows Mobile. Then, we waited for the first Windows Phone 7 (WP7) handsets before waiting again for decent apps. And finally, once we had all of those things we waited for WP7 to really take off.

Granted, we're still waiting on that last point, but at CES 2012, Nokia may have shown us the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

On Monday, during an afternoon crowded with other press conferences, Nokia pulled in … Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you haven't yet heard about Makerbot, you haven't been paying close enough attention to this year's CES.

The Makerbot Replicator is an open-source, 3D printer that can create just about any plastic object you can imagine. The $1,999 two-color consumer device launched here this week and just this morning, it won a CNET Best of CES award in the Emerging Tech category.

I tracked down Makerbot founder Bre Pettis after the awards show to find out what's next for Makerbot. Here's what he told me about the potential he sees for turning kids on to 3D printing, and a new kind of homemade jelly, just for starters:… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Israel's Snapkeys doesn't want to just be an alternative to the traditional QWERTY keyboard. It wants to kill it off for good.

The company's Ryan Ghassabian taps out sentences on his tablet with all the speed and precision of a phonetic hitman as he demos Snapkeys for me at a small booth in the far back side of the Las Vegas Convention Center here at CES.

Snapkeys is an invisible keyboard that uses 2i technology and predictive typing to eliminate the need to actually look where you're typing on touch-screen devices. For most of you, that sentence will be total nonsense, like it was to me when I first heard about Snapkeys, so here's how it actually works. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--CES 2012 isn't over yet. In fact, day three of the show got downright electric with the announcement of the Best of CES 2012 Award winners and the chance to witness the powers of Dr. Megavolt. Get the buzz on what was hot right here in Crave's wrap-up.

• Drum roll, please. The Best of CES 2012 Award winners are ...

• Last year, Dong Ngo shot up a hard drive with a shotgun. This year, he watched as a IoSafe's Thunderbolt drive got zapped by a million-watt Tesla coil. We're definitely hanging out with him next CES.

• Chirp, chirp. Your phone is done charging.

• We still don't have an official release date for the Nintendo Wii U, but here's what HD Zelda might look and play like.

• The 36-inch EXOdesk touch screen is like the Microsoft Surface--but cheaper! … Read more

LAS VEGAS--2012 may mark Microsoft's last major CES keynote and presence, but with two successful Windows Phone announcements, it's going out with a bang.

CNET named both the HTC Titan II and the Nokia Lumia 900 finalists for the Best of CES award in the smartphone category, both supporting 4G LTE. Out of four total candidates, the Lumia 900 took the prize.… Read more