CES

My guess is that the ZCam from 3DV Systems was first developed as a training tool for the Israeli army, but you can use this 3D camera to out-Wii the Wiimote. It looks like a large Webcam, but instead of merely capturing video, the ZCam senses depth in real-time. It'll likely show up as a part of a game bundle--3DV Systems was showing off a boxing demo where your phantom punches would land on your opponent's face or a heavy bag on the screen--but it also has potential beyond gaming (though it could make an immersive game like … Read more

LAS VEGAS-- Intel CEO Paul Otellini's CES keynote was sparkling. In contrast to Bill Gates' pastel portrait of the future, Otellini presented a concrete vision of a personal, reactive Web, and the challenges to creating it (Silicon, Infrastructure, Context, and Interface). For a full rundown, see Dan Farber's writeup on ZDNet.

Intel loves where the Web is going. The more interactive and personal it gets, the more processing power is required and the more new chips Intel sells, for both servers and local workstations. The most interesting (and newest) product that Otellini brought to the stage in his … Read more

The natural human interface has been a huge theme at this year's CES.

Bill Gates talked up the Surface Computer and voice recognition in the car, Paul Otellini talked up the gesture-based interface of Nintendo Wii, and there were plenty of new ideas around interfaces exhibited on the trade show floor.

Natural human interfaces, ones that involve human movement, for example, tend to be incredibly engaging. It's rarely more noticeable than at CES--the crowds nearly always gather around those exhibits that provide some kind of interactivity. One of the most popular has been the WAVEscape advertising platform, developed … Read more

It's the rare product that excites CNET editors across all categories. The Bug Labs platform, which has been the subject of several conversations around the CNET booth, is one such rarity.

Described as "the Lego of gadgets" by Webware's Rafe Needleman, the Bug Labs platform starts with a minicomputer, the Bug Base, onto which you can snap multiple modules, such as a digital camera or an LCD screen. You can then program your own software to run your custom gadget or download software others have written from the Bug Labs site. Need a GPS-enabled digital camera … Read more

So what do the other fellow geeks at CES look like? Predominantly youngish to middle-aged male (white or Asian), blazer and jeans, and almost certainly on a cell phone. Vendors at the CES have certainly kept that in mind. Whether its attractive women wandering the floor (I still have no idea what the cheerleaders were selling), sports stars opining on this year's Superbowl at Samsung (Randall Cunningham), or cars galore (everywhere you look), vendors know their market, but in what sense? Of course there are women attendees here, and of course these decision-makers will sift through market data and … Read more

Despite its widespread adoption, the current Bluetooth audio standard (A2DP) isn't pretty. The lackluster audio quality currently achievable using Bluetooth is fine for noisy applications such as car audio or wireless workout headphones, but degraded Bluetooth audio has kept the technology from crossing over into the world of high-end audio and home theater components. With any luck, 2008 will be the year that the A2DP Bluetooth audio standard gets pushed aside by a superior audio codec called SoundAbout Lossless.

Watch the Qualcomm Soundabout Lossless video on CNET TV.

Developed by Open Interface (recently acquired by Qualcomm), the Soundabout Lossless … Read more

Missed the first day of CES 2008 in Las Vegas? Let us bring the gadget goodness to you--enjoy these hand-picked links with your morning coffee and find much more coverage at CNET's CES special package.

Consumer electronics product managers worldwide and especially at CES are busy these days working on tech that women won't be embarrassed to be seen with. Will some extra fashion flair help? Who knows, but there was plenty of bling on the show floor. We saw the elusive Samsung Armani phone and Philips' Swarovski-crystal encrusted earbuds.

In more useful announcements, we got to try … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Samsung has been one of the big backers of rear-projection TVs, but its interest is waning.

"Over time, that (projection TV) will probably go away," S.I. Lee, Samsung's senior vice president of marketing for digital media, said at the Consumer Electronics Show here.

That could be a death knell for the format. Other companies, most notably Hitachi and Sony, have already killed their projection TV lines.

"We were interested in the business until the end of last year," said Makato Ebata, CEO of the consumer business group at Hitachi.

Projection TVs, which blast … Read more

All of the core features we want in car technology--GPS navigation, Bluetooth cell phone integration, and audio and media playback--can be handled by a PC, so Azentek is offering two new in-dash PCs, the Atlas CPC-1200 and the Calypso CPC-1100. Both units are powered by an Intel Core Duo 1.66GHz CPU with 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and a DVD-ROM/CDRW drive. But they both also have car stereo features, such as a 4 channel, 50 watt built-in amp, an FM tuner, and the ability to be upgraded with either XM or Sirius satellite radio. The Atlas … Read more