30 Days of Innovation

Verizon Wireless confirmed via its Twitter account today that it will launch new Android devices with support for its growing 4G LTE network at CES 2011.

We don't know exactly which devices the carrier will showcase at its January 6 press event, but potential handsets include the Droid Incredible HD or a Verizon-branded LG Optimus 2X.

It's also possible that we could see a Motorola tablet that has been getting a lot of attention lately. Moto recently began teasing a new Honeycomb-based tablet for the conference, which ought to be the same unit demonstrated by Andy Rubin at … Read more

When my boss asks me what tablets I expect to see at CES, I have to laugh a little. It's a nervous laugh. Maybe I'm overreacting, but with the iPad's breakout success this year, I'm expecting a tidal wave of tablets at CES 2011.

There are the obvious elephants in the room. RIM will surely be making a fuss about its PlayBook. HP should have a WebOS tablet to show off (or risk humiliation, at this point). And as for Microsoft, if we don't see a branded tablet we should at least see a convincing … Read more

Cricket Wireless is getting into the music biz this CES. Today, the regional, no-contract carrier revealed a new service plan that wraps unlimited music downloads, playback, and ringtone creation into the customer's monthly charge. For $55 per month, the MuveMusic ("move") plan includes music downloads, ringtones, and ringback tones in an unlimited talk, text, e-mail, and Internet plan. (And yes, labels EMI, Sony, Warner, and Universal are all signed on).

This is the first carrier-driven service that doesn't try to sell you either a separate music subscription or piecemeal ringtones and tracks through an online store. Interestingly, the music is completely tied to the phone. Song files are stored on the phone's microSD card, but aren't transferable to a computer.

And since the all-you-can-eat music buffet is fueled by your monthly plan, customers get access to their beats as long as they settle their bills. Skip a month and the full-track downloads--along with calls, e-mail, texting, and browsing--disappear until the piper's been paid. In that sense, Cricket's musical leanings follow the renter's model.… Read more

It's predicted that 2011 is the tipping year of networking, where more electronic devices have built-in networking capabilities than computers. And this isn't a surprise; over the past few years, more and more home entertainment devices, such as flat-screen TVs, media playback devices, game consoles, and so on, include an Ethernet port. Others use USB Wi-Fi dongles to connect to a wireless network, and many even come with a built-in Wi-Fi adapter.

As more and more devices in your home scramble to find ways to connect to one another and to the Internet, the wireless network might … Read more

You may (or may not) know Vuze. It's the company behind the eponymous Bittorrent client (formerly known as Azureus) that's been slowly but surely morphing into a do-it-all media software hub.

The Vuze software is all fine and good (5 stars from CNET editors, an average of 4 stars from more than 1,900 CNET users), but that's yesterday's news. The company is emerging from the Bittorrent shadows and aiming to become the next big thing on the media landscape with its new venture: Fanhattan.

(Before we proceed: Yes, it's "Fanhattan." As in, "fan + Manhattan." Ridicule it all you want, but just remember the same scorn that was heaped upon the names "Wii" and "iPad" before they went on to become the defining products in their respective categories.)

Fanhattan is designed to be an entertainment discovery engine, a single point of aggregation for all of the TV and movie entertainment options available on (and off) the Web. At the core of the service is The Open Movie Database (TMDb), a formerly independent user-created database that Vuze has now acquired. (Vuze says the site "will be completely rebranded and redesigned to support the new service.")

Using the TMDb metadata, the hope is that Fanhattan will be a comprehensive resource for searching on TV shows, movies, actors, directors, and other related information. In addition to providing the standard "related content you might also enjoy" links, Fanhattan aims to provide links to the relevant content itself, regardless of the source.

That's where things get tricky.… Read more

At last year's CES, the e-reader product a lot of people were talking about didn't exist. It was a concept from Mirasol, a Qualcomm-backed company that was showing off its screen technology in a prototype unit.

Mirasol's screen caught people's attention for a few reasons. For starters, it was color. Secondly, its high-tech reflective display technology was not only energy-efficient but readable in direct sunlight. And finally, it was capable of displaying full-motion video. Marrying the best of what e-ink had to offer with some of the strengths of LCD, it looked a lot like the … Read more

Tired of playing games using your smartphone's touch screen? Ready to take it to the next level? Then, you might want to take a look at this.

A Boulder, Colo.-based start-up called Orbotix has created a robotic ball, called Sphero, that you can control with your smartphone via Bluetooth. The idea is that the ball becomes the object in a game, and you use your smartphone to maneuver it through the various levels or command it to do certain actions.

For example, you can use it to solve a maze by rolling the Sphero around on the floor. … Read more

Prior to each year's Consumer Electronics Show, we like to write previews of what buzz-worthy products might appear at the show and what trends you might expect to hear about. We'll do that, we promise. But before we do, let's take a look back and see what we left behind.

Last year, as expected, the e-reader was front and center at CES, the hot new category if there ever was one. It had its own little pavilion on the show floor and we spent some time snapping photographs of all the new wares companies were proudly showcasing. … Read more

A startup called Snapstick is introducing its spin on Internet TV today that it hopes will compete heavily with Apple TV, Google TV, and other set-top boxes.

If you believe the demo video, a person holding an iPhone can "flick" the content toward a TV screen, which will suddenly begins playing the same content.

But how? Snapstick doesn't miraculously siphon videos from the iPhone to the TV. At this early, private beta stage, it's a software platform that can help your TV display streaming Web content--like those jealously protected Hulu videos--on its screen. Although that iPhone--or … Read more