best of ces 2010

Intel Wireless Display: One year later

At last year's CES, Intel Wireless Display was one of our Best of CES nominees, standing out for its potential to bring streaming Internet video to an HDTV from a laptop over its own dedicated wireless channel, including audio. In fact, it was your pick as Best in Show, winning the People's Voice Award (as determined by a user poll).

Let's go back to early 2010: back then, connecting a laptop to a TV with a wired connection was still the best way to get Internet video content such as Hulu and Netflix without an additional set-top box. Despite having a slight delay in the video/audio signal, and requiring a $99 Push2TV box from Netgear plugged into an HDTV or non-HD television to receive the signal, the benefits seemed clear, and for those looking to make a laptop into a home entertainment solution, there was no better choice.

Times have changed, indeed, although Intel Wireless Display really hasn't. The debut of Apple's iPad, and its support of Netflix, Hulu Plus, and other streaming services, has changed the equation a bit, even if the iPad doesn't support Flash. Video game consoles now have Netflix across the board, and even (on the PS3, at least) Hulu Plus and Vudu. TV sets are including an ever-increasing number of Internet apps for accessing digital content, and set-top boxes such as the Boxee Box, the next-gen Roku box, and Apple TV offer a variety of solutions.

When it comes to methods of getting Internet or computer-stored video content on your TV, your options come to this: … Read more

The 404 Podcast 494: Where you have to invert the image to see us nude

LAS VEGAS--Don't close the window yet; that show title is a joke. Don't worry, the video you're about to watch features three fully clothed nerds talking about the best of CES 2010 for The 404 Podcast's last show LIVE from the CNET stage here.

We've rounded up the funniest stories from this year's show for this wrap-up episode, starting with Jeff eating his hateful words about 3D PS3 and Xbox 360 Game Room. Turns out the gameplay in 3D actually impressed our former cynic, but we can all agree that those ridiculous 3D glasses are truly the only detractor from 3D games, and especially movies. After this story, we promise never to speak of 3D again...until 4D comes out.

Next, we have a lineup of stories that allow us to do what we do best: make fun of the more outrageous aspects of the show. For example, did anyone walk by the Samsung booth? Someone needs to notify these folks that we are, in fact, struggling to pull ourselves out of a recession--jeez is that booth consuming ridiculous amounts of energy. Other hilarious stories from CES 2010 include IoSafe's virtually indestructible hard-drive demolition, and a Taser demo that you have to see to believe.

We've also got a story about a controversial iPhone app that claims to see through clothing and we see if anyone can guess the most pirated e-book of 2009. Finally, be sure to check out our Best of CES 2010 nominees that represent the top products in nine categories as recommended by our techspert CNET editors.

If it's your first time listening to The 404, be sure to catch us our live show every morning at 11 a.m. EST on CNET Live. You can find all past episodes archived at The 404 Blog, and be sure to follow us on Twitter or add us on Facebook!

EPISODE 494 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS VideoRead more