CES Highlights, So Far
With the new year upon us, the tech world emerges from it's winter slumber to announce it's newest and greatest and between Macworld and the Consumer Electronics Convention, there's always a wealth of things to sort through. To simplify things a bit, we've come up with a quick roundup of 6 announcements and new releases that have caught our eye:
Apple's iTunes Goes DRM Free At Last
Apple's announcement that eight million of the songs on it's iTunes Store (with the plan of ten million by the end of the quarter) are now available as iTunes Plus free of digital rights management (DRM) comes as the conclusion to Apple's inevitable victory in its fight with the studios that publicly began way back on February 7th, 2007 with Steve Jobs' open letter to the world (you can read it here). This means that songs you now download from iTunes have no restrictions on them--burn as many CDs as you like and share with your other computers. You can also update your previously purchased music for $.30 per song and $.60 per music video. There will also be two new pricing tiers for songs of $.69 and $1.29 alongside the $.99 price point for studios to choose from. With all four major studios now available, we are excited to finally see a chance for some competitive pricing in the iTunes store--something that is always good for consumers.
Dell Studio XPS 1640 and 1340- Notebooks go classy
Unlike most of the big new products at CES, these new 13" and 16" leather-accented notebooks from Dell quietly crept onto the store at Dell.com without a press conference, press release, or fancy party. The blog world has been eagerly awaiting the movement of Dell's Studio branding to the XPS notebook line since photos first leaked in August. The notebooks both start at $1199, with Core 2 Duo processors and a number of other options.
Apple's 17" Macbook Pro
One of the larger announcements was also one of the most expected, but with a few surprises: Apple's new 17" Macbook Pro is being touted as the world's thinnest and lightest 17" laptop. Sharing the unibody design with its smaller Macbook and 15" Macbook Pro cousins, the new machine has a 1900 X 1200 backlit LED display and 700:1 color ratio. To satisfy the creative professionals out there, Apple has included a $50 matte option for the screen, which without a doubt makes many of those who have been calling for such an option very happy. Apple has decided to go with a Macbook Air-style non-removable battery so they can supposedly pump more juice into the battery life, but we don't like the idea of not being able to replace our laptop battery when it inevitably drains just before story deadlines. The base model starts at $2799.
Sony's New Walkman, the NWZ-X1000
Confirming rumors around the net, Sony has announced its new Walkman, the NWZ-X1000. This hopeful iPod touch killer has a generous three inch OLED touchscreen (OLEDs use less power and have a wider color gamut than traditional LEDs) encased in a sweet faux granite shell. The player will come in 16GB and 32GB versions and feature Wi-Fi and independent noise-cancellation. Sony's being tight-lipped about the rest of its features until its press conference this evening, but if its specs are as good as its looks then the NWZ-X1000 could definitely be something to drool over.
WoWee's DLP Pico Projector
WowWee, the maker of the well known "Robosapien" robot toy, has expanded its scope to include a number of useful and interesting gadgets. If you're looking to show off your videos and photos from your iPod or iPhone to all your friends at once, the company's Cinemin Swivel is a DLP-fueled pico projector that bends up to 90-degrees and has a 480 X 360 resolution, 3 hour battery life, and a $299 price point. They were beaming video from an iPod Nano at their booth and the video looked decent despite the poor lighting conditions. The smaller SD card enabled Cinemin Stick projector supports resolutions up to 800 X 480, as does the larger base station model the Cinemin Station, which also has built in speakers and an iPod/iPhone dock. Look for these in the fall at prices in the $300-$400 range.
T-Mobile Announces Blackberry Curve 8900 For February
Much to the excitement of BlackBerry fans everywhere, T-Mobile has that the new Curve 8900 will be added to the lineup in February. The new 8900 shares its WiFi for UMA-based HotSpot calling service and 3.5mm headphone jack with the older Curve 8320 but the similarities end there. The 8900 pairs a 3.2-megapixel camera with a huge 480 X 360 display.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kerrhi said 12:35PM on 1-08-2009
Whoever typed the article about the pricing of iTunes needs to learn proper wording skills. "You can read article hear" HERE is a location. HEAR is a sense, most common when listening. As a writer for a website, or whatever, there really should be some literacy.
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John said 1:18PM on 1-08-2009
^^ Perhaps it was a pun.
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Ricky said 1:30PM on 1-08-2009
I agree with kerrhi, It has long bothered me that those that write articles to be published on line or in print no longer care about spelling or proper grammer. Reply's and comments I can understand not being correct but if you are going to write something to be published get it correct or find another job. There was a time when it was never allowed.
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Michelle said 1:52PM on 1-08-2009
And it's is short for it is. It does not denote the possessive. At least twice in the article, the author uses it's when he should have used its.
soccerplayingmom said 2:40PM on 1-08-2009
I agree -- and not to point fingers but it's grammar not grammer. lol
practice what you preach said 3:15PM on 1-08-2009
In this case the correct word would be replys since you are talking about the comment function and there is nothing called reply that owns anything in this article. You used reply's as in a reply owned somthing. Although you said replys and comments could have mistakes a person who bashes the writer of this article shoul not have any grammar mistakes themselves.
Don said 3:54PM on 1-08-2009
Ricky, How long could it have bothered you? The word is grammar. There are at least 3 other mistakes in YOUR "grammer" and if you can find them, maybe you'd have a chance at that persons job.
sharon said 6:25PM on 1-08-2009
That is grammar, not grammer as you wrote
Jennifer said 1:34PM on 1-08-2009
Wow. Too bad Apple can't put this kind of time and effort into resolving the registry error problems with Itunes and Windows Vista.
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michelle said 3:07PM on 1-08-2009
When is this new pricing start. Will it be right away.
michelle
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Sahmanthe said 3:21PM on 1-08-2009
I wish people would put as much time and decication into helping our economy as they do into things like mp3 players and music. I think we should worry about the next meal we have instead of the next big computer or phone. We CAN survive with out them, ask your grandparents.
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Manda said 3:25PM on 1-08-2009
That's crap - they should be updating our songs for free.
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Bone Daddy said 2:06PM on 1-09-2009
My Grammar went to the CES and she loves the new hearing aids hear.
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Charlie said 2:00PM on 1-11-2009
Is Timmy (Likely not his real name) some sleazy creep offering a virus or malware program like TubePlayer.ver.6.exe hidden in the weblink. he offers you? Some creeps do this almost everywhere.
Beware: A bunch of invitations to get some "Free" stuff or watch some "funny" video or some celebrity's "Sex" video are just tricks to get you to download a dangerous virus, such as the fake video-player "TubePlayer.ver.6.exe."
=~~=~~=~~=~~=
TubePlayer.ver.6.exe is a dangerous "malware" virus,
and you probably don't get to see any sex video or get free stuff.
=~~=~~=~~=~~=
What you do get is a screwed up computer, perhaps with a robotic
take-over of your computer for spamming, and maybe identity theft.
=~~=~~=~~=~~=
If you need to download something, always google it first, to see if it's malware or other virus.
=~~=~~=~~=~~=
There are many viruses that pretend to be an anti-virus program.
They may claim that you are currently being attacked, and they may
ask you whether you want them to protect you from the attack.
=~~=~~=~~=~~=
Of course, click NO, you DO NOT want their help ...
because they won't protect you, but they will infect you.
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Charlie said 2:35PM on 1-11-2009
I agree with Sahmanthe @ Jan 8th 2009 3:21PM and with her concerns about the economy.
But I wasn't able to take her advice ( "I think we should worry about the next meal we have instead of the next big computer or phone. We CAN survive without them, ask your grandparents") because my grandparents died about 1915.
My grandparents ("Grammer" and "Grampar") were too poor to have a phone and died long before the inventions of talking pictures, television, computers, the web, and even "Classic" Coke.
OMyGosh, could it be THAT NOT HAVING ALL OF THAT was why my grandparents died?
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