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.

Tags: ces-2009-top, featured, features