Category: CES 2008

As with everything in life, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that we've found some headphones that will keep you, your hearing and your social life safe when using them. We stumbled across The Air Drives Interactive Earphones in the sea of gadgetry and tricky tech publicists at this year's CES in Las Vegas. To be honest, at first we were just humoring the friendly Air ...

The Monster Cable press session at the Consumer Electronics Showcase started out bizarre enough: head monster Noel Lee cruised up on his Segway scooter, talked to the audience about HDMI and cables and all things monster. But then he asked Dr. Dre and Interscope Chairman Jimmy Iovine to come up, as they had a little surprise. They presented us with a set of new headphones called "Beats". These ...

We're a society obsessed with information. We're constantly connected through instant messaging, e-mail, text messaging, Blackberries, we even have Internet access on our cell phones. As great as all these things are at making sure we have a world of knowledge at our fingertips 24/7, they still require us to turn on our devices and find the information we seek. Its never just there ... waiting ...

Sometimes you just don't want to take that call coming in over your mobile phone. You search for the button to silence the ring, fumbling for a few seconds while annoying the guy sitting next to you. Wouldn't you rather look as cool as we know you are, and just wave your hand over the top of your phone to silence it, Donald Trump-style? Yes, we would, too. Sony Ericsson has just that mobile ...

Sometimes you just need a simple accessory for your laptop. Nothing big. Nothing fancy. Nothing overpriced. That's why we like this notebook cooler from Swissgear, which the company introduced here at CES last night. This cooling mat for 14-to-17-inch notebook computers has two built-in fans and an exhaust system that prevents overheating and keeps your thighs from getting hot, too, if you ...

Well we've certainly never seen anything quite like this. Alienware unveiled a new curved DLP gaming monitor as part of the pre-CES festivities, saying it will make gaming more immersive. We've heard claims like this before from companies making 3D displays, VR goggles, and sub woofer-packed chairs, but they've all kind of left us thinking "seriously?" But Alienware's new display is quite ...

Sure it's a cocky move to name one of your products the "ultimate Dream" anything, but at least Philips has the goods to back it up. Their new television, part of their 7000 series of the new Philips Design Collection of televisions, is all about looks and style for those people who don't want just another black box in their living rooms. In addition to the standard features you'd expect from a ...

Sure Rhapsody isn't iTunes, but the online music store/serviceis still a massively popular source for digital music, and it has a rather impressive catalog available to purchase or "rent" (via subscription). Yesterday, at CES, Matt Rowlen, Vice President of Real Networks, joined the head of the new Philips Consumer Lifestyle division, Andrea Ragnetti, on stage at a press conference to announce ...

The 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) officially opens today, though we and thousands of other journalists have been here since late last week, checking out early previews of the latest gizmos and interviewing folks such as Gary Shapiro, who heads up this massive annual gathering of all things gadget (see above). Check out our brief video interview with Gary, and come back for more, as Switched ...

Pioneer is going the way of Jules Verne as it journeys to the center of the earth to develop speaker technology. While yesterdays press conference at CES already had us chomping at the bit over future plasma flat screen technology, we've got to give props to Pioneer's R & D people for using volcanic rock as the material for a key component of its speakers. Constructing the new speakers ...

Waiting for Microsoft founder Bill Gates to arrive at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas for his final CES keynote address last night was like expecting a rock star Mr. Rogers to parachute in from the sky to greet us mere mortals. Members of the press and electronics industry insiders began lining up in droves hours before the event's appointed start time, creating snaking lines of readers, ...

Often it's customer service that wins consumers' hearts and dollar decisions -- and Sharp yesterday announced a program that (though it hints a bit of Big Brother) could change the way people operate and maintain their TVs. The program is called Aquos Net, and it's essentially content and customer support provided with two of Sharp's new Aquos LCD TVs, which were also announced yesterday at ...

You may not be familiar with the OQO 02 but the company is making some big announcements today regarding its pre-UMPC UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC). This tiny little device is a getting trio of upgrades that make the miniature Via-powered Windows computer even more lust worthy. First up is a 64-gigabyte SSD (Solid State Drive). The 64-gig of Flash won't hold your massive collection of illegally ...

Casio announced an update to its line of top notch and fashionably slim Exilim point-and-shoot digicams at a press conference yesterday. The new EX-S10, EX-Z80, EX-Z100, EX-Z200 add some fancy new features and a bevy of new color choices. The EX-S10 is "the world's smallest and slimmest" 10-megapixel camera, and adds iTunes (read iPod/iPhone/iPod Touch) compatibility to Casio's existing YouTube ...

Philips overhauled its consumer electronics division on January 1, combining several of its departments into the new Consumer Lifestyle branch. Along with the new name came a new focus and a new design aesthetic. Accordint to Philips, the tradition sharp angles, buttons galore, and blinking lights of traditional "masculine" consumer electronic design have been replaced with softer looks and ...