Tag: CES2010

2006: The Year of Lackluster Wireless and Movie Format Wars It was an evolutionary year for CES; there were no blockbuster releases to mention -- just emerging ideas. Joining HDTV as a CES constant was the hype surrounding all things wireless. We saw the first versions of wireless HDMI and media streamers, which are now, thankfully, coming to fruition. But then there were these: Intel went ...

2005: The Year of the Home Invasion While HDTVs had already become a perennial focus at CES by '05, and while the year's screen-size arm's race winner was Samsung's positively ridiculous 102-incher, the big CES trend story that year was the digital home. Earnest but misguided product engineers shoved LCDs and Net connections into everything imaginable, hoping that something would stick. ...

Since long before Switched was even a twinkle in the Internet's eye, we've been making the annual January pilgrimage to Sin City to pay homage to the tech gods. And every year -- sometimes days, sometimes weeks, or sometimes months after the fact -- we realize that we done got played. We inevitably find that, at some point, amid the hustle and bustle, the lights and music and product pitches, ...

CES whips journalists, exhibitors, and gadget fans into a frenzy every January, and it's easy to lose sight of the near future with all the new product announcements. Yes, in only a couple weeks we, and our technologically-savvy brethren, will be playing tech support for all the new products coming out. For those that have gotten a first look at the year's newest gadgets here in Vegas, we ask ...

We saw some press pics of the new Asus NX90Jq laptop not long ago, and just knowing that we would get a first-hand look during CES got us twitching with anticipation. Asus recently teamed with David Lewis, chief designer for Bang & Olufsen, to create what looked like a stunning piece of personal computing coupled with high-end audio. But now we're ambivalent, as the NX90Jq both lived up to ...

One of the most original and exciting products making its debut at CES is undoubtedly the A.R. Drone from Parrot. The augmented reality gaming platform incorporates a remote controlled helicopter and a controller app for the iPhone. (One of the engineers on the project told us that it will be coming to other platforms, too.) We decided to head to Parrot's tent outside the Las Vegas Convention ...

Tired of keeping that guitar tuned? Then consider EverTune's bridge a godsend. Unlike Gibson's steeply priced Robot Guitar, which tunes itself, EverTune's latest effort is affordable, compatible with existing guitars, and acts more like a maintenance tool. According to DVICE's review, once you tune the guitar, the bridge will keep it locked in perfect pitch indefinitely. According to EverTune, ...

3-D has been unavoidable this year, but most of the discussion centers around what we may (or may not) be watching, not the production end. We dropped by Panasonic's booth to check out its twin-lens Full HD 3D camcorder. Though $21K might seem a bit stiff, Panasonic claims it's significantly cheaper than most pro-level 3-D camcorders, making a home-brewed version of 'Avatar' that much closer to ...

Chinese tech firm Pega Design, an offshoot of Asus, has developed two new incredibly innovative products over which we can't stop drooling. First up is the Pumplight, a small desk lamp with a bladder, reminiscent of a blood pressure pump, that acts to turn the light on and off. The lamp's "shade" is actually a sort of balloon that expands and brightens as it's pumped full. To turn it off, just ...

Yesterday, at Intel's CES keynote, Paul Otellini unveiled the AppUp Center, similar to the iTunes App Store but geared toward netbooks and MIDs (Mobile Internet Device). While our friends at Engadget were busy wondering "why you would need an app store for a Windows netbook," and while The Register was inexplicably declaring that Intel was reinventing software sales, we were mulling over the ...

If a mid-sized company with a semi-niche product is looking for a celebrity endorsement, take a page from Monster's book: go big or don't even bother. The audio company collaborated with Dr. Dre for Beats by Dre, gunning for those high-end hip-hop types that want some substance with their style, and then with Lady Gaga for her girlie, technophile Heartbeats. But yesterday, in the penthouse of the ...

Rumors of the Light Touch projection system have been in the pipeline for a little while, and we finally got to do a hands-on demo with the device here at CES. The basics: Light Touch converts any flat surface into a 10-inch screen, from tabletops to walls -- and it's interactive. The surprisingly bright, high-resolution image responds to touch, thanks to an infrared sensing system that tracks ...

When Apple launched the iPhone OS 3.0 back in June, one of the features that most thrilled us was the one that allowed apps to interact with specially designed accessories, like docks and blood sugar monitors. Sadly, in the months since, very few new devices have taken advantage of the feature -- especially widely available, consumer-oriented devices. That may change now that iHome, claiming to ...

Yesterday in Vegas, Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein debuted the new Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, coming to Verizon, at Palm's CES keynote. Earlier this week, AT&T announced it would be getting two webOS devices (still no confirmation on which devices). Sprint no longer being the sole Palm webOS purveyor, Verizon will make both phones available on January 25th. No word on pricing, but head after the break ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines... Windows 7 was initially met with skepticism and negative feedback, even prompting some to trumpet the imminent prominence of Apple. But, according to Microsoft director of marketing Craig Beilinson, Windows 7 has become "the fastest selling operating system in history." [From: Lifehacker] The green energy movement continues to ...