Samsung's HT-BD7200: A CES fave in 2009, how does this Blu-ray home theater system look with the benefit of a year of hindsight?
(Credit: Samsung)At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (January 5-9), CNET editors will be choosing the Best of Show finalists and winners that will set the trends for the new year. But that begs the question: How well did we do last year?
It's a perfect excuse to look back at the picks from the most recent show, January 2009. We've gone to the archives and highlighted the winners in 10 categories--including our overall Best of Show. See which picks were right on the money, which were soon eclipsed by newer and better products later in the year, and which products were never even released. (Click on the images directly below.)
The Platinum i-Series from iHarmonix produces better sounds than the headset Apple includes with the iPhone.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CBS Interactive)Once in a while you get something and like it so much you wonder why you hadn't gotten it a long time ago. Or, as in my case, why you didn't use it.
This happened back during CES. I was given a headset from iHarmonix, the Platinum i-Series, as a freebie. I didn't have a chance to really use it until just now and asked myself why I waited so long.
The headset's sound is much better than that of Apple's OEM included with the iPhone. For the first time, I can enjoy the bass and really control the multifunction button (that ends calls as well as controls music playback), thanks to its round shape and larger size. The iPhone's included headset has a very tiny button that's hard to press on. It was almost impossible for me to make a successful jump to a previous track.
What I like best, however, is the fact that the Platinum i-Series is black instead of having the same white color as Apple's headset. Now I can blend in without people looking at me and thinking, "Oh I know, you got an iPhone, all right."
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I've never been a fan of cord clutter. I switched to a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard in my office, and I've delighted in the clean look ever since. Cord clutter may be annoying in the office, but it's downright dangerous in the kitchen. The kitchen--that place where I spill, where my kids come barreling through at top speed, where tangled cords are truly an accident waiting to happen.
Cordless technology for the kitchen is a great idea, but one that doesn't get as much press, perhaps, as wireless peripherals for the office. Until now.
At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, Powermat debuted its technology in a whole new way. Powermat "brings safe, simple, and efficient wireless electricity to surfaces including walls, tables, floors, and desktops. It is designed to replace the need to access multiple electrical sockets," says the Web site. In other words, you can use this technology to power your electronics in real time, with no cords, no outlets, and no batteries.
Now imagine that your kitchen countertop ... Read more
(Credit:
Asus)
We've seen Netbook components used in small desktops. Heck, we've even come across desktop-grade performance in mini-laptops. But this may be the first time a Netbook has been cramped into a keyboard meant to replace a desktop.
Details on the exact specifications of the product are vague, but the Eee PC Keyboard is a full-size input device that is likely based on the Atom chipset. Though it has a small 5-inch touch screen on the right, we suspect its role is more of a secondary display as this system is meant to be hooked up to external screens via the wireless HDMI or VGA port.
We do not know when, or if, this prototype will hit the market, but if it maintains its sleek profile, it will give other small-form-factor PCs a serious run for their money.
(Via Crave Asia)
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LG's first 240Hz displays with scanning backlight technology will ship in March, and like other 240Hz LCDs they'll confuse unwitting shoppers.
(Credit: LG)Two of the most confusing letters thrown around in reference to LCD and TVs these days are "H" and "z." The confusion will just continue to mount this year, as numerous manufacturers announced 240Hz displays at CES, doubling the 120Hz spec in an attempt to lure buyers. But is it twice as nice?
Until proven otherwise, I'm saying no, 240Hz is not worth waiting for.
Before I get into why, it's probably worth writing a few sentences to sketch out what all these numbers mean. Standard LCD and plasma TVs refresh the screen 60 times per second, or 60Hz, which is plenty fast enough to eliminate flicker and create the illusion of motion from a series of still images. In fact, most sources sent to your display arrive at the nominal rate of 30 frames per second, and each frame is repeated once by the television to achieve 60 total fps.
The problem is that with LCD, some viewers can perceive motion blur in fast-moving objects on standard 60Hz models (motion blur like this isn't an issue with plasma or other display types, whether 60Hz or otherwise, because they use different methods to create the illusion of motion). To reduce blurring, most 120Hz LCD displays use interpolation--called MEMC for "motion estimation-motion compensation"--to create a new frame between each of the original frames, so there's one interpolated frame for every true frame. An interpolated frame is composed of the processor's best guess as to what should be there, based on the contents of each of the true frames.
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Haier America Rhapsody Ibiza Touch
(Credit: Haier America)Last year, appliance manufacturer Haier America surprised me by producing its very first MP3 player. More specifically, I was confounded by the fact that the company actually made a decent one that offered a variety of compelling features most mainstream MP3 player companies had overlooked (wireless podcast updating, for example).
Now, Haier is updating its Rhapsody Ibiza line with--get this--the Mini and the Touch. Those certainly aren't the most original names (in fact, the words "blatant rip-off" come to mind), but to Haier's credit, the new players look nothing like the iPods of the same name.
First up is the Rhapsody Ibiza Mini, which will replace the current flash-based Ibiza Rhapsody. This pocketable player measures just 3.5 inches by 2 inches by 0.4 inch and features a 2.2-inch color QVGA screen dominating its face. Just below is a four-way directional pad composed of tactile controls for main navigation. Around the edges of the device, you'll find a dedicated volume rocker, a power button, and a Wi-Fi connect key.
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With its unique design, built-in BD-Live Blu-ray player, Netflix onboard, and Wi-Fi compatibility, the Samsung HT-BD7200 encapsulated cutting-edge home theater this year.
(Credit: Samsung)The 2009 Consumer Electronics Show is history. As far as the home audio world is concerned, the product lineup and trends were pretty much right in line with our predictions.
Wireless speakers: Panasonic showcased the SC-ZT1, a unique "4.4" speaker system with wireless speakers (except ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
Before I gave in and started using an iPhone, I was a stalwart Palm supporter. In the late '90s, I was actually a beta tester for the very first Pilot 1000 device. It was light years ahead of what anyone else was doing at the time, and it "just worked."
(Credit:
Palm)
Palm led the handheld industry through most of the 2000s, but due to a lack of innovation after the introduction of the Treo 600 series of smartphones, Microsoft's Windows Mobile slowly ate away its market share. But Redmond's offerings didn't catch on with consumers, and that gave a second lease to the Palm OS and its family of products.
Then there was the Foleo, a Linux-based Netbook that perhaps arrived ahead of its time. When it was introduced in mid-2007, reactions were mixed. It was one of the first devices from a reputable and established company to fill the gap between smartphones and laptops, but critics weren't receptive to its $500 price tag and lack of compatibility with third-party software.
But Palm was also quietly tuning a version of Linux for its next-gen handsets. Last week at CES, Palm announced a new operating system, called Web OS, and the first device to run it, the Pre. It also announced an application store, called Pre Catalog. And that's when things got very interesting: the Pre blew everyone away.
Critics, pundits, and all kinds of bloggers (including myself) knew Palm had something to show. We also knew that if Palm didn't hit a home run, it would be game over, if you'll forgive the mixed metaphors.
As it turned out, Palm hit what appears to be a grand slam. Palm has a competitor to the iPhone and the G1. For the first time in years, gadget fans were drooling over a Palm device.
In short, Palm went from a company that nobody cared about to a leader in the smartphone field overnight. No small accomplishment, considering that no real demo units have been sent out, and a mass launch is still months away. This much excitement over a phone hasn't been seen since Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone two years ago.
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If you've been keeping up with my monitor blog posts from CES 2009, there's one term you've probably heard tossed around more any other: "Full HD."
Samsung's LED-based 2370L is more than a little easy on the eyes.
(Credit: Eric Franklin/CBS Interactive)Yes, Full HD was the buzzword for monitors this year. Full HD basically means a monitor has a 16:9 aspect ratio ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
All things considered, this year's CES had a surprising amount of innovative--or at least interesting--tech for cameras and camcorders, beyond the usual bigger/faster/cheaper we've come to expect from the show.
Though each manufacturer took a different approach to pumping up its HD camcorder lines, they all took a split-the-market attitude: new models based on last year's technology designed to ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
