CES 2012

Seven things I learned at CES 2012

At many major tech conferences, one big story--a product, technology, or trend--dominates the entire show.

CES 2012 was not one of those events. Intel's Ultrabook was the closest thing there was to a show-dominating topic, but in the end, what I was struck by was the diversity of stuff on display at the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding venues. And in some cases, the no-shows were as interesting as the products that were there.

Herewith, a few of the lessons I took home with me after four jam-packed days in Vegas:

Windows Phone was the mobile platform of more

iBike helps iPad, iPhone Touch users get in better shape (CES podcast)

The North Hall at CES was the home to numerous fitness technology companies including Velocomp, the maker of the iBike line of cycling computers. The newest product, iBike Power House for iPhone and iPod Touch is billed as "the worldl's first intelligent cycling computer that automatically adjusts to your exercise goals."

The product, which consists of a water and shock resistant case for the iPhone/iTouch, has electronics that perform cycling measurements, including power exertion.

). He said that iBike comes with "exercise plans that have been proven to get to results fast." He said the software has options depending more

High-end audio rocks CES, part 2

You've probably already read about the latest and greatest in smartphones, tablets, and OLED displays, so let's take a look at the coolest high-end audio goodies. We've assembled some of the most promising candidates for your approval.

The Arcam rPAC is a portable USB powered digital-to-analog converter and headphone amplifier, but it can also be played over a hi-fi system. "USB powered" means there are no batteries or "wall warts," it's powered by your computer's USB port. The entire component is enclosed in a small precision-cast aluminum case.

I've loved what I've heard more

Yurbuds are earbuds for athletes (CES podcast)

, has secured $7.5 million in investments since being founded in 2008.

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The big picture: What truly stood out at CES 2012

LAS VEGAS--Sure, there were a lot of ultrabooks at the Consumer Electronics Show. PC manufacturers are clearly pushing their new slim, lightweight laptops.

But the real story of this year's show turned out to be some incredible advances in television technology, a few truly innovative if quirky ideas, and a lot of products that were expected but did not make much of an appearance.

Note: In this post, I'm rounding up the highlights of the show. Our reviews editors have taken a deeper dive into each product category, so for a more in-depth look at what we saw more

High-end audio rocks CES

You've probably already read about the latest and greatest in smartphones, tablets, and OLED displays shown at CES, so let's take a look at the coolest high-end audio goodies. We've assembled some of the most promising candidates for your approval.

For anyone searching for wild looking audiophile speakers that stand out from the crowd of rectangular boxes, the new Vivid Audio G3 would be a good place to start. Vivid is coming on strong in the no-holds-barred audiophile market. The G3 stands a little under four feet tall, a good deal smaller than the company's flagship more

TI offers rare demo of Windows 8 Explorer on newest ARM chip

LAS VEGAS--Texas Instruments is offering one of the most revealing demos of Windows 8 on ARM yet at CES.

That's not saying a lot, though, as demos of Microsoft's next operating system on ARM processors have been extremely restrictive, if nonexistent to date in public (Nvidia's untouchable, relatively static CES demo is behind closed glass). But TI pushed the boundaries a bit in a demo for CNET at CES.

The demo tapped TI's freshly minted OMAP4470 ARM processor, according to Bill Crean, an OMAP product marketing manager.

Needless to say, I was not permitted to take more

Should Siri be jealous of voice recognition competitors?

LAS VEGAS--Looks like Siri was just the beginning.

Okay, even Siri wasn't the beginning. The ability to do voice-command isn't particularly new, but the marquee feature for Apple's iPhone 4S has gotten the masses to recognize and appreciate its benefits. For the first time, voice-command was a feature people talked about and coveted.

At CES, there were better implementations and voice-commands popping up on different devices. Big-name companies got into the mix. Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes Benz, said voice would play a major role in its cars, calling them a driver's "digital companion." Ultrabooks will more

Verizon Fios, LG team up to bring live TV, VOD to smart TVs

If there's any trend developing at CES, it's cable and satellite providers trying to capitalize on the growth of smart TVs.

Earlier this week, Verizon Fios announced that it will be offering 26 live HD channels and over 10,000 video-on-demand titles to customers who own an LG smart TV or Blu-ray player. In order to access the channels, LG TV owners must also be Verizon Fios customers and access the content through the service provider's Flex View offering.

Dish earlier this week at CES announced something similar for its customers. After acquiring one of the company'more

SanDisk on new XQD memory card format: 'Meh'

In a decision inauspicious for XQD, SanDisk is skipping over the new memory card format for high-end cameras.

"At this time, SanDisk has chosen not to productize the XQD format," SanDisk spokeswoman Wendy Vlieks told CNET News late yesterday.

The ringing non-endorsement is particularly notable since SanDisk helped create the format in the first place.

The comment also means that XQD--developed by the CompactFlash Association (CFA) as a successor to CF cards--currently lacks support from the two top-tier flash card makers. The other, Lexar, was noncommittal about XQD last week: "As a leading CFA member, Lexar has been evaluating this more