ces2013

LAS VEGAS--As far as mobile conferences go, this was a quieter CES -- there were few marquee smartphones and only one real device that pushed the smartphone form factor forward (but what an interesting specimen). Regardless, phone makers launched 21 new handsets in conjunction with the show.

Despite the lack of dazzle, CES 2013 nevertheless gave us an important preview of things to come, and the direction smartphone development will take in the coming year.

Spotlight on the second tier Big names like Samsung, HTC, Motorola, and Nokia were all but absent, maybe dribbling out a phone (Samsung Ativ Odyssey, … Read more

One minute, you're wondering what was going through the minds of those who prepared the Qualcomm keynote of crazy, the next you're watching crazily hungover people pile into cabs and head back to places they call home.

Here are the five things that have stayed in my head, long after the gossip, the rumor and the wine had flowed away.

1. WHERE HAD THIS LADY BEEN? WHAT WAS SHE WEARING? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

This was around 10 o'clock on Thursday morning at the Renaissance Hotel, right at the Convention … Read more

If you've never been to CES, it's a little like wading through a tsunami of shiny plastic and thousands of people.

The annual tide of techno-froth rises and falls, and what's hot this year is not next year. Sometimes the experience can come across rather like the proverbial sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Especially considering that tech giants are staying away en masse. Of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Samsung, only Samsung has an official presence at the show.

Apple hasn't participated since 1992, though hundreds of companies at CES show off Apple accessories, and Microsoft recently dropped out. … Read more

Some had Lycra-bathed women. Some had frantic presenters. Some had brochures, samples, salespeople, three-point shot competitions, and Marilyn Monroe.

But there was (at least) one booth at CES that appeared to have precisely nothing.

Just nothing.

Empty chairs, empty shelves, a blank TV screen, no salespeople, no dancing girls.

This was the booth belonging to Lanyuan Electronics Technology, which appears to be a China-based company that sells very fine cables.

Here, there were no cables to be seen. There were no persuasions to be had. There was just an empty space.

Naturally, I contacted Lanyuan Electronics Technology's reseller in … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Finally, CES 2013 has come to an end.

It's pretty much impossible for one person to experience the entire show, but from the perspective of my beat, which is networking and storage, here are the highlights.

802.11ac Wi-Fi made a strong appearance 802.11ac has been on the market for just about a year, starting with CES 2012. At this year's show, virtually all networking vendors, including but not limited to Cisco, Netgear, D-Link, Trendnet, and TP-Link, presented at least one networking product that supports this new and faster standard.

Furthermore, Netgear introduced at this year'… Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you're looking for a midrange television, then one of the LG televisions to consider in 2013 is the LA6900 series, which will come in three sizes: 50-inch, 55-inch, and 60-inch.

Half of LG's range now includes the "Cinema Screen" design the company debuted last year with its impossibly thin bezels and the LA6900 is also one of these.

The LA6900 boasts "natural language" voice control via the new Magic Motion remote, which means you don't have to utter some robotic command before looking for what you want. Good if it works, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Imagine going into a restaurant and browsing the menu, placing your order, and paying for the meal with a credit card, all from the comfort of your table without having to call the waiter. That seems to be the vision of the folks behind Moneual's MTT300 Touch Table PC.

In fact, a company representative at its CES booth mentioned that depending on customer requirements, the Touch Table PC can be configured to do almost anything a PC can, and is not restricted to use in restaurants only. For example, audio jacks and speakers can be added to enable music playback. Other applications can range from reading magazines/newspapers and watching video to surfing/shopping on the Web and even going on social media. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Every year at CES, the Mobile Apps Showdown pits dozens of downloads against one another to see which mobile app emerges as the best. This year's event was the biggest yet, and based on the excitement we saw there, we think it will only continue to grow.

Here's how it works: a panel of judges first narrows the pool of entrants down to 10 finalists. The developers of the finalists are then invited to present their apps to a live audience at the Mobile Apps Showdown here in Las Vegas, and the app that receives the loudest … Read more

LAS VEGAS--The QWERTY keyboard you're using has a basic layout that dates from the 1870s Sholes and Glidden typewriter. Why the heck are you still using it?

If you're always typing on the go, on-screen and compact QWERTY keyboards can be a real pain when writing a critical e-mail, text, or tweet. Florida-based In10did thinks it has an ideal solution with this compact, touch-type micro keyboard with wireless Bluetooth connectivity.

DecaTxt has a completely different key setup than a QWERTY keyboard, and it takes some time to get your head around it. … Read more