ces

Picture is fading for projection TVs

LAS VEGAS--Samsung has been one of the big backers of rear-projection TVs, but its interest is waning.

"Over time, that (projection TV) will probably go away," S.I. Lee, Samsung's senior vice president of marketing for digital media, said at the Consumer Electronics Show here.

That could be a death knell for the format. Other companies, most notably Hitachi and Sony, have already killed their projection TV lines.

"We were interested in the business until the end of last year," said Makato Ebata, CEO of the consumer business group at Hitachi.

Projection TVs, which blast … Read more

Azentek builds a PC for your car

All of the core features we want in car technology--GPS navigation, Bluetooth cell phone integration, and audio and media playback--can be handled by a PC, so Azentek is offering two new in-dash PCs, the Atlas CPC-1200 and the Calypso CPC-1100. Both units are powered by an Intel Core Duo 1.66GHz CPU with 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and a DVD-ROM/CDRW drive. But they both also have car stereo features, such as a 4 channel, 50 watt built-in amp, an FM tuner, and the ability to be upgraded with either XM or Sirius satellite radio. The Atlas … Read more

Solar laptop bag packs beefier 'generator'

Voltaic Systems on Tuesday is set to announce a bag with a 14-watt solar panel for charging laptops at the Consumer Electronics Show, a company representative said.

Currently, the company makes laptop bags that have a 4-watt panel so this "generator" model will be a significant step up in power. The company's bags also include a lithium-ion battery to store surplus charge and a set of adapters for different devices.

It's expected to be released this spring and will cost $599.

A wide variety of solar chargers are available to power up cell phones, iPods, or … Read more

Panasonic wows with giant 150-inch plasma

One of the most dazzling exhibits at this year's CES conference is Panasonic's ridiculously large 150-inch "Lifescreen" plasma.

The endless quest to produce the biggest and best televisions continues to astound, even if there's barely any practical applications for them.

The Lifescreen, which measures 8 feet by 12 feet and has a resolution of 4K by 2K (four times the resolution of 1080p high definition), might look great on the trade show floor but one would wonder where else it could fit.

Panasonic see a market for it - released by the end of 2008, … Read more

Neosonik ditches the wires on surround sound audio

Almost everyone who's into home theater loves surround sound, but even the staunchest audiophiles have to admit that the inevitable result--a room full of criss-crossing speaker cables--sours the deal. Just about every manufacturer is on a quest to kill the wires, but the solutions so far have had drawbacks--single speaker surround-sound systems just doesn't sound as good as a full 5.1 system; wireless rear speakers usually still have wires, exhibit an audible hiss or compression artifacts, and/or often use the interference-prone 2.4GHz wireless spectrum. Neosonik's solution avoids most of these pitfalls by using an … Read more

2008 CES roundup

We've been overwhelmed by all the automotive tech announcements and new products at CES. During our first day, we've seen new car stereos and GPS devices, new services from both XM and Sirius satellite radio, and Ford's play to be the carmaker most talked about at the show. Here are a sampling of blogs we've posted from 2008 CES:

New Garmin Nuvi 800 series features voice commands A new trend in GPS devices lets you enter destinations with spoken commands. The Garmin Nuvi 800 is one of the first to offer this capability.

Eclipse updates its all-in-one navigation system with the AVN6620 … Read more

The Internet fridge is back

The Internet fridge I saw at CES doesn't do what I want it to do. It does not know when I am running out of milk. It does not sniff out the moldy cheese hiding behind the mustard to tell me it's time to throw it out. What the Internet fridge does is this: It has a mounting bracket and a power port on its front so you can install fridge-centric devices.

Stay with me here.

Whirlpool makes the refrigerator in question. I really don't expect you're going to buy one. Another company, Data Evolution, makes … Read more

Video game classics score Emmy honors at CES

A group of video game giants that changed the way people play in the '80s, '90s, and 2000s were honored with technology and engineering Emmy Awards during a ceremony Monday night in Las Vegas amid the Consumer Electronics Show, according to Sony Online Entertainment.

The awards were handed out in two categories. The first was development of massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The winners were Sony Online Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment, and AOL/Time Warner for EverQuest, World of Warcraft, and Neverwinter Nights, respectively.

In the user-generated content and game modification category, Electronic Arts, Id Software, and Linden Lab were honored … Read more

Photos: Day one at CES 2008

The gadgets at the International Consumer Electronics Show certainly take center stage, but the huge tech show attracts its fair share of human celebrities as well. Check out the people and the performances that caught our attention in our CES day of photos.

Ford gets Sirius

A major part of Ford's new hard-drive-based navigation system and music server will be Sirius Travel Link, a set of services that bring new, live data into the car. Travel Link features live traffic reporting, which shows traffic flow and incidents overlaid on the navigation maps. The data is integrated such that, if your route goes through a congested area, the navigation system will offer to reroute you. Next up is weather information--you can get a variety of different weather displays, from a weather map to temperature and conditions, complete with a forecast. The system lets you see weather … Read more