CES - Tablets and e-book readers

LAS VEGAS--During 2010, Trendnet introduced its (and also the world's) first 450Mbps Wireless-N router, the  TEW-691GR, and the TEW-690AP access point. Both of these products, however, support only a single wireless band, operating in the 2.4GHz frequency.

Now at CES 2011 today, the company continued the effort on the faster N speed by announcing and demonstrating the first 450Mbps true dual-band router, the TEW-692GR.

This is the first router for general consumers that offers the ceiling speed of 450Mbps in both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless bands. The true dual-band notion means that the router can … Read more

LAS VEGAS--As there are more and more storage needs in the media world, hard-drive vendors are optimizing drives to store audio and video content. Western Digital has done it with the WD RE4-GP, Seagate with the Barracuda LP, and now, though it's pretty late to the game, Hitachi has decided to join the club.

The company announced today at CES its two new lines of hard drives designed for consumer electronic (CE) devices such as digital video recorders, IPTV set-top-boxes, video surveillance gadgets, and the emerging hard-drive-embedded TV markets.

The new drives include the 3.5-inch (desktop) CinemaStar 5K2000 … Read more

The stateside arrival of a 10.8-inch tablet is typically a cause for wild celebration, but this latest arrival at the FCC doesn't seem to have the makings of an iPad-killer.

Instead, it looks like the Sharp Galapagos e-reader has finally trickled out of Asia, gracing us with its Linux-based, large format design. If you're looking for an oversize Nook Color, minus the core Android features, this could be just the thing.

To my eye, though, the design looks too polished to be cheap, and the features seem too limited to justify a high price. The addition … Read more

Let's all give a round of applause to Toshiba, who instead of giving us a prolonged tease for its Android Honeycomb tablet (ala Motorola), had the courtesy to just lay it all out there for us. CES may be in Vegas, but that doesn't mean every great product needs to go all "Showgirls" on us.

Here's the deal. Toshiba has a 10.1-inch Android Honeycomb tablet due out the first half of 2011 (price TBD, but in the iPad ballpark). The system uses an Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, capable of 1080p video decoding, smooth Adobe Flash support, and full-resolution video output via the integrated HDMI port.

Like the iPad, the screen is glass-covered, capacitive, LED-backlit, and supports multitouch and accelerometer screen reorientation. Unlike Apple, Toshiba set the screen resolution to a 1,280x800-pixel resolution, fixed at a 16:10 aspect ratio. Users are also treated to a haptic feedback touch-screen keyboard and dual cameras--one facing you with a 2-megapixel resolution, and the other facing out with a 5-megapixel sensor.

Around the edges you get ports for HDMI, full-size USB, Mini-USB sync, and SD card expansion. Onboard storage is yet to be announced, but other specs, such as 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, stereo speakers, GPS, and digital compass, all come standard.

Another key feature worth noting: a removable battery. Granted, with all that horsepower, you'll probably need more than one battery to match the iPad's 10 hours of runtime--but it's still a feature not offered by any competitors. … Read more

Like the iPhone before it, the iPad is generating a cottage industry for accessories. Add to the list the rather unique iProp, which features a long, bendable neck and ball-and-socket connector that allows you to tilt and swivel your iPad in all directions.

As for specs, the full stand is 36 inches long (12 inches rigid/24 inches flexible) and it has a "heavy duty" base that weighs in at close to 4 pounds.

The iProp ships in February for $79.99. We look forward to testing it to see how stable the stand really is.

theiProp from … Read more

If you're looking to augment the sound of your iPad's speakers but don't want to buy a full-fledged speaker dock to tote around, iHome's splitting the difference with its upcoming iDM70 "Sound Sleeve" case that includes built-in rechargeable flat NXT stereo speakers.

At its core, the company says the iDM70 is a protective faux-leather case and six-position stand, but it also has those integrated powered speakers that recharge via USB. The system does weigh in at 1.2 pounds, which almost doubles the weight of your iPad, and it's arguably more cumbersome to … Read more

Building on its Spiderpodium line of flexible stands/cradles for smartphones, Breffo has unveiled a flexible stand for tablets, including the iPad, called the Spiderpodium Tablet.

The company says the Spiderpodium Tablet's uniquely designed, eight flexible notched legs allow it to hang from--or secure itself to--"virtually any surface that is not flat and make it adaptable to being used with multiple devices, in multiple ways." It adds that it can securely grip any small- and medium-size portable device available on the market.

Breffo says the Spiderpodium Tablet will be available January 12, though it hasn't … Read more

Apple's iPad has a lot of things going for it, but ports aren't one of them. The ever-more-crowded tablet landscape is getting a number of intriguing Android products, and the AOC Breeze 8-inch tablet, announced this morning, is yet another one. What the 8-inch Android 2.1-running device does have of note is a full USB 2.0 port. Another advantage: it costs less than $200.

An 800x600-pixel display, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, 4GB of flash memory, Rockchip processor, and microSD card slot aren't exciting, and the system doesn't really stand out at first glance, … Read more

TV maker Vizio is entering the smartphone and tablet business.

The company said today it will launch the Via Phone and Via Tablet, both of which will feature Google's Android operating system, Vizio's Via Plus technology to offer a unified interface across different devices, and an infrared blaster with a universal remote control app that can control Vizio TVs and other devices.

With a 1GHz processor and a 4-inch high-resolution touch screen, the Via Phone will offer 801.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, a MicroSD card slot, and HDMI output to play video on an TV. The phone … Read more