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Definitive's Mythos SSA50: Is single-speaker the future of home audio?

(Credit: Definitive Technology)

You won't find a more institutionally conservative category in the consumer electronics space than home audio. More than any other industry segment, audio is one where technological advances tend to be lamented rather than celebrated, viewed with suspicion rather than embraced. And that's understandable: Subpar speakers are now passed off as good enough and used to listen to digital music, which is often highly compressed compared with CD or (even better) LP equivalents. And the music itself is coming from a dying recording industry, struggling to stay alive in the digital age, and often relegated to background music--fewer and fewer people are actually listening to the music anymore.

That's not to say that there weren't some home-audio highlights at this year's show. As predicted, single-speaker audio is taking off: Boutique manufacturers such as Polk Audio and Definitive Technology are turning their considerable expertise to single-speaker, as are mainstream names like Philips and Samsung. It's not totally new, of course--plenty of options already exist--but the clear desire for consumers to have a décor-friendly audio component to match their flat-screen TVs is undeniable.

One of the attractions of single-speaker units is the desire to cut down on the speakers, and the resulting speaker wire snaking throughout the room. The other alternative is going wireless altogether. It seemed like wireless speaker technologies were everywhere in 2007, with Neosonik's being the most impressive. The company's been offering peeks at its wireless speaker technology for the past couple of years, but it's now pledging to begin delivering actual product before the end of 2008. The company hopes to license its technology to other manufacturers under the Airpower moniker--but with so many nascent competing standards, it'll be quite a while before we see a Bluetooth-like standard in this arena.

Another carry-over from previous years was the complete dominance of the iPod. It's getting nearly impossible to find a home-audio product without an iPod dock. But unlike the bulky outboard docks of years past, manufacturers are integrating the dock directly into the main chassis of their products: all of Panasonic's 2008 home-theater-in-a-box systems have a nifty fold-down iPod dock built directly into the main head unit (as do JVC's P-Series TVs). Speaking of integration: Panasonic followed Samsung's lead by delivering an HTIB with a built-in Blu-ray player. And given that format's recent tailwind versus the increasingly struggling HD DVD, that's a trend that will only accelerate.

Needless to say, the iPod isn't the only way to listen to digital music. There are online services such as Rhapsody and Pandora, plus thousands of free Internet radio stations--not to mention the gigabytes of songs sitting on your computer's hard drive. And that's why Logitech's new Squeezebox Duet is so appealing. The Wi-Fi-enabled system lets you access all of those musical options from an iPod-like remote that fits in the palm of your hand. But unlike Apple's ubiquitous music box, you hear the resulting music through the big speakers of your home stereo (to which the networked Squeezebox base station is attached). It's not a new concept--see the Sonos Digital Music System or past iterations of Philips Streamium products--but the lower price ($400 versus $1,000 for the two-room Sonos) and consumer-friendly Logitech name gives the Duet the potential to expand the audio-streaming market to a much wider audience. Can't part with your iPod? Check out the Creative Xdock HD, which puts your iPod videos on your TV's big screen in addition to streaming the music to other rooms in the house.

Of course, that's all the mainstream stuff. For the real nitty-gritty of the CES home-audio experience, you need to go beyond the main CES show floor and hit the Venetian. The high-end guys are camped out in the upstairs suites, as well as the Sands Expo Center in the bowels of the hotel (right next to the porn show, in fact). There you'll find some of the more exotic, expensive, elaborate, and downright amazing audio products. It's too bad the audiophiles are exiled to the Sands--because spending just a few minutes with them will inevitably give you an insight into true music appreciation. Inevitably, these are passionate folks who truly love their work, and want to share an experience--not just sell you a product. And that's something that CES could use a lot more of.

Blu-ray's on a roll--but will downloadable Internet video be a bigger challenge than HD DVD?

(Credit: Philips)

What was arguably the biggest story of CES 2008 occurred three days before the show actually opened for business: Warner Home Video went Blu-ray exclusive, leaving just Paramount and Universal (and smaller DreamWorks) as exclusive HD DVD content partners. Indeed, in the days since, the issue of those studios following Warner's lead seems to be one of when, not if. Blu-ray seems on the verge of a complete victory in the HD disc format war to become the high-def successor to DVD. As a result, combo players--including a newly announced model from Samsung--were greeted more by yawns than by "oohs" and "aahs." Even without HD DVD to nudge it, prices for Blu-ray players seem destined to become more affordable, as evidenced by forthcoming devices from Philips and Funai. That said, with the specification still evolving--Panasonic's DMP-BD50 became the first 2.0 player to be officially announced--there's no reason to rush out and buy one anytime soon.

But there's still a big question as to whether or not the future of home video will be one of discs--or, in fact, physical media of any kind. Online delivery of home video seemed to be everywhere: major companies such as Samsung are getting into the game, while upstarts such as XStreamHD are offering intriguing delivery options and increasingly improved video quality. That's on top of existing hardware solutions such as Vudu, Xbox 360's Video Marketplace, and Amazon Unbox on TiVo, not to mention the promise of Netflix stepping up to the plate.

Of course, the potential 800-pound gorilla in the online video space won't be unveiling its plans until next week. That's when we'll find out if Apple plans to ramp up its Apple TV into a serious home video contender. If, as rumored, Steve Jobs and company add some long overdue features--iTunes video rentals, direct access to the store through the TV interface, and improved video quality--it could overshadow nearly anything shown in Las Vegas. And while the sort of full HD video quality delivered by Blu-ray's 50GB discs isn't yet available to consumers via broadband (at least in the bandwidth-challenged U.S.), it's only a breakthrough or two away. In other words, watch your back, Blu-ray: HD DVD was just a battle, and the wider war is still raging.

We're just about 13 months away from the government-mandated digital transition--at which time analog TV broadcasts are scheduled to cease completely. Those who can't--or won't--get cable or satellite TV now have their first non-TiVo DVR to consider in the form of the EchoStar TR-50. That's good, because traditional manufacturers such as Panasonic continue to offer mostly lackluster recorders--either tunerless DVD recorders (which will pretty much serve as "backup drives" for DVRs) or models with hobbled digital tuners that won't deliver native full resolution HD programming.

Elsewhere on the home video front, we saw indications that wireless in-home HD video is getting closer to the mass market. As with wireless audio, standards remain frustratingly elusive, but devices such as the Belkin FlyWire offer the potential for an end-to-end solution to decouple your video sources from your TV--which is increasingly vital to those with wall-mounted flat-screen TVs and projectors. Alternately, companies such as EchoStar's Sling Media are aiming to make it easier to access your home's main DVR on other TVs in the home (via the SlingCatcher), if not outside the home altogether (with the SlingPlayer software coming to BlackBerry smartphones later this year).

Looking at it in the rear-view mirror, you get a strong feeling from this CES that 2008 will be a big transitional year in the home video world. It's clear that the public wants more high-def programming and more on-demand video, as well as the ability to watch it where and when they want. Which manufacturers and standards will deliver on those promises? If we're lucky, the answer to that question may be more in focus by the time CES 2009 rolls around.

In reaction to "Gizmodogate," the gadget blog's prank of shutting down flat-screen displays on the show floor and during demos at CES (see Bloggers behaving badly), the conference's organizer, the Consumer Electronics Association, sent me this statement:

We have been informed of inappropriate behavior on the show floor by a credentialed media attendee from the Web site Gizmodo, owned by Gawker Media. Specifically, the Gizmodo staffer interfered with the exhibitor booth operations of numerous companies, including disrupting at least one press event. The Gizmodo staffer violated the terms of CES media credentials and caused harm to CES exhibitors. This Gizmodo staffer has been identified and will be barred from attending any future CES events. Additional sanctions against Gizmodo and Gawker Media are under discussion.

See also: Gizmodo editor Brian Lam's argument against my position on Valleywag (comment No. 7).

Hitachi's LCDs are just 1.5 inches thick.

(Credit: Hitachi)

The whirlwind of CES 2008 is finally over, and now that we've had a few seconds to gather our thoughts, let's reflect on some of the major HDTV trends we observed at the show.

Thin is in

Flat-panels are popular for a reason, and part of it is people love thin screens. While plenty of people are satisfied with standard 6-inch-deep screens, HDTV companies are betting there's a market for ultrathin sets measured in millimeters rather than inches. The most impressive thin TV tech we saw was Pioneer's "Project Kuro" prototype plasma, which measures only 9mm thin, but unfortunately won't be released in 2008. On the more conventional side, JVC announced the "world's thinnest" LCD--coming in at 2.9 inches deep--while LG showed off an even thinner 1.9-inch thick LCD with a hole in it. Trumping both JVC and LG was Hitachi, with its new superslim LCDs measuring only 1.5-inches thick--although they ditch an internal ATSC tuner to do so. And, of course, no mention of thin HDTV would be complete without OLED...

Sony's 11-inch OLED is coming to the states this year.

(Credit: Sony)

OLED is coming

Sony made a big splash by showing off the 11-inch XEL-1, which will be the first OLED HDTV available in the United States and measures just 3mm thick. Samsung also had a 31-inch prototype OLED on display and there's no doubt the OLED technolgy is promising: razor thin screens, low power consumption and an excellent contrast ratio. At this early point in the game OLED isn't commercially viable--Sony's 11-inch set will cost $2,500--but as prices drop and screen sizes increase, OLED could be a major flat-panel TV technology.

WebTV all over again?

Bringing the web to your TV sounds like an idea better suited to CES 1995 rather than CES 2008, but we saw a lot of HDTV manufacturers promoting their sets' ability to grab content off the internet. HP, which has been a step ahead of everyone in this regard, announced an update to its existing MediaSmart HDTVs. Sharp is promising the ability to check weather and stock quotes on certain LCDs, while Samsung is focusing on recipes, artwork and RSS feeds. And Sony is continuing to support its Bravia Internet Video Link service, which at least looks slightly more interesting now that Sony's announced a deal with CBS.

RPTV is (mostly) dead

Mitsubishi's trio of laser TVs hang on the wall.

(Credit: Mitsubishi)

Some of the biggest HDTV news at CES 2008 was what wasn't there. Rear-projection HDTVs (RPTVs) were basically nowhere to be seen on the show floor, and just a week before CES started Sony announced that it would officially stop producing RPTVs altogether. While the general buzz is that RPTVs are essentially dead, that didn't stop Mitsubishi from launching a big laser TV demo--which was short on details and did little to convince us that laser has a real shot to dismount flat panels as the dominant HDTV technology.

The 42PFL5630D uses less power than any 42-inch LCD we've seen.

(Credit: Philips)

Green machines

While we were expecting to see more green HDTVs this year, we're betting Philips is in front of the curve on power-saving TV tech. The power-savings innovations on the Philips' Eco TV was enough to earn it CNET's Best in Show award and it uses less power than any other 42-inch LCD we've tested. In addition to using less watts, the Eco TV is produced using only lead-free materials and "trace" amounts of mercury. With a very reasonable $1,400 price tag, the Eco TV could be a big hit with consumers looking to control their energy costs--and if so, we'll see more green TVs from other companies.

Tom Merritt shows off Bug Labs' modular gadget on the CNET Stage.

In a year when several of our colleagues felt underwhelmed by the products on display at CES, the emerging technologies category provided some much-needed excitement for the year to come.

Our Best of CES winner, the Bug Labs platform, generated buzz among both CNET editors and readers with its mix of open-source hardware and software, plus an innovative pricing scheme that encourages early adoption. Though we have no doubt the product will at first appeal to tinkerers and hobbyists, we're intrigued by the prospect of a future filled with modular gadgetry.

Other technologies to catch our attention seemed to come straight out of The Jetsons: the Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed promised to cater to our every desire for leisure and entertainment; the Creative InPerson moved us one step closer to a portable videophone; and Pioneer's "Extreme Contrast Concept" showed us a future filled with currently unfathomable picture quality, thanks to its ability to produce absolute blacks.

This year's show also brought a number of consumer applications based on technologies originally developed for the government or military. The SpeechGear Compadre software suite provides instant translation of text, speech, and images. BigStage face-mapping technology has been introduced as a way to automatically create realistic avatars. And 3DV's ZCam uses next-generation 3D imaging to control video games and other interfaces through body movement and gestures.

For a glimpse of more products set to drive consumer electronics in 2008 and beyond, check out all our posts on emerging technologies.

Pioneer's AVIC-F500-BT LINC

(Credit: Pioneer)

"If the automobile were invented today, I'm pretty sure it would debut here at CES." So said Rick Wagoner, the boss of General Motors, in his keynote address at CES 2008 before unveiling GM's hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Cadillac Provoq. Wagoner's sentiments were echoed by the show's organizers who, for the first time, dedicated an entire hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center to in-vehicle technologies.

Among the booming bass bins and the pimped-out rides a number of innovative products took our fancy. Pioneer's AVIC-F500BT LINC combines portable and in-dash navigation in one device, complete with next-generation voice-recognition and information on traffic, gas prices and movie times information service from MSN Direct. Azentek's full-fledged Windows Vista-based in-dash PC promises to bring the desktop to the blacktop, while Kenwood showed off its prototype for high-speed in-car digital TV, to go on sale later this year.

The north hall at CES 2008 was dedicated to car technology

(Credit: CNET Networks)

CNET took advantage of the car tech buzz by setting up its own testing lab, in which we installed over a dozen different products over the course of three days, including new all-in-one navigation and multimedia devices from Jensen and Eclipse, as well as a unique digital sound processing technology from JVC and Bongiovi acoustics.

Elsewhere, Ford used the show to make an announcement on its exclusive contract with Sony for car audio, and to show off its new hard drive-based navigation system featuring Sirius Travel Link, while a slew of updated car stereos from Sony, Panasonic, and Pioneer promises to keep us busy in the CNET reviews department for the year ahead.

(Credit: iriver)

Every year, we CNET Editors approach CES with a mixture of excitement and some underlying, stress-induced dread. The show is always a lot of work--and spending five days in the dry Vegas climate when accustomed to San Francisco's damp (cigarette smoke-free) air almost guarantees coming back with a cold--but at least we have some shiny new gadgets to look forward to seeing. And yet CES 2008 just didn't quite deliver in the MP3 and PVP category...or several others, apparently.

Don't get me wrong: Senior Editor Donald Bell and I saw plenty of cool gear. However, most of it had already been announced in one country or another sometime in 2007, so you can understand why we came away from the show a bit underwhelmed. Still, it was nice to get my hands on some devices that had heretofore been available only in Asia, such as the iRiver W7, which won Best of CES for the MP3 and PVP category. There's just something I find so appealing about being able to snap a portable media player into a car cradle and get directions. Plus, iRiver's overwhelming showing of 12 new MP3 players at CES this year restored my faith that the ReignCom subsidiary isn't disappearing anytime soon. I'm really hoping some of the players using iRiver's neat new Spinn interface make it to the States before too long.

(Credit: Philips)

We're also pleased to see Bluetooth technology making headway in MP3 players and headphones. In particular, it was interesting to discover that Open Interface, developer of Soundabout Lossless--an innovative technology that promises a dramatic improvement in the quality of stereo Bluetooth streaming--has been acquired by Qualcomm, a company that has the financial muscle to pimp the technology to major headphone manufacturers. (We can only hope that Qualcomm actually runs with Soundabout Lossless rather than leaving it to languish unimplemented.) Plus, we can now add another Bluetooth-capable MP3 player to the catalog: the Philips GoGear SA5200BT. Philips is also releasing another media player with Rhapsody DNA integration, which means the subscription music model is gaining more momentum.

(Credit: SanDisk)

Finally, we had the big memory jump from SanDisk. Not exactly surprising from a company that makes flash memory, but still great news and definitely a step in the right direction. The company is coming out with a Sansa View with 32GB of internal memory, with an additional microSD card slot that can accept SanDisk's new 12GB cards. That means you can have a portable media player with 44GB of flash memory--not too shabby. There's also a Sansa Clip coming soon with a 4GB capacity--for $79. Nice.

Motorola Rokr E8

(Credit: Motorola )

Another CES is in the bag, and we've successfully fled Las Vegas for San Francisco. Though fewer new cell phones debuted at the show than in the past couple years, we can say that the 2008 show was all about quality over quantity. Also, when compared with the last couple of years, we had some serious competition for the Best of CES award in the cell phones and smartphones category. But after it was said and done, the Motorola Rokr E8 took that prize. Its innovative morphing keyboard gave it the needed mojo to lap the Sony Ericsson W760 super world phone. It was a good fight, and we hope we'll see a similar high-pitched battle in 2009. Motorola also introduced a high-end video phone with the Moto Z10 and it gave us two new entry-level models with the W230 and W270.

Sony Ericsson W760

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Besides the W760, Sony Ericsson introduced two other new cell phones. The Z555 is a design-centric handset with a new "gesture-control" feature, and the W350 is a low-end Walkman model. Though Samsung didn't offer any new phones for North America, it did show some exisiting models it wasn't planning to bring here including the i450 and the SGH-G800 5-megapixel camera phone. Also sitting pretty in Samsung's booth was the company's Armani phone.

Nokia didn't have anything new, either, but we did see the Nokia 3110, which is made partially from renewable materials. Nokia also had a couple cell phone speakers in its booth, and Samsung showed speakers of its own. And over in the most far-flung booths on the show floor, Neonode was offering its N2 phone, and Haier offered the dual SIM-card HG-N99.

We managed to spot a few notable phones at the LG booth. We saw the LG AX565 and the LG Scoop, coming out for Alltel later this year. We also noticed a mysterious touch-screen phone that some representatives have hinted would be the new LG Vu. Of course, LG also showed off its Europe-only models like the LG KS20 and the LG Viewty, both of which we can't get in the U.S. just yet. Probably one of the most interesting things we saw from LG is the prototype model of a watch phone, which will have Bluetooth as well as text messaging.

Although there wasn't a ton of smartphone news to come out of CES 2008, it doesn't mean the show was a complete wash. In fact, we saw several noteworthy announcements and some interesting trends at the annual tech extravaganza. First, Nokia introduced a North American version of the coveted 8GB Nokia N95, which is available now unlocked for a whopping $749. Several Windows Mobile devices landed on carriers' doorstep as the Verizon Wireless SMT5800 made its debut and Alltel Wireless added the HTC Touch to its lineup. Finally, while not technically a smartphone, Sony released the revamped Sony Mylo Communicator 2, a Wi-Fi-enabled messaging and Web-browsing handheld for all the future smartphone owners of America.

There were almost too many Bluetooth headsets to cover at this year's CES, but we did find a few noteworthy new ones. Jabra, for example, debuted a very sexy-looking Jabra JX20 Pura, which is made from anodized titanium and designed by a renowned European designer. There was also the Jabra BT8040, which is one of a few mono headsets that has A2DP so you can listen to phone calls and streaming music in a single headset. As for stereo headsets, Motorola came out with the Motorola S9-HD, which is similar to the Motorola Rokr S9 headset from last year, but it is now enhanced with high-definition audio.

Invisio Q7

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET Networks)

The most interesting headsets from the show, however, came from Invisio. The company debuted what it is calling the world's smallest Bluetooth headset in the form of the Invisio G5, a tiny little thing that comes with a portable charging case. It also showed off the Invisio Q7, a headset that has a patented Bone Conduction technology that can convert vibrations from your jawbone so that your caller will only hear your voice. We were so impressed with this Bone Conduction technology, that we nominated the G7 for best of CES.