International Ces Show 2010


Vitel

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Tegra2, ARMADA...
Don't you guys think that Pandora is already obsolete even not being released yet?
I realize, that true value of Pandora is freedom, but...
 
I completely disagree. What I've seen so far on CES doesn't impress me at all. Those big companies make too many design mistakes. Btw, this is Off Topic stuff ;)
 
I'm not talking about design. It's all about preformance. I mean I'd like to have something like Cortex-A9 in my Pandora.
 
Vitel said:
I'm not talking about design. It's all about preformance. I mean I'd like to have something like Cortex-A9 in my Pandora.

Do you want to wait another year? :P
Btw, Pandora's essence is its design, community and content ;)

Vitel said:
Maybe in my Pandora2 though...
The chances are very high for that :)
 
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CES is not only expensive to get into to view, but for a company to even get space costs TONS! It is more along the lines of an investment for advertisement really...
 
For the past few days I've been trying to find news about "smartbooks" (ARM powered netbooks) with these next-gen chips. I have found little to nothing.

It seems to me that there are some ways to go before we see these next-gen ARM devices hit the market. Just like it's happening with Pandora, these things take time.
 


As you all know, the International CES is the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow.

Here's a round up of all the top stories. Feel free to add any that I may have missed. :)




Qualcomm's Dual-Core 1.5GHz Snapdragon: Smartphones Are About to Go Hyperspeed



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Qualcomm's current 1GHz Snapdragon is the muscle that makes the Nexus One so fantastically speedy, but Qualcomm isn't sitting on their laurels—they just announced two new chips that are going to power the next great mobile devices.

First up is the single-core Snapdragon 8X50A, a 45nm chip that's essentially the next version of the 1GHz chip in the Nexus One. It's clocked at 1.3GHz. But what we're really excited about is the dual-core 8X72, which uses two Scorpion cores to achieve 1.5GHz. Luis Pineda, Senior VP at Qualcomm, assures that the 8X72 is suitable for smartphones (not just smartbooks or netbooks) and can handle 1080p video. Both the 8X50A and 8X72 will be out this year, going head to head with the Tegra 2. [Hexus via Slashgear]

http://gizmodo.com/5...o-go-hyperspeed




E-Ink Is Dead, Pixel Qi's Amazing Transflective LCD Just Killed It



Pixel Qi's magic transforming displays seemed too good to be true: One screen that's both a bright, full color LCD and a reflective, E-Ink quality display for reading in light. It is pretty damn incredible.
It's not hard to see the overall trend with gadgets: They're being reduced almost entirely to the display. Which is why, in this near-future vision of a single tablet thing that does everything—computer, video screen, reader—what Pixel Qi's doing simply makes sense. If you're carrying something that's basically just a screen, and expect it to do lots of different things, a screen that adapts to precisely what you're doing is how it has to be.

http://gizmodo.com/5...-just-killed-it




Hands-on: Dell Mini 3



Dell is bringing their Android cellphone to the US and calling it the Mini 3. I got to grope it for a few moments amongst other media-folk.

In the hand, it doesn't feel nearly as solid as the Nexus One—it's more like a hollow-feeling plastic than most of the smartphones on the market.

Dell, of course, has their own UI for Android. We didn't get to see much of it, other than the main icon screen you'll note in our lead shot. I just don't know why anyone would want the Mini 3. Nothing about the hardware immediately grabbed me like the Nexus One did, and it's stuck on AT&T.

http://gizmodo.com/5...+on-dell-mini-3




First Hands-On and Video: Dell Mini 5 Android Slate
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Yesterday, we saw Dell's Slate concept for the first time. Today, we got to actually play with it. And it's called the Mini 5.



Specs that we know: custom Android, SIM (it makes calls), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. And the 5-inch screen supports full multitouch.

In your hand, it's very light and comfortable to use. The screen is responsive, and Dell's icon interface makes for intuitive presentation of Android.

It feels a bit more like plastic than, say, the iPod touch. But it was perfectly solid from what we could tell. Making a phone call turns the Mini 5 into a gigantic phone, almost like a handset out of a Carrot Top routine, but Dell expects most consumers will opt to use a headset.

The unexpectedly awesome feature? The 5MP camera. The Dell Mini 5 has a 5-inch screen, and your subject fills the entire frame. It's an oddly satisfying implementation of a camera, in a super sizing kind of way.

My model wasn't connected to the web, so I didn't get to test the browser. And my hands-on time was more than limited (and frankly, a bit frantic), so I can't really speak sincerely on much else.

But let me say this: I like the Mini 5. And I dare say that Dell's software—their version of Android onboard—may be equally or more impressive than the hardware itself.

http://gizmodo.com/5...5-android-slate




Hands On With Compal's Tegra 2 Android Tablet

No major companies are quite ready to bring a proper Android tablet to market, but they're edging closer. When they do, they could do worse than turn out something like this 7-inch, Tegra 2 design from Compal.

Under the hood is Nvidia's newest Tegra, which guarantees snappy interface, video and graphics performance in theory. In practice, at least on this early device which can't leverage the new graphics acceleration in Android 2.1, menu transitions are still a little slow, browser scrolling isn't instant, and the responsiveness of the touch keyboard poor enough to make typing a genuine pain.



The Archos 5 Android tablet, had its issues, from lack of 3G support to inability to play Flash content, both of which have been remedied here—this Compal has a SIM tray as well as Flash 10.1 support. A shipped product would be faster than the Archos, and the extra two inches of screen are just enough to make this feel like a tablet, not an oversized smartphone. And to be honest, I could get into this.

It's a sofa tablet, a toilet tablet, a Skype tablet, whatever—there's a market for this, at the right price. The only serious issue now is that typing on the onscreen keyboard is almost impossible on a 7-inch screen, unless your thumbs are freakishly long. I have no idea how Google—or Apple, for that matter—could solve this problem. But someone might! And that would be great.

http://gizmodo.com/5...-android-tablet




Lenovo Skylight Hands On: The Frisbee Smartbook


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The Skylight is part netbook, part smartphone, and I'm pretty sure I could throw it 50 yards. The real question is if that makes it a game-changer or a novelty act.

The look and feel are certainly novel, if not novelty. The Skylight has an ultrathin clamshell design and weighs less than two pounds—it feels like a frisbee in your hand. It's a sturdy build, though, and seems like it could handle being jostled around in your bag.

When you open the Skylight, you're greeted by a screen of six "web gadgets" (apps, basically), that give you immediate access to services like photos, Firefox, YouTube, Gmail, etc. You can scroll through these, but there's also a row of minimized web gadget icons at the bottom of the screen for easy, instant navigation.

Once you select the app you want to work in, it maximizes to two-thirds of the screen, keeping two other gadgets open to its right. The 10.1-inch hi-def display is more crisp and clear than most netbooks, and 720p video looks great. Unfortunately, the model we saw was running off of 3G, which made the playback hiccupy and the file slow to load.

The Skylight also comes equipped with a full island-style keyboard, which is a relief. Typing was smooth, and the trackpad was plenty big. Although it's not multitouch, it does support two-finger scrolling.

The Skylight has its own 8GB memory kernel to keep things running, and a 4GB USB stick (upgradeable up to 16GB) on which you can store your content. The way they've integrated the stick is clever and unassuming; it sits flat above the keyboad, and can be easily lifted up and removed from the rest of the unit.

There's not much in the way of ports, but the Skylight does have HDMI-out, which is great if you plan on storing movies on it. The Snapdragon processor is said to get 8 hours of battery life, but even if it's half of that with HD playback (which is often the differential between listed battery life and actual), that's more than enough to watch a movie or two on a long flight.



So what's the hitch? Well, at the moment there are only a limited number of Skylight apps available to you, and most of those don't gain anything by being on your smartbook instead of a smartphone or netbook. Lenovo's going to open up the SDK soon, but until developers get a crack at maximizing the Skylight's functionality, it won't have much. It'll have built-in Wi-Fi, but it also will rely on AT&T's 3G network, which even in our demonstration wasn't up to the challenge of streaming the type of hi-def video you're going to want to.

http://gizmodo.com/5...isbee-smartbook




Haier's Completely Wireless TV Hands On: No Cables For Video...or Power
Wireless power has gone from lab prototype to working product in a little over 18 months, and Haier stuck MIT's WiTricity into a TV along with WHDI wireless video for complete wirelessness. Complete. Wireless. Ness.






Sure, there's a big power unit on the wall, radiating (totally harmless) RF into the back of the TV, which has a coil inside to receive the juice. It only delivers full strength if it's parallel, so you have to plan ahead and somehow setup the TV in front of the wall that has the power module. Because of all the hocus pocus, the TV itself is a chunkster, and that power transmitter is no slim jim either. Still, the idea is a good one, and the promise—as both MIT and Intel work their asses off getting wireless power up to snuff—is real.

WHDI is a lot further along in development. Wireless HDMI isn't exactly household, but the tech is now supported by basically all of the biggest CE companies except Panasonic. I'm not going to buy this Haier TV—it might not even be for sale this year—but it's a concrete sign of what's to come.


http://gizmodo.com/5...-video-or-power



New Polaroid PIC-1000 Models Shown Off, And Good News—They'll Work With 1000 Instant Film



Ask any Polaroid fan about their mood swings in the past 12 months, and I bet it'd go something like this: oh no, Polaroid is doomed. Oh yay, it got bought. Oh no, that fell through. And so on. Thankfully all looks good again—except for the fact that Lady Gaga has been hired as their creative director. They've even got a brand new product being shown off at CES, the PIC-1000. It'll come in either metallic plastic, or a '70s wooden throw-back, and while pricing and availability hasn't been announced, it's enough to get my heart fluttering again.

The new model has a self-timer, flash and even red-eye reduction. And, thanks to the Impossible Project, it'll work with Polaroid 1000 instant film. Gotta love them apples.

http://gizmodo.com/5...00-instant-film




Intel's Double-HD MultiTouch Wall Is Incredible

Here's a sight to behold: two gigantic, 2x HD screens in the Intel booth showing hundreds of realtime web stories in undulating 3D (see vid in here).



The entire setup is apparently powered by a single i7 processor, and it's easy to see how you could shrink an application like this down for use on oh, say, a tablet of some sort. Is it an efficient way to sort through information? No, no it is not. But it sure is engaging, and that's gotta count for something.

http://gizmodo.com/5...l-is-incredible
 
Yoyobuae said:
For the past few days I've been trying to find news about "smartbooks" (ARM powered netbooks) with these next-gen chips. I have found little to nothing.

It seems to me that there are some ways to go before we see these next-gen ARM devices hit the market. Just like it's happening with Pandora, these things take time.

Those damn smartbooks(to be more precise ARM netbooks, as Smartbook is a Qualcomm term for their Snapdragon stuff) was supposed to be out in summer 2009. We discussed it over a year ago and there is still nothing on the market. I guess that we might see the first ARM netbooks pop up in Q2.
 
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Vuzix Wrap 920AR Augmented Reality Glasses: Why Can't Anyone Make These Things Look Cool?

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Vuzix can make glasses with built in stereoscopic cameras that can seamlessly blend computer-generated imagery and your real world environment together, but they can't make them look cool?

Of course, it doesn't seem like anyone in the business of high tech eyewear has any sense of style. Apparently, they all want us walking around looking like Geordi or Blade. Still, if you can get past the looks, here's what the Wrap 920AR glasses can offer:

The stereo camera pair delivers a single 1504 x 480 side-by-side image that can be viewed in 3D stereoscopic video, while the video eyewear provides an unprecedented 67-inch display as seen from 10 feet. The Wrap 920AR also includes a 6 Degree-of-Freedom Tracker, which allows for absolute accuracy of roll pitch and yaw and also X, Y and Z positioning in 3D space

Vuzix Wrap 920AR Specifications:

• 1/3-inch wide VGA Digital Image Sensor
• Resolution: 752H x 480W
• Includes 6 Degree-of-Freedom Tracker
• Frame rate: 60 fps
• Dynamic range: >55dB linear; >80-100dB in HiDy mode
• Shutter efficiency: >99%
• ADC Resolution: 10-bit column parallel
• High-speed USB 2.0
• PC and Mac compatible
• System requirements: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, Windows7, Mac OS X 10.4.9 or higher
• MSRP: $799.99

The idea of video game characters hanging out in my living room or viewing web links published in magazines or books on the internet in real time sounds intriguing, but I'm not quite ready to spend $800 to look like an idiot quite yet. If you are, expect the glasses to be available in the second quarter of this year.

Vuzix to Introduce Revolutionary Augmented Reality Wrap 920AR Video Eyewear at 2010 International CES

Las Vegas, NV – January 6th, 2010 – Vuzix Corporation (TSX-V: VZX), the leader in video eyewear for the mainstream consumer, defense and low vision markets, will debut the Wrap 920AR eyewear complete with a stereo camera pair that "looks" into the world, bringing mixed and augmented reality content to life. With the new Wrap 920AR, users can view the real-world environment and computer-generated imagery seamlessly mixed together; allowing video game characters to jump out of the TV and come to life in your living room, or magazines and books with animated links back to the web in real time.

The stereo camera pair delivers a single 1504 x 480 side-by-side image that can be viewed in 3D stereoscopic video, while the video eyewear provides an unprecedented 67-inch display as seen from 10 feet. The Wrap 920AR also includes a 6 Degree-of-Freedom Tracker, which allows for absolute accuracy of roll pitch and yaw and also X, Y and Z positioning in 3D space. Selected as a 2010 CES Innovations Award winner and a semifinalist for the "Last Gadget Standing" competition, the Wrap 920AR will be the highlight of Vuzix' display at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show.

"The Wrap 920AR offers the world's only sunglass styled Augmented Reality experience" said Vuzix CEO, Paul Travers. "This state-of-the-art video eyewear, offers consumers an AR solution only available in handheld devices to date, merging the real world with the digital in a pair of glasses makes for world changing experiences from industry to gaming," adds Travers. "With the Wrap 920 AR, Vuzix brings exclusive new capabilities to the consumer."

The Wrap 920AR's stereo camera assembly and 6-DoF Tracker will also be available separately for upgrading existing Wrap video eyewear.
Vuzix Wrap 920AR Specifications:

• 1/3-inch wide VGA Digital Image Sensor
• Resolution: 752H x 480W
• Includes 6 Degree-of-Freedom Tracker
• Frame rate: 60 fps
• Dynamic range: >55dB linear; >80-100dB in HiDy mode
• Shutter efficiency: >99%
• ADC Resolution: 10-bit column parallel
• High-speed USB 2.0
• PC and Mac compatible
• System requirements: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, Windows7, Mac OS X 10.4.9 or higher
• MSRP: $799.99

Expected availability for the Wrap 920AR is 2nd quarter of 2010. For specific product or company information, please visit www.vuzix.com.

http://gizmodo.com/5...hings-look-cool



Gorilla Glass Hands On: UNBREAKABLE
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Maybe if you had a free weekend and Mjǫllnir, hammer of Thor, you could crack Corning's Gorilla Glass. But that's a made-up thing! And this stuff is impervious to the very real threats of key scratching and localized pressure.

Gorilla Glass is an unscratchable, unshatterable material used as a protective window for your mobile phone, PMP, or laptop display. It's in 65 products already, and I can assure you that the very nice man from Corning is not faking it. Your intrepid reporter also gave this several tries with all his blogger strength, and couldn't make a dent. I was, however, able to scratch the heck out of some polycarbonate.



Here's a video demo of it.

Gorilla Glass is an unscratchable, unshatterable material used as a protective window for your mobile phone, PMP, or laptop display. It's in 65 products already, and I can assure you that the very nice man from Corning is not faking it. Your intrepid reporter also gave this several tries with all his blogger strength, and couldn't make a dent. I was, however, able to scratch the heck out of some polycarbonate.

http://gizmodo.com/5...-on-unbreakable




Is Augmented Reality The Future Of Porn?

Pink Visual definitely thinks so—and they're hard at work developing a whole new way for you to enjoy your smut. One that puts you in the action. We got a sneak peek at the kind of stuff they're working on today. Their current demo doesn't quite explore the full potential of the medium...but oh, imagine the possibilities.



NSFW vid here.

http://gizmodo.com/5...-future-of-porn




The Invisible OLED Laptop to End All Laptops

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It's only a proof of concept, but this is laptop with a clear OLED screen—but a stone's throw from those floating 3D displays of Avatar. Practical? Not necessarily. The future? OBVIOUSLY.

The resolution is less than a 1000 wide, and less than 600 tall on this 14 incher. It's pixely, but let's not quibble.

You see right through the 40% translucent screen, then something appears on the screen (like a white background), and you can't see through it anymore.


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Video here.

http://gizmodo.com/5...end-all-laptops






Hands On With the Atom-Powered UMID mBook BZ
The UMID mBook BZ is in many ways a curious animal: it packs a ton of power into a MID, but doesn't know quite to how to harness it. It's a ultrasmall computer that can be ultrahard to use.

The mBook BZ has many of the same specs as its predecessor, the M1: it has the same 4.8" touchscreen at 1024x600 resolution, the same 512MB of memory, and runs the same outmoded Windows XP operating system. The BZ, though, runs on the 1.3GHz Atom Z515 processor, which helps it get listed with a pretty incredible seven hours of battery life with continuous playback. The mBook BZ also features a 1.3 megapixel webcam, VGA out, and a built-in microphone.



When closed, the BZ is about the size and shape of a large billfold; it's small enough to fit into your pocket. The device is arrayed such that the touchpad is to the right side of the display and operated with your right thumb. Above it is the webcam. To the left of the display are the right and left buttons, above which is the speaker. It seems like an efficient use of space, and the touchpad is pleasantly responsive, but it also places you in the awkward position of having to readjust your hands every time you want to move from navigation to typing and vice versa.



That is, if you're able to type at all. For all of its impressive functionality, probably the biggest drawback of the mBook is the keyboard. It's just too small to use, at least for my adult fingers. I can hunt-and-peck more quickly than I can touch type, and the hunting and pecking is a slow and deliberate business. Using your thumbs should be a viable option, but the keys are so tightly packed and the space bar so narrow that



Fortunately, the Thepot Player software simplifies the UI on the BZ model provided to Gizmodo by Intel. It offers large icons for Bluetooth, Music, Dictionary, and other applications that are easily accessible through the touchscreen.



Using the touchscreen for other functions, though—like closing out a web page—proved difficult-to-impossible, given the small size of the display.



If you enjoy MIDs, you'll be happy with the mBook BZ. It's got standard specs, but seven hours of continuous battery life in a device whose whole purpose is portability is an automatic win. If you don't enjoy MIDs, well, I'm not sure the this is the one that will change your mind. And neither will the price tag: the BZ will be available at Dynamism.com $549 on January 22nd, although it will sell for $499 for a limited time after its release.

http://gizmodo.com/5441132/hands-on-with-the-atom+powered-umid-mbook-bz







 
On second though, it is a good thing that I can't find any of these smartbooks. It kinda makes the Pandora a bit more valuable, even if I wont get the bigger keyboard and screen.
 
I used to go to CES every year, starting back in 1991-92, and I moved to vegas in jan of 1995, and have lived here ever since. I stopped going to the show around 1999, just the same old crap year after year. Almost everything I saw this year, is of no interest to me personally. The laptop with the look thru screen was kinda of cool, but serves no real usefull purpose out side of bragging rights! As far as the pandora goes, it is still pretty much in a class all its own. I would still be using the GP2X if the controls had been worth a damn, but GPH just doesn't seem to understand the need for proper game controls. For me, the controls are 90% of the battle. The Pandora can play & control almost any game released in the last 30+ years. Some of the current gen consoles and handhelds can't make that claim.

As far as power goes, yeah there will always be something more powerful, but most gadgets these days, are all about being small, sleak, and sexy. Honestly, I could care less about any of those. I have a t-mobile G1 cell phone, and I love it. It's the best phone I have used in 10+ years of cell phone use. Now many complain, it's a poor mans Iphone, but I like the bigger durable size, and the physical keyboard as well. Most of the products at CES appeal to the masses that like current high tech gadgets, almost all of the things shown, don't really have much real world use. Although I did like nyko's new Wii remote with motion plus built in, That's a good idea in my opinion.

Chris
 
There has been some SDXC info though:
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/51336-sdxc-rolling-out-from-panasonic/

It seems that SDHC won't be going above 32GB. 48 and 64GB SDXC in a month, with a possible 1TB card by the end of the year. 2TB is on their roadmap.


I don't see how the Tegra2 chipset's performance can be anything but impressive. Dual 1ghz A9 with a custom Nvidia GPU.
 
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jumpman said:
I stopped going to the show around 1999, just the same old crap year after year. Almost everything I saw this year, is of no interest to me personally.
There are some nice tablets for couch surfing, but you can rarely do more than surfing with them. The only device that really impresses me is a hybrid device. A Lenovo CULV laptop with detachable ARM tablet. Hybrid devices are really interesting and maybe ARM's real future for a while.
.
http://www.netbookchoice.com/2010/01/05/lenovo%E2%80%99s-ideapad-u1-hybrid-converts-from-11-6%E2%80%9D-culv-to-tablet/
 
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Vitel said:
mali said:
Btw, Pandora's essence is its design, community and content ;)
Agree
Agree :)


BTW, so far the things I have seen from CES is scheduled to be released somewhere between JAN and May, unless delayed of course.


Most interesting thing I've seen so far is probably the Dell Slate. However, it doesn't have a keyboard so I don't see a lot of use in it. The screen is 5", I wonder what the resolution is. I'm just impressed by the way it looks :)
 
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