Tim Conneally

In Google's Mac blog last night, the team announced the developer preview of Google Quick Search for Mac (OS X 10.5+), what they call a much more experimental version of the app for iPhone.

The application acts as a quick launcher, a browser location bar, and a search field which allows the user to search for files or text on his own computer or on the Web. It even has one boxes for word definitions, mathematical equations, and weather conditions.

Last Wednesday, legislation was introduced in the House that would make the Electronic Software Ratings Board (ESRB) affix a health warning label on T-rated games that links their violent content to real-life aggression.

Called The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009 (H.R. 231), and sponsored by Congressmen Joe Baca (D - Calif.) and Frank R. Wolf (R - Va.), the legislation calls for violent video games to be labeled with a sticker that says "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior."

All three Chinese telecommunications companies received 3G licenses last week from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and each has a different standard of choice.

China Mobile, the largest mobile phone operator in China, will build and operate a TD-SCDMA 3G network. The 3G standard is a Chinese development that differs from W-CDMA in that it uses Time Division Duplexing, a method of separating uplink and downlink signals and dynamically allocating spectrum to each. Over the weekend, the company told the Beijing News that its plan for the network includes a 58.8 billion yuan investment ($8.6b/ €6.43b) on some 60,000 TS-SCDMA base stations and have coverage in 238 cities.

CBS' TV.com, a site formerly providing information about television programming has begun its transition to a video site, and is expected to announce some critical distribution deals today.

Numerous reports have surfaced that CBS has signed content distribution deals with PBS, Showtime, MGM, Sony, and Endemol USA (the company responsible for Deal or No Deal, and 1 vs. 100) that will bring a multitude of new shows to TV.com's streaming video library.

FreedomVOICE's Newber iPhone application has been in beta since September, but getting listed in the App store has its difficulties.

Last September, FreedomVOICE opened the beta of its Newber iPhone application that adds a virtual second line and the ability to manage calls and route them through PBX, landline, or even other cellular handsets.

And you thought breaking the $400 netbook price barrier was a milestone? Okay, maybe it was, but what would you want for...say, $89?

The above image speaks for itself. Chinese electronics manufacturer Menq is set up in the North hall of CES, nestled among explosively loud car audio displays and lesser-known PND makers, showing off its EasyPC netbook line that easily snags the title of "cheapest netbook available" both in cost and quality, of course.

In Toshiba's booth, a section is dedicated to technologies the public can expect to find in upcoming products from the company in 2009. Part of the display is dedicated to WiMAX support.

The Portege R600-ST520W, announced this week, was "connected" to Clear to show its potential.

Betanews took a closer look at HP's forthcoming Pavilion DV2, a 12.1" notebook that the company is pushing as an ultra lightweight entertainment device, and the first one sporting AMD's Yukon platform.

Let's talk about the "entertainment" specs first. It has an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 graphics unit, up to 500 GB of storage, HP's MediaSmart software, and support for an external Blu-ray drive. This last item was a sore point for us in handling the DV2 this morning. If it's a notebook being emphasized for its entertainment features and discrete graphics processing, the omission of a built-in optical drive of any sort is definitely an impediment to users.

Never mind the tiny physical footprint of the Vaio P, if you ask Sony, they will tell you they have never made a netbook. If you ask me, however, I'll tell you they just did.

View images of the Sony Vaio P

The headquarters of AsusTek Computer Inc., and Micro-Star International (MSI) are a mere 21 kilometers apart in Taiwan, and they seem as close as ever in the South hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Both companies are known for their motherboards, and both are bringing the consumer electronics market a product line with a heavy emphasis on a tiny physical and environmental footprint, Asus with Eee and MSI with Wind.

XStreamHD, which offered a promising solution for satellite on-demand high definition video since last year was prepped to make a big announcement today, but something got in the way.

Betanews looked at XStreamHD at last year's CES, showing off its 1080p video and 7.1-channel lossless audio "transport network" for content providers. The main appeal of the service is that it can bring high-quality content to a user on demand without using the internet.

Dell gathered together a modest audience this morning to make three announcements and then give a tantalizing look at the hotly-rumored Adamo luxury laptop line.

View images of the Dell Adamo up close

Navigation services company Telenav will be powering Ford's newest in-car GPS navigation system with the very long and unwieldy name: "Ford SYNC with Traffic, DIrections and Information."

SYNC was a big announcement for Microsoft and Ford in 2007, giving Bluetooth-connected personal media players and phones in SYNC vehicles voice command-ability. At last year's CES, SYNC received HD radio as a standard option, exportable performance analytics, and 911 Assist. Today, Ford announced that Telenav will be giving SYNC some much-needed navigation features, including turn-by-turn directions, live news, weather and traffic reports.

For the last decade, Casio Computer has kept a sharp focus (no pun intended) on digital imaging innovations. This week, the company is showing off its latest feature, a sort of on-the-fly greenscreen capability in point and shoot cameras.

Last year, Casio's big development was the high-speed digitization process in the EXF-1, which makes 60 fps still photo imaging and 1200 fps HD video possible. This year, the company has taken that technology and used it in a new way.

Last year, the Blu-ray press conference was all about how the format was beating HD DVD. With its direct rival now gone, the format needs to show at CES 2009 how it will overcome other adversaries: price and streaming content.

Buyers still aren't snapping up Blu-ray movies in droves, although the format is making considerable inroads. And prices of Blu-ray players are finally hitting that much vaunted sub-$200 mark that HD DVD reached more than a year ago. So what's next for Blu-ray? We'll be reporting live from the press conference, which is scheduled to begin shortly.