Palm's past is Pre-logue for a buzzworthy phone
Click to view images of the Palm Pre
It's a phone. It's a phone that didn't even arrive on Earth shooting out of Steve Jobs'... shirt pocket. So what about the reveal of the Palm Pre proved so intoxicating on Thursday to CES attendees and press?
Ford SYNC gets navigation tools from Telenav
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.
Casio debuts its Greenscreen-ish 'Dynamic Photo'
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.
AMD to develop a cloud supercomputer for graphics rendering
The system that could render the next 3D game for cell phones and handsets may not even reside on those devices, if AMD has its way.
Easily AMD's most important announcement from a corporate survival standpoint was its Phenom II X4 platform, which could earn the company some bragging rights in the important enthusiast market. But AMD also needed a psychological boost, something which could represent the company's goals equally among everyone, not just system builders.
Sony's new DSC-G3 Wi-Fi camera includes... a Web browser
Left out of its press event yesterday, Sony today launched a new Wi-Fi enabled camera, the 10.1-megapixel DSC-G3. Most notable about this slim digicam is a built-in Web browser for connecting to public hotspots.
While Wi-Fi in a digital camera can make it possible to upload while on the go, many hotspots require a login or registration using a Web page. To get around this problem, Sony simply embedded a browser into the camera, which can be accessed by pressing the WLAN button on the back.
Skype launches on Android, Java-capable mobile phones
For the first time in the United States, mobile phone users can now download a "lite" version of Skype that can be used for making calls to other Skype members and to landline and mobile phones at a low rate. Unlike Truphone, Skype lite doesn't require Wi-Fi and instead utilizes the phone's data plan.
Skype has been beta testing a version of its software for a limited number of mobile phones since last year. The new beta release works with the Android based T-Mobile G1, along with 100 other handsets that run Java applications.
SlingPlayer Mobile beta now available on BlackBerry handsets
Sling Media has released a beta version of its SlingPlayer Mobile software for BlackBerry smartphones, currently supporting six devices. Blake Krikorian, Sling Media's CEO, said BlackBerry support has been one of the top requests of customers since 2005. SingPlayer Mobile is a mobile version of the company's software for watching and controlling TVs hooked up to a Slingbox.
SingPlayer Mobile works with the BlackBerry Bold, Curve 8900, 8820, Curve 8320, Pearl Flip 8220 and the Pearl 8120. It requires BlackBerry Device Software 4.5 or greater, and Sling Media says it will further expand supported handsets as it continues to work with Research in Motion. To download the beta, which is free, BlackBerry users can visit mobile.slingmedia.com in their browser. With the final release, SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry will cost $29.99 USD.
CES Countdown #1: How are manufacturers' perceptions changing about the consumer?
Up until now, the ultimate CE consumer has been the young 20-something male with money to burn and something to prove. With the credit market drying up, that fellow has to prove something else now.
Now that the carnage of the Christmas shopping season is over -- whether you're thinking of the pile of non-recyclable wrapping paper and bows under the tree or the success (or failure) of retail sites -- Consumer Electronics Show manufacturer attendees are bracing themselves and figuring out how to restructure themselves to make it through the rest of the recession.
SlingGuide beta to offer Web-based control and viewing of EchoStar DVR
Sling Media has announced a new product at CES designed to enable remote scheduling on DVRs made by its satellite TV parent company, EchoStar. SingGuide offers much of the same functionality as TiVo Central Online.
Currently in beta testing, SlingGuide users can browse, search and record programs via their Web browser for Dish Network DuoDVR 722k, 722 and 622 models, as well as the new 922, which was just announced at CES 2009 and features built in SlingLoaded technology that works like the separate Slingbox device.
Samsung: We had questions, they had answers
A roundtable panel on Thursday afternoon at CES was one of the show's briefer events so far, but we picked up some interesting tidbits from the forthright Samsung executives present. We have highlights of the stuff we would have loved to have heard during yesterday's big event, but better late than never:
- Ding, dong, the DLP is... Samsung is one of the last two companies to offer DLP televisions. (The other is Mitsubishi.) The Digital Light Processing technology was quite clever, using microscopic mirrors rapidly repositioning to create the image, but that battle was won by LCDs. But after hanging in there for years, Samsung is out, according to Senior Vice President SangHeung Shin, who told reporters that "We've already internally made the decision to drop the [DLP] line." Sets will most likely continue to be available for some time.
Samsung monitors go 3D, multi-display and over IP
In addition to its standard bevy of monitor upgrades, this time with LED backlighting, Samsung rolled out a trio of new monitor products with interesting capabilities.
First up is a 22-inch display that is compatible with Nvidia's 3D vision graphics card. At a price tag of only $349, we don't expect a super high quality screen, but the Samsung 2233RZ is a useful offering for 3D modeling and some video games. If sports a resolution of 1680x1050 pixels, 300cd/m2 brightness, 160 degree viewing angle and 5ms response time in 2D.
Dell's new Studio XPS laptops get aluminum accents, leather
They're still made of plastic, but Dell's new Studio XPS laptops -- unveiled today at CES 2009 -- are quite the lookers, featuring aluminum and leather accents atop their glossy piano black finishes.
Available in a 16-inch model and a more-portable 13-inches, the new Studio XPS is Intel Centrino 2 based, sporting a 2.0-megapixel webcam and USB ports that can power devices even when the laptop is turned off.
Sony expands the IPTV connection for its latest Bravias
Like Vizio, Sony announced at CES 2009 that its Bravia line of LCD HDTVs would include built-in streaming Internet capability without a set-top box.
The capability will be present in the XBR9 and Z-series models, which will include an Ethernet connection.
Gateway's MD series tries for the multimedia mid-range
Gateway is announcing two new lines of notebooks: the MD Series, intended for entertainment and multimedia, and the UC Series, intended for "all-around mobility."
The MD Series has a 15.6-inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. It has an integrated webcam, as well as built-in wireless Internet and gigabit Ethernet. In addition to black, it also comes in burgundy.
LG: 'Life's Good When It's Green'
Jumping on the green bandwagon, LG Electronics said it, too, was taking steps to make its products easier on the environment, a project it calls "Life's Good When It's Green."
The company did not offer specifics on how much energy would be saved or how much packaging would be reduced, but listed a number of components, including design, manufacture, reduced use of hazardous materials, improved recycling, reduction in greenhouse gases by 150 kilotons per year by 2020 in manufacturing and 30 megatons by 2020 in products, imposing similar standards on its vendors, and initiating a labeling program so consumers know about the programs.
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