Consumer Electronics Show Notes
A few notes on products to wrap-up the 2008 CES show in Vegas. Like I could really summarize this behemoth in a “few notes”.
The most prevailing thought for me is that this was an incremental year for technology. No single product jumped out and made a big splash.
I’ll start with phones, for which the show was well, quiet. The Motorola ROKR E8 was cool, but not ground-breaking. The trick feature was the “ModeShift” changing control set between either phone buttons or music controls. Sony-Ericsson had several new models on hand, the slickest of which was the W350 with its trick little flip cover. Of course there were the expected iClone phones, including the LG Voyager.
Next up, televisions… Samsung and Sony showed off their OLED (organic light-emitting diode) televisions. Thinner and lighter, these TVs have better color and brightness than current plasmas and LCDs and even use substantially less power. They will be extremely expensive at first, but expect the prices to drop rapidly as production increases. Another technology on display was the laser television shown by Mitsubishi. It has amazing colors and again, the power savings over current technologies. Pioneer continued their Project Kuro, displaying the newest technology alongside the current critically acclaimed Kuro Plasma television, a set we blogged about previously. At only 9mm thick and with what Pioneer calls an “absolute” black level, it is one impressive plasma TV.
As for speakers, the main trend was the single box solution to accompany flat panel televisions. Polk Audio had their SurroundBar on display, priced just under $1000. Definitive Technology also displayed their take on this idea, the SSA50.
Let’s see, what else I can tell you about… There was a wireless SD media 2GB memory card from Eye Fi. Hi Definition video downloading services were on display as well (more blogs on this to come). Cameras, video cameras, gaming gear, automotive technology and even Guitar Hero game controllers… the list goes on and on.
The advances in technology make this an exciting time to be alive. Try to keep up if you can..!
The most prevailing thought for me is that this was an incremental year for technology. No single product jumped out and made a big splash.
I’ll start with phones, for which the show was well, quiet. The Motorola ROKR E8 was cool, but not ground-breaking. The trick feature was the “ModeShift” changing control set between either phone buttons or music controls. Sony-Ericsson had several new models on hand, the slickest of which was the W350 with its trick little flip cover. Of course there were the expected iClone phones, including the LG Voyager.
Next up, televisions… Samsung and Sony showed off their OLED (organic light-emitting diode) televisions. Thinner and lighter, these TVs have better color and brightness than current plasmas and LCDs and even use substantially less power. They will be extremely expensive at first, but expect the prices to drop rapidly as production increases. Another technology on display was the laser television shown by Mitsubishi. It has amazing colors and again, the power savings over current technologies. Pioneer continued their Project Kuro, displaying the newest technology alongside the current critically acclaimed Kuro Plasma television, a set we blogged about previously. At only 9mm thick and with what Pioneer calls an “absolute” black level, it is one impressive plasma TV.
As for speakers, the main trend was the single box solution to accompany flat panel televisions. Polk Audio had their SurroundBar on display, priced just under $1000. Definitive Technology also displayed their take on this idea, the SSA50.
Let’s see, what else I can tell you about… There was a wireless SD media 2GB memory card from Eye Fi. Hi Definition video downloading services were on display as well (more blogs on this to come). Cameras, video cameras, gaming gear, automotive technology and even Guitar Hero game controllers… the list goes on and on.
The advances in technology make this an exciting time to be alive. Try to keep up if you can..!