|
|
|
|
January 11, 2010 CES 2010: e-Readers, 3-D TV, And More Las Vegas, January 2010: The 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) filled the massive Las Vegas Convention Center with the newest and coolest products. This year it’s all about readers, 3-D TV, and mobile, wireless and iPhone everything. We were there to see the present and look into the future in technology. E-Readers, i-Readers, Digital Readers or simply Readers were in abundance. These surprisingly thin devices varied in size from about 4 x 6 to 8.5 x 11 inches and feature a black and white screen for reading text from books, newspapers, magazines, user manuals and much more. Most can display pictures, but only in black and white. Many can wirelessly connect to the Internet for buying the electronic versions of many books, subscribe to newspapers and more. Others need a PC connection or SD memory card for loading materials to read. Some use a touch screen for control; others use a series of buttons.
Prices range from $170 to $695, depending on models and features. Notable among the readers is a new offering from Sony, the Reader Daily Edition, a seven-inch reader that can automatically download (by subscription) daily editions of The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and more. A similar, amazingly thin reader, Que, from Plastic Logic, measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is suited for reading newspapers and magazines in full format. The Alex Reader from Spring Design sports two screens: one black and white for reading and a smaller touch color screen that’s used with its built-in browser for surfing the Internet. Most of the readers let you choose type size for easier reading, and many have built-in dictionaries and search options for words or phrases. New in the TV world a shift in flat panel TVs to LED backlighting was apparent everywhere, with all major manufacturers showing off sets displaying exceptionally bright colors and high contrast ratios, making the whites whiter and the blacks blacker. Sharp takes it one step further in their Quad Pixel series by adding a fourth color pixel (yellow) to the traditional red, blue and green pixels, producing striking skin tones and brilliant yellows.
And thin is in with many flat panel TVs being less than one-inch thick. Also much in prominence were 3D TV flat panel TVs from manufacturers such as LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony and others. The good news is that the 3D effect is impressive, especially for games and animations, but less so, in our opinion, for sports and people-type shows. The bad news is that you have to wear 3D glasses, making it difficult to do anything else while watching your 3D TV. There is much more to talk about from CES 2010, so stay tuned for news about home automation, fully recyclable batteries, high capacity home servers, mobile DTV, instant share cameras and much more. |
