Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2009 Part I

Las Vegas, NV. The Las Vegas Convention Center and the nearby Sands Convention Center were filled with the latest and greatest in consumer electronics offerings--and we’re not talking about just computers and digital cameras here. Products that make life easier, safer and a lot more fun were on display, and we were there to see them. Here’s a brief look:

Small was evident everywhere. Many manufacturers were introducing netbook portable computers: sleek, sexy and SMALL. Notable was the Sony VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC, about as long as a business size envelope, sporting an eight-inch screen, wireless WAN, LAN and Bluetooth connectivity, built-in GPS, and--for the style conscious--five colors (red, green, white, onyx black and classic black). Available next month for $900.

Small in size as well as energy usage, the MSI Notebook U115 Dual Hard Drive Netbook provides up to 12 hours of battery life by using a solid state hard drive (SSHD), a conventional hard drive and advanced power management. For example, the operating system is loaded on the SSHD for lower energy drain, faster boot times and better performance, so the conventional hard drive can be shut down until needed. Equipped with a ten-inch screen, LAN and Bluetooth connectivity, a 4-in-1 memory card reader, a webcam and 160GB of conventional hard drive file and application storage, this Netbook PC, like the well-known bunny, just keeps going and going.

Small cell phone? Of course. The new LG Electronics 3D Watch Phone is truly a Dick Tracy watch. Incorporating a 3D cell phone, this touch screen wrist watch handles text messaging as well as voice. The watch incorporates a camera for video conferencing, stereo Bluetooth, voice recognition, text-to-speech phone book, calendar and, oh yes, it is a watch. Available in black, white, red, chrome or brushed aluminum. And yes, it plays MP3 music files as well in stereo Bluetooth. Release this year in Europe, with North America release and price TBA. If you want it now, a similar phone the Neutrano WristFone is available for about $300. In addition to many of the above phone and camera features, the unit also incorporates an FM radio, supports microSD cards, comes with a USB cable for data transfer and charging (3 day standby, 3 hour talk battery life) and is available in black, brown, blue, white and pink. Many other standard cell phones sporting a vast array of new or improved features were also introduced.

New features are available in the many flat panel LCD TVs introduced at the show. One is the Sharp LC-46BD80U, the world’s first flat panel TV with built-in Blue-Ray disc player. Available February 2009, price TBA. LG Electronics LHX and LH90 series flat panel LCDs offers built-in wireless connectivity and incorporates the Netflix streaming engine for directly streaming Netflix movies and other content to the TV. In addition, Yahoo, YouTube and a wealth of other content can be streamed by using the built-in Yahoo Widget engine. And, thin is in, with the a new Sony 40-inch KLV 40ZX1M. This flat panel is 9.9mm thin and will be available last quarter 2009 for $4700. Many other new flat panels from various manufacturers featured 240Hz refresh rates for a non-blurred view of objects in motion, creating a noticeably clearer image.

Interesting new features are being added to digital cameras, such as the Sony DCS-W220, a 12 MP camera that focuses on a face in the picture and also will not release the shutter until the subject smiles. Available soon, $190.

HD camcorders such as the new JVC GZ-HM200 use memory cards for image recording. The JVC model, however, uses dual SD cards for up to six hours recording at full HD resolution and is the smallest and lightest memory HD camcorder available. Ready February 2009, $800.

Things iPod were everywhere, including cool and stylish 2009 cases from Golla, iPod pouches available now for $12. Equally cool is the bookshelf audio system docking station JVC UX-GM6. With a hand wave, blue controls appear on the black-faced front panel. The unit incorporates a clock AM/FM radio, CD player and an iPod dock for playing from and charging your iPod. Available March 2009, $200.

Almost all major manufacturers announced exciting "Green" initiatives, including changing their manufacturing procedures and recycling customer’s old electronics, all aimed at reducing pollution and decreasing their carbon footprint. Especially notable is the efforts of Fuji in introducing the Fuji EnviorMax Digital Alkaline Battery, which contains no Cadmium, Mercury or PVCs, is packaged using recycled materials and can be disposed of with regular trash, with no toxic elements released into the environment. Power life and pricing is similar to other popular brands of batteries, and they will be available soon in all popular sizes.

This is just at a few of the more than 20,000 new products introduced at CES 2009. More to come in Part II.