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January 9, 2006 International Consumer Electronic Show 2006 Las Vegas, NV: The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was bigger than ever this year, filling the massive Las Vegas and Sands Convention Centers and two other venues with the coolest and newest products. We were there to report about what’s here and what’s coming. An overwhelming theme was mobility - take it all with you to use wherever and whenever you want. And many products perform more than one function.
Dozens
of mobile handheld multimedia players were also introduced. The sleek The
LG FM30 (LG, available April, $199)
Flat panel TV displays were awesome. Panasonic showed off its 103 inch flat panel screen, the world’s largest production plasma HDTV. On more modest scales, Panasonic introduced a 65-inch HDTV plasma and new 26 to 32 inch advanced LCD models. The LCD models are notable for their improvements in wider angle viewing, brighter displays and lack of smearing seen in moving objects. Similar improvements in LCD HDTV displays were shown by Philips, Sharp and JVC. Several new HDTV models from LG Electronics also incorporate HD DV recorders.
Most new GPS navigation devices now also include multiple functions. One such model is Garmin Nuvi 350 (Garmin, $899), a GPS navigator, MP3 player, picture viewer, audio book player, language translator, SD card reader and a travel guide--all in a compact unit. The Digital Home, built just outside the Convention Center, showcased many impressive products. Walk in the door, touch the Exceptional Innovations Life/touch wall panel, and the home control network sets your pre-programmed lighting pattern, plays your favorite music and starts your MediaGallery fine arts TV displays. From these same touch panels you can control house lighting, HVAC, your audio/video media center and also access Internet, e-mail and more.
The kitchen included an amazing combo double oven/refrigerator, TMIO Intelligent Oven (TMIO, $9,000), which can refrigerate a meal to 38 degrees and then switch the unit to an oven for cooking. The appliance can be controlled from its panel or from the Internet or cell phone to change the cooking time to earlier or later. The Brizo Electronic Pascal Kitchen Faucet (Brizo Faucets, $199) turns on/off when it senses your hand or other object under it or when touched anywhere. A light indicates whether the water from the faucet is hot (red) or cold (blue). A standard joy-stick is also available for temperature and on/off control.
SanDisk Cruzer Micro and Titanium USB Drives (SanDisk, $50-$190, 512MB-4GB) now contain the new U3 platform that provides a portable workspace, allowing you to carry applications and files with you on your USB drives and use them on any Windows XP or 2000 computer without leaving a trace on the host computer. The "WOW" factor was definitely there at CES this year - we watched a live performance displayed on a bank of 40 stacked 50" flat panels, heard industry leaders talk about new and exciting products, and came away thinking the future in electronics is very bright indeed. Stay tuned. |
Cell
phones top the list and are no longer just for phone calls. Phones such
as the LG VX9800 (LG Electronics, $299) has a clam-shell case and
provides a host of entertainment features, including MP3 music and video
playback from streaming or downloaded content, 1.3 megapixel camera, video
recorder, QWERTY keyboard, stereo speakers, wide-screen display and more.
Samsung YM-P1 (Samsung, available February, $299) incorporates a
20 GB hard drive, four-inch wide-screen display and records from A/V inputs or
streaming downloads. MP3 playback, voice recording, FM radio, memory card slot
and support for many media files are among the features packed into this unit.
digital
player is so small and stylish it can be worn as a pendant. We loved the vibrant
display on its 1.7 inch OLED screen and 60-hour battery life. One GB
internal memory stores up to 250 songs, 100 music videos or 1500 photos. Creative
ZEN Vision:M
(Creative, available February, $350) is available in five different colors,
sports a 30GB hard drive, FM radio and plays MP3 and video files, all with touch
pad control. Swissbit S.BEAT MP3 (Victorinox, $199), a complete
Swiss army knife, includes a removable MP3 player with integral USB plug, FM
radio with recorder, remote control and two earphone jacks for listening with a
friend.
JVC
(JVC, $249)had on display their new XA-HD500 which includes a built-in 6GB hard
drive and comes complete with a dedicated docking station which can be used for
battery recharging and/or file transfer. The units battery can also be recharged
from a USB connection alone. An infrared remote control is included for easy
playback from the docking station. The unit will play MP3 and WMA files and
supports Windows Media Player 10. A USB 2.0 connection can be made from either
the docking station or the unit itself. 
In
addition, the LG 47LB1DRA (LG, available September) 47-inch LCD
HDTV has two TV tuners, card reader slots and is digital cable ready.
We also had a look at several other exciting products, such as Celestron
Sky*Scout (Celestron, available April, $399). Point the viewfinder at
any bright object in the sky, and the Sky*Scout displays its name and
info about the object (star or planet). The unit holds info for more than 6,000
celestial objects visible to the naked eye and uses GPS and magnetic sensor
technology. To see a particular celestial object, just point the unit, guided by
lighted arrows in the viewfinder.