Ces2008
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CES 2008 booth gimmickry: Best of the worst
We've herein rounded up our picks for some of the best of the worst booth displays and decorations, and a good smattering of booth gimmicks we couldn't decide whether to file under "best" or "worst" -- we'll leave it to you to arbitrate the true winners in the comments. For our part, we don't care how fracking big Bumblebee was -- our personal favorite in this category has to be the bowl of pretzels.%Gallery-13463%More Best of the Worst CES 2008 Adwatch: Best of the worst CES 2008 product names: Best of the worst CES 2008 Crapgadget CES 2008: Fugliest headphones awards The fugliest laptop you'll see all day
Video: iriver's wee CES 2008 booth tour
Besides having one of, if not, the best product showings at CES 2008, iriver also had one of the most high-tech booths. Gone were the booth babes and ignorant product hacks -- replaced instead by virgin-white cases and interactive displays which allowed their products to speak for themselves. Fortunately, we also had the chance to confirm one of the most peculiar icon choices in CE history: the raised-dog icon on their S7... yes, he's really treating the booth like his own personal fire hydrant. See a video tour of the booth after the break.%Gallery-13462%
An offset HDTV wall-mount
Mounting HDTVs on the wall is all the rage, but it isn't the easiest thing in the world and even when you employee a professional to run power and video cables up the wall, sometimes the structure of you wall just isn't right for the optimal placement. Cheif's new HDTV wall mount is designed for exactly that problem. Rather than install additional supports in the wall, the mount is designed to be mounted on the existing studs and then will slide in either direction so you can center the set in just the right spot. No word on the price, but it should be available this summer.
Hands flailing wildly with Toshiba's SpursEngine laptop
Toshiba's Cell processor-based SpursEngine B.E. was on full display at CES, with a variety of tech demos to show off its power. From HD video transcoding, facial recognition, or the always popular gesture-control Toshiba's baby went through a series of workouts, trying to be the third teammate, with your CPU & GPU, to speed heavy-duty processing. Featuring only four cores -- half the number found in the PS3 -- it handled all tasks thrown its way, check out the gallery to find out how the power of the Cell could help your PC in the future.%Gallery-13422%
Crapgadget CES edition, round 11: Janky-ass MP4 watch
The screen is really pretty stellar for a watch, too bad you'll need a forklift to keep your wrist propped up while wearing this behemoth.%Gallery-13423%
iriver says iPhone-like interface just proof of concept
We hit the show floor excitedly looking for iriver's GSM phone which they showed off earlier in the week, but when we got to their booth, the little guy was nowhere to be found. We managed to wrangle a chat out of some of the company's product designers and marketing people, and they explained their hesitation at continuing to show the W7-cum-GSM-phone due to the similarities of the phones UI to an all-too-familiar device. According to the iriver people, the iPhone-like interface which was showcased originally was only meant to demonstrate what the phone was capable of, not a finalized version of the OS. Of course, it's little consolation to us, having seen a brief snippet of the phone, though we're assured that some new hotness -- or hot newness -- is on the way from the cats in Korea.
Crapgadget CES edition, round 10: PC Desktop Duo
Features include: typing, clicking. Scroll mouse now with moar Ds!
Video: iriver's Unit 2 hands-on
If you've been wondering how a portable media center, speaker dock, VoIP phone, and folding keyboard work together then you're in luck. We've got the elevator speech from iriver on what the Unit 2 is and how it works. Hitting the US in early 2009 for about $700. We ask you, can you wait? Video after the break.
Hands-on with a few Otterbox phone cases
We wandered past OtterBox during our aimless CES march and they had a couple fine cases on display so we just had to pop in for a look see. From BlackBerry cases to iPhone -- we're looking at those here -- cases, Otterbox brings the goods to wrap your dearly-loved nerd gear. We were particularly interested in a couple hard cases, one rugged, the other waterproof and looking bulletproof, too. Follow the link to the goodies.%Gallery-13412%
Envive announces simplified media server: The TheaterStation
Because you'll need somewhere to download/install those 1080p flicks from VideoGiants, Envive has announced its TheaterStation Media Server. Light on hardware details, Envive's focused on its Spin interface to ease content browsing via remote. The base model's hard drive reportedly holds at least 200 hours of DVD quality movies, and can be upgraded to hold ten times as much although that'll drive up the $2,495.99 starting price. Equipped with HDMI, component and DVI outs its available for preorder now, [Vie eHomeUpgrade]
Crapgadget CES edition, round 9: spy recorder for little girls
Spy Chix, "Pretend to Touch-Up your Lipstick while you Secretly Listen & Record your Friends, Ages 6 and up."
CES 2008 Adwatch: Best of the worst
From the weird to the shameless, from the unintentionally funny to the downright questionable, we've rounded up some of the best of the worst ad campaigns seen around the show floor at CES 2008.%Gallery-13418% More Best of the Worst CES 2008 booth gimmickery: Best of the worst CES 2008 product names: Best of the worst CES 2008 Crapgadget The fugliest laptop you'll see all day CES 2008: Fugliest headphones awards
RIM's CES 2008 booth tour
No matter where we go, RIM seems to have this same booth style where all the good stuff (the phones, that is) are stuffed in a central nucleus, causing massive crowding. Don't get us wrong, it's entirely possible that's the effect RIM is shooting for, but heaven help us poor journalists try to get a shot of the goods contained within. The Canadian manufacturer didn't have any earth-shattering announcements for the show -- just a couple of new 8130 colors -- so the highlight has to be the giant Pearl that was harassing passers-by. Check out Engadget for the visuals!
New WiDRIVE line includes 2.5-inch support, BitTorrent
We spotted these guys hiding out in a teensy booth at CeBIT back in 2006, but EDS Lab has resurfaced with its WiDRIVE line -- and it's just getting better. The WiFi drive enclosures now come in 1.8-inch (PX-100) and 2.5-inch (DX-225) versions, but now also support a BitTorrent client, RSS podcast subscriptions and a built-in web server. You can connect to the drive using a number of networking standards, including DHCP, WebDav UPnP and Bonjour, but if 802.11b/g speeds aren't good enough for you, you're out of luck: the USB port is for charging only.%Gallery-13421%
Crapgadget CES edition, round 8: Firetruck with 1.5-inch digital photo frame
Help, our eyes are burning.
MSI brings first Soleus handset to CES
MSI brought the 5608 to CES, a pretty nifty and well specced-out handset that as an added bonus is the first handset we've seen that features the Intrinsyc Soleus OS. While this won't be ready for prime time on our shores for quite some time -- think end of year -- MSI promises GPS, gesture-based touch interface, quad-band GSM / EDGE, 2 megapixel camera, and all driven by a 400 MHz Samsung SC3 CPU. They've got months to finalize thing, so here's hoping they cram some 3G in it by then.
Runco intros ultra-pricey 1080p VX-22i DLP projector
Runco and expensive tend to go hand in hand, so we'd expect nothing less than a five-figure price tag accompanying the firm's new Video Xtreme VX-22i. This 1080p monster features a three-chip DLP design, O-Path technology, CinOptx premium grade lenses, Vivix II video processing, a 4,000:1 contrast ratio, 2,850 ANSI lumens and comes calibrated to ISF standards. As expected, users with a completely stuffed bank account can opt for the CineWide with Autoscope edition ($54,995), but even those who go without the aforementioned option will be forking out $39,995 for the vanilla model. If you've managed to get over the shock, you can place your order now (or pick up a totally more useful BMW / college education / etc.) and expect it to arrive lickety split.
Mustek's CES 2008 'booth tour'
We'll be honest, Mustek -- you're not exactly giving us a lot to work with. First you don't release any PR on your new products, then when we get to the booth, you seem unsure if you've even got new products. Of course, we did manage to find your suspiciously-Sharp-ish Blu-ray player, a new widgetified photo frame, and that lovely iPod dock. Check out our "tour" and see for yourself.%Gallery-13386%
CES 2008 ultimate swag bag giveaway: like a Xmas stocking in January
As you're probably well aware, CES is ground zero for free stuff -- most of which is crappy swag. But there's some good stuff to be had as well, and this year we're proud to present you with the ultimate CES swag bag. Literally bursting at the seams, this bag contains every single free item we've collected throughout the entire show. All in all over 100 items stuffed inside a courtesy HD DVD press backpack (which itself may be a collector's item some day soon), including a Jawbone Bluetooth headset, CoPilot Navigator 9, Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray disc, Tooth Tunes toothbrush, and an iriver Mplayer.All you have to do to throw your hat into the ring is to leave a comment in this post listing your favorite new product introduced in the past few days. Since we want to ship this thing out before we take off tomorrow, entires for this contest will be closed at exactly 12:00PM PT (noon, Pacific) on Friday, January 11th. Make sure you read all the points below before entering, 'cause we'd hate to disqualify anyone from winning this one-of-a-kind CES 2008 souvenir. Leave a comment below. Tell us your favorite new CES gadget. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winner will be chosen randomly. That winner will get a bag full of stuff whose value is impossible to determine, but which we doubt is more than $300. Entries can be submitted until Friday, January 11th, 12:00PM PT. Good luck! Full rules can be found here.
Hands-on with Amtek's iTablet T221
While Amtek is a bit short on history in the tablet and UMPC scene, the company seems to be making some pretty sweet moves. The latest from Amtek is this iTablet T221, which we found just as stylish in person as it looks in pictures. The version with the flush display is digitizer (pen) input only, while the white version adds a highly responsive and accurate capacitive touch capability (fingers) -- if sacrificing a bit of the sexy in the process.%Gallery-13392%
