2008Ces
Latest
Hands-off with the Chevy Volt hydrogen concept powertrain
GM spliced and diced a Chevy Volt hydrogen prototype and put it up for the world to see at this year's 2008 CES. Rocking GM's fifth generation fuel cell stack en-lieu of a regular gasoline engine, we wouldn't hold our breath seeing this before the electric version drops in 2010. Peep the gallery below for the full run-down.%Gallery-13399%
Asus M70S and M50S notebooks boast 1TB of storage
As you may have read in our coverage of Hitachi's new 5K500 2.5-inch 500GB drive, Asus will be the first manufacturer to pack a pair of these capacious components into a set of upcoming widescreen models, giving the 17-inch M70S and 15-inch M50S the distinguished honor of being the world's first one terabyte laptops. Besides those oddly-sized drives (which can configured in either RAID 0 or RAID 1), these machines will also offer up to WUXGA or WSXGA+ resolutions (for the M70 and M50, respectively), 2.4GHz T7700 Core 2 Duo processors, AMD ATI Radeon HD 3650 graphics, and a fingerprint reader, along with an optional hybrid TV tuner and remote. As usual, the good stuff (pictures, pricing) will be coming in a few days at the Show of Shows.
Syntax-Brillian's Olevia line: Now with 120Hz and more 1080p
Newly LCD-focused HDTV maker Syntax-Brillian has teased a few details about its plans for CES, bringing a high-end feature from CES 2007, 120Hz, to its mainstream Olevia brand. No word on specific models or prices, but 1080p and 120Hz motion processing are the highlights of the 42-, 47-, 52-, 55- and 65-inch LCDs. Rounding out the CES 2008 plans are a JPEG/MP3 support, USB firmware upgrades, a new universal learning remote, and a whole slew of Olevia-branded accessories including HDMI cables, wall mounts and a wireless/waterproof LCD. Expect more details in a few days, and look for these HDTVs to hit shelves in the second quarter.
Motorola's DH01 DVB-H mobile TV with 4.3-inch screen, DVR
Motorola's really nerding out about DVB-H here, but if you look past all the tech speak, it turns out Motorola is prepping an actual product to support its mobile TV efforts. The DH01 sounds pretty much exactly like one of those South Korean portable digital TVs, only this one's silicon runs red white and blue. That's right, 2008 means mobile TV is finally going to come into its own in the States, and the DH01 isn't a bad way to kick off the year. The unit sports a 4.3-inch screen, displays video at 25fps, can record TV to and play various media from SD cards, and lasts four hours in the battery department. Maybe not the most exciting of beginnings, but if Korea's product cycle here is any indication, we'll have a lot more of these to choose from before the year is up -- that is, if cellphones don't win out in this space altogether.
LG to demo "MPH" mobile TV system at CES
It looks like the stumbling transition over to digital television here in the US is about to get a little help from LG, which is planning on showing a new mobile digital TV system called MPH at CES. MPH, or Mobile Pedestrian Handheld, is based on an existing system called vestigial side band, or VSB, and can be retrofitted to existing digital systems, enabling a wide range of services -- even to vehicles traveling at highway speeds. LG says it spent two years and $7.4M developing the tech -- we'd say our TV habit is totally worth it.[Via MocoNews]
LG.Philips announces 14.3-inch flexible e-paper display for CES
Try to contain yourself when we rattle off the following list of specs for LG.Philips's latest A4 sheet of flexible e-paper: 14.3-inches, 1280 x 800 pixels, 16.7m colors, 300 micrometers thick, full 180° viewing angle. It'll be at CES, but apparently only for Korean models to hold and love. The rest of us? Not so lucky, not even by a long shot.
HP announces Pavilion a6330f desktop PC
Feeling a touch overwhelmed by HP's outpouring of media center PCs? If so, the Pavilion a6330f should calm those nerves quite a bit, as this humble rig is designed for those not quite ready to drop a grand (or more) on a new desktop. Check the innards below: 2.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core 5600+ processor NVIDIA's nForce 430 chipset 3GB of DDR2 RAM 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA hard drive HP Pocket Media Drive Bay SuperMulti DVD burner (LightScribe-enabled) NVIDIA 128MB GeForce 6150 SE graphics set Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader As for the port assortment, you can count on six USB 2.0 sockets, a pair of FireWire connectors, audio in / out and VGA. Additionally, you'll find an HP mouse and multimedia keyboard tossed in for good measure, and you can spec yours out later this month starting at $649.
HP intros SL4282N, SL4782N connected HDTVs, updates Media Center Extender software on older models
Finally we're seeing some real devices leverage Microsoft's Extenders for Windows Media Center platform, and HP's first on the scene of the "new" platform with embedded hardware in its two new HDTVs, the 42-inch SL4282N, and 47-inch SL4782N. Native 1080p panel (with HP's Visual Fidelity Engine) 500cd/m² brightness, 2000:1 contrast ratio, 176° viewing angle, 6ms response, 3:2 pulldown (3) HDMI, (2) component, (2) composite / S-Video, (1) VGA Integrated 802.11a/b/g/n, Ethernet Front speakers now NXT Functions as a MCE, playing back DivX, XviD, H.264, MPEG-2, and WMV (also has HP's media interface) Built-in ATSC and clear-QAM tuners But wait, there's more: current MediaSmart HDTV owners will receive a software update that adds the latest Media Center Extender software, giving them access to these new updates and codecs. Of course, now you can forego the buying of the integrated, connected TV if you just want to snag a MediaSmart Receiver (or a 360). They should run $1,900 and $2,400, respectively, when released in the spring.
HP Pavilion Elite m9150f PC handles HD DVD, OTA TV
Not pleased with any of HP's other offerings? Fret not, as we've got yet another one coming your way. The Pavilion Elite m9150f PC comes ready to handle those HD DVD / PVR duties, and it may even withstand a e-mail or two. Here's the dirt: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor Intel's G33 Express chipset 3GB of DDR2 RAM Dual 360GB (720GB total) 7,200 SATA hard drives HP's Personal / Pocket Media Drive Bays HD DVD (read-only) drive LightScribe-enabled SuperMulti DVD burner Gigabit Ethernet / 802.11b/g WiFi NTSC / ATSC / FM tuners HP Media Center remote control with IR receiver Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader If you couldn't already guess, this one also packs six USB 2.0 ports, twin FireWire sockets, audio in / out, a wireless keyboard / mouse combo and HDMI / DVI outputs. As with HP's other newly announced media PCs, the m9100 series is set to ship this month and start at $1,159.
HP's Phenom 9500-powered Pavilion Media Center m8330f PC
Remember those tasty Phenom chips AMD loosed back on November? We sure hope so, because that's the CPU HP's relying on in its forthcoming Pavilion Media Center m8330f PC. Here's the specifics: 2.2GHz AMD Phenom 9500 quad-core CPU NVIDIA's nForce 430 chipset 3GB of DDR2 RAM Twin 320GB 7,200 RPM SATA hard drives HP's Personal Media Drive Bay LightScribe-enabled SuperMulti DVD burner NTSC / ATSC / FM tuners HP Media Center remote control with IR receiver Front-mounted 15-in-1 multicard reader Beyond that, you can expect six USB 2.0 ports, a pair of FireWire connectors, audio in / out, HDMI and DVI sockets and an HP mouse / keyboard combo. Like the s3330f PC already mentioned, this too will be landing real soon with a price tag starting at $959.
