ces-2012
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Microsoft's Illumiroom demo frees gaming from its TV cage
Usually when a television screen bleeds, it's not cause for celebration, nor does it signify the cutting edge of new technology. Microsoft's Illumiroom challenges that thought, using Kinect and a projector to transpose relevant video and images around the TV, on walls and furniture, while playing games.Illumiroom can add flickering lights, particles and ambiance to certain games, or expand the environment in others, though it's still a prototype for now. Microsoft showed off Illumiroom in a video at the Samsung CES keynote, and it looked something like the above film."IllumiRoom is a proof-of-concept Microsoft Research project designed to push the boundary of living room immersive entertainment by blending our virtual and physical worlds with projected visualizations," the Illumiroom YouTube description reads. "The effects in the video are rendered in real time and are captured live – not special effects added in post processing."
FCC working to expand WiFi spectrum, wants to avoid wireless 'traffic jam'
Ever suffer through the painfully slow bottleneck of public WiFi? Sure you have -- Airports, coffee shops, even your neighbor's unprotected home network are limited by the current WiFi spectrum. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says it's a problem, and wants to clean up the mess. Speaking with Gary Shaprio at CES, Genachowski revealed that he's been working with the DoD and other Government agencies open up more bandwidth for WiFi. Areas like New York City have an abundance of spectrum set aside for TV licenses, he says, airwaves that could serve the public better for WiFi or cellular networks. "The rest of the world is watching us," he told Shapiro. "We have to get it right... ...we need to have a nationwide, unlicensed, continuous, same-frequency platform for innovation." To do that, the FCC will need to wrench spectrum from the hands of broadcasters, and redistribute it. "We can reorganize it and ensure everybody gets a good share." It's an uphill battle, but one the chairman recognizes as important. "We predict a WiFi traffic jam, and we need to fix it... ...WiFi is such an integral part of our broadband ecosystem, and we need to make sure that we pay it sufficient attention." Check out the rest of Shaprio and Genachowski's dialog in our ongoing liveblog.
Up close with Valve's Steam Box prototypes
Engadget had a photo shoot with Valve's lineup of Steam Box and living room PC prototypes today at CES. A few of the designs were straight out of Valve's hivemind, while a few existing products, such as the Alienware X51 and Bolt from Digital Storm were examples of the "Steam in your living room" initiative. Valve's display was meant to demonstrate a variety of form factors for living room-friendly designs, hardware engineer Jeff Keyzer said.Check out the complete gallery over on Engadget, especially that one design that looks like the baby of an original Xbox and a Gamecube. Keep in mind that all of the controllers are stand-in Logitechs, not prototypes.
Newell: Valve's own 'Steam Box' will use Linux
Valve is in attendance at this year's CES festivities in Las Vegas, and while its primary mission is to meet with hardware partners like Xi3, founder Gabe Newell is still able to find the time to leak details about Valve's own illusive, as-of-yet still unannounced gaming hardware solution.First and foremost is the fact that Valve's Steam Box will run Linux, regardless of what the company's various hardware partners install on their own machines. "We'll come out with our own and we'll sell it to consumers by ourselves. That'll be a Linux box," Newell told The Verge. "If you want to install Windows you can. We're not going to make it hard. This is not some locked box by any stretch of the imagination."Newell also revealed that Valve's Steam Box will be a networked gaming solution for an entire home, not just the living room. "The Steam Box will also be a server," Newell said. "Any PC can serve multiple monitors, so over time, the next-generation (post-Kepler) you can have one GPU that's serving up eight simulateneous [sic] game calls. So you could have one PC and eight televisions and eight controllers and everybody getting great performance out of it. We're used to having one monitor, or two monitors – now we're saying lets expand that a little bit."This all sounds very exciting, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. As we learned from Valve electrical engineer Ben Krasnow earlier today, Valve has "no current plans to announce anything in 2013."
Razer's 'Project Fiona' becomes 'Edge' tablet, available Q1 [update]
Razer's 'Project Fiona' tablet is now the 'Edge,' a much more Razer-like name for the device. It's still designed to play recent PC games, with physical controls on the sides of the tablet. A version with an Intel i5 chip, 4GB of RAM, Windows 8 and a 64GB SSD is "available now" for $999, the company revealed at CES. A "Pro" model including a Core i7, 8GB of RAM, and either a 128GB or 256GB SSD is also available for $1299. This version is reportedly capable of running Dishonored at 59 frames per second.Update: both configurations will actually ship in Q1, not "now," Razer told us, despite the press release's assertion that "both models are available now."Those controllers have now become an optional (read: extra) dock, which can be swapped out for other accessories, like a keyboard dock and a dock with HDMI out and USB ports.Engadget got some hands-on time with the Edge at CES; for more information, check out their extensive writeup.
Nyko unveils Charge Station U, Pro Commander Wii U peripherals at CES 2013
In the past few years, Nyko's transformed from a third-party peripheral manufacturer of poor repute to one many gamers depend on for quality products. Devices like the Nintendo Wii Charge Station and the 3DS Power Pak+ went a long way in earning good will, and the latest slew of add-ons continues the company's recent tradition. Nyko's Charge Station U ($34.99) bolsters the standard Wii U GamePad charge stand with space for two plain Wii controllers (and includes rechargeable batteries for said Wii controllers), and its Pro Commander ($34.99) takes Nintendo's Pro Controller and swaps the awkward analog stick placement for a more traditional feel (read: like an Xbox 360 controller). While the former adds a $15 premium to Nintendo's first-party charging stand, it also adds the ability to charge your Wii controllers at the same time (as well as giving them rechargeable batteries); the Pro Commander is not only a perfectly capable controller, it also shaves $15 off of Nintendo's $50 asking price for the first-party Pro Controller. In so many words, if you buy both of these items, you'll be spending roughly the same amount as if you had bought Nintendo's first-party equivalents, only you get more functionality. We'll have our first chance to get hands-on with both devices, as well as the previously announced UBoost, Charge Base Pro, and Power Stand, this week as CES 2013 rages on. You'll be able to get your hands-on with all five starting this February when they arrive at retailers nationwide.
Mad Catz's 'Gamesmart' peripheral line connects to phones, tablets, PCs
Last week, Mad Catz revealed its "Gamesmart" initiative, designed to create a standard for peripherals across mobile and PC platforms. Now, we have an idea of what that actually means.Basically, the company is making new versions of its popular mouse, gamepad, and headset accessories that connect via Bluetooth to PCs, tablets, and mobile, with "a simplified setup process, longer battery life, and universal compatibility." The accessories are targeted for "early 2013," and will be shown at this week's CES, where all things that connect to phones live.While we're dubious of yet another competing standard for mobile phone controllers, if this works, it will be a great money saver for consumers, and a potential standardized input method for developers.
CES 2012 Flashback: Seth Green's favorite 3 apps
Last year we ran into Seth Green at CES and asked him his favorite 3 apps. As we reported later, Shodogg (an app Green has invested in) is an app for easily sharing videos across devices wirelessly. We're at CES this year and will keep you posted on any cool products we find.
How would you change the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1?
We've got a big, no, massive soft-spot for the GX1 around these parts. It was being reviewed during this year's CES and our man behind the lens rapidly became the object of our envy. In fact the only thing that really made us wince when testing it was the $950 price for the kit model -- otherwise we could feel our wallets opening obligingly. But how about those of you who did opt for one of these beauties? Does your experience match our own, or were there some unexpected bumps along the way? Now's your chance to share them with us.
Sony's Google TV-enabled NSZ-GS7 Network Media Player up for pre-order at J&R
We knew Sony's next batch of Google TV-enabled hardware was coming this summer, and now at least one device is up for pre-order at J&R. Folks who've been wanting the Android-based service without shelling out for a full TV set from the company will now only need to part with $200 for its NSZ-GS7 Network Media Player. The unit comes complete with an updated remote featuring a QWERTY keyboard, motion control, a microphone (for "voice commands") and a touchpad, and it's said to work with most of Sony's 2012 TV lineup. There still seems to be no word on this streaming box's exact specs, a ship date or when you'll be able to snag its Blu-ray touting sibling, but you can hit the source link to secure one for yourself in the meantime. Here's to watching whether it'll muster up more gusto for the platform than Logitech's Revue, once it's planted consumers' AV racks.
Sennheiser intros ritzy IE 800 earphones and HDVD 800 amp, your wallet screams
You thought Sennheiser had already done enough to appease audiophiles this year at CES? Think again. The company has announced yet another new set of headphones with an amp to keep it warm at night, but the high-end wares come at a high-end price. The ceramic IE 800 buds (€599 or $787) offer a broad 5 - 46,000 Hz audio range in spite of their mere 7mm drivers, while stainless steel vents on the back supposedly "improve bass and airflow." If you need some extra juice and don't mind forking over the premium €1,499 ($1,973), the HDVD 800 headphone amp's shell is rocking anodized aluminum and a glass window for peering at the bantam circuitry within -- way over the top, but also, pretty amazing. It supports 24-bit 192kHz sources and is engineered for ideal synergy with Senn's HD 800, HD 700, HD 650 and HD 600. Both should hit the shelves by summer of this year.
Nikon 1 future plans revealed: 4K video, brighter lenses, picture effects
Tetsuya Yamamoto, Nikon's head of development was at CES talking up the future plans of the company's 1 system cameras after strong holiday sales. The 10.1 megapixel sensor inside the 1 body is sufficiently capable of shooting 2 and 4K video and bringing that functionality into the unit is planned for a future edition. There's a need for a set of brighter lenses with faster auto-focusing, although we're not sure how much bigger you can get on that petite body. It's also kicking around the option of letting V1 (i.e. more professional) users get at manual AF control and in-camera RAW editing -- while J1 users can expect plenty of features they won't use much, like in-camera effects. It's exciting stuff, but let's hope these new features don't cause the price to climb any higher, eh?
Qualcomm buys Pixtronix to make for better Mirasol displays?
Qualcomm's whipped out some flipping great wadges of cash in order to snap up Pixtronix for its PerfectLight MEMS-based display tech. It reportedly cost between $175 - $200 million and is expected to be merged into the company's super-low power Mirasol-based displays. Compared to the Kyobo eReader we played with at CES, PerfectLight has a wider viewing angle (170 degree), supports full speed video playback and much better RGB modulation. Depending on how successful the marriage is, it could spell the end of the final hurdles that have hampered the widespread adoption of the technology.
Parrot updates the AR.Drone for a second version
CES 2010 was where we first heard of the Parrot AR.Drone, a radio-controlled quadricopter that hooked up via Wi-Fi to an iPhone app. And now, two years later, that product is out and successful -- and now, obsolete. Parrot used CES 2012 a few weeks ago to introduce the AR.Drone 2.0, a brand new version of the flying drone that's set to arrive for the exact same price later on this year. Last week at CES, we got to fly the drone around through its paces. There is actually a very noticeable difference in the new version once you get behind the wheel: It's much, much harder to crash. Part of the reason for that is updates in the drone's app and firmware, but the model for 2.0 makes the craft much sturdier, and a new onboard compass (along with some other tech) means it's easier to fly as well. Things are much more stable, so the drone itself can do much more of the work of just staying in the air. You, the flyer can focus on moving it around. %Gallery-145660% In addition to general adjustments, there's also a new mode implemented called "Absolute Control." This allows the drone to fly in a certain direction, no matter where you tell it to go. It's tough to explain in just text, but the AR.Drone 2.0 "knows" where it's looking, even when you turn it around. For most people, keeping it facing the same way while tilting your iPad or iPhone to move the device is much more intuitive than having to track both the direction you're actually tilting and the direction the drone is flying. Explaining how it works is confusing, but it makes flying the drone much less so. The drone design itself appears a little smaller than before, but it's actually about the same size. Rather than changing the form factor, some of the hardware has been strengthened, with the weak points on the initial model being the main targets for the refresh. There are also new cameras on board; they will shoot up to 720p HD video, which means even on a tablet screen video from the drone is clear and crisp. Parrot has seen a lot of action with the drones on YouTube as well; in fact, while we played with the drone at CES, there was also a world championship of sorts going on, with all kinds of flyers from around the world competing after having entered by posting videos online. The new model's software (still a free download from the App Store) will now allow you to not only see video live from the drone, but also take pictures and even record full HD video directly from the device. That should make for a lot of interesting viewing online, even if you don't buy one yourself. The AR.Drone 2.0 is a significant improvement on Parrot's already popular model. At $299, the AR.Drone is a pretty expensive toy (professionally made as it might be). The more stable control scheme, however, and the addition of the 720p camera and its capture features mean the Drone 2.0 is worth another look, even if you passed the first one by. We're set to get a review model later on this year, so stay tuned for an even more in-depth look at how it all works. The device itself is supposed to be available in Q2.
The Engadget Show 29: Red Cameras, MakerBot and the coolest gadgets of CES 2012
Consider this one last hurrah for CES 2012. Sure, we've happily left the Las Vegas Convention Center in the rear view mirror of the magical mystery Engadget trailer, but there's still plenty to talk about. We kick things off with a recap of Apple's textbook announcement, discussing what implications the move might have for the industry, before taking you on a tour of the Engadget CES trailer and stage. Next up, with got a pile of the Consumer Electronic Show's hottest devices on the gadget table, including the HTC Titan II, Acer Aspire S5, HP Envy 14 Spectre, Pantech Element and Burst, Nokia Lumia 900, Samsung Galaxy Note, Sony Xperia S and the $79 Ainovo Novo7 Paladin -- one of which will find its way into a tank of water. We also take you on a tour of the CES show floor and get some serious hands-on time with the new Red Scarlet camera. MakerBot's Bre Pettis joins us on stage to discuss the company's new Replicator 3D printer and we close things out with a performance by NYC's Ducky and a few of her dancer pals. Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater, Darren Murph Special guests: Bre Pettis, Richard Lai, Richard Lawler Producer: Guy Streit Director: Michelle Stahl Executive Producers: Joshua Fruhlinger, Brian Heater and Michael Rubens Music by: Ducky Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 029 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 029 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 029 (Small) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (MP4). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (MP4). [RSS MP4] Add the Engadget Show feed (MP4) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. [HD RSS] Get the Engadget Show delivered automatically in HD. [iPad RSS] Get the Engadget Show in iPad-friendly adaptive format.
Switched On: Connected Electronics Show
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Compared to CES 2011, which featured an explosion of tablets and high-powered smartphones poised to jump on emerging 4G networks, this year's edition of Gear and Gloating in Las Vegas was a more muted affair when it came to mobile devices. Sure, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile trotted out a few devices and there were even a few standouts, such as the Transformer Primesque Lenovo IdeaTab S2 with its its docking keyboard as well as the heavily promoted Galaxy Note, coming soon the U.S. after launching in Europe.
Leaked Sony image: Is this the ST25i Kumquat?
What's this? If this is true, it looks like one of the jilted partners in the Sony Ericsson split is doing all it can to ruin the nice surprises planned for next month's MWC. An image has appeared at Xperia Blog that purports to be of the ST25i Kumquat, which, if you've been paying attention is the cheapest of the three phones due in April listed on the leaked roadmap from a few days ago. The design language matches the Nozomi and the Xperia S we played with at CES, but the on-screen icons are clearly bigger: pointing us in the direction of this having a cheaper display (with a worse resolution) than its brothers. Don't let that Sony Ericsson logo fool you either, the company's producing versions that bear both branding, at least for this set of releases. We're off to grab a microscope and see if we can't glean any more facts from the snap.[Thanks, Joseph]
The iDevice cases of CES
If you review cases I have to feel bad for you. With so many to choose from, it must be like reviewing bags of sugar. By now there are also only so many ways to skin an iPhone, so the cases you see tend to be decorative, protective or novelty. That's about it. And we saw hundreds of cases at CES. In the gallery below there's a sampling of some of the hundreds of cases we saw. From scented and minimal to sporty and sturdy to gaudy and impractical, there's a case out there for each and every one of you. Walk among the aisles and wind up with the same thousand-yard stare we did after seeing such choice. Now you realize why they only carry so many in your favorite retailer's iOS accessory section. Retailers make the tough decisions of which of these cases might actually sell -- and I don't envy them in that task. %Gallery-145275%
Engadget Distro Issue 24: CES Roundup, OK Go's Andy Ross and SOPA comic relief
We've spent the past week recuperating and reflecting, and while we're ready to put CES 2012 behind us, we're bring you this special roundup edition to cover all of our consumer electronics bases. In this issue, we'll dive deep into product categories that were overlooked in our previous CES editions, like audio, and flesh out those categories that dominated this year's coverage. Also in this issue, OK Go's Andy Ross takes on the Distro Q&A, we bring you a visual breakdown of Engadget's CES Vital Stats and Box Brown takes a comic look at the SOPA / PIPA debate. So join us in grabbing a cold one and get to downloading.Update: And we're back! Let the downloads begin!Distro Issue 24 PDFDistro on the iTunes App StoreDistro in the Android MarketDistro APK (for sideloading)Like Distro on FacebookFollow Distro on Twitter
Editorial: Don't call it an ultrabook
Every year at CES, the tech-watching masses engage in a bit of trendspotting -- an attempt to identify the one or two big themes of the show that may or may not come to define the year in technology. Some years those are easy to spot (tablets and 3D TV were two big ones recently), and other times they involve a bit of guesswork. This year, one of the most oft-cited trends is the "ultrabook." Judging from the companies' announcements at the show and some of the coverage they've received, you might think that's a new sort of device or a radically new type of laptop. But, really, they're just laptops. Small, thin laptops -- but laptops. It's actually Ultrabook, with a capital "U," and a (TM). The name is a wholly-owned creation of Intel, and the hype you've seen for them at CES is only just the beginning. Intel is reportedly planning its biggest advertising push in eight years to promote Ultrabooks, and it's clearly already done a decent job of bringing hardware manufacturers on board the bandwagon. How many new "laptop" announcements do you remember from CES?
