ces 2010
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Alienware introduces teensy M11x gaming laptop
For those of you who want a high-end gaming experience, but don't want to develop totally ripped arms from lifting a standard "gaming laptop" or carry a computer that can double as a sail, Dell-owned Alienware has introduced the M11x, which combines power with tininess. The M11x, basically Alienware's version of a netbook, features an 11.6-inch screen and an NVidia GT335M card that can be switched off to increase battery life when not gaming. Retailing for some unspecified sub-$1,000 amount (so $999.99?), the tiny computer can apparently run Crysis at 60 frames per second in 720p. Check our gallery for more official images, and see some closeups of the device over on Engadget. The M11x is simply our pick for the most neato of the many new Dell and Alienware computers unveiled at CES. %Gallery-82263%
ASUS / Pegatron Neo with Tegra 2 hands-on
ASUS may be in the process of spinning off the Pegatron brand, but for now it's still the same company behind this here slick white smartbook. Running the inevitable Android OS on a 10-inch display, but offering the never-boring Tegra 2 combo of 1080p playback and up to a "full day" of WiFi-enabled battery juice, the prototype machine was being shown off to give us a hint of what's to come. We're told the Neo is definitely coming later in the year, though the particulars of the price tag and distributor badge are not yet revealed. For our money, this was a spectacularly thin and light pseudo-laptop -- it's hard to overstate just how deprived of weight this thing is. Opening it up shows an appealing layout and keyboard, which were rather spoiled by a number of creaky and unstable parts. We found deep flex in the keyboard panel and around the hinges, but our optimistic souls are willing to put those things down to it being a demo unit. If this featherweight design makes it to market without sacrificing any of the good bits while getting rid of the bad ones, we'd recommend it in a hot and sweaty second. %Gallery-82366%
Details, limitations of Xbox 360 Mediaroom 2.0 IPTV support
Three years after being unveiled at CES, Microsoft's Mediaroom software is finally coming to Xbox 360 (in the form of Mediaroom 2.0) "later this year" thanks to AT&T's U-verse service. But, that's all the details we had. Until today, when we spoke with Xbox's Aaron Greenberg as well as a Mediacenter spokesperson on the show floor who, between the two of them, managed to answer most of our questions. First, we asked Greenberg to explain the three-year delay between the technology's 2007 debut and this announcement. "Well, the technology that we showed [in 2007] was brand new and showing that it worked," Greenberg said. "What we then did was we went out to the IPTV content providers and said, 'Hey, now this is an option for you.'" And that option was, of course, to use the Xbox 360 to deliver IPTV content. Greenberg said, "So the technology works ... the Xbox 360 can serve as a set-top box, be a DVR, and run Mediaroom." But not so fast! We got a tour of the service and found a few disappointing shortcomings to that nominally appealing feature-set.
VIZIO CES concept designs show a future of ultrawidescreen, ultrathin & wireless HDTVs
VIZIO's announced 2010 lineup is alright and we'll get to them in a minute, but a few slick concepts were more than enough to distract us momentarily from nearer future products. What did we get our eyes on? Check the gallery and continue our shared experience with a 1/4" thick "Blade" LCD TV, 24-inch portable wireless (WiFi) HDTV, universal touchscreen IR remote, Quad HD display, Bluetooth headphones and of course the 58-inch 21:9 ultrawidescreen beauty shown above. We wouldn't be surprised if at least some of these are closer to production than several announced products here in Vegas, so check the video & press release after the break before trawling the shelves of local Wal-marts looking for a leak. %Gallery-82373%
LG Rumor Touch hands-on
LG launched another Rumor set on Sprint yesterday: the LG Rumor Touch. As you all likely sussed from the name, this iteration brings touchscreen -- resistive -- to the mix and it also comes loaded with a pretty stellar keypad. The touchscreen is pretty sharp as well, both with the haptic feedback when using it, response to your finger's pokes, and the quality of the display itself. The feel of the set is a bit light, -- but it doesn't extend to cheap -- the slide is solid with nary a bit of rattle, and the fit where the device's various edges meet is good. A standout, while trivial, are the themes the Touch supports, whereby, depending on season, the UI changes to winter, turkeys for thanksgiving, and, well, you get the idea. While we covered off all the specs yesterday, we learned today the Touch Rumor should ship for mid-March, but still no word on pricing. So with that, why don't you drop below and have a peek at the gallery and watch the video walkthrough we put together with one of LG's finest. %Gallery-82334%
iriver Story e-reader hands-on
At one point in time it seemed like iriver had a monopoly on insane, imaginative designs. Sure, it was mostly centered around PMPs, but iriver's stuff in its heyday was fun enough to make even a screenless MP3 player seem interesting. Lately, however, things seem a little more conservative. Take this iriver Story, for instance: it's a sexy device that seems very on par with other e-readers on the market... and that's about it. We played around with it a bit on the show floor, and found the keyboard to be pretty great, the design solid and slim, and the software pretty slow. With all the extra function-specific buttons on the keyboard, there's less of the arbitrary UI navigation limitations posed by some of the more simplistic e-book readers, but there's nothing so amazing or useful on the device that it would tempt the Kindle faithful. We're particularly worried about book load times, but it'll take some more time with the unit to really see how it stacks up across the board. For now you can check out a video walkthrough of the device after the break. %Gallery-82369%
Shuttle laptops hands-on
Shuttle's press announcement of its new mobile platform was accompanied by a booth's worth of demonstration units and we went over for a quick peek. What we saw was a selection of rather conventional looking machines -- certainly the new internal layout is not going to affect the way machines will look on the outside. There was an Atom N450 netbook in among the chunkier devices, which -- though they sported Shuttle branding and model names -- seem to be just sample machines to entice OEMs into picking up the Shuttle design. This was demonstrated best by the ridiculously creaky keyboard on one of the laptops and its hapless monitor frame. Closing and opening the lid led to the display casing splitting open (see here), which was as damaging to our love of Shuttle as it was to the unfortunate plastic. Update: Shuttle pinged us to say that those are definitely prototypes and as such the quality of the company's products should not be judged on their current state. %Gallery-82355%
Viliv P3 is like the Zii Egg of devices that don't run Plaszma OS (hands-on)
When we approached the just-introduced Viliv P3, we were cautiously optimistic that we were looking at a phone. Needless to say, our hopes would go on to be mercilessly dashed, but in the wake of the carnage, we were still left with an intriguing PMP with a big AMOLED display and an 800MHz Cortex A8 processor. You could argue that the most compelling feature, though, is that it clocks in at just 9.8mm thick -- a full 1.7mm thinner than the Nexus One while still managing 800 x 480 resolution. It felt a little creaky, but we were assured that the unit on hand was an early prototype -- and honestly, we'd even be willing to take a little creakiness on a production model if you get this kind of thickness (or lack thereof) in return. It's also got 720p TV-out, storage up to 32GB, optional T-DMB and DAB tuners, an exposed microSD slot on the bottom, and -- check this out -- Windows CE dual-boot capability, although the unit here only had Android installed. Stuff an HSPA radio in there and call it good, guys. Follow the break for a quick video of the P3 in action. %Gallery-82361%
Andy Rubin on multitouch in Android: 'I personally don't like two-handed operations'
In a very special CES edition of All Things D today, our own Joshua Topolsky had an opportunity to directly confront Google's Andy Rubin on the nagging multitouch issue -- not necessarily multitouch itself, but the growing disparity in support between American and European devices (the Droid / Milestone being the most famous example): "You call this a superphone -- 3.7-inch capacitive display, but no keyboard and no multitouch. Yet it has multitouch outside the US. Why not America?" Andy's reply: "It's not an America versus outside America kind of thing. It's a decision that is a result of the OEM model. I personally don't like two-handed operations... there is no conspiracy." That doesn't explain the fact that the European Nexus One seems to have some in-built multitouch enabled -- nor does it explain why any manufacturer would ever opt to exclude it under any circumstances unless there's some outside pressure involved. Surely Rubin's personal preferences don't play into this... right? Right, Google?
NUU Player runs Boxee on Atom
D-Link's Boxee Box might be the Tegra 2-powered star of CES, but it's not the only hardware running Boxee -- NUU Media's NUU player runs the grown-up version of XBMC on an Atom processor alongside some other custom apps. It's also got a 160GB local hard drive and runs a WebKit browser, compared to no local storage and Mozilla on the Boxee Box. What's more, there's also a Skype app and Bluetooth support, so you'll be able to make and take calls from the couch using a headset. Of course, all that means it'll cost "around $300" instead of the Box's "under $200" when it launches around March, but we know some of you might spend the extra coin for the more home theater-rack friendly form factor alone. Pics in the gallery, video after the break! %Gallery-82348%
Casio Exilim EX-FH100 hands-on in super-slow-mo
We're suckers for slow motion video, and Casio's clearly tapped into a vast supply of FPS to feed our cravings. The latest in its series of high speed cameras is the Exilim EX-FH100 point and shoot. It does 10 megapixel stills, high speed burst capture and up to 1,000 FPS video. Like with other Casio models, the higher the frame rate, the lower the resolution, but you can get a full VGA image at 120 FPS. At $349 it's practically a bargain if you absolutely need to do slow motion, and while it's a bit chubby and heavy in comparison to "fashionable" point and shoots, it's plenty capable as a stills camera to keep this from being a one trick pony. Check out the slow-motion capabilities after the break. %Gallery-82363%
Ostendo multiple CRVD display games-on
We're sort of hoping the third year's the charm for Ostendo and the CRVD display -- we first spotted the crazy 43-inch curved monitor at CES 2008 with Alienware and NEC branding, then just NEC branding at Macworld 09, and now it's CES 2010 and Ostendo is actually selling it directly. Even better, the company's hooked up with ATI for a pretty sweet Eyefinity demo -- sure, you might have seen the three- or six-screen Eyefinity demos in the past, but having three CRVD screens wrap 180 degrees around you is pretty wild. We played a little Dirt 2 and did a little Google Earth zooming on the rig -- we might never scrape the $6,499 per screen for a setup like this, but we can certainly watch the videos after the break and pretend. P.S.- Yes, the CRVD still has the same weak 2880 x 900 resolution, but Ostendo tells us they're working on something with more pixels for the future. Just don't make us wait another three years, okay? Update: Our friends at Engadget Spanish went back with their super-sweet fisheye lens and took some more pics -- you definitely want to check them out. %Gallery-82357%
Shuttle SPA and Micro SPA notebook motherboard standards launched at CES
Shuttle's just announced the SPA (Shuttle PCB Assembly) and Micro SPA notebook form factors to create a "new notebook ecosystem." The SPA currently covers 13-inch to 17-inch laptops while Micro SPA does 10 to 15 inches. This horizontal integration targets the small local OEMs as it would purportedly reduce production cost while simultaneously boosting green credit. Parts like fans, chassis and trackpad can be reused for new models or even just across one product generation -- you'll notice that all the ports and components are thus identically positioned, as pictured. While you question whether this will be just another another attempt headed to Mount Doom, Shuttle is confident as it's "standardizing the whole thing" rather than just one or two components. Word has it that several European vendors have already placed orders for a February launch, and US laptop fanatics will see SPA products in the following month. Anyone wishing to jump in can make minimum bulk orders of around 200 units and expect a two to three week production cycle in Shuttle's Taiwanese and Chinese factories. Press release after the break. %Gallery-82351%
Syndiant and Foryou break the low-res mold with 1,024 x 600 pico projector
We've already seen a pico projector here at CES that packs 1GB of internal storage, but Syndiant and Foryou have now finally announced a new device that has an upgrade where it really counts: resolution. Unfortunately, it's still just a prototype, and there's no word about pricing or availability, but the projector does use Syndiant's 1,024 x 600 resolution SYL2061 panel (pictured at right), and it still fits in a shirt pocket. Nothing else much in the way of details just yet, but this one's definitely the pico projector to beat when it comes to pumping out pixels.
inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry wrist-on
We managed to track down the guys from Canada's Allerta and got to spend some time with a couple dummy models of the soon-to-be-released inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry. Design-wise, it's very attractive, with a brushed metal body and a leather band. As a bonus to early orderers, the first 1,000 sold will be custom-milled on a CNC router -- ironically, it'll actually be more cost-effective for them to do it that way while they build up production volume. In terms of functionality, it will launch with support for displaying text messages, caller ID, new e-mails, and BlackBerry Messenger messages (yes, it supports BBM!). It'll give you information on who the message is from and a preview of the message's contents. We couldn't get a hard shipping date, but rest assured we'll let you know as soon as we do -- for now, our hands-on gallery will have to suffice. %Gallery-82349%
You Rock Guitar spotted at CES, we shred on video
Surely you remember the You Rock Guitar from earlier this week. How could you forget, right? Well here on the CES show floor, we had the opportunity to rock out (gently, of course) with the lightweight, multitouch Guitar Hero / Rock Band controller -- which just so happens to be platform agnostic. It's got a plethora of settings and buttons, but it can actually double as a semi-legitimate guitar when plugged into an amp. For a music game peripheral, it's about as real as it gets, though it's hard to say if you're better off dropping 180 bones on this instead of a standard controller and a swanky new Squier. Don't take our word for it, though -- jump on past the break and mash play. %Gallery-82129%
Boxee Box interface demo video
We're already gone hands-on with the Boxee Box and its sweet QWERTY RF remote, but now that we know there's a dual-core Tegra 2 in there it's time for a little interface demo with founder Avner Ronen. First things first: yes, it ran Hulu in the browser -- but the network connection on the show floor was acting up, so we couldn't demo it very well. Avner tells us the built-in browser IDs itself as essentially standard Mozilla, so we'll have to see if Hulu goes out of its way to block it --it's definitely still possible, but it'll take some work. Apart from that minor drama, we've got to say we're incredibly impressed -- the interface was lightning fast, the remote's keyboard felt great, and we're liking the Facebook / Twitter integration, which mines your feeds for videos posted by your friends and displays them on the home page. Avner tells us he thinks D-Link will be "aggressive" with that under-$200 price point when the Box launches in Q2, and there'll be tons of content partners at launch. Video after the break! %Gallery-82343%
Live from All Things D at CES 2010
We're live at the All Things D event at CES 2010. We're slated to see conversations with Jon Rubinstein, Reed Hastings, and Andy Rubin, so stay tuned -- we start at 3:30PM PT!
LG Lotus Elite hands-on: it's red, square, and marginally attractive
We saw the LG Lotus Elite launch yesterday and today we had a chance to play with it for a few minutes. Sure, we did poke a bit of fun at its strange styling, but, once in hand we were pleasantly surprised to find it's really no better. Though, the keyboard, both displays, and the UI are actually quite nice to use, so we'd wager this will likely be a pretty successful handset at the $99 price tag it launches at. What definitely stood out, though, was the ability to get at so many features via the external display and the swiveling camera -- that actually rotates with the hinge -- is a nice touch, too. Luckily for us, Martin Valdez -- you may remember him from last year -- was on hand to give us a walkthrough, and did so in fine style. Follow on for a gallery and a video that shows off most of the standout features. %Gallery-82315%
ION iType brings a full-size keyboard to the iPhone
So far, only the jailbreakers have been able to pair up a Bluetooth keyboard with their iPhone, but ION is working on a hardware solution -- they're showing off what's basically a dock at CES that has a full-size keyboard connected to it. Very interesting. Of course, it makes the iPhone a lot bigger (though their marketing says it's for travelers who want a little something less than a full laptop computer -- if only there was a device released to fill that need), but it's also battery-charged, so it'll recharge your handheld while allowing you to type out emails and messages on a full keyboard. The price is supposed to be "slightly more than $100," and a release is set for the second quarter of 2010. If you've wanted to use a full-size keyboard with the iPhone but haven't gone for the jailbreak, we'll keep an eye on the release for you.
