DigiHunter

CES 2009 Report Part 1--Introduction

Jan 18, 2009 16:49

It's been a week since CES 2009 ended. I was there to check out the latest technologies and upcoming gadgets. Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule, my report has been delayed. But better late than never.

Samsung Booth

It seems most of the gadgets and stories have been covered by various bloggers and gadget sites including CNET, so I'm going to post about things I saw and was impressed with, as well as comments of my own.

I like to categorize the items introduced at CES 2009 as follows: Internet TV, settop boxes that let your TV connect to Internet content (mainly UCC and TV shows), MIDs, pico projector, wireless charging solutions and products, multi-chargers and UCC-dedicated HD camcorders.


Intel's TV+Internet Presentation


ZeeVee's ZV Box UI

CES 2009 seems to be all about Internet connectivity for various products and not just portable devices, including entertainment machines like TVs, settop boxes, desktop PCs and digital photo frames. The spotlight goes to TVs and settop boxes with Internet connectivity to bring online content to a different kind of screen so you can access the Net right from your couch. Most upcoming LCD TVs will include network connectivity to connect to the Internet, including Netgear devices so it's still possible to connect your old LCD TV to the Web as well.


Fulton's wireless charging solution


Powermat's wireless charging solution

Most of you probably have a hard time charging your portable devices since most members in a family usually own a mobile, MP3 player, PDA, laptop, CDP, etc., sometimes holding up to two or more of each. This means your power outlet has to take on the stress of many adapters charging at once. At CES 2009, the number of companies with related solutions and those offering wireless charging include Powermat, Fulton Innovation and iDAPT with multi-purpose chargers. Wireless charging solutions aren't new, but it seems these solutions are now ready to sell. Powermat, for one, has already prepared retail packages to ship out to consumers soon.

Besides the Sony VAIO P series introduced at CES 2009, Intel introduced 14 MIDs including four MIDs manufactured by Korean companies. These MIDs and Netbooks are still hot buzzwords for the IT sector and I believe 2009 will see more adoption of MIDs or possibly a letting go of this form factor much like the UMPC that we saw earlier but is not available anymore these days.


Sony VAIO P series


Intel's MID section


Toshiba's Internet viewer

Also, Sony, Kodak, RCA and Creative displayed UCC-dedicated HD camcorders. UCC sites have become the rage, particularly in Korea where it is synonymous with online video, with people looking for handy UCC-capable HD camcorders to upload and share their movie files with others. Each brand includes its own applications to help people upload their content easily to UCC sites.

The last thing would be pico projectors, with 3M, Optoma and Aiptek having released their first pico projector by end 2008. This is pretty new technology to overseas consumers who haven't seen those projectors in action. Most of the pico projectors still support 640 x 480 resolutions which aren't recommended for use in presentation. But Microvision and Butteryfly have announced pico projectors that can throw up to 800 x 600-pixel images. However, the price tag is around US$400-500, which is a bit high.


3M's Pico-Projector

My next report will focus on the MIDs and related booths like Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, MS, Viliv, Samsung, Toshiba and UMID.


CNET trailer with Engadget.


CNET Stage in the South hall.


More of the CNET Stage

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