News from CES 2008

Get the latest news and scoops on cool gadgets from the Consumer Electronics Show

International CES

Gates bids adieu to CES, sense of humor intact

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has never taken himself as seriously as he does his company. So it was only fitting that it was with a humorous and star-studded video parody that he kicked off his final keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show. Read more...

View Bill Gates keynote address
View Bill Gates' spoof of his retirement
Sprint asserts that Xohm WiMax push is on track

Sprint Nextel Corp. and its partners in the ambitious WiMax Xohm initiative insisted that the project for faster wireless networking is on track as planned.

Intel CEO says get ready for the Personal Internet

Intel CEO Paul Otellini talked about the next Internet generation in his CES keynote speech.

Q&A: Gates' role as innovator, deal-maker, philanthropist

In an interview with the IDG News Service, Bill Gates defends his legacy as an innovator and explains how deals announced this week came about.

CES: Gates marks progress in digital entertainment

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates touted progress in the company's strategy to provide digital content through a host of Internet-based channels and devices as he delivered his last keynote address at the CES trade show in his current role at the company

Gates says 100M copies of Vista sold

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Sunday the company has sold more than 100 million licenses of Windows Vista since its launch 13 months ago.

Blogs, new media reshape politics

Blogs and other Web 2.0 technologies are having a profound impact on this year's presidential campaign, and candidates are using the new media in different ways to boost their campaigns.

Gadgets

Reporter's notebook: Devices that everyone noticed

While it was practically impossible to see everything at the CES trade show, big draws were the Taser holster/MP3 player and an air guitar device for rock star wannabes.

Gadgets move toward Convergence 2.0

CES has always been about gadgets, but the addition of using gadgets to access Web 2.0 services intensified this year.

Wireless power on its way

Vendors at the CES trade show demonstrated products that can charge cell phones, laptops and other devices without using wires.

Hitachi upgrades software to blunt wear on DVR storage

Hitachi said the latest upgrade to its Audio-Visual Storage Manager software can cut the power needs of digital video recorders.

Sony demos faster-than-USB wireless transfer system

Sony is using near-field communications technology to move files between gadgets and PCs at speeds faster than USB is capable of.

Microsoft, Yahoo tout big mobile plans at CES

Google Inc. and Apple Inc. don't have major booths on the floor of the CES trade show, but they are very much on the minds of their competitors.

Sony mylo
Next-gen Sony mylo shows validity of Wi-Fi The arrival of the new version of Sony's personal communicator, mylo, shows the resiliency of Wi-Fi as a service that is growing while also getting less expensive, according to supporters. Yahoo invites third-party mobile widget developers

Yahoo Inc. today plans to introduce new versions of its two primary mobile services, and it expects to launch documentation that will let any developer or publisher write mobile widgets for the Yahoo services.

Home appliances get digital photo frames

Digital photo frames are reaching home appliances like cordless phones and refrigerators, as will be evident at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show.

Device bypasses PC to record video onto iPods, USB devices

Pinnacle Systems has introduced a device that can record analog video onto iPods and other USB storage devices.

Corsair releases its first 32GB USB flash drives

Corsair announced two new 32GB USB drives, one in a rubber casing and the other in an aircraft-grade, waterproof aluminum casing. Each has encryption software and can hold full operating systems or 16 high-definition DVD movies.

 

Bits and Bytes Blog

Barbara Krasnoff
At CES, you don't need a big booth to get attention

Blogger Barbara Krasnoff is finding some gadget gems among the smaller but hungrier vendors at the CES trade show.

PCs

Alienware curved monitor
Alienware monitor designed to draw in gamers At CES, Alienware showed off a prototype curved monitor that's aimed at gamers and video editors. Asus Eee rival emerges in Everex CloudBook UMPC

The ultra-mobile, Linux-based laptop scene gets a little more populated as Everex prepares to debut its CloudBook -- $400, two pounds, and coming later this month to the nation's biggest electronics retailer.

PC-to-Mac file transfer draws a crowd

Storage and data transfer technologies on display at CES included some newcomers, including a device to handle file transfers between PCs and Macs. Intel also waded into the solid-state storage fray with two drive announcements.

IBM, Emotiv show advances in virtual reality worlds

IBM and its partners showed what's possible with virtual reality at CES, including the ability to control an avatar using brain signals and a wireless connection to a PC.

Recycle
Vendors look to ease recycling costs on users Major vendors including Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and Sony Corp. are working together to push through a legislative mandate in the U.S. that will make it easier for users to recycle their consumer electronics. Asus to super-size the weeEee

Taiwanese PC maker Asustek Computer Inc. on Monday confirmed rumors that it will enlarge upcoming versions of its hit Eee mini-notebook PC to accommodate 8-in. and 9-in. LCD screens, up from the current 7-in. LCDs the $399 Eee now sports.

BitMicro 832GB solid state drive
BitMicro preps 832GB solid state drive for launch BitMicro Networks Inc. today will announce that it is putting the finishing touches on an 832GB version of its E-Disk Altima 2.5-in. Serial ATA flash solid-state drive. HP vows to reduce PC energy use by 25% in 2010

Hewlett-Packard announced at CES plans to cut the energy use of its PCs by 25% within two years.

Lenovo, Toshiba reveal new UMPCs at CES

A walk through Intel's booth at CES revealed some new ultra-mobile PCs, some of which run on the Linux platform.

Qualcomm focuses on 'pocketable computers'

Qualcomm is showing prototypes this week at the Consumer Electronics Show of 'pocketable computers', which fall between smart phones and laptops in terms of size and functionality.

AMD says Puma notebook processors will ship in Q2

AMD unveiled a new processor platform for laptop computers with new graphics and microprocessor chips.

Intel adds 16 new 45nm chips to Penryn line

Intel introduced 16 more 45nm Penryn processors, including the first laptop chips, surprising analysts who didn't expect to see so many.

OQO
OQO shows off WiMax-enabled ultramobile PC The OQO Model 02, an ultramobile PC running Windows Vista that was first introduced a year ago, is embedded with mobile WiMax capabilities. HP goes high-definition with new multimedia laptop

HP has unveiled a new multimedia laptop, the HP Pavilion HDX, that offers high-definition capabilities, including a 20.1-in. screen.

Lenovo dives into consumer market with IdeaPad

Expanding on its popular ThinkPad family of PCs, Lenovo is stepping out of its comfort zone and launching into the heady and lucrative consumer market with a new line of laptop and desktop PCs branded IdeaCentre.

Asus to unveil terabyte laptop

Asus will unveil a laptop that should satisfy the storage needs of all but the biggest of power users: the M70S comes with 1TB of storage space.

Intel: It's early for mobile quad-core processors

Intel Corp. today officially launched Penryn-based dual-core processors for notebooks, but it also indicated that users expecting quad-core mobile processors may have to wait until issues surrounding power consumption are resolved.

Home Entertainment

OLED TVs have their own glow at CES

OLED TVs are getting ready for prime time and are among the stars of CES. But some say the flat-screen TVs, which are as thin as a framed picture on the wall, have too short a life span and are very expensive.

Economy and DVD sales slip drove Warner to Blu-ray

Fears of a recession and poor DVD sales played into Warner Bros's decision to back Blu-ray Disc over HD DVD for a high definition DVD format.

Panasonic shows 150-inch plasma screen

Panasonic displayed a 150-inch plasma TV prototype called the Life Screen, which it said is the largest yet. The company also unveiled a 50-inch flat-panel TV that's just under an inch thick.

Panasonic 150-inch TV
Warner's Blu-ray Disc move has industry buzzing

The consumer electronics industry is abuzz ahead of this year's CES show with Friday's news that Warner Bros is dropping HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc.

Related video Toshiba says HD DVD format isn't dead yet

Toshiba remains defiant about the future of its HD DVD format at CES saying it's a long way from dead despite Time Warner's backing of rival Blu-Ray.

TV converter boxes to help with digital TV switch

With over-the-air television broadcasts switching from analog to digital in just over a year, converter boxes are expected to be among the hot devices on display at next week's CES.

Copyright © 2008 IDG Communications, Inc.

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