2010 CES

R-Type strategy guide, Easter Eggs, and do you see my signature on the cover?

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

I found an old issue of Video Games & Computer Entertainment magazine in an ancient cardboard box filled with stuff I somehow saved from my years at summer camp. Dated July 1989, it's more than 20 years old--and it's an incredible reminder of how quickly things can change.

Besides the god-awful layout by modern standards, I found a few notable shocks when thumbing through the issue:

• Game ads have addresses to write to and phone numbers to call, since there were no Web links yet.
• The TurboGrafx-16 preview, featured on the front cover, boasts how the $199 console will have "stereo output" and an optional $399 CD-ROM player with CD-G support that will be able to "display still pictures and graphics" in addition to music.
• A letter regarding Tengen's Nintendo cartridges and Nintendo's lawsuit with them discusses whether or not they'll still be making Tetris. More interestingly, the editor's response reveals that the magazine's lead time in 1989 was three to four months...which is nearly the same as print magazines today.
• A preview page discusses Sega's upcoming games shown off at the recent Summer CES in Chicago.

It sounds like an alternate reality nowadays, but there once was a time when the CES was in other cities than Las Vegas, took place at a different time than January, and had a heavy focus on games. The article, written by Andy Eddy, points out the highlights, in case you weren't already disoriented:

Layout, circa 1989.

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

• World Games, an adaptation of the hit Epyx title.
• Wanted, a Light Phaser game.
• Passing Shot
• Dynamite Dux
• Captain Silver
• Cloud Master
• Basketball Nightmare
• Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
• Ultima IV
• Walter Payton Football
• Alex Kidd: High Tech World
• And some hot new titles from Activision, including Cyborg Hunter, Rampage and Bomber Raid.

If you can remember more than seven games from the list above, you're a better Sega fan than I--and I owned every Sega system from the Master System onwards.

He also discusses how, later that year, Sega will release the Mega Drive in America, with all its 16-bit wonder.

It makes me wonder where games will be in another 20 years--what we'll be boasting about, and how much of our current generation's crop will be irrelevant in a similar look back. Then again, it's funny to reflect on how some things have survived--many of the games on the Master System and TurboGrafx-16 are now available on the Wii's Virtual Console or on other devices, as our culture becomes ever more retro-obsessed.

Seeing a used-game ad spread across one page reminded me even further of how many of these titles have been lost to the general collective memory, save a quick look at Wikipedia. It's like gaming's library of Alexandria. On the other hand, hey, it seems like GameStop buys back games for about the same price as Play It Again did in 1989.

For your amusement, some used game prices from 20 years ago.

(Credit: Scott Stein/CNET)

And, more importantly, in 2029, will print magazines still have a three-month lead time? Yes, that's a trick question.

It used to be that the SEMA Show was the biggest mobile electronics show, but this year the usual suspects in the in-car electronics biz decided to stand back and wait for the new big show: CES 2010.

Now that the wait is almost over, just what should we expect from the world of car technology at CES? Here's our best guess:

The EcoRoute ESP will connect your Garmin Nuvi to your vehicle's diagnostics port.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

You down with OBD?
On-board diagnostics connections have been required on vehicles for almost two decades. This mysterious window into your car's brain has been the best kept secret of mechanics and tuners, until now. We're starting to see more and more consumer electronics that take advantage of the diagnostics data provided by your car to perform all sorts of neat tricks, such as provide fuel economy data or keep tabs on teen drivers.

Earlier this year, Garmin gave us a peak at a system called EcoRoutes ESP that interfaces with a vehicle's OBD port to deliver real-time fuel economy and engine operation data to a Nuvi navigation device via Bluetooth. We expect that Garmin will be ready to share more information as to how ESP will affect the navigation experience when it arrives at the CES show floor.

GPS vs. smartphones, round 2
2009 was supposed to be the year that GPS-enabled smartphones finally crushed standalone navigation devices. However, instead of just rolling over and giving up, the portable navigation market has innovated. At CES 2010, we expect the battle to heat up with a number of new Internet-connected navigation devices and smartphone cradles.

TomTom has been quiet about its CES showings, but we suspect that--with a foot in both navigation worlds--it has something exciting up its sleeve.

Steve Ballmer and Alan Mulally at CES 2009.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Internet radio in your dashboard
In a relatively short period of time, the preferred in-car media of choice has gone from tapes to CDs to iPods. However, 2010 could be the year that we make the jump to the cloud with a number of rumors pointing at Internet radio coming to a car stereo near you. For example, Alpine is set to unveil the first-ever digital media receiver to offer direct control over the Pandora iPhone app.

However, the OEMs may not be completely left out of the Internet radio game, with Ford Sync being rumored as another possible platform for Pandora streaming. Perhaps Ford Motor Company Chairman and CEO Alan Mulally will confirm this rumor during his address on the opening day of the show.

I know this is a post about tech's big annual Consumer Electronics Showcase, but for a minute, let's talk about the annual Macworld Expo. Rather, let's talk about what Apple's backing out of the Macworld Expo means to CES and the category I cover (portable audio and video).

In years past, my January's involved a dizzying dash between San Francisco's Moscone Center and the Las Vegas Convention Center, as I strained to cover Apple's Macwold keynote and a week's worth of CES announcements in the same breath. But without Apple's presence, this year's Macworld (now in February) is far less significant, and I suspect that the iPod-centric vendors who were previously split by the two events will now come home to roost at CES. In short--iPod accessory announcements will likely play a larger role at CES this time around.

Griffin's iTrip was the first with iPod/iPhone app integration, but it won't be the last.

(Credit: Griffin)

The flip side of this observation is that iPod competitors will probably have a harder time being heard. That's of course assuming there are any substantial iPod competitors left, beyond Microsoft.

Last year, Sony made a big stir with their OLED touch screen X-Series Walkman. Today, that same Walkman is being passed over in the discount bin and Sony's latest Walkman models aren't even slated to come to the U.S. We were also excited to see an affordable iPod Touch alternative in the Samsung P3, but by the time the promised 32GB model finally became available, many had already begun pinning their hopes on the Zune HD (and appropriately so). Creative can't even seem to be bothered to ship us their latest player, possibly because they're too busy cooking up smartphones. SanDisk came out with their SlotRadio player, and the world promptly yawned.

The takeaway from all of this is that I suspect we're going to see fewer manufacturers launching iPod contenders at CES just to watch them fail, and more companies exploring the iPod/iPhone accessory space.

Specifically, from the emails I'm already getting, I'm going to be up to my neck in... Read more

Project Natal

(Credit: Microsoft)

While last year's CES didn't blow us away in terms of gaming, we've got high hopes for 2010. Both Sony and Microsoft have new technologies right around the corner and we're hoping to get to see a taste of each at the big show.

Microsoft announced Project Natal at E3 2009, and it would make sense for the company to showcase some of the technology's applications at CES. Could we get an official release date and price for Natal?

Sony has a new motion controller that is almost ready for release so we're anxious to see if it'll be on display. The company has been mostly tight-lipped up until now, so what better venue to unveil it?

Another big theme at CES will undoubtedly be 3D gaming. We got to see a sneak peek last year with the Nvidia Geforce 3D Vision, but now we look to the home consoles to start offering a similar experience. Sony has teased the notion before, so don't be surprised to hear an announcement.

We'll also be expecting a wave of gaming headsets and accessories from companies like Tritton, Nyko, and Mad Catz that'll make for a much larger gaming presence than ever before.

Our Best of CES winner last year saw some interesting innovation by way of the Nyko Wand but we're anticipating even more ground-breaking products at CES 2010.

Last year's Best of CES, the Sony DSC-G3. Oops.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Our wrap-up from last year's CES was relatively optimistic. "All things considered, this year's CES had a surprising amount of innovative--or at least interesting--tech for cameras and camcorders, beyond the usual bigger/faster/cheaper we've come to expect from the show." Some of the more notable innovations included Sony's back-illuminated sensor, GPS-enabled camcorders, some of which turned out to be pretty good (if pricey); the new SDXC even-higher-capacity card specification; Samsung's odd tilted-lens camcorders; Casio's superburst shooting compacts; and Eye-Fi adding wireless upload support for video to its cards. But while the mind boggles at the tech that must go into a compact 70x zoom lens, that doesn't mean you should want one.

Ironically, with all those interesting new products, we went a different route for our Best of CES winner. There, we posed the question: "Does Sony DSC-G3 camera get wireless right?" Alas, as frequently happens, once we actually got our hands on the camera it turned out the answer was "no." The experience did reinforce the understanding that you can't judge a camera by its specs. Also, that we are doomed to bitter disappointment.

What's in the cards for camcorders this year?

Have we seen the last of DVD-based camcorders?

(Credit: Canon)

While we'd love to see the death of standard-definition consumer camcorders on the whole, they're not going anywhere just yet. Don't expect any improvements in the quality of the video, though, which has been mediocre at best since HD models took hold. To tempt new buyers, manufacturers will likely rely on the two features they can cheaply increase while keeping prices below $400: zoom range and storage capacity. Look for smaller bodies with larger hard drives or more flash memory and optical zoom lenses of at least 25x with the 60x or greater lenses on 2009's high-end models trickling down to midrange models. On the upside, DVD models look like they're going the way of the dodo; we don't expect to see many of those in either standard or high definition.

What's in store for mini camcorders?

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

We're not expecting a lot of innovation in high def this year, either, just refinements to last year's models with perhaps across-the-board price drops in the $20-$50 range for a given feature set as the usual attempts to make the designs sleeker and more compact. At the bottom end, we're also likely to see more refinements in the designs of those cheap mini camcorders. It's possible, but unlikely, that there'll be a wholesale shift to 1080p for those models, as those files are still considered unworkably large for those buyers. Of course, there's the rumor that Flip will introduce Wi-Fi to one of its models, but I don't think that'll be commonplace at CES--not all of the mini camcorders come from networking companies (like the Flip's new parent, Cisco), after all.

Not so cuckoo for cameras

CES is generally light on camera launches; most announcements are saved for the annual Photo Marketing Association's PMA trade show at the end of February. Those that do make an appearance at CES typically have some attention-grabbing feature or are simple refreshes of budget and style lines. In 2009, the big feature was 24x or greater zoom lenses. Zoom will still be the story this time around, but likely less about range alone and more about getting the most range in the smallest pocketable body possible (at the lowest price, too). Also, since entry-level cameras all featured 10-megapixel resolutions in 2009, it's reasonable--though not necessarily desirable--for this year's replacements to start at 12 megapixels and go up from there.

One thing you can plan on not seeing: products supporting SDXC. While these higher capacity cards might ultimately replace hard drives in camcorders, there's no need yet for the extra speed. And the first cards aren't expected until late spring.

The Pre: the king of CES 2009.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

With the tech industry's biggest gadget bonanza less than a month away, we're already thinking of what will go down in Las Vegas for cell phones and smartphones. Though mobile is just a small part of the Consumer Electronics Show, the category has won a lot of attention over the last two years. Just consider that the Palm Pre swept CES in 2009 and went on to win the Best of CES Award. And with the Macworld Expo no longer competing for the wireless world's attention in early January, we expect that phones will fill a big and visible role at the 2010 show.

Android
Google Android was supposed to feature prominently at the 2009 CES, but the show came and went without an Android handset announcement. In 2010, however, we expect that Android will be everywhere in Sin City. After a steady flow of new Android phones since September, we see no reason why the deluge won't continue. And considering Palm has shown that CES can be a great place to launch a new cell phone, we doubt that manufacturers and carriers will wait for the GSMA World Congress in February or the CTIA show in March. Look for new Android phones from HTC, Motorola, and possibly LG. And we hope to catch our first hands-on with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

Expect more from him.

Also in smartphones
Perhaps we'll see some new Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone devices. Nokia will be at CES and we hope to get a glimpse of its latest North American handsets, such as the Nokia E72, and learn more about its strategy for the new year. Along the same lines, we'd like to see what's going on with Samsung Bada, which is a mystery to many. And who knows...perhaps Palm will celebrate the anniversary of the Pre launch with a new WebOS device? We know that the Pixi won't be the last of its kind.

Messaging and more
In our text-happy culture, we know that we'll see more messaging phones. Remember that these aren't true smartphones--they don't have a third-party OS and they are equipped more for text and IM than for corporate e-mail. Over the least year we've seen a wave of messaging handsets in various designs. Look for Samsung and LG to offer the most models. As for other features, we should see phones with GPS, 3G, Wi-Fi, and cameras with more megapixels. Sure, these features are nothing, but manufacturers will continue to highlight them. And on the same note, touch screens will continue to trickle down into midrange devices.

More Moto should be on the way.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

A Moto comeback?
Though Moto has made a decent showing at CES before, just a few months ago some tech watchers were counting Motorola's last days. But then a funny thing happened on the way to the funeral. Moto pumped out two excellent Android phones. The Cliq landed at T-Mobile and the Droid arrived to huge fanfare at Verizon Wireless. We know that Moto has more phones up its sleeve, and CES would be an ideal forum to show the new models off.

And what about Apple? As we mentioned, Macworld will be a very different event in 2010. In the wake of Apple's decision to stop appearing at the annual show, Macworld's organizers moved the 2010 dates to February. So will January pass by without an iPhone announcement (Apple unveiled the first iPhone at the 2007 Macworld)? That question has led some to speculate that Apple will exhibit at CES. We think that an apple presence in Vegas is unlikely, but you never know. On the other hand, Apple could again steal the CES spotlight by dropping a new iPhone without a Steve Jobs keynote.

Bluetooth
Bluetooth headsets will continue to proliferate the accessory market, and we expect more of them to be stereo Bluetooth headsets rather than mono versions. We did see a few notable ones in 2009, like the Samsung SBH-600 and the Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800, but neither of them blew us away. We're hoping to see a truly outstanding stereo Bluetooth headset in 2010.

Is this the future of Blu-ray?

(Credit: Amazon)

Brace yourselves. Less than two weeks after you open your gifts on Christmas morning, the consumer electronics industry will be reminding you that all those new gadgets--touted as lustworthy just days earlier--are already obsolete.

OK, maybe that's a tad cynical. But it's certainly true that the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (January 5-10) codifies the trends and sets the bar for what you can expect to see on store shelves for the following 12 months. That's especially true in the home theater category. But before we look forward to the upcoming show, let's take a look back at what we saw in 2009.

As the 2009 show came to an end, we chose the Samsung HT-BD7200 home theater system and the EchoStar "SlingLoaded" HD DVR 922 as the most promising products in the home audio and video realms. The latter product, to date, has yet to make an appearance in the real world (an all too common trend for many high-profile CES debuts). In theory, there was a lot to like. The multituner HD DVR had support for Net-enabled widgets, and the capability to stream live and recorded programming to other SlingPlayer-enabled devices (phones, computers, and other TVs), either elsewhere in the home or anywhere you could access the Internet.

You can, however, buy the Samsung, which is a good embodiment of the industry's current trends: it has a built-in Blu-ray player, it streams a variety of online media services (most notably Netflix), and its 2.1 (two speakers plus a subwoofer) design relies on fewer speakers delivering a virtual surround experience--easier to set up and more decor-friendly than a full-fledged 5.1-speaker system.

For 2010, here are the trends we expect to see at the show. Some of these are new, but most are incremental follow-ups to those of last year:

3D comes to Blu-ray
We already know there will be a huge push for 3D TV products in 2010. But those TVs will need 3D programming sources, which will be slow in coming to TV networks who are just reaching the end of a costly transition to digital and high-def. Blu-ray, on the other hand, offers the perfect DIY solution. Of course, the devil is in the details here. Will there be a unified Blu-ray 3D standard for players and discs, or are we headed for a three-dimensional format war, a la Blu-ray versus HD DVD? Is there enough 3D content on deck? Do consumers really have any interest on buying into 3D technologies in the living room that will require another huge investment in hardware, software, and accessories? Personally, I'm skeptical--especially knowing these technologies all still require special glasses to view.

HDMI 1.4
Once demonized (justifiably) as glitchy, problematic, and unnecessarily burdened with DRM (digital rights management) restrictions, the HDMI standard has improved and stabilized considerably over the past few years. HDMI has become the simple, convenient AV connector of choice, replacing the four to five cables you used to need to achieve the same high-def audio and video experience. (It's built into a wide range of devices from TVs to Blu-ray players to computers to camcorders--pretty much everything except the Nintendo Wii, in fact.) But 2010 should bring the first devices to support the updated HDMI 1.4 standard. Among the advertised improvements: built-in support for network sharing, bidirectional audio (inputs and outputs on a single cable), 3D and expanded resolution (up to 4K ultra high-def), and support for smaller jack sizes. Thankfully, new HDMI 1.4 devices should be backwards-compatible with existing HDMI-enabled ones.

More Internet-delivered content, apps, and widgets
Blu-ray is the new DVD, but the real selling point on most Blu-ray players is their capability to access online video and audio services that are available via cheap subscriptions (Netflix), pay-per-view (Amazon, Vudu), or free (YouTube, Pandora, Internet radio). Consumers want fewer one-trick-pony boxes underneath their TVs, so look for more of these services to be integrated into game consoles, Blu-ray players, and AV receivers. (The exception is Hulu integration; that service's network TV overlords continue to work hard to make sure it can't be accessed on unauthorized non-PC devices or software applications.) As on TVs, look for manufacturers to mimic Apple's success by framing these services as "apps" or "widgets."

Other returning perennials
Though calendar purists would disagree, the upcoming show will be touted as the first one of the new decade. Still, we'll see plenty of trends from recent years making the rounds again, with varying levels of success. Most notably: iPod and iPhone compatibility will continue to be a major selling point. Beyond the ubiquitous iPod/iPhone dock built into everything from clock radios to home theater systems, look for companies to follow the lead of DirecTV, Sonos, and others by offering branded apps to remotely control their network-enabled products. Despite repeated promises, a true wireless speaker standard has yet to emerge, but you'll still see plenty of wireless subwoofers and rear-channel speakers offered as part of proprietary systems. And a variety of virtual surround solutions will still be profferred--everything from the 2.1 models such as the above-mentioned Samsung to soundbars designed to be mounted below a TV.

Of course, the always welcome trend at CES (for consumers, at least) will be price erosion. Manufacturers charged premium prices for the sort of once bleeding-edge features mentioned here just a few short years (or even months) ago, but you can expect them to become included as part of the minimum feature sets on ever more affordable products we'll see in 2010 and beyond.

See all CES 2010 coverage

Related CES 2009 coverage
CES 2009 home audio preview

CES 2009 home video preview

CES 2009 home audio wrap-up

CES 2009 home video wrap-up

(Credit: Plastic Logic)

Plastic Logic, the maker of the much anticipated, vaguely understood Que e-reader, will finally announce availability, pricing, and design at CES 2010.

Although its business division is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Plastic Logic's technologies were born in Cambridge, England. The research team spent 10 years finding ways to use plastic transistors for the e-reader screen instead of silicon.

Professors at the Cavendish Labs in Cambridge eventually came up with a flexible e-reader, one that can't shatter, unlike the Kindle's and Nook's glass screens.

Manufacturing is commissioned to a company in Dresden, Germany, and for all we know, there may be thousands of Ques waiting to be shipped.

Plastic Logic, which will distribute its e-reader in Barnes & Noble stores, doesn't appear to view the Nook or Kindle as competition. The company is targeting business professionals who may benefit from an e-reader with an interactive platform offering the likes of digital sticky notes, annotations, and drawings.

Next up for Plastic Logic is a full color e-reader, backed by a grant from the British government. Although we have little detail, the e-reader is said to be slated for release in 2011.

Read more details about the Plastic Logic Que on Crave.

The biggest consumer electronics event of the year is around the corner, and by that we of course mean CES 2010. We'll all be there in Vegas scouting out the best of what's new, but you may find yourself asking: after Windows 7 and the launch of Core i7 laptops, what else is there to look forward to? Plenty, by our measure. Here are the trends we're expecting to see.

New Atom processors, new Netbooks
The star of the show will likely be Intel's new line of Atom processors for Netbooks. Previously codenamed Pine Trail, these new CPUs will give the Netbooks platform a performance push, we hope, making these popular laptops even more ubiquitous. Currently, Netbooks are great for some tasks, but can be frustrating to use if you need them for all-around computing. Look for added graphics and HD video performance in particular.

On a related note, hardware manufacturers will continue to try to "upscale" Netbooks, by adding features such as discrete graphics, touch screens, and HD displays--all in an effort to move prices past the low-margin $299 mark. We'll see increased stratification in Netbooks--a category previously notable for its commodity nature.

(Credit: Qualcomm)

Here come the Smartbooks
If you don't know the term already, get ready to know it, as this will be one of the hot product trends of 2010. Consider them even cheaper and smaller Netbooks toting smartphone-level processors and a pared-down OS. Small CPUs such as the Nvidia Tegra and the Qualcomm Snapdragon are what will power this next generation of devices, and almost none of them will have an operating system that will be Windows or Mac.

Expect to see most of these hybrid devices with 3G antennas, sold in cellphone stores, and subsidized by mobile phone providers, much like some Netbooks already are. Economic realities have pushed computer makers to favor value over flash in designing new systems, and at CES 2010, we're likely to see a bigger focus on Netbooks and other low-cost PCs over the extravagant showstoppers of previous years. Smartbooks could help define a new low-end pricing zone, but it remains to be seen whether they'll offer enough computing power.