CES 2010

At CES this year, I will definitely be on the lookout for the KOR-FX. It looks a little like a cross between a vest and headphones for your pecs. It is two plastic pieces that sit on your chest and amplify audio signals into what the company calls accusto-haptic technology. You plug it into a standard audio-out jack and it sends audio signals into your body. It will work with any gadget like an iPod or laptop but it is made for PC gamers, although the imagination runs wild at what will happen when the adult industry gets their hands on it. Also, soccer moms will hate it, particularly the ones that think their kids need to be more immersed in their games like they need a hole in the head.

No pricing was given but Shahriar Afshar, president and CEO of IMMERZ Inc., says that it will be approximately the price of high-end headphones, which is around $300.

Another few devices with promise have to do with monitoring home power usage. First off, the PICOwatt. It is a device that plugs into any home appliances and sends data about that device to the Web using your home Wi-Fi network. You can monitor the power consumption of that appliance, as well as turn it on or off from the Web site. You can also send information about those metrics to your social networks, although I'm not sure why my Twitter followers care about how much power my blow dryer is using.

The PICOwatt will cost $79.99 and launch on April 22, 2010, which not coincidentally is Earth Day.

Alternatively, the Modlet from a company called ThinkEco Inc. looks like an outlet but it plugs into your home outlets and monitors the devices that are plugged into it on the Web. The Web site is elegant and easily competes with Google PowerMeter and Microsoft Hohm. It allows you to label, monitor, and set schedules for any given device. There is also a social element that allows you to compare and compete with your friends to conserve energy, as well as provide tips and tricks for living more greenly. (Is that even a word?)

The final presentation was the CubicVue 3D filter, which is a liquid pixel display that makes any monitor a 3D monitor without the need of the kitschy glasses. The company, CubicVue LLC, hopes to license this to manufacturers to build into their displays. It works with content that is optimized for 3D and supposedly does not disrupt 2D content.

I won't disclose how I voted for these companies but I will disclose the winners:

First place: ReNu from Regen, a line of solar-powered chargers and gadgets. They win $40,000 and a turn-key exhibit at CES 2010 in Las Vegas.

Second place: The eDGe from Entourage Systems, an e-reader/tablet. They win $7,500 and an option to display their product at CES Unveiled in New York or Las Vegas.

Fan favorite: ReNu from Regen, a line of solar-powered chargers and gadgets. They win $2,500 and an option to display their product at CES Unveiled in New York or Las Vegas.

PHOENIX--I may be too easily impressed, but I am excited about the technology start-ups presenting at the CEA I-Stage competition in Phoenix. Or maybe I'm just too nice. Today I'm one of four panelists judging start-ups based on whether they have what it takes. I'll admit that most of them may not have it, but I am giving everyone an A for effort. My fellow judges are a bit more nonplused by the presenting companies; however, a few of them are getting unanimous A's and not just for effort. These A's mean that I am excited to see this products and actually want them.

The first is the eDGe from Entourage Systems. Yes, it is an e-book reader, but don't roll your eyes just yet--this one is different. Think of the things that you want from an e-reader: 3G; an open-format book format; an easy-to-access book store; Wi-Fi, a touch screen; the capability to draw, highlight, and annotate; the capability to integrate multimedia; long battery life; plenty of onboard memory that is expandable; lightweight, portability; and without screen glare. Check, check, and check. The eDGe, which I concede is an odd name, folds open like a book and has two screens. One is a touch-screen Netbook tablet that has a Web browser, notepad, and a calculator. The other is an e-ink screen. You can click hyperlinks within the book to play video or audio on the opposing screen. You can also hyperlink to the Web, which will launch the browser on the opposing screen. You can scribble notes in the margin and highlight texts and your notes will be pushed to the Web. You can also click charts and graphs and launch them in color on the tablet screen. The device runs Google's Android operating system.

This sounds like my e-reader pipe dream. It is everything I've been wanting, especially considering my Kindle 2 is on the fritz and I have a replacement on its way to me in the mail. But I didn't touch it. I haven't felt it. If the touch screen is buggy and there is a glare on the screen, then I will quickly swallow my enthusiasm. Also, it is expensive. It will cost $490 when it launches in February, but it has me excited for CES 2010, which is kind of the point of this conference.

Another product that turned my head was the ReNu solar-powered line of gadgets from a company called Regen. Its flagship product will be a window-mounted solar panel that pushes solar energy to a desktop charger that will power any USB-connected device. There will also be a line of speakers and desk lamps that will charge the same way. This isn't quick-fix charging obviously. It will take up to five hours to charge an iPhone on a sunny day, but it is meant for people who can leave their gadgets charging while they are doing something else, as well as people who feel guilty when they look at their chargers plugged into power outlets. (Like me.)

Another technology that is cool, but doesn't really exist yet is a line of headphones that take biometric reading from your body and send to a Web or mobile application. Created by Valencell Healthset, the sensors can measure your heart rate, temperature, caloric expenditure, and so on. The company wants to license this technology to health-related applications that could use this information such as Lose It or Livestrong. I like the idea since it means not carrying another gadget such as a pedometer to get the data. It lives inside the earbuds, headphones, or Bluetooth headsets that I would use anyway. Of course, I reserve my enthusiasm until I actually use it. Also, I won't be testing prototypes of that at CES. No shared in-ear gadgets for me, thank you.

We have just finished the morning panel. I'm heading back for the afternoon panel and, hopefully, I won't be so effusive about so many of the presenting companies. It is giving me a reputation as the softy in contrast to my fellow judges Ross Levinsohn from Fox Interactive Media, Jeff Pulver from pulver.com and co-founder of Vonage, and Blake Krikorian, founder and CEO of Sling Media. I can't have that.

Carol Bartz will bring Yahoo back to the CES keynote stage this January, the Consumer Electronics Association announced Tuesday.

Yahoo has given CES keynotes in the past but skipped last year, presenting instead a press conference on its Yahoo Connected TV project. Bartz will speak on Thursday January 7, 2010 in Las Vegas, when she might have a different set of businesses to present to the crowd.

CES has been morphing into a hybrid show for years, traditionally a consumer electronics showcase but increasingly bringing in the likes of Yahoo, Ford, and entertainment companies. Yahoo stuck to the consumer electronics script in its last couple of keynotes, including one gaffe-prone affair in 2006 where Tom Cruise rescued then-CEO Terry Semel.

But the leader of Yahoo's Connected TV group announced plans to leave this week, prompting speculation that Bartz is thinking about adding that group to the list of properties she'd like to shed. Instead, Yahoo may be planning to use its CES slot as a promotional vehicle for its media properties, which are slated to receive some investment as Yahoo winds down other businesses.

Steve Ballmer and Alan Mulally at CES 2009.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Ford Chairman and CEO Alan Mulally will be the featured speaker on the opening day of the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show, the Consumer Electronics Association announced Monday.

His keynote address will open the show the morning of Thursday, January 7. Although it's not Mulally's first time at the Las Vegas event--he also spoke last year--it will be his debut as the main keynote speaker. Recent opening keynotes have been given by Sony's Sir Howard Stringer and Comcast's Brian Roberts.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will speak the night before, as he did last year, taking over the slot traditionally given to Bill Gates.

Although he's not a technology executive, per se, Ford has made it a point to come to CES with lots of gadgets in the past. This year looks to be no different, as Mulally is scheduled talk up in-car tech like GPS navigation, location-based services, and video, according to the CEA.

Corrected on 9/22/09: This post initially had the day of the week on which Mulally will be speaking wrong. January 7 falls on a Thursday, not Friday.

Each year, CNET, in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), produces the Best of CES awards at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The CNET editorial team recognizes the best new products at the show with awards in nine categories, an overall Best of Show award, and the People's Voice award that's selected by the CNET online audience.

Award categories*:

• Digital photo and video
• Car tech and GPS
• Cell phones and smartphones
• Computers and hardware
• Gaming
• Green
• Home theater
• MP3 and video players
• Televisions

*CNET reserves the right to exercise editorial discretion when categorizing product submissions.

Awards criteria

CNET editors will name the Best of CES 2010 award finalists and winners based on the following:

• Product must be new, in that it will not be released before December 1, 2009. Prototypes, reference designs, or products that represent a proof of concept will not be considered.
• Product must be on exhibit at the 2010 International CES in Las Vegas.
• Product demonstrates its potential to:
• Pioneer a new category, establish an emerging category, or take an existing category to a new level.
• Excite people with its style, innovation, usefulness, ease of use, or capability to entertain.
• Endow its owner with a certain cachet, the "cool" factor.
• Make its way into everyday life.

Submissions

Submit now! Submissions close on December 11, 2009.