CES 2008

Will MyGig receive lossless audio over WiMax in the near future?

(Credit: CNET Networks)

At a party during CES, we sniffed out potential new technology from Harman International that combines wireless transmission with lossless audio. We stumbled on a display unit using the MyGig entertainment system, built by Harman for Chrysler, labeled Harman Wireless. A Harman representative on the scene said that he couldn't tell us anything about the technology, so we talked to him for as long as we could to try and get a few details. From what we could piece together, Harman is working on a device that will use some kind of wireless technology, possibly WiMax, to receive lossless audio and play it back in the car. Our Harman representative talked about the low audio quality of MP3, and how Harman would prefer a higher-quality audio format which would use all the potential of its audio hardware. We couldn't determine much from the unit on display, as it looked like a MyGig unit, and we were ejected from the room when a group of Harman clients came in for a demonstration. But we will be on the lookout for new announcements from Harman.

Apparently, your life is too wired.

(Credit: Kevin Ho)

The open assault on cables and wires was on particular display at CES. Apparently, wires clutter your life and cause you misery, or some vendors would have you think. Whether it's faster and faster Wi-Fi from Intel, streaming video from Slingbox, in-home HD distribution, Bluetooth home theater audio from Samsung at different parts of the radio spectrum, the trend is moving away from physical media and physical connections.

Samsung's Bluetooth home theater

(Credit: Kevin Ho)

Various measures of fidelity, range, and quality were touted by the Monster rep I talked to, who naturally said there is nothing better than a physical connection. In an age that features cleanly designed, minimalist, and clutter-free environments and products, it is kind of difficult to reconcile the need for cables and wires to connect our amazing HDTVs to our computers, DVDs, and other devices with the urge to minimize. It's telling that Monster is, itself, pursuing wireless technology.

Anthony Gallo Acoustics (AGA) is displaying its all-new Reference 5LS line source loudspeaker at CES '08. The towering speaker stands 78-inches tall, boasts twelve aluminum 4-inch woofers, seven cylindrical tweeters, and eight 4-inch carbon-fiber midrange drivers, each housed it its own 5-inch spherical enclosure. The brushed stainless steel design is a knockout. I have heard the 5LS and think it'll likely become an audiophile classic (I have a review coming in a future issue of Home Entertainment magazine). The 5LS projects a gigantic, life-size sound. Yes friends, size still matters.

This loudspeaker is the culmination of more than 25 years of loudspeaker design research by Anthony Gallo. The 5LS offers options for bi- or tri-wiring, as well as bi- or tri-amping. The combined surface area of the twelve 4-inch rear-firing woofers nearly equal the surface area of a 15-inch subwoofer, while offering the speed and transparency a large single driver cannot match. AGA offers an optional Reference SA amplifier to drive the woofers. The amp allows the speaker to be positioned for optimal imaging and soundstaging without compromising bass performance.

Though CES 2008 hasn't brought us a ton of new cell phones, we've still found plenty to cover at the show. Motorola introduced two new handsets, and Sony Ericsson graced us with three new models. Also, Samsung showed us a few devices it was planning to bring to North America.

The new phones included a high-end video handset, a music phone with an innovative new keyboard, and a supercharged world phone. We also spotted a couple of design-centric models including Samsung's Armani phone. You can check them all out in all their glory in our CES 2008 cell phones slide show.

Strada CN-NW100U

(Credit: Panasonic)

Following the release of its in-dash CN-NVD905U and its portable CN-GP50U last November, Panasonic has added two new in-dash navigation devices to its Strada lineup. The Strada CN-NW100U and CN-NX100U follow the CN-NVD905U as all-in-one in-car navigation and multimedia systems. Both come with an identical features set: a 7-inch touch-screen display, turn-by-turn GPS navigation with text-to-speech technology, and as-standard RDS traffic service; built-in Bluetooth handsfree calling; a USB 2.0 connection for playing audio from iPods and flash drives; video support for DVD and DivX formats; and the capacity for XM and Sirius Satellite Radio via an add-on module.

Strada CN-NX100U

The CN-NW100U is a double-DIN sized device, while the CN-NX100U makes use of a motorized pop-up screen and stows away inside a single-DIN chassis. According to Panasonic, the two systems will be available in April with pricing still to be determined.

The Zyxel DMA1100P digital media adapter

There are many devices that aim to let you share the multimedia content stuck on your PC with that large HDTV in your living room. Zyxel's DMA1100P digital media adapter is the only such device, however, that uses HomePlug AV Powerline technology to do so. (Netgear's Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter isn't certified as a HomePlug AV device, but it promises the same 200Mbps theoretical throughput as the Zyxel DMA1100.)

Still, for those looking to stream HD video and music and can't do it wirelessly--perhaps your TV and your home theater are too far apart or you simply have an aversion to wireless networking)--Powerline networking is an easy and effective way to go. Zyxel claims the DMA1100P is a snap to set up and will automatically recognize and connect to DLNA-certified devices. And unlike Netgear's adapter, Zyxel's unit features an HDMI port. The DMA1100P will be available in February for $270.

LAS VEGAS--Every year, I schedule too many meetings at the Consumer Electronics Show and don't get enough time to just roam the show floor in search of gadgets that are either ultra-cool, absurd, or preferably both.

This year, I made a commitment to wander the show floor and absorb as much as possible. It should be said, in three hours on the show floor, I covered a very small portion of the south hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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So the seventh wonder of the tech world could have been in the north hall, central hall, or the far-flung Sands expo hall, but I couldn't tell you.

What did I learn? First of all, there was not one product that everyone was talking about. If there was a universal hit, it was the huge flat-screen displays that many companies were showing off. I spent a few minutes watching video on a 100-inch screen. It's by no means the biggest on display here at CES, but it was three times the diameter of anything in my house.

From there, I decided I needed a rest, stopping at what might be the best massage chair I've sat in--a $4,000 model from Anaheim, Calif.-based Omega Massage. I make it a point to always try these out, whether at trade shows or the airport Sharper Image. It's all part of my sacrifice for you, my loyal blog readers (or you, the random clicker on this post).

From there I made my way to the folks who needed the massage chair far more than I did--the HD DVD booth. There, association members and technology partners put on a brave face, despite the major blow delivered by Warner Bros. last week, announcing that they would exclusively support rival Blu-ray.

I'd heard about some wireless earbuds from Sennheiser, so I went by the booth to check them out. They were behind glass, but I could see enough to know they weren't for me. They look kind of like a pair of those Bluetooth earpieces I already find annoying, plus they require your iPod or other device to wear a somewhat bulky transmitter. I think there's probably a market for these. It's just probably not for the average iPod owner.

Continuing on the headphone theme, I went to the booth of Skullcandy, a company whose hipness factor is hurt only by the fact that I own a pair of its earbuds. There were DJs and hip-hop musicians performing and an artist doing a skull drawing as the company showed off a variety of products, including a set of iPhone earbuds and a DJ-style headset that also includes a built-in SD card slot for playing music without a separate MP3 player. Both products sell will sell for $89, with the wireless SD headphones due out around March. I also stopped by Shure, which was showing off an attachment that turns its line of in-ear headphones into an iPhone headset by adding an in-line microphone.

Having heard enough, I moved on to other areas of the hall. Among the places I stopped was a Dell environmental booth that consisted of some eco-furniture and two glass whiteboards where people could scribble their ideas on how to improve our ecological impact. The booth rep told me the ideas would be taken to an executive meeting back at Dell headquarters. Not sure what they will do with the posts, which included "Take public transit," "No more products, no more people," and "Killjoy."

My favorite moment was when a woman from Baton Rouge asked if she could get a brochure.

The booth rep tried to handle it politely. Well, no, see, the whole point is...

I decided to let Dell save the planet without me and continued on in search of more tech fare. I stopped by several random booths that caught my eye, including a company peddling a mini-photo studio perfect for snapping shots of your eBay trinkets without casting a shadow. I stopped by HP and Kodak to check out the latest in photo-printing kiosks. I'd been pretty impressed with the HP model I tried out at a drugstore this holiday season, and found Kodak's models even more versatile. Both make choosing prints easy, but I liked the quick photo books that it was capable of cranking out, as well as a new Photo DVD maker that lets you set your photos to one of about 20 songs, ranging from a Hootie and the Blowfish track to the theme from St. Elmo's Fire.

I found myself drawn to the Brother booth, where it was showing software, apparently not new, that turns your digital photos into something stitch-able with one of its embroidery machines. The software sells for around $1,000 and the machines range from a $600 model to one that sells for $13,000.

I was also drawn to a small booth in the corner, with a sign "We buy closeouts" and showing a smattering of non-tech and low-tech items such as whiteboards and fax machines. Carolina Wholesale owner Larry Huneycutt said the Charlotte-based company has been coming to CES for 20 years and finding customers and sources for his far-from-state-of-the-art gear.

His catalog includes label makers, digital projectors, and calculators. "We even sell typewriters," Huneycutt said.

But some of the latest gadgets were also low-tech, including the oft-maligned Quik Pod, a camera attachment that holds a camera at a distance allowing for better pictures of oneself. It's a gadget that I reckon plenty of people would like, but few would want to admit to needing, much less buying.

The latest model is an even tougher challenge. It's an SLR model for larger cameras. My colleague points out that this only increases its dorkiness factor.

I don't disagree, but also think that there is a market, even for pros who want to snap their own picture as well as the legions of wannabes. I just think that the pros (and wannabes, myself included) are less likely to want to admit it. That's why it's nice that the SLR model can also be used as a monopod.

I got a demo at CES of FlyTunes, an Internet radio aggregator whose CEO, Roy Smith, is pitching as an alternative to Sirius Satellite Radio.

No radio in your iPhone? Try Flytunes.

(Credit: Rafe Needleman / CNET)

It's a stretch to compare it with Sirius, but FlyTunes is a worthwhile idea. A service designed for Safari on the iPhone and iPod Touch, it displays a curated list of Internet radio stations, and, over Wi-Fi, streams and records the stations you listen to. What's cool is that it can work when you're not online. It will record streams for your favorite stations. Then you can dock your iPhone or iPod to play your tunes over your home stereo or in your car.

Users will need to install a piece of software on their home Mac or PC to act as an intermediary. That software will redistribute the streams via Wi-Fi to registered mobile devices.

What it's not, though, is a bona fide content network, like Sirius is. FlyTunes owns no studios, no distribution channels, and no media. It's a low-overhead operation and Smith eventually hopes to make a few bucks by running noninvasive ads on browser screens during audio playback.

The service is in private testing now; it should open up this month.

Speaking of Internet radio, check out this cool Internet tabletop radio I spied at the Asus booth:

Now that almost all radio stations are streaming their content, Internet radios (like this Asus) are essentially world-band receivers.

(Credit: Rafe Needleman / CNET)

Buffalo's new drive doesn't make you pick a winner in the high-def disc format war, and it doesn't make you open up your PC's case to install it. The Buffalo MediaStation Blu-ray HD DVD (BRHC-6316U2) drive is an external USB combo drive that reads and writes Blu-ray discs and reads HD DVD discs. Unfortunately, Buffalo made no mention of eSATA or FireWire, so you're stuck with USB 2.0. It'll cost $649 when it starts shipping later this quarter.

LAS VEGAS--It's not just inside the CES hotels and convention center that you find technology and tech enthusiasts here in Sin City.

Vegas cabbie Daniel Habtewold has quite the collection of gadgets. Here he shows off a Casio watch that also acts as a TV remote control.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com)

One of the most passionate techies I met all week was Daniel Habtewold, the cab driver who took AJ and me back to our hotel after visiting with the Pleo robot dinosaur on Monday night.

Habtewold was playing an eclectic mix of reggae and other music, and AJ asked whether it was a CD or the radio. He said the tunes were streaming from his iPod, noting that it was Apple's beefiest model, the 160GB iPod Classic introduced last fall.

"I have 20,000 songs on my iPod," he said. That makes it the largest collection I've ever encountered.

Habtewold said he's had a regular iPod, a photo iPod, and an earlier video iPod as well. At the end of each summer he sells his current model for $50 or $75 less than he paid, knowing a new model will come out in September.

"This is the last one," he said. I told him he owes me a free ride when I see him at the next CES and he has some new Apple creation.

Habtewold's tech lust isn't limited to iPods. He also has a $3,000 camera setup including a Canon D30 and L-series lens, a Windows Mobile phone, and a Casio watch that also acts as a television remote control.

"I'm high tech," he said. "I don't care about clothes. I don't care about shoes that are brand name."