CES 2008

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)

Asus P527

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Asus introduced several smartphones for the North American market at CES 2008, including the GPS-enabled Asus P527. In addition to the built-in SiRFIII GPS chip, the device has a preloaded application called Travelog that lets you record and share your travel pictures, routes, and more with your friends and family. There's also a program called Location Carrier that can send your position to others via text message.

Aside from the GPS capabilities, the quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; EDGE/GPRS) phone runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition and features a 2-megapixel camera, 128MB Flash/64MB SDRAM, a microSD expansion slot, Windows Live integration, and a business card reader. The P527 has a candybar design and has a 2.6-inch, 65,000-color touch screen and alphanumeric keypad. The Asus P527 should be available this quarter and will cost about $527 unlocked.

The leather-clad Asus U2E.

Ultraportable laptops are usually pretty sharp-looking, but dressing one up in a leather-covered chassis is even better. Taiwanese PC maker Asus has had leather laptops for a couple of years now, but the latest version, called the U2E, packs in plenty of high-end computing features on top of the slick looks.

This 11-inch notebook weighs about 2 pounds and features a 32GB solid state drive, which helps with weight and heat, as well as power consumption. The LED backlit display also consumes less power and allows the screen to be thinner than traditional LCD screens.

The built-in Webcam offers an extra measure of security, thanks to Smart Logon Face Recognition Technology. This reads the user's face, in a way similar to how a fingerprint reader reads your fingerprint and allows access. It sounds a bit sci-fi to us, and we haven't had a chance to try and fool the Face Recognition system yet--but once we do, we'll give you our updated impressions.

Pricing and availability for the Asus U2E are still up in the air.