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LAS VEGAS--Schwinn was at the Consumer Electronics Show with a high-tech eBike that has an elecrtric motor with a battery that can be charged in about a half hour for 25 miles of riding. In this podcast, spokesman Michael de Leon talks about the bike and whether a motor would interfere with the bike's ability to help people stay in shape.
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As Amazon.com proved with its popular Kindle, consumers are interested in reading books on handheld devices. Plastic Logic has developed its own reading device, which is thinner and more durable than the Kindle and is aimed mostly for reading business documents. Joe Eschbach, Plastic Logic's vice president of marketing, explains in this interview.
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Update (4/19/2009): CNET now has a full review of the Zoom H4n.
I practically squealed when I saw Zoom's new H4n professional handheld audio recorder on display at CES 2009. The $350 recorder was announced just a few days ago with hazy details on when it might hit store shelves, but lo and behold, here it was hanging out in the Samson booth, dressed up with full retail packaging.
To read my first impressions, take a look through our Zoom H4n slide show, fresh from the showfloor of CES 2009.
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(Credit:
Amulet Devices)
I've got a pretty awesome remote control. I'm a home theater nerd, so it's a must. But the new Amulet Remote by 2-year old Irish start-up Amulet Devices does something mine does not: respond to voice commands.
I can see why this device--demoed this week at CES--would be handy to some people. Even if you lose the remote in the couch cushions, you can still yell, "Turn it up!" and not have to leave your La-Z-Boy.
The downside I can easily see is that if your family is anything like mine was growing up, this thing would go schizoid. I'd be yelling for Transformers while my brother would be yelling for Thundercats. If channels 11 and 12 had just scheduled them in different time slots my brother wouldn't have that scar on his chin.
Anyway, the remote is for more than just changing channels. It's smart enough to run your Windows Media Center. That part is pretty cool. According to the company, you could, for example, tell it to "Play Coldplay," and it would. (We'd recommend a less rip-offy band though.)
It's not the first voice control solution for Media Center, but combining the technology into a remote you'd need anyway makes for a pretty slick device if you're going that route. No word on pricing yet, but the Amulet is set to ship in March.
I hope I can hack it to work with my Apple TV.
LAS VEGAS--At the Consumer Electronics Show, Jeff Ravencraft of Intel talked about the status of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and how fast it really is.
The most salient benefit of SuperSpeed USB is the 10X improvement in data transfer speed over current USB, version 2.0. So, for example, transferring a 25GB HD movie will take 70 seconds instead of almost 14 minutes.
Transfer of a 25GB HD movie:
- USB 1.0: 9.3 hours
- USB 2.0: 13.9 minutes
- USB 3.0: 70 seconds
In the video below, Ravencraft, who is president of the USB Implementers Forum, discusses the merits of SuperSpeed USB and the schedule for commercial rollout.
Home theater is Samsung's game at this year's CES. Though the company did announce the new P3 touch-screen MP3 player, an inch-thick plasma TV, feature-packed Blu-ray home theater systems, and backlit LCD TVs dominated the show.
Samsung unveils P3 touch-screen MP3 player
Photos: Hands-on with the Samsung P3 player
Samsung's slick HT-BD7200 Blu-ray home theater system
Samsung's funky Blu-ray and DVD players
Samsung's PN-B850 series of plasmas get down to an inch thick
Samsung HT-BD1250: 5.1-channel home theater offers Blu-ray, Netflix, Pandora
Samsung HT-BD8200 home theater sound bar includes Blu-ray, Netflix, Pandora
Samsung DVD-H1080: Portable-sized DVD player for the home
HT-BD7200: 2.1 Blu-ray home theater from Samsung
Samsung goes green with the LN-B6000 series of LED-backlight LCDs
Samsung BD-P4600: Wall-mountable Blu-ray player with Wi-Fi add-on
Samsung LN-B8000 LCDs put LED-backlighting and 240Hz in a 1-inch frame
Samsung's step-down LED-backlit LCDs feature Yahoo widgets, 120Hz
Samsung unveils the MBP200 Pico Projector
LAS VEGAS--At the Consumer Electronics Show, Wireless USB devices made an appearance en masse.
What does that mean exactly? Wireless USB notebooks, docking stations, hard drives. And more consumer-centric devices like Wireless USB speakers, displays, and USB phones. In fact, Samsung was showing a prototype mobile phone. (See photo below.)
"It looks and feels like wired USB, only it's wireless," according to Jeff Ravencraft of Intel, who is president of the USB Implementers Forum, speaking in an interview at CES.
Over 130 products have been certified, according to Ravencraft. "The next thing in Wireless USB is Wireless USB 1.1 where we're adding upper band support for a worldwide footprint for ultra-wide-band frequency, easier association of the device to the host, and more power efficiency," Ravencraft said.
At close range, up to 3 meters, Wireless USB delivers up to 480 megabits per second, he said. At this range, throughput is essentially the same as wired USB, Ravencraft said. Up to 10 meters, this drops to a maximum throughput of 110 megabits per second.
Ravencraft said there are wireless hard disk drives in the market now.
ThinkPad notebook with Wireless USB Intel silicon
(Credit: Brooke Crothers)
Samsung DUOS mobile phone with Wireless USB
(Credit: Brooke Crothers)
IOGEAR was showing commercial devices with Wireless USB, including a Wireless USB audio adapter and a Wireless USB to VGA kit that makes monitors wireless.
(Credit: Brooke Crothers)I don't often get excited about Bluetooth headsets, but Altec Lansing's BackBeat series is definitely worth a look. CNET's David Carnoy already reported the details of these Bluetooth beauties earlier in the week, but I thought I'd add some of my first-hand impressions, as well as a few photos. Hit up the Altec Lansing BackBeat slide show for all the details.
Audio-Technica's CES booth was littered with new headphone models for 2009. One reason for the glut is the addition of a whole new line of headphones made just for women, which, unlike the cheap, pink monstrosities we sometimes see from manufacturers, actually pull off some style--and without skimping on fidelity. There are also some gorgeous gender-neutral cans on offer. Hit the photo gallery for more details.
Vinyl may be a dead music format, but that's not stopping Ion from doing a brisk business with turntable sales. It may sound crazy, but Ion's found a nice, little niche with its affordable turntables made specifically for converting your dusty record crates into iPod-ready MP3 files.
Ion also does well with its unique iPod accessories. For 2009, it is planning a mini version of the Block Rocker iPod amp called the TailGater, as well as a wireless iPod speaker system, a portable iPod audio recorder, and some wireless digital DJ gear. Browse our slide show for more details on Ion's 2009 product line.
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