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Highlights From The Consumer Electronics Show

Posted by Gayle Kesten Monday, Jan 12, 2009, 02:50 PM ET

What do the camcorder, Microsoft Xbox, and home media server have in common? The trio made their debut at one of the annual Consumer Electronics Shows (CES), the latest iteration of which wrapped up Sunday.

Despite a drop in attendance of more than 30,000 show-goers compared with 2008, CES 2009, billed as "the pre-eminent trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry," showcased thousands of new tech products. Among the highlights:

  • Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talked up Windows 7, the operating system intended to succeed Windows Vista and make home networking a heck of a lot easier. Improvements include faster bootup, longer battery life, touch-screen capabilities, and improved support for networking and multimedia content. Through, Jan. 23, a beta version is available for free download.

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  • Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Palm received TechRepublic's Best Of Show designation for its Palm Pre smartphone and accompanying operating system, Palm webOS. Heading to Sprint's network in the first half of this year, the new, slim phone features a full-length touchscreen, slideout keyboard, and "several new innovations that will keep Apple and RIM on their toes," says TechRepublic editor in chief Jason Hiner. (For more coverage, read bMighty blogger Paul Korzeniowski's assessment.)

  • Also on TechRepublic's best-of for business: Netgear's $129 3G Mobile Broadband Wireless Router ("a great solution for small offices in remote locations, temporary offices, mobile offices in RVs, and teams at events), HP's $499 Mini 2140 netbook ("At CES, Hewlett-Packard became one of the first big vendors to tailor a Netbook at the business crowd"), and the easy-to-use, energy-conserving EcoButton ("a good solution for small business").

  • Meanwhile, Tom's Hardware tips its hardhat to a number of products, such as the $100 offering called Powermat, which recharges up to four handheld devices on a mat at one time, minus the associated power cords. The same-name company says Powermat works with the iPhone, Nokia, BlackBerry, iPod, Razr, and other phones, Bluetooth headsets, handheld electronic games, digital cameras, portable GPS units, and laptops.

  • For the record, Wired liked the Powermat, too, and was also impressed by Sony's new lightweight subnotebook. The $900 VAIO Lifestyle PC is NOT a netbook, the company maintains, even though it weighs just 1.4 pounds and can fit into the pocket of a jacket. The PC includes an 8-inch, 1,600-by-768-pixel display. Other features include a 3G modem, 802.11N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and turn-by-turn GPS.

    Anything else catch your attention? Share your faves with the rest of us.

    Green | Hardware | Mobility | Networking & Communications | Software




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