CES 2006: Best Of Show
CBS News Technologist "Digital Dan" Dubno is back from Las Vegas with his picks on the best from this year's Consumer Electronics Show.
I'm delighted to report that the Consumer Electronics Show of 2006 is now officially concluded. Yahoo!! (Google, too!!) Like the other 150,000 participants, my feet are killing me and my pockets are filled with 300+ business cards from people hawking devices great and small.
I was looking for devices that are fun… that transform how we interact… that improve our quality of life. There were enough devices that fit these criteria that we will have fodder for reviews for an entire year ahead.
Here is a completely subjective list of the "Best of Show" gadgets I saw at CES. (Most of these are demonstrated on the accompanying dozen videoblogs we filed from the show, so please check them out!)
No bigger than a pack of cards, Garmin's Nuvi is the "everything device" I've long dreamed of. First, it is a GPS and navigation tool with the entire US map and feature set loaded on this lightweight handful. The chip onboard acquires a GPS signal and determines your precise location much faster than other commercial devices. The touchscreen is very nice and bright and the onboard logic dims the brightness at night to save your eyes (and battery power).
Garmin's Nuvi adds turn-by-turn voice instructions plus an assortment of other cool digital tools: MP3 player, photo viewer, currency conversion calculator, and best of all, language translator. Select words or phrases from more than 10 foreign languages with ease and use the voice synthesized translations to let you be understood in most circumstances travelers may find themselves in.
There is an SD slot to add guide books for foreign travel and the USB power charger and connector allows easy transfer of data, music, photos, and more. I love this so much that I now take it with me everywhere, even if I know precisely where I'm going!
That's because the Nuvi has other fun features: a money-saver guide that will get you discounts at selected nearby stores; a car adapter kit that's a snap to install; even connections to an optional radio service that reroutes your route using updated traffic congestion info. Minor gripes: it isn't waterproof… it isn't great for geocaching… and it is a little pricey. The Nuvi lists for about $999.
Sony's second-generation portable reader system using electronic "E-Ink" display will be available in the Spring of 2006. I'm excited because I love having lots of books with me when I travel and because the core "E-Ink" technology will one day transform a myriad of devices. First, the Sony E-Book can store more than 80 books with onboard memory, plus hundreds more using the available Sony Memory Stick or SD card slots. Now, you can download more than 10,000 books available through Sony Connect.
I like the ability to enlarge and change type styles to make reading easier. Best of all, it's great to carry so many books in a single device that weighs just 9 ounces and is a mere ½-inch thick. E-Ink uses a tiny electric charge to reorient microscopic two-sided (dark and light) "ink" particles embedded in a laminate screen.
In the Sony E-Book, rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries allow reading 7,500 pages on a single charge. It's fair to expect electronic ink technology will lead to next generation devices: handheld electronic newspapers, for example, that update automatically wirelessly. Price: To be determined, but somewhere between $299 and $399.
A Palm device using Windows? What's the world coming to? The Treo 700 W is designed for those who like the Treo but want the familiarity of a Windows platform. This Smartphone uses a Windows Mobile 5.0 platform that is somewhat customized by Palm. On paper, this device is a hit: first, it works on Verizon's high-speed broadband EVDO network, allowing for very robust wireless internet access including streaming video and other high-data rate services.
It's a phone with thumb-keyboard plus an MP3 player, camera, and more. The 1.3 megapixel camera lens isn't bad (but no flash, for example) and you can add photos to dial your contacts. The Treo W Smartphone has a 312Mhz processor and comes with BlueTooth. The Windows Media Player Mobile supports music, audio, and video files including the following formats: WMA, WMV, MP3, 3G2. The stereo headphones are great or you can, instead, listen to audio from the fairly large speaker on the rear of this "everything" device. The Treo 700W comes with a removable (therefore easily replaced) lithium battery. Runs a variety of Windows Mobile applications natively like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, etc.
One thing that annoyed me is you can open so many different applications simultaneously that in a few moments the system suddenly groans to a halt. That happens when the memory struggles to keep the web browser, the phone, Word, and other programs open. It isn't intuitive, but you quickly learn you have to shut programs down. Verizon's EVDO network does let you web browse at a remarkable 400- 600 kilobits per second. Estimated street price is $399 from Verizon Wireless; syncs through USB cable (another plus.)
I can't afford this and, most likely, neither can you. But I love playing guitar and enjoy that Gibson has again revolutionized the electric guitar with their hefty Les Paul Digital Guitar. What's new? They devised a brilliant system of individual pickups for each string, allowing a talented musician to have a palette of musical tools once reserved for electronic keyboards.
The $3500 guitar connects via an Ethernet cable to audio mixing equipment, transforming the guitar into a midi-controller or sending outputs from individual strings to different amplifiers. This radical musical technology will afford guitarists unprecedented control over what the audience hears.
At CES, there was a near infinite number of companies that offered MP3 and other music players (everyone boasted having "iPod nano-killers" etc.) So, here are just two that I really liked:
Samsung YPZ5
First, Samsung's YPZ5 Flash music player (in both 2-Gig and 4-Gig versions) features a formidable 24-hour battery-life (or more!) and a very Nano-like form factor. But, instead of downloading from iTunes, music lovers can use Napster, Music-To-Go, and other services with this iPod wannabe. The bright 1.8-inch LCD screen supports JPEGs as well. Lists for $199.
A perfect one-inch-square ultra-light MP3 player has 1-Gig of storage. I just couldn't stop smiling about this tiny little cube, because that was just the beginning: They packed in a built-in microphone, voice recorder, and FM radio receiver too! It has a great OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen so you can even see what's going on… all on a device slightly larger than a dice-cube. Uses super-fast USB2 to transfer music and charge the device, ingeniously built into the headphone jack cable. Plays MP3, WMA, and WMA DRM music files. Available at Walmart for about $139.
Though it's not yet on store shelves, Pioneer has a portable XM satellite radio receiver that will surely be a hot seller when it comes out early this year. The Inno stores about 50 hours of radio content, plus receives XM's excellent array of satellite broadcast stations while you're on the go. In addition, the onboard FM transmitter will let you "broadcast" your music from this device onto a nearby sound system.
Best of all, this tiny handheld lets you save and buy content that you enjoy. So if you hear a song you want to add to your permanent collection, push a button and buy the song on the fly. This neat little morsel was declared winner of "The Last Gadget Standing" contest at CES.
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Only a few weeks ago, I demo-ed the astounding "Slingbox," technology that allows you to stream video content over the web. My Slingbox controls my home Tivo, for example, so I can watch video content anywhere I have access to high-speed internet. This means we not only "time-shift" our tv viewing but now can "location-shift" as well. [Read Review] At CES, Slingbox also unveiled new "Slingplayer Mobile" software that will allow mobile phone users to control and watch video content on high-speed handheld devices. Wow!
Sanyo HD 1
Another hit at CES is Sanyo's high-definition (720p) digital camera no bigger than a slice of toast. With a 10x optical zoom lens, the Sanyo HD1 has a 2.2-inch OLED display. The camera is lightweight and ultra-portable. Best of all, the projected price is under $800. What is still frightening is that you're recording on SD cards.
Now, with SD cards coming at 1 Gig and 2 Gig varieties, I'm concerned that you're not likely to get enough high-definition video recorded on this camera before the disk fills up. While there is talk that SD cards will go to 4 Gigs soon, I think the reliance on SD for high-def video seems to be this camera's Achilles Heel.
We, Robots: AT CES, we're beginning to see robots emerging from "toys" to become true "tools" for consumers. Here are a few of the robots we saw that we loved:
As a huge fan of the Roomba, the personal floor cleaning robotic vacuum cleaner, I'm ecstatic about the long-awaited Scooba. Not content with having a Frisbee-sized robot just scooping up dust and dirt, iRobot has introduced a floor scrubbing Scooba that actually washes and dries floors.
First, the Scooba scoops up dirt then applies a specially formulated Clorox solution. After polishing the floor, it sucks up the dirty solution and simultaneously dries the floor. The Scooba we tested worked flawlessly, even with frequent applications of puddles of sticky Coca Cola. Scooba retails for under $399 and is available now.
Robot-nuts also enjoyed seeing new entries from Lego Mindstorms, Vex, and HiTec Robotics. These products promise hours of fun building robots (and, as a happy side-effect, training tomorrow's engineers!)
Lego Mindstorms
Lego has added an array of new sensors and other technology that would give junior-robot-builders the ability to add sound and vision tools to their repertoire. In addition, Mindstorms has added new capabilities to let kid-built robots travel in a straight line.
RadioShack has daringly returned to the world of education and techno-wonder, with their new VEX line of robotics kits. These are designed to fill the gap after roboticists graduate from Mindstorms. VEX kits offer accelerometers, motors, gears, software, sensors, and sophisticated engineering and construction tutorials. Most of the technology at CES is designed for consumption… VEX, on the other hand, is designed for educating our future engineers. Great stuff!
Finally, a humanoid robot you can buy (either assembled or in a kit form) that walks, flips, cartwheels, and dances. Heavy metal construction with 18 servos, the Robonova is not cheap: Street price is under $1000.
Exkate Raptor 4.0
Ok, this isn't extremely high-tech, but it sure is fun: Exkate has built one of the wildest rides you'll find anywhere. Their new remote-controlled electric skateboard achieves maximum speed of 15 Mph in under 4 seconds.
Not only do you accelerate using the handheld remote, you also get an electronic brake. I'm not much of a skateboarder, but I was keeping this bad boy fairly under control (even though I did crash a couple of times early on.) In the end, I felt that I could ride this well with a tad more practice… and if I can, anyone can.
The Exkate skateboard can go 15 miles per charge. (They also have a gasoline-powered skateboard, but I wasn't going anywhere near that kamikase device!)
Other Noteworthy Hi-Tech Newcomers
Celestron unveiled the SkyScout: a personal handheld planetarium device, with an onboard GPS, that locates, identifies, and teaches users about celestial objects. (The SkyScout was also a winner of "The Last Gadget Standing" competition.)
Hillcrest Labs revealed an elegant approach to browsing for media content. Using a unique ring-like remote control, Hillcrest Labs demonstrates a more intuitive interface for selecting video, music, and other on-screen digital content. People think visually and Hillcrest's approach is astonishingly simple and clear.
Sony introduced an amazing DVD Handycam Model DCR-DVD 505. What I really loved about this was the optional BlueTooth Wireless Microphone (ECM-HW1R). Here's the brilliant part: stick the wireless mike on your child singing in the chorus and you'll only hear his off-key singing and not the rest of the class. Parents will love this option.
The good news is that the BlueTooth receiver is ready to go after you snap it in to the hotshoe on top of the camera. The bad news is that you can only use this BlueTooth wireless mike combo on the new Sony line of cameras... cameras that support the 5.1 surround sound configuration. But, I just love the idea. I'm a little perplexed that Sony said the BlueTooth mike could work as far as 100 feet away (since the BlueTooth specifications are limited to 33 feet..) but I suppose they have an amplifier of some kind in the transmitter or receiver.
Anyway, these are just a few of my favorite things from this year's CES. I saw many, many other products... some in early stages of development. Suffice it to say that we have seen enough products in the pipeline to give us work and play for the next six months.
By Dan Dubno