Gizmodo: ces2007

CES 2008: Comprehensive Robot Roundup

Haroon Malik — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:00:00 EST

We had a wail of a time at CES 2008, but we were not the only ones. The various robots on display were also going nuts at the convention. We have rounded them all up in this excellent video, showing you the neat robotics that we thought were worthy of a video shout out. Hit the clip to see them in action, and then read on for a full breakdown of all the droids featured.

From first viewed to last viewed:

• Mr. Clock Radio by Geewiz Entertainment ($99.99), is primarily an alarm clock radio. However, it does have a line-in jack, making it usable as a personal speaker set. It also has some three-hundred different wake-up message (half are aggressive, half are charming), and a fun/pointless "fortune telling" mode. The price is a little steep for the basic tech it implements, (flashing lights, portable speakers and pre-recorded messages), but we can't help loving the guy for his fantastic witticisms. [Geewiz Entertainment]

• Comprehensive Robot Kit by Bioloid ($869.00), one of the most complete and versatile robotics kits we saw on display at CES '08. The Comprehensive Robot Kit is really a a super-glorified Lego kit. It comes with various robotic bits'n'bobs, including IrDA receivers for dual robot communication, microphones for sound detection, luminosity detectors, piezo-electric speakers, essential battery packs and a full software suite for programmable characteristics in your robot's behavior, all via your PC. At this price, the kit is strictly an educational tool or for serious enthusiasts. [Bioloid Comprehensive Kit]

• Wrex the Dawg by WowWee ($TBA), has three emotional modes (happy, sad and angry), 14-motors for movement and a remote control for general locomotion. Expected to ship this Spring; if Wrex's quirky styling does not have reaching for your wallet, perhaps his mechanized wagging tail will? [WowWee]

• Tribot by WowWee ($99.99), is the robot that will replace the much loved Robosapien. The Tribot comes pre-loaded with a series of games that rely on the user to position the bot in various different orientations, it has three wheels that allow it to have a wide range of movements, a motion sensing controller that allows for Wii-esque navigation and it will hit the shops this summer. [WowWee]

• iRobiQ by Yujin Robot has been doing the rounds since CES 2007. It is a home information service that is able to display the news, weather, cooking recipes, photos, videos and sing some karaoke if you get bored. All this information goodness is displayed on a 7-inch LCD screen, but the iRobiQ also accepts voice commands for various jobs, like sending images to a cellphone, ordering a room to be cleaned by pairing with a Roomba type device and even read books that are stored on its central server. The iRobiQ, at present, has no US distributor, so do not expect it to ship anytime soon. [Yujin Robot; Korean link, via Tech Digest]

• E1 by Roboware ($1,500), recognizes set voice commands via a Bluetooth headset, connects to your network to transmit pictures captured via the on board camera, which it can also display on its tiny LCD screen and boasts bi-pedal motion, generated by a ton of different joints. At present, it is not ready for shipping, as the engineers are working out the bugs in the system. The final model will come with a full software suite, as well as an online developers community that will be launched along side the bot. Roboware hopes to ship the E1 by March, and envisions a truly malleable robot that can be completely defined by its users. [Company website is not live at present]

• Zeno by David Hanson (concept stage); we have covered Zeno an awful lot here at Giz, but the creepy bot was displaying his moves at CES '08, still in prototype stages. Zeno did not look so horrific in the real "frubber," but he still made us a little unsettled. Zeno will be able to talk, recognize faces and detect specific sounds, as well as be user upgradeable via an online community, with which Zeno can remain wirelessly connected thanks to the inbuilt support for Wi-Fi connectivity. [Hanson Robotics]

• FemiSapien by WowWee ($TBA), the FemiSapien is coined as Robosapien's girlfriend, and when the two interact, hilarious girlfriend/boyfriend rifts take place. The Femisapien is able to control Robosapien, but not visa versa. The female bot will be able to dance, move, sing and carry out a range of movement like her out-dated boyfriend. We are not sure the robot god approves of them living in sin, but we did not see them romp. However, if Robosapien carries on acting like this (VERY NSFW), we are sure robot god will be most displeased. Expect the FemiSapien to ship this summer. [Robots Rule]

That's the best of the robots we uncovered at CES '08. It looks like it is going to be a great year for fans of this genere of toys, but Sony, if you are reading, we wouldn't mind Aibo joining in the festivities at some point. Until then folks, there should be more than enough here to tide you over.

Aaron Broder, Kid Reporter, Blitzes CES, Gets the Scoops

Charlie White — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:37:30 EST

Meet Aaron Broder, the 14-year-old reporter and member of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. He's covering CES from start to finish. Chaperoned by his mom, the resourceful young man convinced the CES suits to bend the "no one under 16, no exceptions" rule to grant him a press pass. Good move, because after all, there are millions of people his age who are tech experts (and who read Gizmodo), and it's about time they got some press representation.

Aaron is one of 50 young people chosen to report news from all over the world for website Scholastic News Online and Scholastic's classroom magazines. Look for Aaron's take on CES there, as well as his impressions of your humble Gizmodo narrators and our peculiarities. If the next generation of reportage is represented by go-getters like Aaron, the future looks bright. [Scholastic News Online]

Samsung Sticks With Rear-Screen Projectors, Shows New Series 6 and 7 Sets

Charlie White — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 17:00:16 EST

The Skinny: Samsung remains unfazed by Sony's bailout of the rear-screen projector market, showing its Series 6 and Series 7 at CES 2008. The claim to fame of these big berthas? Huge screens for little moolaa, although Sammy isn't saying how much they will cost. The Series 6 will have a relatively slim cabinet for a rear-screener, and screen size choices in 50, 56, 61 and 72 inches (HL50A650, HL56A650, HL61A650). The 61-inch 67-inch Series 7 sets (Model numbers HL61A750 and HL67A750) use Samsung's LED DLP tech, and rocks a new version of its Cinema Pure color engine and power-saving Energy Star compliance. Both are available this spring. The Catch: Old tech, dying everywhere. Another pic and the press release, after the jump.

SAMSUNG'S NEW DLP HDTVS LEAD THE WAY WITH IMPROVED FUNCTIONALITY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND LOWER COST OF OWNERSHIP
Commitment to Advanced LED Technology and Enhanced Connectivity Make the New DLP™ HDTV Line-up a Remarkable Consumer Value
LAS VEGAS, January 6, 2008 - Expanding on last year's introduction of the world's first 3D-ready DLP HDTVs, Samsung Electronics continues its commitment to offering consumers choice, value, leading product designs and innovation within the DLP HDTV category by announcing its 2008 ―Series 6 and 7‖ line-up today. With a strategic focus on product performance and design, cost of ownership and energy efficiency, Samsung enters 2008 with excitement and vigor in regards to the company's leading position in the DLP category.

The new Series 6 and Series 7 DLP HDTVs offer consumers increased value while integrating innovative features that lead Samsung's portfolio of Micro Display and Flat Panel HDTV offerings for 2008. The Series 6 and 7 DLP HDTVs not only feature larger screens and Full HD 1080p clarity for sports, movies and gaming, they also offer the latest in networking and 3D technologies. Samsung's DLP HDTV lineup will be on display at Booth #11033 during the International Consumer Electronics Show held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, January 7 through 10.

Samsung is steadfastly committed to remaining a leader in the DLP space in 2008 and beyond with a strong investment in product development fueling the consistent introduction of innovative and affordable DLP HDTVs,‖ said Steve Panosian, director of Visual Display Marketing at Samsung Electronics America.

Building on the success of our innovative technology, we've incorporated several new upgrades, such as WiseLink 2.0 (USB) and HDMI V1.3 for enhanced connectivity, allowing consumers to access a wide range of content through their TVs. In addition, DLP has been proven to be an energy efficient HDTV category, and Samsung continues to focus on making DLP the most energy efficient possible.

Consumers will also enjoy a total 3-D experience, with the finest in sound and picture resolution,‖ added Panosian.

The 2008 6 and 7 series DLP TV will feature built-in 3-D technology and entertainment modes that automatically optimize both audio and video quality to deliver the best movie, sports, and gaming experience possible. The new remote design includes dedicated ―Entertainment Mode‖ buttons making split-second adjustments possible. Samsung's 3D-technology co-marketing plans include a starter kit accessory acclimating even novice users to this unique application.

Series 6 DLP HDTV Housed in a slim cabinet with a narrow bezel, the Series 6's hidden speakers make it aesthetically pleasing, as well as technologically advanced. Multimedia users will enjoy easy functionality with portable devices. MP3 players, PMPs, and thumb drives can all be used via the HDTV's WiseLink USB 2.0 input, while three HDMI-CEC side ports make it easy to plug in Blu-ray, HD-DVD players, HD camcorders and game consoles for immediate use. The Series 6 DLP HDTVs will be available in April and June in the following sizes: 50-inches, 56-inches, 61-inches and 72-inches (Model numbers: HL50A650, HL56A650, HL61A650 and HL72A650). Series 7 LED DLP HDTV

Samsung's Series 7 DLP HDTV has one of the most environmentally conscious designs on the market today. Consumers will find that this series' new Cinema Pure™ Color Engine powered by the long-lasting Generation 2.4 LED consistently outperforms its traditional lamp-based counterparts, delivering outstanding picture quality and continuous light output rated at over 60,000 hours.

Energy Star® compliance addresses efficiency while these state of the art HDTVs consumes approximately half the power of a 60-inch class plasma HDTV. This new LED DLP sets typically do not require interval lamp replacement and combined with low power consumption results in a lower cost of ownership for the consumer. At the same time, the Series 7 DLP HDTVs improve brightness by more than 40 percent and offer a wider color gamut for delivering a cinematic experience beyond other display technologies —all while using only 230 watts of power, resulting in both a

Greener HDTV — energy consumption and cost of ownership message to the consumer. Adding to the functionality of our Series 7 DLP TVs is Simplay HDMI compliance, a new Remote with specially designed hot keys, and a new simplified user interface and menu system. The result of these enhancements enables control over all HDMI-CEC-compatible A/V devices for a simplified total system convenience experience. WiseLink 2.0 (USB) with codec support for MP3 and JPEG enables consumers to easily access files from their portable media and display the files on a brilliant big screen HDTV. The Series 7 DLP TVs will also feature a 1 Tuner PIP function. The Series 7 LED DLP HDTVs will be available in April and June in both 61-inches and 67-inches (Model numbers HL61A750 and HL67A750).

About Samsung Electronics America, Inc. Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., markets a broad range of award-winning, advanced digital consumer electronics and home appliance products, including HDTVs, home theater systems, MP3 players, refrigerators and laundry machines. A recognized innovation leader in consumer electronics design and technology, Samsung is the HDTV market leader in the U.S. and is the only manufacturer that produces all four major digital television technologies. Please visit www.samsung.com for more information.

CES Remainders: Lost, the Final Episode

Jason Chen — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:00:05 EST

While we were busy covering every gadget imaginable at CES this year, ABC was forcing the stars of the show Lost to do a spoof on their last episode. Then they showed the finished clip at Disney chief Bob Iger's keynote to hundreds of appreciative nerds—complete with CES pandering.

Take a look for yourself and get stoked for Lost's return in a couple weeks. – Jason Chen

The Final Episode [YouTube via Blowing Smoke via TV Squad]

Frankenreview: The Best Of "Best Of CES 2007" Lists

Mark Wilson — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:30:16 EST

CES is so ~~hung~~over, and all that's left for journalists to do during this tech lull is to sit around and write up their "best of" lists for CES. But since our Frankenreview is about collecting product reviews and sifting through the opinions for consensus, what better to review than the best of what was reviewed at CES 2007?

While Laptop Mag, Popular Science, Shiny Shiny, Infosync, Reg Hardware, Maxim, and Pocket Lint have taken lemons and made lemonade, we are taking lemonade and making...super lemonade. Hit the jump to see the absolute cream of the crop products, the one list to catch you up on all the lists: The Best Of, The Best Of CES 2007.

Media Player
LG Super Multi Blue
"We love the quality of Blu-ray, we love the quality of HD DVD, but we don't want to get involved in a format war and back the wrong one. Seems LG doesn't either with the launch of a dual player." (pocketlint)

Portable Media
Sansa Connect
"This WiFi portable audio player provides streaming Internet radio, as well as WiFi content acquisition in one nicely priced package. In other words, any time you find yourself in a WiFi hotspot, you can download new songs." (maxim)
It's just like a Zune, but useful.

Television
Sharp 108" LCD

I love how succinctly she puts this: "...it's made by Sharp and is the world's largest LCD...as I just said." (shinyshiny)

Computer
OQO Model 02
"Roughly the size of two iPods, the OQO 02 could easily be mistaken for a handheld videogame system or even a slightly oversize Blackberry. But don't let it fool you: It's a fully functional, standalone computer capable of running Windows Vista." (popsci)
And it's a lot nicer than this UMPC.

Phone
LG VX9400
"Though we've seen swivel screen phones abroad...Verizon's V Cast Mobile TV announcement brought forth the first swivel screen for the US...very light, and surprisingly slim, we expected more bulk from the first generation of true mobile TV phones. The screen swivels to landscape mode and clicks nicely into place, and though it isn't very large, we were happy to see video commandeering the entirety of the screen's real estate." (infosyncworld)
No, we weren't tacky enough to say the iPhone.

Robot
iRobot Create
"From the company that brought you the Roomba vacuum cleaner comes a robot designed for students, geeks and other 'bot lovers to create their own programmes. See it in action here fetching beer from the fridge or even being controlled by a hamster. Genius." (reghardware)

iPod Dock
Viewsonic PJ258D
"... sleekly designed and weighs less than four pounds. The docking station connects an iPod video player directly to the projector...also supports other digital media, including S-Video and VGA...has a 1024 x 768 XGA resolution, 2000 lumens of brightness, and a 2000:1 contrast ratio." (LaptopMag)
If you don't think iPod docks deserve their own group, you weren't at the show. And it's among the world's most expensive, ludicrous iPod docks at $999.

And don't miss our own CES 2007 video made by Richard Blakeley. It's worth its 2 minutes in gold.

What were your favorites? –Mark Wilson

Sunwave Universal Remote: 7-in-1...Colors

Mark Wilson — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 11:15:45 EST

Cleaning out our CES bags is like that Family Ties two-parter where they dig through the attic: it takes too long, but we remember some good stuff that would have otherwise been ~~repressed~~ forgotten, like the Sunwave SRC-3200 Universal Remote.

Featuring 8-in-1 compatibility, along with an LCD touchscreen button layout, the Sunwave appears to be your standard, (nice) universal remote. But when switching between devices, the backlight color changes, easily identifying which device you are controlling. During our hands-on, we were impressed by the fluid interface, but hoping that the backlight appeared brighter in the romantic dimness of our home theaters. Oh, and what's with the 7 colors for our 8 devices? Poor VHS, shafted again. –Mark Wilson

Product Page (sorry, no clue what it costs).

The Official "Will You Marry Me?" Optical Mouse

Matt Buchanan — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:32:54 EST

Ah, the North Hall, the ghetto of CES. Home of Asian OEMs, where you can find all kinds of crap that you neither want nor need. Take for instance, the GTMS-3000 Mini Finger Optical Mouse from Guann Tau. With the "ergonomic and humanization design" touted by its flyer, you simply slip the mouse's strap over your finger and point the optical sensor downward. It has a tracking resolution of 400/800 dpi and gives you a little over a meter of cable to work with. As you can see, the one I played with was pink (though they claim it's red), but it also comes in black and blue. Unfortunately, it wasn't hooked up to a computer so I can't really comment on how well it worked. It did feel awkward, though. And cheap. So I expect some version of this to show up in Radio Shack by the end of the year. – Matt Buchanan

CES 2007 [Gizmodo]

Phone Grope and Gallery: Samsung Ultra Music SGH-F300

Matt Buchanan — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:28:10 EST

We told you about the Ultra Music back in December. Well at CES, we got personally acquainted with it when I mentioned the word "iPhone" to a Samsung rep, who swiftly brought us to the phone to check it out. iPhone it ain't, but sweeter than Chocolate it is. And then there's the second screen.

The 9.4 mm-thick candybar's double LCD design is pretty revolutionary: There's one on the "phone" side, and a larger one on the "music" side, which supports MP3, WMA and AAC. You switch between the two screens with a button on the side of the phone. (On the other side is the SIM card slot, which is behind a rubber top just like the microSD one, so it can be swapped out fairly effortlessly.)

What's nice is that music is easily accessible: just pop in a microSD card (or use the 400 MB of internal memory), navigate to the music icon (the multimedia menu reminds me of a PSP, so it only takes a second) and hit play. Displaying the album art is a nice touch, making it feel more like a real music player. The entry pad on the multimedia side is very much like the Chocolate's, with no tactile feedback, but it felt fairly responsive. It also, as you can see, gets smudgy after only a second of manipulation, but cleans up with a quick swipe of your sleeve.

On the phone side, conversely, you do get tactile feedback. This side also features my biggest gripe with the phone — the screen on it is abysmally tiny, and it's annoying. While, for instance, you can switch to the larger screen to read text messages, you enter contacts and dial using the smaller one. However, it's not an insurmountable obstacle in cozying up to the phone, as the menus were well laid out and looked great on the both of the screens, which are sharper and more contrasty than the photos indicate.

I think that the dual screen solution is an interesting way to combine a phone and a music player, as it feels like they soldered one to the back of the other. For the most part, it's well executed, though it has potential to be better. Overall, I like the phone quite a bit, and will be looking forward to its second quarter debut in the US. While the rep wouldn't name the carrier (or price tag), he did admit that it will be CDMA here, so you can follow that to its logical conclusion. – Matt Buchanan, Photos by Ben Longo

Penny-Arcade on CES: Part 1

Travis Hudson — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 14:43:00 EST

Gabe may have wanted to rub his penis all over Sharp's 108-inch LCD, but a lot of you folks would have rather seen our own Jason Chen put that huge beast in his pants. Regardless, enjoy all 108 inches however you see fit. –Travis Hudson

Penny-Arcade

FastMac TruePower Laptop Batteries: Gizmodo's Mission Critical CES/Keynote Gear

Jason Chen — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 14:00:19 EST

How do you manage to liveblog a two-hour Macworld Keynote while using EV-DO to constantly upload pictures without stopping to change your batteries once? FastMac's TruePower is how.

Thanks to FastMac's extended batteries, we were able to post live from Macworld and CES without having to run back to the press room all the time to charge. Available in 15-inch MacBook Pro and PowerBook G4 models, these fit in snugly just the way the originals do. And at the price of $99.95 with a complete 1 year warranty, you can't go wrong.

The next time we do CES, we're going to buy at least two each. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Fastmac]

Shortcut to the iPhone Coverage

Noah Robischon — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 23:59:10 EST

For all of Gizmodo's coverage on Macworld and the "j-phone" click on the Apple logo. Die hard fans can also re-live Steve Jobs' complete keynote from start to finish.

Otherwise, scroll below for a full gadget buffet.

Hands On with Novint's 3D Game Controller

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:30:10 EST

We saw a lot of controllers at CES, but Novint's Falcon stood out from the pack. It's a force feedback 3D controller designed for PC games. Users hold the grip handshake style and can then move it up/down, left/right, or backwards/forwards.

The cool thing about the Falcon is...

that it reacts depending on the app or game you're playing. We demoed it with Half Life and after a few seconds of adjustment found it was both easy to use and accurate. The knob has 3 buttons you use for firing, and each time you fire, the Falcon provides a push backwards. The bigger the gun you're shooting, the stronger the jolt backwards. Another demo had us pushing an object on the screen. Again, the Falcon provided resistance when pushing on the hand grip. Our only complaint was the Falcon's size. It stands pretty high and requires a bit of desktop space. It also has this weird dental machine/space robot look to it. It's not the prettiest controller out there.

Otherwise, it's expected to come out in June for $239 and will ship with a few micro games. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page

Fukuoku Massage Glove Hands-On: Good Vibrations

Gizloco — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 21:00:06 EST

Marketed as the world's first multi-speed waterproof massage glove, the Fukuoku should be used to give yourself or someone you know a nice, thorough massage. At the porn convention, however, all bets were off and the glove was used by this crazy old man to harass random passersby. We could use this after a week on non-stop CES and MacWorld coverage. – Nicholas Deleon with video by Richard Blakeley

Product Page [Amazon]

Format War Over, Says Mechanical Bull Riding Nymph

Louis Ramirez — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 12:35:53 EST

Still deciding whether to make the jump for Blu-ray or HD DVD? We asked this bull-riding nymph for her advice on which format to support. – Louis Ramirez with Video By Richard Blakeley

Cisco Taking on Apple TV with Secret Competitor

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 20:45:18 EST

Ever since the whole iPhone trademark scandal, Apple and Cisco have been clashing like two old archrivals. Now word has it that Cisco is working on a product that will directly take on Apple TV. According to Daily Tech, the new set-top box will be able to "serve and sync to content much in the same manner as Apple TV." The device is expected to ship later this year and might even play DVDs, though it's not known if it'll be of the high-def kind. If Cisco's secret set-top box does 1080p, we're up for a very interesting next few months. – Louis Ramirez

Cisco Preparing an Apple TV Competitor [Daily Tech]

LG Hybrid HD DVD/Blu-ray Player Getting Canned?

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:41:39 EST

Anyone who was planning on buying LG's hybrid high-def player may wanna sit down for this one. As we reported from CES, the BH100 fully supports Blu-ray discs, but since it lacks support for HD DVD's iHD, you can't access an HD DVD's interactive menus, you can only see the movie straight through.

So as a result, the DVD Forum might sue LG for falsely using the HD DVD logo and for falsely saying that their hybrid player plays HD DVDs when in fact it doesn't play them the way they were intended to be played. Microsoft was also a bit miffed at LG for...

not giving them a heads up before announcing the BH100. So it looks like LG's baby won't see the light of day, which is a damn shame. Both sides have valid points—we just hope they manage to work something out because all this does is make me wanna stick with my old school DVDs even more. – Louis Ramirez

LG Hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD Player Cannot Be Sold As Is [BetaNews]

Updated iRiver has Bluetooth, Awesome Accessory

Travis Hudson — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:53:26 EST

Spotted at CES by the dapreview folks is this iRiver S10 with a watch-conversion attachment. Interestingly enough, the watch accessory covers the headphone jack on the actual S10, but then it was noticed that this version of the S10 (rather than the older version) actually has a small Bluetooth logo on it. I'd rock that watch, and rock some Bluetooth headphones to go along with it. No details on this updated S10, but we'll keep you posted. –Travis Hudson

Transform the iriver S10 into a... Watch? [dapreview]

Eye Massager Scares Little Kids Away

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:00:34 EST

Remember that Thanko USB Eye Warmer. Well, the Breeze 180 I See eye massager we spotted in one of the deep, forgotten booths at CES might one up Thanko's warmer, despite the fact that from the other side it looks like...

a medieval torture device for your eyes. We tried it on. It was actually comfortable in a weird eye-poking kinda way. – Louis Ramirez

Hands On with CES' Smallest Tablet

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:30:07 EST

Flybook's V33i was without a doubt, the smallest notebook we saw at CES. This thing made our 3-pound ultraportable look like a heavyweight. The keyboard is very cramped, but we love that it has built-in HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE and GPRS. The 8.9-inch display might make you blind, however. We put our Motorola Q on the keyboard just so you can get an idea of how small this sucker really is. – Louis Ramirez

Flybook

Canon Buys Toshiba's Stake in SED

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 13:00:04 EST

Canon and Toshiba are going their separate ways in what was their joint SED-based venture. The reason? It seems that Nano-Proprietary, a Texas-based company which licensed technology to Canon, is crying foul over the fact that Canon is sharing Nano's technology with Toshiba. As a result, Canon is telling Toshiba to fork over their 50% stake in their SED venture, making it a one-company project. It's uncertain how this is gonna play out in the long run, although Canon insists they'll still produce the displays for the fourth quarter of 2007. But between their previous delays and their skipping CES, it just sounds like SED is heading the way of vaporware. – Louis Ramirez

Canon to Buy Toshiba's Stake in Display Unit [Yahoo News]

Toshiba Stainless Steel TV

Travis Hudson — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:22:24 EST

I've always dreamt of having one of those stainless steel kitchens seen in celebrity homes, and when I make my first million and make it happen, this will be the first addition to it. Actually, screw the kitchen I think I'll get this for my small apartment. It won't match anything, but it will look sexy as hell all by it's lonesome. –Travis Hudson

Toshiba Stainless Steel Kitchen TV [ubergizmo]

Wrapping Up CES 2007: Babes Female Booth Embassadors Gallery

Travis Hudson — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:52:01 EST

I managed to sneak out of Vegas a day earlier than everybody else, so most of the regular Gizmodo crew will be in transit today, but I'll do my best to keep you folks entertained. So here is a gallery containing many, many babes spotted at CES over the week. No nudity, but could be considered NWS if you happen to work in a church (maybe). –Travis Hudson

Update: This lack of sleep is killing me. I forgot to the link. See below for babeage.

CES Babe Gallery

Update 2: Now the Zoomr link above is busted. Hold on while I go reconnect the Intertubes. Here, look at the galleries below while I am un-exploding the Internet.
TweakTown Babe Gallery
ThinkComputers Babe Gallery

iPhone Reactions From CES: The Joy of Competition

Matt Buchanan — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 08:00:05 EST

The iPhone: We love it. You love it. Everyone loves it. Except for maybe the phone makers that now have to stack up to it. We decided to hit the CES show floor to see what some reps from other makers had to say about the Jesus phone and how they plan on dealing with the Second Coming. Quotopia after the jump.

Motorola: John Wernecke tersely offered that Apple "was and still is a business partner." Sounds like someone's not happy that their crappy iTunes phones aren't even worth bitching about anymore.

LG: More talkative than Motorola, Melissa Elkins said that LG "welcomes healthy competition" and thinks that the iPhone shows that "we're all moving in the right direction." However, the iPhone is "different [from what LG is doing]" and is "a little bit more in the high end" whereas they offer phones for a variety of providers at many different price points.

Samsung: Kim Titus thinks that "more excitement around phones and functionality is going to be nothing but good for the industry."

Nokia: Keith Nowak happily told me that Nokia thinks it's "exciting" because it's "making people aware that... internet and people are coming together." Moreover, it "follows what we've been saying for years." On exclusivity, it's "not abnormal" and pretty much all manufacturers do it. All of that being said, "nobody's touched it" so it's hard to comparisons.

Upshot? No one thinks that it's the end of the world. In fact, they think if people get used to paying more for phones with increased functionality like in Europe and Asia, everybody wins. Or they're agents of the Beast and are lying their asses off. – Matt Buchanan

Wrapping Up: Gizmodo's "IP" Address During CES

Matt Buchanan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:20:31 EST

From the 16th floor of the Imperial ~~Pit~~ Palace in Las Vegas, which was Gizmodo's base of operations for CES when not in press-room hell. Or swank-ass parties. Which means when we fell into comas at the end of each day, running nonstop from 8 am to 10 pm (or later). It was intense, tiring, stressful, pure madness and a hell of a lot of fun, all at the same time. We hope you loved our coverage as much as we loved covering it. And apparently a lot of you did, so thanks and look forward to post-show analysis in the coming days. – Matt Buchanan

CES 2007 [Gizmodo]

Guns, Geeks and Spiel: A CES Photo Gallery

Noah Robischon — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:15:31 EST

These are a few of our favorite moments from CES 2007. –photo gallery by Teru Kuwayama

Sprint EV-DO: Gizmodo's Mission Critical CES/Keynote Gear

Brian Lam — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:00:08 EST

How do you toss up 500+ posts at CES and the Macworld Keynote without hooking up to a single WiFi or hard ethernet port? You rock some cellular data. Every person on the team had either a USB dongle by Novatel (the U720), or a Sierra Aircard 595 PC Card. That's thanks to Sprint, who loaned us the cards on the condition that we'd give em feedback on how they worked in Vegas and SF. They were incredible.

To mix it up, I occasionally used an expresscard from Verizon on my Macbook. Although Verizon hasn't officially upgraded revision A, they're the only EV-DO company to have expresscards, the native expansion slot for the Macbook Pros many Gizmodo bloggers use.

Not that getting the USB dongles from Sprint fixed everything. We had depend on a hack from the EV-DO forums that allow OS X to use the USB devices. The resulting reception and performance made it worth the trouble.

We had reception in basements of the Sands, when our phones and other EV-DO cards couldn't pick up a damn thing, and WiFi was saturated by hundreds of journalists trying to file. And in the electric din of the Las Vegas Convention Center's halls, we uploaded probably a thousand photos, and dozens of videos, not to mention tens of thousands of words of ill crafted prose. And speeds were consistently good enough to not impede our work flow.

As soon as these loaners go back to Sprint, and they come out with and expresscard, I'm going to actually throw down a portion of my paycheck every month for the service. A rare endorsement for a guy –Brian Lam

Sprint Mobile Broadband[Gizmodo]

Johnny 5 On Viagra

Noah Robischon — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:00:28 EST

I guess royalties from Short Circuit aren't what they used to be. Still, it's good to know that b-list former Robot Child Stars can still get a little action. –Curtis Walker

Lowepro Gear Bags: Who Knew Backpacks Could Be So Sophisticated?

Gizloco — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:56:05 EST

Lowepro CompuDayack (and bonus Lowepro pictures of other backpacks)

The Skinny A backpack on steroids. With enough space to hold a 17-inch laptop, two digital SLRs, an iPod and a pony, the CompuDaypack pretty much eats other backpacks' lunch. It's also as soft to the touch as Travis is.

Geared Toward Professionals, imagined or otherwise. Guys who need to lug around that type of equipment while running to the press tent.

The Spin The phrase "walk like a pro, talk like a pro" kinda makes my skin crawl. Wonderful that that's the backpack's tag line.

Counterspin I mean, I did see the bag in action and did get to feel it up. I paid $85 for the garbage backpack I've been using here at CES and the CompuDaypack is $5 less.

Buy it if... You need to haul a mini production studio across long stretches of jungle or across town.

– Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Lowepro]

Hands-On: Amtek Vista UMPC

Mark Wilson — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:14:56 EST

Navigating the hidden halls of the Hilton, you can find some pretty cool/weird/boring tech that is eagerly waiting for a retailer to order and distribute.

We found this little UMPC gem "Vistagami" running Windows Vista with the Origami Experience Pack (we think). This prototype was a little rough around the edges, with a joystick that clicked like an NES controller, and a bit of delay when navigating the video menus. But, the touchscreen was clear, responsive and running Windows Freakin' Vista.

The Vistagami goes in to production this May and will retail for around $900. –Mark Wilson

p.s. The Amtek people called Mark fat in Chinese.

XM CommanderMT Universal Receiver

Travis Hudson — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:37:45 EST

Despite talks of a merger, XM had some new gear shown at CES this week including the CommanderMT. The CMT is a bit different that the average satellite radio receiver because it is built to be integrated into the vehicles dash. The CMT also stands out by using the XM Mini-Tuner so you can take your satellite radio to-go if desired. More pictures after the jump.

–Travis Hudson

CES: The new XM CommanderMT [Orbitcast]

Don't Look Down: SportVue BT1 Wireless Heads-Up Display

Charlie White — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:54:24 EST

This little Bluetooth-enabled SportVue BT1 from Motion Research shows speed, RPM and selected gear info on its LED display, clipped onto your motorcycle helmet and positioned exactly where you need it. Looking at it with one eye, its data appear to be superimposed ahead.

It can also show you radar detector and caller ID info, and the company's also working on displaying GPS data such as altitude and heading. Expect to see the BT1 in time for Christmas for less than $200. Motion Research tells us turn-by-turn GPS navigation might be in the offing after the BT1's release. – Charlie White

Product Page [Motion Research, via Coolest Gadgets]

Minihorn: Loud Enough to Wake the Dead

Charlie White — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:45:19 EST

The minihorn is one helluva noisemaker. About the size of a film canister, it sounds like a tenor saxophone at full blast. Perfect for making some serious racket at that cockfight you have planned for this weekend.

There was a guy pimping the little noisebombs, quite happy to rattle the rafters of the Sands Expo. – Charlie White

Product Page [minihorn]

Newsmodo: Top Stories (CES Only)

Noah Robischon — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:30:57 EST

•The Real Deal On Xbox 360 IPTV With Pics and Video
•Sony's OLED TV Prototype In Its Holy Shrine
•Forget Screen Size: It's Contrast That Matters
•Groping the Motorizr Z6 Slider
•Dell Home Media Suite Up Close: There Are Worse Ways to Blow $11K
•Brian Lam, True Competitor, Builds PCs Very Quickly
•Watch Me White-Guy Dance My Way Into Your Hearts
•Big TV Watch: LG Caught Faking Its 100-inch Giganticism

Driin Mobile Phone Holder

Charlie White — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:21:16 EST

The Driin Mobile Phone Holder makes a little table under an electrical outlet where you can park your cellphone, PDA or PSP while it's charging. It's a simple little rubberized plastic item that's available in a variety of colors for 5 Euros (about $6.48). – Charlie White

Product Page [Drinn]

Schwag Ideas: Ball-point Pen Chandelier

Travis Hudson — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:03:20 EST

With every damn booth at CES giving out a cheap pen, I think this pen chandelier by artist En Pieza would be the best use for all of them.

Check out all of the schwag goods from CES here. –Travis Hudson

Ball point pen chandelier [MAKE]

Aroma: Coffee Pot Alarm Clock

Mark Wilson — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:01:20 EST

There is nothing like sleeping in a little on the weekend, and waking up to the smell of bubbling hot coffee...fragrance.

The tough part is when you stretch, realize that your "girlfriend" didn't make you breakfast, and discover that she stole your wallet on the way out.

We have no idea how it actually smelled because the unit was out of fluid. But the top was kind of sticky and nasty. –Mark Wilson

Nyko Goes Wild, Releases Entirely Too Many Next Gen Console Accessories

Gizloco — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:45:13 EST

Nyko used CES this year to show off (in a swank Hilton suite, no less) a host of accessories for the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. Lucky me, I got to touch and play around with them until they finally kicked me out. Charging controllers is the name of the game on the PS3 front, with the Charge Base, Dual Charge AC and Charge Link all serving to charge the Sixaxis controller. The Charge Base ($40) can charge up to four controllers at the same time and plugs into the wall; the Dual Charge AC ($25) charges two controllers via a USB connection; the Charge Link ($15) plugs into the PS3 and charges while the system is turned out. The cable's a little longer than the standard Sony one, welcome news for those who like to sit far away from the TV.

As far as the Wii and Xbox 360 go...

Once again, Nyko has come up with several charging solutions. The Wii gets the Charge Station ($30), which charges the Wiimote. Since Nintendo has all but ruled out making a "charging solution," this certainly fills a void. Nyko's also got their own sensor bar for the Wii ($20) with a 25-foot radius. It's wireless, too, so setting it atop a wall-mounted TV is a little easier. They're also coming out with their own component cable given that the Nintendo one is damn near impossible to find.

Lastly, Nyko was demoing Zero, its newest line of wireless controllers for the PS3 and 360. Nyko's trying to get rid of the notion that third party controllers are on the cheap side with Zero. Available sometime this quarter for around $50, the controllers all have backlit buttons and are made out of an aluminum that helps dissipate heat. They were also damn light. I believe I said something along the lines of, "it's like I'm walking on air!" Pretty sure that's when they kicked us out. – Nicholas Deleon

Nyko

MobiBLU Boxon Hands-On

Jason Chen — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:10:24 EST

The Skinny: The MobiBLU Boxon is an MP3/WMA/OGG/WMA-DRM player with a built-in OLED display. Not only that, it's got an FM Tuner, Recorder, Voice Recorder, and built-in Skype.

Geared Toward: MP3 fans who love MobiBLU's small size. The screen was bright and video was smooth on the OLED display.

The Spin: Not only does this play music, it's got Skype. Plug it into your PC via USB, then you can use the headphones and built-in mic to talk. Kinda convenient to make calls in a buddy's house, a net cafe, or at CES.

Counterspin: Despite hearing about it back in August, we still don't know what the release date for this is.

Buy It If...: You love MobiBLU but want some video and even Skype. –Jason Chen

Product Page [Mobiblu]

Hands On: Skins Keep That Phone Dry in the Hot Tub, No Matter What

Charlie White — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:55:13 EST

Sure, we've seen plenty of skins that make your cellphone or iPod waterproof. But never have we had one demonstrated to us in such dramatic fashion. Here the lovely spokesmodel for Skins kindly waterproofs our Motorola Q. Hmm. There's something strangely familiar about this waterproofing process.

Jump for a hot-tub frolicking video and more-detailed pics of the entire process, as well as underwater proof that the Skins actually work.

Skins can also keep that small electronic device protected from sand, dirt, grime, and any other liquids, too. – Charlie White

Product Page [Innovalife]

Hands-On Otterbox: Protects Treo, Blackberry

Mark Wilson — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:30:58 EST

Otterbox 1900 & 2600: PDA protection for rugged sports

The Skinny A waterproof, crushproof case that can be dropped from 4 feet without damaging your product. Qwerty keypad can accept backlight from the Treo. Hard cover can fold back to reveal thin (also waterproof) screen for touch interfacing. Blackberry wheel works as well.

Geared Toward X Games competitors, guys going through mid-life crisis in Africa

The Spin Otterbox rep actually stood on their new laptop case to show off its support. He was also "very enthused".

Counterspin The otter is possibly the world's cutest animal, which is probably influencing our response. We're going to put one of their samples to the test later...

Buy It If... You can't unplug during your rafting adventures or Gallagher shows.

–Mark Wilson