CES 2008 Day 1

Author
Aron Schatz
Editor
Logan King
Posted
January 8, 2008
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54972
CES 2008 Day 1
Day 1 coverage of CES 2008: One of largest consumer electronics shows in the world. CES is one of the best shows and is impossible to do the entire show in the four days.

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Page 1
Intro:

CES is one of the biggest consumer electronics show in the world. Hosted in Las Vegas at the start of the year, the show welcomes well over 100,000 people. During this week, Las Vegas turns into technology town. You really can't go anywhere without hearing someone talking about HDTV, Bluetooth, Open Source, basically anything technology related. The show lasts four days and it is nearly impossible to see everything that it offers during that time. It really is a large show.

Disclaimer:

These daily articles will be a bit light on details. ASE Labs will write a follow-up article next week to get into much more details with better pictures including press kit photos. These photos are taken directly from the show floor by the photography editor, Steven Susman.

TN Games:

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Hopefully, this will be a great year for more immersive gaming. People continually say that the PC is dead for gaming, but with the wide range of devices that can be added, this statement is always false. TN Games will be released a very cool product that allows to feel the blows directly on your body. It is called the 3rd Space HXT Gear. I'm showing off the vest in this photo, but the system already has a helmet as well and can support up to 5 different attachments for legs and arms. You can feel where the shots are coming from thanks to a pressurized air system. This is real force feedback. This is where immersive gaming is heading. I'm glad that companies are looking at systems like this. It was a pleasure to play and ASE Labs should have a full review of the vest during the year. TN Games.

Ultra Wide Band:

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Ultra Wide Band or Wireless USB is finally arriving in force. The first of such devices offer wireless USB hubs, but this is just the start. Many peripheral companies are coming out with UWB. When asked if the devices need drivers, some companies responded that it shouldn't (so it should work on Linux) and others said that it did. I don't doubt that Linux support will be included in the Kernel if it already isn't. Wireless USB is a great technology that promised high-speed personal area networking. Yes, this was the original promise of Bluetooth. Wireless USB is power efficient and a welcome technology that cuts the wire. The two products in the above images are from CablesToGo and DLink

ThermalTake:

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ThermalTake is showing off many of their products including a new watercooling case in the Xaser series. ThermalTake makes great products and expect ASE Labs to have full reviews of many of their products this year. This photo shows their excellent power supply coupled with the new LCS (Liquid Cooling System). ThermalTake's power supplies are one of the best being so heavy and provide stable power. Needless to say, the watercooling system is nice to see with an impeller that is shown in the window. ThermalTake.

R2D2:

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Yes, There is a really expensive R2D2 robot that features an iPod dock and some other neat things. The not so neat thing: the price is $3,000.

Logitech:

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Logitech has a huge presence at the show. I briefly stopped by the booth on the way out and will come back on Day 2 to see more products that they offer. The picture shows their Di Nuvo Mini which is an awesome product for media center PCs. This little input device merges the keyboard and the mouse (it is a rocker type) in a small and neat package. It is Bluetooth enabled and perfect for the living room. Logitech usually rules the roost in input devices and it is because of these products that it continues to do so. ASE Labs should have full reviews of many new Logitech products this year as it has done in previous years. Logitech.
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Lunch@Piero's:

Lunch@Piero's is a press event sponsored by Pat Meier Associates. Pat Meier is a friendly, welcoming person and the event brings a few companies together just to show off to press. Pat Meier is the PR agency that handles VIA, so VIA had a huge presence at the event.

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VIA's EPIA series culminates in the form of the pico-ITX. This board is the smallest board ever produced. It includes a range of expandability including Serial ATA and IDE as well as a SODIMM slot on the bottom of the board. The board includes headers for USB, Audio, and more and allows a completely custom case to be built around it. This product is really targetted to the embedded market. VIA.

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VIA also powers many sub-notebooks including some UMPCs. These new generation devices should last about 5 hours and provides enough power to do daily work tasks. They are no gaming machine, but many include cellular connectivity and even WiMAX for always on internet on the go. These sub-notebooks are really awesome to see and are perfect for the road warrior on the go.

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This product uses the Via C7 processor and is basically a small internet enabled device. Don't let that fool you, the MicroTube (MTube) has the full a full x86 processor and includes the latest version of Ubuntu running Firefox and whatever other programs you want to install. This gadget is one of the most ultra-mobile UMPC I have seen. It also includes DVB-T (HDTV over the Air), WiMAX, Speech Recognition, and more. This is really where PDAs should be heading. This is a research project sponsored by the Taiwan government, but I expect a full product release sooner or later.

Kingston:

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Kinston was also at the press event just as they were last year. This year, Kingston is really branching out into the more consumer oriented products. They are releasing USB flash drives branded by their HyperX line. Their drives are really interesting in that they USB plug retracts into the device instead of using a cap. Kingston really has something and their devices currently go up to 8GB, but expect higher capacities soon. ASE Labs will have reviews of Kingston's flash and memories products this year. Kingston.

Crucial/Micron/Lexar:

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Crucial was present at the event as well. ASE Labs will be meeting with Crucial/Lexar on Day 2, but this blurry show is like that for a reason. It shows a solid state 32GB hard drive being shaken while running and working fine. Solid state is really the way to go for mobile computing and expect more on our Day 2 coverage. Micron.

OpenMoko:

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This is a really great development for the Open Source community. This is a truly open phone running Linux. The new version of the phone being released soon includes features that really make it capable of competing with the iPhone including an accelerometer and GPS. Really, this is one cool phone but it only works on GSM networks. OpenMoko

gOS:

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Google's new operating system gOS 2.0 was released yesterday and it looks very interesting. Expect a full review of the new operating system next week or so. What is really interesting is that gOS is powered by Ubuntu and it includes many enhancement that really shows that the web can be an operating system. I still have my doubts, but the image shows a webcam application. That is Steve shooting the shot on the screen. Very interesting to see the operating system being packaged on Everex PCs. Think gOS.

Everex PC:

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Everex has really turned around and is selling PC's at Walmart.com and some other stores that run gOS. They produce desktops and laptop, but the truly interesting one is the one shown in the image. This is a full laptop (sub-notebook) that has a 5 hour battery life. The laptop has a wide range of connectivity options and will retail for $400! Their desktop is actually called the gPC and retails for $200. ASE Labs should have a review of the laptop some time this year. Everex.

Stay Tuned:

More show coverage will be coming soon, keep your browser on ASE Labs and make sure to »check out our forums while you are here. Thank you for reading.

Day 2 Coverage: »Posted Here.
members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2217m.jpg airvest.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2218m.jpg crucialsshd.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2219m.jpg evsmlap.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2220m.jpg gos.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2221m.jpg kingstonusb.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2222m.jpg moko.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2223m.jpg mtube.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2224m.jpg r2d2.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2225m.jpg logitechmini.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2226m.jpg ttxaser.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2227m.jpg umpcvia.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2228m.jpg uwbc2g.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2229m.jpg uwbdlink.jpg members/attachments/upload/2008/01/08/2230m.jpg viapitx.jpg

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