The giant Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas finally has shut its doors for the season, but that doesn't mean our coverage is over. We've put together some of the coolest photos to come out of this year's show. Take a look.
And to read our original reports from the show, check out our CES Staff Blog, where our editors are writing about these products and many more.
If you must go outside, but can't leave the music behind, why not snorkle with Oregon Scientific's MP120 MP3 player? You can go up to 3.2 feet deep underwater with it for up to 30 minutes. It comes in 128MB, 256MB, and 512MB capacities, and the company says the battery lasts up to 10 hours. Don't touch the fish!
Sony showed off its PsP at a launch event at the Hard Rock Cafe. Already a hit in Japan, the company continues to be vague about when the portable gaming device will be launched here in the United States--and how much it will cost. Sony executives suggested the sharp-looking device will roll out in March, and it is widely expected to sell for about $199.
DesignTech's $140 Guardian 911 Phone, due in April, is a tiny cordless handset that connects to a base station for the sole purpose of summoning 911 help with the push of the phone's single button.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Universal Electronics' NevoSL is a universal remote control for streaming media between devices throughout your home.Photograph: Rick Rizner
AudioVox's modular Shuttle System, due in March, consists of a tablet-like LCD display with integrated DVD player (the 10.2-inch screen is shown here, but smaller screens are available). It can be used either by itself or with any of several docking stations such as the tabletop unit with built-in speakers shown here.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Motorola used this ramp covered with snow to demonstrate its newest product in the parking lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The company has teamed up with Burton Snowboards to give the world a snowboarder's jacket designed to connect to a digital music player and any brand of Bluetooth-enabled cell phone.
The jacket's hood includes a pair of stereo speakers and a microphone and these are connected to a control pad on the outer side of the jacket's left sleeve.
Don't like the jacket? There's also a hat containing an integrated headset that can be used with a phone or music player equipped with Bluetooth. Blank, silvery stare not included.
This break from looking at glossy hardware is brought to you by Olympus, which had live, nondigital music showcased at its CES booth. Here are two members of the Black Crowes trying to be heard over the din of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Ahhh, I love the '90s!
Archos' Pocket Media Assistant PMA 430 is a sleek portable audio/video player and recorder with a 30GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, and an LCD touch screen. The unit ships this later this month, and will cost $800.
Pentax's Optio WP is a slim little camera that's also slick (and not just because of the cascade of water). This 5.0 megapixel camera ships in April, and is waterproof up to five feet. Estimated price will be $400.
Apple hasn't announced any plans to offer a video-capable version of its IPod, so accessory maker Nyko plans to do it for them. This add-on device, code-named MoviePlayer, should be available by early summer. It offers a 3.5-inch color display plus additional media controls for current-generation IPods. Pricing hasn't been set yet, but it will likely cost $199 or $249, Nyko says.
Nyko revealed this early prototype of its upcoming IPod Speaker Dock here at the show. Plug the two-speaker dock into an AC outlet and you can listen to your IPod while it charges. You can also plug the unit into your desktop via USB to transfer music to your player. Pricing has yet to be announced; the company hopes to ship the product sometime this spring.
Here's the Philips Wireless Music Center, the WACS700. It comes with a stylishly designed base and up to five satellite stations. The WACS700 can convert audio CDs into MP3 music files, store them on a 40GB hard drive (up to 750 CDs of music), and wirelessly stream your music. You can play the same music on all five or have up to five different music streams going at once.
It's a flash-based MP3 player. It's a speaker system. It's a radio alarm clock. The versatile Philips Personal Sound System (PSS110) is all of the above in a device that looks very much like an itty-bitty boom box you can hold in your hand. The PSS110 is due in April at a suggested retail price of $160.
Tired of QWERTY? ABKey's Premium 1 keyboard aims to place the most commonly used vowels and consonants where your fingers naturally rest to minimize movement.
The D-Link personal media player can store music and video on its 20GB hard drive or stream music from a PC on your network or from the Internet. It's due out later this year.
Optoma's MovieTime Player was a major buzz-generator at CES. This Instant Home Theatre projector has an integrated DVD player, built-in 5-watt speakers, and 840-by-480p resolution, perfect for 16-by-9 movie viewing. But what sets this product apart from competitors in the new Home Theatre category is its "short throw" lens, which allows owners to get a 64-inch wide screen from just five feet away, and its extremely quiet fan, which is rated at 28 decibels. The box also offers S-video and VGA connections for upgraders and has an optical output if you want to connect it to a 5.1 surround sound system. Expected to ship in the next six months, the MovieTime Player should retail for under $1500.
PC World co-hosted a "Rock the House" party at the MGM Grand Friday night, and one of the highlights was an appearance by Dweezil Zappa, son of the celebrated Frank Zappa, the iconoclastic musician of the '60s, '70s, and '80s. Dweezil claimed, tongue in cheek, that computers have made musicians "worse than they've ever been," yet at the same time they've also made amateur or first-time musicians better than they've ever been before.
