PC World's CES Photo Gallery: The First 24 Hours
Electronic guitars, a TV that looks like a soccerball, and high-tech fishing gear highlight today's photo gallery.
Rick Rizner, PC World
The giant Consumer Electronics Show may not officially open until Thursday, but our editors already are in Las Vegas hunting down this year's greatest gadgets. Every day this week we'll be posting photos of the products you just have to see. Take a look.
And for even more CES coverage, head to PC World's CES InfoCenter.
Cyberhome's LAP-9100 entertainment center is built around an LCD display with a built-in, slotted DVD player, TV, AM/FM clock radio, and digital audio player and still image viewer. The package also includes and an under-cabinet mount with built-in speakers; you can detach the LCD and use the mount and its speakers to play music from an iPod or other digital audio player. The LAP-9100 is due in spring for $399.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Fender, the famed maker of electric guitars for rock stars, seeks to broaden its following with its new Hello Kitty guitar. Designed for young girls who might find their father's Stratocaster too intimidating, the pink instrument is expected to sell for around $250. But if you want to hear yourself over an amp, you'll have to spend an additional $250.Photograph: Rick Rizner
A new company called Hannspree specializes in what it calls "lifestyle TVs"--more than 100 LCD TVs designed to appeal to a specific category of viewer. For example, the Monkey TV ($299) was created for young children. Photograph: Rick Rizner
Hannspree's $349 Soccerball TV (made with real leather), meanwhile, has the sports fanatic in mind.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Humax's personal media player is one of the newest portables powered by AMD's Alchemy Au1200 mobile processor. Due early this year, it boasts a 4-inch LCD display and a 20GB hard drive for playing video from services such as DirecTV's upcoming DirecTV 2 Go.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Interactive Toy Concept's newest radio-controlled helicopter, the Micro Mosquito, weighs six ounces and is only about half a foot in diameter. It's slated to ship in July for $99. It's the petite sibling to the slightly larger $69 Air Rage BladeRunner II, which the company says was already the world's smallest radio-controlled chopper.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Viewsonic's latest NextVision series of LCD HDTVs offer 1080p resolution at aggressive prices (after rebates): The 37-inch N3760w, shown here, will go for $1599; its 40-inch sibling, the N4060w, will have a street price of $1999, and the 32-inch N3260w will set you back $1199. All are either shipping now or are expected to ship later in January.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Torian's InFusion is a wireless Internet radio that's smaller than a deck of cards. Hooked up to the Internet via Wi-Fi, the device can play any station that streams over the Web. The InFusion is slated to ship this spring for $199.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Gone fishing? With Xavix's Bass Fishing you don't have to go anywhere to practice your technique. Bass Fishing is the latest module that works with the company's $80 XavixPort, which attaches to your TV and receives wireless signals from an assortment of sporting gear. The $60 Bass Fishing add-on consists of a very truncated rod and reel; when you cast it, the TV shows the end of your virtual line in the water and even provides feedback on varying tension.Photograph: Rick Rizner
At first glance, it looks a bit like a futuristic dental chair, but on closer inspection the Nethrone turns out to be a state-of-the-art computing or gaming environment. Mount a PC or console game player in the Nethrone, choose your input device (keyboard or perhaps joystick), and then adjust the angles and orientation of almost any element (including the leather seat) to your preference. The anticipated retail price: a mere $2495.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Motorola's H5 Miniblue Bluetooth Headset raises the bar for shrinkage in the Bluetooth phone headset category. Due sometime between now and summer, the H5 weighs a mere quarter ounce; one end is small enough to slide into your ear canal (a la earbud). It comes with its own recharging unit.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Logitech's new Bluetooth phone headsets let you listen in stereo to music played on your cell phone. The HS-200 Mobile Stereo Headset has round earpieces and a stubby antenna; the HS-210 has square earpieces and no visible antenna. Both are due this spring for an estimated street price of $130.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Lenmar's Mach 1 Lightning SpeedCharger MSC815 promises to recharge AA or AAA nickel metal hydride batteries in record times: 8 minutes for two PRO-H AA cells, and 15 minutes for four NiMH AA or AAA cells. The Mach 1 is available for $49 to $59.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Otter Box's $40 watertight case for the iPod Nano lets you access controls while keeping it safe from the elements. It's shipping now, and a similar case for the iPod Video (also $40) is slated to follow in February.Photograph: Rick Rizner
Lexar showed a new twist on the standard-issue flash memory drive, with its forthcoming JumpDrive Mercury. The drive will come in 1GB and 2GB capacities, and adds a capacity gauge so you can see at a glance how much memory the drive still has available. The capacity gauge is based on Electronic Paper Display technology. Lexar doesn't expect this feature to cost tons extra; the company says the drive prices should only see about a $5 premium above beyond standard-issue flash drives.Photograph: Rick Rizner
LG Electronics' new phones will both be offered by Cingular. The CU320 is the first phone designed to work on the company's recently announced 3G (HSPDA) BroadbandConnect network; it features a 1.3-megapixel rotating camera, Bluetooth, an MP3 player with stereo sound, and a transflash media slot. Photograph: Rick Rizner
LG Electronics' F9200 is designed for messaging and e-mail addicts; it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a VGA camera, music player and speakerphone. Photograph: Rick Rizner
PC World Editors Yardena Arar and Melissa J. Perenson contributed to this report.
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