Blog - Strong Words for Canon's Vixia HD Cameras - 4:44 PM, January 9, 2008
by ntmokey

Not having the creativity left in me to describe Canon’s Vixia HD camcorders for myself, I’ll borrow a quote from the company’s own perky presenter: “Man, they are super wow!” Well, maybe I wouldn’t go that far, or use such a mind-numbingly ridiculous choice of words, but I’ll admit there’s something really appealing about these little cams.



Blog - How Does Sony's 27-Inch OLED Prototype Stack Up? - 4:13 PM, January 9, 2008
by ntmokey

Alright, I finally gave up on finding a quieter time to visit Sony’s new 27-inch OLED display, and instead clawed my way to the front of the crowd perpetually clustering around it to get a glimpse. It’s big, it’s bright, and it’s thin, but I just don’t know if it’s really worthy of the commotion.



Blog - Sharp's Aquos Net LCDs in Person - 3:38 PM, January 9, 2008
by ntmokey

As mentioned in Sharp’s Sunday press conference, the company’s new Aquos-Net LCDs will be able to display limited Web content on screen without the use of a computer, by picking up data transmitted through powerlines to the TV. Since both the 52- and 65-inch versions of these “special edition” LCD displays will be launching in January, I dropped by the Sharp booth to see them in person.



Blog - Penn Jillette Announces New Show on Sony's Crackle - 3:03 PM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

With all the squeaky clean, rehearsed performances that show up at CES, this afternoon’s Sony announcement from Penn Jillette (the bigger half of Penn & Teller) was a refreshing splash of off-the cuff, off-color humor. Penn announced his own new show on Crackle, but not before swallowing a bean, popping it out the corner of his eye, and of course, a few risqué remarks about nuns in between.



Blog - Reflections on Windows Home Server - 1:00 PM, January 9, 2008
by ntmokey

One of the most visible products at CES, despite having been announced one full year ago, must be Microsoft Windows Home Server. From gigantic banner ads hanging on columns outside, to a children’s book entitled “Mommy Why is There a Server in the House?”, Microsoft’s PR machine has been set to high on this one.


Blog - LG V50 Touch Cinema Nails Ease of Use - 12:42 PM, January 9, 2007
by ntmokey

You may have noticed, based on my previous criticism of the Motorola Z10, that I’m pretty picky when it comes to user interfaces. Nothing drives me crazier than running around in circles through endless menus, getting hit in the face with dozens of buttons at once, and hunting for options filed in areas that make no sense. Perhaps that’s why I’m such a fan of LG’s sort-of-new V50 Touch Cinema. The user interface is close to perfect.



Blog - Panasonic's Colossal 150-Inch Plasma - 8:49 AM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

The ongoing contest between manufacturers to have the absolute biggest display at CES is almost a running joke around here. I’ve been hearing about Panasonic’s gigantic 150-inch plasma ever since they dramatically unveiled it on Monday, but haven’t had a chance to see it for myself until yesterday. Conclusion: not surprisingly, it’s a monster.



Blog - VisionQuest's Ultra-Low-Cost 7-Inch Asus EEE Clone - 8:22 AM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

It’s tough, in an environment so totally saturated by journalists and snap-happy bloggers, to get any peeks at unseen products at this show, but I think I’ve got one for you: the VisionQuest V-Book seven-inch notebook computer. Yes, it’s an Asus EEE clone, but with two major differences: it will run Windows CE and, more importantly, sell for between $250 and $300.



Blog - Panasonic's One-Inch Thick Plasma - 7:31 PM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

Those of you already drooling over the ultra-thin plasma offerings from Pioneer and Samsung now have one more to lust after. Panasonic has debuted a one-inch thick plasma display of its own.



Blog - Sony's 82-Inch LCD: As Lifelike As Life - 5:52 PM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

Putting every bleeding-edge technological marvel from around the world in one gigantic convention center has a funny effect on people. It tends to numb you a bit to what you’re seeing, and before you know it, things you would have happily spent an hour fiddling with the day before are just waves in a glittering sea of wonders that makes it difficult to appreciate each one on its own.



Blog - Inside the HD-DVD Camp - 3:24 PM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

The HD-DVD format may have fallen a long way following Warner Bros. announcement about abandoning it, but things haven’t quite reached the point where you can’t even give the discs away. Trust me, they tried. On my recent visit to the HD-DVD booth to see the state of the fragile format, attendees not only snapped up free HD-DVDs following a presentation, they filled almost every chair and stood in the back to listen.



Blog - MyVu Glasses Hold Promise for Big Screen Video without a TV - 11:38 AM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

One of the hottest small booths I’ve seen so far at CES has to belong to MyVu, makers of video glasses. There’s something about those futuristic-looking shades that just draws people in like flies, and I have to admit I was also snared, even though I’ve seen some pretty clumsy implementations of the same concept in the past.



Blog - Motorola Z10: Not Ready for Prime Time - 10:47 AM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

I’m not a fan of Motorola, but not for lack of trying. Their designs are sexy. I want to own them. But when it comes down to it, the Motorola user interfaces I have encountered are consistently subpar, and have kept me away despite superior aesthetics. So it goes with the brand new Z10 film editing phone.



Blog - Can Pioneer Really Retrieve Data Lost in MP3 Compression? - 9:08 AM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

One new line of products I got a chance to try yesterday but had no time to write about were Pioneer’s new single-CD players for the car, which might not sound very exciting, but there was one feature specifically I wanted to investigate. At Pioneer’s press conference, they talked up their new Advanced Sound Retrieval technology, a way to allegedly retrieve data lost in MP3 compression.


Blog - FLIR Cameras No Longer Exclusive to Law Enforcement and Industry - 8:34 AM, January 8, 2008
by ntmokey

I attended CES showstoppers yesterday night, which is basically a chance for smaller companies at CES to showcase their products in a smaller venue where they will be noticed. Many of the products being offered had already been released and aren’t exclusive to CES right now, but I still wanted to share what I found to be a very neat offering: forward-looking-infrared (FLIR) cameras on the consumer level, which have been rolling out rather quietly over the past year or so.



Blog - Kodak Fixes My Ugly Mug (Automatically!) - 5:07 PM, January 7, 2008
by ntmokey

First off: In the name of full disclosure, I’m from Kodak’s home town of Rochester, New York, and I have immediate family that works for the company. That said, I’ve seen some real slip-ups from the company in the past, and I have no problem calling them as I see them.



Blog - Creative inPerson Reeks of Failure Thanks to Ridiculous Price - 4:23 PM, January 7, 2008
by ntmokey

With every booth I hit at this, my first CES, I’m getting better and better at figuring out exactly what to expect before I even talk to anyone. At Creative Labs, I could practically smell the desperation of the PR reps before I even got there, and I wasn’t at all surprised to find an absolute dud of a product at the center of their feigned excitement.



Blog - Two Can Play at the Thin Game - 1:31 PM, January 7, 2008
by ntmokey

Pioneer did quite a job catching attention with the announcement of its 9mm thick plasma yesterday, but it’s not the only company unveiling such thinned down plasmas this year. Hitachi unveiled its line of 1.5-inch thick ultra-thin plasmas today, with displays measuring in at 32, 37 and 42 inches.



Blog - Casio's EX-S10 Impresses with Quality, Interface - 1:05 PM, January 7, 2008
by ntmokey

I think there’s a reason Vegas rhymes with shameless (sort of). The only reason I even ended up Casio’s booth this afternoon was due to the completely over-the-top dance show they put on (see pictures) that sucked me in like an awkward black hole I couldn’t walk away from, but as it ends up, I’m glad I swung by. Casio just released a batch of new digital cameras in their Exilim line, and the smallest model, the EX-S10, shows a lot of promise.



Blog - Samsung's 3D-Ready Plasma - 10:35 AM, January 7, 2008
by ntmokey

We all probably remember the days of video cards that came bundled with 3D LCD glasses, and probably all the headaches that came after using them as well. 3D technology never quite bloomed as it was predicted to, and those bulky 3D glasses were part of the reason. I was a little bit saddened, then to see the same thing at the display for Samsung’s Series 4 and Series 5 “3D-ready” plasmas, but the experience of using them far exceeded anything I’ve seen with 3D glasses in the past.



Samsung's Touch of Color Designs - 10:03 AM, January 7, 2008
by ntmokey

One of the most disappointing aspects of Sunday’s Samsung press conference, besides the numerous errors in the presentation, would have to be the company’s hard push for its new Touch of Color designs. After basically claiming that other companies had copped its signature piano-black designs and it was time to move on, Samsung introduced a new translucent design ethic it called Touch of Color. And boy, did they mean “a touch.” From a distance, you could hardly tell the new design from an old gloss black design, and I pretty much dismissed it on the spot.



Pictures of Pioneer's 9mm-Thick Plasma - 7:24 AM, January 7, 2008
by ntmokey

I mentioned in my last post that pictures weren’t quite able to capture the magic of Pioneer’s extreme black plasma display, but fortunately the company’s 9mm-thick display gets its effect across quite easily. I managed to snap a bunch of shots at last night’s press event of the screen – which also looks fantastic.



Pioneer's Extreme Contrast Plasma in Person - 7:10 AM, January 7, 2008
by ntmokey

I had a chance to attend Pioneer’s sneak peak press event last night, and witnessed the extreme contrast plasma for myself. Pioneer talked a big game at its press conference, but I can safely say that the display really can and does live up to any hype the Pioneer press folks can pile on. Pioneer’s perfect black is perfect black.


Live from Bill Gates' Keynote Speech - 6:31 PM, January 6, 2008
by ntmokey

While Pioneer’s morning press conference on Sunday was studded with claims about revolutionary new products, the company’s announcement of a new display technology that boasts immeasurable contrast ratios drew by far the most attention, with Pioneer reps declaring contrast ratios dead and irrelevant.


Samsung Press Conference Nearly Derails - 6:04 PM, January 6, 2008
by ntmokey

As far as we’ve seen this Sunday, the dream of IPTV, television content provided solely through an Internet connection, will remain a dream at this year’s CES, but Sharp and Samsung are making the first steps toward such technologies with new features built into their latest televisions. The next generation of displays from both manufacturers will allow viewers to access weather, stock quotes, traffic reports and more into their television sets, without any additional hardware.



Sharp Avoids OLED Technology - 5:57 AM, January 6, 2008
by ntmokey

Sony may have formally embraced OLED technology by becoming the first company to produce a commercial display that uses it, but another major manufacturer, Sharp, has vocally announced its intention not to follow in Sony’s footsteps. The company detailed its move (or lack of one) at a press conference on Sunday, explaining that the technology is not yet ready for the mainstream.


Sharp and Samsung Intro Limited Web Functions in Next-Gen Displays - 5:43 PM, January 6, 2008
by ntmokey

As far as we’ve seen this Sunday, the dream of IPTV, television content provided solely through an Internet connection, will remain a dream at this year’s CES, but Sharp and Samsung are making the first steps toward such technologies with new features built into their latest televisions. The next generation of displays from both manufacturers will allow viewers to access weather, stock quotes, traffic reports and more into their television sets, without any additional hardware.



Pioneer Eliminates Contrast Ratios Entirely? - 10:21 AM, January 6, 2008
by ntmokey

While Pioneer’s morning press conference on Sunday was studded with claims about revolutionary new products, the company’s announcement of a new display technology that boasts immeasurable contrast ratios drew by far the most attention, with Pioneer reps declaring contrast ratios dead and irrelevant.



LG Press Conference - 9:47 AM, January 6, 2008
by ntmokey

Drawing a line that ran out the door of the Venetian, LG kicked off Sunday’s CES activities with a conference highlighting the companies past successes and plans for 2008. Key products to look for at this year’s show will include an LED-backlit LCD display, new hi-fi audio offerings, plus phones with touch screens and full QWERTY keyboards.


The Calm Before the Storm - 11:49 AM, January 4, 2008
by ntmokey

Hello everyone!

I haven’t yet departed for the wonderful land of glitz and glam that is Las Vegas, but I wanted to take advantage of this calm before the storm to introduce myself to everyone out there who will be following our Consumer Electronics Show 2008 coverage.

My name is Nick Mokey, and in addition to being a regular staff writer for DigitalTrends.com, I will be Future Shop’s English blogger for this year’s CES. Having never had the chance to make a pilgramage to this annual tech Mecca before, I’m looking forward to taking it all in for the first time, and relaying the newest, the coolest, and the most exciting back to you folks.