You liked the Koss CC_01 earbuds but figured they were two pricey. Here is an inexpensive alternative. Acoustibuds are soft hypoallergenic silicone fittings that will fit an iPhone, iPod and most other MP3 player earphones. A CES award winner, the company claims the “flexible fins” provide enriched acoustics and better sound isolation. They also say neither extreme physical movement nor perspiration will interfere with the Acoustibuds’ ability to stay in and provide comfort. At a price of only $12.99 for 2 pairs (in 2 different sizes,) this is a heck of a deal, especially if you have sweaty ears.

Read More | Acoustibuds

WowWee, the company that brought us Robosapiens and animatronic creatures, has now branched out. They have a series of iPod compatible multimedia pico projectors powered by TI’s DLP technology. The Cinemin Suite’s Swivel is a lightweight micro projector that has an adjustable 90º hinge to adjust the lens, full volume control and a 3 hr. battery life. The Stick has an internal memory with an expandable SD card slot. The Station is somewhat larger but includes an iPod docking station and media center. Unveiled at the CES, no price has been announced.

Read More | Gadgetell

Now you can have your projector and screen, too. The Samsung MBP200 can create a 50-inch projection and also has a bonus 2.2-inch QVGA LCD viewing screen. Other features include a micro SD card slot and a TI DLP pico chip to run it. Connect to Samsung mobile phones or laptops, attach a piece of paper to its hidden screen holder and you get instant projection. The projector also has a built-in speaker and headphone jack. A CES Design winner, expect the MBP to be released later this year and contact the company for exact date and price.

Read More | PC World

Originatic unveiled their Smart-Leaf line at the CES, a rather clever PC that has both wall and desk mode. The Oasis has a standard keyboard with touchpad intended for personal or business usage, while the Mountain has a stainless steel keyboard and trackball, perfect for kiosk usage. Both have WiFi and a 3mp webcam with angle adjustment, card reader, audio out and 6, count ‘em, 6 USB ports. They have spill-proof LCDs, keyboard lock, are scratch resistant and have the option of a touchscreen. With various amounts of memory and hard drive available, the Oasis’ price starts at $1,899.00 while the Mountain can be yours at a minimum of $2,699.00.

Read More | Originatic

Viewsonic unveiled their all-in-one PC at the CES 2009. The VPC 100 has an 18.5-inch 16:9 LCD screen and is only 35mm thick. The system features a 160GB hard drive, 1GB RAM and runs on an Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU. It also has a 1.3mp webcam, a DVD +/- RW drive, built-in stereo speakers and a 3-in-1 card reader. Installed with Windows XP home, the VPC 100 will be out in February with a $549.00 price.

Read More | cnet

Imagine a keyboard PC with a 5-inch touchscreen built in. That’s exactly what Asus did with their Eee, unveiled at the recent CES. The screen can be used for browsing while the keyboard itself can be used to stream audio and video when attached to a TV or other screen with built-in wireless HDMI. At a weight of under 1KG, it also features a 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor, 1GB DDR2 DRam, Windows XP Home and either 16 or 32 GB storage. Look for the Asus Eee around September of this year.

Read More | Stuff.tv

As we told you the other day, the Windows 7 beta went live today. However, apparently there was a bit more demand than Microsoft had planned for. Thanks to NeoWin, we’ve got the direct download links for both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7:

• Windows 7 32-bit ISO
• Windows 7 64-bit ISO

Be sure to check out the post on NeoWin for specifics on what to do with those files once you download, and also know that you will still need a key from Microsoft to use this through the August 1, 2009 expiration date, otherwise it will stop working after 30 days, cool?

Earlier today Palm introduced us to the handset that they hope will bring them into the future, the Palm pre. We’ve collected a bunch of press shots into our gallery that show off the device quite nicely in our Palm pre gallery. We will have video as well, but for now, check out the stills. What do you think? iPhone killer?

Read More | Palm pre gallery

This morning at CES 2009, Palm announced the phone that they expect will take them into the next generation - the Palm pre. It’s a small, rounded black handset with a trackball, and the specs read like a dream as far as we’re concerned. We are talking about a 3.1-inch 320x480 touchscreen with multi-touch support and a gesture area, the newest OMAP processor from TI, 8 GB of storage space, EVDO Rev. A, 802.11b/g, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, 3 megapixel camera with LED flash, and stereo A2DP. Are you thinking iPhone killer yet? Palm says that the Palm pre has “laptop like performance” since the processor is so fast.

The pre also featues a slide out portrait keyboard, which they say is all very ergonomic. The other thing we love about it? It’s a phone with a USB 2.0 MicroUSB connector. Was that too much to ask for after all this time? The phone can also be recognized as a Mass Storage device. Apple, we hope you’re listening.

Even better? Palm announced a feature called Touchstone. In normal terms, that means that the pre supports wireless charging. How cool does that sound?

If you want to get your hands on a Palm pre when they launch, you’ll need to be a Sprint customer, as the phone launches there exclusively. As far as a date goes, the best we were able to get out of them is that it will launch at some point in the first half of 2009, “as soon as possible.” Oh, and no price was announced either. I know, right?

To see more on the device, check out our Palm pre photo gallery.

Motorola is going literally and figuratively green at this year’s CES with their Moto W233 Renew. Its housing is made out of recycled water bottles. Other features include a 1.6-inch display, SMS and MMS messaging, a WAP browser, USB connectivity, and GSM. It also has about 9 hours of talk time, 18 days of standby and has an optional 2GB removable memory. At a size of 45 x 110.97 x 14.7mm and a weight of 83g, it comes with a pre-paid envelope so that you can send them your old phone to recycle. Look for the Renew at T-Mobile sometime in Q1.

Read More | Seattle Times

SanDisk is also at CES, this time with the Sansa slotRadio Player with FM tuner.The portable aluminum digital system with 1.5-inch OLED screen is available with slotMusic memory cards that are preloaded with tunes. One of them is included with 1,000 classics from Billboard charts including rock, country, contemporary and more which are arranged according to genre. The plug-and-play slotRadio will be available at Radio Shack and other retailers and online at slotRadio. The player has a MSRP of $99.99 with other cards priced at $39.99.         

Read More | anything but iPod

LG is displaying an LH-85 series of wireless LCD TVs at the CES 2009. The HDTVs include the 47-inch 47LH85 and the 55-inch 55LH85 with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 60gHz radio and multi-element antenna array. It also features its 10 point IRE system, color management, and a new picture wizard for calibrating the TVs. The new series should be available in May. Contact LG for more information and price range.

Read More | cnet

Our pal Robert Scoble was able to get an early look at the new Microsoft Songsmith software, and we were impressed enough that we wanted to give you guys a look at the video. Songsmith allows you to make music, that you sing to, by generating musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. You sing into your mic, and the software creates the backing music for you to make you sound good. It’s not just for novices either, as you can play instruments into Somgsmith for capturing, and it includes an intelligent scratchpad to allow it to work with new melodies. Kind of hard to explain, so really, check out the video. You can download a free trial at the Songsmith page as well.

Read More | Songsmith

During the kickoff Microsoft keynote that marks the start CES, Steve Ballmer announced that Windows 7 beta is available starting today for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. Nothing too exciting there for the average Joe, we know, which is why we were excited when he also mentioned that the beta would also be publicly available beginning this Friday, January 9th. You’ll be able to grab either the 32-bit version, or the 64-bit version of the Windows 7 beta software if you are one of the first 2.5 million people to hit the download button. You just need to head to the Windows 7 product page to do so. Just be aware that the beta software will expire on August 1, 2009.

As part of the release, Microsoft was also happy to note that Windows Live Essentials, “a free suite of communications and sharing applications that make it easy for people to communicate, share and keep their online lives in sync and in one place with one login,” is now also available on a worldwide scale.

VIZIO is launching a new platform that they’re calling “Conneced HDTV,” and with it comes confirmation of the second Netflix direct-to-TV partnership. VIZIO’s Connected HDTV platform is designed to compliment traditional television viewing. You just connect the television to your home network, and if there’s nothing good on, you can go into Netflix, and I am sure there will be other services (YouTube? Hulu?) that you’ll be able to pull up as well. This is a trend we are definitely liking, let’s eliminate set-top boxes while providing more viewing options for the consumer.

EDIT: Okay, we just got more details on this. Aside from Netflix, the VIZIO Connected HDTV platform also brings Amazon Video on Demand, Pandora, Flickr, Blockbuster OnDemand, Rhapsody, Adobe Flash content, games from Accedo Broadband, and the Yahoo! widget engine. Very, very interesting!

Read More | MarketWatch

Sharp is aiming to help eliminate at least one set-top box from your rack with their BD-series Aquos LCD HDTVs, which come with a Blu-ray player packed in to the television unit, announced today at CES 2009. If interested, you can pick one up later this month in 32-, 37-, or 42-inch flavors, or if you need something larger, next month the 46- and 52-inch models drop. These also bost the Superlucent ASV panel technology which means less glare in the end, and a brighter picture. It also does 24p through HDMI, in case you have an old HD DVD player you have lying around that you want to use (since the included Blu-ray technology doesn’t use up an HDMI port.) QAM and ATSC tuners along with RS-232C inputs round this one out. Full release after the break.

Continue reading "Sharp build Blu-ray players into BD-series Aquos LCD HDTV line"

We are loving just how prevalent small HD cams are becoming, and the RCA EZ209HD looks to be an impressive unit when it comes to that category. This is the company’s slimmest and “sexiest” (their word, not mine) Small Wonder camcorder ever, and captures high definition video while sporting a 2-inch display. Even better, though, unlike some of the other handheld HD flash camcorders we’ve seen, the EZ209HD even has an HDMI port, so you can plug directly into a television to watch your home movies. The rechargeable battery lasts for two hours, which is also nice, and the camera even supports a 60fps Sports Mode for fast action. Once your recordings are done, you can easily upload them to YouTube and Box.net. You’ll be able to get your hands on an RCA EZ209HD by the end of this quarter, and it’ll sell for $119.99.

Full press release available after the break, which includes details on the EZ207 as well.

Continue reading "RCA announces EZ209HD, their slimmest Small Wonder camcorder ever"

So, you know how VIZIO was working on switching from being a discount player to wanting to be seen more as a high end manufacturer? Well, looks like they are looking to merge those two together with their VBR100 Blu-ray deck, which they announced today at CES 2009. Here’s a look at the features of this 2-inch thick Blu-ray player:

• Video outputs: HDMI (1.3), component, and composite
• Audio outputs: 7.1 channel analog audio, coax and optical digital audio, and analog stereo (RCA)
• Dimensions: 17 X 11 X 2”
• Includes Remote Control (Oh rly??)

In addition, when watching a standard DVD, you can set the player to upconvert to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, and it has on-board Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA decoders, and that can be output from the unit’s 7.1 analog outputs. You can pick this one up in April for $199.99.

We are big fans of BUG Labs, so we are naturally excited about the news this morning coming out of CES that they are set to release a total of five new BUGmodules. If you are unfamiliar with what BUG Labs and the BUGbase is all about, check out our video from last year’s CES after the break. Anyhow, here’s a list of the new BUGmodules:

• BUG3g: Gives you phone and/or data connectivity
• BUGwifi: Give you 802.11b/g Wi-Fi as well as Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR capabilities
• BUGbee: An 802.15.4 antenna to be used with ZigBee home automation setups
• BUGsound: Give you a 20mm speaker jack, four 3.5mm jacks, and an omnidirectional microphone
• BUGprojector: An integrated DLP Pico projector which outputs at 480x320 resolution

None of these have been priced, or have even been stamped with a specific release date, but you can expect them to ship before the end of the quarter.

Read More | PR Newswire

Continue reading "BUG Labs announces five new BUGmodules at CES"

Hey, it’s CES time, and that means we are getting slammed with news from all ends. Toshiba, happy to get in on that party, has just announced that they’ll be integrating Media Center Extender technology directly into their REGZA line of HDTVs, and that they are even working on a standalone device that you can integrate into your home theater setup as well to get the same functionality. I guess this is the most we can expect from the company whose HD DVD technology lost out to Blu-ray in a major way. We’ve got the full release for you after the break.

Continue reading "Toshiba to integrate Media Center Extender technology into HDTVs"