The tech world’s focus shifted to Las Vegas from January 8th through the 11th as the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show kicked off. Expectantly, a parade of shiny, tiny, and wireless gadgets from CES exhibitors–including a 3G watch-phone from LG Electronics, a wafer-thin Samsung TV that’s 6.5 millimeters thick, and an emphasis on emerging fields such as environmentally friendly green technologies and Wi-Tricity, a technology that allows wire-free power charging of small devices.
As CES 2009 comes to a close, exhibitors presented some fantastic new products coming out throughout the year. Our top 5 favorites we’re watching are:
The Palm Pre – The Palm Pre goes well beyond updating the stale Palm OS platform, and brings an entirely new interface and hardware paradigm in the form of the Palm WebOS. The WebOS is a jewel of a touchscreen interface, and it includes some interesting synchronization options to allow users to seamlessly navigate between corporate mail, personal e-mail on Google as well as social networking on Facebook. The Palm Pre hardware itself packs all the high-end features you’d expect from a modern smartphone, all in a slim, rounded design
Ultra-thin TVs – As expected, CES 2009 is awash with ultra-skinny TVs. All the top brands – Samsung, Phillips, Sharp and Sony – represented their own versions of their waife tvs.
Dishwasher-Safe Gadgets – Seal Shield’s line of dishwasher-friendly gadgets and computer peripherals featured at CES 2009 is another collection that is long overdue. Not only are all of the products in the Seal Shield line boast antimicrobial properties, they come with a three-year warranty. Keyboards and mice come in both wireless and corded forms, and there are two remotes from which to choose. All are guaranteed to be waterproof and can even be tossed in the dishwasher to clean. Seal Shield keyboards and mice are meant for hospital settings, but I think they’re perfect for bloggers, students, gamers, and Internet fiends.
Next-Gen GPS – Ford showed off what its SYNC system might one day look like at the 2009 CES in Las Vegas. The video demos configurable controls and a personal assistant “avatar” named Eva. This is definitely targeted to a female marketplace, which is smart given the fact that women participate in a whopping 80% of purchases for all goods and services.Ford and Microsoft’s 3.0 version of Sync, due to be in every Ford by 2011, gives users true hands-free control of their phones. In addition to making hands-free calls over a Bluetooth connection, Sync can manipulate any smartphone applications compatible with it. So if your phone maker got on board with Sync’s open API, you could, for instance, have your new email read to you (in that reassuring GPS lady voice), get feed updates, or have anything else voiced out for you. For anyone who’s been tempted to geek while driving, it’s also a safety upgrade. Speaking of Microsoft products..
Windows 7 – Windows 7 is going to be big in 2009. From the millions of early adopters who’ll try out the public beta to the monumental Microsoft marketing machine that will continue to drive the point home – there will be no escape. Windows 7 already looks like it will be a lot better than Vista.
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