CES showcases new technology

A representative from Intel highlights the differences between larger “notebooks” and smaller “netbooks” at a CES presentation. Photo by: Devin Loretz

The holiday season may have passed, but the Consumer Electronics Association left one last present under the tree for technophiles and gadget junkies last week.

CEA’s Consumer Electronics Show is a trade-only show which comes to Las Vegas each January as a venue for companies to showcase upcoming products and new technologies.

This year’s show ran from Jan. 8 through Jan. 11 and brought 2,700 exhibitors to the Las Vegas Convention Center. The VCR, the CD player, the Nintendo Entertainment System, DVD, HDTV and Microsoft’s Xbox are amongst the products and technologies that have made their debut at the trade show since its inception in 1967.

Energy efficient TV screen. Photo by: Devin Loretz

This year’s CES was a showcase of consumer electronics evolution rather than a revolution. Much of the show floor was taken up by familiar electronics-many of which are now much leaner and greener than before.

Most of Intel Corporation’s space was taken up by ultra-portable netbook computers powered by Intel’s Atom processor. Netbooks are classified as small, lightweight, low-cost laptops and are the perfect size for note taking, e-mail and other simple tasks.

Samsung’s VP-1 voice recorder. Photo by: Devin Loretz

The energy-efficient processor packs an impressive 1.8 GHz and is the size of a grain of rice. Netbooks such as the MSI Wind can provide up to 6 hours of battery life, and are a mere 10 inches by 7 inches by 1.25 inches. These small computers are “meant for internet on the go,” according to Emilie Barta, a presenter for Intel.

“They’re not meant for storage, they’re meant for communication,” she said of the small computers, which lack storage space, adding that they are instead an affordable, portable compliment to a desktop PC and useful for “[instant messaging] on the go.”

These netbooks are readily available and range from $300 to $500 and run Windows XP or Linux operating systems.

For students who would prefer to record their notes, Samsung’s VP-1 voice recorder is a perfect fit.

The VP-1 is just a bit larger than a pack of gum and stores one or two GB of recorded audio in mp3 or WMA, which makes them playable on any computer. The recorder also features a headphone jack, FM radio and MP3 playback and separate “meeting” and “interview” modes to adjust the sensitivity of the microphone.

The interesting feature on the VP-1 is that it features a color screen and small camera. Instead of relying on a time and date or cryptic file names to organize multiple sound bites, users can take a small photo to represent their recording as an icon and browse their recordings visually instead.

More than recorders, flash drives are a ubiquitous presence on a college campus and LG was not content with having ordinary drives on display.

LG’s H1 looks like the typical thumb-sized flash drive, but is tethered to a small cable which can charge your cell phone as you load papers and presentations onto your computer.

On the other hand, the M5 drive is excellent for a little extra security-it has built-in antivirus security which runs upon connecting, hopefully reducing those “my computer’s been weird lately” moments that tend to end tragically.

If those features seem excessive, LG’s tiny Swing appeared to be a “thumbnail drive” rather than a “thumb drive”, being marginally larger than the silver plug that plugs into your computer.

But CES isn’t all work and no play.

Big screen TVs, media center computers and other entertainment products were a huge draw at the show, with games like iNiS and Microsoft’s karaoke game for the Xbox 360, “Lips,” and “Halo Wars” drawing crowds.

The varied playlist in “Lips,” featuring artists ranging from Queen to Beyoncé and Coldplay replaces the tacky, irrelevant videos typical in the karaoke bars with the original music videos and original song recordings.

The Xbox 360 strategy game “Halo Wars,” called the attention of fans by showcasing the history of the “Halo” universe, deviating from the series’ usual shooting-based approach.

Unlike many strategy games on game consoles, “Halo Wars” features streamlined controller inputs for controlling the game’s large-scale combat. According to a Microsoft representative, a downloadable demo of this highly anticipated game is expected on Feb. 5.

Unfortunately, the wait for the next CES will have to be much longer than that.