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I’m back from another CES and as usual I’m glad I attended.  As I did this year, I generally allocate two days to wander aimlessly through the cavernous exhibits.  Similarly, rather than try to attend every press conference, visit every booth and post about everything that I see, hear or get told about, I prefer forming opinions and later write about those as recollections.  So here goes….

The media hype prior to the show was all about 3D HDTV, eReaders & Tablets.  There were certainly enough of those to go around, but there were also thousands of other devices, products and services.  One of the more unusual non-mobility things that I observed included the Brother Quattro 6000D sewing machine.  The Quattro 6000D combines printed images with embroidery designs for 3D art.  Since my wife is a quilter, even though it might take some money from my technology budget, I had to tell her about this machine.

3D HDTV

You may already know that CES is laid out in areas of similar technology.  As such, it was the Central Hall that had all the 3D HDTV demos that had been hyped by the media prior to the show.  Every major HDTV vendor was showing their 3D wares, most of which utilized the shutter glasses technology.  The demos were worth stopping to see, although waiting for a chance to get handed a pair of 3D glasses from one of a thousand of your closest friends in the H1N1 era was at times discomforting.  The technology I saw includes: OLED 3D, plasma 3D, LCD 3D and LED LCD 3D.

As best as I can determine, the general rule to be able to watch 3D HDTV in your home later this year will require:

• a 3D HDTV display
• a 3D HDTV Blu-ray player
• 3D glasses
• content

Content may be the biggest obstacle since Disney, the studio with the largest number of movies that have been released in 3D, announced that they will not be releasing any 3D HDTV DVDs in 2010.

My big surprise, however, came the next day when I visited the South Hall.  The Intel technology demo there included a 3D display that did not require glasses.  However the approach does limit viewing to any of 8 separate physical positions around the TV.

eReaders

Even though there was a dedicated floor area for eReaders, these devices could be found everywhere—in every hall throughout the show.  Clearly the eReader platform is hot—at least among the manufacturers.  Rather than try to talk about all of them, I’ll tell you about my favorite: the Plastic Logic QUE proReader.

The QUE proReader is very impressive.  It’s thin and light.  The larger 8-1/2” x 11” pad size is better for reading larger traditional publications like newspapers.  This device would currently be my first choice if I were considering an eReader purchase.

Tablets

Having been a Tablet PC owner since 2002, I love the concept, form-factor and selection of devices.  Seeing new and announced tablets at CES this year was one of my primary reasons for attending.

After reading about Steve Ballmer’s short tease during his CES keynote address of the still unannounced HP Multitouch slate/tablet, I was anxious to get my hands on the device in the HP private meeting room.  No such luck.  All that I was told by the staffers was that the device was a prototype and could not yet be talked about.  DARN!

I also searched out and got to play with each of the following:

• Lenovo Ideapad U1 Hybrid Notebook/Tablet
• Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t
• Asus EEE T91
• Sony Dash Mobile Internet Device
• Archos 9 PCTablet
• Freescale Semiconductors Tablet (reference design)

I tried, but could locate neither the Dell ‘Streak’ Android Tablet Concept nor the Apple ‘iSlate’ Tablet – J

In my opinion, the best device for the money is the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t.  I was told in the Lenovo meeting room that the entry price was $499.  The website shows it priced at $50 higher.  Given the capacitive touch screen, I’d call it a “best value.”  I hope to get one to review.

Regardless, when you compare the cost of these tablet devices with standard single function eReaders, the case for multi-function devices becomes compelling.  The only advantage to eReaders is digital ink and the related improvement in battery life.  The folks at the New York Times booth share my opinion.  (Hmm.  I wonder what that portends?)

SmartPhones

Leading up to CES 2010 Google announced and began shipping the HTC Nexus One.  During the first day of CES 2010, it was announced that the HTC HD 2 was coming to T-Mobile USA.  While I’d have liked to handle and try each of these devices, the only SmartPhone device that I spent any time with was the Nokia n900 running the Maemo OS.

I spent about a half hour with the Nokia n900 product manager and the n900 and came away thoroughly impressed.  MobilitySite.com currently has an n900 review unit and “Mr. Hi-Definition” has just posted his first of many postings of the device.  I’m seriously thinking about getting one of these for myself.

Autos

Ford was the only of the former “Big 3” auto manufacturers with a floor presence.  They were showing off their Microsoft-based Sync application.  Kia was also demonstrating similar Microsoft-based  software.  Kia calls theirs Ovu.

I also saw a classic 1960 Cadillac retro-fitted with a night vision camera and display.  The concept is good, but the implementation was lacking as the display (like GPS displays) was far from normal line-of-sight making it somewhat dangerous in my opinion for what it was designed.  A better solution would be a “heads-up display” implementation.

Biggest waste of time

On Thursday evening I attended the SWAGG Announcement Press Event for Qualcomm’s recently acquired Firethorn subsidiary.  I came away asking, “HUH?”
and totally empty.  It seems to be nothing more than a gift card exchange accessible from smartphones.  If the SWAGG offering is real, it needs a LOT more clearly defined explanation of what it really is.  A real concise description of the product/service is sorely needed.

Other things that I remember seeing

You can’t see it all in two days or even in all four days that the show is open.  So I can be sure that I missed a lot.  However, here are a few more of my recollections:

• One TV manufacturer, I think that it was Panasonic, was displaying a huge flat screen 4X (4096 x 2160) HDTV.  It must have been around 150” and was displayed showing a drag race event.  Wow!
• Otterbox announced a new case line, the Tandem Series.  The Tandem Series case initially released is for the Palm® Pre™.
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