# CES 2009: It Begins!



## Lenny (Jan 7, 2009)

The beginning of January has to be one of my favourite times of the year. There are a few reasons, one of which is a little trade-show held in Las Vegas. It's been going for about forty years, and is now considered one of, if not the major technology-related trade shows - the *International Consumer Electronics Show*.

Last year, Bill Gates announced his retirement, Sony displayed its 3mm thick OLED displays, and Panasonic went mental and released a 150" Plasma television.

This year, we've been hit by a nasty bug called a "recession". Do the technology manufacturers care? Have they even heard of a "recession"? Early reports indicate that they've happily been living under a rock building things for the past year, so no and no.

The show officially starts on the 8th, tomorrow, and runs through until the end of the 10th (Saturday). Unofficially, however, it started today, with various little things being unveiled.

If I find something that deserves its own thread, then its own thread it shall get (with a groovy little *[CES '09]* tag), otherwise I'll try and keep things in here.

So, without further ado, the stories (bits of tech in bold, followed by links):

I assume some of you have heard of the new *Lenovo Dual-Screen Laptops*? If not, it's a standard 17" laptop with an extra 10.6" screen built in, which pops out of the side of the monitor. Nifty, eh? Commonmind has a little preview of one at TheGUE, and ZDNET have a very brief paragraph about it. As do Engadget.

On the subject of laptops, ASUS has unveiled its rotating touch-screen netbook with an apparently "dreamy" user interface, the *Eee PC T91*. ZDNET has its paragraph (and a link to pics on Gizmodo), CNET has three paragraphs about Asus, and Engadget has a full article, complete with video! And staying with Asus, how cool is their *Origami-inspired concept*? Let's not forget their *S121* - the worlds first laptop with a 512gb SSD. Recently, a 320gb SSD was released, and I think I'm right in saying that the drive in the S121 will be a Toshiba drive. Read this to find out what's so great about solid state drives.

A nice continuation of last year is the *wrist-worn, flexible OLED prototype*. Sadly, it's being developed for the military (American, I imagine), but who cares? It looks and sounds cool!

Finally, there's a new Android powered phone - the Kogan *Agora*. Engadget are pretty hyped up about it, so I'm off to watch the video to see why.

Oh, and I mustn't forget the rumour mill - Microsoft may be announcing a Microsoft phone (the phrase "every man and his dog" comes to mind), which they'll probably do in Steve Ballmer's keynote speech later today, and Sony have apparently got a rival to the iPod touch, which I'm going to be listening out for. Again, if it is announced, it'll be in Sir Howard Stringers speech tomorrow.

I hope none of you have something planned for the next few days! I know I don't.


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## sloweye (Jan 7, 2009)

I think the phone looks cool, but i'd rather have the N97.
And the dule screen lappy is great
Cheers for the Links Lenny.


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## Lenny (Jan 7, 2009)

Someone was bang on, it seems:

Sony unveils Walkman NWZ-X1000 OLED touchscreen player - Engadget







Quite an interesting design, and I'm happy to see that the display is an OLED display. Definitely something I'm going to follow with interest.

Just a note to say that it's not actually been officially announced, yet - I still reckon Stringer will announce it during his speech.

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I'm a bit short of time at the mo, and there have been a lot more things unveiled, so if anyone wants to trawl through them, and maybe post some of their favourites, be my guess:

CES 2009 - CES news & blogs - CNET
Engadget
CES Resources | ZDNet
IGN Gear: Previews, Reviews, and News

IGN usually have a CES channel, which I suspect will pop up tomorrow.

And if anyone is interested, ZDNET will be having a live weblog during Ballmer's keynote speech (but not exclusively - all the major gaming/technology sites will have their own), which is at 6:30pm PT.

January 7: Join our Ballmer CES live-blog keynote coverage | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com


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