The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show is probable to be a slightly showier affair thanlast year ’s event — now that the economy seems to be convalescing and ware maturation and marketing purse strings have loosened passably . Judging from the preshow chatter , this year ’s show should be the locale for a wave of newsworthy Cartesian product announcements — and it may save a few surprises along the way , too .
Read more of our coverage of CES 2010 .
After the barrage ofpreshow mathematical product pitchesand chats with diligence insiders , our heartbeat editors have a middling dependable idea of what we ’ll encounter in the major product categories this week in Las Vegas . We asked each editor program to summarize the major trends and key product they anticipate ascertain in their ware areas at CES .
Samsung’s NX10
Notebook and Desktop PCs
With Intel and Nvidia providing vastly improved integratedgraphics system , you may expect simple machine to come to food market that are capable of shrill out gamy - definition video and audio with ease . And while the vaunted tablet design may not boost beyond the conceptual microscope stage until mid- to late 2010 , more netbooks and notebooks will sport ghost - friendly display , good manners of Windows 7 ’s reinforcement for multitouch .
The lowly desktop is poised for a rejoinder , but gone are the days of the classic beige loge . In 2009 , novel pattern clambered into the mainstream and provided a much needed hike for the screen background ’s languishing prototype . Ultracompact netbooks like theAcer Aspire Revo R3610bring the home - theater experience at a fraction of the size ( and price ) , while all - in - ones like theSony VAIO L117FX / Bcondense a traditional PC ’s constituent into a single , elegant racing shell .
We expect to get first looks at smaller , slender designs at CES , with the latest and corking chipsets from Intel and nVidia inside the racing shell . Netbooks will offer improved media playback , whether you ’re streaming from Hulu or see a film in Blu - ray of light formatting . All - in - I will affirm the full breadth of Windows 7 ’s multitouch and Aero offerings without being soggy , scant on features , or jolting vendee with sticker shock.—Nate Ralph
Nexus One
HDTVs
At last year ’s CES , we saw3D displaysfrom various ship’s company , but they were mostly a novelty . This year , late evolution intimate that high-definition television manufacturing business are making a bounteous 3D push . young 3D engineering , such as the upcomingHDMI 1.4 specificationand the late - approved Blu - ray three-D , are on the way . Both could aid make 3D television system more common . You ’ll need a 3D television to get the most out of Blu - ray three-D , for exemplar ; and the 2010 World Cup association football tournament will be spread in 3D.
Also , anticipate the break toward refresh rate of 120Hz , 240Hz , and maybe higher to continue : LG demonstrated a480Hz LCD prototypeat last class ’s CES , so we might see some 480Hz HDTV insert at this yr ’s show . Green and lean are also in , se we ’ll likely see an increase in the act of LCD TVs that useLEDsfor backlighting . lead backlighting is more energy- and space - effective than traditional fluorescent ( CCFL ) backlighting , and LED can permit for local dimming — that is , you could dim portions of the backlight to make drear surface area of the TV ’s picture looking dark — which countenance higher dividing line levels.—Nick Mediati
Blu-ray players
We ask Blu - ray Disc to preserve its successful march forward , this time with the declaration of players subject of supporting the newlyfinalized 3D Blu - shaft specification . The skilful news about 3D Blu - ray is that the new disc will be backward - compatible with 2D players . The forged news is that to get 3D playback , you ’ll need a new player and a new HDTV that support 3D ( the Sony PlayStation 3 will support 3D Blu - ray through afirmware upgrade ) .
Though 3D players are distinctly on the roadmap , plans for Blu - beam of light Disc fipple flute remain incertain . Blu - ray recorders with telly tuners have beenavailable in Asiafor some clip now , but vendor roadmaps in the United States continue to exclude them ( purportedly because of the legion copyright restriction broadcasters and studios would impose on such devices ) . JVC announced a professional recording machine last fall , but that $ 2000 exemplar lacked a idiot box radio set — which means that you would n’t be able to register the Vancouver Winter Olympics in high - def .
More Blu - ray players should gain connectivity in the next yr , too . We expectBD - Liveto be de rigueur on all but the most inexpensive fashion model , and that more value players will support Web - based cyclosis services like YouTube and Netflix on Demand.—Melissa Perenson
TomTom’s XL 340S Live
Cameras and camcorders
Pocket camcorders : Now that the public has accepted the Flip pattern , we should see a jump in specs and feature article in the next class : higher - quality optics , wireless sharing and uploads , more in - tv camera setting , optical zoom lens , and 1080p television captured at gamy - bit - rate AVCHD formats .
At CES we await to seepoint - and - shoot camerasadopting some of the pavilion features of air hole camcorders , too : hybrid portrait / landscape painting capabilities that start the shooter to dislodge the camera for shooting stillness or picture , and built - in USB connectors that simplify Indian file uploads and share-out .
Samsung ’s NX10
Boxee’s set-top box
Interchangeable - lens of the eye cameras : At CES we ’ll see belittled , more feature article - packedinterchangeable - genus Lens camerasthat declare oneself declamatory sensors , great still and video quality , and the flexibility to utilise unlike Lens in a relatively compact camera . These devices will begin to get hold of the U.S. market in the first half of 2010 .
On the digital SLR side of the spectrum , you may expect to see high-pitched - definition telecasting capture become intimately ubiquitous . Last year HD video recording crept into the feature set of DSLRs from Nikon , Canon , and Pentax ; and DSLR still camera became a feasible option for professional videographers and autonomous movie maker . Expect this trend to continue in 2010 , mayhap pave the means for redesigned DSLR bodies that make shooting video easier .
TransferJet and Wi - Fi Direct : Most current cameras require a freestanding USB cable for sharing and offloading photos and video . We ’ve also see a bit of Wi - Fi - enabled devices in the past year , but wireless file transfers may get a serious boost this year from devices that mold withTransferJetandWi - Fi Direct . Both engineering support radio set , match - to - peer sharing between compliant devices , though the logistics differ a bit . What does it think of for consumer ? USB cables may be gone for skillful very soon.—Tim Moynihan
Hillcrest Labs’ Loop pointer
Mobile phones
link One
Mobile phone news tends to be a bit quieter than other electronics categories during CES , as vendors look forward to the Mobile World Congress coming up in February and CTIA observe in March . Even so , some big intelligence is in fund for CES . As this clause buy the farm live , Google was brief newsperson on its Google Nexus One . Do n’t carry any promulgation regarding the rumored T - Mobile subsidy family relationship , however . leak glasses substantiate that the Nexus One is compatible on theT - peregrine mesh , but T - Mobile wo n’t be at CES and congresswoman have informedPCWorldthat the company has no announcement planned for the show .
Meanwhile , LG and Sprint certainly have something up their sleeves . The companies have issued invitation to the culture medium for the same outcome , advertising that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will be attend to . If Microsoft were n’t involved , I ’d have guessed that the declaration related to LG ’s ingress into theAndroid existence . LG may indeed be launching an Android phone at CES , but the spotlighted effect is more likely to mark the first appearance of an LG - manufactured WiMax - capable Windows Mobile phone .
Palm ’s jam league this year probably wo n’t be as showy as thePre / WebOS matter of 2009 , but the company will still have some interesting news to impart . As Sprint ’s exclusive rights to the Pre and the Pixi come to a last , the phones will belike debut on other aircraft carrier — in particular ( consort to the rumor mill)Verizon . medal will belike announce an updated interlingual rendition of WebOS , as well .
Samsung and HTC are probable to introduce a few Windows Mobile phones — and possibly even some Android good — at CES . The most anticipated Windows Mobile phone , the HTC HD2 , is bruit to be coming to T - Mobile in March , so HTC might denote an unsecured U.S. version at CES.—Ginny Mies
Wireless Networks
Two of the four major wireless religious service provider — AT&T and Sprint — are appearing at this year ’s CES , while the other two — Verizon and T - Mobile — aren’t holding any events or meetings . AT&T is hosting an all - solar day event for mobile app developer , at which several AT&T Mobility executive will discourse roving devices that are designed to track down on the AT&T 3 G meshing and are scheduled to go far in approaching months .
Sprint will also talk about new mobile devices at CES . The carrier is holding several result where it will talk up its leadership lieu in wrap out the nation ’s great real 4 G ( WiMax ) Service throughits partner Clearwire . The Clearwire net now serve nearly thirty cities , up from just two metropolis at the beginning of 2009 . Sprint may also apply the event to announce program for anew kind of smartphonethat will run on both its 3 G net and Clearwire ’s WiMax connection.—Mark Sullivan
GPS and car tech
TomTom ’s XL 340S Live
Garmin and TomTom have save a humiliated visibility about their Ce architectural plan so far , promising to show their lineups of piloting devices but not hinting at any fresh ideas . Though we could be in for a major snoozer from these GPS giants , perhaps large surprises are in storage regarding the category ’s efforts to beat nomadic phones and apps such asGoogle Maps Navigation , not to mention netbooks and tablet devices . A CES gore discourse that includes administrator from TomTom , Garmin , and Nokia may exuviate brightness on what ’s to come .
bet on the intersection of Internet and automobile to take a bighearted chunk of motorcar technical school ’s CES buzz . Ford will deport a tonic , no doubtfulness to hype additions to itsSync weapons platform , such as the power to plug in a 3 G USB modem andturn Ford cars into Wi - Fi hotspots . Pandora hasbig plans to ramp automobilesin the years forward . The first step is to develop stereo system that act as dashboard for roving - phone Pandora apps — and Alpine isup for an awardin machine audio innovation for doing just that . How long will it be until entanglement - connected automobile can tap net radiocommunication and other services without the intermediation of a phone ? A panel discussion may furnish brainstorm about the likely timetable.—Jared Newman
Home Networking
At this year ’s CES , the traditional home plate - networking companies like Belkin , D - Link , Linksys , and Netgear will focalize less on libertine wireless routers , and more on home - amusement - orient products . The802.11n radio receiver standardfinally win approval in late 2009 , but router makers had already embraced the standard and launch “ wireless N ” product , so you wo n’t hear much talk about the newfangled standard in Las Vegas this year .
The net picture revolution is well afoot , and consumer networking companies are competing to discover the best way to get pull audio and video content from the Internet or from a computer ’s surd drive — collecting , cataloging , and managing it , and sending it to screens enceinte and smallaround the home . Such merchandise connect directly to the Internet to access ( and to meet or store ) last video , and they also locate and organize Net video from machine throughout the home base connection .
Boxee ’s set - top box
These devices were a big theme at last year ’s show , but this year you ’ll see more actual product announcements and debuts , include numerous new last video set - top boxes and wad of upgrade to existing boxes . Many of these products will have reinvent drug user interface , will support more file types , and will be much easy to coif up and apply . For example , D - Link will show off its young Boxee box , which comes with the popular TV direction software inside and supports a long list of Net video Indian file types.—Mark Sullivan
Storage
The big news at CES 2010 will be about storage that uses USB 3.0 . The fresh , faster USB port promiseshigh - speed transfers , and storage will be the first peripheral to take maximal reward of it . Buffalo Technology has already jumpedinto the secret plan with a drive , but we look an avalanche of USB 3.0 - have-to doe with announcements at the show .
USB 3.0 traveled a long and jolty road to grocery store , and some of the early implementations may postulate a third - party add - in card — much as happened in the earlier transition from USB 1.0 to USB 2.0 . Two motherboards are now available with USB 3.0 support , but the port is not yet widespread.—Melissa Perenson
Keyboards, mice, and remote controls
unexampled input devices debuting at CES emphasize ergonomics . Smartfish is introducing a new product based on its ErgoMotion engineering science ( already available in the caller ’s ErgoMotion Keyboard and ErgoMotion Mouse ) . Designed to relieve stress from repetitive motion , the young peripheral automatically adjusts to the user ’s natural bridge player and wrist joint positions formore - easy computing .
Hillcrest Labs ’ Loop cursor
Hillcrest Labshas incur a 2010 CES Innovations Award for its Loop arrow , a closed circuit - shaped “ air mouse ” design as a level gadget for a reckoner connected to a TV . The company ’s Freespace movement control and pointing technology also appear in other devices and married person products that will be on presentation at CES.—Peggy Watt
Audio
Appealing audio offerings are all over the map this class . High - last audiophiles will please inDefinitive Technology ’s XTR-50speakers , which flank your high-definition television and have a profundity of just 1.5 in off the paries . For people who rank hardheaded convenience above phone fidelity , Myine ’s Abbee FM radio automatically deletes commercials and DJ talk from radio stations . And for those who want surround phone but ca n’t conciliate a six - speaker rig , Coby is launch a 3D audio sound saloon that shapes two-channel output to emulate the surround - audio experience.—Jared Newman
Green tech
An expand Sustainable Planet spot section on the CES floor this class will feature some three twelve exhibitors , and many other vender will spotlight energy - effective products — notably TVs — as well . Ecologically friendly mathematical product slated to come out at CES range from a Sanyo electric bicycle to energy - monitor systems for house and business concern .
Teridian Semiconductorwill show its smart energy meter for home exploiter and for inclusion in smart appliances and power supplies . GreenPeakwill demonstrate its sensor technology for low- and alternative - power , low - maintenance wireless networks . Embertec will present what it calls the first fully automatise digital great power - saving engineering .
Green Plugis annunciate several new partners for its Greentalk technology , which enablesvarious electronicsto pass over power informant , to monitor energy white plague , and to run more efficiently . Another maker of power direction products , iGo , will show its descent of universal chargers and other devices equipped with itsiGo Green Technology , which baffle and minimizes power consumption .
TheSanyo Synergetic Hybrid Bicycle , nicknamed the “ eneloop bike , ” allows rider to generate power while coast or braking . It has received a CES Innovations 2010 Design and Engineering Award in the Eco - Design and Sustainable Technology category . The 26 - in bike has a motor and electrical scheme , too , and it line up to provide aid power in difficult terrain.—Peggy Watt
