The CES Show last January 8-11 2009 has set up what most of the techie guys will be looking forward for the year 2009.
"Netbooks"—small, lightweight, inexpensive laptops—are the hottest trend in personal computing. And judging by the size of the crowd at Sony's booth, the VAIO P may be the hottest netbook at CES this year. Sony is touting the tiny VAIO P as the lightest 8-inch laptop in the world, weighing just 1.4 pounds. It's small enough to carry around in a handbag, and can access the Internet on the go with its built-in 3G antenna. Netbooks generally come with a hefty tradeoff: they aren’t nearly as powerful as full-featured laptops, and are more suited for browsing the Web than running Photoshop. It’s not yet clear how the performance of the VAIO P will stack up, but it already stands apart from the netbook crowd with its dazzling high-resolution screen. Sony's VAIO P will be available later this month; pricing will start at $900.
TVs that connect to the Internet, allowing you to access content you could normally only receive through your computer or cell phone are this year’s hottest tech trend. A slew of manufacturers announced high-definition sets that display internet "widgets" from Yahoo, shrinking the TV picture to show news stories, personalized stock portfolios, photosfrom Flickr, and videos from YouTube right alongside your TiVO’d episode of Lost. Yahoo's platform is open to outside developers, as well, so your favorite websites can create their own widgets—eBay and USAToday.com are already on board. Look for widget-enabled TVs this spring from Samsung, LG, and Sony, among others.
In an apparent bid to corner the James Bond-wannabe market, LG unveiled its forthcoming Watch Phone to drooling crowds at CES this week. The compact wrist accessory incorporates features straight from Q Branch, packing in a touchscreen, music player, and Bluetooth. The thin, silvery enclosure is surprisingly stylish, with buttons and a small scroll bar tucked neatly below the screen. At first glance you might miss the built-in camera, which LG reps said can be used for video conferencing on the go—presumably with friends who also own Watch Phones. LG's Watch Phone will go into production later this year; pricing has not been announced.
The Organic Light Emiting Dioede (OLED) is also making a scene on the tech industry.
Like this new SONY OLED TV. It comes thinner than LCD's or Plasma T.V and has much higher Contrast Ratio. The Sony's XEL-1, the fi rst commercially available OLED TV in the world, will go on sale in the UK in the fi rst quarter of next year. The current model is only 11 inches across, although Sony is promising a 27-incher by May. It'll still be incredibly slim and bright.
also inline with OLED technology is the OLED Laptop and OLED Photoframe from samsung and Kodak respectively.
Samsung has shown off a 12-inch OLED laptop concept and is already talking about putting 14- and 15-inch versions on sale later in the year. The screen resolution on the 12-incher is an astonishing 1,280x768, with the usual, massive OLED contrast ratio. The concept model also has a touch-sensitive keyboard, which reminded us of our old ZX81
Just released, Kodak's slightly generically named OLED Wireless Frame is the world's first to use OLED technology. At £600 for 7.6 inches of photographic real estate, it's bloody pricey, but it is super skinny, very desirable and fitted with Wi-Fi and 2GB of internal memory. Expect plenty of imitations in the coming year, and thus a rapid descent in price. With a contrast ratio of 30,000:1, your friends and family are going to look better than ever.
Touchscreens will also be coming on the market
