Tape is dead and the hard-disc drive may also be headed for extinction as flash memory continues to creep into more consumer electronics products. That’s the message encoded into some of the most cutting-edge products at CES 2008.

Moving to flash memory offers several interrelated benefits: fewer moving parts means there’s less chance that something will break, which also means the device is more rugged and weighs less. Just consider the difference between plugging in one of those handy and portable USB “thumb” drives (a flash memory device) into your computer to transfer data rather than hooking up a bulky backup hard drive.

One of the biggest flash memory stars of CES was the Asus U2E laptop computer with 32 GB of solid state flash memory onboard and weighing a svelte 2.87 pounds.  Another  was Canon’s Vixia HF10 “dual flash” camcorder, which uses 16 GB of internal flash memory for storing six hours of HD video and has a slot for an SDHC card for even more storage.

– posted by Doug Newcomb

2008 may become known as the year of the OLED TV. Although the technology has been around for a while and used in cell phones, car stereos and other small-screen applications, OLED (which stands for organic light-emitting diode) displays made the jump at CES 2008 to flat screen TVs. Sony unveiled an 11-inch OLED TV, the XEL-1 (available later this month for around $2,500) that provides a staggering contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. Meanwhile, Samsung showed 14- and 31-inch prototype OLED TVs, although the company doesn’t expect the sets to hit stores until at least 2009.

OLED is poised to become the dominant flat-screen technology in the next few years—perhaps surpassing popular plasmas and LCDs—due to its advantages. OLED TVs can be even thinner than LCDs and plasmas since the sets don’t require a backlight to operate, and also produce truer blacks and consume less electricity. The Sony XEL-1, for example, is only 3 mm (0.11 inches) thick. Like most new consumer-electronics technologies, OLEDs are expensive to manufacture. But like most new CE tech, prices are likely to fall once economies of scale are reached.

 – posted by Doug Newcomb

– posted Doug Newcomb

Radio is one of the oldest consumer electronics technologies still around at CES, but the past few years have seen the return of the golden age of wireless thanks to satellite and HD Radio. And Internet radio now allows tuning in stations around the world. As long as you’re sitting at a computer, that is.

The Phoenix One WiFi Radio from Com One frees Internet radio from the computer. All that’s needed is a broadband or WiFi connection to access thousands of radio stations as well as podcasts on the Web. The Phoenix One has eight presets for storing stations and a search mode. Stations and podcasts can be searched by genre, country, state or city. The radio can also link to music on your home network or connect to any Bluetooth device for wireless audio streaming. The Phoenix One comes with rechargeable AA batteries with an integrated charger. MSRP is $249.

– posted by Doug Newcomb

– posted by Doug Newcomb

Among all of the amazing technology at CES 2008, certain gadgets fit into “why didn’t someone think of that before” category. By eliminating one simple step—having to take an SD card out of a camera and insert into a computer or card reader to upload photos—the Eye-Fi Card makes life easier.

Billed as the world’s first wireless SD card, the Eye-Fi Card is Wi-Fi enabled so that it connects to your home network whenever it’s in range. Then it automatically uploads the pics on the card to your computer or to your favorite photo or social-networking website via the secure Eye-Fi Service. It handles full-resolution jpegs and even automatically resizes the pics so that they’re compatible with photo and social networking sites. The card comes with 2 GB of capacity and Eye-Fi Manager software is included for setup of network and upload preferences.

– posted by Doug Newcomb

Turn that messy collection of treasured hard-copy recipes into your own personal hardcover cookbook. That’s the idea behind TasteBook.com. You can upload and organize your own personal favorites to the TasteBook website, search for more than 25,000 recipes at Epicurious.com and then combine the dishes into a custom hardcover cookbook with an easy-open binder, tabbed chapters and a full-color cover that you create a title for. You can even include your own photos, or simply choose from TasteBooks created by noted cookbook authors.

– posted by Doug Newcomb

Seems you can’t swing a camera at CES without hitting a company hawking a digital picture frame, but with Digital Foci’s Digital Keychain you can have digital pics swinging at the end of your keychain. Part of the company’s Pocket Album OLED Series of photo viewers, it has a 1.5-inch screen and 32 MB internal flash memory that stores up to 120 pics. The Digital Keychain comes with software to convert various image formats for easy transfer to the device via a USB connection and for cropping and rotating images for the best display.  Photos can be scrolled manually or using an automatic slideshow with adjustable intervals and various transition effects. The OLED Digital Keychain is powered by a built-in Lithium-Polymer battery that’s recharged with an included AC adaptor or via a USB cable, and it has a built-in clock and on/off timer.

– posted by Doug Newcomb

So you think CES is all about tech and gadgets? Wrong. It’s also all about entertainment, celebrities and flash. That and massive crowds, enormous cab lines, over-priced food and sore feet. But after two decades of covering the CE Show I’m still amazed at the stuff you can run across in the aisles of the massive Las Vegas Convention Center, like a life-size Bumblebee from Transformers in the Dolby booth, standing 20 feet tall and weighing more than four tons. Or old school rap legends Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Chuck D freestyling in the Skullcandy booth. Or jugglers in the Netgear booth and a game show over at Real Networks. And did I mention massive crowds?

– posted by Doug Newcomb

People are abandoning their land-line phones for the freedom and savings that mobile-only connections afford. But having to hold all of your conversations in that one spot in your home where you get the best reception on your cell can be a hassle, which is why two companies introduced new products at CES to solve that problem.

GE’s DECT 6.0 Cell Fusion series include a dock for up to two Bluetooth-enabled cell phones so that separate cordless handsets can be used throughout the house.  The “No Jack” series includes two models, the two-handset GE 28127FE2 with a MSRP of $99.99 and the single handset GE 28127FE1 with an MSRP of $79.99, both with Caller ID, push-to-talk convenience and the ability to add additional handsets.

Panasonic’s Link to Cell KX-TH1211 can be used with up to two Bluetooth mobile phones so that callers can take full advantage of free mobile-to-mobile, night and weekend minutes, and it incorporates such landline features as Panasonic’s Talking Caller ID, Night Mode and call blocking. The KX-TH1211 comes with one handset and six more can be added. It will be available in March 2008 at an MSRP of $99.95 and each additional handset will retail for $39.95.

 – posted by Doug Newcomb

Just a few years ago, Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology was only for navigation systems. But GPS has become so prevalent that it’s now possible to use it keep tabs on everyone in the family, even the dog. Zoombak’s Dog Protection System comes with a waterproof 2.5-ounce GPS locator in a pouch that attaches to your pooch’s collar. You can find Fido by calling the company’s customer care line or follow his path in real-time on a map at zoomback.com or via any Web-enabled cell phone. The product will be available in early 2008 for $199, with monthly service fees starting at $9.99. Zoombak also offers a similar device for tracking teen drivers that’s set to sell for $249.

PocketFinder also unveiled GPS tracking products at CES. The PocketFinder Pet is about the size of an Oreo, weighs less than 2 ounces and also attaches to a collar so that any pet can be tracked on the Internet. (Zoombak’s system is only for dogs weighing at least 15 pounds).  PocketFinder Pet will retail for $130 when it becomes available in early 2008, with monthly service fees starting at $15 a month.  PocketFinder also showed similar products designed to allow parents to keep tabs on kids and the elderly.

– posted by Doug Newcomb

Panasonic has hit on a unique way to promote its full line of high definition A/V products and conduct consumer research at the same time. The company’s “Living in HD” promotion picks families to receive a truckload of Panasonic HD products worth around $20,000: a large-screen 1080p plasma HDTV, HD camcorder, digital cameras, Blu-Ray DVD player, a Toughbook laptop, photo printer, home theater system and gaming system. The families record their adventures in hi-def and provide feedback on the products. Currently 14 families are taking part and a total of 30 will participate through 2008. To sign up go to www.livinginhd.com.

And with Panasonic’s new 32 GB SD card, the families living in HD will have plenty of storage capacity. The prototype card unveiled at CES can hold up to eight hours of HD video and almost five and a half hours of full 1080p HD content.

– posted by Doug Newcomb

Now that flat-panel TVs are almost as common as a couch in family rooms across the country, manufacturers are looking for ways to differentiate their sets from the competition.  At CES 2008 today, the spotlight was on thinner and more stylish sets.

The supermodel of the group is the Project Kuro 50-inch plasma prototype that Pioneer unveiled before the press. At less than a half an inch thick (0.35 to be exact) and only 41 pounds, Pioneer claims it will “float on the wall.”

Announcing that design is a major focus of its 2008 lineup, LG Electronics introduced the LG40 HDTV LCD as an ideal “bedroom” or second room set, thanks to its unique red-back accents. LG also debuted its Super Slim Series 42-inch HDTV LCD, which measures 1.7-inches thick

Samsung added what it calls a “touch of color” to several of its new LCD sets, in the form of a translucent frame with illumination that creates a glow around the edges. The company also announced a partnership with design icon Giorgio Armani to give its TVs a makeover.

Philips is taking a “more feminine” approach to the design of products ranging from three new lines of HDTV (one of which featuring “invisible” speakers that blend in with the set’s frame) to Swarovski-crystal studded USB drives and ear bud headphones.

— posted by Doug Newcomb

The continuing greening of corporate America is seeping into the consumer electronics industry. We’re barely hours into the 2008 Consumer Electronics show and several of the major manufacturers are touting their green tech efforts. At press conferences this morning Panasonic, Toshiba and Sharp announced the joint formation of the Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM) to collect and recycle obsolete tech—like that new cell phone you bought last year

MRM’s efforts aren’t entirely altruistic: Its first objective will be to provide services to manufacturers in order to comply with Minnesota’s recently enacted requirements for recycling used gadgets. In addition to providing the service to manufacturers (MRM has entered into collection agreements with Hitachi, JVC, Philips, Pioneer and Sanyo), the company will also work with state and local governments and is planning recycling programs in Connecticut, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Washington from late 2008 and into 2009.

—posted by Doug Newcomb

The 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show—aka CES, the trade show of the year for all things tech and gadgety—doesn’t officially open its doors until tomorrow, but the day before is traditionally when the major consumer electronics companies (the Pioneers, Sonys and Toshibas of the world) hold back-to-back press conferences to make product introductions and show off their latest innovations. It’s the traditional kickoff to CES and yours truly will be on the scene to bring you the latest news, announcements and, of course, best tech and gadgets. So stayed tuned!—Doug Newcomb