CES show report

LAS VEGAS – It was an unusually mild Saturday for this time of year here, with a clear sky and bright, warm sunshine. It was a good excuse to be anywhere but inside a cavernous convention centre.

However, the crowd at last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show was almost as thick as it had been the previous two weekdays, testimony to how eager industry buyers and the general public are to see the latest electronic gadgets.

“Things are usually slow on a Saturday,” observed Doug Hagan, director of corporate marketing for home and small office networking manufacturer NetGear Inc., “but we’ve been packed.”

Another indicator: Despite the addition of 600 extra taxis for the show, Hagan said, “cab lines are awful.”

An estimated 150,000 people registered for the annual event. What most of them saw were the continuing trend of more and larger flat-panel TVs as the industry finds new ways of building LCD and panel screens less expensively, coupled increased hype on high-definition content either over the Internet or through the about to be released HD DVD players.

Those lucky enough to squeeze into the Hilton Hotel’s theatre also saw Hollywood stars such as Tom Cruise, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Justin Timberlake, Morgan Freeman, Ron Howard, Quincy Jones, who were brought into add glitz to keynote speeches from executives of Microsoft, Sony, Intel, Yahoo and Google.

Resellers and system builders, always sensitive to the need to show new technologies, likely came away delighted with the some of the products announced – although to be fair many had already been leaked to the press.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini, for example, introduced the company’s dual core mobile processor line, which is dubbed Centrino Duo, a platform, which includes CPUs and wireless technology for laptops. A number of companies were ready to announce notebooks based on the platform are either ready to ship or will ship within months, including LG, Toshiba, Samsung and Lenovo.

Michael Dell did a sneak preview for Otellini of an upcoming laptop with a 20-inch screen, so valuable that he took it with him when he left the stage. (When Otellini expressed interest in it, Dell said it was too early to order one, but suggested Otellini buy a Dell Inspiron notebook. In fact, he added, the Intel executive should get both. “Can you get me a deal?” asked Otellini? “Can you give me a deal?” Dell asked the chipmaker, his only supplier, to great laughter.)

Lenovo, for example, showed its X60S ultra-portable, which has a 12.1-inch XGA screen, a choice of serial ATA hard drives and a 1.67GH Centrino Duo processors that weighs as little as 2.7 lbs, depending on configuration.

With a long-life battery a user can get up to 8 hours of performance, said Jeff Samitt, Lenovo’s worldwide X-series marketing manager.

It will cost US$1,899, but by the end of the month there will be more versions with “more aggressive pricing,” Samitt said.

Toshiba is in the middle of refreshing the design of its consumer Satellite laptop line featuring units with more rounded corners. The 14-inch screen M55 will become the M105, sporting either single core or dual core processors when it comes out in February or March in the U.S. Prices will range from $1,049 to $1,199 (all prices U.S.).

The wide-screen A105, which will have a 15.4-in. display, will also be released with a dual-core CPU at prices ranging from $1,249 to $1,399.

Hewlett-Packard, which last year began selling plasma and LCD televisions and its Digital Entertainment Centre in Canada in a limited way (strictly through the Best Buy chain), said it is preparing to widen its channel to selected resellers.

“The best fit are consumer electronic retailers who have a heritage of selling IT,” said Jeff Cates, HP Canada’s consumer business manager.

No decision yet has been made on who those resellers will be, he said. But they will have access to new plasma and LCD TVs the company announced here.

Nor has a decision been made on which company will distribute the TVs. However, Cates added that HP Canada taking steps to broaden its distribution of PC products. Until now Ingram Micro Canada was the only distributor of its desktops, laptops and monitors. Buy this year another distributor will be added, Cates said, to give resellers more choice.

One of those distributors will also handle the TVs and Digital Entertainment Centres, which are set-top boxes running Windows Media Centre.

“Ingram has the better heritage with consumer products,” said Cates, but that didn’t mean it has a lock on the CE line.

A second distributor will have the advantage also of helping HP Canada expand its notebook sales, he added. New HP products announced here include the SLC3760n 37-inch LCD television, dubbed an advanced digital media TV that can connect to a number of platforms, letting users manage not only video but JPG movies and MP3s. No pricing was announced.

New laptops include the EB8000, an 8.5-lb. Windows Media Centre unit with a 17-inch wide screen.

BenQ, which started distributing five models of flat-panel TVs last year, is adding a Prestige line, starting with a 42-inch model with higher resolution than its value line.

The company also showed off a Blu-ray high definition DVD writer for desktop PCs, which will appeal to system builders – unless they go for the competing HD DVD standard touted by Toshiba. That battle will begin this spring with the release by both sides of their first recorders.

But in an exclusive interview with CDN, BenQ Canada general manager Jimmy Davlouros revealed plans to start bringing in the company’s Joybook laptops in the third quarter after making sure a service and support network has been set up.

The first two, both of which will have Intel dual-core processors, will include a model with a 12-in. screen aimed at those on the road who want a light machine, and a unit with 15-in. screen for every day for “everyday” business users.

Samsung had a mammoth booth, suitable for showcasing its mammoth flat screen TVs, the biggest of which weren’t for sale. It also showed off some devices that aren’t available in North America yet because we’re behind the digital broadcasting revolution. They include digital cameras with LCD screens of four inches or more, which are capable of receiving over-the-air digital signals through a collapsible antenna.

Sony had the largest space it ever had at CES, according to John Challinor, a spokesperson for Sony of Canada.

Its Blu-ray players will be released in the summer, he said, and will drive sales of the upcoming Playstation 3. No prices were announced.

While it flaunted an 82-in. LCD TV “as a statement of direction,” what will hit the market is a 46-in. model in Sony’s Bravia line.

However, the real buzz at the stand – despite the failure of the category so far – was generated by its Sony Reader e-book, an 8-oz. portable reader that can store the text of up to 80 books. The Lithium-battery powered unit, which measures about 5×8-in., and comes with Memory Stick and Secure Digital card slots for adding content, will be available in the spring. Through PC software, users will be able to buy titles only from Sony, as well as access other Internet content.

Meanwhile, back at the NetGear booth, Hagan was touting the RangeMax 240, an 802.11g upgraded version of its RangeMax router with multiple antennas that promises speeds of up to 240 mbps with a NetGear PC card for reception for those using streaming video or voice over IP on their networks. Available immediately, it costs $149.

The company also highlighted the Skype Mobile Wi Fi wireless phone, which comes with Skype preloaded for VoIP. It automatically searches for the nearest open wireless network without the need for a PC. It will be available in the second quarter. Pricing has yet to be set.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Howard Solomon
Howard Solomon
Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. Before that I was a staff reporter at the Calgary Herald and the Brampton (Ont.) Daily Times. I can be reached at hsolomon [@] soloreporter.com

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