2012

Sony's Blu-ray lineup gets much-needed user interface redesign, much-unneeded 4K upscaling

LAS VEGAS--The first bullet point in Sony's Blu-ray press release is the one I wanted to see the most: the new Blu-ray players will feature a redesigned user interface.

That might not sound like much, but Sony's Blu-ray players have been consistently hamstrung by a subpar user interface (both at the and within apps), despite having one of the most complete suite of apps on the market. Sony's information mentions its new Blu-ray players will feature "Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Hulu Plus, and more," and we're guessing they'll also include services that were available … Read more

Sony keeps Google TV alive with new Blu-ray player, set top box

LAS VEGAS--Sony was one of the few early supporters of the Google TV platform, and the company is doubling down on its bet with two new home theater products at CES 2012.

Sony announced an updated version of its Google TV-powered Blu-ray player, the NSZ-GP9, as well as its first-ever Google TV set-top box, the NSZ-GS7. Both products will feature all of the improvements made in the most recent Google TV update, including access to apps in the Android Market.

The major upgrade from last year's model is the new touch-pad remote, which supports gestures via three-axis motion control. … Read more

HP and the great glass ultrabook: Envy 14 Spectre, hands-on

It takes a lot to stand out in the crowded world of ultrabooks, but HP is betting that a liberal dose of Gorilla Glass will do the trick.

The newly announced HP Spectre is the most glass-covered laptop we've ever seen. Is that a good thing? We've seen glass-heavy smartphones like the iPhone 4, but not so much in laptops...until now. At CES 2012, we got a good close-up look at HP's bold Envy redesign.

The Spectre is HP's first consumer-oriented ultrabook (the HP Folio 13 released last year was technically HP's first ultrabook, … Read more

AT&T's Pantech Burst won't bust your wallet

LAS VEGAS--Smartphones aren't really a dime a dozen. Most of them are more like several hundred dollars for one.

That's why I'm so pleased with the Burst, Pantech's new LTE smartphone for AT&T. The phone is perfect for those who want a quality product, but may not have as many dollars to spare.

The Burst will be available January 22, and with a two-year contract, it will cost $49.99. If you buy it bundled with Pantech's waterproof tablet, the Pantech Element, you can get both for about $250.

Although $49.99 is … Read more

Lenovo bends over backward at CES (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--Lenovo got a jump on the avalanche of CES news and made some product announcements in the days leading up to the giant Consumer Electronics Show.

The world's second-largest PC maker last week unveiled a new line of ThinkPad laptops that are slimmer and pack cutting-edge features such as Thunderbolt.

Today, Lenovo CEO Yang Yaunqing discussed the company's "four screen" strategy, involving PCs, tablets, smartphones, and smart TVs.

Among the products touted: the IdeaPad Yoga (a laptop with a hinge that lets it fold over in a "back bend" to become a tablet), … Read more

Lenovo twists a tablet and laptop into the IdeaPad Yoga

Despite its reputation as a maker of buttoned-down business laptops, Lenovo can always be counted on to produce a couple of intriguing concept pieces at CES every year, such as the IdeaPad Yoga.

This Windows 8 prototype laptop is described as "the industry's first multimode notebook with a 360-degree flip-and-fold design." A 13.3-inch touch-screen laptop, the Yoga is a thin, light laptop, but perhaps not quite an ultrabook. It's 16.9mm thick and weighs 3.1 pounds.

The name Yoga in part gives away the system's big selling point, that the display flips fully over to become a tablet. In fact, it has four usable positions, which Lenovo calls notebook, tablet, stand, and tent.

Lenovo says the combination of a traditional laptop design and a tablet makes the Yoga ideal for both content creation and consumption. The 13-inch display has a 1,600x900-pixel native resolution, and 10-point capacitive touch.

We've seen similar ideas for years in what are called convertible laptops, which have a rotating center hinge to swivel into both laptop and tablet forms. The problem with those, traditionally, has been that the single center rotating hinge was a potential weak point in the design. Lenovo says the Yoga's full-length hinge has been rigorously tested and is stronger than the older rotating convertible design. … Read more

NPR, Ford sync up with AppLink technology (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--In a joint CES press conference today, Ford Motor and NPR announced that streaming news is coming "straight to the dashboard."

NPR's new app will work with Ford's in-car control system, Sync AppLink, even those without a touch-screen interface, and is intended to be less distracting to the driver as it's based on voice command. Users can set favorite stations and programs in the app to be browsed later using the car's steering wheel controls. Apps are available immediately in the Android Market and iTunes App Store.

NPR played up the ability to … Read more

Nokia 're-entering' the U.S. with the Lumia 900 (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--The Consumer Electronics Show is the big coming-out party for the U.S. launch of Nokia's new Windows Phone smartphones.

On the CES stage Monday afternoon here, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said the handset maker will start selling the Lumia 710, which Nokia introduced in December, with T-Mobile USA on Wednesday. He and others spent the remainder of the press event focusing on the unveiling of the Lumia 900 for AT&T's network.

The 900, the first LTE 4G device running the Windows Phone OS, is designed for people who want a rich-media experience. Equipped with … Read more

Nvidia talks tablets and Tegra 3 (live blog)

LAS VEGAS--CEO Jen-Hsun Huang took the CES stage today and talked about three things: tablets, a surprise feature of Tegra 3... and cars.

Yes, cars. He explained that each car serves a different need. Just like each mobile device. "Different strokes for different folks," he said. Whatever you want, Android will make it possible.

Huang continued by showing off tablet apps enhanced by Nvidia graphics technology and highlighted Tegra 3 games found in the Nvidia Tegra Zone. He showed how a Tegra tablet can remotely connect to your PC via Spashtop, treats it like a server "and … Read more