The 42" full HD LCD TV you just invested in is so two thousand and late. 3D is the new kid on the block, with 3D TV sets on display at every major television manufacturer’s stand. 3D does contain some inherent hurdles to mass adoption, not the least of which is the cost involved. Special 3D content is required, while you also need special 3D glasses to view content. But CES showed that problems are made for solving.
Toshiba grabbed a lot of headlines with its ZX900 Series CELL TVs. According to Toshiba the set can convert regular 2D television programming and movies into 3D. Onboard you’ll find the CELL Engine for multimedia processing, which Toshiba claims is 143 times more powerful than what is currently found in TVs, while the TriVector 2D to 3D Technology handles the conversion in real time. The CELL TV range will be available in the US later in the year in 55" and 65" guises.
TLC displayed a 3D TV that doesn’t require any unsightly headgear. Their set simply incorporates the frames that the glasses use into the actual TV set eliminating the need to look like a dork.
The trusty remote also received a rethink, with Samsung showcasing a remote control with a built-in TV screen and speaker. It’s a novel solution for those unfortunate “have to go to the bathroom now” moments in the middle of a Springbok game. Now wash your hands.
Toshiba also showed off a prototype TV which, like the Xbox 360 with Project Natal, can be operated without a remote control. You simply control it with gestures for example waving your hands in the air to bring up and make your way through the 3D menu system.
One of the biggest trends for 2010 at CES doesn’t involve notebooks or even netbooks, but rather the often berated tablet PC. Rumours of an Apple tablet device, said to be called the iSlate, loomed large over the exhibition, and although Apple didn’t attend CES, the word “slate” seems to have stuck, with it being adopted to refer to this breed of tablet devices.HP was first out the blocks to release such a device with an endorsement from none other than Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer, showcasing the HP Slate tablet in his keynote address. The Slate sports Windows 7 and seems to be an internet connected device lying somewhere between an ereader and a netbook. The least amount of information possible (or so it would seem) has been released about the Slate, with HP likely waiting to see what’s coming from Apple before divulging details. But we do know that it will be touch driven and will be released later this year, although we could not get conformation from HP SA if the device will be made available in SA.
Top honours though goes to the sleek IdeaPad U1 hybrid tablet presented by Lenovo. This two-in-one device is a netbook in essence, with the amazing ability to clip off the screen to use it as a slate device. If that’s not cool enough, it actually sports two different operating systems and two processors. In its netbook form it runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Windows 7 Home Premium, when unclipped it is powered by Qualcomm’s 1 GHz Snapdragon processor (see below) operating in a Linux environment. To make it switch and sync seamlessly between the different systems Lenovo employs what they call Hybrid Switch Technology.
The yummy U1 with its 11.6" multitouch LED screen weighs only 1.6 kg (1 kg unclipped) and sports 3G integrated broadband. It is said to have 128 GB of SSD storage space in netbook form and 16 GB SSD in slate form. You will pay a premium for such privileges though, with the U1 expected to go for $999 in the US with its release scheduled for June this year.
One of the big winners at CES 2010 was mobile chip maker Qualcomm. Their speedy Snapdragon processors seem to have wormed their way into some of the hottest gadgets on display.
Lenovo in particular seem infatuated with the processors, utilising Snapdragons on their new Android based LePhone smartphone, Skylight netbook and on the slate half of their ultra-hot IdeaPad U1 hybrid tablet.
Snapdragons can also be found in Acer’s first Android phone the A1 Liquid, one of HP’s new netbooks, and, although not present at CES, in Google’s newly announced Nexus One smartphone. Qualcomm’s competition in the form of rival Intel’s Moorestown processor, only featured in LG’s GW990 phone. With Apple rumoured to adopt Qualcomm processors in the next iPhones, the future couldn’t look brighter for the San Diego based company.
Qualcomm’s upcoming speedier Snapdragons are making mouths water. According to Luis Pineda, SVP of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, the 8X50A Snapdragon running at 1.3 GHz will feature on devices before the end of the year. The one we’re looking forward to the most though is their dual-core 8X72, with each core running at 1.5 GHz. It will be able to process HD content, something that current smartphones or netbooks are far from capable of.