What Not to Miss at This Year's CES

BY: Jamison Cush, technologyguide.com Editor
PUBLISHED: 1/4/2010

What do you get when more than 110,000 people and 2,500 exhibitors come to Las Vegas to ogle some of the latest consumer technology and innovative products? The Consumer Electronics Show, of course, a yearly event that is the premier gathering for some of the most influential and important people in the industry.

The conference and exhibition is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group that represents the $172 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry and has more than 2,000 company members.

Although well organized, CES can be overwhelming for newcomers and experienced attendee since a lot of things happen in and around the show floor and it is easy to miss some important events. So, expect to spend a lot of time and expend some serious shoe leather tracking down the most important 'don't miss' exhibits and events at the show.

The following are some key happenings and hot spots that should be on your to-do list as you take part in the year's biggest technology tsunami:

What’s New for the Webbie? Sony unveiled the Webbie, its vaunted Flip killer, at CES 2009. While the Webbie initially impressed with its 270-degree swivel lens and lower-than-the-Flip price point, critics weren’t thrilled with the mediocre video quality, lack of internal USB connector, and bare-bones extras. With the recently-released Kodak Zi8 also making waves, the battle for pocket-camcorder dominance rages on at CES 2010. What does Sony have in store for the Webbie? An even lower price point? HDMI support? More internal memory? Find out for yourself at the Sony booth.

Sony: Central 14200, Central 15000, and NorthMtgRm N212

Cisco “Flipping” to Wi-Fi? Cisco may free the pocket HD camcorder Flip from its USB shackles. Pocket-Lint reports that the networking specialists (who acquired Flip-maker Pure Digital earlier this year) will unveil a new Wi-Fi ready Flip at CES. There is also a rumor circulating of a new Flip design featuring a larger, sliding LCD screen. Will these new features keep the Flip price point low for consumers? And hey Cisco, any chance you’ll include optical zoom and external mic support with that Wi-Fi?

Cisco: Venetian Tower, booths 32-105, 32-106, 32-111, 32-136, 32-139, and 32-140

Clues from 2009. Manufacturers love unveiling new and improved features at CES. Last year’s hot new camcorders included ultrazoom (up to 70x in Panasonic models) and GPS implementation for geotagging and content organization (thank you, Sony). While only the companies know what they’ll unveil next, expect last year’s high-end features to become the norm for the new mid-range and low-end lines. There are also a handful upgrades seen every year: smaller models, greater storage, longer battery life, and (hopefully) lower prices. Check out what all the major players are offering by visiting their booths.

Samsung: Central 11026, A-131, NorthMtgRm N205, NorthMtgRm N216, NorthMtgRm N217, NorthMtgRm N219, NorthMtgRm N220, NorthMtgRm N221, NorthMtgRm N222, NorthMtgRm N223, NorthMtgRm N224, NorthMtgRm N225, NorthMtgRm N22

SDXC Finally Ready for Primetime. Digital imaging enthusiasts herald SDXC (Secure Digital) as the removable memory standard of the future. Theoretically capable of storing up to 2 TB of information with bus speeds of 3000 MB/s, SDXC, aka SD 4.0, is ideally suited for storing hours of high-def video. However, outside of Toshiba’s 64GB card launch, little has been seen or heard of the next-gen memory card. Announced at CES 2009, expect SDXC to make an appearance at CES 2010. It’s a good bet that some of the high-end DSLRs made by Canon and Nikon with an HD video recording feature will adopt the SDXC standard.

Nikon: NorthMtgRm N206, NorthMtgRm N208

Canon: Central 12706, NorthMtgRm N109, NorthMtgRm N110, NorthMtgRm N111, NorthMtgRm N112, NorthMtgRm N113, NorthMtgRm N114

See the World’s Smallest Gadgets. Innergie is set to debut its mCube Mini, which the company claims is “considered the world’s smallest universal adapter for auto and air use.” The tiny charger easily fits in the palm of your hand and kicks out 15-21 volts via USB. See the minute adapter for your self at the Innergie booth. Not to be outdone, Pocket Radar is looking to live up to its name with, well, Pocket Radar, a palm-sized speed radar. Race on over to Pocket Radar’s booth to clock your speed.

Innergie: South 3 31258

Pocket Radar: Central 13148

USB 3.0 in Action. To date, tech consumers haven’t seen much of the so-called SuperSpeed USB in the wild. The folks at Symwave will attempt to remedy that at CES 2010 with a series of USB 3.0 demonstrations. Marvel at RAID storage solutions exceeding 300 MB/sec performance! Stand in awe of HDDs and SSDs able to back up 500 gigabytes in a half hour! Witness the spectacle of 10-second full-movie DVD downloads! Symwave will also be showing off their SW6318, claimed to be the world’s first USB 3.0 RAID Storage Controller.

Symwave: Hilton Hosp Ste 2900

Crack the Swiss Army USB, Win $100,000. Swiss Army Knife maker Victorinox is betting a bundleit all on their USB flash drives by offering $100,000 to the first CES attendee to break into or circumvent the device’s security measures. Each would-be data thief will be given two hours to crack Victorinox’s data encryption and fingerprint authentication technology. All manner of hackers are welcome at the Victorinox Swiss Army booth.

Victorinox: South 4 35708

Find Your Dream Date at CES. Information commerce company Intelius will be hosting a Dream Date contest with CES participants live on stage in the Living in Digital Times exhibitor area. And this isn’t just any old Love Connection knockoff. Intelius will be using the show to demo its Date Check mobile app, a finalist in the CES Mobile Apps Showdown on January 9th. Date Check performs instant background checks on potential suitors, warning would-be lovers of criminal records and other information (including home ownership details!). It’s currently available in the iPhone App Store and Android Marketplace. Meet your potential mate at the Living in Digital Times area in the North Hall, then head over to the Intelius booth for the background dirt.

Intelius: North 3233

The HDBaseT Alliance. Samsung, Sony Pictures, Valens Semiconductor, and LG are partnering up to form the HDBaseT Alliance, a coalition designed to create and promote a new standard to allow uncompressed HD streaming through Ethernet cables. Essentially, they want to solve the content streaming problems created by limited bandwidth. One can hear the battle cry now, “HD for all!” Expect the HDBaseT Alliance to make a splash at CES, perhaps brining new partners into the fold.