Best of CES 2013: In pictures
Here’s what’s grabbing our attention right now at the sprawling CES 2013 gadget show in Las Vegas
CES 2013
Christmas, as usual, comes late for the serious phone addicts, tablet-o-philes and general gizmo junkies among us. Here’s a look at some of our favorites, so far, from CES 2013, which is happening right now in Las Vegas. We’ll be adding to this slideshow throughout the week as we come across cool new products from CES, so please check back.
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Vizio MT11x-A1 Best known for its LCD TV line, Vizio announced a pure Windows 8 slate-style touch tablet, the MT11x-A1. (It previously offered an Android tablet). It’s powered by an AMD Z60 dual-core 1 GHz processor, with 2 Gbytes RAM, and AMD’s Radeon HD graphics. It’s just 0.4 inches thick, weighs 1.8 pounds. The 11-inch screen is 1920 x 1080 pixels. Other features: micro-HDMI port, 64GB solid state disk, 2-megapixel front camera, SRS Premium Sound HD. Availability, pricing not announced. Details on the Vizio web page are scant. |
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Samsung Exynos 5 Octa Samsung announced its most advanced mobile system-on-chip: the Exynos 5 Octa, so called because it has eight ARM CPU cores. Four are ARM Cortex A15’s, designed for high performance, which are found in the earlier Exyno 5 Dual which powers the Nexus 10. Four are ARM Cortex A7’s, which are similar but designed for power efficiency. The setup lets the SoC shift different types of tasks among the cores for optimal efficiency. Using a 28 nanometer process, the new SoC is somewhat smaller than the Dual. Rivals Qualcomm and NVIDIA also announced new mobile chips. No word on whether Samsung will upgrade the companion GPU. |
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Panasonic ToughPad for Android The second new Panasonic ToughPad is the JT-B1 running Android 4.0 with a Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 1.5GHz dual core CPU, 16 Gbytes ROM, 1 Gbyte RAM, micro SDHC; 7-inch, daylight viewable, 1024 x 600 pixel touch screen; rear 13 megapixel auto focus/LED cam, and front 1.3 megapixel fixed focus cam; 5,720 mAh battery, user-replaceable, with 8-hour life; 8.7 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches, 1.2 pounds; Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n, optional embedded LTE or 3G; Micro USB; MIL-STD-810G spec. Ships in February, starting at $1,199 |
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LaCie 5big external hard drive
The LaCie 5big external hard drive is a RAID monster that also includes a super-fast Thunderbolt connection. Aimed at video and photo professionals, this drive transferred a whopping 30GB of data in about a minute (at least in the demo we saw). |
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Lenovo IdeaPhone P770
Lenovo’s IdeaPhone P770 packs a high capacity 3,500 mAh battery with enhanced power management software, for up to 30 hours of talk time between charges. Native anti-virus software, and dual-sim capability. That’s about all the info in the press release. There’s not even a Webpage for “Ideaphone.” In November 2012, details were leaked or uncovered: 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean; 4.5-inch (960 x 540 pixel) display; 5 MP camera on the back, front-facing VGA cam; 4GB storage. Ships: January, first in China; price not announced. See the P770 video ad. |
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Panasonic ToughPad for Windows
Panasonic announced two rugged ToughPad tablets. The first is the FZ-G1, running Windows 8 Pro. It has a third generation Intel Core i5 processor, at 1.9 GHz (up to 2.9, with Intel Turbo Boost); 128G-265GB solid state disk options; 4G-8GB, RAM; sunlight viewable 10.1-inch touch screen, user-replaceable battery runs up to 8 hours; 10.6 x 7.4 x 0.75 inches; 2.43 pounds; Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n, optional 3G or LTE radio; full USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet, serial port or dedicated GPS; complies with MIL-STD-810G spec; ships in February, starting at $2,899. |
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Qualcomm announced a fire breather
Qualcomm announced a fire breather: the Snapdragon 800 mobile processor series, aimed at “premium” mobile devices. The 800 uses a four-core Krait 400 CPU (based on ARM cores), the company’s Adreno 330 GPU, Hexagon v5 Digital Signal Processor, and its latest 4G LTE Category 4 modem. All components offer dramatic performance gains over the current generation Snapdragon S4 Pro, which is used in smartphones like the Google Nexus 4 and the HTC Droid DNA. Also new: the 600 series, which offers a lower performance level at a lower price, though still a major step up from the S4 Pro. See this blogpost for more information. |
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Intel Haswell
Intel banged the drum for a new generation of lighter, thinner, and cheaper ultrabooks: shown is this sleek prototype, dubbed Northscape, running Intel’s next-generation, ultra low-power Haswell mobile processor. Haswell is due out in mid-2013, several months earlier than expected. Press a button and the 13-inch display is released, to be used as an 11-inch touch tablet (the change in screen size lets you hold the bezel-less tablet). The 0.67-inch thick ultrabook has 13 hours of battery life; the tablet, 10 hours. |
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A company called TrackingPoint (currently only showing a video and countdown clock) combined an array of sensors, a processor, digital tracking display, an optical scope, laser, digital signal processor, and even Wi-Fi, along with something never before seen at CES: a custom-built, bolt-action rifle from Surgeon Rifles. The result: the $20,000 Precision Guided Firearm. Data on temperature, barometric pressure, distance to target, orientation of the barrel, let you lock on to the target, with a big red dot that dynamically compensates for a battery of variables. The Wi-Fi link lets the scope’s image appear on an iPad mini (included). PC World has details. |
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Samsung LED curved TV
We thought we’d left curved TVs behind with cathode rays, but no: Samsung announced a prototype 55-inch concave organic LED TV, with a gently curved surface. The curve makes all viewing angles equal in terms of the eye’s distance to the screen. Gizmodo’s Brian Barrett says the effect is enveloping, and both “disorienting and majestic.” No information on price or on when, or whether, it will be available. |
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