September 14, 2011
Each year, vendors from all over the world go to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show to show off the latest, greatest and coolest products of the year. Here are six of the top picks from this year’s show:
Motorola Atrix 4G. One day, the mobile phone will do double duty as the CPU of a full-fledged laptop. The Motorola Atrix 4G takes a big step down that road.
The Atrix would be a powerhouse based on its smartphone platform alone, but the phone is a game-changer because of its laptop and HD multimedia docking systems. As soon as you plug the phone into either dock, a Firefox browser launches, your Android apps scale up in size, and you leave thumb-typing behind.
The multimedia dock has three USB ports and an HDMI port so it can power a living room worth of entertainment gear. Price is about $500 for an unlocked version.
Motorola Xoom Tablet. In the tablet free-for-all, the Motorola Xoom will be a principal challenger to the Apple iPad. For now, the Xoom is a step ahead of the competition when it comes to connectivity.
The first Xooms launched on Verizon’s 3G network in the first quarter of 2011, and the company promises that those units can be upgraded to the 4G LTE network next spring.
HDMI compatibility means the Xoom can share its video with a home entertainment center. Price starts at about $500.
Samsung LED 8000 Series TV. It's LED backlit, 3D-capable, and packed with services and apps people might actually use, such as Skype and Facebook. Samsung whittled the bezel down to just 0.2 inches, increasing screen size without increasing the overall footprint, and creating a picture that's more otherwordly portal than TV monitor.
The series will be available in 46-in., 55-in. and 65-in. sizes, starting at $2,800.
LG LW5600 Series 3D LED TV. Comes in 47-inch and 55-inch, LED-backlit, full 1080p. Uses passive 3D glasses (any kind will work, including the ones in movie theaters). Comes with four pairs.
Prices start about $1600.
Vizio Cinemawide LED LCD HDTV. It has a 21:9 aspect ratio, far bigger than typical HDTV’s 16:9, which means you can watch CinemaScope 2.35:1 movies without black boxing bars. Scheduled to go on sale in October; retail prices to be determined.
Cobra Phone Tag. This little keychain works as a two-way alarm between itself and your smartphone. When your keys get out of range of your phone, you get an alert on either device, and can even make both devices chirp like a homing beacon to help you hunt them down.
Price starts at $60.
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