New Year New Gear A Report from CES

Every January hoards of electronics manufacturers, their executives, managers, public relations specialists and honored guests descend upon the quiet (sic) streets of Las Vegas to show the world what new wondrous technology they’ll be offering throughout the year as well as some sneak peeks to a few things they’ve been experimenting with lately.

If CES is a barometer of what’s to come then we’ll all soon have our homes filled with flat LCD televisions, we’ll carry libraries of compressed digital music (aka MP3) everywhere and we’ll never be out of reach of the wireless Web. Doesn’t the future sound great?

Recordable DVD technology made more headway this year with Philips, Pioneer, Sharp, Toshiba and others all promising products very soon. These recorders have been slow to come, but it looks like this may be the year that home DVD recording takes off. The various formats (DVD-RAM/-R and DVD+RW) are still fighting it out, but the field is greatly improved in both number of products and prices. Samsung turned quite a few heads with a DVD player that included a built-in hard drive for recording TV programs!

High definition television made a few advances too, finally. DirecTV announced that it will soon start airing a new high definition channel, though no one at DirecTV would say what it is yet. RCA announced that it will be sponsoring this year’s Superbowl on the FOX digital channel in 480p resolution—the same format FOX DTV uses for The X-Files and Alley McBeal. And of course prices are falling. Entry level high definition monitors were shown for less than $1,500.

News in wireless communication focused largely on accessories, namely bluetooth accessories that allow use of a hands-free headset or car kit without wiring it to your phone.

Music gear was all about MP3 (and its cousins). Several makers, such as RCA and SONICblue (Rio) brought out smaller portable jukeboxes with bigger hard drive capacities to really give the Nomad a run for its money. Rio, Pioneer, RCA and others also demonstrated home devices for ripping, managing or networking digital music. This is a product category that is bound to explode.

The other big audio news at the show was that digital satellite radio is poised for success. XM Radio announced that as of January it already had over 30,000 subscribers. Sirius announced new subscription plans. Both look to make major strides in changing the way people think about radio.

If only a third of the impressive new gear that we saw at this year’s CES actually comes to light, then this will still be one of the most exciting years for technology lovers. Look for new gear profiles and reviews in future issues of E-Gear.

Soon to join the cell phone, PDA and MP3 player party taking place in your pants, are Sony’s new pocketable MICROMV Handycam camcorders. With a cassette that’s 70 percent smaller than the MiniDV, the new DCR-IP7BBT can deliver 500 lines of horizontal resolution, CD-quality sound and up to 60 minutes of digital video footage. The tapes also use a 64K memory chip that lets you access the video you’ve shot as if you were selecting scenes on a DVD. The cam also features a 10x Optical/ 120x Precision Digital Zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD SwivelScreen and Super SteadyShot picture stabilization. And thanks to its Bluetooth capabilities, you can upload your images and videos without plugging into your PC.

Audiovox is going to make sure you never get lost, or if you do, you’ll at least be better equipped to tell people where you are. Among their latest two-way radios is the GMRSGPS which combines the long 5 mile range of GMRS technology with the satellite location technology of GPS. It uses 7 FRS channels and 8 GMRS channels each with 38 sub channels to ensure privacy.

For a real big screen experience, check out this Sim2 HT300 DLP projector. Sim2 uses a 16:9 DLP chip from Texas Instruments to make a picture with 720p high definition resolution. If that’s not enough, they’ve thrown in Faroudja processing technology to make everything you plug into it look as good as it possibly can. Mix that in with Sim2′s great optics and easy setup features and you’ve got the makings for a home theater your local multiplex will envy. Shine it on a large screen, sit back, and enjoy.

Wharfedale’s Pacific Evo speakers evolved from their worthy Pacific line. These stylin’ towers use floating neodymium tweeters and KEVLAR drive units housed in sleek hardwood veneers. The Bird’s Eye Maple was particularly striking. Wharfedale hales from England, a land with a good reputation for speakers.

Nothing says high-tech home like a Sharp Aquos LCD TV hanging in the den or kitchen or bathroom or wherever. The new Aquos line, like the LC-30HV2U pictured here, looked better than ever. This 30-inch widescreen TV is only a few inches thick, fully HDTV compatible and has a 170 degree viewing angle so no one in the room will miss a detail. It comes with detachable speakers, and a separate Audio Video Computer houses all the inputs so your cables don’t clutter up the sleek TV.

Techno-savvy teens will love the new Cybiko Extreme that uses 900 MHz technology to allow wireless communication between Cybikos. Send e-mail, organize your day or play MP3s and games downloaded from the Internet. A new feature using VEIL technology syncs the Cybiko with TV programs such as MTV videos to download data straight from your TV. Very hip.

TV need a little Moxi? This Moxi Media Center may be the center of your new entertainment system and includes DishNetwork satellite TV, multi-room playback, digital video recording, DVD playback, CD ripping and MP3 music storage (on a hard drive), video-on-demand capability and even washes your car and walks the dog. Everything is controlled by one of the most advanced (and easy to use) on-screen navigation guides you’ve ever seen.