executive editor's first impressions
Live from CES 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada

By Executive Editor Sean Gibson

Ces2004 is over 4.5 million square feet of electronics at its best. Vendors from all over the world launch and announce their products lines for 2004 and 2005 at this show, where over 100,000 attendees get to see the latest in what the the tech industry has to offer. NextGen Electronics is at the show in force, with 8 writers on site, reporting and gathering future stories.

First Impressions - An Overview

Think BIG, that's the real word from this year's CES. Much like this year, the event is heavily attended and has all the flair the tech industry has to offer. Many companies are here unveiling a breadth of new products, and some are here to let everyone know they intend to stay on top. It seems a huge part of this year's CES is the release of flat screen TVs in the form of DLP, LCD, and Plasma displays.

Some companies have made an excellent splash on the first day, and others seemed to fall flat on their faces. As Executive Editor, I ran around the show the first day and wrote up this set of first impressions based on conversations with companies I dealt with today. I highly encourage all readers to check out the other columns by the writers for this site - each offers a unique insight into the show with different vendors. So - on to the fun details....

A Firm Hand - BENQ

Pronounced "Ben Q" this tech giant that very few mainstream consumers know about was at CES 2004 in a big way - their booth on hand was absolutely astounding and was the early talk of the show. The big gun there was the most amazing LCD display anybody at NGE had ever seen (please refer to Greg Gibson's article for more information).

I had the pleasure of talking to several product manager for BENQ, for their various product line. Their LCD monitors were absolutely breathtaking - offering up a more than amazing treat for you gamers out there. The specs involve a 12ms delay time with 800:1 resolution levels (normally you only find 500 or 600:1). Specifically built for performance, these LCDs are bright and sharp - definitely something to look for in this hot market.

Another technology I viewed at the BENQ booth as their new digital camera line - they have about 6 different 3 MegaPixel cameras available, and two 5 MegaPixel cameras. One of the models also acts as (of all things) an MP3 player and an FM radio! The unit takes in a mini-jack for headphones, but amazingly has a built in speaker to listen to your tunes.

Overall, BENQ were very gracious hosts at their presence here at the show, and we're definitely going to work hard to bring some of their products to our site for you to see their line first hand.

Strange But True - foneGear

Bluetooth technology is blowing up in a big way. For those of you unfamiliar with the technology, it offers the ability for things like Cellular Phones, PDAs, and other such devices to use wireless technology. Unfortunately, a lot of this technology interferes with other radio-based wireless devices - such as your wireless LAN networks. So what foneGear has done is implemented a brand new technology through use of magnetism and transistors to develop a way to bring a non-bluetooth wireless devices for ANY cellular phone (normally, you would have to own a very expensive phone to use this technology).

After talking with the chipset manufacturers and representatives from foneGear themselves, I used a unit they were kind enough to pass along to me for evaluation. The unit uses 1 AA battery which you have to replace approximately once a month and clips onto your belt or pants and plugs into the jack in your phone. After that it's easily sailing - the unit on first try worked astonishing well with ZERO interference ... which was previously impossible under our office circumstances (due to WAN interference).

Look in a couple of weeks for the feature review of this very interesting and unique product.

I've Died and Gone to Heaven - Hy-Tek

As most of our readers know I also serve as Executive Editor of Gaming Illustrated. Sometimes the world of "tech cool" meets up with "killer gaming" - and that's exactly what I saw on first impression with a company called "Hy-Tek" which offers up a unique computing solution.

The Tek Panel 300G is an "All-In-One" computer with a 30 inch active matrix LCD screen that also acts as a Television. This unique product also features an 875 Intel motherboard, a 3.2GHz Processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 120GB Serial ATA hard drive, a Creative Labs Audigy 2 sound card, an ATI 9800 Pro video card, an integrated 10/100 ethernet port, a 56k modem, a DVD-R/RW drive, and is bundled with Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers.

The quality of the screen was downright amazing when I got the very-cool "Halo" demonstration. The company reps were extremely friendly and quite excited that we also specialize in gaming, so we're definitely hoping to hook up with them on a company feature as well as a featured review - we think tech junkies and gamers alike will go ga-ga for their products.

Always Solid - D-Link

D-Link is a company that has established a great reputation with our staff for integrity, quality, and innovation. Sometimes we run across companies that make the whole thing worthwhile - and this company is definitely one of them.

D-Link featured their 802.11g line of wireless networking products which this site has already reviewed and given and Editor's Choice award to. Debuting at CES was new line of home entertainment products that merge the lines between wireless networking and your stereo , home theater, and entertainment system - along with a new partnership with AOL and their Radio @ AOL service.

While we were at the booth, CNet brought by a tech innovation award for CES for their new security camera line, which offers some of the best quality for cameras that we've seen - so don't we're not the only one giving up props to D-Link. The staff at D-Link genuinely cares about the consumer and their line of products, which has carried into their catalog of impressive technologies. We'll be bringing you new reviews of the just-launched products.

Coming Attractions - What's happening tomorrow

Tomorrow we have appointments with the following companies ...

Antec - Makers of all things cool when it comes to cooling your computer. We've reviewed their Sonata case, and we're looking forward to checking out their new line of products.

Polk Audio - Creators of high end mobile and home theater audio products. We stopped by for a preliminary "hello" and were blown away by some of the new things they are releasing.

Panasonic - Tech giants, who are releasing a new line of televisions in all sorts of ways ... LCD, DLP, Plasma ...

CorAccess Systems - Makers of a new product called "Amego" which can control everything in your household that handles a remote control

ADS - A "HDTV Up Converter" is their claim to fame, allowing you to watch HDTV signals on your computer .... and perhaps more!

Commentary By: Sean Gibson sgibson@nextgenelectronics.com