first impressions from ces 2005
Live from CES 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada

By Executive Editor Sean Gibson & Associate Editor Greg Gibson

More than 1.5 million square feet showcase the hottest consumer electronics products and technology in emerging product categories such as digital imaging, wireless technology, electronic gaming and broadband at the 2005 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show), the world’s largest annual trade show for consumer technology.

First Impressions - An Overview

Two years ago when first reporting from CES 2003, the impressions from the show that it was heavily stocked with eager geeks ready to drool and praise over the latest in technology. This year in 2005, it's absolutely the amount of people packed into the show with an estimated 12,000 attendees, not to mention the 2,200 exhibitors on hand. The show is easily considered the premiere tech show in the world and out-draws more touted shows such as the very popular E3 in Los Angeles.

Last year the show's big draws were plasma and LCD televisions, and this year the craze is mid-range 1080i/p compliant monitors and television sets suitable for mounting. In addition, broadband technology is the hot ticket and gaming continues to be a bigger force every single year. The biggest craze of 2005 however is easily the advent of MP3 players and the amount of companies coming out with their "spin" on the product that every consumer seems to want.

Impressive As Always - D-Link

D-Link is the global leader in consumer networking technology and has recently released a new gaming 802.11G router (to be featured next week on GamingIllustrated.com) as well as new home media products that continue to live up their industry reputation for innovation and quality.

At the trade show today, D-Link has made several pertinent announcements. Included in them are:

• D-Link GamerLounge gaming routers optimizing Internet traffic for a "lag-free" gaming experience: The new D-Link GamerLounge Wireless Router (DGL-4300) features D-Link GameFuel technologies, a new intelligent packet processing engine integrated directly on the router, giving online games precedence for bandwidth over all other Internet applications, email and FTP transfers
• MediaLounge Wireless Media Player product line: The new MediaLounge Wireless Media Player with DVD (DSM-320RD) and 5-in-1 Flash Card Reader, the MediaLounge High Definition (HD) Wireless Media Player (DSM-520) and the new MediaLounge Wireless Media Server (DSM-5208R), with high-definition support and 80 Gigabytes of on-board storage for music, video and picture files
• Internet surveillance solutions: The D-Link SecuriCam Internet Camera with 10X Optical/Digital Zoom (DCS-6620G), with features such as Pan and Tilt, 10X optical and digital zoom, a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) processor and fine ground glass lens and complete remote control capability, the wireless and 802.11g wireless SecuriCam Internet Cameras can produce live, high-quality streaming video
• New VoIP product solutions powered by the latest D-Link VoIP gateway and hardware solutions

Knocks Your Socks Off - Logitech

Having reviewed some products for our sister gaming site, it was very interesting to see what Logitech had announced just today in the form of new interface devices for the PC. Amongst the most impressive new products shown at the show that should wow all PC users, a new series of wireless keyboard and mouse combinations that range from strong and durable, to sleek and stylish.

The Logitech Cordless Desktop MX3100 was one of the three brand new products announced and unveiled today at the show. The new and improved units featured the world's first ever "laser" mouse, which allows laser illumination and tracking technology that makes it the most precise mouse on the market today working on a much wider variety of mouse surfaces than traditional mice. The shared wireless receiver makes the entire process of using the new sleek and feature intensive keyboard a fun, exciting, and most importantly comfortable experience.

Also announced at the show for Logitech include the Harmony 880 Remote Control System, and the Cordless 2.4GHz Wireless Presenter which will be elaborated on in upcoming updates from the show.

Storing It Up - Hitachi Global Storage

NextGen Electronics has been fortunate enough to review a few Hitachi products through the last few months, including some particularly impressive high capacity SerialATA drives. At CES 2005, they've released information about a plethora of new product announcements which include:

• “Mikey,” the baby Microdrive – the world’s smallest, highest-capacity one-inch hard drive at 8-10 GB
• Travelstar “Slim” – the world’s smallest and lightest 1.8-inch hard drive
• Deskstar 7K500 – the world’s highest capacity 3.5-inch SATA hard drive, at 500 GB, for high-end media center PCs, DVRs, nearline storage and other enterprise ATA applications
• Deskstar T7K250 – this new 250 GB drive includes SATA II features and Hitachi’s Smooth Stream technology for use in DVR and other AV applications
• Deskstar 7K80 – at 40 and 80 GB of capacity, this drive satisfies the needs of mainstream consumer PC customers

For those of you wild about MP3 players and other media storage devices, companies using Hitachi solutions include the Apex E2GO series MP2000 portable media player, Dell DJ MP3 player, Gateway MP3 Photo Jukebox, Hitachi Microdrive Retail Kit, JVC Everio digital video camera, Shinco PMP-1700 portable movie player, Transcend PhotoBank and StoreJet external storage, Reigncom iRiver H10 1.8C MP3 player.

Easily, with the announcement of such a wide variety of high performing drives, Hitachi has position itself as a serious player in the world of storage solutions.

Coming Attractions - What's happening tomorrow

Tomorrow we have appointments with the following companies ...

ATI - which announced a new TV Wonder product, as well as featuring its new X850 Video Card

Abit - Featuring some new and exciting motherboard and video card technologies

Maxtor - One of the big boys of the storage solution world, they are unveiling new storage solutions for various markets

Commentary By: Sean Gibson sgibson@nextgenelectronics.com