Today we continue our coverage of this year's CES with a look at some of the most interesting from the consumer electronics side of the show.

SanDisk's Sansa Connect - PMP with WiFi

Microsoft’s Zune isn’t the only portable media player on the block to tout integrated WiFi.  SanDisk’s new Sansa Connect player doesn’t allow users to share music with other players but it does allow streaming music from internet radio stations and a yet unannounced subscription service.  Officials at SanDisk’s booth confirmed that users will only be able to transfer music to the player via USB and not wirelessly.  Users can play music and view pictures as well as wirelessly “recommend” songs to other players. 

The Connect features a 4GB flash drive with expandable memory via a microSD card. Expect to see it on sale in late Q1 2007 for around $250.  

Netgear's Attempt at Convergence

A popular product at Netgear’s booth this year was Netgear’s EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD. 

Although we’ve seen networked set-top boxes before, this one looks to have upped the ante with 1080p HD playback over HDMI and the ability to watch YouTube videos.  You can search for a specific YouTube tag or use one of the pre-defined searches on the unit such as the Top 25 videos.  The box does lack user defined YouTube search queries, however.  Representatives at Netgear’s booth told us this was a limitation on You Tube’s side because there is no open interface to their search engine yet. 

In addition to YouTube, the EVA8000 can stream audio, video and pictures from your PC (or Mac, or any UPnP capable storage device).  Streaming can be done over either a 10/100 ethernet connection or 802.11b/g.  Most popular non-DRM codecs are supported including MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, and FLAC on the audio side.  Video codecs include MPEG 1, 2, 4, WMV, XVID and DIVX (unofficially).  The unit can also pass-through (but not decode) digital audio over the optical TOSLINK connector.  A receiver that can decode digital audio will be required in order to take advantage of this, however.

One feature we really enjoyed about the EVA8000 was it’s ability to stream content without requiring software to be installed on your computer.  The box can grab content from any UPnP-capable storage device and even access SMB drives.  Proprietary software is only required for playing DRM content or scheduling recordings (which uses your PC’s TV tuner and hard drive).

The biggest disappointment of this unit is it’s price tag.  Netgear says the unit will MSRP for around $350 and will be available in Q2 2007. 

Netgear Powerline HD HDX101

Another interesting item demoed Netgear’s booth is the Powerline HD HDX101 ethernet adapter.  This adapter boasts theoretical speeds of up to 200Mb/s however actual speeds should be around 80Mb/s according to Netgear.  With media streaming becoming popular in home networks, Netgear also added built in QoS for VoIP and video streaming in the Powerline HD lineup.

Nokia's N800 Tablet

This year Nokia showed off their latest N-series phones at their booth. The N800 is the successor to the N770 tablet which enjoyed a cult following. The linux-based N800 features a faster processor (320Mhz vs 220Mhz), more memory (128MB vs 64MB), Bluetooth 2.0, 800x480 resolution screen, 802.11b/g WiFi, and 2 SD card slots.  The unit also has a new sleeker design.  The tablet is available now for an MSRP of $399.99.

RAZR by Nokia: N76

The Nokia N76 looks to be the answer to Motorola’s RAZR flip phone. 

The N76 has a very slim profile and, like the rest of Nokia’s N-series linup, is geared toward media playback.

The front of the flip features dedicated playback buttons and the front screen will display the current playback information.  The phone also has a 3.5mm headphone jack.   

On the more technical side of things, the N76 features a quad-band and WCDMA 2100 antenna, 2.0MP camera, FM tuner,  and is running the Symbian Series 60 3rd edition OS.  The phone also has microSD card for memory expansion.

Nokia N95: Bells and Whistles Included

The flagship of the Nokia’s N-series is the N95. 

This definitely isn’t Nokia’s most stylish phone – it looks like your typical PDA.  However this phone features a unique, dual-slider style front. 

Holding the phone vertically and sliding the face up reveals the keypad.  Holding the phone in a landscape manner and sliding the face to the right reveals dedicated media player keys.   The LCD will also automatically switch to a landscape mode when the front is slid in this position. The phone also features a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, integrated GPS, 802.11b/g WiFi, and HSDPA (3G). 

Although the phone is very full featured, one feature that seems almost overlooked is the inclusion of a touch screen. Applications like GPS do not seem intuitive without a touch screen.  The N95 will retail for around $700 unlocked and will be available in Q1 2007.

Sharp and Westinghouse Demo Quad Full HD Displays (3840 x 2160)

Are Westinghouse and Sharp gearing up for the next high definition resolution standard? Not necessarily. Westinghouse’s 56” Quad Full HD (QFHD) monitor has a resolution of 3840x2160 (WQUXGA resolution) and is driven by 2 dual-link DVI connectors.  The monitor features an 8ms response time, 600-nit brightness and 1000:1 contrast ratio. Currently the display is being used for special government and commercial applications.  The demo displayed at Westinghouse’s booth was running Halliburton oil-site mapping software. Currently pricing is determined by the application, but expect to pay upwards of $50,000 for this set.

Sharp one-upped Westinghouse by showing off a 64” QFHD display.  No other information was available for this monitor.

Westinghouse TX Series - Affordable 1080p LCD TVs

Westinghouse surprised us all with an affordable line of  1080p LCD monitors last summer; you could purchase a 42” 1080p LCD for a street price of around $1600.  However, these monitors did not include a tuner so an external set-top box was required for watching TV. For 2007 Westinghouse is following up with the new TX line of 1080p TVs with integrated HD tuners (ATSC and QAM).  The line includes the 42” TX-42F430S, 47” TX-47F430S, and the 52” TX-52F480S.  The 42” and 47” models will have MSRPs of $1999 and $2499, respectively and will ship this April. These sets will feature 5000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 8ms gray-to-gray response time, and 4 HDMI ports. The price for the 52” model has not been announced, but it will ship in this coming May.  This set will have a 6.5ms gray-to-gray response time.

One thoughtful addition Westinghouse has added to this year’s lineup of sets is the ability for the consumer to upgrade the firmware of their own sets.  Users of last year’s Westinghouse sets know that in order to receive the firmware update, a service technician has to come out to the customer’s home.  The new sets feature a USB service port.  To upgrade the firmware on these sets, the customer only needs to download the firmware off Westinghouse’s web site onto a USB memory stick, and then reboot the TV with the memory stick in connected.

Vista and DX10 Gaming

CryTek, makers of Far Cry, were over at Microsoft’s booth this year showing off their latest FPS, Crysis.

This is one of the most visually impressive games we have seen in a long time and it will take advantage of DX10 on Windows Vista.  We played through the short level being demoed and came away pleased. Most of the objects and buildings in the level were destructible and the explosion effects looked great. Crysis was running smooth on a PC running Vista and an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX.

Bungie was also at Microsoft’s booth showing off Halo 2 on the PC.  The booth had six stations set up to play game.  Each station had both an Xbox 360 USB controller and a keyboard and mouse. Initially we were surprised to see the majority of players using the 360 controller.  However when it came our turn to play we found the keyboard and mouse to feel a bit lacking compared to the controller.   This may be due to the fact that we’re so used to playing the game with a 360 controller already.  Those who have spent countless hours playing Halo 2 on the Xbox will feel right at home playing it on the PC.  Graphically, the game is noticeably improved with sharper textures and higher resolution.  Halo 2 will be a Vista exclusive.

Motorola MotoFone F3: Electronic Ink on a Cellphone

The Sony Reader isn’t the only device at CES that’s taking advantage of an electrophoretic display (electronic ink). Motorola is now shipping their new MotoFone F3 – a low priced phone aimed at emerging markets – that incorporates an electronic-ink display.  This ultra-slim phone (only 9mm thick) is part of Motorola’s SCPL (pronounced “scalpel”) line of Linux-based phones.  The interface uses voice prompts and a pictorial interface designed to be easy to use in markets with lower literacy rates. And with the e-ink display this phone should have outstanding battery life.

Sadly Motorola has no plan to release this phone in the US market yet. With a price tag of roughly $50, this phone would be a great, low cost back up phone to keep in your car or home or even an emergency phone for children.  The F3 is currently available in India.

LG's Hybrid Blu-ray/HD-DVD Player

One of the most anticipated products at this years CES was LG's hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD player.  Touted as the player that would end the HD home video format war, we were also quite excited to take a peak at this player. 

LG calls the set-top player the Super Multi Blue BH100. The box does play both HD-DVD and Blu-ray titles as advertised, however there is one glaring omission from it; the BH100 does not support the iHD Interactive Format for interactive features on HD-DVD disks. Representatives from LG did say users will be able to navigate basic menus for playing HD-DVDs but not the full feature set.  The player does fully support BDJ for interactive features on Blu-ray disks.

Physically, the player looks like a regular DVD player but does feature touch sensitive power and playback buttons on the top of the unit. This unit should be available in Q1 2007 for a price of around $1200.

LG also showed off the PC version of their dual-format player/writer - the Super Multi Blue GGW-H10N.  The drive both plays and writes BDs, DVDs, CDs and only plays back HD-DVDs. 

LG gave us a glimpse as to how the drive is able to play both next-gen formats by showing off the drive's pickup sensor.  The sensor utilizes a 1-laser/2-lens solution.  One lens is used for HD-DVD, DVD and CD playback and the second lens is dedicated for BD.

LG Flatron M400D 3D LCD Monitor

LG had more to show off at their booth than just the hybrid HD-DVD/BD player.  The Flatron M400D is LG’s new 3D LCD monitor.  The monitor simulates a 3D image using a lenticular lens filter which splits the source content into 25 separate views and then demultiplex’s those views and displays them on the screen as one image.

The system does produce a 3D effect without the use of any special glasses.  Viewers must be between 3 to 7 meters directly in front of the screen in order to see the effect.  The monitor is geared towards commercial applications.  No pricing information is currently available.

Micro DLP Projectors

As DLP chips and light sources become more compact, new products using these technologies are starting to show up. An example of this is the Micro DLP projector. Both LG and Mitsubishi showed off their respective units.

The LG HS101 and the Mitsubishi PK20 both utilize DLP technology as well as an LED light source to reduce size and heat output as well as increasing the color gamut and lamp life.   Specifications of both units are also nearly identical – SVGA (800 x 600) resolution and 1000:1 contrast ratio.  One difference between the two projectors is the light output – PK20 is rated at 25 lumens while the HS101 is rated at 100. 

The 1.1lbs Mitsubishi PK20 is currently available for $799.99.  LG has not yet announced pricing and availability of the HS101.

Sharp's 8th Generation Panel

In addition to the Quad Full HD display, Sharp also showed off their newest line of LCDs from their new 8th generation Kameyama plant.  The capacity increase of the 8th generation facility over the 6th generation is quite substantial.  With the new facility, 3 times the number of 52” panels can be manufactured per substrate.  This should help bring the price of large LCD TV panels to more affordable levels in the future.  Sharp will be producing the new 65”, 52” and 46” 1080p LCD televisions at this plant.

Also demonstrated was Sharp’s 120Hz refresh technology which is aimed at smoothing out high-motion scenes on TVs. The difference between the 60Hz and 120Hz displays was more noticeable than the Toshiba demo. The LC-65D93U, LC-52D92U, LC-46D92U, LC-52D82U and LC-46D82U will utilize this technology.

One final interesting item at Sharp’s booth this year was their “world’s largest” 108” LCD panel. Very few details were revealed about this set other than it features 1080p resolution and that it was created at the 8th generation Kameyama plant.

Motorized Wall Mount for Samsung Displays

One item at Samsung’s booth that caught our eyes this year was the Auto Wall Mount (WMN5000).  As the name implies, the mount has the ability to automatically swivel left and right up to 30 degrees and tilt up and down up to 20 degrees.  The mount will also automatically return to a centered, flush mounted position when the set is powered off. These functions are all integrated into the 2007 line of Samsung LCD and PDP TV’s remote control. 

The Auto Wall Mount is only compatible with the 2007 line of Samsung sets.  It will support LCD sets ranging from 40” to 52” and PDP sets from 42” to 50”.  A 63” plasma will also be supported by this May.  Pricing will be around $500.

Samsung 50" Wireless Plasma

Samsung also showed off their 50” wireless plasma television.  This model is aimed at helping those who want to mount their plasma without having to tear open a wall to run cables to the input devices.  All input devices such as DVD players and DVRs will connect to this box and data will be sent in HD over 802.11n to the TV.  No information was given about how the data will encoded or what the distance limitation will be between the TV and set top box.   The TV and set-top-box will be priced around $5000 and should go on sale by Q4 2007.

Samsung Enters the 30" LCD Market

We had the opportunity to take a look at Samsung’s recently announced 305T 30” LCD monitor.  Technical specs of the set include 16:10 aspect ratio, 2560x1600 resolution, 400 cd/m2 brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio and 6ms GTG response time.  While these specs are slightly better than the Dell 30” counterpart (11ms response and 700:1 contrast ratio for the Dell), it’ll be hard to justify paying the $1999.99 MSRP for this set (nearly $750 more than the Dell’s street price, although we are hearing that street price may be as low as $1200 once it's widely available). 

Samsung does one better: 30" LED Backlit LCD

Lastly, Samsung also showed off a concept 30” LED backlit monitor along with the currently shipping 20” version.  Called the XL30 LED BLU (LED Back Light Unit), the set boasts similar features to the 305T (2560x1600 resolution, 1000:1 contrast ration, 6ms GTG response time) as well as an increased color gamut and longer life span over traditional CCFL lamps.  The 20” XL20 model was sitting side by side with a traditional LCD display and the color reproduction was noticeably better. 

There is no information regarding pricing and availability of the XL30, however the XL20 is currently shipping for an MSRP of $1999.99.