Best in Show: The Top Gadget Picks of CES

Digital Journal’s CES Awards present the most impressive technologies in cellphones, digital cameras, TVs and more. Get neck-deep in emerging gadgets with our wrap-up coverage of the hottest electronics show of the year. Digital Journal — It’s no surprise that the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas delivered enough product releases to last us for two months. The show boasted a record 1.85 million net square feet of exhibit space – the largest in show history – and showcased more than 2,700 companies launching products. It's the world's largest trade show for consumer technology and it's now over in Vegas. “The 2008 International CES succeeded spectacularly, and will help fuel the growth of the consumer technology industry throughout 2008 and into the future,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA in a press release. “This year’s International CES was a show of firsts: the first leaders from the automotive and cable industries to deliver CES keynote addresses, the first time the president of a country has spoken at CES, and the first year a television station broadcast its entire nightly newscast – NBC Nightly News –live from the show floor.” At CES, more than 20,000 products were launched. What can be difficult, though, is separating the same-old gadgets from the eye-popping debuts. To make things easier, DigitalJournal.com dishes out its CES Awards to the top technologies in key segments:

Cellphones

There’s nothing like a 5-megapixel camera and a stylish iPhone-esque design to make a cellphone the belle of the ball. The LG Viewty attracted attention for its outright sexiness and powerful innards — 120fps video recording, manual and auto focus, HSDPA (3.5G) support and the ability to upload vids straight to YouTube. The phone is probably one of the first mobiles to really get us as excited as the iPhone. No word yet on when the Viewty will be available, but you can see a kick-ass online demo here.

MP3 Players

Philips isn’t known for portable music players but it seems to have a winner with the Philips GoGear SA5200BT series. These all-black MP3 players feature built-in Bluetooth functionality so you can use a set of wireless Bluetooth headphones and also shuttle songs to the device from any Bluetooth-enabled PC. Available in April at 4GB ($129) or 8GB ($169) models, the latest GoGear players do what other players should’ve done ages ago — use the power of Bluetooth to wirelessly pack songs onto a device. Behind the ball on this one, iPod team?

Sony unveiled a replacement for its entry-level Alpha A100 SLR, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A200. image:36574:0::0

Digital Cameras

Sony rang in the New Year at CES with its dSLR powerhouse, the Alpha DSLR-A200. It’s got all the specs worth slobbering over — 10-megapixels, 230,000-pixel 2.7-inch LCD, in-body stabilization — as well as a price tag of $700. It may be expensive for rookie shutterbugs, but if you're looking to dabble in the pro field you do have to pay a bit more for the technology. In fact, this price point is quite competitive for shooters looking to make the jump to dSLRs.

Computers

As expected, dozens of funky new desktops and laptops swamped CES with self-praising statements highlighted in press releases. But Gateway’s P-170 MAX laptop has the power to make it an instant hit — an Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 processor, a huge 400GB of hard drive space (7,200 rpm), and an HD DVD drive (it hasn’t lost the war yet, but it's close to death). Some outer bling coats the laptop, too — a large copper "FX" is affixed to the aircraft-grade aluminum lid. Now that’s a laptop with guts and glory.

PC Peripherals

Nothing should titillate PC gamers as much as Alienware’s Curved Display, a rear-projection DLP screen that sports a resolution of 2,880 x 900 pixels. The panoramic screen can basically swallow up your field of vision, so gaming on this display would be a truly immersing experience. Once the display becomes available, expect hardcore gamers to lap up this rarity in order to gain an advantage in the first-person shooter du jour.

Televisions

Laser TV. Sounds like something from a Futurama episode, but Mitsubishi’s CES splash had everyone talking. Its laser light engines supposedly produce twice the colour spectrum of current HDTVs. These laser TV promises to deliver deeper blacks and longer life than bulb-heavy sets. A cool bonus is the ability to view 3D images, using shuttered glasses and technology courtesy of RealD.

Attendees and media gather around the Panasonic exhibit booth to see the world's largest advanced HD 150" plasma display. image:36575:0::0

Honorable mention goes to Panasonic's mind-numbing 150-inch plasma TV, which had to be delivered to Vegas in the nose of a 747. But don't get all excited yet; Panasonic expects to sell the massive plasmas to hotels and stadiums, since the average consumer won't be able to afford these giants.

Home Gadgetry

Technology is so prevalent in our daily lifestyle that your bed is not even safe. From Leggett & Platt comes the Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed (fix the name, guys). Loaded with enough features to help any geek catch some comfortable Zs — divided into two sections, the bed allows head and foot angles to be customized, as well as bed temperature; the headboard boasts a 1080p LCD based projector and Internet connectivity; and sensors can detect when someone snores so it will automatically adjust bed positions. All that’s missing is a pillow holding wireless speakers.

Car Tech

Pioneer’s AVIC-F500B Linc might not be a catchy name but it’s one of the most innovative in-car navigation devices unveiled at CES. Bound to hit shelves in Spring 2008, Linc bundles GPS, Bluetooth, and a touch screen to make it a highly desirable media player and/or navigation unit. The best advancement is its voice-command feature, which allows you to request music from a connected iPod using conversational commands such as “I want to hear some Pearl Jam.” Driving your car has never been so hands-off.

Best digi cam accessory

With the enormous popularity of digital photography, we've gotta mention a gadget that really makes a photographer's life easy: The Eye-Fi wireless card is a memory card that plugs into your digital camera to transfer images wirelessly to your computer. No need to use USB cables or those annoying cradles. For a full review, check out our citizen journalist's coverage here (thanks cgull).