When you guys are done oodling over Apple's new flash player and cheap computer, here's what the rest of the tech community are doing:
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Samsung HLR6768W 67-inch DLP HDTV
True HD was the talk of the show. Everyone is unveiling flat-panel and micro-display TVs that can handle 1080p (1,920x1,080 progressive)--good enough to display every single pixel of the highest-resolution HD programming. The competition was tough, but the Samsung HLR6768W 67-inch rear-projection DLP gets our vote, not only for top TV, but also for Best of Show overall. It's the biggest DLP TV available, and it's thin and light, twice as sharp as previous DLPs, and relatively affordable. With Blu-ray and HD-DVD on the way and with broadcasters such as ESPN already promising 1080p, 2005 will be the year HD gets real.
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Slingbox Personal Broadcaster The innovative Slingbox from Sling Media lets TV addicts access both live TV programming and programs on digital video recorders (DVRs) from anywhere, anytime, using a box that connects a cable box, a satellite receiver, or a PVR with a home network. Pair the $250 Slingbox with a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop, and you can watch your local television content from the other side of the house or the other side of the world. Sling Media has dubbed the concept "place-shifting" (as opposed to TiVo's time-shifting), and it's a great way to make the most of your cable TV subscription and DVR. Better yet, there's no monthly fee to use the service.
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iBiquity Digital Radio Last year, iBiquity announced its digital terrestrial radio technology. This year, it is becoming real. More than 2,500 radio stations are now broadcasting digital, manufacturers are onboard, and cars with digital radios should roll onto the lots in 2006. The equipment is pricey, but unlike satellite radio, there's no monthly fee, and you get all the stations you already know and love over the traditional AM and FM bands, only with much better sound quality. A radio renaissance could be on its way.
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Samsung i730 Windows Mobile smart phone Last year belonged to PalmOne's Treo smart phone. But this year, the Treo is facing a slew of sophisticated competitors, all vying for the title of Treo killer. The best and brightest of these is the Samsung i730. This Windows Mobile 2003 smart phone is packed with so many goodies that we don't know where to start, but we'll try: a hidden, sliding keyboard; 65,000-color, 2.8-inch display; loads of memory; Bluetooth wireless; stereo speakers; and EVDO (3G) for faster data speeds.
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Alienware DHS 2 series Media Center PC From established players such as HP and Sony to upstarts (in the States, at least) such as MSI and BenQ, everybody and their mother trotted out a media PC. Alienware's latest DHS desktop is the coolest, though. While the Media Center software gives you access to thousands of on-demand movie titles and music tracks, Alienware's DISCover Console Gaming software lets you demo, buy, and download games--on demand. Other notable features include dual TV tuners, HD audio, and the Intel PCI Express-based 915 chipset. All of which makes us hopeful that this may finally be the year for multimedia PCs.
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Kodak EasyShare One 4-megapixel camera with Wi-Fi What's so exciting about a 4-megapixel camera? The Kodak EasyShare One embodies several trends in digital photography that are about to go mainstream. The optional Wi-Fi lets you upload your photos wirelessly, whether you are still on vacation or just don't want all the wires on your desk. And its large, bright LCD, in combination with the camera dock, allows for on-the-spot slide shows without the squinting. It may cost a little more, but the EasyShare One is the wave of the digital photo future.
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Toshiba HD-DVD recorder It looks like Toshiba will be the first to ship an HD-DVD recorder, just in time for this year's holidays. HD-DVD, and a rival format called Blu-ray, both get lots of press because they offer enough space to store feature-length movies in high-definition (or store a whole bunch of data). The Toshiba recorder will cost $1,000 and, of course, have an HDMI output for optimum quality. Don't toss out those DVDs just yet--it remains to be seen when or how Hollywood will play along--but high-definition discs are clearly the Next Big Thing.
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Samsung YH-820 Micro HD MP3 player/photo album The Samsung YH-820 isn't the first MP3 player with a color LCD for displaying photos. But it is the best yet. This 5GB model is one of the smallest in its class, yet it has a 1.6-inch color LCD that displays both album art and photos, along with an FM tuner and recorder, and voice and line-in recorder. The YH-820 plays MP3s and WMAs, and it is compatible with Microsoft's latest digital rights management technology, which lets you transfer music from subscription-based services such as Napster. Best of all, at $230, it is cheaper than many standard-issue 5GB players, making it a sure bet for 2005.
Orb Networks' Orb digital media streaming service If you don't have TV on your PC yet, get it. For $80 per year, the Orb digital media streaming service from Orb Networks sends the TV you record on your PC, via Windows Media Center, SnapStream, or the like, to any Internet-connected device. Your phone (and laptop and handheld) will never be the same after Orb--next thing you know, you'll be watching Alias from Starbucks. Orb also streams photos or any digital content from your PC to those devices and eases the previously pesky process of transferring photos from camera phones to your computer.
