A bevy of celebrities, including 50 Cent, Will.i.am, and Kelly Clarkson, stopped by to add glitz to the proceedings —but they were hardly the stars of the show. Here are some of the more significant gadgets that shined at CES:

1. Cheaper tablets

The industry’s enthusiasm for tablets was considerably tempered this year compared to last, when more than a hundred manufacturers thought they could capitalize on the iPad’s success with their own models based on Google Inc.’ Android software. Sales were disappointing, in large part because Apple prices the iPad relatively low compared to the cost of making it. Then, late last year, Amazon.com Inc. demonstrated that you can take on Apple by selling a smaller, barebones tablet for $199. Analysts believe Amazon sold millions of Kindle Fires in little more than a month.

Now, Asian manufacturers are hoping to jump on Amazon’s bandwagon. One of those companies, Taiwan’s AsusTek Computer Inc., showed off a tablet with a Fire-sized screen and said it would sell it for $249. It’s considerably more powerful than the Fire, sporting a premium “quadcore” processor. Still, one of the things that made the Fire a success — Amazon’s library of e-books, music and movies — will be missing.

2. Nokia Lumia 900

In recent years, the world’s largest phone maker, Finland’s Nokia Corp., has practically been a no-show in the U.S. market. That’s hurt the company badly. Now, it hopes to come back with smartphones that run Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone software. The Lumia 900 is its first such phone for the AT&T network, and the first Nokia phone to use AT&T’s faster wireless “LTE” network. In a sign of how much is riding on these phones, both the Microsoft and Nokia CEOs showed up for Monday’s announcement. The companies didn’t announce price or availability. T-Mobile USA, a smaller carrier, started selling a more modest Lumia this week.

3. Lenovo K800

While Nokia’s been shut out of the U.S. phone market, Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, has been shut out of phones entirely. Its PC chips use too much power to go into a smartphone: they’d drain the battery in no time. That’s a big problem for the company, since PC sales are flat in the developed world, while smartphone sales are exploding. Now, Intel says a new line of chips is ready for smartphone use, and Lenovo Corp. of China is the first to take them up on it, with a smartphone to be sold in China in the second quarter. Outwardly, it’s indistinguishable from any other touchscreen phone, and it runs Android.

Motorola Mobility, the phone maker that’s being bought by Google, also committed to making phones and other devices with Intel chips. Without offering many details, the company said the new devices will be on the market in the second half of the year.

4. OLED TVs

Both LG and Samsung showed off 55-inch TVs with screens made from organic light-emitting diodes rather than the standard liquid crystals or plasma cells, and said they’ll on sale this year. They didn’t say what they would cost, but analysts expect the price to be upwards of $5,000.

The sets are long-awaited. OLED TVs have been on the horizon for some time, but they’re difficult to manufacture in large sizes. They provide a high-contrast picture with highly saturated colors. They can also be very thin: LG’s set is just 4 millimeters thick, or one-sixth of an inch.

5. Ultrabooks

Intel created the “ultrabook” as a marketing term for thin, light and powerful laptop computers. They’re essentially the Windows versions of Apple’s MacBook Air. PC makers have embraced the term enthusiastically. As a result, there were scores of ultrabook models on display at the show.

Two that stood out were the Lenovo Yoga, which has a touch-sensitive screen that bends backward to fold over completely, turning the device into a large tablet. It will launch with the new Windows 8 operating system later this year. The HP Envy 14 is a more conventional luxury model, and goes on sale Feb. 8, but has two details that set it apart: a sensor for Near-Field Communications Chips (which means you can transfer information from a similarly equipped phone by tapping it to the PC) and an audio chip that can communicate with some headphones to provide much better audio quality than Bluetooth. The Envy 14 will cost $1,400.

Bob O’Donnell, an analyst with research firm IDC, believes ultrabooks are “not a fad.” ”We absolutely see ultrabooks as being the future of notebooks,” he said. However, O’Donnell thinks ultrabooks will really take off once they are priced at about $800, closer to the price of regular laptops.

6. Canon G1 X

The Japanese camera maker revealed a compact camera that pushes into professional camera territory. Its G line of relatively large compact cameras has been popular among enthusiasts, and the G1 X extends the range by including an image sensor that’s more than six times larger than other models in the range. Sensor size is the most important factor for a camera’s image quality, far more than the number of megapixels — 14, for the G1 X. It’s the first camera to use a sensor of this type, which is only 20 percent smaller than the “APS-C” sensors used in single-lens reflex cameras, or SLRs (though some luxury compacts from other manufacturers use APS-C sensors).

The G1 X will have a 4x zoom lens that retracts into the metal body, and will sell for $800.

Source: Yahoo News

Despite its thinness, the X1 is a sturdy notebook with a well-made chassis. The notebook’s hinge is designed in such a way that it allows the screen to be opened until the notebook is perfectly flat. Lenovo claims the X1 has passed eight military specifications relating to durability and thus gives mobile professionals the confidence to work anywhere with it.

One of the features that I like about the notebook is the 13.3in display, which is made of Corning Gorilla Glass that is scratch-­resistant. I tried to scratch the display with my car keys but not a scratch appeared.

The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 ticks all the boxes if you’re looking for a sturdy business notebook.

Pleasant Experience

The first thing you notice when you power on the X1 is how fast it boots up – in less than 30 seconds, you will be on the Windows desktop, ready to go. Typing documents on the notebook’s keyboard was a pleasant experience. The keys are well spaced-out and there is ample space on the palm rest area that makes it easier for you to type.

All the function keys on the notebook are also easily accessible and convenient. Some of the function keys that came in handy include the ones for finding and replacing a word throughout the document pages and saving files instantly. You also get the standard shortcuts such as adjusting volume, mute and adjusting the brightness of the screen.

It is worth mentioning that the keyboard is spill resistant – I ­accidentally spilt some water on the keyboard, and the water did not seep deeper into the keyboard. All I did was quickly wipe the keyboard with a dry cloth, and continued typing the document as if the problem never occurred.

The notebook has a track point, which some may love or hate. However, if you are not used to it, you are better off using the standard touchpad, which is pretty good. You can also switch on the keyboard’s backlight when you are typing in the dark.

The X1 also comes with the ThinkVantage Toolbox, which is a suite of programs that offers system health, security and networking, and diagnostics, to ensure the notebook is “healthy.” For security purposes, you will also find a fingerprint reader on the notebook.

The X1 can also handle HD ­videoclips and movies. I played some 720p videoclips several times using Windows Media Player and the notebook played them beautifully without any hiccups.

Despite being built for ­business, the X1 comes with Dolby Home Theatre v4 sound, which when ­coupled with the 13.3in high-­definition display and built-in speakers, makes for a decent ­entertainment machine.

Watching movies and ­listening to music was quite a pleasant ­experience – the video quality is good while the audio is loud and clear. No complaints in this ­department. If you want to watch a movie on a larger screen, you can ­connect the ­notebook to a HDTV via HDMI-out.

When used for watching videos, surfing the Internet, listening to music and wordprocessing, the battery lasted for only about three hours. I have to say that it was a bit disappointing as I expected the ­battery to last for another 30 ­minutes at least.

Having said that, if you charge the battery for 30 minutes or so, you get up to 80% of the ­battery charged, which might just be enough time for you to type a quick document before you board a plane or attend an urgent ­meeting.

SLIM: The X1 is just 17mm thick

Conclusion

The X1 is a sturdy notebook that comes with all the ­necessary ­features that you want in a ­business-class notebook and more.

The only complaint that I have is the rather short battery life and the premium price tag. But ­having said that, you will be getting a sturdy business-class notebook with solid specifications.

PROS: Sturdy; good ­specifications; good video and sound quality; rapid battery ­charging.

STURDY: X1′s hinge is designed in such a way that it allows the screen to be opened until the notebook is perfectly flat

THINKPAD X1
(Lenovo)
Business notebook
Processor: Intel Core i5-2520M (2.5GHz)
Memory: 4GB DDR3 SDRAM
Display: 13.3in HD Super Bright display (1,366 x 768-pixels)
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Storage: 320GB
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11bgn, 10/100 Ethernet port, Bluetooth
Ports/slots: Three USB ports (1 x USB 3.0, 1 x eSATA combo, 1 x USB 2.0), memory card reader, headphone/microphone jack, HDMI and mini DisplayPort video outputs
Battery: Four-cell battery
Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Other features: Integrated HD 720p camera and HD microphones, Backlit keyboard, 6-row precision keyboard
Dimensions (w x d x h): 13.3in x 9.1in x 0.8in
Weight: 1.72kg
Price: USD1,999 (about RM5,999)
Rating: 3.5
Review unit courtesy of Lenovo Malaysia, 1-800-18-2388

Source: Tech Central

The free iCloud Services include:

• The former MobileMe services – Using this service, users can share their calendars and contacts with friends and family members. The mailbox and other information are kept up-to-date across all the devices and laptops. The previously provided MobileMe services are now completely re-structured to work seamlessly with iCloud.

• The App Store and iBookstore – Now you can download all your iOS applications and books directly to all your devices at no additional cost by simple tapping the iCloud icon. This service allows you to see your purchase and download history.

• iCloud Backup – You can now easily have a backup data of your music files, applications, books and other contents using your iCloud services. By doing so, the data backup of iPods, iPhone and iPads can easily be done on the iCloud platform.

• iCloud Storage – This functionality allows you to conveniently store all your documents and applications using your iCloud APIs and automatically synchronizes them to other devices. In other words, changing a document on one device automatically changes that document on all your devices.

Cost

Apple has already invested over $500 millions in its Maiden data center to meet the customer demand of iCloud service. However, as per the decision of Apple, iCloud will be free of cost to the users who purchase music at the iTunes music store. Although buying iCloud services subsequently may cost the users $25 per year.

The Timelines

The launch of the iCloud services is only delayed till both the Apple and the publishers settle on the monetary part. However that may still take some time before Apple rolls out its new service to the customers. Company believes that it will be able to introduce the service for its Developers centre somewhere by July 2011. However users will be able to enjoy it only when both the publishers and Apple come on the same page with latter bringing the former on board.

Source: Cool infographics | Click to Enlarge :O

Example of HDTV Outdoor Antenna

Unlike analog broadcasting, the digital way of sending signals from the television station or transmitter to your antenna will not result to flaky or snowy images if the signal is not strong enough. With HDTV broadcasting, the signal that you will receive will either be crystal clear resulting to crisp images on your TV screen – or none at all.

So how do you select which of the aforementioned categories you will select if you are looking for the best TV antenna for your HDTV?

The first step is to know what TV stations are available over the air in your area and how far they are from your home. If you are lucky to have all your TV channels transmitted from a nearby location you can get away with a small outdoor or may be even an indoor antenna.

For most of us however, an outdoor antenna is a far better choice. You might even need the amplified version if you are located in a far-off suburb. When it comes to VHF versus UHF or both, you can choose a TV antenna which is able to capture both types of channels. This way, you will have a wider range of channel selections even if you only have an over-the-air antenna.

It is such an easy task that Fei “Phil” Lam, 17, from New York, has been cashing in by flogging a converter kit that turns black iPhone 4s into white ones. Apple’s response has been to send the boys around. According to the Sydney Morning Herald Lam claims that Jobs’ Mob had sent around a private dick to try and gag him from selling the kits. He also claims he had Apple shut down his eBay listings too.

So far he has made about $30,000 to $40,000 from the kits which cost up to $279 each. What is doubly embarrassing for Apple is that the kits use parts supplied by the suicide plagued Foxconn, which makes the iPhone in China. The question is then, if Lam can make a White iPhone using kit from Apple’s own supplier, why can’t Apple?

The answer might be in the price tag. Lam said it costs him a lot to bring the components for the kits into the country and he does not have a high mark up. It might be that it is too expensive for Jobs’ Mob to get its traditional high mark-up for a white case. It might be that Apple does not have to take too much action against Lam – after he has made a bit of dosh he plans to go to college. Lam says he is an Apple fanboy, but admits he does not own an iPhone. Apparently, despite all the cash he has made he does not think he can afford one. This is how someone ends up being a billionaire before they are 20.

Chat interview with Fei “Phil” Lam

SMH: Okay. First up, great idea. How did you come up with this?

Phil Lam: Thanks. It just sort of came to me.

SMH: Have you always been an Apple/iPhone fan?

Phil Lam: [I] saw that the parts were available and [that the] official release [had been] delayed. [I'm] a huge Apple fanboy here.

SMH: So you were disappointed when the white iPhone release was delayed?

Phil Lam: I don’t own an iPhone though.

SMH: You don’t own an iPhone because you couldn’t afford one, as a student? Is that right?

Phil Lam: That too.

SMH: Ok. Tell me about the private investigator. Why do you think he’s working for Apple?

Phil Lam: He works for a anti-counterfeit/trademark firm … [using] the same [methods] used to bring down eBay listings by Apple. Of course I hope it’s not Apple.

SMH: So the parts are quite expensive, like over $200 for the front and back. It’s only a shell, why is it so costly?

Phil Lam: It’s not too far from how much I get them even at bulk.

SMH: I’ve read you’ve made over $100K in just a couple of weeks, is that correct? Any buyers from Australia?

Phil Lam: That number is bull. I made only 30-40k. [The] 100k was income before cost of [the] product. Every time a site picks up the story it changes a little bit.

SMH: That’s why I wanted to ask you and get the truth.

SMH: Just to check a few other things: you are 17? What are you making the money for? I read to fund college. And is that fuzzy photo of you really you?

Phil Lam: I did not expect to get so much attention.

SMH: Yea, I was going to say. You must be surprised and excited about how quickly this story has spread. Your 15 minutes of fame? Or do you intend to make it last a bit longer?

SMH: By that I mean are you an entrepreneurial kind of guy, or just a typical teenager. Are you the next Mark Zuckerberg?

Phil Lam:To answer your previous question, I’m turning 18 in half a month.

SMH: And the question about your entrepreneurial instincts?

Phil Lam: I intend to go to college for at least 1-2 years.

SMH: To study computer science, I’ve read. Is that correct?

Phil Lam: To be honest, I am starting a stealthy start up. Or business.

SMH: OK. So you are an entrepreneurial guy. No hints at what the start up is about?

Phil Lam: I’ve told a bit to Fast Company and basically it’s a super simplistic way to connect with another person online. I know it’s a bit vague.

SMH: That sounds like social.

Phil Lam: But I’ll have it launched pretty soon, before the year ends.

Sources: Tech Eye and SMH Australia

GPS tracking system works through a gps tracking device and a corresponding software application. Gps tracking system is a small box that is almost the size of a wallet or slight bigger than it. It is generally made of metal or plastic and has an antenna in some cases. This device needs to be placed in the vehicle or any moving object or person whose location is to be known. The primary purpose of this system is to receive the information regarding the location of the object or the vehicle and transmit the same to the Gps software application. As a result the user can easily know the whereabouts of his vehicle without any extra effort.

Some years back, mobile devices with GPS system had gained some popularity, but they were unsuccessful. The reason for their failure was that mobile batteries are not reliable as it can go dead anytime, they can also be turned off, they are easy to tamper with, and it is not necessary that the mobile device and the driver are at the same place. Hence reliable tracking could not be processed. On the other hand, Informer Lite for tracking vehicles is more reliable as it is a hard ware device and is wired into the vehicle or the moving object.

Informer Lite GPS Tracking System’s 3D Birds Eye View

The remarkable feature of Informer Lite for tracking vehicles is its software. The software is clubbed with an array of different features, which aids the user to customize his needs as desired. The software has a feature called rapid tracking that allows continuous tracking. As soon as this feature is switched on, the map is refreshed every 30 seconds and the real time movement of the vehicle can be viewed. Then there is a feature called Vehicle routing that assists to route the vehicle to the nearest destination with the help of step by step directions. Just choose a location and the software shall locate the closet vehicle. Following are some screenshots on the Informer Lite GPS Fleet Tracking System Software:

Informer Lite GPS Tracking System’s Mapped Report

Informer Lite GPS Tracking System’s History Report

Informer Lite GPS Tracking System’s Fleet Report

Informer Lite GPS Tracking System’s Usage Summary

Informer Lite GPS Tracking System’s Excessive Speed Report

Informer Lite GPS Tracking System’s Devise Usage

Informer Lite GPS Tracking System’s Trip Report

As of January 2006, NTT DoCoMo (Japan) has become the world’s largest wireless internet provider, with 45,687,117 subscribers to their i-mode service. Yes you hear it right, it is almost 46 million subscribers and the number is more than enough to establish a country!

Being one of the world’s leading in wireless internet provider, here I show you some of their interesting ad and commercial:

1. Discount Bar code

Basically its a bar code where you can take a photo of it on your phone and once you do it would automatically take you to the companies website on your phone. Its pretty cool if you think about it.

2. Hologram Technology

As being said by one of the video watcher, “Wow don’t it make ya proud of technology, we actually have holograms. Sci-Fi here we come. Wonder what there will be in 50 years time if we aint killed outselves“.

Of course, we all know that China is the leading producer of unbranded goods and gadgets and when they release such gadgets in the market it does have a huge impact on the branded gadgets because people prefer to go for cheaper gadgets that saves them some money rather than going for branded gadgets that does exactly the same thing or produces the same result. Today, gadgets like mobile phones, iPods, mp3 players, DVD players, laptops, portable video game consoles, and many other electronic goods are being produced by China and they are sold at a very cheap rate in developing countries.

These gadgets are exact replicas of the original branded gadgets and therefore it is very hard to find out the difference between the two. However, you will soon come to know that when you buy unbranded gadgets you do not receive any warranty on the gadgets, but still people in many countries still prefer to go for unbranded gadgets because they come at a very low price that everyone can afford. The gadgets are normally irreparable and therefore they come with the Use and Throw policy where the users need to buy another gadget if the earlier gadget has some technical or mechanical issues.

Jyotsna Ramani

Ebook readers are on top of list of any person who loves reading and they prefer to read tons of books while they are traveling. Carrying too many books can take up some luggage space even if they are not too heavy but Ebook readers are perfect because they are light, portable, slim and can help you carry entire library if you are passionate about reading.

If you are crazy for video games than portable gaming portals are just for you. Portable gaming portals like Sony PSP and Nintendo Game Boy is a nice way to make a lousy trip into a new adventure while you are busy playing your favorite games on the portal and winning level after level.

GPS tracking device is another cool way to make your traveling experience better because they keep you informed about where you are and where you should head to if you need to reach any particular destination. This can be a life saving gadget if you are not sure where you are headed or if you are lost.

USB flash drives are tiny gadgets than can come handy while you are on the move because carrying your data in laptops all the time can be risky. Hence, you can carry your data in USB flash drives and use it to access your data from any cyber café or public computer instantly.

Jyotsna Ramani