CES 2008- where’s the wow?
Day one of the 2008 CES has come and gone and I’m being asked by a lot of people, most of them in attendance here in Vegas, what I’ve seen that has impressed me so far. It’s an easy question to answer because to tell you the truth not very much I’ve seen has been new and impressive. I admit we haven’t traversed the entire sprawling show floor yet but from what I’ve seen and heard others discuss it doesn’t seem that anyone has been wowed by anything new, at least not so far. Last year at the CES I remember the same sentiments being thrown about by attendees that nothing was impressive then either. Of course Mac World was running at the same time and when Steve Jobs announced the iPhone it seemed to suck all the wind out of the CES back then. We don’t have that excuse this year since Mac World is not until next week so where’s the Wow?
While there have been cool things on display from companies such as Lenovo and their new IdeaPad consumer notebooks, from a mobile guy’s perspective nothing has really stood out as new and gotta have. I would probably have to say at this point that the only mobile device that has impressed me is the new Asus R50A UMPC. Having played with the device briefly the smaller size (5.6-inch screen) and rounded case makes it feel very nice in the hands. The higher screen resolution (1024×600) is nice on that size screen so at this point in the show it’s the best device I have seen. It would take some prolonged hands-on time though to see if it holds up to the potential. Maybe Kevin has some impressions different than mine to share.
With all the great tech sites out there we already know what’s coming down the pipe sometimes years before it happens. Takes the wow right out of it. Even Apple can not keep things under wraps any more.
crt
With all the great tech sites out there we already know what’s coming down the pipe sometimes years before it happens. Takes the wow right out of it. Even Apple can not keep things under wraps any more.
crt
I agree. I think the problem is all the big developments were already announced ahead of CES. I was excited about the Toshiba M700, the Dell XT (until I saw the price) and the new MID designs. If they were announced all at once at CES, I’d be really impressed, but the early announcements kind of suck the wind out of the CES sails.
the devil is indeed in the details here.
there are a lot of interesting new stuff, the myvu designes for instanse. but so far there are no iphone level bombs.
hell, im not even sure apple can top that one this year.
and apple is just about the only major player that does things that way, the others often over-talk their products long before they show up in anywhere near consumer ready form.
but i wonder if not that shows that the tech world us maturing. just like the games world it settling on a few known formats (with the random oddball in the mix), the tech is going for known formats, x86, windows, yadda yadda yadda.
one have seen it in multiple packings already, and almost feel like that girl in jurassic park “this is …, i know this!”…
I agree with all the other comments here, but as far as I’m concerned the WOW is the Toshiba M700. It’s the best looking, best featured, and best priced tablet I’ve seen since Lenovo’s X61 was released.
The new umpcs I’ve seen so far are a disappointment, I was expecting more from Menlow. Asus looks nicely styled, and a nice screen size but no keyboard means its a non starter for me.
Actually this design got a wow from me, the new digifriends umpc. this is original.
http://www.pocketables.net/2008/01/digifriends-mid.html#comments
The WOW is here — and you’re ignoring it, dammit!!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/sonys-got-something-big-for-their-reader/
Frikkin Kindle owners…
Been following this 08 CES too for several days and agreee-ho hum. I am anxious for some “fresh” stuff and want it now not “Q2..sometime”. By then I will have lost interest.