8 Hottest Products @ CES 09

The official name of the show is the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January 8-11, 2009
The International CES is produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry. CEA represents more than 2,200 corporate members involved in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and integration of consumer electronics products. All profits from CES are reinvested into industry services, including technical training and education, industry promotion, engineering standards development, market research and legislative advocacy.

1) PALM PRE
Deemed the hottest product at CES by our editor-in-chief, the Pre boasts a new people-centric OS that consolidates contact information from various sources and makes it easy to connect with people in any number of ways (IM, text, e-mail, phone, Facebook, etc.). Add to that a large multitouch screen, powerful processor, accelerometer, hidden QWERTY keyboard, GPS, 802.11g Wi-Fi, and 3.2-megapixel camera, and you've got the most innovative smartphone since the iPhone. (Price undetermined)

2) SONY LIFESTYLE PC

Move over, netbooks. Sony's stylish, 1.4-pound system offers an 87 percent keyboard and an 8-inch LED with a native resolution of 1,600 by 768, allowing you to view three file Explorer windows with no overlap. The processor isn't the most powerful, but battery life is impressive. ($899)

3) SAMSUNG P3
his latest portable media player from Samsung, an update to the P2, features a 3-inch TFT LCD with "haptic feedback"—meaning it offers some sort of tactile response when you press it. The screen has a true 16:9 aspect ratio, supporting video playback at 30 frames per second. It is available in 8, 16, and 32GB versions. (Price undetermined)

4)CLICKFREE TRANSFORMER CABLE


This is set-it-and-forget-it backup, plain and simple. No need to install backup software; you just plug any USB drive into the cable, then plug the cable into your PC, and wait. The drive will automatically begin backing up. Now there's truly no excuse for not backing up. ($60)

5)TOM TOM GO 740 LIVE
With a built-in wireless connection, this GPS device provides real-time traffic information, local fuel price data, and local search services. An extended version of TomTom's IQ Routes technology calculates routes and travel times based on every road's historic traffic patterns for the specific day of week and time of day you are traveling. ($499)

6)POWERMAT

Charge multiple devices at the same time using just one power source. First, attach PowerMat receivers—in the forms of dongles, cases, or docks—to the devices you want to charge. Then place the devices on the PowerMat's thin mat, and plug the mat into an outlet. Through magnetic induction, the mat will charge all the devices wirelessly. (Price undetermined, but estimated at $25 per receiver or mat)

7)LG GD 910

All the rage at CES, this phone/MP3 player/calculator watch isn't yet available in the U.S. Its touch screen responds well to light touches and gestures, and the tiny onscreen dial pad is surprisingly easy to use. It speakerphone allows you to have conversations with your wrist by your side. (Price undetermined)

8)WINDOWS 7 BETA 1

Made publicly available during CES, this beta of Microsoft's next OS looks like Vista done right, with a smaller disk and memory footprint, faster startup, and fewer annoyances. (Free)