Best Blu-ray Player
PlayStation 3
The innovations on display in new model Blu-ray players at this year's Consumer Electronics Show all boiled down to two technological advances: First, a number of the devices are capable of true HD 3D playback; second, pretty much every entry level model now comes with the ability to access the Internet and home network (via internal or external Wi-Fi adapter) for music, photo, Netflix, Pandora, et al playback. TakePanasonic's DMP-BDT350 and Sony's BDP-S370 as examples.
But with all of this advancement, a veteran in the Blu-ray space still reigns supreme: the PlayStation 3. During its opening show press conference, Sony announced that every PS3 currently on the market can be upgraded via a firmware update to support 3D content -- either games, video downloads, or 3D Blu-ray. So scratch that innovation off the list. Furthermore, thanks to its built-in Wi-Fi capability, the system is already capable of accessing music, video, etc. on your home network, as well as supporting such online content providers as Netflix and Pandora. Now scratch that off.
Of course, what none of the players that we saw can do is actually play games, and the PlayStation 3 does this in spades. With 7.1 surround sound and 1080p HD gameplay output, it's PS3 for the win.
Panasonic's 152-inch 4k HDTV
Move over 3D TVs, we've seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and its name is 4K. Don't get us wrong, gaming and watching movies in the third dimension is plenty awesome, but doing it at double the resolution of just about every current generation TV? That's something to get excited about. Panasonic was showing off a true 4K display at CES this year and it was a ridiculous 152-inches!
Although Panasonic wouldn't even try to offer a pricing estimate or a release range, the behemoth 4K display was drawing crowds like mad. Sure, we've seen big screen TVs before, but only 4K can make the picture on a screen that large look clearer than the finest crystal. We've seen pristine high-definition displays before, but when one stands taller than you do, it deserves a little extra attention. Way to go Panasonic, if you need anyone to do a review of that 4K HDTV, let us know.
Best HDTV
Samsung LED-9000
This year 3D TVs were king, but few stood out as much as Samsung's LED-9000, which is as thin as a pencil, capable of 2D-to-3D conversion, and comes with a badass touchscreen remote that you can watch TV on. When the LED-9000 was unveiled at Samsung's press conference, the crowd of industry analysts and journalists were in awe of the display's ridiculously thin frame and alluring feature set. Specs wise, the LED-9000 comes loaded with full 1080p resolution, 240Hz refresh rates, a local-dimming LED backlit display, and is Wi-Fi enabled for seamless streaming content from Netflix and other web-based media services.
But beyond the sheer sexiness of the sleek, ultra-thin design, the LED 9000 separates itself from the pack with the inclusion of its super advanced media remote. Part iPhone, part universal remote, the LED 9000's bundled remote uses advanced Wi-Fi networking and a touch screen interface to communicate with the TV and your home media network, allowing users to navigate programming, access files localized on their home PC, and even watch TV on the remote itself. Pricing and release information have not been revealed, but we can bet the LED 9000 will cost an arm and a leg. Nevertheless, that won't stop us from standing in awe of its display at our local electronics retailer when it finally arrives.
Nyko Wand Plus
In order for a product to be worthy of a Best of CES Award, a product doesn't have to be the most expensive, most revolutionary, or most stylish device on the floor -- sometimes it just has to take the simplest idea and make it a reality. In the case of the Wand Plus, Nyko has done just that. Recognizing that Nintendo's Wii Motion Plus Wiimote add-on is a cumbersome and counter-intuitive peripheral, Nyko has created its own 1:1 tracking technology and built it into their Wand Wiimote-alternative.
The Wand Plus has everything you'll find in a standard Wiimote – buttons, a trigger, rumble, and a light-weight rectangular design – but also adds a number of new alluring features. In addition to the built-in 1:1 motion tracking, the Wand Plus features digital Trans-Port technology that enables the remote to export rumble feedback and button controls to add-ons. The best part of the Nyko Wand Plus? It costs $39.99 – cheaper than the original Wiimote with Motion Plus.
Best Smartphone
Palm Pre Plus
As we reported from CES last week, there simply was no iPhone-killer at the show. Not that there was any shortage of handsets that desperately wanted the crown. But none visible offered the same experience that the iPhone provides. The iPhone, after all, is more than a touchscreen. It's a portal to Tunes, the single best media shop on the Internet, and that includes games.
But while there was no iPhone-killer, there are some emerging iPhone alternatives for those with zero interest in getting tethered to AT&T. The best at CES 2010 was the Palm Pre Plus, the sequel to last year's big CES surprise, the Palm Pre. The Pre Plus offers greater storage and more onboard memory, which means you can store more applications and having more running simultaneously. The Pre Plus supports 3D gaming now, too. The design remains largely the same. The attractive curve is back, as is the QWERTY keyboard. But now the back is an inductive material for wireless charging on the Touchstone charger.
The best feature, though, is router mode. With the flick of a switch, the Pre Plus turns into a mobile hot spot for multiple devices over Verizon's 3G network. That alone blasts a huge hole in AT&T's stubborn refusal to let iPhone users tether their handsets to laptops, which is currently available to customers in many other countries.
Alienware M11x
Gaming laptops are all too common these days, but ones that are small enough to fit into a small and light enough to carry around with ease but can still run Modern Warfare 2 at high specs? That's unprecedented. The M11x is the world's first sub-12" gaming laptop that is capable of playing detailed high-definition games and not suffer from any frame rate drops or graphic degradation. Packing an 11-inch high-definition display, NVIDIA GT335 GPU, built-in Wi-Fi and webcam, an overall weight of only four pounds, and a discrete processor swapping system, the M11x is a great mobile gaming solution for PC gamers on the go.
But then again, specs only go so far in the long road to a laptop sale; the real test comes when you start talking about pricing. The M11x has a pretty exciting base price of $799, with fully customizable spec loadouts to match each individual user's needs. The biggest selling point for us, however, was the M11x's functionality as a go-anywhere netbook. Through its built-in SIM card port, anyone can connect a smartphone chip to the device and get wireless connectivity anywhere they are, regardless of proximity to a Wi-Fi hotspot. We'll be looking forward to seeing more of the M11x when it ships this February.
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