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CES 2005: Picks and PansFrom really big big-screen TVs to snow in Las Vegas, here's what we loved and what left us less than impressed at this year's show.PC World Staff
Computer trade shows have gotten smaller over the years, but not CES. The Consumer Electronics Show is bigger than ever. With everything from the biggest (102 inches, anyone?) flat-screen TVs to IPod accessories everywhere you look, CES offers plenty of gadgets for work and play. Here are some of the highlights--and lowlights-- that PC World editors found at this year's show.
Aha, oho, Ojo: The latest take on video phones is Motorola's Ojo (pronounced Oh-Joe) Personal Video Phone. This compact gizmo features a 5.6-inch rectangular portrait-oriented LCD screen perched on an upright arm (for eye-to-eye access) with a built-in keypad, which in turn sits on a small pedestal. The Ojo plugs into both a standard phone jack and your broadband modem or network; it can be used for regular nonvideo calls or video calls from other Ojos or Internet phones. Motorola says the phone delivers full-motion, 30- frames-per-second video. You don't need any special setup--you can continue to use your preexisting telephone number--but you do need to subscribe to Motorola's service for an as-yet-undisclosed monthly fee. And the Ojo itself isn't cheap: Motorola expects to ship it in early spring for $799.--Yardena Arar
All charged up: From the all-in-one department comes a nifty battery charger--yes, I said battery charger. No kidding, in March Lenmar will ship a $139.95 device that will "speed charge" all your batteries including camera, camcorder, and AA/AAA batteries. It also has adapters to charge cell phones, PDAs, or anything else that can be recharged through a USB port.--Andrew Eisner
When size does matter: You can never be too thin, too rich, or too storage-endowed. So Buffalo Technology is introducing an obscenely huge network storage device, the TeraStation. As the name implies, it has a terabyte of space for documents, photos, videos, MP3s--you name it. Just hook it up to your network (it supports gigabit ethernet) and start loading up the data. Best of all, the cost for the TeraStation, which should appear next month, is a remarkably reasonable $999.--Yardena Arar
On Display
Home theater for the masses: Optoma's MovieTime...