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CES 2008: CES - It's a Wrap

Well, another CES has come and gone and I'm still recovering. The early numbers show the attendance was down from about 150,000 last year to about 140,000 this year. Really? I didn't notice, the show seemed more crowded and bigger than ever, covering over 8 football fields! There was so much to see and no matter how long you're there, it's still tough to see and touch everything. There really wasn't much this year that stood out and grabbed me. Yes, I laughed at Bill Gates final Keynote address, drooled over Panasonic's 150" Plasma TV that would require a crane to lift it into place, Kid Rock and the new Corvette ZR1, Comcast's new FREE VOD website Fancast, XStreamHD, Logitech's SqueezeBox Duet...actually, there was some cool stuff to see this year.

Here's some more great CES 2008 Wrap Ups:

About.com
Best of CES 2008

CNET CES 2008 Wrap Up
Home Audio Wrap Up
Home Video Wrap Up
HDTV Wrap Up
Computers Wrap Up
Emerging Technologies Wrap Up
Car Tech Wrap Up
Portable Wrap Up
Cell Phone & Smart Phone Wrap Up

DigitalCameraReview.com
CES 2008 Wrap-Up

Earth2Tech
CES Green Gadget Wrap Up

Engadget
CES 2008: Everything you must see
The Best of Crapgadget

Engadget HD
CES 2008: The Best and worst of HD
CES 2008: The Best of Set Top Boxes
CES 2008: The Best of LCD TV HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Plasma HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Blu-ray Players

GearLog
Best of CES 2008

Gizmodo
Best of CES 2008

Mahalo
Everything CES 2008
CES 2008 Videos

PC Magazine
Best of CES 2008

popgadget
CES - It's a wrap

Tech Digest
CES 2008: The 50 Hottest Products

CES 2008: Kid Rock Introduces the 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1

Kid Rock is in the house for CES 2008! He put on a nice little show at at the GM Style Event for the introduction of the 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1. Thanks to Vincent Nguyen over at Slash Gear for the video.

CES 2008: CNET's Best of CES Awards

CNET has posted it's annual Best of CES Award winners. The winners range from a green eco friendly TV to DIY gadgets. Check it out...

Over 10,000 CNET members also voted on the People's Voice Award winners in each CE category.

You can also watch a video of the awards here.

CES 2008 Video: Trends in Home Audio

CES 2008 Video: Pioneer Press Conference

CES 2008 Video: LG Press Conference

CES 2008: Comcast Launches Fancast Free Video on Demand Site

Comcast is having a busy CES...Today, they've officially launched Fancast, a free video on demand site. Yes, I said free! They've got free access to full TV episodes from NBC, CBS, Fox, FX, Bravo, SciFi, Discovery, USA, MTV, VH1 and more. Hulu will get a boost from the content partnership I'm sure, once they're out of private beta that is. I've played with it for a few minutes and I like it. There's alot of free programming available but that's not all. According to Comcast, there are many more features coming to Fancast including the ability to control your DVR online.

CES 2008: 3LCD Manufactured Design New "Color Brightness" Standard

            Simple, Consumer-Friendly Metric Specifies Projector Color Performance

Today, leading projector manufacturers and technology providers united to endorse a new international specification that will allow users to evaluate the color performance of digital projectors to ensure their investment delivers the most impact and the greatest effect. The new specification called “Color Brightness” measures color light output. With the fast-paced development of vivid color content and the rapid adoption of high definition video, the quality and impact of the color produced by a projector has become extremely important. Leading industry players in support of the movement include 3LCD manufacturers Epson and Sony. Read more...

CES 2008: DirecTV's HDPC-20 PC Tuner Card is real...at least on paper

Earl over at DBSTalk has posted what appear to be official brochure scans for DirecTV's long anticipated, at least 2 years long, USB HDPC-20 PC Tuner. The dual tuner receiver will allow you to use your PC as a DVR while watching DirecTV programming, hopefully in HD although the brochure makes no mention of it. I'm guessing yes by the model number but we'll have to wait for more info to leak/surface from DirecTV. It looks like only support for Vista Media Center PC's, no word on Mac support just yet.

CES 2008: Comcast CEO predicts the end of the Cable TV Set Top Box!

Could it be true, Cable TV subscribers might one day soon be able to ditch the big ugly box sitting atop of their TV or in their entertainment center? Well thats the prediction made today by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts during his keynote address at CES. He predicts that by the end of the year, "virtually the entire cable industry will support Tru2way," which is an open cable standard developed by CableLabs. Initial partners include Motorola, TiVo, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Cisco Systems, and Sun Microsystems.

If Tru2Way really works as advertised, when a consumer buys a device with tru2way, they can bring it home, plug it in, and get all interactive cable
services available from a traditional set-top box. Wouldn't that be something? Now there's something for DIRECTV and Dish Network to think about...