Show Stopping Products at CES 2006

Consumer Electronics Show in full swing

By CEN Staff

Combing the aisles of the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands as well, your intrepid team of CEN reporters pounded the pavement once again for you, dear readers, separating the wheat from the chaff at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and bringing it all back to earth, and then outlining the gems they uncovered for you here. Trodding through convention spaces awash in flat panel displays, LEDs and blinking lights in general, as well as braving that cacophonous din that could only mean we were at one of the largest trade shows in the world, we saw wonders that knocked our socks off. Here?s a sampling.

Alienware Area 51 5400
Alienware's at it again, and the Floridians have created their next computer which apparently is from another planet -- this time it's a competitor to Apple's iMac G5. The Area 51 5400 is an all-in-one desktop computer that will cost under $2000 and will be available in February. Its unique design has a wireless keyboard that slides under the monitor and hides away. Nice. It also includes a remote control, so you can use this unit not only as a computer but as a television -- it's aimed at dorm rooms, bedrooms, or places where you might want to both watch television and use a computer. Alienware still hasn't decided what resolution we?ll see on its 17- inch widescreen display, but it might be as high as 1900x1200 pixels. The one we saw at CES was 1440 x 900. I was also impressed with the webcam that was mounted on the top of the display that could be easily flipped up and used right away. It's also close enough to the screen so that when you're looking at the screen your eyes are fairly close to looking at the camera as well.

Samsung SCH-i830 Smartphone
Samsung introduced its newest Smartphone at CES, the SCH-i830, which packs lots of fun and productivity into its small form factor. Topping its feature list is a media player, speakerphone (with stereo speakers, no less) and Bluetooth, which we're hoping Verizon won't see fit to cripple this time. Running Windows Mobile 2003, this trinket is just about the same size and shape as conventional flip phones, but it's hiding a full QWERTY keyboard underneath (see graphic below).

Use the keyboard to surf the web via high-speed EVDO access, and take care of your email at the same time. Weighing just 6.4 ounces, it will be available exclusively through Verizon starting January 24th of this month. We asked Samsung officials if this great-looking phone would be available for other providers besides Verizon, but they didn't know yet. We liked its large 240x320 screen a lot, which can hold 17 lines of dynamically-sized text. And at just 5.2" x 2.8" x 0.6", even though it won?t exactly fit comfortably into the pocket of a tight pair of pants, its relatively small form factor makes it easy to carry around with you. 

Konica Minolta magicolor 2480 MF Color Laser All-in-One
Home office workers are wondering whatever happened to the paperless office. According to Konica Minolta, studies have shown that even more pages than ever are being printed now, because there's more information available online and elsewhere, and many people would like still like to have a hard copy of key documents on hand. So if you must print lots of pages and run your office, too, it looks like Konica Minolta's new magicolor 2480 MF Color Laser All-in-One machine really can do it all. It's a color laser printer along with a copier and scanner, and it can also take care of PC faxes for you.

Beyond that, it's even a camera-driven photo printer. Shipping next month, probably the best thing about this multifunction device is its price, where at $699 it's a full $100 less than a comparable model from its nearest competitor, top dog HP. It's fast, too, able to spit out five 2400 dpi pages per minute in color and 20 pages per minute black-and-white.

Fujitsu Palm Secure
If you watch CSI New York, you probably saw the new PalmSecure Palm Vein Authentication System from Fujitsu in action. This space-age device verifies your identity by recognizing the pattern of blood vessels in the palm of your hand. Touted by the company as more hygienic, since you don't have to actually touch anything to be authenticated, this will be a big hit with those who are petrified of such things as the bird flu.

Fujitsu told us that that old trick of cutting off someone's hand and then using it to gain entry to a high-security facility won't work any more, since this device will only cooperate if there is actually blood flowing through those veins. Comforting thought. The prototype we saw at CES was a tabletop unit, but Fujitsu says it can be built in to all sorts of applications, and the company expects it to be used in security, banking, health care, commercial enterprises and educational facilities. It can also be used to log into PCs. You can even use this to lock up your house if you're one who tends to lose keys all the time.