OQO rocked the world with its OQO Model 2+ at CES 2009, while Asus surprised with tablet versions of their popular EEE PCs. And Sony's new Walkman has a trick up its sleeve, too. Check out some of the hottest gadgets on the floor inside.
OQO Model II+
 OQO may finally be on to something with their newest UMPC, the OQO Model II+. From the instant we saw the device, we were enamored with its OLED screen. It's got great color depth and a deep contrast, and the OLED technology should suck less power out of the battery as well. We watched plenty of high-definition content on the OQO Model II+ in the time we spent with it, and it looked brilliant. The form is still fairly thick, but OQO manages to cram in a Qualcomm Gobi radio set, which allows wireless 3G access to both EV-DO and HSDPA networks (in other words, Verizon Wireless or AT&T). For $1000, this isn't a cheap netbook, but for real performance, it might be worth the extra cash. Full preview...
Asus EEE T91 and EEE T101H
  No matter how you feel about the inexpensive, bargain netbook Asus EEE PCs, it's hard to deny that Asus started a real fire with EEE line and perhaps even created the Netbook craze. So, it's hard not to be curious when the company introduces their newest convertible tablet PCs, the Asus EEE T91 and the Asus EEE T101H. The two are very similar machines, with an 8.9-inch and 10-inch screen respectively. Both have a hinge swivel to turn the display around and lay it back on top of the keyboard, though the actual keyboard design on the two machines was slightly different.
Both will run a proprietary Asus Linux-based OS, and will probably come with enough power to run a version of Windows. Asus wasn't too forthcoming with details on these devices, so there's much we don't know. We don't know price, but don't expect these devices to come in under $400, like the regular EEE PC laptops. We don't know much about the hardware, but it would be a shame if these machines weren't available with some sort of 3G WWAN option, preferably the Qualcomm Gobi chip we've been seeing elsewhere. Availability is also up in the air at this point.
Sony Walkman X1000
 Sony's first Internet-enabled Walkman, the NWZ-X1000, clearly takes aim at the Apple iPod touch. Like Apple's device, the Sony X1000 will use Wi-Fi to browse the Internet, and like Apple, Sony is also touting the device's YouTube access. The Sony Walkman NWZ-X1000 will also come packed with 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, like the iPod touch, and it is controlled by a touchscreen. The Sony device gets a leg up on Apple by including an OLED screen, and in the time we spent in front of the X1000 at CES 2009, we were very impressed with the sharp contrast and bright colors on the 3-inch display. We're also very curious to hear the noise cancellation technology on the device, as we think this will add a lot of value to the portable player, and it would certainly save us money on noise canceling headphones.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Archive