Palm Pre next-gen smartphone
 Of all the surprises surrounding the Palm Pre, the biggest may have been the network exclusivity scored by Sprint. The embattled network has always led the charge with new Palm devices, and we've had a great experience using our Palm Treos on Sprint's 3G network, so we weren't too concerned. In all, this could be a real coup for Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A service. Otherwise, the Palm Pre goes well beyond updating the stale Palm OS platform, and brings an entirely new interface and hardware paradigm in the form of the Palm WebOS. The WebOS is a jewel of a touchscreen interface, and it includes some interesting synchronization options to allow users to seamlessly navigate between corporate mail, personal e-mail on Google as well as social networking on Facebook. The Palm Pre hardware itself packs all the high-end features you'd expect from a modern smartphone, all in a slim, rounded design.
OQO Model II+ OLED Internet tablet
 Consider how far OQO has come with its UMPC models. Until recently, an OQO Model 2, a clunky, uninspired UMPC with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, would cost well over $2,000, and wouldn't be close to worth that price. At CES 2009, OQO announced the Model II+, which will start at $1,000 and will come with an OLED screen. The OLED technology makes this a superior media playback device, and the improved performance means this small computer might hold its own against a laptop for road warriors. We applaud the use of Qualcomm's Gobi chip, which lets buyers choose their wireless network freely for 3G access. In our hands-on time with the device, we were floored by the OLED display, which produced brilliant video and a sharp Windows interface. We worry about how inflated the final cost will be when we add all the options we'd find essential, but at least the technology is starting to impress us enough to justify the higher price tags.
LG GD910 Watch Phone
 Of all the new phone designs we saw at CES 2009, there was one that made us feel we had to have it. For most gadgeteers, the watch phone represents one of the ur-gadgets, a gadget that inspired gadget dreams. Surprising that the closest a major manufacturer has come to a real, inspired watch phone on the market has been Sony's clunky Bluetooth watches. For that reason, we were very impressed with LG's touch-senstive, 3G watch phone. The interface looked simple and easy to use, and the phone went beyond simple calling functions to multimedia and even some Web tasks. We could see this phone becoming a regular second in our phone lineup, if it performs as well as we hope. Unfortunately, LG hasn't announced plans to bring the LG Watch phone stateside, but support for U.S. networks means it might be a hot import around father's day (hint-hint).
Sony Vaio P ultraportable notebook
 Sony has entered the small notebook category in a big way with the Sony Vaio P compact computer. The company doesn't want the device to bear the netbook badge, and with a suggested retail price of $900 or more, we'd have to agree. Besides, most netbooks don't come with WWAN capabilities for wireless 3G networking, and certainly none of the netbooks we've seen sport a screen as packed with pixels as the Sony Vaio P-series 1600 by 768 pixel display. It's a tight fit, but even Windows Vista looks shiny and slick on the ultra-wide, high-res display. With GPS, Wi-Fi and 2GB of RAM, this little beast is a real powerhouse device. We got our hands on one at CES 2009, and we were definitely impressed by the compact size. The display font seemed a bit tiny for us on the Sony Vaio P's tightly packed screen, but that's adjustable, of course. Finally, we definitely miss the trackpad, and wouldn't mind seeing a slightly deeper version of the Sony Vaio P with a new input option.
HP Pavilion dv2 full-featured 12-inch notebook
 The smaller of HP's newest laptops to use AMD's chipsets, the HP Pavilion dv2 is a 1-inch thick, glossy multimedia laptop with some impressive potential. Don't let the thin frame and the 12.1-inch display fool you, this is a serious laptop in a small shell. The dv2 can handle hard disk drives up to 500GB, and features WWAN connectivity built-in. In fact, because the HP Pavilion dv2 uses Qualcomm's new Gobi wireless chipset, you can be flexible with the network you choose for wireless service. You can even buy an external Blu-ray drive to go with your Pavilion dv2, though we suspect that option will add a hefty premium to the device's $699 starting price point. The HP Pavilion dv2 will be available starting in April, but HP is taking pre-orders now.
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