Sony was showing off their new Exmor digicam processor. New must-have feature: Intelligent Sweep Panorama Mode. Click the shutter then sweep the camera to the right about 180deg, and the camera creates a perfect panorama for you IN the camera. No software required! Now that is worth paying for. If you have ever tried to create your own panorama you will know what I mean. The more I think about this, the more I think I have to have it.
Sony Panorama Image contest.
Description on Amazon.uk
If Canon abandons their SD-series high end digicams, will Sony fill the gap? Their top of the line Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V has HD video mode, twilight mode ("twilight mode takes six images and combines them to create a single optimized image with lower noise levels"), the aforementioned Intelligent Sweep Panorama mode, and it accepts SD cards!! CES gave this an award, maybe to welcome Sony back from their parallel universe where everyone (no one?) uses Memory Stick.
Sony showed a prototype web-connected photo frame, sorry, "DASH personal internet viewer", that had very nice graphic design for showing weather and news widgets. Didn't have time to survey all the internet photoframes at the show, I really do want a kitchen clock replacement. Yes! Now that I think of it, an extension of a kitchen clock is much more compelling to me than extending the picture frame concept. To get my kid off to school on time, I need the time, the weather, real-time traffic (e.g. Google Maps), and Google Calendar (e.g. is today Wildcat Wednesday?). Don't need to see pictures. I give the DASH the edge over HP's DreamScreen which can only display Pandora, internet radio, and Facebook along with your pictures and video, but no traffic, no 3rd party apps, and no web browser.
I am a news and FB junkie, so I really like the idea of internet widgets on my TV, and several TV manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, and Sharp have incorporated Yahoo's Widget Engine into their HDTVs. This showed up at last year's CES, so it's not new. Sony claimed that they did not have to downgrade the picture quality, like their competitors, in order to display the widgets. This feature is only in Sony's lowend EX TV's, not in their high-end TVs, humph. As my world includes more and more online content, I do want to see it on all my screens (tv, computer, phone, etc), but it needs to be customizable with a wide array of apps, or include a web browser. The Boxee Box puts a full keyboard on the back of their TV remote control - genius!!
Casio - showed off their 240frames per second video mode. Here's a sample video. Pretty cool if your kid is in karate or sports.
Ok my feet hurt. I'm done with show for this year. I saw only a fraction of what was at the show. But I found several things I "need" to purchase this year like:
- Sony DSC-HX5V digicam (because my Canon is on its last legs after several repairs)
- LCD TV with internet capability (we currently have a 36" HD tube TV if you can believe it)
- and if Yahoo Widgets isn't complete enough i'll take Boxee
- portable external charger for the Crackberry, something like the Just Mobile Gum
We ate really well on this trip:
- Cantor's Deli at Treasure Island - desserts and sandwiches were fantastic
- Paris buffet, almost as good as Bellagio's buffet for a third less ($25 instead of $35)
- Red Rock Casino buffet, a steal at $17
See you next year, Las Vegas!
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