CES 2009: Palm Pre

If you’ve been following the news coming out of CES, then you know the Palm Pre is all everyone is talking about, and for good reason. The Palm Pre is coming to Sprint, so all of those who held out for something better than the iPhone  should keep an eye out for this awesome phone. The Pre weighs 4.8 ounces, sports a 3.1-inch touch display, 8GB of storage, has a curvy slider body, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3.0 megapixel camera with flash, and Palm’s new webOS. It does lack a few important features such as removable memory, and video recording, but those may be addressed in future versions.

The phone’s capacitive touch screen allows you use certain finger gestures similar to the iPhone’s to scroll through pages and zoom in and out. Like the iPhone, Pre also features a single button below the screen that acts as the home button, and has several side buttons that control the phone’s volume and airplane mode.

Palm’s webOS is by far the most interesting feature in this phone because it lets you scroll though your applications using a “cards” model so you can view all your open applications at once. If you want to close any of them, you simply swipe your finger upwards to close them.

With the Palm Pre you’ll be able to check your email, Facebook, text messages, and calendar among other things. There will be an app store  before the phone launches sometime this year, so SDKs will soon be available to developers. Price is rumored to be between $400 and $200 with a two-year contract, although nothing’s be officially announced yet so stay tuned. Below are some pictures and videos from my visit to the swanky Palm Pre lounge at CES.

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CES 2009: LG Renoir

I came across the much talked about LG Renoir at CES and was really impressed by all the features it has such an 8-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G, FM radio, speakerphone, video capture, MP3 player, and Bluethooth. Some of my favorite photo features of the KC910 included the three shot modes: “Beauty Shot” which removes blemishes on a person’s face, the “Smile Shot” that only takes pictures when a person smiles, and the “Art Shot” mode that allows you take artsy pictures (black and white, sepia, etc) The LG-KC910 also comes with Face Tracking and Blink Detection, so not only are getting a cool phone, but a full-featured digital camera in one. Navigating the phone was a little confusing even with the touch interface, and I thought it was a little too bulky for my taste, but I still loved it because it’s like carrying two very capable devices (camera and phone) in one. The phone is not yet available in the US, but it will be released in Europe and Asia sometime during the first quarter of 2009. Here’s a quick video of what we saw at CES:

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CES 2009: Sony’s VAIO Lifestyle PC

I have to admit, as soon as I heard that Sony had unveiled it’s VAIO Lifestyle PC, I just knew I had to see it and I wasn’t disappointed. Weighing in at 1.4 pounds, the ultraportable Lifestyle PC (just don’t call it a netbook) features a wide 8-inch screen, 3G antenna that will connect to Verizon’s 3G, Atom processor, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, 2GB of RAM, Windows Vista, and up to 128GB of storage. I was told the clutch-like device is aimed at the ladies who want to be extra mobililty, but the clever male Sony rep pulled one out of his front jacket pocket during our interview proving this laptop is really just for anyone who appreciates good design and portability. The VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC will be out next month and retail for $900 (it’s no wonder they won’t call it a netbook) and will be available in red, white, black, and green. Accessories will follow, so you can accessorize the UMPC with colorful cases that match.

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CES 2009: Motorola Aura

I spotted the Motorola Aura at CES 2009 in Las Vegas, and let me tell you, this cell phone is beautiful. At first sight, you can tell this phone is not your average handset because everything about it screams luxury. The spectacular circular display on this handset works well with the swivel form factor, and has a screen with a 300 dpi resolution capable of displaying 16 million colors so try to imagine how clear that looks. When you nudge the Aura’s top cover,  it exposes a backlit keypad with a d-pad that helps you navigate through the phone’s interface. Inspired by classic time pieces, the phone features a small window on the back that shows off the phone’s  internal gears, and is designed with high-end materials such as a etched stainless steel housing, sapphire crystal, and has Swiss bearings. The $2,000 Motorola Aura includes a music player, a two-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, Motorola’s Crystal Talk, 2GB of internal memory, SMS, MMS, and an open source browser. Here’s a quick video to give you a better idea of what the phone looks like.

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