Pocketables

CES 2009 swag giveaway winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Pocketables CES 2009 swag giveaway. The entry period is now over and a winner has been selected at random.

The giveaway was more well received than I expected it to be, which shows me that many of you find CES swag more desirable than free MP3 players or an Intel MID prize package worth more than $1K. Baffling!

The response also tells me that a CES swag giveaway will have to become an annual event here at Pocketables.

But rather than imagine what next year's swag might be like, let's focus on today and congratulate the winner of this year's CES goodies . . .

Pocketables CES 2009 swag giveaway

There may not have been too many new product announcements at CES this year, but there was no shortage of free swag scattered between press events, booths, and venues. We probably didn't get as much stuff as some of the other sites did, but our lot of loot isn't too shabby . . . especially since one of you can have it all!

One last look at CES 2009

The 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show comes to an end today, and so does the CES coverage here at Pocketables. I'll put together some post-show thoughts with an evaluation of the contents of my gear bag and the benefits/drawbacks of mobile blogging with the Xperia X1 when I get settled back at home in Hawaii tomorrow, but until then, here are some parting shots from this year's show.

Boutique-style booth: iriver at CES 2009

While most booths at CES this year were overstimulating with oversized displays, neon lights, and bright colors, iriver once again took a minimalist approach when designing its designated area in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Though the opaque walls set up along the perimeter boxed visitors inside the booth, the space inside felt roomy and almost like an upscale boutique. Check it out below.

Hands-on impressions of the iriver P7

Of the actual new products iriver unveiled at CES this year (as mentioned before, only 4 of the 12 devices on the NDA were truly new), my favorite was surprisingly the P7. Even though its feature set is somewhat ordinary by today's standards and its design isn't much different than the P10 from last year's show, I really liked the interface and was impressed by the 50-hour audio battery life and accessories.

Sony X Series Walkman with OLED touchscreen and WiFi

Sony Insider first broke the news about an impending launch of Sony's first WiFi-enabled touchscreen Walkman last month, and if we didn't leave the Sony press event shortly after the Vaio P was announced or visit only the Vaio P display whenever we went to the company's booth at CES, we may have seen the new X Series Walkman (NWZ-X1050 and NWZ-X1060) a lot sooner.

But it was only on our last visit that we got to see (but not touch) the players, which feature an unspecified web browser, YouTube streaming, 3-inch OLED touchscreen, 12-hour audio battery life, digital noise cancelling, and up to 32GB of internal flash storage. Photos below.

Embedded System Design MID looks . . . unique

I don't know what to say about this MID from Hong Kong company Embedded System Design Limited other than that it was in one of the capsules on the Intel MID display wall. According to the accompanying placard, it's Atom-based, designed for Windows XP (one of the stickers says it's Vista capable), has flash storage up to 16GB, and is well equipped with connectivity options like HSDPA and WiMax. Why those T9-looking keypad dials and optical mouse (?) are on a piece that doesn't look like it even connects to the main unit (not securely, anyway) are unknown.

There may not have been a whole lot of "wow" at this year's MID display, but this one is certainly worthy of a collective "ohhh-kaaay."

Lenovo IdeaPad U8 makes second CES appearance

I felt a kinship to most of the MIDs at the Intel booth this year because just like me, they were at CES for the second time. Yes, a lot of the devices that debuted at CES 2008 were in attendance at CES 2009 most likely because they're attention-starved from not being released last year and because the booth would've been empty if the only MIDs on display were new product announcements.

Among the units that came back for more this year was the Lenovo IdeaPad U8, which looks the same as it did last year except for its Olympic-inspired back.

Fujitsu LifeBook U820 tokidoki limited edition now available in US

The tokidoki lid design previously only available for the Fujitsu LOOX U/B50N in Japan is now available, while supplies last, as a color option for the LifeBook U820 in the US for an extra $75. The limited edition mini convertible's availability isn't really being played up here at CES, as the unit I played with at the Fujitsu booth yesterday actually turned out to be the tokidoki version.

More photos of the UMID F1 UMPC

The UMID F1 isn't generating the same level of interest from CES attendees as the M1 mbook, but since it isn't often that we see a 7-inch UMPC with a breathalyzer and GPS functions, we had to stop by the UMID booth at the Hilton yesterday to take a bunch of pictures.