Are you tired yet? The team at our sister site TechRadar is probably dead tired, because Tuesday was the official kick-off to all the tech gadget excitement that is the Consumer Electronics Show out in Las vegas. But fear not: we have assembled this handy wrap-up of some of the most exciting stories from the big day.
Blu-ray players are generally a bit, well, boring. They're usually just these drab, black boxes sitting in the middle of the rest of our home theater set-up. But on Tuesday, Sony premiered its newly redesigned line of Blu-ray boxes which kind of look like something you find on a 1980s sci-fi spaceship. More than interesting exteriors, the new Blu-ray players also pack some new features. The Wi-Fi ready models will make use of the SideView iOS app from Sony, and improved Triluminous picture quality when connected to a Bravia display.
So, you're packing up the kids for another long trek to the land of the cartoon mouse, or maybe it's a cross-country road trip with some friends? Sprint's new smart-car system, Velocity, looks to bring our vehicles fully in line with what we've come to expect from our mobile devices. Future cars utlizing Velocity will let you make purchases on-the-go, including the ability to pay for Wi-Fi; sounds like a convenient way to keep little ones (or annoying buddies) content with their tablets in the backseat.
Seven-inch tablets are so yesterday, right? Well, maybe not. But Panasonic has upped the ante considerably at CES with the announcment of a 20" Windows 8 tablet. If the size of this beast isn't enough to get you excited, Panasonic has also packed in 4K resolution. While such a huge device may not fit into our laptop bags, the tablet seems like a possible boon for designers and other creatives.
Rumors about Half-Life developer and Steam creator Valve entering the hardware market have swirled for quite some time. But at CES this year, the company is finally going--somewhat--public with its plans. Codenamed "Piston," the tiny PC is meant to grace your living room for playing Steam's massive catalog of games from the comfort of your couch. Currently, there's no word on pricing or release date, but hardware partner Xi3 recently revealed a similar high-end model called the X7 for $999. Strangely, word from CES is Xi3 is acting a bit squirrely in referring to the device as a Steam Box. Ok, then.
Just last night, we discussed the strange disappearance of Sony's Crystal LED television from CES this year. TechRadar managed to catch up with Sony product manager Kentaro Matsumoto to find out just what's going on with the fabled technology. Unfortunately, it's still about as clear as mud. Matsumoto cites the expensive nature of the advanced panel, and for now, the company seems content to stick with 4K OLED options. Still cool, of course, until the organic material inside starts to rot and your screen fades.
There's simply no way we could close out this Tuesday wrap-up from CES without mentioning the strange keynote presentation from Qualcomm. Years past, Microsoft has opened the expo, but 2013 saw the emergence of Qualcomm and its calvacade of questionable "Born Mobile" actors and men dressed in Big Bird skins. No, really -- all of this happened. Be sure to check out TechRadar's glimpse at the press conference via Tweets.
Well, that about wraps it up for Tuesday night. But we've only touched on a mere sampling of the smorgasbord of exciting CES news over at TechRadar, so be sure to head over and check out all the news as it hits from Las Vegas.
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