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January 17, 2009

The 15 best products of 2009

CES: the 15 best gadgets coming this year

IDG staff

The Consumer Electronics Show, which took place in Las Vegas recently, saw top technology companies displaying the gadgets they'll launch later in the year. We've rounded up the best 15 gadgets from the show that you'll be aching you get your hands on.

The Consumer Electronics Show kicks off the year for the tech industry. The extravaganza is where companies display the gadgets that will be hitting the selves throughout the coming year. We've trawled the halls to bring you the best gadgets that you'll be able to get your hands on in 2009.

Prime time for pocket camcorders

Not only did major manufacturers such as Sony and Panasonic introduce their first pocketable video rivals to the Flip Mino HD and Flip Mino at CES 2009, but other big-name companies upped the ante with their next-generation pocket camcorders.

For example, RCA announced its latest model - the slender, 720p high-def Small Wonder EZ209HD - priced at just $120 (£82). But the weather-resistant, 720p high-def-recording Kodak Zx1 (pictured) may be the new mini-camcorder to beat, especially if it lives up to the performance of its Zi6 predecessor.

The Zx1 feels solid in the hand, lets you choose from a range of case colours, comes with two rechargeable AA batteries and an HDMI cable, and stores video footage on a user-supplied SD or SDHC card. It will be available in April for the very nice price of $150(£102).

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Yahoo's widget magic

Yahoo takes a compelling shot at marrying TV content to web content with its newly announced Connected TV Widgets platform. The Yahoo mini-apps install on internet-connected TVs, and they can bring everything from YouTube videos to eBay content to your living-room TV.

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New breed of web-ready video phones

Two impressive touchscreen VoIP video phones that can also browse the web and play back music, photos, and movie files debuted at this year's CES. We'll be watching (and hoping) for the launches of the iRiver Wave-Home (pictured) and the Google Android-powered Touch Revolution NIMble Home Phones, the latter developed by the product design leader responsible for the first iPhone's touchscreen.

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Undoing the damage of compression

Turning music into MP3 files diminishes its sound quality by flattening out its dynamic range. But the $299 (£204 ) IHome iP1, an iPod dock boombox, seemingly restores your MP3 files to their original glory as it plays them.

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3D gaming comin' atcha

The new $199 (£136) nVidia GeForce 3D Vision Glasses Kit might succeed where many others have failed in the ongoing effort to bring 3D gaming into the PC mainstream. Though you'll need a fancy new 120-Hz monitor, HDTV, or projector, the goggles already support a large number of games and work with any 8800 GT graphics card or better.

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Visit Digital World for the latest home entertainment news and reviews

NEXT PAGE: The new Palm mobile phone and the Asus keyboard with a touchscreen

  1. These gadgets will be hitting the shelves this year
  2. The new Palm mobile phone and the Asus keyboard with a touch screen
  3. Kodak HD player and team TV viewing

Continued...
1 | 2 | 3 | NEXT >

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Comments received


€dstowe said on Saturday, 17 January 2009

I wonder how many of these will be in the "Turkeys of 2009" next year?

How many will never be heard of again?

How many will make it into stores?

al47 said on Sunday, 18 January 2009

these are load of rubbih

Rosemary Hattersley said on Monday, 19 January 2009

All good points €dstowe - and something we'll be keeping an eye on and probably reporting on as and when these items lauunch and we get to assess them properly

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