Consumer Electronics Show Highlights & Horrors: Cnn

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Wildest stunt: Dish Network's kangaroo[/size][/b]

[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/dish-network-kangaroo.jpg[/img]

The iHip headphones booth brought in Snooki from "Jersey Shore," but Dish Network featured even more of an animal: a real, live baby kangaroo.

Dish's press conference revolved around its new Hopper HD-DVR, which pairs with smaller Joey set-top boxes (get it?) for use on other TVs throughout the house. Dish hawked the new product line as "basically relaunching the company" -- and to celebrate, it brought out an actual joey. Dish CEO Joe Clayton cuddled the creature briefly onstage, and a handler posed with the joey post-press conference for photos. The poor baby kangaroo was camera shy and tried to wriggle away. [i]-Julianne Pepitone[/i]

[i]CNN[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Biggest surprise: Windows Phone buzz[/size][/b]


[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/nokia-lumia.gi.jpg[/img]

One year after its splashy launch, Microsoft's Windows Phone hasn't made a dent in the Android-and-iPhone juggernaut. Nokia's all-in push could shake things up: The Lumia 900, Nokia's first high-end Windows Phone for the U.S. market, was the sleeper hit of CES. The sleek phone has visual flair, and its eye-catching image tiles and data streams are intuitive and fun to play with.

AT&T, the phone's exclusive carrier, hasn't yet announced a release date or price tag. Even Nokia's rivals are pulling for the Lumia: If Windows Phone finally has a hit, that's good news for Samsung and HTC, which also build Windows smartphones and would love to reduce their reliance on Google's Android. [i]-Stacy Cowley[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Wackiest Twitter tie-in: "Tweet Choir"[/size][/b]

[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/the-tweet-choir.gi.jpg[/img]


As has been CES tradition for the past three years, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off the 2012 show with a keynote speech the night before the show floor opened. It's a role Ballmer inherited from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who gave almost a dozen CES talks over the past two decades.

But Microsoft said last month that CES 2012 would be its last, and the company opted to go out with a ridiculous bang. Its event featured Ryan Seacrest as host, a Cookie Monster skit and an Auto-Tuned Bill Gates montage.
The craziest stunt of them all: a "Tweet Choir" that featured about a dozen gospel singers belting out the day's Microsoft- and CES-related tweets, set to song. Ballmer laughed and clapped from the shadows at the other end of the stage, while the audience watched with mouths agape. [i]-Julianne Pepitone[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Buzzword you can't escape: Ultrabooks[/size][/b]

[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/ultrabook.gi.jpg[/img]

Ultrabooks are essentially laptops -- but thinner, lighter, sleeker and pricier than the notebooks you're used to lugging around. Apple essentially invented the category with the MacBook Air, which shed its hard disk drive for all-flash storage. Three years later, Windows players finally caught the wave. Intel coined the "ultrabook" name this year and is using its marketing might to kindle the flames. Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo, LG, Hewlett-Packard, Acer and others [url="http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/12/tech/gaming-gadgets/ultrabooks-ces/index.html"]all [/url]touted new models at CES.

PC sales were miserable during the holiday season. Netbooks are dead and tablets aren't a hit for anyone yet but Apple. That means everyone else will be pushing the ultrabook trend hard in 2012. [i]-Stacy Cowley[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Strangest celebrity promo[/size][/b]

[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/justin-beiber-ces.gi.jpg[/img]


CES always features a parade of celebrities hawking gizmos from tech companies eager for a dash of glitz -- or, failing that, notoriety. This year, Snooki touted headphones, Justin Bieber played with robots, and will.i.am hailed ultrabooks as "the new ghetto-blaster."

But the oddest celebrity tie-up we spotted at CES came from "social TV" site Yootoo.com, which hired Pauly Shore to front its "make a commercial advertising yourself" campaign. They call them "Peoplemercials[url="http://www.youtoo.com/pauly"],"[/url] and promise that the winner of the best-Peoplemercial competition will get a free trip to Los Angeles with Shore to "hang with him for the day and see what the VIP 'Paulywood' life is all about."

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]The "Minority Report Is Real" award[/size][/b]

[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/lenovo-tv.gi.jpg[/img]


No more losing the remote in the couch cushions. This year's CES was packed with interactive TVs that are controlled by voice and gesture commands.
Change channels simply by saying "channel 72," or "go to CNN." A wave of the hand adjusts the volume. It all sounds Jetsons-esque -- but Samsung, LG, Lenovo and other big names said they'll have these TVs on sale in the coming months. The future is now! [i]-Julianne Pepitone[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Breakout Twitter star: @CESTrailer[/size][/b]

[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/roomba-tweet.jpg[/img]

CES is surrounded by satellite trucks and broadcast trailers, but only one of them tweets. @CESTrailer kept up a running snark stream, firing off knowing jabs at tech luminaries like Walt Mossberg ("Mossberg and I made up and went to the strip club. He sat on a big red couch and kept yelling, 'Bring me all things double D' all night") and industry traditions ("Watching @Cnet prepare their Best of CES awards. This year's winner? Every single product at the show. Congrats!"). Next year, we're hoping to sign the trailer up as a CNNMoney stringer. [i]-Stacy Cowley[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Most obnoxious product: $30,000 stereo[/size][/b]

[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/behringer-ipod.jpg[/img]



Bumpin' bass beats blasted out at sonic-boom volume periodically filled the halls at CES, drawing annoyed glances and large crowds. The source of the sound: Behringer's iNuke Boom iPod speaker.
The iNuke stands four feet tall and eight feet wide, making the iPod perched atop it look utterly ridiculous. It's unclear how the car-size speaker would fit in anyone's home -- that is, if anyone could afford the $30,000 price tag.Full disclosure: We're biased here, as Behringer's iNuke demo setup was located two feet away from CNN's CES workroom. But [i]still.[/i] [i]-Julianne Pepitone[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Best iPhone add on: OhMiBod[/size][/b]

CES is jammed with every imaginable Apple accessory and add-on, but this stood out from the pack: A line of, um, "personal massage" devices that integrate with your iOS devices and playlists.

Yes, you can turn your iPhone into a vibrato[url="http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/12/technology/apple_ces/"]r[/url].

The reaction OhMiBod drew from CES attendees was a hoot. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," one murmured as he wandered up to the booth and, seconds later, made a quick getaway.

Company founders Brian and Suki Dunham are dead serious about their pleasure quest. "We want to redefine a market that has a social stigma attached to it," Brian says. [i]-Stacy Cowley[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]Most ironic trend: Fitness gizmos[/size][/b]

[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2012/technology/1201/gallery.ces-highlights-horrors/images/fitness-gizmos.jpg[/img]


"Health care meets tech" was a big theme at this year's CES. Startups like Withings showed off smartphone-linked scales and blood pressure monitors, while major players like United Healthcare pushed mobile tools that let people track their exercise and fitness levels. Motorola had a runner on a treadmill and a cyclist going nonstop at its booth. Their exhausting goal: Promote [url="https://motoactv.com/"]Motoactv[/url], Motorola's heart rate monitor/music player/GPS tracker.

We loved the irony. CES's core audience, gadget geeks, aren't exactly renown for exemplary fitness and nutrition choices. Plus, CES is a weeklong marathon fueled by pizza and no sleep. But at least the show itself provided exercise: Trekking through almost 2 million square feet of exhibit space burns calories. [i]-Stacy Cowley[/i]

[Spartan]

[b][size=5]"You're missing the point" prize[/size][/b]

We spotted dozens of these "No photo" signs scattered throughout CES. People, if you want to keep a product under wraps, don't bring it to the show floor of the [i]largest consumer gadget conference in the world[/i]. Sheesh. [i]-Stacy Cowley[/i]

[Adolf Hitler]

[quote name='ChittiNaidu' timestamp='1326625755' post='1301308555']
[b][size=5]Best iPhone add on: OhMiBod[/size][/b]

CES is jammed with every imaginable Apple accessory and add-on, but this stood out from the pack: A line of, um, "personal massage" devices that integrate with your iOS devices and playlists.

Yes, you can turn your iPhone into a vibrato[url="http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/12/technology/apple_ces/"]r[/url].

The reaction OhMiBod drew from CES attendees was a hoot. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," one murmured as he wandered up to the booth and, seconds later, made a quick getaway.

Company founders Brian and Suki Dunham are dead serious about their pleasure quest. "We want to redefine a market that has a social stigma attached to it," Brian says. [i]-Stacy Cowley[/i]
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[Spartan]

[quote name='Adolf Hitler' timestamp='1326625851' post='1301308560']
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[Adolf Hitler]

[quote name='ChittiNaidu' timestamp='1326625903' post='1301308562']
[img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PlDQYTBDfkM/ThDgSMHQwkI/AAAAAAAADFk/yST45-MyrKk/Brahmi.gif[/img] ee ID vachindeti..
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[pavan_613]

[url="http://www.andhrafriends.com/user/6223-adolf-hitler/"]Adolf Hitler[/url]

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