CES: Goodbye keyboard, farewell remote
The thumb-jockeys have had their moment: now is the time for the rest of us.
That is the message coming loud and clear from Las Vegas, where consumer electronics companies and technology suppliers have been lining up this week to show off ways of controlling devices using touch, gestures, voice-recognition, sensors, eye-tracking, new styluses – anything, in fact, as long as it doesn’t require exercising the thumbs (with or without the aid of the odd finger or two.) Read more
Samsung pushes simpler Smart TV at CES
Samsung, the biggest exhibitor at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, has unveiled new Smart TV technology and updates to its smartphones, tablets, laptops and cameras at its main press conference on Monday.
Making Smart TVs easier to use was a focus, with new voice and gesture recognition technology being announced. Our live blog from the event is after the jump: Read more
Dropcam’s improved security cam
Dropcam has just unveiled a new version of its Wi-Fi security camera at CES in Las Vegas, offering a much improved design, more features and a cheaper price.
This is the first camera designed by Dropcam itself and it looked so much better than its predecessor when Greg Duffy, Dropcam co-founder and chief executive, came into our office and demonstrated it in November (the new camera is on the right in the photo). Read more
Toshiba excites with thinnest tablet
Toshiba showed off its new Excite X10 tablet at CES on Sunday evening, coupling it in demonstrations with its latest lineup of Smart TVs.
The Excite is a 10.1in tablet, which Toshiba claims is the world’s thinnest and lightest at that size – 0.3in thin to be specific and weighing 1.2lbs. Read more
One Laptop Per Child tablet – first video look
It has no orders yet and no price, but One Laptop Per Child’s first tablet is ready to go and was being proudly displayed by Ed McNierney, OLPC chief technology officer, at the CES Unveiled event in Las Vegas on Sunday evening.
I talked to Ed about the possibilities for the 8in XO 3.0 tablet and got a glimpse of the hand crank and solar panels that will be able to power it. Video is after the jump. Read more
Microsoft is set to give a concerted push to its smartphone software this week as it kicks off its latest attempt to claw back lost ground from Apple and Google.
Despite rising anticipation on Wall Street, however, the software company is not ready to take the wraps off a new version of Windows, according to a person familiar with its plans. Windows 8, expected to be launched this year, is designed to work with touchscreen tablets as well as PCs.
CES 2012 – gadget heaven and hell
The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show gets underway in Las Vegas this week with more than 50 tablets, between 30 and 50 Ultrabook notebooks and a record number of smartphones expected to be introduced.
TV manufacturers will show new screen technology that goes beyond current high-definition standards and improvements in Smart TV interfaces are expected. We will be fighting through crushing crowds and squeezing into packed press conferences to cover the new gadgets, key launches and technology news from Las Vegas. Our coverage this week can be found here. Read more
Amid the 55-inch, ultra-high definition TVs and the platoons of smart mobile devices with which the world’s consumer electronics makers hope to wow punters at their annual gadget-fest in Las Vegas this week, there is one thing they hope no one will ask: the price.
The tumbling prices of everything from flatscreen TVs to ereaders have become a bane for makers of digital hardware, even as they enjoy soaring interest in their widening range of mobile devices.
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Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
