CES - Tablets and e-book readers

CES: Verbatim unveils little portable drive that's big

LAS VEGAS--I reviewed the Lacie FastKey a month ago and thought it was as compact as a portable drive could be. I was proven wrong today.

Verbatim announced at CES 2011 its own version of a portable drive that's based on a solid-state drive. It's called the Verbatim USB 3.0 External SSD. It is even smaller than the FastKey and offers up to 128GB of storage (as opposed to 120GB that the  FastKey has).

Verbatim says this new ultra-slim portable drive supports transfer rates of up to 190MB/sec when used with the USB 3.0 … Read more

Facevision releases budget Skype-certified HD Webcam

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LAS VEGAS--A year ago, Facevision introduced the first Skype-certified HD Webcam, the FV TouchCam N1, that was capable of streaming high-definition video over the Internet, turning video chat into a much better experience. It was one of a few HD Webcams at the time.

For this reason, the FV TouchCam N1 was rather expensive, costing around $120 when first released (it now has a street price of about $100).

Today, the company announced and demonstrated at CES 2011 a new version of the Webcam that offers the same capability but at a significantly lower cost, the TouchCam V1 720p HD … Read more

Press day 2011 recap (photos)

LAS VEGAS--Officially, the Consumer Electronics show runs for four days. But the real action happens before the show, as the world's consumer electronics companies line up to tout their latest and greatest gadgets, products, and apps via a marathon of press conferences--every hour, on the hour.

This year was no exception: 2011's "day zero" yielded a data dump of unprecedented proportions from the industry's biggest names. We're still sorting through it all ourselves, but here's a photo overview--with relevant links to earlier stories--to help put it all into perspective. Among the recurring themes … Read more

CES: BlackBerry PlayBook gets 4G model via Sprint

In a bid to be the most blazing tablet around, RIM has announced that its Blackberry PlayBook will be up and running on Sprint's 4G network by summer.

The 4G-enabled PlayBook will exist as a separate model from the Wi-Fi-only offerings due in the first quarter of 2011, and will bear the name BlackBerry 4G PlayBook. Beyond the added wireless connectivity, all other features should be identical.

Sprint's 4G service is currently available in 71 markets, including Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City. The addition of 4G wireless speed to the PlayBook … Read more

CES: BlackBerry PlayBook (hands-on)

LAS VEGAS-- I've been waiting patiently to try out the BlackBerry PlayBook ever since I first glimpsed it under glass at last year's September DevCon announcement. Since then, RIM has published a handful of videos showcasing the tablet's capabilities, testing browser speeds against the iPad, and more or less doing my job for me.

Needless to say, when I finally got my hands on the BlackBerry PlayBook at CES 2011, I arrived well-versed in its story and capabilities. Aside from the mild thrill of holding a product that has taken on a mythic aura, the only real … Read more

Buffalo showcases comprehensive USB 3.0 external storage family

LAS VEGAS--Eight months after releasing its first USB 3.0 external hard drive, the MiniStation Cobalt, which was also one of the first on the market, Buffalo showed off today at CES 2011 a comprehensive family of external storage solutions based on the high-speed USB 3.0 connectivity.

USB 3.0 is the next generation of USB connectivity that's slated to replace, and is backward-compatible, with USB 2.0. USB 3.0 has a ceiling speed of 5Gbps, which is about 10 times the speed of of USB 2.0, which caps at 480Mbps. It's likely that most … Read more

Buffalo joins the Pogoplug crowd with CloudStor NAS server

LAS VEGAS--Ever wonder where your data is actually stored when you use a "cloud" storage service? Well, you now have a chance to learn about that in a close-up and personal way by hosting your own cloud at home with Buffalo's new NAS server.

The company announced today its brand-new CloudStor personal storage solution. In a nutshell, this is a network attached storage (NAS) server that's powered by Pogoplug.

Pogoplug itself is a successful implementation of Marvell's Plug Computing initiative that transforms a personal computer into a tiny form factor best suited for specific applications … Read more

Seagate reinforces BlackArmor NAS with IoSafe disaster-proof drive

LAS VEGAS--Soon you'll be able to make your BlackArmor NAS server even tougher.

Seagate today showed off at CES 2011 a new storage package that the company says offers the ultimate in data security. It combines the flagship BlackArmor 440 NAS server, which offers RAID 5 and up to 12GB of storage space, with an IoSafe SoloPro disaster-proof external hard drive, which is used as a backup drive for the BlackArmor server.

The external hard drive is branded with the Seagate logo and called a fireproof/waterproof BlackArmor external hard drive. This is similar to how the company has … Read more

LG, T-Mobile announce G-Slate tablet

Editor's note: This post was updated on Feburary 2, 2011 with new information on the G-Slate.

LAS VEGAS--The deluge of tablet news, 4G news, and tablet 4G news just keeps pouring in.

LG and T-Mobile today announced the two companies' long-awaited and oft-rumored tablet running on a Google operating system.

The G-Slate will use Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb, as its OS. Honeycomb is the forthcoming version of Android that purportedly was developed from the ground up for tablets. The tablet will also make use of T-Mobile's 4G network.

Specs and details:

8.9-inch "3D … Read more