The Consumer Electronics Show 2008 at Las Vegas has been the showcase for manufacturers to expose new gadgets, prototypes, interfaces, platforms & products they intend to sell this year. Here’s a few of them…

Intel’s shows off new mobile processors for UMPCs
Intel is the no.1 semiconductor manufacturer in the world, & intends to remain so… by going into the ultra-portable sector. Ultra-portables are divided into two main categories: UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC) & MID (Media & Internet Device) - which are one step higher than mobile phones & PDAs. Here are some of the UMPCs & MIDs running on Intel’s Menlow platform (Silverthorne processor above):
Samsung Q1
LG Prototype with Vista!
Lenovo MID
Aigo MID with CoolFox (a touchscreen version of Firefox!)
iRiver Wing UMPC prototype with 4GB flash, WiFi & touchscreen.
OQO Prototype UMPC

Sony Mylo 2
The Sony Mylo 2 is a $300 touchscreen portable internet communicator which is optimised for media usage.
- 3.5-inch, 16:9 touchscreen
- 802.11 b/g wi-fi
- Instant Messenger and Skype compatibility
- Music and video functionality
- 1.3 MP Camera with simple photo editor
- Flash video compatibility (YouTube, Daily Motion, etc...)
& it has no phone compatibility.

USB 3.0
USB 3.0 will be launched in 2008, promises a speed of 4.8 Gbit/s & 2.0 backwards compatibility.

Toshiba’s SpurEngine
SpurEngine B.E. is a sort of specialised CPU that will enable future computers to process HD video transcoding, facial recognition & gesture-control. It will be an addition to the normal CPU & GPU, & may be necessary in the future as more content goes HD & gesture-based multi-touch control becomes popular.

Microsoft Origami 2.0
Origami is a graphical interface on top of a main UMPC OS. The UI is pure eye-candy & there are innovative functions as well as the Picture Password!
[hands-on video on Engadget]

Samsung 128GB SSD
Samsung has launched a 128GB MLC (multi-level cell) Solid State Drive, ideal for UMPCs & energy-saving laptops!

Mitsubishi Laser TV
Mitsubishi have launched a TV that is powered by laser technology - which no one knows how it exactly works?? According to Mitsubishi, the TV delivers 2X as much colour as the other top televisions that will be released this year, because lasers provide the most extensive range colours, the most clarity, and the best depth of field. The laser TV comes embedded with a Real-D 3D processor so that, with the specific glasses, you will be able to see some top of the line 3D programming at home.

World’s Largest Ultra High Definition LCD TV
This 82-inch monster LCD TV from Samsung packs a whooping 3840x2160 resolution!

Razor-thin OLEDs
Samsung has shown off prototypes of TVs using AM-OLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode). The OLED prototypes produce brighter images & use less power than normal LCDs & the 1080p 31-inch panel is only 4.3mm thick!

Panasonic 150-inch Plasma TV
This godzilla of plasma HDTV has a resolution of 4000x2000 (4 times that of 1080p), uses 50% less power via double luminance efficiency & is… priceless. (They could fit only one of these in a 747 cargo)

Wireless HDTV
There were quite a lot of these wireless HDTV systems that promises to eliminate the HDMI cable! Most of them made use of UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) to send 1080p HD, LG used 802.11n WiFi to compress the video to JPEG 2000 before sending it - with hardly any visible difference!

New VAIOs
Sony has ramped up its VAIO line of PCs & laptops with new Penryn processors, HDMI & Blu-Ray burners (the VAIO LT All-in-one PC has 1 TB of storage). The VAIO TZ laptop has an additional 64GB SSD.

Bill Gates says Goodbye!

Do watch this video on what’s next for Bill Gates…

[All images are from Engadget & Gizmodo]