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 CES 2002 From Las Vegas

On Site report by Yanman and Joe 

 

Welcome to Yanman.com's coverage of the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

We have dubbed 2002 the year of the automobile, because almost everyone at CES this year made their auto products the center of attention. Most notably Sony had nothing but their auto line Xplode at there booth. No digital cameras, no camcorders, no MP3 players, or computers could be found (We still got the complete scoop though; see our piece on Sony for all the buzz). The one notable exception, the ever cute AIBO again makes an appearance as the front door ambassador to the consumer electronic giant’s booth.

Why have the likes of Kenwood, JVC, Jensen, and even Sony taken an “on-road” focus this year, rather then putting their home theater products in the forefront? We asked this question a lot, but never got a complete explanation. The number one message that did come through load and clear though was that it was cheaper and more profitable to focus on the lucrative car audio marketplace. Will they change the C in CES from consumer to car sometime in the near future? We doubt it, there was still plenty to see in the other consumer electronic genres, still we were left scratching our heads trying to get info on some of these top level vendors equipment outside the car.

So what’s hot in the car arena? How about multi-channel sound for your car interior? Will consumers rush out and buy 5.1+ channels of sound for their vehicles like they did for their homes? Well both Dolby and DTS are betting that the onslaught of entertainment in the automobile that has been building in the past few years needs a good swift kick in the ear, which only multi-channel sound can provide. Not only can you produce this multi-channel sound from a source specifically encoded in that format (i.e. DVD or multi-channel CD), but with Dolby’s Pro-Logic II and DTS’s NEO 6 processing any stereo source, from radio and CDs to MP3 can be transformed into an engulfing driving experience. See the sidebar for a list of vendors offering units with each of these technologies. We also have full coverage of Dolby and DTS, on our day by day pages.

Do you drive a lot? Well if you spend any more then any hour a day in your car, or you just hate you local radio stations, then Satellite radio is for you. Yep, two companies are doing for radio, what the dish did for TV, offering an alternative. Now XM Radio and Sirius are not newly announced products, they were announced a long time ago and there was a lot of excitement about them both at last year’s show. This year is different however, this year XM radio is live and “on the air” so to speak, launching in late 2001 already are boasting over 30,000 subscribers. Sirius has a different story to tell, their launch is scheduled for February in four small markets with a complete rollout taking about another six months. A list of stations offered by XM Radio and by Sirius can be found on their websites.

If you drive in New York or any number of other cities that have made headsets a requirement while talking on a cell phone (or if you just prefer not have the phone near you head); then Jabra has a product for you. From lanyards to boom mikes, Jabra has something for everyone, and with the unique shape of their earpiece they all can be worn in comfort for hours on end.

(See more coverage of CES on our day-by-day pages)

 

 

 

 

The International Consumer Electronics Show.

  AIBO now in three versions ranging in price from $750-$1500.

Dolby's "Sound in Motion" demo vehicle.

Click Here for More Info on XM Radio

For more info on Sirius Satellite Radio Click Here

Get a Jabra Headset and drive safer and more comfortably (and legally) now!