CES 2009 Highlights and Photo-Report

On our yearly jaunts to the Las Vegas to attend the Consumer Electronics Show, we meet with numerous companies and see a myriad of products--some we can, and some we can't talk about--in what is always an absolute whirlwind of a trip. This year was no exception. Although the show itself wasn't quite as big as it has been in previous years in terms of attendance, it was nevertheless loaded with cool products and technology that filled not only the Las Vegas Convention center, but multiple surrounding venues, hotels, and suites all along the strip.

We're certain many of you would love to attend CES for yourself, but can't for various reasons. So, we've decided to bring a part of the show to you, and highlight some of the cool stuff we saw while there.

Intel's Francios Piednoel Demos Deep Viewer on Core i7 at 4.6GHz

First up is a short video taken in Intel's second-floor media room. Of course, Intel's booth was filled with numerous demos for WiMax, Centrino 2 notebooks and Atom based netbooks, MIDs, Core i7 gaming, and a handful of other products. One of the coolest items on display in Intel's booth was a convertible Classmate PC, powered by an Atom processor. The screen could rotate to convert the mini-notebook into a tablet PC. And because it's built around the energy efficient Atom, battery life is much better than the original Classmate PC.

While Intel didn't launch any major new products at this CES this year, they did show off an interesting application called Deep Viewer to members of the press. In the video above, Intel's Francios Piednoel explains what Deep Viewer is and demos it on an overclocked, water-cooler Core i7 rig humming along at a cool 4.6GHz.

      

     
BFG's Phobos Gaming System

In addition to showing off their Ion SFF platform, GeForce graphics cards, 3D glasses, and numerous other products, NVIDIA had a number of partners in their booth with various items on display. One of the most interesting was the upcoming BFG Phobos system pictured here. We have posted some information on Phobos in the past, but to see it live is to truly appreciate what BFG is trying to do.

The Phobos is BFG's very first full system offering. The company plans to market the Phobos as a true boutique system with a slick custom enclosure, that features a front-mounted touch screen, slot-load optical drives (including a Blu-Ray option), and the highest-performing hardware available. Aside from offering the high-performance PCs, BFG also plans to offer unprecedented levels of service, with in-home, white glove installation and maintenance as an option. The systems are powered by Intel processors and NVIDIA graphics cards, and the touch-screen on the front can be used for numerous functions, including hardware monitoring, media playback, or even powering the system on and off. The current plans are to offer Phobos systems at $3000, $5000, and $8000 price points, depending on the configuration options and level of service chosen.