The Verge - CES 2012: the highlights

Samsung Smart Window demonstration (video)

2012-01-14T01:05:04Z

We always thought the window was pretty mature technology, but Samsung's here at CES to prove us wrong. The Smart Window, currently in prototype phase, casts a touch-controlled interface onto transparent glass with ambient light. Samsung was demonstrating a whole range of applications, from Twitter to Microsoft Office, all touch-controlled and viewable directly on the glass. Images are viewable in daylight, and there's a nighttime mode that uses side-lighting and flipped colors. You can even draw some virtual blinds to control the flow of light. It's difficult to see how Samsung might turn this into a commercial product, but it definitely looks more useful than a transparent TV.

AMD Trinity demo: full HD gaming, video playback, and transcoding

2012-01-13T23:06:54Z

AMD's next generation of Accelerated Processing Units, Trinity, was shown off to us at CES this year with an impressive multithreaded workload. One display was running Dirt 3 in DirectX 11 mode, another was on the Windows desktop with a video transcoding app in full flow, and the third — part of the laptop running the entire operation — was playing back a full HD movie. The upcoming Trinity chip was handling all three tasks simultaneously, offering compelling evidence for AMD's bold claim that Trinity will offer Llano-like performance but at half the energy consumption. The Dirt 3 instance played with perfect smoothness throughout and we saw no stutter in the HD video being played back on the laptop. We were shown a Trinity APU with...

Vizio CTO Matt McRae: Internet-based TV provider with 50-100 channels coming within 18 months

2012-01-13T18:41:03Z

I sat down with Vizio CTO Matt McRae yesterday to talk over the company's huge number of CES announcements, from its CinemaWide 21:9 TVs to the $99 VAP430 Google TV media streamer to its entirely new lineup of laptop and desktop PCs. We also talked a lot about smart TV and the challenges of integrating live television with internet content, and Matt said something particularly interesting — he believes that a full internet TV provider that offers 50-100 channels to consumers will launch within 12-18 months. That's a bold prediction from the CTO of the number one US TV manufacturer, but it's also exciting: Matt says internet delivery will enable all kinds of new search and discovery methods and synchronized TV / PC / tablet viewing...

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on SOPA, Reddit, and the future of the internet

2012-01-13T01:53:52Z

I caught up with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski here at CES for a quick chat — he gave a speech yesterday arguing for speeding up spectrum auctions by implementing incentive auctions. I wanted to start with something a little closer to the ground though: the general outcry over SOPA and the planned Reddit blackout on January 18th. Surprise: Genachowsi is a Reddit reader, and he says he definitely hears the frustration — and while he thinks intellectual property need protection, he doesn't want to "break the internet."

We also spoke about LTE interoperability and what it might take to get all the carriers to work together, and we ended with a discussion about smart TV, CableCARD, and the future of content delivery. It was an...

The best ultrabooks of CES 2012

2012-01-12T22:55:23Z

By my count, there have been more than 20 ultrabooks announced here at CES 2012. That's a lot of laptops, especially when you consider that most of them have the same attributes: thin cases, Core i5 processors, solid-state drives, chiclet keyboards and single-button touchpads. But one has to be the best right? One would think, but choosing just one ultrabook amongst all of them isn't really fair. Some are cheaper than others, some aren't coming until the end of the year, and some have put a strong focus on higher end features. Picking four of the best, on the other hand, is the way to go, and that's exactly what you will find below. Without further ado, the best ultrabooks of CES 2012:

Samsung Series 9

The new 13-inch Series 9...

Matias Duarte interview: Android Design guidelines announcement

2012-01-12T22:33:37Z

Google's Matias Duarte dropped by our trailer today to talk a little about Android, including the announcement that his team is introducing a new Android Design website and style guide.

Google introduces Android Design guidelines for Ice Cream Sandwich

2012-01-12T21:00:49Z

Matias Duarte just dropped by our trailer at CES 2012 to tell us about Google's new effort for ensuring consistency in the Android user experience: a style guide. Android OEMs and app developers will be provided with a set of in-depth guidelines on how to build atop of Android. All the instructions will be made available on a new website — Android Design, a subset of the Android Developers site — which will be built out over time with ever more granular and detailed best practice advice.

The initial version of the guide includes information like typography, color palettes, and other stylistic advice, as well as a breakdown of the components making up the Android UI. Matias stresses that what we're seeing today is a purely optional...

Matias Duarte interview: Android Design guidelines announcement

2012-01-12T20:55:31Z

Google's director of Android user experience Matias Duarte just stopped by The Verge trailer here at CES to make a special announcement, and we've decided to try something new — we're streaming the interview live. We'll be kicking things off in just a moment, and Matias will be taking viewer questions for a while after the announcement.

Update: We've now uploaded our recording of the live interview for you to enjoy below.