CES 2007

Would you believe that the Girls Gone Wild trailer is a mere 25 yards from CNET's CES 2007 edit trailer?

Zune Car Pack

Zune Travel Pack

Zune Home A/V Pack

Polaroid MPA-20011

Having made a new rep for itself with surprisingly decent portable DVD players, Polaroid is now venturing into MP3 and portable media players. In 2007, the company formerly known for its instant cameras will release three MP3 and portable media players (none of which handle AAC audio files), including one with a 4.3-inch wide touch-screen and two with Wi-Fi.

The first player, the MPA-20011 (due it March, $99.99 list price) is a 1GB model that can be expanded to up to 4GB with a micro SD card. The 20011 is slightly bigger than a Nano but sports a non-Nano-like 2.2-inch color-screen. It plays MP3 and WMA audio files, MPEG-4 and WMV videos, displays JPEGs, includes an FM player and voice recorder, and runs for 25 hours on a single charge of its lithium ion battery. Best of all, operations are vastly simplified by a spine-mounted scroll wheel, a back button familiar to any Blackberry user (will RIM sue?), and three red backlit transport keys under the screen.

Polaroid MPA-28216

Polaroid will out-Zune and out-iPod the major players this summer with its Wi-Fi-equipped MPA-28216. Behind the 2.8-inch screen is a 30GB hard drive that stores and plays all the A/V files of the 20011, but adds AVI video playback, WAV compatibility for audio and BMP image support, and a more traditional navigation and transport control array. Its Wi-Fi will let you connect to an unnamed music store, or with Polaroid's DEC1000, a sort-of Media Center "lite" to control and access your PC-based media files. A non-Wi-Fi version will sell for an estimated $249.99; the Wi-Fi version will go for either $279.99 or $299.99, although pricing at retail isn't as likely to be as tightly controlled as it is for iPods and Zunes.

Last, but not least, is the Wi-Fi-enabled MPA-43315 (due in fall 2007, priced at $329.99 without Wi-Fi, $349.99 with Wi-Fi), which displays its A/V wares on a 4.3-inch 16:9 touchscreen. Other than the larger screen, the 40GB hard drive 43315 offers all the features and format playback of the 28216.

The only things left is to work on are those awkward names -- their not quite as catchy as their competition. But according to the company, these players may sell under a different brand label.

Polaroid MPA-43315

As we first reported in December, Ford and Microsoft have been busy working in collaboration on in-car communications and entertainment, to be unveiled this week at CES. Well, here we are today at CES, and we can spill the beans on details of the system to be marketed under the name "Sync."

(Credit: Microsoft)

Initially to be made available in twelve 2008 models across the Ford family and across the entire 2009 lineup from FoMoCo, the service will be a fully-integrated, flash memory-based system that enables drivers to call hands-free and to control a range of digital audio via voice commands and buttons mounted on the steering wheel. The system is based on an a Microsoft Auto operating system comprising an ARM 11 processor, 64MB of DRAM and 256MB of flash memory. Microsoft tells us that its software will be updatable, probably via the USB port.

The major interface for Sync-enabled cars will be a small text display that shows up on the stereo head unit or on a display nestled in the instrument cluster. For hands-free calling, the system will enable car occupants to pair up to 12 different phones via an always-on Bluetooth connection. As with some of the more advanced factory-installed hands-free systems we've seen, Sync will automatically copy phone books from cell phones or other Bluetooth-enabled wireless devices. These entries are then cataloged by the system, which enables callers to place calls using voice commands; the system's voice recognition system has settings for English, Spanish, and Canadian French.

Text-to-voice technology also means that the system will read aloud incoming text messages as they arrive. While there is no means of dictating a verbatim reply, Sync gives drivers the option of replying to texts with one of a number of stock responses programmed by voice command and sent as text.

Sync also will support Bluetooth audio for streaming digital audio from mobile devices that hold music files, and can even be used to stream Internet radio stations from Web-connected smart phones and PDAs.

For drivers who want to play music from their MP3 players, Sync improves on the basic auxiliary input jack by adding a USB 2.0 port for connecting iPods, Zunes, and a range of other players.

The most advanced technological feature of the Sync system is the ability to play songs from a connected media player via voice command. When a new player is plugged in for the first time, Sync takes a few minutes to index all the audio files, after which drivers can use voice commands to select music by genre, album, artist or even track title. Commands such as, "Play artist Rolling Stones," or, "Play track 'Brown Sugar,'" will give drivers direct control over their music library. According to Microsoft, the same voice-selection interface also works for digital audio tracks stored on USB thumb drives.

Another advanced feature of music selection is Sync's command to "Find similar music," which prompts the system to use a series of algorithms to search a player's database for tracks with similar acoustic characteristics to the one playing.

We're looking forward to finding out how this works in practice when we get a hands-on Sync demo tomorrow. But any skepticism about the voice-command aspect of the system is tempered by the fact that Microsoft provides the backbone for the voice-recognition platforms in Honda and Acura models, which we have found more than competent in our reviews.

The first models to offer Sync as an option in fall 2007 include Ford's Five Hundred, Explorer, Focus, Freestyle, and Fusion; Lincoln's MKX and MKZ; and the Mercury Milan.