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Wilson's taking a day off after powering through CNET's video coverage of CES 2011, so Caroline McCarthy fills in to give us the spectator's perspective of the show and the keynote speeches. Unsurprisingly, the Samsung keynote looked just as over the top online as it did in person.

We saw a lot of cool things at CES this year, least of which was this arcade cabinet for the iPad, but this year was definitely about tablet PCs. They stole the show and came in multiple sizes, but CNET's annual Best in Show Award goes to the Motorola Xoom, although we're hoping this isn't how they show their appreciation.

Poised to go head-to-head with the Apple iPad, the Xoom is a touch screen-tablet that trumps the iPad in a few ways. It has front- and rear-facing cameras (the front is HD); it has a larger screen with a higher resolution than the iPad; and it operates on the Verizon network instead of AT&T.

It's also the first device to run the latest version of Google Android OS 3.0, code-named Honeycomb, so when it comes out sometime in the first quarter of this year, expect it to support multitasking and Verizon's ultrafast 4G network.

Verizon is also rumored to be offering the iPhone 4 pending tomorrow's announcement, and Caroline and I are both excited and nervous about its release. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company will keep its $30-a-month unlimited data plan, but our own Bonnie Cha tells us it might not get LTE 4G support until later this year--as usual, it's all up to Apple.

Aside from CES wrap-up stuff, check out the second half of today's show for Jeff's review of "American Idiot," the Broadway musical based on Green Day's music and featuring lead vocalist Billy Armstrong.

And if you're into that sort of thing, we also learn that a "Fight Club" and "American Psycho" musical are both in the works!

LAS VEGAS--Earlier this week Acer introduced its 10-inch Iconis A500 tablet, but Acer also gave a sneak peek of 7- and 4.8-inch tablets.

Neither tablet has a name as of yet, and neither was functioning when we saw them. Acer is planning to release them, however no date was specified. No other information concerning operating system or processor was officially released.

One thing we did notice was that the 4.8-inch tablet's screen had a crazy aspect ratio, but Acer was unable to confirm exactly what it is.

Take a look at the pics to get an idea … Read more

Since it precedes two very large wireless trade shows, Mobile World Congress and CTIA, you never know what CES will bring in the way of cell phones. Some years can be pretty quiet, but other years the wireless industry decides to show up in force. Fortunately, CES 2011 was a big wireless event, with two companies in particular, Motorola and Verizon Wireless, pulling out all the stops. You also might call it the "Year of 4G."

Moto goes the extra mile (and then some) It was late last year when we saw the first signs of a big … Read more

LAS VEGAS--With its Best of CES Xoom tablet and an impressive selection of 4G Android smartphones, Motorola had a very good CES. Its Atrix handset won CNET's top award for the cell phone category, the Droid Bionic also packed a dual-core processor, and the Cliq 2 gave us a design twist we hadn't seen before. But even with that show of force, Moto really delivered with its laptop dock. Though it doesn't make calls and it can't do anything by itself, it shows some innovation and creativity that none of Moto's wireless rivals brought to … Read more

LAS VEGAS--MSI was fairly coy about sending out pics of its Android-based tablet, the WinPad 100A. Luckily, the device was on display at the company's CES booth.

The WinPad 100A has a 10.1-inch capacitive touch screen and runs on Android 2.3. It wasn't clear whether the device will be upgradable to Honeycomb when the new OS launches, however.

Other specs and details include an ARM processor, a USB port, Mini-USB, HDMI, an SD card reader, a front-facing camera on the upper-left side, and a headphone jack.

Additionally, the device includes a G-Sensor gravity-detecting device, a GPS … Read more

LAS VEGAS--I was lucky enough to moderate a smartphone panel at CES this year. Experts from four companies, including Mozilla and BlackBerry-maker RIM, got together to discuss the future of smartphone apps, fragmentation, HTML 5, payment, and more.

Since not all of you could be there, I thought I'd share the pundits' perspectives on what we can expect from smartphone apps and services in the next two to five years. Keep in mind, of course, that these are educated guesses, not gospel.

ANSWER: Largely for many tasks, but not entirely. HTML … Read more

It's our final live show from CES 2011, and it's safe to assume our position as Worst Podcast of CES. Case in point: did any of the other CNET Live podcasts receive an anti-teen-sexting pamphlet from PicsChecker after their show? The 404 must give off some kind of unique vibe, because this service seems to appeal to our demographic. Check it out and let us know what you think. No guest on today's show, but there's plenty of stories from CES to run down, so let's go right to it!

At last year's CES, Polaroid appointed Lady Gaga to the role of creative director, and this time we get to see exactly what she's been working on for the past 12 months. At her big press conference this year, Gaga announced that phones are truly the cameras of the future and debuted the GL20 Camera Glasses, an innovative pair of shades that feature two embedded OLED screens that can capture and display images of anything around you.

Also announced were the GL30 Instant Digital Camera, a printer enabled device that seems to be a throwback of the old "shake it to develop" days of Polaroid film that works in conjunction with the GL10 Instant Printer, a Bluetooth wireless device that can produce Polaroid-style prints in under a minute. TOLD you me and Gaga have a lot in common!

CES is no stranger to extravagance and ridiculousness, and this year saw a bunch of both, starting with the insane Samsung press conference. With their own child from the future emceeing the night, Samsung and DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeff Katzenberg stole the show with 3D images, Samsung dance routines replete with rectangular TV props, and a sneak peek at the Xfinity TV app for the Samsung Galaxy Tab that turns the tablet into a remote control and video player.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, indulge us as we take a minute to do what we do best: poke fun at some of the stranger, and perhaps more useless, products featured here in Vegas starting with this Wii/Kinect/Move-enabled bowling ball courtesy of our friends at CTA Digital.

This CTA booth girl looked all right playing with it, but this single-function accessory had us shaking our heads and wondering who would buy this toy.

Let's move on to the booth for Christian gaming site GameChurch.com that actually features a cardboard cutout of Jesus himself fragging enemies like there's no tomorrow. We had no idea Jesus was a gamer, but apparently he's achieved "Ub3r Pwnage since 33 A.D."

GameChurch.com is based on the idea that video game ratings aren't stringent enough for the God-fearing consumer, so the site is here to award its own "morality ratings" to popular video games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Strangely enough, the site also has a sister site at an adjacent convention called XXXChurch.com that seeks to save blasphemers from their own hands.

Stick around after the break, because we have plenty more craziness from the showroom floor to get to, including an exhibiting insurance company that lets you smash an Asus laptop with a hammer, a Steampunk keyboard fetish, and more rumors about the impending Apple iPhone coming to Verizon on February 3. Plus, don't miss our picks for Best of CES 2011. Thanks for listening!

Sony Ericsson released just one phone at CES, but the Xperia Arc is nothing to ignore. The hardware, to be frank, is stunning. The handset has a great feeling in the hand; we love the sleek profile; and the display is a looker.

The features are also impressive. We're particularly glad to see the device running Gingerbread--remember that the Xperia X10 ran OS 1.6 when it debuted--and the idea of the Bravia engine powering the media player is something we hadn't expected. We're still ambivalent about Timescape, and we hope it won't interfere with future … Read more

LAS VEGAS--More products seem intent on blurring the line between smartphones and tablets. The 5-inch screen on the Dell Streak, for example, really threw us into a philosophical tailspin. It was awkwardly large to make calls with, but too small for tablet-style Web browsing and productivity.

In spite of ViewSonic's insistence on calling the ViewPad 4 a tablet, I have no qualms telling you that it's really a smartphone. As the name implies, the ViewPad 4 uses a 4.1-inch screen, putting it behind the 4.3-inch screen used on the Motorola Droid Bionic and other unabashed smartphones. … Read more