The Media Interchange

IOGear

2009-01-11T16:49:00.001-05:00

I've always liked their gear and this year they had an HDMI splitter and KVM on display. A nice dual-DVI KVM too. Some other stuff too like their digital scribe, which I still haven't tried yet.

NJoy

2009-01-10T19:46:00.001-05:00

This is... I... What... Who came up with this?

www.NJOY.com. The electronic cigarette device.

Hey, at least there's no second hand smoke.

Cable Technology Ecosystem: Understanding Next Generation Interactivity - Programming and Technology and the Digital Consumer

2009-01-08T16:33:00.001-05:00

Wan from Cisco
Trantor from NDS
Shannon from MacroVision
Malone from Sling
Lariu from McKenna
Harrison from Ensequence
Fausch from Alcatel-Lucent

Wan said in 4 years that IP traffic will hit the zetabyte level-1 trillion gigabytes. Also there will be between 3-4 billion IP devices(where is IPv6???)

Wan-Anything that can be powered will have IP eventually.

Malone - It's all for nothing if we are not giving the consumer what they want. Operators don't really want to open up their walled garden, but open up a little like Facebook on the STB.

Shannon-Operators are moving from broadcast to client server world and metadata will become even more important. Webservices will become more important as we go on and integrate systems together.

Malone - You guys are fooling youselves if you think the consumer won't give up cable or DBS and get their media online. If you do, you are out of touch with the younger generation.

Lariu - For advertising, the micro-niche is becoming more important than the mass shotgun approach we currently have for advertising.

Harrison - TV/EBIF is able to do advanced stuff that the Internet can't right now. Content providers realize they still have the eyeballs over the Internet and are trying to take advantage of that mass audience.

Lariu - ITV needs to get into deep engagement with consumers, such as a scenario with Lost, but ITV is not doing that yet.

Faust - I worry that the days of unlimited bandwidth are over and what will that mean to IP video?

Shannon-EPGs get more 'pageviews' and interactivity than Internet, but we are not taking advantage of it.

-------------

Overall the panel discussion was good, but let me down. It was more of a bashing or 'we should do this' type of thing instead of a more definitive 'This is where we are heading with interactivity', which was what I was looking for.

Breathalizer?

2009-01-08T14:17:00.001-05:00

I thought it was amusing when I saw 1 personal breathilzier, but for the 2nd one I saw, AlcoHawk, they are giving away free a beer coozy! That just seems wrong.

ArkNav

2009-01-08T14:04:00.001-05:00

G-forces recorder... Can save to miniSD or interface via RS-232. Has adjustable sensitivity/triggering and internal clock.
It'll be ready in 2 months for about $100. www.arknavgps.com.tw

My posts

2009-01-08T14:03:00.001-05:00

Some of the technology in my posts might seem odd, but it's usually because I think I might be able to use them in projects for work.

eBox mini-PCs

2009-01-08T13:31:00.001-05:00

Nice micro PCs... About 4"x4"x1". Up to 1g ram on the board and you can install a 2.5" drive(although I would worry about heat.) I saw a 1ghz processor running with 1gb ram. VGA, com ports, ethernet, USB, and CF ports all built in.

HyPC from Yoggie.

2009-01-08T13:17:00.001-05:00

Interesting device... A PC in an ExpressCard. Says it's 'untouchable' from the host...I don't know about that. This is from the guys that made the portable hardware firewall.

Wildcharge

2009-01-08T13:10:00.001-05:00

Which I talked about last year, has come up with batteries for the 3 major game platforms. That could sell a lot of these things. Even my kids can just put the Xbox controller on the table.

nPowerPEG

2009-01-08T13:07:00.001-05:00

Kinectic energy charger... Available in April for about $150. Power comes out of a standard mini-USB port. I 'charged' an iPod myself.

Goldendance

2009-01-08T13:00:00.001-05:00

Um, I'm not too sure about this one. Sends sound to your ear through your bones instead of your eardrum. I tried it and it works, but I can't tell if the headache I have is from that or lack of coffee.

Buglabs

2009-01-08T12:52:00.001-05:00

Buglabs.net

Cool idea of modules you can put together to build your own gadgets. They have a SDK that you can use with Eclipse. The rep told me they have about 80 modules right now and you can get kits from their online store.

CES 2009

2009-01-08T11:13:00.002-05:00

So I didn't post to this at all since last CES and here we are again at CES 2009. I used this blog as a basis for my trip report, so I think I will do it again this year and maybe after I will continue to post on here.

I'm also going to twitter from here if anyone is interested http://twitter.com/JPR7105

Motorola

2008-01-10T15:07:00.001-05:00

Stopped by for my 2nd visit at Moto and talk with an engineer about their OCAP dev environment. I'm interested because it sounds like it's a much cheaper and easier dev environment than others I have looked at. Made contacts and established ground for visits to each others facilities since they a relatively close in Lowell, MA.

Phillips WOWvx

2008-01-10T14:13:00.001-05:00

While the 3D was decent without glasses, it think the glasses experience I've seen before is better.

Sanyo

2008-01-10T14:07:00.000-05:00

Sany had some imopressive short throw projectors. The table was was especially interesting. Some possible OTS or other effects might be possible, especially in cramped studio sets. The brightness would need improvement, but the keystoning of these is impressive.

Tech and Emerging Countries

2008-01-10T13:55:00.001-05:00

Interesting stuff being shown at this display.

Voltaic Systems - The Converter solar bag w/ water bladder. A solar backpack that can charge a phopne, GPS or other handheld devices.

The famous OLPC XO Laptop - Much smaller in real life than I thought it was.

Meraki Networks - Mesh network components designed to allow networking for the OLPC XO laptop

Freeplay Weza Foot Powered Generator - Provides 12v power by just a foot crank.

North Hall

2008-01-10T13:45:00.001-05:00

Mark F and I ripped through most of the North Hall in a few minutes. Mostly car audio stuff. Sirius didn't have anything new of notes as they announced all their new stuff in October.

CES Day 4

2008-01-10T13:35:00.001-05:00

It was MUCH easier getting here this morning than yesterday. I guess that's probably because there were around 40000 less people today.

I did meet some of the guys from Engadget yesterday, had a little conversation and exchanged business cards. I'm hoping to talk to them a bit more in the future.

HP

2008-01-09T20:23:00.001-05:00

I didn't really find much at the HP booth worth noting except for the HP iPAQ 300 Series Travel Companion. Nice travel device. 3d GPS, videos, MP3. $449 retail

IO-Gear

2008-01-09T19:58:00.001-05:00

IO -Gear had a nice digital pen called the Digital Scribe. The is a wired or wireless(why bother getting wired??) attachment that goes at the top of the paper notepad. The pen itself isn't much bigger than a normal pen, which has typically been the big complaint with these types of devices.

Wireless version will retail for $130.

magicJack

2008-01-09T19:23:00.001-05:00

Yes, I laughed too when I first heard the name of the product, but it really sounds cool. Basically, you plug the device, which is about the size of a pack of gum, into a USB port on your computer. You plug a regular analog phone intop the other end of the device and you get assigned a US(maybe Canada too) phone number. Use it top make unlimited calls. The device cost $39.99 online and after the first year, the cost is $20/yr.

I liked it so much I ordered one myself.

D-Box Motion Code

2008-01-09T18:51:00.001-05:00

The D-Box Motion FX technology brings the entertainment park experience of moving furniture down to a more accessible level. The enhancement to the display movie was very good and really gave the user more of an immersive experience. There were also dedicated gaming chairs and even recliners.

http://livetheaction.com

Panasonic

2008-01-09T18:34:00.001-05:00

150" Plasma HDTV. Wow! Just ridiculous.

Tru2way - one of the more impressive OCAP/Tru2way display. They had a STB, Television, and portable TV/DVR device all running the same OCAP program guide.

Sharp

2008-01-09T17:31:00.001-05:00

Sharp was showing off a number opf new TVs, but the interesting part was the Aquos NET platform built into them all. It requres an ethernet connection, but puts web gadget on the side of the screen.

I got the developer network contact info.

Microsoft Booth Tour

2008-01-09T17:27:00.001-05:00

We tagged along on the Disney tour for the Microsoft booth. Overall, it was disappointing.

They showed off their MediaRoom platform, which is not a consumer device, but rather their IPTV platform.

New Zunes... Wireless autosync is interesting, but overall....snooze.

MSN Direct(formerly SPOT) is a data subscription service... Good for GPS devices for traffic, weather, and sports.

One of the best things on display was the ESPN Remote control, which had WiFi, it's own screen with own program guide data, SMS, I'm. Not released yet, but the company hopes to have it out by the end of April.

The most compelling thing they had was the Surface table. They had the wine lounge application, which is quite compelling and useful.

Sony Booth Tour

2008-01-09T14:19:00.001-05:00

Met with with the Disney folks for the Sony tour.

First stop was the OLED TVs. These TVs are ultra-thin and ultra bright, making them look gorgeous. The Sony rep did mention an estimated 30K hour life. They also had a 27" prototype on display, but nop estimated price or street date yet.

BD-LIVE - Some new features to their Blu-Ray players and PS3 was watching a movie together from different locations, maing it more of a social experience, being able to use interactive features together.

Wireless HD - Sony displayed a prototype solution for uncompressed video that could go up to 200' with only a .7ms delay.

DMEX cards for Bravia line - Sony is developing 'add-on' modules to extend their Bravia line of TVs. New modules include:
*DVD Link
*'extra' input link
*A wireless link
*Internet link
All could be controlled via the single remote and with the Internet link, they have streaming internet video from approximately 30 partners like CBS and Fox Sports. It looked very similar to the MS MediaCenter interface.

Click to [BD] Disk - This really caught my attention. You can use the new BD authoring software that copmes with Vaio copmputers to create multi-angle BD disks, all syncronized via timestamp of video or pictures. Up to 4 sources were supported and it would also allow for cascading fix of timestamps form a particular source.

82" 4K Panel - An 82" 3840x2160 panel was on display that could display a 10megapixel image or 4 1080p sources on the same screen!

Home Entertainment Server - The HES-V1000 could hold 500 BD disks and had a 500gb HD, with HDMI outputs. Est prices was $3500

Location Free TV HD - They added HD to this years model and changed the crazy licensing to be a free download, but limited to 8 physical devices.

PSP Enhancements - Added Skype capabilities, Internet Radio streams and an add-on GPS module.

E-Book - The latest version was on display. Not much different from last years, but it does read PDFs.

Fast-Jet - Similar to the Near Filed Communications described yesterday, this technology allows transfers of data between 'touch'(get within 3cm.). No real security which has me concerned, but its transfer rates were VERY quick and it was streaming HD video from a camcorder.

Moxi-TV

2008-01-09T12:41:00.001-05:00

I checked out Moxi yesterday and to be honest, I was disappointed. When Moxi was first announced years ago(99?) it had incredible potential, but this years offerings are not much more than a cablecard Tivo.

Day 3 - Monrail

2008-01-09T12:36:00.001-05:00

It took a while to get to it from Mandalay Bay, but so far it's been the least stressfull way to get to the show. Of course, it's nice to get on at the first stop and be able to actually get a seat.

Trakit - screen track system

2008-01-08T15:07:00.001-05:00

The Trakit system allows you to move monitors on a track(straight or custom) and control the movement via Crestron/RS232. Could be useful in a studio situation such as OTS'.

Mitsubishi PocketProjector

2008-01-08T14:28:00.001-05:00

The Mitsubishi PocketProjector PK20 was running. The size of the unit was about 4x4x1.5. It was showing a decent 30" picture at about 3.5' away. Max 1024x768 resolution. Uses DLP with LED 'lamp'. In addition to VGA in, it also had composite and S-Video, plus an SD card. There was an optional battery that attaches to the bottom in the same form factor. Retail for about $500, with street being around $400.

Automated wall mounts

2008-01-08T14:12:00.001-05:00

I've seen a few automated wall mounts for LCD/Plasma monitors. The CLO motorized system was very nice and could be useful in a control room or an attraction where the TVs 'follow' someone as they walk by.

Pavonine 3D monitors

2008-01-08T14:07:00.000-05:00

Pavonine had a nice 32" 3D monitor on display. Glasses required, but the quality was very good even at a number of different angles. Propbably better than the Zalmon ones. They also had a 24", which was less impressive due to less of an angle that it's effective within(8° vs 20° on the 32")

It's available now for around $5K.

Zalmon 3D Displays

2008-01-08T13:51:00.001-05:00

Zalmon had 27" prototype 3D displays on display, called Trimon. They required glasses, which were actually much more stylish than ones I've used before. The monitors used Stereoscopic Player and the output was very nice. The larger monitors were just prototypes, but they do have smaller ones available now, which I saw here last year. No price or availability estimates on the larger monitors.

3M Mobile Projection

2008-01-08T13:36:00.001-05:00

The 3M rep showed me a mockup of the portable projection system they have developed. VGA resolution on a palm sized device. I saw it up to about 2' on a wall. It was still not bad in the open harse lights of the show floor.

She could not disclose what partners would be using their chips but did say that they should be to market in 1H of '08.

Think Optics Wavit

2008-01-08T13:19:00.001-05:00

I cross between a TV remote, mouse and Wii controller meant for control of Media Center PCs. Very fuild control and used an IR sensor bar almost exactly like the Wii.

CES day 2

2008-01-08T12:39:00.001-05:00

Well, it's not starting off well. Had to wait for the bus to the LVCC for 40 minutes at Mandalay Bay.

Marc Postings

2008-01-07T15:19:00.001-05:00

Marc R is going to be posting his CES stuff on here too now after we finish our overpriced lunch.

Powercast Wireless Power

2008-01-07T14:56:00.001-05:00

It just doesn't sound right to me... Wireless power?

This is the second year I saw it running. Powercast had gutted a griffen FM transmitter and put their chip in and it was working quite nicely to charge an Ipod Nano. They also had a Mio GPS working. The engineers claim that power efficiency was 'not much worse' than a wall charger.

Crazy Computer Power Supplies

2008-01-07T14:25:00.001-05:00

I thought it was bad last year with the 1K watt power supply, but E-Power has a monster 2K watt power supply.

NFC-Near Field Communications

2008-01-07T14:04:00.001-05:00

A hybrid & compliment to Bluetooth and RFID. 'Swipe' your phone at the Kodak picture station, establishes a Bluetooth connection and prints you photo. Swipe it again on an enabled advertising poster and get opt-in info.

VeriMatrix

2008-01-07T13:38:00.001-05:00

Intriguing watermarking technology, which could be useful for footage reporting. They have an API to write against and they said their encoding is real time with no frame delay, but I won't believe that until I see it.

Golf Launchpad Tour

2008-01-07T13:18:00.001-05:00

A very nice golf controller for XBox360, PS3, PC or Mac.

It was running Tiger Woods. There was a delay of about 3 seconds after the shot while it figured everything out.

Looks fun and a bit more realistic than the Wii controller.

Slingbox Pro-HD

2008-01-07T13:13:00.000-05:00

The new Slingbox Pro-HD does pretty much what the old Pro did, but give better resolution. The cable tuner in this box also does QAM, besides ATSC.

Slingbox

2008-01-07T13:09:00.001-05:00

The version of the SlingCatcher on display this year was very nice. The device placeshifts your video from one TV source to TV, whereas the normal Slingbox will placeshift your TV source to a computer. It also plays a ton of different format video files from your home network by using the Slingsync software on a PC on your home network.

CES 2008 Blog via Jott

2008-01-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

At last year's CES I tried taking notes on my Treo. I did a fairly OK job, but it was a real pain in the butt and I felt I was wasting lots of time thumb typing. It also didn't make for a good trip report.

This past year I stumbled upon Jott. I originally wanted it to help me to record to-do tasks whenever I remembered them by just calling the Jott number and speaking. They came up with a nice feature this past year to allow you to 'Jott' to Blogger directly and that is how I plan on recording my CES 2008 experiences. Let's see how it works out this time.