Television is always a big centerpiece of CES, but video really dominated the show this year. For the consumer, this is mostly about buying a new, thin HDTV. There are plenty of those on the floor, although several vendors told me that demand is so high right now that getting a top tier LCD or plasma may be tough for the next six month or so.
For the industry, however, there was a huge focus on working with the video itself: time-shifting it, burning it to disc, distributing it over the Net, slinging it around the home, making it portable, and so on. Everyone wants to offer their own version of TIVO. TIVO itself showed off new Series 3 box, which supports HD, but perhaps more importantly they announced a set of open source APIs that will let anyone build video services for distribution on the TIVO network.
Of course, this shift from a broadcast model to a on-demand, time-shifted, mobile video platform has left the business guys struggling for figure out business models and pricing schemes.
As a geek, I am just looking forward to figuring out how to make this stuff work.
Watching Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio duke it out is a lot more fun to watch than the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray battle. To be honest, I am a Sirius fan, but the new Sportscaster ($59.99 MSRP) for XM is pretty appealing. (And what a great name!) The product was developed with Advanced Global Technology and is designed to be a personal satellite radio device that can use in your car, at home, in the office, or just slip into your pocket. It plays 160 XM radio channels and comes with a FM transmitter, which is a nice nod to the old school. I would still like to have some storage for local MP3 playback, like the Sirius S50, but I that just might me.
LAS VEGAS – Automakers have a love-hate relationship with Microsoft and its booming Automotive Business Unit. Letting Microsoft into your dashboard is like the camel peeking its nose under the tent, they fear: Eventually it'll be more than the nose inside. Still, enough automakers see benefits in partnering, and 61 car models use Windows Automotive in the car.
An operating system in your car? Indeed. The navigation system and other telematics features run on microprocessors and need some kind of operating system. Wind River leads the market. QNX is also a strong player but its acquisition by Harman Group caused some unease among automakers who prefer buying nav systems, audio-video gear, and Bluetooth interfaces from Harman competitors. That helped Microsoft, whose earlier attempts were not well-received, such as in the BMW 7 Series that debuted in 2001. Most people recall the iDrive joystick controller and quirky design, but the OS early on also put a number of disabled 7 Series cars on flatbed tow trucks for rides back to the dealer. That was then, Microsoft says.
At CES, Microsoft showcased several cars using Windows Embedded technologies, including a tricked out all-gray Honda Odyssey with low-profile tires short enough to shake the fillings in most soccer moms, the Ridgeline pickup truck, and award-winning Civic. Acura, BMW, Mercedes, and Volvo also use Windows Automotive in some models. Alpine, Kenwood, and Pioneer enable it on some of their audio-video-navigation head units.
The head unit, as the upscale radio is now called, lets you connect to and control a Bluetooth phone (assuming the handset makers and carriers are faithful to the Bluetooth spec, which isn't always the case), manage AM/FM, CD or DVD audio, DVD video to the backseat or (when the car is stopped) front seat, and navigation functions. Some of the replacement, or aftermarket, head units also have USB connectors that let you plug in a USB key with MP3 or WMA music, an Apple iPod, or any Windows music Plays For Sure device and on the head unit display, you see artist, album, and song information, the player controls are duplicated by the head unit and/or steering wheel controls, and on most devices the music player is constantly recharged.
With that simple addition of a USB jack, the user is free of clunky FM modulators, doesn't have to buy a $150 to $500 (installed) iPod adapter, and isn't limited to just Apple iPod for in-dash music displays. Alpine wowed showgoers with products such as the IVA-W200. To most observers, that benefits the users as well as Microsoft and the automakers.
An even bigger splash for Microsoft comes in March at the Geneva Auto Show when Microsoft and Fiat take the wraps off a joint project that puts all this functionality, including GPS, in every Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia car for about $200. At this price the user gets not a big LCD display in the center of the dash displaying moving maps, but a smaller panel directly in front of the driver displaying icons. Instead of an optical drive for map data, the user gets it via Europe's ubiquitous GSM cellphone network, and uploads the route information to the car via Bluetooth.
Panasonic upset Samsung as the company with the largest HDTV plasma in the world--by just one inch. Samsung is showing its 102" plasma on the show floor, but Panasonic claims the "World Largest" title with a 103" set. it has a resolution of a 1920x1080 resolution and a 3,000:1 contrast ratio.
At this size, it is hard to see a one-inch difference, but bragging rights are worth something. It was certainly big enought to stop these guys (see left) in their tracks.
We reviewed the Garmin nuvi ($798.00 - $954.00) a few months back at PC Magazine. It is a handheld GPS system that comes loaded with a host of features. We were a little torn about it, because although it worked in the U.S., it wasn't being sold here yet. That changed just a few days before Christmas and the company is showing the product on the CES show floor now.
At the most basic level, the nuvi is a very powerful, very simple GPS device with a great screen in a super small form factor, but it goes way beyond that. Among the added features are:
* Travel guides, detailed information about local attraction through out Europe. (The U.S. version of the Travel guides will be coming soon.)
* Language guides, software that translates words and languages and will even play them back to you.
* Geo-coded coupons, which let you know about retail stores near you that are offering sales and discounts.
* Oh, and it plays MP3s.
And if that isn't enough, the GPS chip that the nuvi uses is very sensitive. The company won't claim that it can penetrate buildings, but when we tested it, it did so easily. It isn't cheap, but Garmin hinted that the ability to rent a nuvi when you travel could be in the works. For more details check out our full review.
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Watching Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio duke it
