While CEA chief Gary Shapiro was in San Francisco, talking up CES 2010 at a private dinner with journalists, I was at a downtown Manhattan bistro having dinner with Jason Oxman, the CEA's Senior Vice-President of Industry Affairs. Like the West Coast dinner, this one quickly turned to the subject of who would and wouldn't attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2010.
Oxman readily gave up two major--though not surprising--keynote speakers; Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Apparently there was a third big name, but Oxman wouldn't divulge it, instead giving us cryptic clues about Detroit, Grosse Point and, possibly, music and cars (discuss).
Oh, yes: We talked Apple, too. As part of a game in which the assembled journalists made up names that rhymed with possible keynote speakers, someone threw in "Meve Slobs"--a pretty clear reference to Steve Jobs. Oxman didn't say no, but laughed in a way that made me think it would be next to impossible. We also asked if Apple would have an official presence. Oxman never directly answered the question, but did say that the iLounge, an area devoted to third-party Apple accessories and peripherals, would be bigger than ever (25,000 square feet).
One thing we do know is Apple will not be at Macworld next year. (Will there even be a show? The site says yes). Does that mean Apple might finally grace CES with its presence? Unlikely. Apple never enjoys being one of many. It likes to control the venue and the message. CES is bigger than Macworld, making it even less attractive to Apple.
Speaking of size, Oxman did tell us that 113,000 attendees is the new normal for CES (previously, attendee numbers topped 150K). CEA execs believe it's more manageable and valuable for attendees and exhibitors. One journalist at the dinner astutely noted that the show numbers had started to decline before the economic downturn; Oxman said it was by design--two years ago they started charging for attendance.
One other major move the CEA did announce is that it will no longer split the show between the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Convention Center. In 2010, the show will be at the LVCC only.
Without Apple participating, the Macworld trade show's soft underbelly is exposed to predators. Here comes CES, in for the kill. Today the CEA (the guys who operate the mega-trade-show CES) announced they're doubling the size of the 2010 CES show's "iLounge Pavilion" to 25,000 square feet. The pavilion will feature iPod, iPhone and Mac applications and accessories. They're also adding a special section for iPod/iPhone apps manufacturers.
CES, which is held every January, never had much Mac stuff before, but CEA saw an opportunity when Apple pulled out of the almost-simultaneous Macworld show in San Francisco. The iLounge Pavilion started at 4,000 square feet, the association says, but it keeps expanding because of demand. Accessories retailers committed to CES include Griffin Technology, Scosche, Incase Designs, iSkin, Incipio Technologies, Jaybird Gear, MusicSkins and AAMP of America.
IDG, the managers of Macworld Expo, have moved their show a little bit later in the winter, to Feb. 9-13. Macworld still has exclusive Mac-centric conference programs and seminars, Mac-centric speakers and a Mac-community focus that CES lacks. The question is, how much blood can CES suck away before Macworld Expo becomes a lifeless husk?
Here's one more way to get music any way you want in the car: Internet audio streamed to your dashboard via two new radios just introduced by Blunkpunkt in conjunction with MiRoamer. How does it work? (The MiRoamer press release doesn't cover this minor detail.) It's indirect: You use a 3G-capable cellphone to capture the stream, then it's transferred via Bluetooth to the Blaupunkt radio, either the double-DIN Blaupunkt New Jersey or the single-DIN Blaupunkt Hamburg. Prices will be $300-$400 when they ship this summer or fall.
Here's what you're looking at: At CES, Panasonic set up a demo to show off the new Auto-Focus Tracking capability in its new camcorders. WIth this feature, you touch the subject/object directly on the camcorder's LCD that you would like to remain in focus and to be followed.
In our video, a camcorder is focused on and tracking a miniature train. The camcorder is also plugged into a large LCD screen so you can easily see the focusing cross hairs targeting the train. It's pretty sweet. For more info on the new camcorders, check out our story on PCMag.com.
This party no doubt annoyed a lot of people who were actually staying at Planet Hollywood. Capcom threw part of the event outside, in the hotel's courtyard--complete with an open bar and tons of food. And attendees could play the new Resident Evil 5 on a really big screen. When I say "really big screen," I mean a projected video that encompassed 6 floors on the side of Planet Hollywood and had huge speakers blasting the game's audio.
Check out our video to get an idea of how awesome it was (that is, for everyone not paying for a room in the hotel).
Born of the satellite solutions provider Globalstar Inc, the SPOT Assist roadside GPS safety network is positioned to give OnStar a run for its money.
The company says that it is the world's first satellite-based roadside GPS safety service. Unlike OnStar -- a cellular based emergency system offered electively on GM models -- the SPOT Assist relies on GPS tracking and satellite communications. Its Track Progress feature even sends and saves locations and allows emergency contacts to track progress using Google Maps.
Sleep? Sleep is for people who aren't covering tech shows. For the better part of last week, the "sleep" concept didn't even enter into the equation for us.
Instead, we of the PCMag blogs spent our week running around the Las Vegas Convention Center floor and jetting between meetings and keynotes at the Venetian and Sands hotels. Heck, we even managed to set aside a little time to check out the Adult Expo happening right next door at the Sands.
We have the blog posts to prove it. After the jump, check out the entire list of CES 2009 posts from Gearlog, Appscout, and GoodCleanTech. And for more video goodness, be sure to check out the official Gearlog YouTube page.
Now, if you don't mind, it's time for our well-deserved post-CES weeklong nap.
I received an e-mail from CEA this morning with this subject line: "CES Electrifies the Global Economy." Honestly, I ignored it, initially. First of all, I'm pretty much done talking about the show for another year. And second, after working in technology journalism for years, I've grown accustomed to this kind of unprovoked self-congratulation.
I wouldn't suggest that CES 2009 wasn't a monster of a show. It was huge. I managed to walk every inch of the showroom floor and almost killed myself in the process. Still, now that the smoke has cleared, it's hard not to raise an eyebrow at that subject header.
I had to scramble when asked by some colleagues to cull together a list of the show's biggest hits. The floor is always largely occupied by minor products--I spotted a ton of iPod, Wii, and Guitar Hero knockoffs trying to pass themselves off as innovations. That's nothing new. However, coming out of last year's show, I remember a lot more clear winners. At the moment, I'm struggling to name many beyond a few obvious choices--like, say, the Palm Pre.
At CES last week, NVidia showed a demo of its new GeForce 3D Vision on a 40-plus-inch screen playing Guitar Hero. (For more details on the product, click here). I threw a pair of the glasses over over camera to give you an idea of what rock'in in 3D is like. Clearly, you won't get the full effect--but you'll be able to see some difference. In person, it was pretty amazing.
It turns out that Sony and Amazon aren't the only two companies in the eBook game, these days. A (unfortunately named) company called Astak has just tossed its motarboard into the ring with the Mentor.
This eBook reader features a 9.5-inch screen, stylus-ready touchscreen, displaying pages at 8.5 x 11-inches. The device has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, 4GB of built-in memory, and should be able to display around 5,000 pages on a single charge, according to the company.
The device also has an SD card slot, and, like pretty much everything else these days, can play Mp3s.
The Taiwan San Tyau company claims that their eTape is "the first breakthrough in measuring." I'm not sure I'd agree with that. I'd probably give that award to, say, something like the cubit. Still, this is one of the few recent innovations we've seen in the world of tape measuring.
The eTape features an LED screen that displays the measurements you take with the device's 16 foot blade. The tool can also memorize measurements, adjust case lengths, and convert measurements between standard and metric.
Also, is it just me, or is this the first tape measure you've seen to so blatantly bear Apple's design influence?
It should come as no surprise to those who read Gearlog with any regularity when I say that we're all big fans of robots here. Among the many opportunites that CES affords us every year is the chance to check out the latest and greatest consumer robots on the market.
After the jump, check out a few of our favorite 'bots from the showroom floor.
I have to say, I was really taken with these tiny speakers. Released by Japanese iPod accessory manufacturer, So Jet, there's not really all that much to the Mini Mini Speakers.
They've got an 1/8-inch jack, an on/off switch, and a mini-USB port, for audio in. The Mini Mini Speakers come in both black and a variety of brighter colors.
They don't get great sound and aren't yet available in the States, but they'd make a cool little traveling companion, should they ever arrive on out shores.
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