&bids&type&subid

Computer Times
January 2006

Return to Computer Times home page

By: Terrance Kibiloski
Editor, Computer Times

The best word to describe the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is "overwhelming." As an educator, I was overwhelmed by all of the new products that will soon affect the way we will have to teach to compete, the convergence of industries that have a host of acronyms that I have never even seen before, and the "matter of fact" attitude of the under 25 crowd who take this all in stride as it is "their life." I now know how the dinosaurs felt as they became extinct. I am now running, no racing, technologically speaking, to stay ahead of the freeze so I don't get frozen in the past. I strongly recommend that all faculty start paying attention to the technology revolution that is currently taking place, briefly described below, before they too began to feel the ice forming around them.

This show was by far the largest technology show I have ever attended. It hosted more than 150,000 attendees from 110 countries who saw the introduction of thousands of new products and technologies from more than 2,500 exhibitors. This year, CES definitely lived up to its billing as the world's largest technology tradeshow as it occupied every seemingly square foot of convention space, suite space, and conference rooms in all of Las Vegas. The main show filled the convention space at the Las Vegas Hilton, the Las Vegas Convention Center, Alexis Park, Venetian Congress Center, and a good portion of the Sands Expo and Convention Center. One floor of the Sands Expo and Convention Center was filled with exhibitors in town for the Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE), which made strange bedfellows.

CES representatives took care of press very well. As Technology Liaison Chair for Sullivan University, and also Editor of Computer Times, along with two other Computer Times editors, we were allowed on the show floor for three days before it was open to the public. Press were also invited to several events where we could have "hands on" demos of many of the new products. During this time, we were able to personally meet with over 300 exhibitors. At these press events, we had the opportunity to talk with many of the designers and engineers of the products. We were able to give them feedback on what we would like to see in future versions, and we received detailed information about their current products.

Once the show was open to the public, it was a real circus. Imagine a booth that would dwarf our library at Sullivan main campus. That was about the size of the Samsung booth, or should I say the Samsung world. Most major vendors had similar "worlds" created on the show floor, right on down to the more standard booths that you might see at the Kentucky State Fair. While I have more details further down in this trip report about Microsoft's new Vista operating systems, other keynote announcements, and many interesting facts about the show, I thought I'd show you a very small sampling of the thousands of products to give you a flavor for this feast of technology.

The SkyScout ($399) is a handheld device from Celestron that uses advanced Global Positioning System (GPS) technology with point and click convenience to instantly identify thousands of stars, planets, and constellations. When you point the SkyScout at any star in the sky and click the target button, it will instantly tell you what object you are targeting. You can also locate a star or planet by selecting the object's name from the SkyScout menu and follow the directional arrows through the viewfinder. SkyScout tells you when you are on target. Once you have targeted an object, the SkyScout presents entertaining and educational audio and text information, including facts, trivia, history and mythology about our most popular celestial objects. The SkyScout personal planetarium puts the knowledge of an expert astronomer in the palm of your hand.

Saitek's new A-250 is a $129 wireless 2.1 speaker system that is intended to play music stored on the hard drive of your desktop PC or laptop. It uses Class One Bluetooth technology that can wirelessly pick up a stream of music from up to 100 feet away and through walls. [No more listening to videos through those annoying projection device speakers.]

The new $80 Air Rage BladeRunner II™ radio-controlled indoor helicopter features a proprietary co-axial rotor design to minimize unwanted torque effects, allowing exact hover control and extremely stable flight characteristics. It is powered by a state-of-the-art onboard rechargeable battery pack. There is no tether and the helicopter features long flight times. You can hover it in one spot with complete control, then spin it left or right and fly it backwards and forwards while remaining in complete command. Landings are fully controlled and gentle. This model is amazing, and it does not take experience with model aircraft to fly it. BladeRunner II comes with everything needed to be flying within minutes: remote control transmitter, flight battery, charger and instructions.

Samsung's new YM-P1 handheld DVR lets you record TV directly to the unit's 20GB hard drive for later viewing on the unit's 4-inch screen, or you can play back your shows to the TV. It will be available in February and cost about $400.

Planet82's SMPD sensor chip can capture an image in a digital camera when a camera with the standard CCD chip cannot. While the chip can now only capture black & white images, company reps say that color capture is on the horizon. If this chip delivers as it appears it will, flash may no longer be needed in digital cameras. [This could be great for security in dark parking lots at night.]

Lego's next-generation Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics invention system has light, touch, and sound sensors and an ultrasonic sensor introduced to detect movement, that lets you build your own walking robot. Step-by-step instructions for as many as 18 robots will be provided in the kit when it comes out in August for $250.

 For about $100 you can get another new product called loc8tor (pronounced locator) which uses fingertip-sized tags and a handheld tracker to find those keys or wallets you're always misplacing. [No more excuses for being late.]

Marantz' ZR6001SP uses a home's existing wiring to distribute music around the house. The system consists of two parts: the ZR6001 Audio/Video receiver, and the ZC4001 Client, a self-powered all-in-one box that includes two stereo speakers. It will be out in the spring for around $1300. [Lots of new audio and video devices were at the show. Prices should be dropping soon.]

Not available until later this year, ViewSonic's innovative one pound PJ106D is the smallest palm-sized projector yet. The PJ106D delivers sharp images with the digital clarity of DLP™ technology and is ideal for viewing digital photos, watching movies or games. It includes support for high definition (HD) signals and both standard (4:3) and widescreen (16:9) aspect ratios. It has multiple PC and video inputs and an SD card reader, plus the LED lamp boasts a long lamp life with virtually no heat output and nearly silent operation. The rechargeable battery lasts 2.5 hours. [Now you can easily take your show on the road.]

The Sony Reader, scheduled to ship in April for around $300, is slightly taller and wider than a standard paperback book but about only half as thick. It can store hundreds of volumes and display them one page at a time on a screen that uses innovative electronic-ink technology to eliminate the glare and flicker. You turn pages by pressing a button at the bottom, plus you can enlarge the text up to 200 percent. [Several speakers saw this as the textbooks of the future with instant updates as the texts are enhanced.]

ElekTex® smart fabric touchpad controls for iPod adds remote music and cell phone control functions for iPod and other audio devices directly into garments. It can be integrated into a garment in any position from the sleeve of a jacket to the pocket with no unsightly lumps or bumpy soft switches! ElekTex touchpad controls (at 0.6mm thick) work beneath any fabric overlay. You could also integrate iPod® controls into bags and backpacks, building them into the strap, flap or body of a bag for remote music control functions for iPod or Bluetooth cell phone operations. While this is not a consumer product, you should see some of this technology coming to market soon in a variety of products.

Creative's Zen Vision:M, to sell for around $330 on the Internet, is an iPod-like unit with a 2.5-inch-color screen, 30GB hard drive, an FM tuner, a voice recorder, and support for a wide variety of video formats--DivX, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV, XviD, etc. Creative promises four hours of video playback from its battery.

That is just a sprinkling of the thousands of products that were at the show. In addition to the products aimed at consumers, there were many companies with products aimed at business. In fact, corporate buyers made up the majority of the attendees.

Unlike many of the COMDEX shows of the past that reached record high attendance from allowing entry to anyone over 16 years of age who had an interest in computers, CES focused their attendance on global executives from the consumer technology, broadcasting, cable, content, engineering, financial, motion picture, music and numerous other industries. These corporate decision makers heard from technology industry visionaries and viewed a spectacular showcase of hot new products and trends in audio, accessories, emerging technology, home networking, home theater, mobile electronics, video and wireless. Also, unlike COMDEX, which has been cancelled for the past two years and may never again see the light of day, CES is a glowing beacon attracting every aspect of technology, including many of the companies that were never at CES when COMDEX was alive and well. This convergence of companies was mirrored in the convergence of products, which was summed up by John Stratton, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon when he stated that when you leave home you reach for your keys, wallet and cell phone. He sees the cell phone as the platform for converging all the technology from an MP3 player, a video player, a digital camera, a GPS device, an e-mail and voice mail control center, a mobile PC and a storage device.

In addition to being a product showplace, the 2006 International CES included a star-studded array of 350 industry luminaries serving as keynoters, industry insiders and conference speakers. The show kicked-off with a keynote from Microsoft's Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates and included keynote presentations from Sony Chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, Yahoo! Chairman and CEO Terry Semel and Google Co-founder and President of Products Larry Page. Additionally, Industry Insider presentations from Dell Chairman and Founder Michael Dell, Kodak Chairman and CEO Antonio Perez, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and retail executives from Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA and Radio Shack gave attendees exclusive insights into the top trends and issues impacting the industry.

CES had a lot of celebrities to promote various products. There were NFL football greats at Samsung's booth; Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, and producer Brian Grazer at Sony Chairman Sir Howard Stringer's keynote; Tom Cruise and Ellen DeGeneres at Yahoo CEO Terry Semel's speech; Justin Timberlake joining Bill Gates on stage during the Microsoft exec's keynote; and Robin Williams at Google co-founder Larry Page's talk. XM Radio's booth had Snoop Dogg and Donny Osmond appearing an hour apart. What a combination! Russian chess grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk appeared at a booth that marketed an electronic chess game that bears her name and speaks in her voice. Morgan Freeman and Quincy Jones were also sighted. Comedian Dana Carvey performed at the preshow press reception, CES Unveiled, sponsored by Verizon.

With so many booths and so little time, many enterprising product managers had a gimmick to get you to come by their booth. Lenmar took the standard Las Vegas approach by having a slot machine at their booth. If you matched up the proper three symbols on one of your three free spins, you would win an iPod Nano. Sprint took a different route to get attention. Sprint gave courtesy rides on the Monorail linking the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Strip. Anyone with a cell phone that supported text messaging could send a message to a special number or dial a toll-free number (both helpfully displayed on signs outside the Convention Center station), you got back a text message with a code that you then showed to attendants who gave out free one-way tickets.

To the credit of the show's management, they organized the exhibitors into TechZones. For example, Mobile technology was highlighted on the show floor at two specialized TechZones in the North Hall. The Automotive Aftermarket Showcase featured the latest products and accessories in the automotive aftermarket industry, while the Digital Car/Telematics TechZone focused on convergence, communications, entertainment, navigation and security technologies that make car travel easier and more enjoyable.

Innovations Plus at the Sands also featured the largest concentration of market-specific TechZones at the 2006 International CES. Emerging technologies such as Robotics, USB and IPTV had dedicated TechZones to display the companies and products new to each market. Other innovative TechZones at Innovations Plus included Bluetooth, Cardio Play, Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), Portable Audio, Portable Power, Studio@Home and Zigbee Alliance.

This year's International CES housed 199 conference and SuperSessions, enabling attendees to hear from top industry professionals on key technologies and trends including the latest emerging developments in the wireless industry.

The pre-show keynote address, held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 4, 2006, at the Las Vegas Hilton, was given by Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation. Gates talked about this being the decade of Digital Lifestyles, and this year seeing the launch of [Windows] Vista, Office 12 and many other key convergence products. He also predicted the realization of [Windows] Media Center as a volume mainstream product.

In this decade of Digital Lifestyles, Gates envisioned having virtually all devices working together to create a Digital Workstyle with your calendar, contacts, and rich communications and entertainment done in a very different way.

Gates stated, "...this cross-device approach is a very, very important approach. In fact, that's complemented by the fact that there will be what we call Live services where a lot of your files, your information will actually be stored out in the Internet, and even if you pick somebody else's device up, once you authenticate, all that information becomes available to you. So moving between different PCs can be a very, very easy thing.

During Gates keynote, he demonstrated the new Windows Vista, which will be released at the end of 2006 with a brand new user interface. All the applications are actually surrounded by glass. It gives you the opportunity to see what's in front, but it also gives you a sense of depth and seeing what's happening behind itself. Windows Vista also gives you an entirely new way to switch between applications, Flip 3D. Flip 3D moves all of your applications into a 3-D space, allowing you to scroll through them with arrow keys or quickly with a mouse.

The next innovation to watch for is the Windows Sideshow. The next generation of Windows PCs may have a small LCD screen built right into the side of the laptop, as demonstrated by Gates. Essentially it gives you some small applications or gadgets, providing some specific functionality. One of these applications, which you can use without even powering up the laptop, is the calendar application. Once Vista is released, I am sure we will see a lot of unique Sideshow applications developed.

Gates introduced Van Toffler, the president of MTV Networks, to announce a new venture between MTV and Microsoft called URGE which will bring to market a unique approach to digital music. This approach will be focused on a sense of musical discovery, along with access to millions of songs, an opportunity to listen to over a hundred radio stations, and a chance to learn about the roots of songs and lyrics. Plus there will be interaction with hundreds of artists and access to their play lists of must-haves.

In the Windows Mobile area, Gates stated that Microsoft has more than a hundred Smart Phones out now with 93 mobile operators in 55 countries. He said that Microsoft will ship more than five million devices in 2006, including a lot of new devices. He showed one wireless phone for the home from Phillips that has all of the standard features that you now have in a wireless phone, plus the ability to do messenger voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calls. You just push a button and you get your messenger buddy list that is completely up to date. You can then scroll through it, pick anyone, see their presence data and call them through the Internet. This is called the Windows Live Call Services that come through their partner MCI.

Gates also shared his vision of software working on your behalf, creating an individualized video feed to you, to the screen that you're watching. That means that the ads can be targeted to you, based on the things that you're interested in, so you won't want to skip over ads as much as you do now. This platform will lead to creativity in doing shows of all types: learning, game, and sport shows with extra information and multiple views.

Gates then went on to demonstrate Media Center, a special version of Windows that has shipped over 6.5 million for portable devices that are anywhere you want to get media. Microsoft is also partnering with people who provide video connections. One is DIRECTV to get their video onto the Windows Media Center PC, into their portable devices, and to Xbox 360, so these Media Centers will let you enjoy the high definition and normal definition DIRECTV content and take that away on a portable media device.

Gates stated that Xbox Live doesn't only connect people around the world via games and entertainment. It also offers access to high definition content. Xbox Live marketplace is a one-stop digital download center where you can access high definition games, music, and movie content from their leading industry partners. There is also Xbox Live arcade, where hundreds of thousands of people are downloading and playing casual, classic, puzzle and new action pack games like Joust or Geometry Wars or Hearts.

In the opening keynote address at 9 a.m. on Thursday, January 5, 2006, at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater, Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman & CEO, Sony Corp. said that the "the relationship between content, technology and the consumer is being turned upside down. Or, more accurately, right side up. Content is no longer pushed at consumers. Content is pulled by them. Pulled when they want it. Pulled where they want it. How they want it. And often even in the precise format in which they want it. The whole world is essentially plugged in and turned on."

Stringer went on, "As some of you may know, I've been a teacher for quite a while, and I can already tell that eBooks are going to be wonderful for education. Soon, students will be able to carry all of their textbooks in a single book (no more 12-year-olds lugging 50-pound backpacks to the bus stop). More importantly, a student's textbook will always be current...always be the newest edition - and that's even in school districts that can't afford to buy new books every year."

Stringer talked about how The PlayStation Portable (PSP) works with Sony's Location Free® technology to let you watch your favorite programs any time, from anywhere in the world. With a base station connected to your home entertainment system, you can use your PSP to remotely access personal videos, your DVD collection, television shows recorded on your personal video recorder (PVR) or even live television broadcasts. Location Free works remotely with a broadband wireless connection to the PlayStation Portable and also to a VAIO or other PC. You can watch American television from a hotel room in London or British television from a hotel room in Tokyo. [VAIO is an acronym for "Video Audio Integrated Operation" and is a brand slogan for many of Sony's computer products.]

While this may seem like a article, it barely scratches the surface of the new technology that will be affecting the way we teach, learn, work and live. Now, the real work begins. I must have requested 100 or more products for review, and they are already arriving at my office door. While I may be home from the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show, there is little time to waste. The 2007 International CES will be held January 8-11, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

&bids&type&subid

Go to top of page

Return to Computer Times home page