CES 2009 Briefing

A few thoughts on CES 2009

My Photo Gallery form CES

Storage
A shift happens when something becomes so plentiful it is almost free. New applications and economies erupt. So it goes with digital storage. Thanks to MP3 compression, cheap micro hard drives and plentiful flash ram, iPods, and even a few other digital music players proliferated. Movies and TV, especially HD needs an order of magnitude more space than music. NAS or Networked attached storage was something known only to Network engineers a few short years ago. They have been part of the storage solution for professionals for nearly over decade, offering a simple way to add mass storage, without new servers and even more expensive arrays. Over the last couple of years these devices have migrated to the consumer level and this year they are poised to become an essential appliance for millions of homes swimming in digital media. Offerings from HP, LinkSys, LG, Samsung, Sony and others, provide consumers plug-n-play mass storage for all media types on their home networks. Many feature removable drive bays so that you can reload anytime with better, bigger and cheaper devices.

Most impressive is the progress in flash memory in the form of memory sticks and SD cards. There is a shift going from gigabytes to terabytes that makes it viable for the consumer as well as the professional to record, shoot, transfer and go mobile with an almost unlimited canvas.


Connected Consumers
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was quoted in USA Today (August 8th 2008) in an article entitled Martin wants broadband across USA quotes Martin: "There's a social obligation in making sure everybody can participate in the next generation of broadband services because, increasingly, that's what people want." Of course one persons broadband is another persons super-slow. Ask your average Internet user in Seoul about the “broadband” speed in the US and they will wonder why our Internet is broken.

However it happens, I am betting that the US is well on its way to nearly ubiquitous Internet access at relatively high speeds wired or wireless. WiMax is being rolled out via Sprint and Clearwire under the Xohm brand (www.xohm.com). It will be a less expensive ($35/month for home service, $30/month for mobile) alternative to DSL or Cable ISPs and will be able to provide access in areas not yet reached by DSL or digital CATV. Cheap wireless broadband fuels the need for cheap mobile internet devices beyond the current gen of smartphones and laptops. The iPod Touch is an example, which is found a bevy of bedfellows although iPhone-like smartphones will continue to enjoy double-digit growth. The LG DARE, Vu and VOYAGER hold up well to any iPhone with additional tactical feedback and mobile TV capabilities. That last point is not to be overlooked. Mobile TV can use a separate radio band and deliver 20 some channels of crisp TV to a handheld device. They are common in South Korea, which uses the DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) standard. In the US Qualcomm’s Media Flo has gripped some traction. I will bet that Mobile TV will catch on to sustainable degree. Other companies such as MobiTV (www.mobitv.com) are delivering TV content re-formatted for mobile IP delivery. This will be slow to catch-on in the US because we are already immersed in TV. But inevitably I believe it will find a critical mass following via mobile Internet devices or very cheap dedicated receivers.

Of greater significance to me this year is the connected home, moving beyond simple WiFi to seamless interoperation between a wide varieties of devices. DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance, www.dlna.org ) has caught on as an industry standard. According to their representative, about 4,000 devices have been certified. Once one of these devices is on, it automatically senses the network and can share functions and files with other devices. Music players, phones, storage devices and yes, HD TVs become connected with now set-up beyond a password. Watch your phone on your flat screen and play your music collection from your laptop to your WiFi music player. Add this to the mix with broadband and the promise of convergence is substantially fulfilled.

Convergence Delivered
Nothing is one-thing, everything is many things. Phones are full blown 8 megapixel, GPS aware cameras (LG Renoir) and, music players are mobile TVs, TVs are Internet Appliances. Witness the offerings of connected Blu-Ray Players with IP onboard. They Stream YouTube, Netflix, Pandora and other content services via wired and wireless Ethernet. The Samsung HT-BD8200 Home Theater in a Box includes a sound system and optional WiFi. Panasonic’s Viera Cast lineup has a connected BD Player as well as LG BD300 Network Blu-Ray Disc Player. Samsung has partnered with Yahoo to add “Widgets” to its TVs for accessing Internet content without leaving your couch. Sony has a full lineup of new, connected “Bravia” HDTV’s with both built, and outboard optional IP.

HD TV
Brighter, bigger, clearer, sharper, better contrast, more vibrant colors, endless options price points, HD TV is still being touted as the centerpiece for convergence in every home and almost any budget. Panasonic, LG, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony all have a mind numbing selection of sets at nearly every size, and price. New brands have come on the scene such as China’s Haier, which made the leap from white goods and digital music players. At a nominal $1,355 for its 47 inch HL47K, you will be likely to find this alongside the Vizio 47’ SV470XVT at $1,399 at Wall Mart, where you won’t find Sony’s top of the line Bravia KDL-46XBR8 46 inch. For comparison, and to illustrate the range, the latter model’s MSRP is $4,699. It will take an entire class session to analyze the specs on HDTV’s. In summary, they will continue to offer better value, better imagery, leaner profiles and more connectivity via direct Internet access and home networks.

3D TVs were also gaining momentum and are clearly headed towards some degree of commercial viability. The 2009 Super Bowl on Feb 1st will feature the first 3D Superbowl spot form Pepsi (The SoBe Lifewater Lizard), Intel and NBC. There will also be a 3D trailer for the Dreamworks Monster Vs Aliens movie. 125 million 3D promotional glasses will have been distributed, possibly giving some folks a taste for more 3D TV.

Philanthropy
www.smallthingschallenge.com
“At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $1/day and 75 million children worldwide are not in school.” So says the promo for the Intel sponsored Small Things Challenge. The Chairman of Intel, Craig Barrett, and Chairman and CEO of Cisco, John Chambers, presented their views of the world and how appropriate application of technology can help developing countries. Both agree that the highest priorities should be education and health care. Without those societies are not sustainable. Barrett showed off the durable cheap classroom PC (Save the Children Foundation) and how Intel has funded mobile bus computer classrooms in India. Both Chambers and Barrett demonstrated cost effective telemedicine health care solutions. Mr. Barrett using a live video conference to a remote clinic in India, and Mr. Chambers showing off the Cisco telemedicine “Booth” complete with consulting physician in Africa.\

Misc. Random Standouts

• Wearable personal camera www.vievu.com

• LG 3G Watch Phone
  (http://www.lge.com/about/press_release/detail/21062.jhtml )
  LG hits it out of the park with one designed by PRADA. This thing is sleek with a touch screen and a Global dual mode (GSM and UMTS) transceiver along with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA. If you don’t know about those acronyms, take my class. Who cares, its still amazingly cool to have a real Dick Tracy / Star Trek watch. Of course it has a built-in still / video camera for making video calls to the mother ship.
  

• Rhapsody Ibiza personal multimedia player (http://www.haieramerica.com/en/ibiza )In the challengers to the iPod / iTouch category The Ibiza. Made by Chinese digital media upstart Haier, this has WiFi, FM Radio, touch pad, bright clear screen, 30GB HDD and 4/8 GB Flash RAM. Coupled with Rhapody, you have almost any song anytime anywhere.
  

• The Tonium Pacemaker
  An all-in-one palm sized portable music player and D.J. Mixer! Complete with a community to share you mixes at www.pacemaker.net . Its like holding two turntables and a mixing console in one hand.
  

I always balance out CES with a day on the rocks...

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