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Neat Stuff In Sin City: CES 2004
Even for convention-happy Vegas, CES is one of the city's biggest annual events -- approximately 120,000 attendees and more than 2,000 vendors have gathered to sell, buy or window-shop all sorts of electronic and related products, from high-end turntables (for pre-digital music stored on extruded polyvinyl) to message-scrolling LED badges, batteries and chargers, metal detectors, digital cameras, strange-looking MP3 jukeboxes, LED-strewn computer cases, and more.
Repeat: CES is not necessarily about computers -- at least it's not centered around devices with keyboards, rectangular CPUs and monitors. There's plenty of computer industry action here -- Michael Dell is one of the keynote speakers, for instance, and several of the biggest exhibitors are computer manufacturers -- but the "consumer" part of Consumer Electronics Show is an unsubtle hint that anything which beeps, glows, plays recorded music, takes batteries, or has a circuit board buried somewhere within is fair game. (I'll skip details on some of the products that slip past even this catch-all description, among them ceramic figurines and other gimcracks.) There are companies represented who will cast your industrial design in aluminum, and one which will let you do the shaping yourself, but in plastic. There's no way to see everything here; here are some impressions of what I did see, though.
May I interest you in a humongous television?
Plasma and LCD displays are everywhere at CES, in the form of new but current products, prototypes to whet your appetite for next year, and as visual aids selling other products. The ongoing switch in the U.S. to digital broadcasting and the uncertainty attached to early adopter purchases generally make me glad not to be in desperate need of a television right now, but the home-entertainment hardware on display is enough to make my eyes water. LG, both inside the show and on a billboard outside the convetion, proclaims that they have the world's first 76" plasma television (their booth has this on display, and many smaller ones as well), while Samsung's giant blue-themed booth tops that by featuring a crowd-paralyzing 80" model; people stood to watch the demo loop, which was mostly natural imagery rather than the bikini show running on many other companies' sets.
(This display, and LG's 76" model, brings up a point that seems to generalize well to many of the claims made at CES and in less overt marketing circumstances as well: Samsung calls theirs the world's first 80" plasma TV, but they also are showing a 70" model inexplicably labeled "The World's First Plasma TV." These companies are far from the only ones making dubious contradictory claims; the standard of evidence to be a "world's first" at CES seems lower than you might expect.)
TV and monitor overload is easy: Toshiba, Panasonic, Sony, Philips, Sony, Aquos (made by Sharp), Daewoo, Apex, ViewSonic, and other brands more or less familiar to electronics-friendly American householders all had their LCD displays out, both computer-only and TV-friendly devices. So did low-end, badge-stamping names like LennoxSound and Coby; some of the Coby displays had lifelike paper screen mockups rather than actual moving images. (If you're in the market for a flat-screen television, beware that some LCD televisions are really only monitors; if you need a tuner, don't assume one is built it.)
LCD computer monitors are now so mainstream that nothing stands out as spectacular in what I saw of this year's crop, though it's nice to see that bigger models are eroding 20" as a gigantic-LCD standard and pushing it down to merely large: suffice it to say, 20" LCDs may remain in the high end of computer displays for a little while, but far larger ones are now at the high end.
While on the topic of big-screen displays, two products from InFocus stand out: First is their 7"-thick, 61" screen (the model is labeled Screenplay RPTV; this may change before it ships), which is easy to confuse with a plasma model, but it's not -- it's actually a rear-projection system that's had its guts folded into a silvery rectangle taking up about a foot of vertical space beneath the display's screen. This rearrangement means it lacks the spare, picture-frame look of most plasma TVs, but the result still whips old-style console sets. Pricing is not yet set (it's not shipping until later this year), and smiling InFocus representatives deflected the question of price from several people, including me, only hinting that it would be cheaper than similarly-sized plasma models. And only your aesthetics and stud placement can determine whether a near-100-pound television qualifies as "hangable" for you. A 70" version is set to follow.
The second product, happily, does have a price; unhappily, that price is $2700. That much money buys you their LP120 model, introduced earlier this year, which InFocus says is the smallest XGA projector on the market -- it's about the size of a 5-pound block of cheddar cheese, weighs less (a hair less than two pounds) and has to be seen to be believed. It sits strictly in the middle end of the brightness scale (1000 lumens) but on the moderately lit convention floor, the image is actually hard to distinguish from that of a non-projected screen. I'm not sure at what price I would buy this (I would really like to take a projector this size along with me, everywhere), but at almost three grand (and replacement bulbs are the industry-norm 2000/hour life, $300-400 replacement cost) this is for business travelers and jillionaires more than those of us who'd like to watch "L.A. Confidential" in a hotel room.
Black boxes for your humongous television.
The electronics industry would obviously like you to buy a big (expensive) display of some sort, and they're happy to help supply moving images to make it worthwhile. "Convergence boxes," with different logos on the front, but with for the most part similar capabilities and interfaces, are on display from many manufacturers. Convergence is like perfection, though -- the pursuit is worthy, but ongoing. There will always be new file formats, media, and output devices to fold in.
Drawing a composite sketch, this year's standard-issue convergence box runs embedded Linux like TiVo (for instance Daewoo's DX C811N Digital Video Recorder) and in many cases the TiVo name (under license), holds a hard drive from 80-120GB (like Toshiba and Panasonic are offering), features composite and S-Video outputs (nearly every maker), lets you record to DVD-RAM or DVD-RW/+RW, and is still at standard resolution (rather than High Definition). High Definition PVRs will eventually arrive in force; I bet they'll be next year's big trend of the show. Also next year, you'll probably see more all-in-one boxes which can play back WMV files; one Microsoft display area was showing off the first WMV-capable DVD player, the Malata DiVA DVR-489. Confusingly enough, a few feet away Microsoft was giving out sample DVDs with WMV format high-density program examples; these can't be played back (for now) in anything but a PC running Windows; the Malata and similar, soon-to-market players are for standard definition only.
(The Daewoo PVR I mentioned, by the way, is really a different beast altogether, built for things like monitoring multiple security cameras: I lust for the built-in 8-way video multiplexer).
Considering that PVRs are becoming ever more commoditized, I hope that Apex's prototype PVR-9280 (with a DVD burner as well as an internal hard drive) becomes a reality. When I asked about that, Sal Fiore from Apex did what a lot of exhibitors at CES have to do: he hedged, resorting to a smile and calling it "a definite possibility." Though known as at best a medium-grade electronics brand, Apex has followed the path of eMachines by making more impressive products over the last few years. I'd be happy to find the PVR equivalent to today's low-end DVD players.
On the high end, though, Samsung was showing a working and very polished looking Blu-Ray recorder, which they say will be able to store up to two hours of high density programming (and 12 hours of standard) per Blu-Ray disk. (Blu-Ray, mentioned briefly here, is an optical format storing up to 27GB on a CD-sized disk.)
And now for something completely obscure ...
Since I'm in the market for a portable Ogg Vorbis player, I've asked at several of the manufacturer's booths whether they plan to support it, and specifically whether they will sell CD-based units with Vorbis decoders. (I've been encoding my CDs to Vorbis for the last few years; YMMV, but I like it.)
The results are about what I'd expect: a polite "not on our radar screen" is the gist of responses from representatives at Creative, Sony, and nearly all the other Big Names; at the lower-end makers booths (who, after all, make things like $40 MP3 CD players available at mass-market retailers), I never even found anyone who'd heard of Ogg. iRiver is the current standout in this regard, since they're releasing firmware to make their CD-based players Ogg-friendly; I'll be visiting iRiver's product lounge soon to take a look at their current lineup. I also found flash-based players from Samsung and Rio.
This isn't surprising in the crowded world of audio codecs: MP3 has the benefit of years of market saturation; Microsoft has the research and marketing clout to develop and license WMA; and the Apple touch, via ITMS, has make AAC a nearly overnight contender. (Microsoft was showing off in a dedicated booth a few dozen models of portable audio players, like the Rio Nitrus, that will play WMA files in addition to MP3s, including the smallest 20GB hard-drive based model I've yet encountered, the not-yet-in-the-U.S. Toshiba Gigabeat MEG200J. Think of portable audio as sculpted by Minox.)
However, I did find one working CD-based Ogg-playing portable (model MCD-CM600, part of the "Yepp" line) on display in the Samsung area. "On display" is pushing things; several examples of the player were on hand, but behind plexiglas as window dressing rather than as a demonstration product. A company representative did some Won-to-dollars calculation, and said the player is available in Korea for between $130-140 dollars at current exchange rates, but that Samsung had no current plans to sell it in the U.S.
Tomorrow, look for a report collecting some of the wackier (and stupider) stuff at the show -- like a Segway do-alike (sans balancing brains and with more wheels), the electronic home of the future as seen from 1982, interesting swag, and the sad fate of the Wurlitzer name.
But the real question is, did you go to Star Trek the Experience at the Hilton? Cuz if not, your review ain't worth shit, as you're not a true geek...
:)
Anxiously awaiting reply before taking article seriously...
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Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
http://www.immunitysec.com/
-dave
Yeah, David Cross made mention of that on his stand-up album "Stop Crying You Fucking Baby." The first floor is all sorts of gizmos and shit, the second... all porn. First floor: empty. Second floor: PACKED!
Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.
According to Intel, this time next year we will be enjoying 55" LCD and plasma screens for under $1,000.
I can't find the link right now, but I read an article saying that Intel had come up with a new semiconductor that would make these displays possible. The best part was that they should be on the shelves in the next 12 months (take that with plenty o' salt).
Did anyone else hear about this or know anymore?
Did anyone else misread the title as "Neat Stuff in Sim City: CES 2004".
Man, a CES show in my city, I knew it was too good to be true!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34804.html
Carly clearly show where HP stands on the issue of consumer rights.
If you watch the video she shows an example where HP DVD burners won't make back-ups of VHS tapes.
Since when did backups become illegal? HP is obviously choosing to ignore fair use rights.
Best portable *Compressed music file* player I have seen is easily the Rio Karma. Features include
* Platform independant Software
* Ethernet Socket (in addition to usual connectors)
* Smaller footprint than iPod
* Supports non DRM file formats including ogg, and flac.
Only minor gripe is that it doesnt look as nice as the iPod. (Although there is nothing inherently ulgy with the way it looks)
Rio Karma
technically speaking its a better player.
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
...when I say "where are the pictures of the booth babes?"
No.
CNet.com review
NewEgg.com listing
It doesn't look like the iHP-120 plays FLAC, but it is firmware upgradable so it may someday. USB mass storage device so it will work with Mac, Linux, and Windows without extra software (If that's important to you). The Rio Karma's ethernet interface is Java/Swing based, so you must have that on your computer. However, I don't own either of these, yet; this is just the research I have done. I'm seriously considering the iHP-120, but it is rather expensive.
I'm not shelling out any cash for a new display until I can get a true flatscreen display. This means I'll be waiting ~5+ more years for OLED, and flexible FOLED to hit the mainstream market.
Of course, this better and cheaper tech will canibalize the huge investments in current LCD/Plasma/etc, but that's not my problem. I'm just glad that the era of expensive, heavy, highly-toxic, energy-wasteful displays is almost over.
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Power to the Peaceful
AFAIK so far, here are the pros and cons of the Rio Karma 20GB vs. iRiver iHP-120:
Karma:
- Ethernet port
- FLAC support
- Mad on-the-fly playlisting capabilities (AutoDJ thingy)
iHP-120:
- Comes with inline remote with LCD (can do everything you could with the main unit afaik)
- Is completely plug-and-use as a generic hard drive for at least semi-modern OS-es (the Karma needs special software for transferring files)
- FM tuner
- Voice recording
- Mad i/o and recording capabilities (line in/out, optical in/out)
What stands out is that, asides from the Karma's ethernet port, the iRiver's advantages are hardware-based, while the Karma's are software, meaning there's a good chance of the iRiver gaining some of them as well later through a firmware upgrade (of course, I wouldn't count on it, but it's something to be considered). Other than that, it basically depends on what you need it for.
Work is punishment for failing to procrastinate effectively.
Flat panel TV's are becoming more and more impressive... and they'd sure look nice in my living room. But why are they still so expensive? Even the small models. A 15" LCD TV would be perfect for my bedroom... by I'll be damned if I pay upwards of 600 Euro's for one, while a computer flat-panel LCD of the same dimensions costs less than half that. Somehow, I get the feeling I am being ripped off. It looks like some manufacturers of computer LCD screens agree with me... they're offering computer screens with a built-in tuner now, just for people like me who'll just rip the thing off its socket and hang it in their bedroom.
I'm glad to see that LCD projectors have come down in price. Since I watch a lot of movies but very little else, buying a big flat panel TV would be a really bad compromise: I'd still have this big thing sitting in my living room (even though smaller than a really large TV), and I'd have to pay some ridiculous price for it. No thanks... I just got a nice LCD projector. Do yourself a favour, dump the TV, and get a 1200 lumen entry-level model for 1100 Euro's, and a good roll-up projection screen for another 200. You'll never even think about flat-panel TVs anymore...
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
If the projector were really (somehow) made of cheddar cheese, it wouldn't work too well, now would it? So they make it from moon cheese, which is both bright (hence the moon's high visibility at night), and lightweight (due to the moon's low gravity) - both being highly desirable in a projector.
Sheesh!
In front of God and everyone, Bill Gates categorically denied any involvement in the entire SCO fiasco and stated in no uncertain terms that he hopes that Linux "breaks the back of SCO".
I checked at the Vatican Press Office, but apparently God has not issued a statement on this. Readers are cautioned to wait for an official statement before placing faith in Bill's denial.
Good Mr. Finklestein:
While it's nice that you have other sources of information available regarding CES, and believe them to be better than timothy's work, the fact remains that he's a staff member of Slashdot and is generating content for the site.
How can he be expected to improve his skills over time, writing about the important events in technology, without making at least an effort to write more stories?
Slashdot and many sites like it consist mostly of links to other content-generating sites, themselves writing articles and doing the actual on-the-prowl research. One of the ways Slashdot can definitely improve itself is to encourage more and more "home-grown" articles, written by staff members, and then work with the staff from the many, many comments that each story generates. While this "learning curve" probably turns off folks who are expecting a full-on technical publication staffed with the top-flight of writers, the fact is that this site is nontheless popular and might as well make the occasional attempt to tell the story from their own, unique point of view.
I do agree that an opening paragraph in which the writer says "The following (link) (link) (link) write-ups are out for CES, and here's my impressions" would be a small mark better, allowing readers to get comparitive views (something that the publications you mentioned will not do), but I think disparaging his "editor" title was uncalled for.
- Jason Scott
textfiles.com: Your Cure For a Broken Heart
I've heard one reason 15" LCD TVs are more expensive is that they use fairly expensive electronics to drive the scaler and deinterlacer, even in small TVs, and when coupled with the tuner and other electronics it really does add up to more money than a 15" LCD monitor, but that leaves me wondering why Apex hasn't released a bargain basement one coupling low-budget VGA-out type TV tuners to low-budget LCD panels and delivering a TV in the $500 range.
Another quesiton -- why can't I buy a desktop LCD monitor with the same size and native resolution as they make for laptops? My laptop display is maybe 15" but does 1400 x 1050. All the 15" LCDs I can find are only good for 1024 x 768 (there might be an oddball that does 1280, but usually they soak you for the 17" model).
And speaking of laptops, why haven't the laptop industry made its VGA and video-out ports on its laptops *bi-directional*? I can think of plenty of times when it would have been great to just use my laptops display. And while we're doing that, let's just integrate a TV tuner into the display chip (a laptop with an All-In-Wonder type chipset).
You probably haven't noticed a small device that stands a chance of replacing PVRs. If you're still at CES, look for MVP by Hauppauge and check it out.
;) Hell, you can probably even watch those divx movies you downloaded off the net.
In a few words, it uses an ethernet connection to connect to a computer with the video data, then just forwards it to the TV over RCA or S-video cables.
Who needs a VCR that takes up space if you can record TV directly to your computer and then watch it on the TV in the comfort of your living room (that is, if you have one
Did you know that "FTW" ("for the win") is a direct translation of "Sieg Heil"?