CES 2009: Day 4 Summary

Jan 10 2009

Although the CES show floor will remain open two more days, after roaming the South and Central LVCC halls, Mari and I have concluded our exhibit visitations. There’s only so much one can take in at a show this massive, and we both have a backlog of content which should keep us writing for several more days.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m fairly selective in the schwag I accept. In fact, I didn’t even redeem the coupon for a press bag this year. The messenger isn’t great, and I’m not sure how much promotion I want to do for Toshiba. On the other hand, Day 3 schwag honors go to the CntrStg blogger headquarters and Skooba. Their laptop bag is much higher quality, as in it’ll get used, and has brands/logo I’m happy to display. Speaking of wearable advertising, I’m also pleased with my Slacker and Ooma t-shirt acquisitions. But Day 4 schwag honors go to TiVo, for providing hand sanitizer – quite practical given the continual hand shaking and gadget fondling. Although, I received it far too late in my journey to fend off a cold.

And, without further ado, here’s our earlier coverage:

Posts

Slacker Radio Arrives on Blackberry & iPhone
The New Remotes of CES
Hava Introduces Sociable TV… And More
Kid Tech
Kodak in the Living Room
Xbox 360 IPTV Initiaitive Isn’t Dead

Tweets

Always amused when PR people and exhibitors ask about site revenue. Doubt they’d be willing to disclose their salaries…
Debated Palm Pre with Ed Hardy and Kevin Tofel last night. I see no need for backwards PalmOS compatibility, they feel different.
Good to see Ryan Block (at the Drobo table) last night at ShowStoppers. Who I also talked Palm Pre with. I think he’s a believer.
@b_marriner I believe DVR could come to Boxee. It’d surely make it an all-in-one solution. But building that functionality is not trivial.
Speaking of which, @jtoeman’s done an amazing job building his business & promoting his clients. Four on display at ShowStoppers last night
@palmsolo The non-phone PDA market has died. Perhaps devices like the iPod Touch or Nokia N810 are filling that gap/need.
Someone has to say it: The new DISH/Sling touchpad remote is awful. (Vizio’s QWERTY prototype looks good, however.) http://bit.ly/4xSkDn
Yes, CES will go on! Now that I’ve found my camera battery charger, hiding amongst my packed socks.
Hoping to hit XStreamHD press conference, plus Moto, Cisco, iRiver, Archerfish booths today. Did DirecTV announce anything?
@phonescooper I’ve been much more productive at the CntrStg blogger lounge – quieter, continual food and drink, good net. And our “peeps”.
@geektonic DISH’s big announcement is the SlingDVR. I’ve seen some other things, but don’t know if they’ve been announced yet. Will check.
I’m thinking bloggers have it better than “real” press at CES this year. Just hopped on the private @cntrstg shuttle bus from Wynn to LVCC.
XStreamHD press conference canceled. That’s telling. And weak.
Dear Sprint PR, Intel still thinks it’s Xohm. May want to let them & Clearwire know. Or stop correcting me. *grin* http://twitpic.com/115h0
Just stumbled on a Samsung branded Intel powered tru2way DVR (for MSO deployment). http://twitpic.com/115mk
Microsoft Mediaroom rep says Xbox IPTV *not* dead! Trying to get more info…
Xbox Mediaroom IPTV coming to Xbox via BT in UK this year. Better let Chris Lanier know.
Moto rep seemed a bit torqued I didn’t want his water bottle in my pic. Guess booth manager didn’t explain to keep food off the gear.
iRiver wins the award for stylishly designed weird media convergence gadgets. But if I can’t figure out the UI in 30 secs, they have probs.
Just wolfed down a sandwich with Telenav Mary Beth and GPS blogger Tim Flight.
Canon’s got no new digital Elphs here. Suppose I’ll have to wait for the camera show in March for news… on 720p video, pretty please?
Powermat magnetic charging not coming until Q4. Surprised they’d announce such specific pricing so far away.
Twitter has been an invaluable networking and coordination tool during CES. DMs seem to have replaced the SMS overload of last year.
@bjdraw Digeo figures you’re going to bash them on no Moxi ATSC/OTA capabilities. I wouldn’t brief you either.
No joke, Stevie Wonder’s roaming the Sands with a small entourage. Walked by me a moment ago at the Boxee booth.
http://twitpic.com/119im – Smartest bit of schwag at CES, courtesy of TiVo.
What’s up with all the “blogger” parties? Don’t we need to be writing? Mari & I are hard at work @cntrstg. Ian Dixon is recording behind us.