CES Anyone?

[natriss102]

Is anyone paying attention to this year's CES convention? I watched Bill Gates' keynote speech live last night on the Microsoft website (and I must say, he's not the most interesting speaker) and they had some interesting projects in the works. There's also a ton of posts on Engadget regarding the newly innovative items companies have cooked up.

Anyone else watching this?

[bdi]

Not watching it, but if you want to tell us about some fo teh gadgets you have seen and think are cool, I know I love to hear about that sort of thing. Knowing the people who visit here, I bet others would enjoy it as well.

[natriss102]

I'd be happy to!

Today was MacWorld, and for those of you who haven't picked up on it, I'm pretty anti-Apple (long story, but mainly because of the iPod and the whole iLive phaze). Yet they announced the Apple iPhone (after negotiations with Cisco) but I must say, it looks schweet! The device had been rumored for some time now (years actually) and it looks like they finally came through. It's completely touchscreen (which may bother some) but keeping in sync with their traditional "innovative" spirit, they've done some pretty neat things. It's OS X on a phone. There are a few turnoffs, being that it's only 8 gigabytes (max) and still a whopping $599 even with a 2 year contract. Also, the thing is made of metal and glass so one drop will probably do the thing in. Still, it's pretty radical. Oh and you can watch videos and pictures in landscape mode too (*cough* who's copying who here? */cough*)



See the engadget recap (and all the screaming fanboys' comments) here

Apple iTV also made it's debut, but I didn't really pay much attention to that because I've already seen a sweet TV setup

I also watched Bill Gates' keynote speech live (courtesy Microsoft's website). Boring as he was, he did show off some pretty interesting things. Vista was an object of attention, as he demoed the new operating system. There were a couple of neat tricks he showed off, including using an Xbox 360 controller to do a few things computer wise. Though I didn't see it myself, apparently the sports suite in the Premium package was a lot better then anyone could have predicted. One of the most interesting things I saw was the ability to use Vista to play games over Xbox Live with other Vista users, and even 360 users.

Gates also showed off IPTV, which has been in the works for quite some time. It was a sight to be seen and probably my favorite feature that I saw. For those that don't know, you can use your 360 to watch video using your internet connection. It features Picture in Picture channel surfing, you can talk to people using the Xbox headset while watching tv, and your Xbox can be converted into a TIVO of sorts. It can be set up to record your favorite shows directly to your 360 harddrive.

Though not announced (and unrelated to CES), rumor holds that a new version of the 360 is to be released soon too.

Bill Gate's Spheel here.

New 360 details here.

That's the major innovations of the 2 corporate giants, there are many more, but things are coming out right and left. I'll look for some other good ones and feel free to check out some things yourselves!

If you haven't noticed, I like Engadget.

[bdi]

Cool..

Well, I've heard talk of the iPhone for awhile. I'm not surprised at the high price tag, but I have to think it will sell just because people pay the ridiculous price tag for an iPod. Gotta give Apple credit for one thing, they do a good job with creating a friendly user environment, and that sells. From what I had read before though a lot of companies have tried the phone/mp3 player idea and it's never worked out. Apple does have the edge, but we'll still have to see for sure if it makes it. It sounds like a nice device even if it is overpriced though.

I'm not sure what the Vista sports package is that is mentioned. Never really heard of it. I am disappointed to hear there might be a new version of the XBox 360 coming out. I purchased one early as my XBox died not long after the 360 came out. The system was expensive for a game console, and if they have a new one in the next few years without offering a free update, I can guarantee you my next game console will have Sony's name on it and not Microsoft's.

IPTV sounds ok too, but I'm not sure that internet bandwidth is ready for it. Still, creating the demand for more bandwidth will drive the market to increase, and eventually all will be well in that regard.

Thanks for the update, it is fun to read about this stuff, although I really don't have the time right now to go searching it out.

[natriss102]

Well, I can honestly say I haven't seen too much else stunning show up at CES lately. There've been loads of HDTVs, a few advances in Blueray/HD, and a few odds-n-ends but not anything super exciting.

Except the iPhone.

The day after it was released, BAM! Apple got slammed with a lawsuit. Cisco, the company that rightfully owns the name, sued for copyright infringement. (See the Engagdet Report) Bad move on apple's part 'cause I mean honestly, couldn't you have just called it the iMobile or something else? Apple was in negotiations with Cisco before the press release but didn't agree to Cisco's terms and dug themselves a hole. Apple retorted saying the lawsuit is silly [link](read: we think we can get away with anything) though the evidence is pretty overwhelming. In all fairness to Cisco, they've owned the copyright for the past 10 years (before the iAnything craze) and released their "iPhone" a couple of months ago.

It's turning out to be more trouble then it's worth

[bdi]

You don't normally see two heavyweights go at it like this do you? I haven't double checked, but I think it's trademark, not copyright infringement that they are dealing with. Either way, I have to suspect the motive on this one. I mean, as you say, why not hte iMobile or some other similar name? iPod wasn't the iStereo or something that was specifically music related, so why does the phone need to be? Also, being that no one would pay that much for a phone, wouldn't it have been easier to market as an iPod with a phone built-in than a $100 phone with a $500 iPod built-in?

Trademarks aren't universal though. My guess would be that Apple will claim the two devices are in different segments being that the Cisco device is for IP Telephony and the Apple device is a cellular phone. In my opinion they are walking a fine line there, and I don't think they would win because both fall as communication devices. If I were to guess, Apple probably has one of two things in mind. Either they do think they can win that, or they think they will come to an agreement with Cisco soon (which is the more likely candidate in my eyes).

[natriss102]

Kind of a worthless post, but I thought I'd share this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_foXuZh6Fo&mode=related&search=